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www.medjugorje.ws » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace 200 (July-August 2008)

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Our Lady’s message, 25 May 2008:
“Dear Children, In this time of
grace in which God has permitted
me to be with you I call you anew, my
Children, to conversion. Work for the
salvation of the world particularly
while I am with you. God is merciful
and grants special graces, hence, ask
for them in prayer. I am with you and
will not leave you alone. Thank you for
responding to my call.”
Work for Salvation
of World
Grace is favour, the free and undeserved
help that God gives us to respond to his call
to become children of God, adoptive sons,
partakers of the divine nature and of eternal
life (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
no. 1996). “Full of grace,” is what the
Archangel Gabriel called Mary (Lk 1:28),
and it is what we repeat in the Hail Mary.
And this time of ours is an exceptional time
of grace, because together with the gift of
Mary’s presence we also receive the fullness
of grace present in Her. The grace of Mary’s
presence at Medjugorje is already immense;
Mary calls us also to receive the Father’s
Love, and to surrender ourselves to His
Will, and to live in communion with Him
so we can become more like Jesus. Today
also, our blessed Mother insists: “In this
time of grace in which God has permitted
me to be with you, I again call you, my
Children, to conversion.”
Conversion is a journey of assimilation
in Christ, and a great grace which requires
free adhesion on our part so it can produce
fruit. It’s not such an easy thing since it
requires a change of direction, and an
offering of self without reserve after the
model of Jesus and Mary. But we are not
alone, since Their help is assured us. The
result depends on us and on our free choice
to accept the Divine Will.
“Work for the salvation of the world
particularly while I am with you,” says
Mary, and this, I would say, is the focal point
of today’s message. Our conversion and our
communion with Christ do not regard only
us, but invest all creation. The salvation of
the world, made possible and certain by the
Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of our
Lord Jesus Christ, is not unhinged from our
own personal salvation, and awaits our own
“yes” to God (cfr Rm 8: 19-23).
Each of us is called to work for the
salvation of the world. It does not matter
that one might be called for just one hour,
or to bear the weight of the full day; his
reward will be measured according to
justice or even (God’s) magnanimity (cf.
Mt 20:1-16). Our human weakness is not
a limit, but rather, can be our strength: It is
when I am weak that I am strong, says the
Apostle (2 Cor 12:10), which is valid also
for us because it is our human weakness that
makes us truly needy of God, where the void
in us awaits to be fi lled by Him.
Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Nothing and no one can ever
separate us from the love of God, Jesus
Christ, our Lord (cf. Rm 8:35-39). However,
I do have within me, in my will, the capacity
to refuse this Love. What a great and terrible
responsibility has been given us!
One does not need a title or degree to
work for the salvation of the world. All it
takes is to let oneself be led by Mary, which
is always possible particularly while She is
in our midst. So let us not ignore this call
by Mary; let us not put it off till tomorrow,
lest it be too late. Our weaknesses and limits
are not excuses; God will compensate for
them. “God is merciful and grants special
graces, hence, ask for them in prayer.
I am with you and will not leave you
alone.” We have all we need, even more so.
Therefore, why wait any longer?
Nuccio Quattrocchi
“Love is the will to live and to let
live, because life is the primary good.
In the measure that one loves is the
measure of the realization of the human
person.” (E. Vergani)
Our Lady’s message, 25 June 2008:
“Dear Children, Also today, with
great joy in my heart, I call you to
follow me and to listen to my messages.
Be joyful bearers of peace and love in
this world without peace. I am with
you and I bless you all with my Son
Jesus, the King of Peace. Thank you
for responding to my call.”
I am Calling: Follow Me
On the 27th anniversary of her
apparitions at Medjugorje, Mary comes to
sustain us in the journey with her presence
and messages and lets us know that she does
it with great joy. It is joy for all the grace
God is granting through her intercession,
and for the response of millions of people all
over the world; the response of the humble
who are more open to the faith, and of the
poor who are more in need of God.
And those who respond to this call
come from all walks of life: the pious and
sinners, children, adults and the elderly, the
laity and consecrated people. God does not
look at what one’s position in life is, nor
at his degree of studies, or his job, or his
physical aspect and not even at what he
may have been in the past. Man looks at
appearances, the Lord looks at the heart
(cf. 1 Sam 16:7).
God is Love and He seeks the heart
that knows how to accept Love. It does not
matter what you’ve been till now. If your
heart is not entirely closed to Him, but is
open just a little, then call Him and He
will come because He has already come
to you in Christ. All He needs is for you to
acknowledge Him: If a man loves me (opens
his heart to me) he will keep my word and my
Father will love him and we will come to him
and make our home with him (Jn 14:23).
“Dear Children, also today and
with great joy in my heart I call you to
follow me and to listen to my messages.”
I think Mary’s joy must also be for all
those who have yet to follow her and heed
her messages, but no doubt will in a date
unknown to us but not to her. The heavens
are still open. This is still a time of grace.
Delay no longer. Try taking her messages
seriously. She will lead you to Christ and He
to the Father. Try following. Try heeding.
The path along which she is calling us leads
to peace and love, for she is the Queen of
Peace and of Love, and when peace and love
will begin to glow in your heart you will
bear them yourself to others, even to those
who do not know them. “Be joyful bearers
of peace and of love in this world without
peace.” This is really a world without peace.
July - August 2008 - Year 24 # 4 - Echo of Mary, P.O. Box 47, I-31037 Loria (TV), Italy.
Ph. + 39 0423-470331 - www.ecodimaria.net - A translation of the original Italian: Eco di Maria
200
&DIP
OVNCFS
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Where there is war, there is obviously no
peace. However, the absence of war does
not imply peace, since divisions, abuse
of power, violence, perversion, injustice,
and even anxiety, fear and worries are not
expressions of peace, especially not of the
peace Jesus promised us: Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give to you; not as the world
gives, do I give to you (Jn 14:27).
“I am with you and I bless you all
with my Son Jesus, King of peace.” May
this blessing descend upon us, and may we
receive it. It is a blessing that bears true
peace, the peace announced by the Angels at
Jesus’ birth; the gift of peace that was sealed
with His Death and Resurrection. This peace
no one and nothing can take from us because
it is the expression of His Presence in us,
in our heart, in our soul. We would have to
drive Him away from us to lose this peace.
