|
Official Commentary on the
monthly message of
January 25th
2007 & a Reflection
by Fr. Jozo OFM
Below
is the official English translation of this month's commentary on Our Lady's
message to the world through the visionary Marija, provided by The Medjugorje Information Centre
~ Acknowledgements information and
links
COME,
Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, your well beloved spouse.
Most
Holy Spirit, open my heart, soften it, and fill it with light and love so that I
may understand clearly what I read below and act on it for my own spiritual
benefit and for the delight of my Heavenly Mother, Your Beloved Spouse. May I
read each word under Your guidance so that, free of all worldly desires and
distractions, I may grow in wisdom and prudence enough to follow perfectly the
wishes of the Most Blessed Trinity. Amen
"Dear
children! Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your family and
read it. In this way, you will come to know prayer with the heart and
your thoughts will be on God. Do not forget that you are passing like a
flower in a field, which is visible from afar but disappears in a
moment. Little children, leave a sign of goodness and love wherever you
pass and God will bless you with an abundance of His blessing. Thank you
for having responded to my call."
Monthly message
to the world, January 25, 2007
TIP
Our
Lady has regularly said the messages are for each one of us individually so try reading them as if your own name was
there; "Dear .........." - it can
make them so much more personal, challenging and effective.
O
Blessed Mother, help us hear your words to us. Teach us to listen ever
more carefully to the words of your Son. Pray that our hearts will be
transformed into the hearts he wants us to have, and that we will
always be open to His call. Amen.
top Official
message commentary:- PUT SACRED SCRIPTURE IN A VISIBLE PLACE.
The
Virgin Mary loves and keeps on calling her children to a life with God.
She does that once again in her message beginning with the following
words: "Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families
and read it." We have already become familiar with these
motherly words and calls from her previous messages in which she invited
us to read Sacred Scripture. Just as she spoke in January last year: "Do
not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a
visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the
Word of God." In her message of 25th June 1991 Mary said to us:
"Little children, pray and read Sacred Scripture so that through
my coming you discover the message in Sacred Scripture for you."
In her message of 25th August 1993 she spoke: "Dear children,
read Sacred Scripture, live it, and pray to understand the signs of the
times." In her message of 25th August 1986: "Put,
little children, Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families
and read it and live it." On 25th January 1999 she spoke to us:
"Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families, read it,
reflect on it and learn how God loves His people. His love shows itself
also in present times because He sends me to call you upon the path of
salvation." In September of 1999 she said: "I
call you to renew prayer in your families by reading Sacred Scripture
and to experience joy in meeting with God who infinitely loves His
creatures."
So
many times in her motherly messages the Virgin Mary has confirmed to us
and said the following: "Dear
children, live my messages and put into life every word that I am giving
you. May they be precious to you as they come from heaven. Dear
children, joyfully live the messages of the Gospel that I am repeating
in the time I am with you."
Maybe
somewhere deep inside of us we expect the Virgin Mary to explain her
messages in more detail and make them more clear. However, Our Lady’s
messages do not provide us with ready-made recipes for happiness. She
has come to direct our look at Christ who is our only Saviour and the
aim of life. She helps us with her presence, calls and love so that we
can walk on the path of conversion and salvation. She does not come to
tell us tales, play with us or entertain us. She has come to call us to
the truth, to the light and high demands of the Word of God. She invites
us to read and live Sacred Scripture so that we may discover the
life-giving power of the Word of God that speaks to us. As the Holy
Spirit has inspired Sacred Scripture, Sacred Scripture is permeated with
it. We discover that by reading Sacred Scripture which encourages us to
do good enlightening our mind and the feelings in our hearts. St.
Gregory the Great asked himself: "What can a word of Sacred
Scripture be compared with?" And he answered: "It is like
flint and steel, like flint which is cold when we hold it in our hand,
but when used to strike iron, it sparks and lights a fire. The words of
Sacred Scripture remain cold if taken for granted. When, however, a
person embraced by the Holy Spirit gives them a gentle knock, they make
a mystical fire."
Only
if we rely on the truth of the Word of God shall we disclose the
transience of our lives and the certainty of Jesus’ words:
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away." (Matt. 24:35). Let us listen to the Virgin Mary for the sake
of our lives and our good.
Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic ~ Medjugorje, 26th February, 2007 ~ Official
English Translation
top
Download
printable page in .rtf format - click and open or right click and 'save as'
Use the
link at the foot of this page to e-mail the page URL
top
Apparition to Mirjana on
February 2, 2007 - was in private at her home. No message was given.
More
Mirjana Apparitions
Fr Jozo's
January Reflection:
My
dear prayer family,
Once again, the Queen of Peace most movingly tells us to read and to
keep the Sacred Scripture in a noticeable place in our family. Through
the Bible, as the Book of Hebrews tells us, God speaks only one Word -
His Only Begotten Word- through which He completely expresses Himself.
The Second Vatican Council teaches us that the Word of God is the
salvific power of God for everyone who believes, noting that it is
present, and in a prominent manner shows its' power in the New
Testament. The central content of the Bible is Jesus Christ, the
Incarnate Son of God; it is His work, His teaching, His death and His
glory. It is the initiation of His Church under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. The Second Vatican Council calls all faithful to read and
reflect on the Word of God.
The saints of our Church were fed by the living Word and lived from it.
In this way St. Cezarius teaches us that there is no better, more
precious or luminous teaching then the text of the Gospel. He reminds us
to observe and to keep in our hearts what our Lord and Master, Jesus
taught by His words, and fulfilled by His actions. St. Therese of the
Child Jesus tells us that the Gospel, before everything, absorbed her
during her time of prayer, and that in it, found everything necessary
for her 'poor soul.' In it, she always discovered new revelation and
hidden, mystical meaning.
