Echo of Mary Queen of Peace 203 (January-February 2009)

Download (0.3 MB )

Our Lady’s message, 25

November

2008:

“Dear children! Also today I call you,

in this time of grace, to pray for little Jesus

to be born in your heart. May He, who is

peace itself, give peace to the entire world

through you. Therefore, little children,

pray without ceasing for this turbulent

world without hope, so that you may beco-

me witnesses of peace for all. May hope be-

gin to ﬂ ow through your hearts as a river

of grace. Thank you for having responded

to my call.”

So that Hope might

be born…

On that day you will know that I am in my

Father and you in me and I in you. So says

Jesus to his own (John 14,20) and that day

is the time of the action of the Spirit of Truth

that Jesus promised to those who respect his

commandments (John 14, 15-17). And Paul:

I have been cruciﬁ ed with Christ and it is no

longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me

(Galatians 2, 20). And Mary: Dear Children,

again today I invite you during this time of

grace to pray so that the little Jesus might

be born in your hearts. This is the mystery

that has been hidden for centuries and gene-

rations…that is, Christ in you, hope of glory

(Col 1, 26-27). The incarnation of Jesus, his

birth in man, reveals that man can contain

God.

Now there is no longer any separation

between man and God: the creature is recon-

ciled with his Creator. Now there is no longer

any distance between man and God: God is

in man. Now the Revelation is complete, it

is deﬁ nitive. Now it is our turn to welcome

it in fullness and in all of its capacity, wi-

thout adapting it to ourselves, but actually,

allowing the Spirit to mould us in It. It is not

enough to call ourselves children: we must be

children, live as children. It is not enough to

imitate Jesus: we need to let Jesus live in us,

be children in the Son. Our human abilities

are not sufﬁ cient: we need sacramental life.

The Sacraments are an irreplaceable aid but

they should be experienced: it is not enough

to simply receive them. I am the fruit of the

redeeming sacriﬁ ce of Jesus on the Cross, but

we must let ourselves be nourished by this

fruit, keep its seeds in our hearts and in our

souls until such time as they bloom and grow

and mature in a plant of eternal Life.

Then Jesus will be alive in us and we will

take Him everywhere we are, without efforts,

without artiﬁ ces, in a wholly simple and na-

tural manner, like the breath that we breathe,

like the palpitations that we do not feel but

that keep us alive. Let us pray with Mary, let

us invite her to pray with us, so that truly, re-

ally, Jesus might be born in our hearts. Are

we dirty? It doesn’t matter: Our Mother will

clean us, she will tidy us up, she will make us

suitable for fulﬁ lling what she asks; it is sufﬁ -

cient for us to really want it, for us to ardently

desire this. And how can we not want this?

Creation itself is impatiently waiting for the

revelation of God’s children (Rom 8, 19) and

Mary is urging us so that Jesus, who is the

only peace, might give peace to the who-

le world through us. Isn’t this a wonderful

duty? Actually, much more: it is a divine duty

and we can only fulﬁ l it if Jesus lives in us.

But this is Mary’s, Jesus’, the Father’s wish,

this is what the Spirit expects to fulﬁ l in us

and he will fulﬁ l it divinely as soon as we give

our free consent. What are we waiting for?

Let us pray incessantly for this turbu-

lent and hopeless world. Incessant prayer,

insistent prayer moves God, it almost forces

him to grant the grace requested. Let us ex-

pand our prayer from the closed circle of our

friendships to the whole world, let us make

ourselves witnesses of peace for everyone.

The world is turbulent and hopeless. It is

waiting for peace from us, that peace that

only He can give us, that peace that does not

exist outside of Him. That peace that is the

end of all turbulence because it rests in God,

it lives in Him. Let peace ﬂ ow within our

hearts like a river of grace that restores and

regenerates everything that it laps (Ref Ez 47,

1-12).

Nuccio Quattrocchi

EART

THE

AULINE

EAR

“Saint Paul had understood that being

righteous simply means being with Christ

and in Christ. And this is sufﬁ cient. Other ob-

servations are no longer necessary… Faith is

looking towards Christ, entrusting ourselves

to Christ, attaching ourselves to Christ, con-

forming to Christ, to his life. And the form,

the life of Christ, is love”.

Benedict XVI

Our Lady’s message, 25 December 2008:

“Dear children! You are running, wor-

king, gathering – but without blessing. You

are not praying! Today I call you to stop

in front of the manger and to meditate on

Jesus, Whom I give to you today also, to

bless you and to help you to comprehend

that, without Him, you have no future.

Therefore, little children, surrender your

lives into the hands of Jesus, for Him to lead

you and protect you from every evil. Thank

you for having responded to my call.”

You have no future

without Jesus

Blessing is a divine action that gives life and

of which the Father is the source…From the

beginning to the end of all time, all God’s work

is blessing (Catechism of the Catholic Church,

texts 1078 and 1079). Imploring a divine bles-

sing on somebody or something means expo-

sing it to Life, it means directing it towards

the fullness of live that comes from the Father.

Dear children, you run, you work, you ga-

ther but without blessing. In these words the-

re is the bitterness of a Mother who is aware

of the fact that without blessing the fruit is not

adequate for the effort, life is a blind, frenetic

agitation that consumes more than what it pro-

duces, that destroys more than what it builds.

Sucked in by an ever more swirling pre-

sent, we lose the sense of the transcendent; we

conceal ourselves within the present instant,

forgetting the past, uninterested in the future.

The profound essence of what we are escapes

us, the importance of what we do, of what we

see, of what we touch, of what we want. We

are losing the sense of things, of our actions,

of what is good and what is evil. “See, I have

set before you today life and good, death and

evil, in that I command you today to love the

LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to

keep His commandments, His statutes, and His

judgments, that you may live and multiply; and

the LORD your God will bless you…(Dt 30,

15 – 16).

You cannot enter Life without God’s bles-

sing; the alternative to the blessing is the curse

(Dt 11 26-28) We cannot live without Him, wi-

thout communicating with Him, that is, without

praying. Pray incessantly, Paul warns us (1 Ts

5, 17). But: You do not pray!, Mary says to us.

And “not praying” means not paying attention

to God, not turning to Him, not communicating

with Him, in other words, it means excluding

him from our lives or, in the same way, exclu-

ding ourselves from His Life, living without a

future is like grass that grows up in the mor-

ning and is cut down in the evening (Ref Psalm

89 (90)).

Today I invite you to linger in front of

the crib and meditate on Jesus whom I give

to you today also, so that he might bless you

and help you to understand that you have

no future without Him. Let us take this invita-

January-February 2009 - Year 25 # 1-2 - Echo of Mary, Via Cremona, 28 - 46100 Mantova - Italy.

www.ecodimaria.net - A translation of the original Italian: Eco di Maria

203

tion into serious consideration. First of all, the

crib: this simple, humble, wonderful homage

to Jesus and Mary promoted by Saint Francis

of Assisi in Greccio in 1223, is still an expres-

sion of faith and prayer for the Catholic people

today; Mary invites us to linger in front of it.

To grasp its profound meaning, to make it an

instrument of prayer, it is not sufﬁ cient to quic-

kly pass in front of it; we need to stop in front

of the crib. We need to take in what it expres-

ses, we need to grasp its message, and we need

to enter into the Event.

