Introduction
(John walking barefoot along the
Adriatic Coast )
Medjugorje is a place that touched my heart in a very profound way.
I struggle to find words to describe what God has allowed me to
experience. All of us encounter from time to time in our lives
special moments of deep gratitude that brings tears of joy to our
eyes when we have been blessed in a special way. The intensity of
these moments often last but a short time yet they always leave a
deep imprint of love in our hearts. In Medjugorje, I experienced the
love of God in an indescribable and profound way that made every
moment of every day I was there unique and special. I can not put
into words the love that I have received. God's love! There are no
words available to describe what I witnessed through the abundant
outpouring of God's infinite mercy. I can not wrap my tiny little
mind around this love. But I will try.
As I began this beautiful pilgrimage into Our Lady's Heart the
morning of October 8, 2008, I most desired to empty myself of all
that prevents me from allowing Christ into my own heart. It was
Wednesday morning and our Medjugorje pilgrimage would begin in just
a few short hours. My greatest desire as I awoke that morning and
prepared to enter into this new era of my conversion was to make a
good confession and receive Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. I
simply could not begin a pilgrimage into Our Lady's Heart without
having first done this.
Yet this pilgrimage had not begun the day of our departure but the
moment I was told that Our Lady desires for me to come to Medjugorje
and that indeed I would be going! And it was in that moment that I
realized I was about to take yet another step towards Christ in my
own journey of conversion.
I would experience great phenomenon, witness many miracles and
receive an abundant outpouring of powerful graces! I watched the sun
spin and do marvellous things for the first time in my life. The
first day in Medjugorje I watched as a unique cloud formation just
above St. James parish turn completely into the shape of Our Lady.
Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera ready the cloud was
beginning to dissipate. I was amazed at how bundles of Rosaries
thrown together into a bag would never get tangled with each other
at any time, but that you could always pull a single Rosary away
from it's stash with great ease.
(Cloud formation just above St.
James Parish)
But the greatest miracles of all that I witnessed were the continual
transformations in conversion among pilgrims arriving.. some with
skepticism in their hearts and yet days later leaving with a
complete and utter joy of the Lord. To watch a young person who had
never really experienced faith or had never really participated in
any form of prayer arrive with seeds of doubt in their hearts and by
day two eagerly participate in the recitation of the Rosary or be
the first to speak up and say, "Hey! What's this 'Adoration'? Can we
check it out?" and then see them in awe and reverence for God was
just amazing!
(our pilgrim group before Our Lady
on Apparition Hill)
Or to see a pilgrim one moment show no interest in going to
confession and the next minute stop suddenly in conversation to say,
"I'll see you later on! I need to go find a priest!" and watch them
walk away and go stand in the confession lines for the very first
time in many years simply brought tears to my eyes! These were the
greatest miracles I witnessed! The conversions! And they are
plentiful and abundant in Medjugorje!
_________________
Please Lord,
teach me to love!
Part One
"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." Our Lady of Medjugorje, January 25,
2007
A flower native to the area of
Medjugorje
Apart from visiting a few places in Canada and the U.S. this is the
first time that I have ever really travelled abroad. So there were a
lot of new adventures for me to experience.. One of them was to fly
over the Atlantic Ocean. Another was to travel to Europe itself. And
yet another was to visit a place where Our Blessed Mother is
appearing. By the time we would reach Medjugorje our pilgrim group
would have celebrated Mass on three occasions, prayed together all
20 Mysteries of the Rosary.. the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Angelus
as well as a lot of personal conversations with Jesus and Our
Blessed Mother..
From Windsor to Toronto we travelled by bus stopping along the way a
few times to pick up other fellow pilgrims. We began with eight
pilgrims in Windsor and by the time we would reach Toronto all 52
pilgrims would be together. On the bus to Toronto a lady named Josie
sat with me. We became friends within a few short moments sharing
with each other the fruits of our conversion journeys up until now.