However, Mary watches over us so that this
won’t happen, because despite our limits
and our sins we believe in His Love, and
whoever believes in Him will not remain in
the darkness (cf. Jn 12:46). As long as your
heart is beating there is hope. Entrust your
heart to Him. Trust and allow your Mother
to help you trust Him. Peace and joy in Jesus
and Mary!
N.Q.
Benedict VXI:
Rosary enjoying
new springtime
Holy Rosary not pious practice of past
- says Holy Father - but a prayer that
brings peace and reconciliation
“In the experience of my generation,
May evenings evoke pleasant memories
of evening appointments to pay homage to
the Virgin Mary,” said Benedict XVI. (…)
“Today we together confi rm that the holy
rosary is not some pious practice relegated
to the past, a prayer of distant times to be
thought of nostalgically. Indeed, the rosary
is experiencing what is almost a new
springtime.
“In the modern world that is so
dispersive, this prayer helps us to place
Christ at the centre, as did the Virgin who
meditated upon everything that was said
about her Son and upon what he himself
did and said. (…)
“May Mary help us to welcome within
ourselves the grace that emanates from
these mysteries, so that through us, this
grace can ‘irrigate’ society, starting with our
everyday relationships, purifying it from
many negative forces and opening it to
the novelty of God.
“The rosary, when it is prayed in an
authentic manner - not mechanically and
superfi cially, but profoundly - brings peace
and reconciliation,” he said. “It contains
the healing power of the Most Holy Name
of Jesus, invoked with faith and love at the
heart of each Hail Mary.”
With this article we conclude this little
series of meditations on the Litanies of
Loreto. I thank the Lord for this occasion
to refl ect on the most beautiful invocations
and titles that Christian Piety has endowed
on the Most Holy Virgin.
Queen of the Family
This invocation makes our heart dilate
with joy as we contemplate Mary in the
role of her true ‘vocation’. Through Mary’s
obedience to God’s will she accepted her
vocation as wife of the righteous Joseph, and
thus became mother in the family of Naza-
reth. The divine plan of redemption foresaw
the birth of the Son of God as a perfect man
who thus grew up under the protection and
guidance of a mother and father.
When we invoke Mary as Queen of the
family we acknowledge her vocation and
generosity at placing herself at the service
of God and of all mankind. This invocation,
desired by JP II, speaks to us of the beauty
and greatness of the family as a ‘domestic
church’: a place where the project of love
by man and woman in a collaboration with
God can be realized. It also acknowledges
the greatness of St. Joseph’s role as protector
over the family. Through their help, may
every Christian family be a ‘little church’ in
which the mystery of Christ is relived. And
may it be blessed, guided and protected,
especially today when the institute of
marriage is so under attack. The origin of
the family is divine for it is the image of the
Most Holy Trinity; and it is the only place
where the divine love can encounter human
love. Hence, it is right to invoke Mary as
Queen of all our families.
Queen of Peace
This invocation is dear to Christians
since as disciples of Christ they have always
had to suffer persecution. Christians also
make this invocation to implore peace
among all peoples. It was included in the
Litanies by Pope Benedict XV in 1917,
during WW II which caused the death of
millions, and when Russia was devastated by
the revolution which brought Communism
to power; and as Our Lady said at Fatima,
Russia’s grave errors would spread much
further beyond its own boundaries, and bring
much suffering also to the Church.
I like to recall the providential
coincidence between the apparitions of
Fatima (when Mary requested the recitation
of the Rosary to end the war) and the
decision of the Pope to include in the
Litanies this title. Still today this invocation
is very dear to Christianity, and also to the
Virgin herself. As a matter of face, in 1981
when she appeared at Medjugorje, Our Lady
presented herself as the “Queen of Peace.”
This invocation is consoling for us who
live in this atomic age when man’s appetite
for power exceeds every limit, and the
fear of destruction creeps into hearts. It is
assuring that our heavenly Mother should
come to remind us that she watches over her
children and our families, and that she has
come as a messenger of the peace that comes
from the heart of the ‘Prince of Peace’, our
Lord Jesus Christ. His peace will never end;
his peace will grant us the same life of God.
It is the peace proclaimed by the choir of
Angels the night of Christmas when God
- for love of us - was born a baby in the
holiest of families.
LITANIES of LORETO -
by Fr. Ludovico M. Centra
I seek your good
“For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” (Ps. 121)
“I will seek your good,” says the psalmist. It is wise to seek the good of others. We are
all called – says the psalmist – to seek the good of others, in the imitation of Jesus, who
mediates for our own good with the Father. To seek the good of another is to give good
to another. Goodness is transmitted, similar to the way a mother transmits to her child the
love she has for him. To speak of good or goodness makes the mind think of beautiful,
good things, especially things that come only from God, and which we fi nd in the Son.
So, to seek someone’s good and desire the good of another is a bit like giving Jesus to the
other. Nothing should stop us from desiring the good of another, not even life’s adverse
events, not even hostile people.
To seek the good of another is akin to defending the other, and ourselves, from evil.
It is akin to blessing the other, and brings down blessings upon the events of our own
lives. In seeking the good of others we act in the manner of God who blesses always,
who gives always to everyone, who makes it rain upon the good and the bad. Our every
action – even the least – ought to become an occasion to seek the good of the other. Even
a greeting, such as the Franciscan “Peace and good!” (“pace e bene”: quite common in
Italy – translator) is able to transmit something good to the other. Perhaps that is why St.
Francis thought up that particular greeting. But even a “Good day!”, or “hello” if said
with courtesy and a smile has this effect.
If we become bearers of good with our lives, we will not neglect even the littlest
things, because good is nourished even by little gestures, by little bits of attention, by
simple words. Let us ask Mary to help us become bearers of good for whomever we meet
in life, and make us understand that the good of others is also our own good, and that the
bad of others is also our own bad because there is no bad that belongs to or comes from
others that can be good for us. Let’s pray to Mary to make us attentive and prefer those
actions that bring good to others, without distinction. This way we might bring a change
to our own lives and to the lives of others.
S
I M P L E
T H O U G H T S
by Pietro Squassabia
2
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200th Edition of Echo!
by Stefania Consoli
Round numbers seem to have more
effect don’t they. They even seem more
important. But we know that each edition
has its own importance, and that the festivity
that accompanies a certain anniversary –
especially with a double zero – refl ects the
gratitude for having come so far.