I invite you to meditate on Jesus, whom I

give to you again today, Mary says to us; not

only the historical memory of the Event but its

renewal today. Today too, Mary gives us the

gift of Jesus. She does not give us a memory,

she gives us Jesus: we can refuse him or wel-

come him; but if we welcome him, we must

welcome him like He is. Not an idea, a plan,

a rule, but God-Man, God who comes in Man,

God who comes in you, in me, to live in each

of us. His Presence in us is the greatest, sta-

ble, deﬁ nitive blessing from Him, to refuse this

Presence means to refuse Life; without Him

we have no future, without Him we cannot do

anything (John 15, 5b). Oh Father, accept our

offering on this night of light, and through this

mysterious exchange of gifts, transform us into

Christ your Son, who raised man up, alongside

you, in glory (Offertory of the Mass of the night

of Christmas). I have been cruciﬁ ed with Christ

and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who

lives in me (Galatians 2, 20). Therefore, chil-

dren, abandon your lives into Jesus’ hands

so that He might guide you and protect you

from all evil.

N.Q.

B r i e f l y

One million Bibles will be distributed

this new year by the international Ecumenical

community of Taizé, through “Operation

hope”. This is “a sign of love and communion

for the people of China”, said the Prior of the

community, Brother Alois.

“Man cannot live on bread alone!”,

warn the French Bishops in a document that

opposes the planned law for work on Sundays.

For Christians above all, Sunday is a day of

rest and also of freedom from evil through

the resurrection of Christ. “The Sunday ga-

thering celebrates the “celestial banquet” in

advance, and the hope for the return of the

Lord. At the same time, the Sunday Mass ex-

presses the meaning and the aim of the life of

Christians”, explains the document.

“Fight poverty, build peace” is the

theme of World Peace Day. In his message,

the Pope explained that there is: “The pover-

ty that is chosen and proposed by Jesus on

the one hand, and the poverty to be fought

against to make the world more righteous and

united on the other”. In fact, “There is a po-

verty, an indigence, that God does not want

and that should be “fought”. In order to put

an end to this unjust poverty that oppresses

so many men and women and that threatens

everyone’s peace, we need to rediscover two

evangelical and universal values: sobriety

and solidarity”. In actual fact, “we cannot

effectively ﬁ ght misery, if we do not reduce

the inequality between those who waste the

superﬂ uous and those who are even lacking

the essential”.

The year dedicated to the ﬁ gure of Saint

Paul continues and his work continues to

arouse a signiﬁ cant amount of interest. As

we know, his work is one of the biblical

fundamentals on which the Church and in

general the pathway of every Christian lies.

Everywhere there are many initiatives aimed

at developing the Apostle’s awareness of the

people and the inheritance left by him: a very

rich patrimony from which we can continuou-

sly draw teachings and examples.

But above all, it is on the anniversary of

his conversion, the 25

of January, the date

that also closes the traditional octave of pra-

yer for the unity of Christians, that the Roman

Basilica of Saint Paul will be particularly

populated. In fact, ofﬁ cial representatives of

the different Christian confessions will come

from all over the world for the celebration of

the solemn Vespers presided over by Pope

Benedict XVI.

In his preaching, the Holy Father never

fails to mention the extracts from Paul’s let-

ters, as a testimony of the completeness of

Paul’s thought and the universal capacity of

his message. We will outline some of his con-

siderations below regarding two themes that

were dear to Saint Paul: the second coming of

Christ and evangelisation.

“Do not fear the coming

of the Lord!”

“When faced with the parousia, that is,

the latest coming of Jesus, Christians must

adopt three types of behaviour: absence of

fear, hope and faith in divine mercy”, explains

the Holy Father.

Firstly, one of the essential effects of

Christian preaching in the ancient world, as

in the current pagan world, was freedom from

fear, “the fear of the spirits, of the evil powers

that threaten us. Christ lives, he has conquered

death and he has won over all these powers. In

this certainty, in this freedom, in this joy we

live. This is the ﬁ rst aspect of our living with

regard to the future”.

Secondly, he added, “in Christ the world

of the future has already commenced, this

also gives the certainty of hope. Without

Christ, the future is dark for the world today

also, there is lots of fear for the future. The

Christian knows that the light of Christ is

stronger and therefore he lives in a hope that

is not vague, in a hope that gives certainty and

courage to face the future”.

Thirdly, the Christian must always adopt

a behaviour of responsibility for the world:

“Working and knowing in our responsibility

that God is a true judge, we are also sure that

this judge is good, we know his face, the face

of the risen Christ, of Christ cruciﬁ ed for us.

Therefore we can be sure of his goodness and

go onwards with great courage”. Only if we

cultivate it in our hearts can this experience

“make the sufferings of the present moment

tolerable, they are not comparable with future

glory”.

The fundamental message that Saint Paul

transmits in the letter to the Thessalonians re-

garding the return of Christ, beyond the ima-

ges with which he describes him, is that “our

future is ‘being with the Lord’ ”, regarding

believers, in our life we are already with the

Lord, our future, eternal life, has already be-

gun”.

Throughout the entire period of Advent,

in the liturgy, the Church repeated: “Maranà

thà!”, which literally means “Come, our

Lord!”. “Can we too also pray in this man-

ner?”, Benedict XVI asks himself. “It seems

to me that for us today, in our life, in our

world, it is difﬁ cult to pray sincerely so that

this world might perish, so that the new

Jerusalem might come, so that the last jud-

gement and the judge Christ might come….

And yet we must pray that “the world might

be fundamentally changed, that the civilisa-

tion of love might commence, that a world

of justice, peace, without violence, without

hunger might come. We want all of this: and

how can this happen without the presence of

Christ?”

(from the General Audience of 12

November 2008).

“Only those who have

met him….”

The theme of evangelisation is more cur-

rent than ever during our era, which is mar-

ked profoundly by that which the Holy Father

calls the curse of “relativism”. Paul’s ability

to bring the annunciation of the kingdom to

all peoples, today becomes an essential requi-

rement in order to topple the walls of indif-

ference and disinterestedness that surround

man’s heart and that defend an ever-growing

and worrying individualism. For this reason,

the Pope reminds us how the concept of Saint

Paul’s apostolate “went beyond that linked

only to the group of the Twelve”.

But what makes a true apostle of a man?

The Pontiff explains: “In Paul’s writings the-

re are three main characteristics that make

the apostle, the ﬁ rst is that of having “seen

the Lord”, that is, of having had a meeting

with him that was determining for one’s own

life”. Beginning from this meeting in fact,

Paul began his mission, because he who had

persecuted the Church ferociously “could not

continue to live like before, now he felt inve-

sted by the Lord with the duty to announce his

Gospel as an apostle”.

Although he always felt unworthy, Paul is

sure of his apostolate because “it is in it that

the fertility of God’s grace is expressed, God

who knows how to transform a ﬂ awed man

into a wonderful apostle”. “Deﬁ nitively, it

is the Lord who constitutes someone in the

apostolate, not one’s own presumption. The

apostle is not self-made, he is made as he is

by the Lord; therefore, the apostle needs to

constantly relate to the Lord”, underlines the

Pope.

“Having been sent”, that is, being an “am-

bassador and bearer of a message”. This is the

second characteristic. Paul deﬁ nes himself as

an apostle of Jesus beginning from the fact

that the initiative was only Christ’s: “from

Him a mission was received, to be fulﬁ lled in

his name, putting all personal interest in se-

cond place”.

Finally, dedicating one’s own life to this

mission is the third characteristic. “That of

“apostle”, in fact, is not and cannot be an ho-

norary title. It fully and dramatically involves

the entire existence of the party involved”, the

Pontiff reminds us. And so those who wish

THE

EAR

DEDICATED

AINT

AUL

THE

EAR

DEDICATED

AINT

AUL

Echo 203

to be one of Jesus Christ’s credible apost-

les cannot but personally pay the dear pri-

ce of the annunciation: “Nobody like Paul

has highlighted how the annunciation of the

cross of Christ appears to be “scandal and

stupidity”, to which many people react with

incomprehension and refusal. This happened

at that time and we must not be surprised that

the same thing also happens today”. But the-

se sufferings cannot “crush” because they are

always accompanied by the “joy of being the

bearer of God’s blessing and of the grace of

the Gospel”.

