Bulletin
200
Medjugorje,
July 26, 2004
“Dear children! I call you anew: be open
to my messages. I desire, little children, to draw you all closer to my Son
Jesus; therefore, you pray and fast. Especially I call you to pray for my
intentions, so that I can present you to my Son Jesus; for Him to transform
and open your hearts to love. When you will have love in the heart, peace will
rule in you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Ten years ago,
November 23, 1994, those who served in Medjugorje at the time launched a Press
Bulletin. We arrived now at number 200, which is a significant jubilee for the
editor and for the readers. In Number 0, the editor wrote: " These are
times in which the words love and reconciliation, justice and love of truth are
easily pronounced and heard with joy, but rarely practiced and lived. Many
people live like a river that flows without an aim, not knowing always where it
is going or why.” The desire of the editor was undoubtedly to connect the
friends of Our Lady from the country and from the whole world, while
transmitting Our Lady’s message and all other important information related to
Medjugorje. During 10 years and through the 200 numbers, the Bulletin was not a
river which flows without a goal. Its goal was always clear: to bring the truth.
We hope to have succeeded...
In the leading
article of February 2001, Fr. Ivan Landeka wrote: “It is enough to be naïve
to choose any direction. The one who wants to keep the chosen direction needs a
compass”. (K. Steinbach) The direction and the goal are important if we want
to arrive at the goal. The Bulletin of Medjugorje always went on the paths where
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, always listening to the echo of the
messages of Our Lady. This is why we thank all those who filled out the pages of
the Bulletin, thus connecting many hearts in only one family. Those who wrote
these leading articles are often surprised with which attention you are reading
each line. Thus, you are influencing our effort to bring closer to you all that
occurs at the Shrine of the Queen of Peace.
In Medjugorje,
all that happens and all that is done - including this Bulletin - pronounce its
"thank you" to God through Marie. Thank you thus to God, to Our Lady
and to all people of goodwill who are at their service, for all that has been
done for your information.
Fr. Mario Knezovic
NEWS
NUMBER
OF COMMUNIONS AND NUMBER OF CONCELEBRANTS
During the month of June, 140000 communions were distributed and 3100 priests from this country and abroad
concelebrated Holy Mass in Medjugorje.
Pilgrims were here from
Spain, Italy, Korea, Poland, Hungary, England, Ireland, Indonesia, Canada, the
USA, Slovakia, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic,
Portugal, Australia, South Africa, Albania, Mexico, Lebanon, Peru, La Reunion,
Germany, Leetonia, Lithuania, Russia, Vietnam, Slovenia, New Zealand, Scotland,
Rumania, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Msgr.
Bruno Tommasi, retired bishop of the diocese Lucca in Italy, on pilgrimage in
Medjugorje
Msgr. Bruno Tommasi,
retired bishop of the diocese Lucca in Italy, came on pilgrimage to Medjugorje
in June 2004. On June 19, he presided the pilgrims’ Mass for Italian speaking
pilgrims.
Canadian
Indians on pilgrimage to Medjugorje
A group of Indians from
the north of Canada came on pilgrimage to Medjugorje for the 23rd anniversary of
the apparitions. Fr. Chatland, a missionary among the Indians in the diocese
McKenzie, as well as Mrs. Becket, were among them. Msgr. Denis Croteau, their
bishop, is supporting Medjugorje and these pilgrimages. In 2001, he came on
pilgrimage twice.
Fr. Chatland has noticed
positive spiritual fruits in those who came back from Medjugorje, and had the
desire to come and see for himself. Mrs. Beckett underlined how much good the
messages from Medjugorje are bringing to her fellow Indians, who are thorn apart
between their traditional Indian culture linked to ancient customs, and the new
way of life to which they are trying to become accustomed.
DR.
FR. LJUDEVIT RUPCIC'S FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARY
Dr. Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic’s
first death anniversary has been commemorated in Medjugorje on Saturday, June
26, 2004. Fr. Rupcic, a very appreciated Franciscan from Herzegovina, has
written numerous essays and books in theology and was a renowned expert in
biblical sciences. Holy Mass at the outside altar of St. James’ parish church
in Medjugorje was presided by Fr. Mario Knezovic, director of the Information
Center “Mir” Medjugorje, and concelebrated by 90 priests.
“Fr. Ljudevit was a
great fighter. His fight and his struggle took place in the area of the Church
and of the Fatherland. Since his early days as a Franciscan, he was imprisoned
in communist jails”, said Fr. Mario in his homily. “but his ‘blade’
never lost its sharpness, o the contrary: he prepared himself for tasks that had
to come within the Church and the society in general. As a professor of biblical
sciences, he translated the New Testament and Psalms form the original into
Croatian language. As a member of the Theological Commission of the Bishops’
Conference, he gave an orientation to the theological reflection within the
Church.” As for the events of Medjugorje and Our Lady’s apparitions, “Fr.