Before such an ‘important’ figure it
comes natural to look back and draw up
some sort of balance sheet, and then look
into the future with hope and trust. So far the
Echo has come off the press 200 times to be
sent to the homes, or pockets and hopefully
hearts of many people all round the world.
In many cases the fi nal destinations are and
remain unknown to us, since the ways and
paths that Echo is taken along are often
casual, even unforeseeable.
There is, however, a light but powerful
movement of an invisible hand that accom-
panies it to the many little corners of the
world, to sow little seeds of faith in souls
which thirst for God. The hand belongs to
Mary, Queen of Peace, from whose inspira-
tion we draw for the make-up of Echo which
we hope brings not only words, but also the
love and concern of Mary for each person.
We experience her closeness and encoura-
gement even during adverse times. Mary
inspired the “birth” of this little publication,
and we feel we can say with certainty that
she continues to support it. We experience
this each edition, even when the mind is a
blank, and with prayer and supplication the
ideas and articles begin to take shape.
We experience it when it looks like we
may not have the funds to publish the next
issue, and then the donations come in, and
the Echo continues. And there are also the
translations into many languages, and the
work of those brothers and sisters who with
generosity give up their time and efforts
so that the Echo can be read in different
nations. All this is able to take place because
it is beneath Mary’s mantle: one must entrust
and trust.
Two hundred issues. The first, little
more than a type-written page for a group
of parishioners, was published in 1984.
Looking back, we immediately think of Fr.
Angelo who generated the Echo and made
it grow. He watched over it like a caring
mother who wasn’t afraid to fi ght to protect
it against threats and diffi culties, one of
which was his terminal illness.
If the Echo has continued till now it is
because it ‘echoes’ that special event that
faithfully comes for our own benefi t: the
apparitions of the blessed Virgin at Medju-
gorje. So the real celebration is in honour
of Our Lady, and of that special grace from
heaven which perhaps we still haven’t come
to appreciate suffi ciently. We think it lovely
that this celebration of ours should coincide
with the date of the 27th anniversary of the
apparitions by the Queen of Peace.
So now, let us look to the future and
once again entrust to Mary our publication
together with the desire that it might always
be a clear refl ection of her grace. We conse-
crate to her all our workers, volunteers, and
especially the readers that continue to show
us their esteem and favour, through which
they demonstrate their desire to grow in
the school of Mary. And fi nally, we praise
and thank the Lord for having permitted
Mary to remain with us, so that we are not
left alone.
Important Anniversary for Echo
After two hundred editions
taking a closer look
By Fr. Alberto Bertozzi
Two hundred editions of Echo: that’s
quite an accomplishment – and I think any-
one who knows something about printing
would agree. When a publication such as
ours reaches this “age” it means that both
he who writes and he who reads gives and
receives something important and useful.
What is left in me after these two
hundred editions?
How many words, how much work and
dedication, and above all, how much love
has there been? And how much of it all has
stayed in me? The entire operation begins
with Mary, the Mother of God, and the
word she gives us. This is translated, and
commented. This gives way to an operation
of announcement, of prayer and of charity
– and not without fruit.
As a man, a believer and a priest, I am
called to verify what has changed in me;
and I think of the parable of the sower that
talks of quantities: “thirty, sixty…”, but I
don’t mean to propose a measurement of
the conscience in terms of quantity. Quality,
though, can be intuited, and is seen by those
who are near us. I’m sure it happens that
someone has thanked you for bringing him
the Echo, or when you bring it, he entrusts
you with an intention to pray for. This is be-
cause the ‘quality’ of being someone whom
God listens to, is intuited. So to all those
who work for Echo - the editor, secretary,
translators, dispatchers, distributors, and all
the readers – goes my gratitude and joy, in
the spirit of Mary who exulted with song,
and humility and works of charity.
Am I unchanged?
Despite the many gifts and calls that
may have come your way through the pages
of “Echo” are you still the same? Perhaps
for various reasons, and after an enthusiastic
start, do you feel you’ve gone backwards?
The feeling of regret is already a good sign,
as it signifi es that the Holy Spirit is at work
in your heart. And it means that Mary - your
mother – has not tired of you. I want you
to fi rmly believe that she never could, just
as your Father in heaven never could. So
you see, there is already something to be
grateful for.
And I invite you to search in your heart
for just a word: a word that God entrusted
to Mary to speak to your heart, that makes
that invisible chord that connects you with
God keep on vibrating with life.
I am certain that Fr. Angelo would have
used more ardent words to tell you the same
things, those things that he told me even
before the very fi rst edition of Echo came
out. And I’m certain that you – readers of
Echo – give him joy.
C
ALLED
TO
LIVE
C
OMMUNION

It is as though the Echo were inspired by God not so much to transmit news as to
create communion, through being an instrument in Mary’s hands to communicate a sense
of belonging, to create unity of intentions and true communion in the sole Spirit.
It is not so much as the actual reading of the Echo that produces fruit. It is the grace of
Medjugorje that accompanies the reading of it that produces good fruits. And one of these
is the sense of belonging to a family, the family of God. This sense of communion in God
overcomes distances and architectonical barriers; and is not conditioned by language or
culture. Communion creates friendship with God, and friendship amongst His children.
If we live communion among us we will certainly know how to transmit it also to
others, because communion is strong, brave and possesses the power of God. Even though
the Echo is a small publication, it is called to take its part in strengthening the bond of
love between Heaven and earth. This will thus be our small way of making room for Jesus
so His presence among us can be stronger and more effective, since He said that He is
present where there is communion.
Where there is communion there is love, and love is contagious. It can make everything
beautiful, even the Echo, though it is a small thing. Perhaps the Echo is dear to Our Lady
because it calls together many people who journey along the way which She has indicated,
which is the way traced out by her Son.
I would like to say that the Echo is made beautiful by the love of those who read it
and accompany it with prayer and aid, in union with the Spirit; and by the love of those
who write it, and dedicate time to it. I think this is how we can help Mary work to make
all things beautiful with the light and love of her Son.
Pietro Squassabia
3
Echo 200
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“I am happy to offi cially announce
that to the apostle Paul we shall dedicate a
special Jubilee year, from 28th June 2008
to 29th June 2009 in occasion of the bi-
millennium of his birth!”
Without a doubt the joy with which
Benedict XVI proclaimed this event is deep
and sincere, because the encounter with Paul
of Tarsus – the apostle who more than any
other knew how to express the universality
of Christ’s message – is such that a heart
cannot but be touched by joy. His letters,
written to people of his time, talk to each of
us personally, making us feel as though we
were his ‘friends’, almost family, as though
they were written for us.