“This is the certainty, the deep joy that

guides the apostle Paul throughout all of these

events: nothing can separate us from God’s

love. And this love is the true wealth of hu-

man life”, the Pontiff concluded.

Editorial Staff

A new blossoming

for astronomy

2009 marks the celebration of the fourth

centenary since Galileo Galilei’s ﬁ rst ob-

servations thanks to the telescope. This

event inspired UNESCO to proclaim World

Astronomy Year. Pope Benedict XVI has re-

called this initiative on several occasions, un-

derlining the fact that we are currently seeing

a “new blossoming” in this ﬁ eld, “thanks to

the passion and faith of many scientists, who

– following in Galileo’s footsteps – do not

renounce either reason or faith, but actually

value both to the utmost, in their reciprocal

fertility”.

Perhaps not everyone knows that in the

far of 1600’s, Galileo was condemned by

the Church for his convictions on the theory

of the earth moving around the sun, which,

according to the Holy Ofﬁ ce, contradicted

what was written in the Bible according to the

Holy Spirit, and that is, that the earth was the

immobile centre of the universe. John Paul II

was the one who re-qualiﬁ ed the reputation

of the Florentine mathematician after no less

than 300 years of scientiﬁ c research.

A few months ago, the new pope returned

to address the subject again: “Christian thou-

ght compares the cosmos to a “book” – so

said Galileo also – considering it as the work

of an author”, according to this book, he afﬁ r-

med, “it is divine love, incarnated in Christ,

that is the fundamental and universal law of

creation. This should not be understood in a

poetic sense, but in a real sense. This means

that the stars, the planets, the whole universe

are not governed by a blind force, they do not

obey the dynamics of matter only”.

Astronomy therefore is also at the centre

of many people’s attention in the Church:

“Among my predecessors of venerated me-

mory – recalled the Pope – there were ex-

perts in this science”. It is worth noticing

that the Specola Vaticana, founded in 1578

by Gregory XIII, is among the most ancient

astronomy observatories.

But why does astronomy attract the

Church’s attention so much? First of all

we see how the rhythm of the religious cele-

brations are inserted into the lunar and solar

cycles. Easter is combined with the equinox

and the full moon and “the position of the fe-

ast of Christmas is associated with the Winter

solstice, when the days in the northern hemi-

sphere start to get long again” the Pope re-

called this in one of his Christmas homilies.

Astronomy has always made its contribution

to the ﬁ eld of sacred architecture also: “an-

cient cathedrals were veritable cosmic repre-

sentations. Their orientation indicated the car-

dinal points, the solar clock dictated the hours

of the day…This reminds us of the function of

astronomy in articulating prayer times”, con-

tinues Benedict XVI.

There is also another important factor.

Gazing towards the heavens helps man to put

himself in the right perspective before God,

that is, it allows him to admit his smallness

and to make space for the wonder that leads

to true adoration, as is the case for the Wise

Men from the East. It is for this reason that

the observation of the universe is felt by the

Church to be a veritable service of praise to

the Creator: “If the heavens “narrate the glo-

ry of God”, as the psalm says, the laws of na-

ture are also a great stimulus in contemplating

I M P L E

T H O U G H T S

by Pietro Squassabia

the Lord’s works with a sense of gratitude”.

It is a great opportunity for all of us,

God’s people on our pathway, to allow

ourselves to be attracted by what the Church

will succeed in developing in this “astrono-

mical year”, in the awareness that the birth of

the Creator of the universe on earth actually

has a cosmic capacity. The mystery of God

who becomes man, in fact, answers every

man’s need and the need of all of creation, as

the Pope also stated: “Apart from its histori-

cal dimension, this mystery of salvation also

has a cosmic dimension: Christ is the sun of

grace, which, with its light, transﬁ gures and

enlightens the universe that is waiting…It is

not therefore the cosmic element that should

be divinised, but the opposite, in everything

and beyond everything, there is a personal

will, the Spirit of God, which revealed itself

in Christ as Love”.

Editorial Staff

Like ﬂ owers in the garden

Simple and unassuming ﬂ owers can create pleasant ﬂ owerbeds like no other ﬂ ower can

manage to produce on its own even if it is very beautiful. The expert work of a gardener is

obviously necessary to arrange them in a suitable manner, in soil that is appropriate for the

garden, which is well fertilized and irrigated. They may even be almost insigniﬁ cant ﬂ owers

but if well arranged alongside each other, they can create a pleasant and harmonious view. But

a ﬂ ower will only grow freely if it allows itself to be “guided”, developing its utmost abilities,

if there, where the gardener put it, it does not stumble upon obstacles, such as unsuitable soil,

briars and anything else that may impede vigorous and beautiful growth. As long as the garde-

ner takes care of the ﬂ owers.

This gardener refers us back to another “gardener”, the celestial gardener, God, who arran-

ged a beautiful garden on earth, with stupendous ﬂ owerbeds, although consisting of humble

and simple “ﬂ owers” - human beings. Here, the “celestial gardener” assigned a precise place

to the “ﬂ owers”, according to the soil that is most suitable for each of them, on the basis of the

irrigation and the fertilizer considered to be most appropriate for each ﬂ ower. Here, positioned

harmoniously one alongside the other and not isolated, the “ﬂ owers” grow freely and splen-

didly because they are not impeded by stones, briars or weeds, that the gardener knows how

to remove. Yes, here the “ﬂ owers” are free to love with the love of God, to think with God’s

thoughts, to want according to God’s wishes. Here, in God’s garden, man can experience what

is true. For this reason he is free to love everyone, even those who are indifferent or who cause

him to suffer. He has no reservations for anyone.

This is the look of the new land, that houses the ﬂ owering garden that Jesus, coming onto

the earth, came to bring: where everyone, without “stones” to impede them, is given the ability

to love everyone, with no exclusions, with the same love of God. Mary invites us to grow in the

beautiful ﬂ owering garden prepared by her Son: it is up to us to conﬁ rm our willingness. Here,

Mary lets us grow as splendid ﬂ owers, if we let her work.

Beyond appearance

A newborn baby, a fragile and defenceless little body, this is the appearance of God who

comes to earth. This is the form in which he chose to express his love to us. Certainly Jesus,

hidden treasure, believed this to be the best way to come among us. He is the Treasure contai-

ned in a “vase” that is not precious and robust, but a clay vase, that is fragile and precarious like

the human body. He could have chosen a resistant and prized “vase” and yet no, he preferred a

humble vase of clay, perhaps to help us understand that what seems strong and is ostentatious,

often obscures the Treasure, making it impossible to ﬁ nd.

Already on many occasions in the past, God said, also through the prophets, that he does not

look at appearance but at the heart (1 Sam 16, 7). But man was unable to understand and do

what was said to him: to look beyond appearance. And so the Father sent his Son to give man

this ability: to truly see beyond appearance, to be able to catch a glimpse of God in creation, in

everyday people. In this way, every meeting with our neighbour can become an occasion during

which to meet with God. It is up to us, now, to grasp this possibility that is given to us, this gift.

Only in this manner will we be able to contemplate God’s beauty in creatures, only in this way

every person, regardless of how he presents himself, will be seen as an expression of God’s

love, only in this way will we be able to thank our God for all his wonders.

What a great gift! If we preserve it, perhaps we will understand that the love of Jesus always

passes through his brother, without the preferences that we make. Then we will be able to disco-

ver the Treasure even where we don’t imagine that we will ﬁ nd it. With a humble heart, we will

be able to know the many occasions that are given to us to meet the Lord. Then perhaps, we will

discover that Mary came to Medjugorje to show the Treasure, beyond all appearances. Thank

you Jesus, because through your coming, you allow us to meet you, you who are God, and also

your Mother and ours, beyond all appearances. Thank you Jesus, because you let us understand

that love alone, the source of which lies in You, can let us see beyond all appearance.