Ljudevit gave the last 22 years of his life to Our Lady and to Medjugorje. He
did not as anything in return, except the Truth, for which he was burning during
his whole life. He always sought the right way of venerating Our Lady of the
living the messages; he always required clarity and transparence in liturgical
celebrations and the evangelization at the Shrine in Medjugorje. Concerning
Medjugorje, he knew no compromising; nothing was difficult or unacceptable for
him. During the last years of his life, the love for the pilgrims was his
vocation. He was almost running to meet them, in order to transmit to them the
message. We can say that Fr. Ljudevit was a herald of Medjugorje. His voice was
listened to in the Church, his words were read and respected, whatever others
may have said or written.”
THE
NINTH INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF PRIESTS
The 9th
International Meeting for Priests took place from July 5 to 10, 2004. This
seminar gathered 361 priests from 36 countries (speaking a total of 16 languages),
from all of the continents. Prof. Dr. Tomislav Ivancic spoke to them on the
theme: "Identity of the priest".
During these days, priests
were sharing, praying, and celebrating the Eucharist in communion with the
people of God. Feeling here at the school of Mary, they went to pray at the
places that Our Lady had especially chosen for prayer: the Apparition Hill and
Cross Mountain. The last day, they went to pray at the tomb of Fr. Slavko
Barbaric, who initiated these Priests Meetings in 1996.
From year to year, the
number of priests who choose to make their annual retreat in Medjugorje, under
the protection of Our Blessed Mother - the Queen of Peace, is growing. The
abundance of fruits of this meeting can be seen in the large number of
participants and in their moving testimonies at the end of the retreat.
We entrust them into your
prayers.
Seminars
in "Domus Pacis"
In the month of July,
there were three "Prayer and Fasting" seminars led by Fr. Ljubo
Kurtovic for pilgrims from the Czech Republic, France, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
There were two
recollections for the members of the Legion of Mary from Zagreb, as well as for
a gozurp of young people from Montenegro led by Fr. Franjo Dusaj.
The
15th Youth Festival
The 15th Youth
Festival is inspired by Holy Father’s message for the World Youth Day 2004,
“We desire to see Jesus”. It wants to be one of the spiritual contributions
and preparations for the celebration of the 20th World Youth Days in
Cologne 2005.
Encounters of young people
from all over the world represent one of the charms of the Youth Festival,
therefore it is a good occasion to explain to the youth that the fundamental
encounter, which is written in the depth of the human heart, is the encounter
between the Creator and the creature, and that “the highest human dignity
resides in its call to enter into relationship with God in an exchange of
glances that transform life” (Holy Father’s message for WYD 2004).
Prayer, music and
encounters should lead us to allow Jesus to see us (theme of the 1st
day), because only through this experience of his glance full of love can be
born the desire to encounter Him. Then, we should discover that the encounter
with Jesus is giving the full meaning to our lives (theme of the 2nd
day), and this encounter happens in the Eucharist (theme of the 3rd
day), and in the Eucharistic love, which is a selfless giving and sacrificing of
oneself for others, because “to love does not mean only to feel; it is an
act of the will; love consists in preferring the good of others to our own good”.
(Holy Father’s message for WYD 2004).
Finally, the participants
are invited to become witnesses of the One they have met (theme of the 4th
day), because the world is seeking true witnesses of the One who alone gives
life.
There is no encounter with
God without Mary. She is the one who is “forming a contemplative heart and
teaching how to gaze at Jesus”. (Holy Father’s message for WYD 2004) This is
why Medjugorje is the ideal place for such an encounter, the ideal place for the
renewal of our consecration to God through Mary, as Our Lady is asking from us: “I
invite all those who have said "yes" to me to renew their consecration
to my Son Jesus and to His Heart and to me, so we can take you more intensely as
instruments of peace in this unpeaceful world.” (April 25, 1992)
The Fifth International
Meeting for Married Couples
The 5th
International Meeting for Married Couples will take place in Medjugorje in the
New Hall from November 3 to 6, 2004. The theme of the seminar is “How
to heal the marriage and the family?”
It is recommended to ring with you: a small FM radio with headphones (for
simultaneous translation) and a Bible.
Participation per couple:
30 €. You may make reservations by e-mail: seminar.marija@medjugorje.hr
or by fax +387-36-651-999. The number of participants is limited because of the
available space in the Hall, se we ask you to send your registration as soon as
possible, latest by the end of September. All the participants are invited to
individually provide their accommodation in Medjugorje.