Everyone on this pilgrimage became friends instantly! It was just
wonderful to see faithful souls come together and get to know one
another so quickly. Much like how our friendships transpire here on
this forum. There were two Josie's in our group. This Josie who I
had the privilege to sit next to on the bus was the older one who
would celebrate her birthday on the Friday we were to leave
Medjugorje. The younger Josie we would meet up with in Toronto.
Once in Toronto, we teamed up with the other half of our pilgrim
group also arriving in Toronto from various places around the
country including New Brunswick and British Colombia. Our group was
not all Canadian though. One pilgrim named Sarah, who works with
Fr.Rookey had flown in from Chicago to accompany us on our
pilgrimage. We celebrated our second Mass once all 52 pilgrims were
together in the airport Chapel in Toronto. From Toronto to Vienna of
course we travelled by plane. And again from Vienna to Sarajevo we
travelled by plane. And finally from Sarajevo to Mostar where we
stopped at Sts. Peter & Paul Parish to celebrate our third Mass
since we left Windsor. Then from Mostar we travelled again by bus to
Medjugorje and reached Nada's, the home we would stay at just before
dinner was served at 8:00pm..
We had left Windsor just before 10:00am EST Wednesday morning and
reached Medjugorje nearing 8:00pm (Bosnian Time) Thursday night. In
total we travelled 28 hours before arriving in Medjugorje. During
this time I would pass a lot of flowers! Some I would simply say
"thank you" to in passing, for having held a door open for me in an
airport terminal or for serving me a coffee in a café along the way
knowing that I would never see them again.. I always tried to say a
little prayer for each person I encountered no matter how brief our
meeting was.. Sometimes they knew little or no English yet always
understood "thank you".. I think it is the smiles that give it away!
A smile is understood in every language that exists or has ever
existed.. Some of these flowers I would get to know very well by the
end of our pilgrimage. All of them would touch my heart at some
depth in one way or another.
There would be 52 pilgrims in total! And our ages would range from
early 20s to late 70s. And everyone was just wonderful to be
travelling with! The younger ones were always looking out for the
older ones in our group. We had a small group of young people who
were just great the entire pilgrimage! They really went out of their
way to help others and to look out for the rest of the group! They
were more than willing to carry luggage or help our elderly up and
down escalators.. At the airports we were always checking behind us
to see that everyone was with us at all times.. Everyone looked out
for each other! It was awesome!
Our plane to Vienna
The airplane we took from Toronto to Vienna was a rather large one.
Across, it sat two seats, an isle, three seats, another isle and
then two seats. Not sure, I think it's called a 767.. My seat was
the middle seat of the center section. On my left was a lady named
Tatiana. She was not with our group.. She is a native of Bosnia and
was flying home to be with her family as they gathered around the
bed of her ailing father named Savo who had recently fallen very
ill. Tatiana and I talked for a good part of that 9 hour journey
across the Atlantic. She was comforted in knowing that I would carry
her prayer request's with me to Medjugorje after we landed.. For me,
she was a God-send! She knew just the right comforting words to say
each time we hit turbulence and John-boy would close his eyes and
grab a firm hold of the arms of the chairs on both sides of him.
I had only flown once before as a teenager. And so I was not
prepared for the turbulence we were about to endure. Many who were
well accustomed to flying commented later that it was one of the
worse flights they had ever experienced.. every so often you could
literally feel the plane suddenly drop.. you could feel it in your
stomach.. I kept thinking, "There goes another 1000 feet! And
another! And yet another!" I knew I shouldn't have watched 'Cast
Away' just before this journey! I learned a lot about myself on that
plane! And about my relationship with God in how sometimes I lack
trust in moments I most need to trust in Him.. But you see, God gave
me two angels to accompany me, one on each side to help me along the
way.. for the sweet elderly lady on my right also brought me comfort
in those moments when she grabbed hold of my hand and told me
everything would be okay.. It was as if Our Blessed Mother herself
was speaking to me.. and peace and comfort overcame all fear and
anxiety..
_________________
Please Lord,
teach me to love!
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