MARY, STAR

of HOPE

by Giuseppe Ferraro

There are many authoritative voices wi-

thin the Church, but also in lay culture that

now agree in identifying the obscure evil that

torments the world in a generalised eclipse

of hope. We are in fact being pursued more

and more by a crowd of fearful spectres with

many faces: terrorism, devastating economic

crises, the rapid collapse of fundamental va-

lues, that seem to irreparably threaten the fu-

ture of the world and more solidly, of our life

and that of those who live alongside us. The

false hopes fed by the great utopian ideolo-

gies of the last century have also disastrously

collapsed, leaving fragments of a distressing

nothingness behind.

The most acute spiritual aggression no-

wadays seems aimed at making the hope that

lies in the hearts of men die. Hope, in fact, is

indissolubly linked to Faith and Charity by

its essential nature, it represents the incarnate

expression of the presence of the Life of God

in the souls of his children. “Pray children

in a special way because Satan is strong and

he wants to destroy the hope in your hearts”

(Message 25.08.1994).

Although it beneﬁ cially illuminates all

the dimensions of human life and action,

Christian Hope still belongs to an essential-

ly different order from all others that were

subjected to the conditioning and socio eco-

nomic occurrences of the world. It in fact

has a precise object and name: “eternal life”

as the stable, full communion with Life and

with the Heart of God, towards which the

Queen of Peace has been tirelessly calling

her children for more than twenty-seven ye-

ars. “For Christians there is a single beha-

viour to adopt as regards the future: the hope

of salvation” (Message 10.06.1982) “I want

to show you the pathway towards eternal

life.”(Message 02.02.1990).

Mary is undoubtedly the true Mother

and Mistress of Hope. In fact, if Abraham

“had faith against all hope and thus beca-

me the Father of many peoples” (Rm 4,18),

Mary did much more so in her “roaming in

faith” which comes to a climax at the foot

of the Cross, she becomes the Mother of the

redeemed, bearing witness to all generations

regarding what is the supreme measure of

The art of living

the time

by Stefania Consoli

Our God has entered time, to sanctify it,

to make it sacred and good. If lived in the

light of grace, every instant contains bits of

eternity, because in God everything expands,

it loses its contours and takes on immense ho-

rizons, beyond all logic and measurement.

Everyone has experienced, at least once

in their lives, how through a smile, a gaze

or a word, love is capable of reaching us in

our most intimate selves and giving our heart

full joy, a sense of fulﬁ lment that seems to

have no beginning or end. Suddenly we feel

in peace and in harmony with everything and

everyone, everything seems favourable and

even adversities seem to lessen. It is as thou-

gh time were to stand still, and we would like

to remain there, to enjoy that ﬂ ash of peace-

fulness.

God, Love did this, entering our history:

he ﬁ lled it with himself, giving it immortali-

ty, transforming what sin had made corrup-

tible and ended into eternal. Love, in short,

that is the only force capable of overturning

the inﬂ exible laws of time and space and re-

establishing the primordial balances.

A slave of clocks that implacably mark

out commitments, occupations and duties,

man worries, he runs or better said, he runs

after time which seems to ﬂ ee and never be

sufﬁ cient. He would like to stop it to “suc-

ceed in getting everything done…”. But he

cannot! And so, distressed, he evades with

his mind into ideal paradises or into unreal

situations with the illusion of catching his

breath, imagining a peace that is however

only a fantasy.

We ﬂ ee the present that we feel to be too

tight, sometimes detesting it, but we easily

forget that the Inﬁ nite has come to inhabit it,

to extend our little view and to project our

heart into the beyond that awaits us. The

Lord became very tiny, to enter into huma-

nity made of clay; but he wants to grow in

us and with us, in time, to transform us into

beings of heaven.

Those who know how to pray, know

what it means. True prayer immerses us in

a dimension where everything appears to

be accessible, “visitable”, if we really allow

ourselves to be grasped by the Spirit. We can

move freely, from one place to another, from

one time to another, while remaining stable.

It is the soul that goes…And while we savour

the taste of full freedom, prayer also helps

us to stop and ponder on the priorities of our

daily life, to identify what is useless, and then

only choose what is necessary.

Knowing how to manage our time is an

art that God has given to us, offering us a hi-

story that bears traces of the incarnation of

his Son everywhere, who came to visit it to

give body and fulﬁ lment to all of our actions.

Jesus, beginning and end, alfa and omega…

He is the metre stick with which we should

measure reality, in order to experience it

knowledgeably, to value all things that are

created, every event, every hour, and to love

it like He loves it.

If the “glory of God is living man”, then

Christian hope. In fact, as the prophetic word

of the 2

Vatican Council proclaims (Lumen

Gentium No. 68): “The Mother of Jesus…

now shines before God’s wandering people

as a sign of safe hope and consolation, until

such time as the Lord’s day shall come (ref.

2 Pt 3,10)”.

The grace that God gives to the world to-

day through the Queen of Peace, well beyond

every precious doctrinal enunciation, strikes

the body and soul of her children, calling them

to experience an unimaginable love, given as

a gift from above, “if you knew how much I

love you, you’d cry tears of joy!” (Message

01.03.1982). Only this intimate “knowledge”

of the mystery of the boundless Love of God

that ﬂ ows from the Heart of Christ and Mary

can make us true makers of hope. Being able

to spiritually “touch” God’s Heart through

Her; the entire celestial Church, in fact, re-

presents the truest and most precious gift of

the grace of Medjugorje.

The Queen of Peace opens up a hori-

zon of light for us, that goes beyond Hope,

allowing us at the same time, to savour all

of its fullness. In fact, already in the present,

she makes that mystery of communion with

Trinitarian Life that is the object of Christian

Hope liveable and “visible”. “But hope that

is seen is not hope; for why does one still

hope for what he sees?” (Rm 8,24).

We are therefore deeply convinced that

it is only by unconditionally welcoming this

extraordinary gift that God offers us in this

time, through the Queen of Peace, that it will

be truly possible to “open up the pathways

of hope” to the world of today and to the full

realisation of the universal mission of the

Church.

If we decide in fact to unreservedly

and truthfully answer Mary’s invitation to

make us creators and instruments of hope for

the men of this time, welcoming and giving

to our brothers, through Her, that same love

of the celestial Lamb that illuminates the new

Jerusalem, then Her Immaculate Heart will

truly triumph throughout the universe, so

as to allow the full and deﬁ nitive victory of

Christ to shine forth over all powers of evil

and over all shadows of death that torment

the world: “Pray so that from your hearts

a fountain of Love might ﬂ ow forth over all

men, and on those who hate you and scorn

you; so with God’s love you might be able to

conquer all misery in that world of pain that

is hopeless for those who do not know Jesus”

(Ref. Message 25.11.1991).

“Christian hope goes beyond the legitimate wait for a social and political libera-

tion, because what Jesus began is a new humanity, that comes “from God”, but at the

same time, it germinates in this land of ours, in the measure in which it allows itself to

be fertilized by the Spirit of the Lord. It is therefore a question of entering fully into

the logic of faith: believing in God, in his plan for salvation, and at the same time,

making a commitment to build his Kingdom. Justice and peace, in fact, are a gift from

God, but they require men and women who are “good land”, ready to welcome the

good seed of his Word.

The ﬁ rstling of this new humanity is Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary. She, the

Virgin Mother, is the “pathway” that God himself prepared to come into the world.