They were addressed to groups of people
who lived in an era and a culture so different
to our own, yet they are so present-day, so
modern, so new. Who of us cannot see him-
self in the lines of those famous letters? Who
can remain indifferent to the numerous calls
St. Paul addresses to us, with trepidation and
near “maternal” concern, in his desire to
urge man to respond fully to his Lord?
The re-discovery of this luminous fi gure
and of his letters is precisely one of the
objectives of the Church for the Pauline
year. It shall be a year rich in initiatives, such
as pilgrimages to the places where St. Paul
journeyed, encounters with other Christian
communities, a special liturgy before
the Tomb and the chains of the Apostle.
According to centuries-long tradition, these
chains were the ones to have kept St. Paul a
prisoner in Rome. This precious relic is now
on show in a special reliquary close to his
sepulchre in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul
outside the Wall.
“This year must become for us all a new
Damascus, a time of true conversion,” said
the bishop of Cartagena Mons. Juan Antonio
Reig Plà in a pastoral Letter for the Pauline
Year. “I invite everyone to let himself be
invaded by the same fi re that burned within
St. Paul, that fi re which did not allow him
to remain fi rm in one place.”
Editor
Proclamation of St. Paul,
in light of Mary
by Giuseppe Ferraro
It might seem at a fi rst glance that St.
Paul’s proclamation – more than other
inspired authors – leaves the figure of
Mary in the shadows, so to speak. In fact,
in the writings of the Apostle, there is no
direct reference to her, except the marginal
mention in the letter to the Galatians: “But
when the time had fully come, God sent
forth his Son, born of woman, born under
the law” (Gal 4:4).
A closer look, however, will show us
how the prophetic intuitions of the Apostle
and the humble message of the Queen of
that there might be through her the defi nitive
“recapitulation in Christ of all things: things
in heaven and those on earth” (Eph 1.10).
This is the “new time … that God grants
as grace, so we can know Him ever more”
(Mess. 25.01.93) of which Mary speaks
to us in her messages and to which she is
guiding us with wisdom.
This full and immediate knowledge of
the Father, to which the Queen of Peace
desires leading us is the heavenly condition
which she already enjoys in the perfect
communion with the Trinity, and is the
destination that the militant Church is called
to. It is also the profound sense to the call
to total offering of self to which the Queen
of Peace calls us in her messages. This
perfect communion is the source of the Love
described by St. Paul; and by virtue of this
intense relationship of the Church (and her
members) with the mystery of Christ, the
work of salvation of the world is wrought.
It is not by chance that the Apostle, in
chapter 13 of the Letter to the Corinthians,
places this fi nal reality immediately after
the “Ode to Love”: “Love never ends. As
for prophecies, they will pass away, as for
tongues they will cease, as for knowledge,
it will pass away… Now I know in part,
then I shall understand fully, even as I have
been fully understood. So faith, hope, love
abide, these three; but the greatest of these
is love” (Cor 13:8-19).
I would say that all of us who have
encountered the grace of the Queen of Peace
at Medjugorje recognize this experience
of the mystery of God that wants to reveal
itself intensely in souls. Though each in
various ways, it is one of the most common
experiences. It is as a seal upon the new
heavens and new earth that Mary proclaims,
which becomes more perceivable when in
your soul you accept to consecrate your
life to God through Mary’s Immaculate
Heart. [It is] an unequivocal sign of the
approaching of the time prophesied by
St. Paul, when all mediations will cease:
“When the perfect comes, the imperfect will
pass away” (1 Cor 13:10).
This is the triumph of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, when the mystery of
perfect communion with the Trinitarian
life – already fully realized in Mary – is
realized to the full in the militant Church
and the entire universe. Then, the great
proclamation of the Apostle will be fulfi lled:
“In Christ all shall be made alive… at
his coming those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end when he delivers the
kingdom to God the Father… For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under
his feet” (1 Cor 15:23-25).
Peace do converge. It is signifi cant that
there should be an explicit reference to a
passage of Holy Scripture in the messages
of the Queen of Peace. This passage is the
Ode to Charity that we read in St. Paul’s
fi rst letter to the Corinthians at chapter 13.
In her message of the 25th June 1988 Our
Lady said: “Glorify God, my children, with
an ode to love, so God’s love may grow in
you day by day to its fullness.”
To understand the value of this reference,
we must recall that Mary invited us to read
Holy Scripture to understand her presence
in the world: “If you pray God will help
you discover the true reason for my coming.
Therefore, my children, pray and read Holy
Scripture so that through my coming you
may discover in Holy Scripture the message
that is for you.” (Mess. 25.06.91).
This is a precious key that helps throw
light on the presence of Mary who is a
“great sign” (Rev 13:1) on the horizon of
the history of salvation and the journey of
the Church, allowing us to read the Word
of God under a new light. We have a case
of sharp tuning between Our Lady’s
messages and the Word as announced by
St. Paul, where Our Lady invites us to
glorify God and be fully immersed in that
“love that is loyal and pleasing to God”
(25.06.1988) that “accepts everything bitter
and diffi cult for the sake of Jesus who is
love” (ibidem).
It is the love sung by St. Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians: “Love is patient
and kind, love is not jealous or boastful; it is
not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on
its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in
the right. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things”
(Cor 13:4-7).
This is the radical way to which our
Lord calls us. It is the way Mary followed
with perfection, and the way upon which
she encourages her children to take so they
can be eternally united to the Heart of Jesus
who, “though he was in the form of God
(…) he emptied himself… and being found
in human form he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even death on
a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted
him…” (Phil 2:6-9).
The profound messages of the Queen
of Peace converge with the central theme
of the Letter to the Corinthians; and enable
us to see “the true reason of her coming”
(message 25.06.91). Mary’s presence at
Medjugorje, read in the light of Revelation,
helps us discern on the horizon the second
coming of Christ and the fi nal fulfi lment of
the work of salvation (“These apparitions
of mine at Medjugorje are the last for
humanity. Make haste and convert!” -
Mess. 17.04.1982); for she has been sent
to regenerate the members of the Mystical
Body of the Son, to prepare the militant
Church for the great mission that – by virtue
of the “mystery of His will” (Eph. 1:9) – has
been entrusted to her by God since eternity,
Pope’s Txt msg to Youth
:
“The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles
& gives u the power boldly 2
proclaim that Christ is risen!
