Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, March 26, 2006:

There is a story that took place in Germany in 1456 when Gutenberg was printing the first Bible. The printer had a little daughter, Alice, who came into the printing press and picked up a discarded sheet of paper that had only one incomplete line printed on it. The line read: “For God so loved the world that he gave,” and it ended there. Now, these were times when popular religion was a matter of living in fear and trembling before the awesome wrath of God. So little Alice put the paper in her pocket and kept on thinking of the fact of God being so loving, and her face radiated with joy. Her mother noticed her changed behavior and asked Alice what was making her so happy and Alice showed her mother the sheet of paper with the one printed line. Her mother looked at it for some time and asked, “So, what did God give?” Alice said, “I don’t know, but if God loved us so much to give us something, then we don’t need to be afraid of Him.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” As most of you know, Fr. Mike and I just returned on Thursday from a 10 day pilgrimage to Medjugorje along with 21 other pilgrims in our group. It was a time of tremendous grace and I wanted to share some reflections with all of you on our journey.

For those who may not know the significance of Medjugorje, it is a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina, part of what was once Yugoslavia. The name Medjugorje means literally “between the mountains,” and it is a well named place as it is surrounded by mountains. For the last 25 years, Medjugorje has been the site of apparitions of the Blessed Mother and hence a place of pilgrimage. Just to put in perspective the number of people who travel to this holy place, last year alone, the village Church, St. James, administered more than 1.6 million communions.

Why do they go? Because over the course of those 25 years, the messages of Our Lady have revolved around a message of peace – in fact, in Medjugorje, Mary is referred to as Our Lady, Queen of Peace. Surely a timely message for our world today. Secondly, Medjugorje has become a tremendous place where the Catholic faith is lived to its fullest. In the course of her messages, Mary has reminded us of who we are as a Catholic people, and what we need to do to remain faithful members of God’s holy people. Mary has given us what she terms our five stones for the battle with our own Goliath. What are those five stones? What are the weapons that the Blessed Mother has reminded us that we need in to defend ourselves in the spiritual battle of our lives? Quite simply these: 1. Attend the holy Mass regularly, daily if possible; 2. Pray the rosary every day; 3. Read the Bible, especially in your family; 4. Go to Confession at least once a month; and 5. Fast – in Medjugorje, the entire community fasts on bread and water every Wednesday and Friday, not just during Lent but always. Mary has reminded us of something that has been true since the time of Jesus, but something we sometimes forget, that this way – the Catholic way, the way of faith, the way of the Sacraments – is the truest way to happiness and holiness.

During our 10 days there, we did a lot of walking, and a lot of climbing. We climbed Apparition Hill praying the rosary, where the Blessed Mother first appeared 25 years ago. We climbed Cross Mountain for 2 hours while praying the Stations of the Cross – let me just say Friday night’s stations back here never seemed so easy. We were present for the annual apparition of the Blessed Mother to one of the visionaries Marjiana, an incredible, incredible grace. We visited a nearby church for a healing service, we visited an incredibly successful alcohol and drug recovery program that uses prayer and faith to bring true healing to addicts, a home for orphans and unwed mothers, a place of prayer for peace, a group of Franciscan nuns, and more, but what amazes and inspires me every time I’m in Medjugorje is the life of faith as lived by the people in the local church. And this is, I think, the greatest fruit of what has taken place in this little Croatian village, and my greatest hope for our own parish and for the Church throughout the world.

Every day, without exception, people gather in tremendous numbers, standing-room-only numbers, to attend the holy Mass, pray all 20 decades of the Rosary, gather for a Eucharistic Holy Hour, healing prayers and more. You can’t go near the Church of St. James without seeing confessions taking place at all times of the day. I met one friar whose main job is that he spends up to 10 hours every day hearing confessions. All this in extraordinary numbers. People in this place live the messages of Our Lady, which our messages of great faith and of living a fully Catholic, Sacramental life. What Mary is doing in Medjugorje is what Mary always does – she is leading people to her Son, Jesus. She is leading them to a life of faith in and through the Church, and the results are truly miraculous. There have been countless healings through the graces of Medjugorje – let’s not forget my own healing that took place when another of the visionaries, Viska, visited our parish in July praying over me and curing deafness in my left ear that I’ve had since I was 10. There have been countless vocations to the priesthood and religious life come out of Medjugorje – Fr. Mike, along with several of my seminary classmates, being just a few of them.

Mary has said in her messages, “It is not important for you to come to Medjugorje, it is important that you bring Medjugorje home with you.” This is the message on my heart every time I’m there. These great wonders don’t happen in Medjugorje because there is something magical in that place. Yes, the life of faith as lived there was sparked by the appearance of Mary. But, the life of faith that is lived there can be lived any where, in any parish, in any place in the world. “God so loved the world that He gave us His Only Son.” God gives us His Only Son repeatedly in the Sacraments – in the Eucharist, in Confession – so that we might not die, but that we might live forever. It is the Sacraments that are healing, faith that brings peace and grace. There are healings and vocations and more coming from that place not because they can only happen there, these things happen because that is what always happens when people put God first, when people lead a life where God, and the Sacraments and the Church are the most important things in their lives. We have the ability to experience the same graces and wonders and holiness right here in New Milford if we make the same choice for God in our lives as a community.

As we were preparing on Wednesday to begin our return home, some pilgrims commented that they weren’t ready to go back to “normal life.” I reminded them that the life we live in America is not normal life. The life lived in Medjugorje is normal. That is the way that God hopes we will live, not running around in a state of constant chaos and busyness as we do here in America, but living a life where it is normal to be focused on God, where it is normal to make use of the sacraments daily, where it is normal to pray the rosary and read the Bible with our families, where it is normal to seek out the grace of reconciliation through the Sacrament of Confession when we need it, where it is normal to engage in the practice of fasting to keep our spiritual lives focused on God. “For God so loved the world that He gave us His Only Son.”

My brothers and sisters, this normal life of grace is available to each and every one of us. All we have to do is choose it. Let us live this life! Let us welcome God ever more powerfully, ever more fully into our lives. Let us allow God, allow the Sacraments, allow prayer and fasting to shape and mold and form our lives. And let the rest worry about itself. If we can do this, I promise you, I absolutely promise you, that you will receive greater blessings than you could ever imagine or that you could ever achieve otherwise.

Our Blessed Mother always speaks on the 25^th of the month. Here is her message from yesterday, “Courage, little children! I decided to lead you on the way of holiness. Renounce sin and set out on the way of salvation, the way which my Son has chosen. Through each of your tribulations and sufferings God will find the way of joy for you. Therefore, little children, pray. We are close to you with our love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

“God so loved the world that He sent us His Only Son.” Let us run to Jesus and accept the gracious gift that God has given us.

May God give you peace.