With all her humility, Mary walks at the head of the new Israel, in the exodus from

all exile, from all oppression, from all moral and material slavery, towards “the new

heavens and the new earth, wherein righteousness dwells” (2 Pt 3, 13). We place our

trust in her maternal intercession, awaiting peace and salvation of men in our time”.

(Benedict XVI, Angelus of 7

December)

BENEDICT XVI

“The Rosary

is contemplative prayer”

“We need to personally experience the

beauty and the depth of this prayer which is

simple and accessible to everyone” explains

the Holy Father at the end of the prayer of

the Holy Rosary, recited in the Basilica of

Pompei, dedicated to none other than the

Virgin of the Rosary. “First of all, we need

to allow the Virgin Mary to take us by the

hand and we need to contemplate the face of

Christ: a joyous, luminous, painful and glo-

rious face. Those who, like Mary and with

Her, guard and assiduously mediate on the

mysteries of Jesus, assimilate his sentiments

more and more and become conformant to

Him.

The Rosary is school of contemplation

and silence. At ﬁ rst sight, it may seem to be

a prayer that accumulates words that are the-

refore difﬁ cult to reconcile with the silence

that is rightly recommended for meditation

and contemplation. In reality, this rhythmic

repetition of the Hail Mary does not disturb

interior silence, actually, it requires it and fe-

eds it. As is the case for the Psalms, when we

pray the Liturgy of the Hours, silence blooms

through words and phrases, not like an em-

ptiness, but like a presence of ultimate sense

that transcends words themselves and with

them, speaks to the heart. And so, reciting the

Hail Mary, we need to be careful to ensure

that our voices do not “cover” that of God,

who always speaks through silence, like the

“murmur of a light breeze” (1 Kings 19,12).

It is so important then to take care of this si-

lence full of God both in personal recitation

and in community recitation! Even when it is

prayed by large assemblies, it is necessary for

the Rosary to be perceived as a contemplati-

ve prayer, and this cannot come about if there

is no climate of inner silence.

The Rosary is contemplative prayer

that is accessible to everyone: old and young,

lay people and clerics, educated and less well

educated. It is a spiritual bond with Mary

to remain united with Jesus, to become like

Him, to be like his feelings and behave like

He behaved.

The Rosary is a spiritual “weapon” in

the ﬁ ght against evil, against all violence,

for peace in hearts, in families, in society and

in the world”.

(Pompei, 19 October 2008).

Lord Jesus, we are living in times

in which efﬁ ciency,

planning and tangible results

are exalted. This is not the logic

of your gospel and for this

we give you thanks!

We remain in our furrow,

we soak in silence,

we mature in concealment,

certain that this is the only

“efﬁ cient” pathway

that produces

and continues to create

a surprising dynamism

of love!

Brother Michael Davide

living our time with passion and intensity,

with respect and awareness of the opportuni-

ty that is given, means giving honour to the

Author of time and eternity.

“I want to do ordinary things extraordi-

narily”, Saint Teresina used to write. But this

is only possible if we carry the very heart of

the Loved one in our chest, seeking His face

in all things, looking with His eyes, deciding

with His criteria. Without running, so as not

to allow the taste of life to escape us. If we al-

ways learn to choose the essential, we will in

fact also be able to perceive what hurry often

conceals from us: details that may perhaps

seem insigniﬁ cant, but that are unique and

therefore beautiful.

Our God has entered the temple. He en-

tered through Mary. A woman among wo-

men, but ample within, to the point where

Immensity came to dwell in Her: a cradle to

be born, a nest in which to grow, a mother

to become a man. And living in the time, in

little Nazareth, where only love, sacriﬁ ced in

peace, marked out the days.

you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”.

To become like children….an apparently

strange suggestion. Nevertheless, the only

one that allows us to discover and set out in

God’s footsteps. This school teaches to ac-

cept God Trinity as he is, in his impenetrable

otherness, in his unheard of and endless abi-

lity to surprise.

This is how the prayer of adoration and

praise is born and ﬂ ows forth, the hymn

of the Amen, the Alleluia, the Hosanna. At

the same time as I accept and welcome the

Trinitarian obscurity, I allow myself to be en-

veloped in it and I answer with the embrace

of my loving welcome that destroys all sha-

dows of resentment, impatience, irritation

and protest.

In fact: AMEN is consent, acceptan-

ce, peaceful welcoming. The happiness of

saying to GOD: I am happy to be “nothing”

and that You alone are everything!

This biblical Amen is mysterious. An

Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin word. It can-

not be translated. It expresses adoration as

unconditional adhesion to God Trinity: the

mind with faith, the will with hope, the he-

art with love. AMEN! A delicious hymn that

begins in the temple, waits to explode, sacred

and unchangeable, in eternity.

ALLELUIA! It too is a sacred word,

brought by the Angels to the earth, un-

translatable. From the Bible, it entered into

the laudatory and eucharistic liturgy of the

Church, constituting an endless mine. It ex-

presses praise, approval, esteem,

applause, admiration, exaltation, ho-

mage, gloriﬁ cation of God because

he is God.

HOSANNA is on a par with

Amen and Alleluia: it declares

exultance, joy, enthusiasm, applau-

ding consent. Explosive praise that

illuminates time and stretches out, tirelessly,

towards eternity.

The Holy Spirit urges Christ’s disciples

to identify themselves, to transform them-

selves into Amen, Alleluia, Hosanna, giving

life to a tireless adoring prayer, the prayer par

excellence on earth, remaining such also in

Celestial Glory.

It can be put into practice anywhere: be-

fore the Blessed Sacrament exposed or enclo-

sed within the tabernacle of the altar, before

the icon of the Cruciﬁ x. In one’s own home.

Immersing ourselves in an elevating and

solitary daily and nightly landscape. Sitting

down, walking. For a few minutes or for a

long time. With our mouth, with our heart.

Let us acclaim, let us invoke, let us praise

God the Most High, happy to know that he

is present everywhere in the world, in the

Church, in the soul, in the heart.

The Bible meets the adorers of the God

Trinity offering the inestimable mine of

150 psalms, prayers in a poetic form inspired

by the Holy Spirit. They are a special terrain

for an authentic experience of God.

Praying the Psalms we, terrestrial Church,

unite ourselves to the celestial Church to ele-

vate a single hymn of praise, thanksgiving,

exultance and supplication to God, pending

the elating day on which the sun will never

set.

(from: “Tirelessly” by Lorenzo Netto)

2. To be continued

EARN PRAYER

A d o r a t i o n

a n d p r a i s e

This is the most glorifying form of pra-

yer of the Most Blessed Trinity. We will

only be able to understand it after having

experienced our absolute inability to

raise ourselves up and to enter into

the mysterious divine world, if God

himself does not take the initiative.

Men and women saints (men

and women who were made experts

in Trinitarian secrets) teach us that

divine reality is so intensely bright

that it is dazzling, it is so provoca-

tive that it produces absolute, blinding sha-

dows. Because, even when God reveals him-

self and speaks, he always remains He who

is, ineffable, transcendent, sublime, myste-

rious, Other!

In actual fact, throughout the entire extent

of that immense library that is the Bible (Old

and New Testament), God reveals himself

through words, terms, expressions, images

that seem to contradict each other. Symbols

and images produce the sensation of cancel-

ling each other out. In fact: God is merciful,

patient, kind, gentle, ready to forgive… but

he is also righteous, demanding, overwhel-

ming, violent. Lamb and lion…friend and

thief…lover and judge. Surprising. Always

a bit beyond, a little more than what I could

imagine.

Trinitarian words, expressions, ima-

ges and symbols are all true in themsel-

ves. Each of them expresses a real quality.