– BXVI” (WydSyd08)
Y
E A R D E D I C AT E D T O
S
A I N T
P
A U L U N D E RWAY
Y
E A R D E D I C AT E D T O
S
A I N T
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A U L U N D E RWAY
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Reporting from Medjugorje...
Reporting from Medjugorje...
Month of Mary
The month of the Sacred
Heart has just come to an
end. June is a month of great
saints such as Anthony,
Aloysius Gonzaga, John
the Baptist, Peter and Paul,
and for many faithful June is
also the month of the Gospa,
the month in which we are
especially grateful for all the
wonderful things that Our
Lady has worked through
her extraordinary presence
here in Medjugorje.
It is also the month in
which we normally “draw
up the sums” of the previous
year. For us this is the twenty-seventh year
of grace, and still Our Lady tells us that this
time is a gift. Are we using it to the best
advantage?
Working for the Anniversary
At Medjugorje June is also the month
of great preparations. In the fi rst half of the
month one breathes a kind of “calm before
the storm,” where everyone is somehow
involved in preparations for this great event:
the friars, the parish choir, the community,
the hotels, and all those who work, perhaps
in shops, or by taking in just a couple of
guests into their homes. Seen in this way, it is
nice to live this preparation in a communion
which embraces all. Perhaps we are not all
aware, or always aware of this, but aren’t we,
in the end, all working for and with Mary?
Dense Summer Programme
From the anniversary onwards the
summer months are dense with activity and
quickly pass as the programme proceeds.
Despite a bit of a wane in the flow of
pilgrims in the middle of July, it can be said
that the summer months up to October see
Medjugorje abuzz with activity.
Immediately after the 25th June (the
anniversary) there is another great infl ux
of pilgrims for the 2nd July, which is when
Our Lady comes with an extraordinary
apparition to Mirjana. Then there are the
spiritual exercises for priests, the youth
festival (which draws ever more people
with each passing year) and the solemnity
of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven. Then
there’s the Exaltation of the Cross which is
a much-loved feast in all of Hercegovina.
Here it is celebrated on the Sunday before
the 14th September, according to a long-
standing tradition.
From the heat… shelter us
As usual the summer here is typically
very hot. In July the weather can still be
changeable, but the August sun is usually
scorching and unrelenting. Thus pilgrims are
forced to start out very early in the morning
or wait for the cool of the evening to climb
the hills.
Dawn on Krizevac is
blessed by a lovely breeze,
while the rays of the rising sun
light up the path that winds
steeply up the hill, gradually
giving form and colour to the
bushes and trees, the earth
and the rocks, the crosses and
the plaques, as they emerge
from the darkness. Even the
soul seems to receive the
same light, and fi nds strength
for the new day from the hope
and love of Christ who died
for us on the cross.
R e n e w e d w i t h t h i s
strength and hope, dare we
still rebel against our daily
crosses that await us at the
foot of the hill? But He will be in us strength
and love, and Mary will complete within us
the work of the Holy Spirit who is spirit of
humility, and of true Love which comes from
self-giving and sacrifi ce.
Night Apparition
For almost the entire duration of summer
there is the extraordinary apparition to the
visionary Ivan twice a week at ten in the
evening, at times atop Podbrdo, at times
at the feet of Podbrdo where the blue cross
is (placed here to recall the fi rst apparition
of the 24th June 1981). If the pilgrims
manage to remain in silent recollection, this
night prayer can be for all an unforgettable
experience marked by profound intimacy in
which each person’s soul can feel the special
presence of our blessed Mother.
Even arriving just before the apparition
one is drawn to the same recollection that
reigns among the faithful gathered. The
Rosary is recited, interlaced with quiet
songs; then at ten o’clock there are more or
less ten minutes of a moving silence. After
this Ivan briefl y describes the apparition. At
times Mary expresses happiness, at other
times she lets transpire a little sadness,
and asks for prayers for certain persons or
situations. Nearly always she addresses those
present by calling them “dear children,” and
departs with a blessing.
Mary is always with us. These brief
encounters ought to help us, to re-awaken the
soul so it can learn to live in the awareness
that Our Lady has called us and loves us
personally. Our every little prayer is precious
in her eyes, and She would like for us to live
happily, and to never forget the things of
Heaven, and that she is by our side.
Francesco Cavagna
Annual Apparition to Ivanka
When Our Lady entrusted the tenth (and
last) secret to Ivanka on the 7th May 1985,
she ceased to receive daily apparitions. At
the time Our Lady promised to appear to her
once a year on the anniversary date.
Ivanka, who was at home with her
husband and three children for the apparition,
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in “The Last
Secret of Fatima” (2008) which has an
introduction by Pope Benedict, clarifi es
the misconceptions about the status of
Medjugorje.
On page 94 he briefly comments:
“Bishop Peric’s statement expresses a
personal opinion of his own. It is not a
defi nitive offi cal judgment on the part of
the Church. The Church defers to the Zara
statement issued on 10 April 1991, by the
bishops of the former Yugoslavia and the
statement leaves the door open to further
investigations of the affair. So the process of
verifi cation needs to move forward.”
referred: “Our Lady spoke to me about the
ninth secret. She gave us her motherly
blessing.”
Apparitions to Mirjana
2nd June 2008 -
“Dear children, I am
with you by the grace of God, to make you
great, great in faith and love - all of you:
you whose heart has been made hard as
stone by sin and fault*; and (instead) you,
devout souls, I desire illuminating you with
a new light. Pray that my prayer may fi nd
hearts open, so they can be illuminated with
the power of faith, and open new ways of
love and hope. Be persevering. I shall be
with you.”
(*According to Mirjana, when Our Lady
said this, she was looking at those present to
whom it referred, with a painful expression
and tears in her eyes).
Padre Livio, of Radio Maria, commenting
the above message, said among other things:
“Mirjana (…) prays with Our Lady for the
conversion of those who are most distant
from God. This explains why in Our Lady’s
messages to her, we find references to
closed hearts and people darkened by sin.
This message is a bit diffi cult at fi rst sight,
but clear in its concepts. We must keep in
mind that the message is given in Croatian,
and then translated, and translations do not
always fully render the original meaning.”