St. Jerome pointed out that ignorance of Sacred Scripture is ignorance
of Christ. The Second Vatican Council notes that the Church has always
honored the Divine Word along with the Body of Our Lord, telling us that
both are 'food' and the 'rule' of all Christian life. There is such
might and power in the Word of God for it is the foothold and the life
giving strength of the Church. It is the pure and inexhaustible spring
of spiritual life. St. Hugo teaches us that the entire Sacred Scripture
is a single book, a book that is Jesus Christ. He tells us that, in
truth, the entire Scripture speaks of Christ and is completely fulfilled
in Him.
Pope Benedict XVI, announced an Episcopal Synod for October 2008
entitled "The Word of God in the life and Mission of the
Church." He accentuates that the Church and the Word of God are
inseparably connected. He tells us that the Church always needs to
remain youthful and be renewed, and that the Word of God, which never
ages and cannot be exhausted, is the preferred means for this purpose.
The Holy Father tells us that by perseveringly reading the Sacred
Scripture, accompanied by prayer, we realize an intimate dialogue in
which, by reading the Word of God we listen and by praying we respond
with a trusting and open heart. He assures us that this practice,
efficaciously advanced, will bring forth a spiritual springtime.
When we read the Word of God, God's spirit and life enter and work in us
all the more powerfully. Reading of the Word of God is one of the
foundations of a spiritual life. If that foundation is lacking, your
life will be on frail feet - weak, ineffective and without fruit. Our
Lady has already interceded many times for the Bible to have a visible
place in our home. That visible place is our 'family altar' in our
living room, where today's family daily gathers, rests, converses, and
watches television. We need to have a new under-taking; our Christian
family must have an altar around which it can gather daily to listen to
the Word of God and to have family prayer.
On that small table in the living room, first of all, put the crucified
Lord. The Cross is the teacher of love from which our family is born as
a Sacrament. It continually teaches us what love is - that love is to
give one's life for others and to sacrifice for others - that it is to
forgive everyone, especially our enemies - that it is to respond to the
Father as Our Lord did: "Not my will but your will be
done."(Mt 26; 42)
By the Cross on your family altar, put a statue or an image of the
Mother, the Blessed Virgin. "Behold your Mother"(Jn 19; 26) is
the testament that continues throughout history and the future as it
pertains to each of us. We need to take the Mother as our own, because
without Her we cannot conquer the cunning enemy. In this way, your
family will find the shortest way to God. On your family altar, also put
your family Bible, the living Word of God. Whenever you take it from the
family altar you will be able to hear the Father's voice, like the
disciples did on Mt. Tabor, "This is my beloved Son, listen to
Him."(Mt 3; 17)
After 25 years and seven months, we have only two messages where our
call and program of what we are to do everyday, is powerfully
accentuated. It is to pray the Rosary everyday, to pray it together and
to pray it with the heart and to read the Word of God. Therefore, on
your family altar keep your family Rosary, to be used by the one who
leads prayer. On your altar, also put blessed Holy Water and bless your
home and family at least weekly. We regularly do this on Saturday, at
the end of a week. You can also put your family prayer book and a candle
on your altar. Light the candle while you read the
Word of God, which is the light on our way of faith. Your family altar
and the daily gathering around it is an important
family practice. Soon the whole family will feel strength from the altar
holding the family in peace and unity. That altar will remain even after
your death as a sign to your children who will have it as an
unforgettable experience and security. They will always be able to say
to themselves that they know where their parents drew their strength and
found peace. They will know that they too can succeed in the footsteps
of their forefathers.
The Bible in the wise Proverbs tells us, "My son, harken to my
words, and incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not depart from your
eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart: for they are life to those
that find them."(Prvb 4; 20) If I read and retain God's Word in my
heart, like the Blessed Virgin, I too will come to know prayer with the
heart. Not only will God's thoughts and words be in my heart, but, as
the Queen of Peace teaches us, my thoughts will be on God. There is
nothing more exalted in this world than the most wonderful experience of
being completely immersed in the Word of God and being nurtured by
it. That is true holiness of life. Illuminated in this way, man becomes
wise and never forgets that he is like a flower in a field,
blossoming, most beautiful and visible but only for a short while. When
the wind blows, it is gone. The prophets and the Apostles also teach us
of how we are passing, and that time cannot be stopped. Although we
cannot stop time, we can leave signs and fruit in it. Our Mother
concretely tells us ".leave signs of goodness and love, wherever
you pass."
These signs are immortal and do not pass away. This is the fruitfulness
of the saints of this time. Acts of goodness and love do
not die. They are immortal and bear a divine seal. These works witness
for us and about us. This time is especially a challenge to us and to
our call to live Our Lady's messages by leaving signs of grace in our
daily life, suffering and apostolate.
This month we will pray for the following intentions:
1. For Christian families to be a school in which generations are raised
to leave a sign of goodness and love. For a renewal of family prayer of
the Rosary and family reading of Sacred Scripture.
2. For the renewal of Religious Communities, which are called, like the
merciful Samaritan, to daily leave signs of goodness and love. For us to
especially notice all those wounded today by drugs, alcohol, immorality
and every other addiction and to come to their help.
3. For the intention of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for the
unity of all Christians and the Church - to be one flock with one
Shepherd.
My dear ones, no one speaks to the children as warmly and tenderly as
the Mother. This message, in particular, is an expression of the
fullness of motherly care and love. I pray and fast for all of you, as I
remember you in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.
Yours most sincerely, Fr. Jozo Zovko o.f.m. Siroki Brijeg 30.01.2007
top
close
window
updated 4th
March,
2007 - Praised be Jesus and Mary - His Peace to all! - ê¿ê
|