They are enormous windows, opened wide

over unimaginable, extraordinary views. And

nevertheless, they remain absolutely inade-

quate, impotent and incapable of expressing

(each of them) the Trinitarian reality that

inﬁ nitely transcends human reason. Biblical

language is willingly obscure and apparently

contradictory. It confuses conceited know-

ledge, the arrogant ambition of any science

and human culture.

At the entrance to the evangelical school

we ﬁ nd the following written in large charac-

ters: “if you do not become like children,

A safe bridge

At the beginning of December, many

Italians took advantage of the four days

of holidays called: “The long weekend of

the Immacolata”. It is a long weekend that

starts with the feast of Saint Nicholas of

Bari and then ends with the Solemnity of the

Immaculate Conception.

Saint Nicolas is the patron saint of sai-

lors, and during those days a protector of that

kind was necessary for those who started out

on their journey from Italy through a parti-

cularly choppy sea: a courageous journey

to celebrate the “Virgin Mother, daughter of

your Son, humble and high more than any

creature…” (Dante Alighieri) in Medjugorje.

With their pilgrimage, these people actually

built a beautiful “bridge” over the sea, thus

creating the arch of celestial blessing that ac-

companied them throughout their journey. A

blessing that they had implored through pra-

yers, sacriﬁ ces and renunciations. Interesting

architecture…

In the song of the Dawn

In the liturgy of Advent, the Marian

character is very much underlined, and this

should not surprise us given Mary’s speciﬁ c

role in the mystery of the Incarnation of the

Son of God.

In Medjugorje votive masses dedicated to

the Most Blessed Virgin are usually celebra-

ted, they are called “Rorate” or also: “Masses

of the dawn”. The Latin term “rorate” is ta-

ken from the entrance antiphon of the Mass:

“Rorate caeli desuper…” and that is: “Drip

from on high, oh heavens, your dew…”

At six o’clock in the morning, it is mo-

stly young people and children who meet in

church before school to sing with great enthu-

siasm to the sound of guitars, ﬂ utes and other

instruments that are occasionally improvised,

to accompany the eucharistic celebration.

People gather in great numbers and bring

with them an alert heart, brimming with that

joy that is typical of the grace of Advent.

The presence of so many faithful does

not merely originate from the desire to keep

a beautiful tradition alive, but from the awa-

reness that we must learn from Mary to wait

for Christ, to listen to His word and to enter

into the fulﬁ lment of God’s will. Mary beco-

mes Mother of Christ because she is open to

the Word of God, because she welcomes the

will of the Father with all her heart and she

sacriﬁ ces herself fully for the work of her

Son ….She is the DAWN of the SUN from

on high!

“It does not matter if you are

a woman or a man

as now once again

we all become children of one God;

children like He who is born of the Virgin

He who was made man for our salvation…

He, Light from true Light

shines forth in our hearts

and with His dazzling

he quenches all obscurity…”

Who are the true inhabitants
of Medjugorje?

Once, when passing along the road in

front of the Church of Saint James, I asked

myself: “Who are the true inhabitants of

Medjugorje?” Here the people of Herzegovina

live along with the many foreigners who

work here: they too are citizens of this place,

together with their families…

But Jesus’ words suddenly came to mind:

“Who is my mother and who are my bro-

thers…My mother and my brothers are these

who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke

8, 21). Yes, blood relations do exist, but the

Master shows another link: the link in the

Holy Spirit…

And once again I repeated the question to

myself, but this time I extended it slightly:

“Who are the true inhabitants of Medjugorje,

who are the true heirs of this grace that has

been given to the whole world?” Are they not

perhaps those who listen to and allow them-

selves to be shaken by the invitation of the

Queen of Peace? Are they not perhaps tho-

se who open their hearts to true, deep and

effective conversion? Are they not perhaps

those who for this generates fruits of peace,

reconciliation, mercy, regardless of the pla-

ce where they are or what they do? Are they

not perhaps those who were “born” here at

Mary’s place and who welcomed her as their

Mother and Queen?

Then I asked myself another question:

“Am I among them?!”. And smiling to my-

self I answered: “Perhaps, but there is lots to

be done…and so: it’s time to get to work!”.

It’s happening in Medjugorje...

From Halina’s notes

Father Jozo:

“Nothing is more important

than a heart that prays”

“Every one of Our Lady’s messages is a

special gift and a solemn feast in the heart

and in the soul. The mother speaks. Yes, the

Mother of my God puts an end to the silen-

ce of her heart and speaks to her children,

educating them and inspiring them by means

of grace. I am always sincerely grateful for

every message, for every word and for every

pilgrim who honours the Queen of Peace, for

every apostle of her messages. But the heart

of Mary’s message is one: prayer. Nothing

is more important than a heart that prays. I

have done nothing good in a day if I have not

consecrated it and ﬁ lled it with prayer and

good deeds. My day lasts 24 hours. Today’s

rhythm of life pushes us to live a frenetic and

tiring existence, to have the feeling of always

being late. Time takes me away like a river,

and it seems to me that I am not free. It is as

though I have time for nothing and nobody.

Everything is full, and yet empty; everything

is a tireless and fruitless run.

The Queen of Peace invites me to ﬁ ll

my day with brief and fervent prayers. In

this way, for example, when I’m driving to

work, if I am unable to pray the rosary, I can

pray with brief and fervent prayers. As I am

tidying up my bedroom or as I am preparing

lunch in the kitchen, I must learn to look

at the Cruciﬁ x or the image of the Blessed

Virgin and with brief prayers and invocations

I must give myself in total abandonment to

God. Even if my prayer is brief, it is capable

of opening up my heart, so that I can receive

special graces from the Lord.

Let us think back to the brief heartfelt

prayers of our saints, which they used to keep

in contact with God. Saint Francis of Assisi

was constantly immersed in a unique thought

and prayer: “My God and my Everything”.

In this way, he spent days and nights in union

with God. The brief fervent prayer of the he-

art opens and raises up our hearts to God who

gives us the strength and grace necessary for

daily life.

We are called to bear witness to the pre-

sence and power of grace, and in this way to

help all of those who have been overcome by

evil. We cannot say that we do not have time,

because this means that we do not love. Our

Lady calls us to drive away and conquer the

power of evil among us. Let us listen to her,

She who is with us and intercedes for each

of us.

Father Jozo

Our Lady’s apparitions to Mirjana

December 2, 2008

“Dear children! In this holy time of joyful expectation, God has chosen you, the little
ones, to realize His great intentions. My children, be humble. Through your humility,
with His wisdom, God will make of your souls a chosen home. You will illuminate it
with good works and thus, with an open heart, you will welcome the birth of my Son
in all of His generous love. Thank you, dear children. ”

Ianuary 2, 2009

“Dear children! While great heavenly grace is being lavished upon you, your hearts
remain hard and without response. My children, why do you not give me your hearts
completely? I only desire to put in them peace and salvation - my Son. With my Son
your soul will be directed to noble goals and you will never get lost. Even in greatest
darkness you will ﬁ nd the way. My children decide for a new life with the name of my
Son on your lips. Thank you.”

Echo fully relies on readers’

donations.

To all who have been instruments

of Providence for Echo, enabling us

to continue to help Mary reach her

children, goes our heartfelt thanks,

whom we remember especially in

prayer and at Holy Mass.

If you desire a written response for

your donation, please kindly request

it. May God reward you and your

loved ones onehundredfold!

ECHO on line: www.ecodimaria.net

E-mail: info@ecodimaria.net

Amazing…..!

We’d like to conclude Davide’s story,

the young man who rediscovered faith in

Medjugorje, after many years spent in the

cold subsurface of drugs.

The procession of joy

“The evening of the procession came

through the streets of Medjugorje. “It’s so

boring!”, I said to myself, imagining the

sad processions that take place in my home

town: head down and rosary… “What mo-

notony!” A pizza would have been better!