“This mention of Our Lady looking with
sadness upon some (amid several thousand
present), makes us see how it is meant for
those present. But it is also meant for us all,”
he says, pointing out that we mustn’t illude
ourselves that we are without sin. Instead,
we must see it as a prompt to search our
heart, to open up to the grace and let love
into our heart; and to accept Mary’s helping
hand.
2nd July 2008 - “
Dear Children, With
motherly love I desire inciting you to love of
your neighbour. May my Son be the source
of this love. He, who could have done every-
thing by force, chose love, thereby giving
you the example. Also today, God transmits
immense goodness to you through me, and
you, my children, have the duty to respond
to it. With the same goodness and generosity
treat those whom you meet. May your love
convert them. This way, my Son and his love
will rise in you.”
Our Lady added: “Your pastors must be
in your hearts and in your prayers.”
5
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If we look carefully at the words Mary
has given us these past 27 years we will
come to see that the word ‘family’ is used
frequently. Our Lady speaks of the family
with dearness, calling it a place of holiness,
conversion and prayer; a place for authentic
growth if the family places God and His
laws of love at its centre. The fact that Mary
calls us “dear children,” tells us what she
is for us: the mother whom God chose for
Himself and for all mankind. We cannot
forget that Mary became mother in the
family of Nazareth. Together with Joseph
she accepted into the earthly family the Only
Son of the Most High.
It isn’t diffi cult to be a family, because
it is not a human invention; it is rather a
faithful image of the Most Holy Trinity,
the model of communion of love par
excellence. It is here that most perfectly life
is communicated from one person to another
in a continual proposal of love by the Father
and a continual response of love by the Son:
“Fullness of joy in thy presence, pleasure for
evermore in thy right hand” (Psalm 15:11).
This is the family nucleus at which we are
called to look upon and imitate so we can
know how to relate, and make fl ow forth
that precious good so necessary for our life,
which is called love.
It is worth our while to stop and consider
the value of love which ought to be the
family’s privileged sphere, for it is from love
that we come, and to love that we return.
Thinking of the waters of a river that have
to rush downwards into the sea because of
a force which is not their own, might help
us see how love in us is a compelling force
that is born in us without consulting us. It is
a law of the soul that determines the most
profound decisions and orients our desires.
It is not a mere feeling; not something that
one is aware of, which then goes away. Love
is a concrete reality, a stable dimension, an
eternal and unchangeable movement that
is fi xed in us and moves us in the realm of
honesty. We can do everything by virtue
of love which grants fullness and joy, and
motivates us to overcome diffi culties and
cancels the memory of sorrow.
The family is thus the cradle of love.
Love is the family’s bridal chamber, its
house, the place where love is nourished
and is able to express itself the best, as a
fi re that burns wood. If today the family is
profoundly in crisis, where disintegration
and division reign, where the nursery of life
is changed into a fi eld of death, it means that
at the bottom of it all is fear of love.
And that is why Mary takes us back to
the beginning to rediscover what the main
elements are that keep the family together.
It is signifi cant that all the visionaries of
Medjugorje felt the impulse to form a
family, a choice which cost them criticism
and incomprehension, but which in some
way reveals a broader plan. If we look more
carefully we will also see that the mark of
the family has been placed by Mary on
other spiritual realities. In fact, many of the
religious communities born in or inspired
by Medjugorje are similar to families being
made up of men and women who share the
same charism. Might we not say similar to
the experience of the disciples – men and
women - who followed in the footsteps of
the Master to share the fatigue and the joys
of the journey?
“Where two or three are gathered in
my name, there am I in their midst” (Mt
18,20). The Master left behind himself this:
the call to come together to pray, to share,
to support (each other). At Medjugorje
Mary is doing the same: “Renew prayer in
your families and form prayer groups. That
way you will experience joy (as a fruit of)
prayer and communion. All those who pray
and are members of prayer groups are, in
their hearts, open to God’s will and joyfully
witness God’s love” (25 Sept. 2000)
A natural and spiritual family, then,
which is the place for profound communion,
and refl ection of the blessed Trinity. This
is the gift of the Queen of Peace for us her
children, for it is in the family that life is
born and love generated. Do we want to
accept this?
Signs Become Seeds
Breath of peace and love,
Breath of Paradise born in the heart,
This the sign received at Medjugorje,
Locked eternally into my heart.
Not extraordinary signs or wonders,
Not signs in the sun or heavens admired.
But a light breeze and a pure scent,
On my heart peace and salvation planted
Years pass, and with time seeds fl ourish,
Spreading perfume of Thee.
And a child, sought after and awaited,
With love responds, emitting Yes timidly.
All is changed now,
Though unchanged it seem, nought is as
before: in my soul now is thee
Awaiting with patience my unreserved Yea.
Yet another caress, Mother dear,
to take from me all that I cling to still.
Offer it to Jesus, oh Mother dear.
Take all, take me.
Mother of mine, I am all Thine.
May my soul be consumed in thee,
Prophecy of Love, thou art,
O Dulcis Virgo Marie!
(Anonymous)
N
ATURAL
AND
S
PIRITUAL
F
AMILY
:
Mary’s Gift at Medjugorje
by Stefania Consoli
Praying Together,
in a Group
In this our time the Lord is awakening
many souls to the faith. Also through the
most blessed Virgin He is indicating a
journey of conversion and holiness. When
one is touched by grace and decides for God
he acknowledges divine intervention and
responds – with liberty – to God’s call by
seriously undertaking a journey of faith. The
initiative is God’s; the response must come
from man, by feeling blessed and welcomed
into the embrace of the Father who desires
bringing back to himself every child. For,
“He chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before him” (Eph 1:4).
It is a journey that involves the entire
people of God. Thus it is necessary for each
person to feel responsible for his brothers
and sisters, who were redeemed in the same
manner by the blood of Christ. In particular,
when we pray we ought to recall that we are
part of the mystical body of Christ, through
which fl ows God’s grace, as well as our
prayer and self-offering. The Church of the
saints who already live fully in God, and
the souls who still await to be purifi ed in
Purgatory are real, and we must bring them
to God in our prayer.
“Pray together” means to live communion
with every creature near and far - in both a
geographical and time sense - and not only
at our prayer meetings, but always, as a
habit. The Holy Spirit can help us learn to
be in harmony with others, through Jesus
Christ. The risk is to otherwise fall into
individualism, even in the faith.