Circumstances had it though, that at the end

of the dinner, the procession started along the

road. In front of us there were young people

from all over the world, waving the ﬂ ags

of their country: Austrians, Swiss, Italians,

Croatians, Americans, Koreans…Some of

them were singing, others were playing mu-

sic and many of them were actually dancing!

“Good heavens” – I said to myself – “it’s

not the usual procession! They aren’t crying,

they are rejoicing!” There was only one in-

stant of perplexity before throwing myself

in, but then I decided to taste everything that

Medjugorje was giving me, and I threw my-

self into this interminable column of young

people…I was rejoicing with them, even if I

didn’t know them nor did I understand their

language; I really felt like I was walking to-

gether with many brothers. All with one love,

Mary. I felt that this enormous line, consi-

sting of thousands of people, was forming a

single body.

We walked for several kilometres and I

didn’t even notice. It was incredible, during

the procession I experienced the same shiver

of elation that drugs give you, but that is only

an illusion! What I was experiencing on the

other hand, was pure reality. I was also under

the impression that Our Lady had given me

her hand, to walk with her. This was the most

enthusiastic part of the entire pilgrimage. For

the whole night I thought about what I had

felt and with great difﬁ culty I managed to fall

asleep…

New Horizons… shining with

the sunshine

Another important meeting awaited me

the next day: the New Horizons Community.

It houses young people who have managed to

get out of drug addiction. I had already heard

people talking about it on television and I had

been struck by it.

As soon as I arrived, I noticed the face

of these young people: their faces were shi-

ning like the sun…I told two of them my sto-

ry, and then I listened to their stories. Truly

impressive! These young people had expe-

rienced terrible suffering and hardship, more

than I had. But now they were new people,

emptied of the rot that drugs had created. It

was incredible to see how these young people

had decided to opt for the beauty of life. They

had come in like corpses and now, thanks to

prayer, faith and work, they had a new life

under Our Lady’s divine protection. In short,

it wasn’t the usual community with the atmo-

sphere of a barracks! I almost felt a certain

sense of envy upon seeing their way of being

together, full of love towards each other…It

was a beautiful sight to see their faces, which

were once undoubtedly gloomy and now as

bright as diamonds thanks to Mary’s interces-

sion. What I saw there urged me to believe

even more…

“Don’t jump!”

During the course of the Festival it is

possible to listen to various testimonies from

young people whose lives were changed by

Medjugorje. I remember one in particular,

which struck me in the depths of my soul,

perhaps because in a certain sense it was si-

milar to mine, although much stronger.

It was the testimony of a young man who

had been a very successful rock star in the

past. Having become a millionaire thanks to

the sale of his records, he owned enormous

properties and led a very extravagant lifest-

yle. He was however tormented because he

felt unhappy, actually he was decidedly de-

pressed. Despite popularity, women, inﬂ uen-

tial friends and lots of money, he continued

to ask himself why he wasn’t happy. He was

so afﬂ icted that one night he went onto the

balcony of third ﬂ oor of his villa, with the

intention of committing suicide. Right when

he was about to jump, something mysterious

kept him from doing so….He started to cry

uncontrollably and the Virgin Mary came into

his mind. This was somewhat strange, given

that his life consisted solely of sex, drugs and

rock & roll…He therefore decided to disco-

ver what this Woman, who had prevented

him from ending it all, wanted, and he left for

Medjugorje. There the Virgin moulded him

gently. His heart and his conscience, which

hadn’t existed before, were now burning with

love towards God…But what made it more

exceptional is that this young man then be-

came a priest!

“Good heavens” I thought, “nothing is

impossible for God! A young man without

God had become God’s spokesperson. What

a great testimony! So many successful people

around the world get totally depressed nowa-

days! They have everything in abundance…

If only they would decide to open the door to

Christ, they would suffer so much less…”.

My sins, like snow in the sun.

A last great moment awaited me to com-

plete my journey of inner healing. It happe-

ned at the end of a Holy Mass. There were

many priests on the altar and they started

to say a series of blessings, but before re-

ceiving them, you had to ask for forgive-

ness within your soul for the sins that they

named…I felt myself freeze over due to the

depth of those blessings and the truth of what

they were saying: I had committed all those

sins! Normally I don’t like people seeing me

crying, but the impact was too strong and I

cried…cried…cried!

I asked for forgiveness for all the sins I

had committed against God, against myself

and against my neighbour, and I gradually

felt that the Lord absolved me. I cried also

because I felt so small before the Lord, who

only asks you to repent, and then he forgives

you…. True ﬂ ashes of heaven!

The departure was foreseen for the next

day. I was taken by bitterness, mixed with the

insecurity of returning home, because I know

that I would have found many temptations. I

wanted to remain a little more….

He who hesitates is lost!

Returning to your own reality and seeking

to continue the pathway born in Medjugorje

FOOT

FROM

OLAND

EDJUGORJE

to implore reconciliation

Ms. Katarina Bednarczyk Sieminska

(55 years old) from Kazimierz Dolny, near

Lublin, walked for 62 days to go from Poland

to Medjugorje. She embarked on this pilgri-

mage empty handed, putting her trust solely

in God’s providence, carrying only a cross, a

breviary and a geographical map.

The prayer intention of this pilgrimage

was peace in the world, the reconciliation of

the whole of humanity, which constitutes a

single family in God. Katarina is married to

a painter and the couple do not have any chil-

dren. Let’s listen to her testimony:

“I walked to Medjugorje because the

Mother and Queen of Peace appears in this

site. It is clear that she is everywhere, but

here she is present in a special way. The Most

Blessed Mary wants to prepare us for the me-

eting with Jesus and with God the Father.

We are living in a difﬁ cult period, and I

think that the time has come for the reconci-

liation of the whole of humanity. I received

this intention in my heart as I was praying.

We are all God’s children and we need to go

towards each other. It is as though humanity

were in the midst of labour pains, we need to

be aware of this!

All men are our brothers, and so I did

not bring bread or water with me: I wanted

to consciously and intentionally be depen-

dant on those whom I met, trusting in their

goodness. They often offered me food for the

next stretch of road, but I did not except it. It

is nice to ask, to request…People are happy

when they can give something and it is at that

moment that we feel that they are like our fa-

mily. God works through them.

is not easy, the devil tries to make you forget

the feelings you felt there, reducing them to

a brief parenthesis that has now passed. We

must always commit to remembering what

has been lived and avoid the many distrac-

tions that are encountered in daily life. When

you are in Medjugorje, you have an almost

spontaneous urge to pray, but things are

different at home. You must therefore give

yourselves the gift of time to pray, although

sometimes it is a burden to take the rosary

beads into your hands…Whether you want

to or not, this is a very important means that

puts us into direct contact with Mary! If you

let go, then you will slowly lose your faith. I

experienced it in the past: he who hesitates is

lost! Let us pray, even if we don’t really want

to, because he who asks it shall be given onto

him…We often feel that Mary and Jesus are

far away; it is not true, they are beside us,

it is we who fail to perceive their presence

because we allow ourselves to be distracted

by the world!

If my testimony succeeds in making some

young people rediscover faith – especially

those who have a past similar to mine – I will

be truly proud, because my existence has not

been in vain, it will have borne fruit! A fruit

that I now thought was dead within me, and

that Mary exhumed making me feel all of her

love, allowing me to understand how impor-

tant I am for Her.

Let us pray! Because nothing is impossi-

ble for God…

Davide (end)

Sped.Abb.Post.3/70, Aut.Trib.Mant.#13-8,11.86; Legal Dir. A.Lanzani; Printed by DIPRO Treviso

Personal cheques accepted; also

International Postal Orders.

And where convenient (within Europe)

by bank transfer (specify for

Echo of Mary Assoc):

1) Italy: Banca Agricola Mantovana,

Agenzia Belﬁ ore Mantova, Italy. IBAN:

IT 02 Z 05024 11506 000004754018

Swift : BAMNIT21-185

2) Scotland: Royal Bank of Scotland,

26 George St., Oban, Argyll.

Acc. no. 8326 0400 154351

“Oh Lord, in Thee I have trusted;

let me never be confounded!”

(from the Te Deum)

Villanova M., 25 january 2009

Our readers write

Father Stanislao from Pula (Croatia) –

Dear brothers, dear friends, I’d like to extend

my heartfelt thanks to you for the “Echo”

bulletin that I regularly receive and that I pro-

pose to friends who receive it in Italian. May

the Queen of Peace reward you abundantly.

In Echo I always ﬁ nd uplifting information

and examples. Courage! A cordial salute.

Francesco Garrubba and Milena Iaschi

from Noceto (Italy) - We’d kindly ask you

to send us a few copies of your marvellous

magazine, Echo of Mary Queen of Peace, to

our home. We’d like to begin to distribute it

within our parish and among our friends. We

are truly enthusiastic about your publication.

We assure you our contribution and the con-

tribution of others, at least to cover your ad-

ministration expenses.

Mario from Italy: Continue onwards,

the Holy Spirit will know how to guide us all

because Echo is a useful tool for Mary. Thank

you for what you are doing, I send Echo to

Africa by e-mail and they are very grateful

to me for it.

Ermanno Polla from Bolzano (I) – Since

1990, my wife and I have been to Medjugorje

on ﬁ ve occasions at regular intervals, to “re-

charge our batteries” because it is from the-

re that our “conversion” commenced, espe-

cially for my wife. However, I must tell you

quite sincerely that if we had not had Echo

of Mary between one period and another to

keep us united like a thread to that blessed

land and to the atmosphere that can only be

experienced there, we would have had difﬁ -

culty persevering on the pathway pointed out

to us by Mary in her messages. Your writings

are deep, they are cues for meditation, they

are always respectful of the Teaching of the

Church… I download Echo every two mon-

ths from the Internet and whenever I was able

to, I also sent a ﬁ nancial contribution.

Called to “fulﬁ l”

the prophets

“Do not think that I came to destroy the

Law or the Prophets! I did not come to de-

stroy, but to fulﬁ l” (Mt 5, 17), Jesus said.

After twenty-seven and a half years of appa-

ritions in Medjugorje we too today, can see

that God is revealing himself through tools

that He freely chooses, as in the case of the

visionaries; nevertheless, the message that

they are sending can ﬁ nd fulﬁ lment only if

it takes form through each of us. In every

message we must discover something that

binds us and before which we cannot remain

indifferent.

While humanity was looking worriedly

towards its future and listening with trepida-

tion to the tragic news on the uncertain si-

tuation in the world, the Heavens announced

“Peace!”, as the visionaries witnessed during

the ﬁ rst days of the apparitions. Who does

not feel bound by this word? Who is that be-

liever, if he really is a believer, who does not

feel called to reawaken in himself, all the dy-

namism of this message? And who does not

know that peace in the world can only come

through God? Our commitment is to welco-

me this word and to give it life. Let us not

delay!

Tommaso di Francesco

I was also refused on certain occasions,

but that too was a positive experience. How

many times God knocks on the doors of our

hearts and we refuse him, we do not welcome

him! And so we too must humiliate ourselves,

like Him, and knock several times….

We meet Jesus also in those who have no

home and in the poor and if we do not reco-

gnise him, then we are truly blind! Sometimes

someone wants to steal something from us.

We must also allow this to happen… We must

not close our hearts: let us open them wide!

People will be less aggressive…

How many times do we want to feel better

than others, but God simply wants us to be

good; being good does not mean being better

than others! Let us ask the Lord to open our

hearts, because we cannot change by oursel-

ves. For this reason we must pray for each

other.

At home we are not poor. My husband is

a painter and he gave me the money for the

journey, but I left it in Poland. If we want to

worry about ourselves, then God cannot wor-

ry about us. We must experience the fact that

He looks after us in everything!

This experience made me extremely hap-

py. I am sorry for all those who do not believe

in God: they think that they have to do eve-

rything by themselves and due to this they fail

to ﬁ nd peace!

A few years ago I went on a pilgrimage on

foot to Czestochowa with 25 kg on my back:

I had everything….Back then I thought I nee-

ded it, now I have understood how ridiculous

it was. Mary clearly said to me: if you want to

follow my Son, you do not need anything. He

will look after you.

I slept with families or in parochial hou-

ses. From Poland I passed through Slovakia,

Hungary and Croatia, then Bosnia. I travelled

through the regions inhabited by Muslims. I

spoke to them. They do not know that God is

the Father, and he is the same for everyone.

But they were always happy to know that I

was going to Medjugorje. They told me that

they want peace, peace and only peace”.

Interview:

Fr. Marinko Stantić

spiritual counselor of the

community Hosanna

The community Hosanna is a branch

of the community Merciful Father from
Medjugorje. The house that is situated in
Stari Žednik, a little town 15 kilometers from
Subotica, in Serbia, is one of the three hou-
ses, which give shelter to men who suffer
under addiction. Although the capacity of the
house is limited to 12 persons, the communi-
ty is accommodating 16 men, and needs are
much greater. Prayer and work are an inte-
gral part of life in the community, just as in
Medjugorje. Leaders of the community are
those who are close to healing.

Fr. Marinko, you are the founder of this

community. When was it founded and how

did you decide to take this step?

The house was blessed on July 7, 2007.

When I came for the ﬁ rst time with a friend
to the Cenacolo community in Medjugorje,
in 2005/06, I met there a young man from
Sombor who spoke about his life, and who
fascinated me with his story. At the end of
my stay in the community, he underlined:
“Father, if you want to open a communi-
ty in Vojvodina, keep me in touch, because
the need is great.” I was fascinated by these
words. The Lord gave a call, I answered, and
so we starded slowly. I was looking for spon-
sors, I found them, and now we go forward.

How did the inhabitants of Stari Žednik

react to a community of this type in their

town?

I want to pay tribute to the parishioners.

They received the boys very warmly and they
help them wholeheartedly.

What is happening in the community?

If someone wants to see resurrection with

his own eyes, let him come to the community:
he can touch it, it is a true resurrection. Those
who were dead in every way are praising
God now. Everybody is glad about a success:
student because of a good mark, peasants be-
cause of the fruits of the earth, workers for a
good pay, and we are glad when a bog leaves
the community in good health. If someone
wants to succeed in life, believe me, he will
succeed only with God. God permits drugs,
alcohol and other vices for men to feel how
evil is strong, and to come back to God.

Those who want to help this community may

visit the web page www.milosrdni-otac.com.

Ivana Zovko & Dragana Dugandžić

www.medjugorje.hr

Illumination of the Glorious Mysteries

of the Rosary on Apparition Hill

For New Year 2009, was ﬁ nished the illumi-
nation of the paths and of the bronzes repre-
senting the Glorious mysteries of the Rosary.
After the illumination of the Joyful Mysteries
and of the path towards Our Lady’s Statue
(23.06.2006), and of the Sorrowful mysteries
(24.12.2008), the illumination of the Glorious
Mysteries (31.12.2008) means the accom-
plishment of the project of illumination of

Apparition Hill.
The illumination of the Mysteries of the
Rosary and of Our Lady’s statue was done
thanks to the initiative of the pilgrims from
Italy who ﬁ nanced the greatest part of the
costs. The work was done by Rade Djida
and his partners, and was supervised by ing.
Vinko Kosir.