Prayer group as source
of communion
To live communion in God is the most
beautiful gift, and the most diffi cult, but
it is fruit of a spiritual journey and a sign
of maturity. Our model is the Most Holy
Trinity, where life fl ows and is generated
continually between the Father, and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Each has the opportunity
to live this communion: either in a religious
community, or in the parish, or a movement,
or a group, or the family The starting point
is that you decide for God and be available
to let yourself be led and transformed by the
Holy Spirit who always opens new ways and
grants us strength and grace. Our duty is to
be humble, able to listen, make sacrifi ces,
and above all be desirous to offer yourself to
God with sincerity, and place at the disposal
of your brothers and sisters the gifts you
received gratuitously from Him. All this
is learnt gradually through a journey of
personal and common conversion..
To gather together to pray is an essential
moment that consolidates our union with
God and our communion with others. The
height is the participation in the Eucharistic
sacrifice: to offer oneself on the altar
together with Jesus, immolated Lamb, and
draw from Him light and strength for our
daily journey. As our model we have the
experience of the fi rst Christian community,
in which believers “were devoted to the
Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
6
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breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts
2:42).
Prayer meetings: mirror of liturgy
Also our prayer meetings should
reproduce the scheme of the Eucharistic
celebration. In silence before God we create
the space within us to enter into an intimate
relationship with Him, allowing the Holy
Spirit to act freely within us and awaken
our soul. Acknowledging our weakness
and need for His love and help, we humbly
entrust to Him all our burdens, sins, worries
and situations. This inner silence prepares us
to listen to His Word, which always inspires
something new in the soul if we know how
to look deeply inwards and receive what the
Spirit is suggesting at that moment. This
then enables us to partake in the moment
of sharing with the others, and overcoming
our shyness, we can give and receive if we
mirror ourselves with sincerity and humility.
Prayer thus is born spontaneously from the
depths of the heart, and can be expressed in
a request for forgiveness, an intercession, a
praise or thanksgiving.
Together, as instruments of blessing
Perseverance in the certainty that the
Lord knows what is best for each of His
children enables us to surrender ourselves
ever more to His will, and from this comes
inner peace even when we go through trials,
and suffering, and when we rationally do
not comprehend. This way, we can become
instruments of blessing, and bring into every
situation the life of God who defeats all
death and opens the soul to resurrection, so
it can become a new creature.
Each person must decide to live before
God with integrity, without blame, and
renounce every human compromise so he
can remain faithful. God’s grace is always
stronger, and it desires separating the light
from the darkness so that all is recapitulated
in Christ. Prayer must thus lead to the
transformation of life, to a life of holiness in
the degree foreseen by the Lord. Otherwise,
our words remain void and unable to make
manifest the renewing power of the Holy
Spirit.
This journey is the one being opened
up by the Mother of God. She knew how to
say ‘yes’ with sincerity in every moment of
her life, and remained ever faithful to God.
Through this communion in God even Satan
will be defeated if the people freely decide
to belong totally to Jesus.
Chiara Piccinotti
Pope Benedict XVI
on New Communities
New communities, ecclesial movements,
groups of various types: there has been a
fl ourishing in the Church since the Second
Vatican Council. This blossoming in the
Spirit reveals how the Lord desires bringing
new sap into the Body which is the Church,
to rejuvenate her and enrich her with new
charisms, so she can meet the needs of our
time.
Not always, though, does this sprouting
meet with comprehension and consensus.
Rather, and in line with evangelical
teaching, new realities often experience
the “persecution” that Jesus speaks of in
Mark 10:29-30.
Perhaps out of fear of excessive forms
of exuberance, or for fear of losing control,
there is a more than just discernment by
ecclesial authorities which at times turns
into diffi dence towards the novelty, and
what should be a healthy pruning becomes
mutilation, and paternal admonishment
becomes prohibition. So how can the
initiatives of the Spirit be promoted
without the person who should be cultivating
them fi nishing with destroying them?
Pope Benedict XVI himself supplies
the answer. In Rome at a seminar on new
ecclesial movements organized by the
Pontifi cal Council for the Laity (15-17 May
2008) he said to the near 150 bishops from all
round the world: “The ecclesial movements
and new communities are one of the most
important new developments prompted
by the Holy Spirit in the Church for the
implementation of Vatican Council II.”
He pointed out that Paul VI and John
Paul II knew how to welcome, discern,
encourage and promote the sudden irruption
of the new lay realities, which in various
and surprising forms, brought new vitality,
faith and hope to the Church, witnessing to
the joy, the reason and the beauty of being
Christian, with a sense of gratitude for
belonging to the Church.
The Pope, however, underlined: “This
development is still awaiting adequate
comprehension in the light of God’s plan and
of the Church’s mission in the context of our
time.” Many forms of prejudice, resistance
and tension have been overcome, he said,
but there still remains the need to a “more
mature communion of all the ecclesial
components, so that all the charisms, in
regard to their specifi city, can fully and
freely contribute to the building up of the
one Body of Christ.” (…)
“Go out to meet with much love the
movements and new communities; let
us make an effort to know their reality
adequately, without superfi cial impressions
or reductive judgments.” Charity – he said
– is the distinguishing mark of the Good
Shepherd, as it lends authority and effi cacy
to the exercise of the ministry (the clergy)
have been entrusted with.
“Approach with great love the move-
ments and new communities,” urged
the Pope, “in order to gain an adequate
understanding of their reality, without
superficial impressions or reductionist
judgments.
“It also helps us to understand that the
ecclesial movements and new communities
are not a problem or an extra risk that further
weighs on our grave duties. No! They are a
gift of the Lord, a precious resource to enrich
our whole Christian community with their
charisms. Thus, a confi dent welcome that
gives space to and values their contributions
in the life of the local Churches must not
be lacking.”
Diffi culties or incomprehension about
particular questions do not authorize a
closure. The “much love” should inspire
prudence and patience – he said - adding
that Pastors are asked to closely accompany
the movements and new communities with
fatherly concern, cordiality and wisdom, so
that the many gifts they bear can be for the
benefi t of all (…) “The ecclesial movements
and new communities that are just beginning
should, for their part, thoroughly submit
to the discernment and ‘delicate’ and
‘vigilant’ accompaniment of ecclesiastical
authority,” Pope Benedict pointed out, “so
that the authenticity of their charisms and
the solidity of their communion with the
Church can be verifi ed.
“Those who are called to the service
of discernment and leadership,” he said,
should not lord it over the charisms,
but should rather beware of the danger of
suffocating them, resisting the temptation to
make uniform that which the Spirit willed
to be multiform to concur in the building
up and the enlargement of the one Body
of Christ, that the same Spirit makes fi rm
in unity.” (…) In the necessity of making
corrections, they should be done with that
same ‘much love’ – he said. “May the Spirit
of God help us recognize and protect the
marvels that He himself brings forth in the
Church for the good of all men.”
Editor
Without the Holy Spirit
Without the Holy Spirit:
God is far away,
Christ stays in the past,
the Gospel is a dead letter,
the Church is merely an organization,
authority is a matter of domination,
mission a matter of propaganda,
the Liturgy no more than an evocation,
and Christian living a slave morality.
But in the Holy Spirit:
the cosmos is resurrected and groans
with the birth pangs of the Kingdom,
the risen Christ is present,
the Gospel is the power of Life,
the Church shows forth the Holy Trinity,
authority is a liberating service,
mission is a Pentecost,
the Liturgy is both memorial and
anticipation and human action is
deifi ed.
By the late Metropolitan Ignatios of
Latakia, Syria
7
“Prayer groups
are powerful.
Through them I
can see that the
Holy Spirit is
at work in the
world.”
(25 June 2004)
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Sped.Abb.Post.3/70, Aut.Trib.Mant.#13-8,11.86; Legal Dir. A.Lanzani; Printed by DIPRO Treviso
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Nando’s Experience
Nando, who has helped out with the despatch of Echo since the very beginning,
recently experienced something very singular when he was seriously ill. He tells us
in his own words:
“I was feeling very ill when I became aware of a presence close to me, as though
of a friend who was welcoming me. I had the impression it was Our Lady. Despite
the gravity of my state of health, I was very present in the spirit, and I said to Her: ‘I
know you want me with you, but I am not ready because there are still some things I
need to complete for my family which still needs me.” My wife who was next to me
could not understand why I was speaking thus. Mary heard my words and said to me:
“All right, but I have to ask my Son.”
And while I felt a sense of general well-being, my thoughts went to the years spent
for the Echo and the realization of Mary’s plan, and I realized that they were not spent
in vane. This gave me a great trust in her. After this episode my health began to improve
and now I am very well, given my age. When I think that the doctors gave us no hope
of me living I have to say that it was Mary who gave me back not only my physical
health, but also a great sense of peace and trust in the Lord. Now I know that Mary is
truly Mother, and ever so docile to Her Son’s plans.”
Nando’s experience helps us see into the episode of the wedding of Cana. Mary,
as Mother of Jesus, upon seeing the need of others, interceded before her Son, and
He transformed the water into wine for the joy of all. Nando and his wife Lina now
consider his experience a grace from Heaven, a grace to be treasured.
Vademecum for Distributors
of “Echo of Mary”
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.”
“Dear Children, also today I would like to
call you to live the messages” (10.10.85)
“I desire that you be active in living and
communicating the messages” (5 June
1986)
One of the ways we can accept Mary’s
call to spread the messages is by sharing
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please remember not to leave it anywhere
where permission would fi rst be required,
and don’t abandon it to its destiny, but feel
responsible for it, checking occasionally
whether old copies need removing, tidying
up, etc.
Mario Sfriso (printer)
The Lord bless thee and keep thee! May He
show His face to thee, and have mercy on
thee! And may He give thee peace!
Italy, 16 July 2008
Church in Albania:
don’t leave us alone
The Bishops of Albania asked the
Pope not to be left alone before the many
challenges that the Church in their country
is facing. Archbishop Massafra said the
faith of the Church in Albania is “very
alive. Whoever comes to participate in our
liturgies, to see our experiences of faith,
leaves truly impressed by the vitality, a
moving vivacity in the faith experience.
Those who come from Europe have lost this
enthusiasm,” he said.
“This doesn’t mean we don’t have
diffi culties (or) problems, but the crosses
that form part of our daily life show that
there is vitality.”
Among the challenges for the Church in
Albania, the prelate noted “that of secularism,
of the desire to get rich right away, of
emigration - external and also internal, with
fl oating populations, with many problems
also in the area of families.”
B.xvi to Youth
: Eucharist True
Medicine for Immortality
Reflecting on the resurrection of
Lazarus, Benedict XVI said in an address
to the youth (on the 9th March 2008)
that the human being is more than just a
biological being: “Although he is part of
the this great biocosmos, man transcends
it because, certainly, man is always man
with all his dignity, even if he is in a
comatose state, even if he is an embryo; but
if he only lives biologically not all of the
possibilities of his being will be realized,
which open new dimensions.” The fi rst of
these dimensions that he mentions is that
of knowledge, a knowledge that in man, as
distinct from animals, is identifi ed with a
“thirst for the infi nite.”
We all aspire to “drink from the fountain
of life itself,” he said, and for this we
entrust ourselves to the “second dimension
of human nature,” which isthat of love.
“Man is not only a being that knows, but he
lives in a relation of friendship and love...
Science, and medicine in particular (...)
cannot satisfy the desire for eternity that
is proper to man, not even if the pill of
immortality is discovered.
“Let us imagine what would happen
with an immortal biological human life: a
world grown old, a life that would no longer
leave room for young people, for youth, for
this newness of life. So, this cannot be that
immortality [that comes from] drinking of
the fountain of life, which we all desire.”
The only true medicine of immortality
is the Eucharist, and the certainty of being
loved by God - he said.
From the Mailbox
Fr. G. Bellò, Treviso (Italia): Your
Echo is great! It is worthy to be shared
with others, and worthy of the support of
all those who are devoted to Our Lady. As a
priest I offer copies to the Pastoral Council,
the Catechists and my parishioners. I fi nd
in it material for sermons and refl ections.
Blessings!
W.J. Allan, Canada: On the feastday of
Our Lady of Fatima I thought it appropriate
to send my small donation to support that
little jewel: the Echo. It is a little publication,
but it bears a treasure of wisdom (Mary’s
messages), and pages of love, counsel and
consolation.
A group of volunteers from Canosa di
Puglia (Italia): Your beautiful publication
brings peace and prayer into the home. Our
group is made up of volunteers who spend
time every day at the centre for young
handicapped people.
Pope’s Txt msg to YOUTH at WydSyd :
“Young friend, God and his people
expect much from u because u have
within you the Father’s supreme gift:
the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI”
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