Bishop Paul Bootkoski, Ordinary of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, has
decided that there are sufficient grounds to open the cause for
beatification and canonization of Mrs. Maria Esperanza de Bianchini, a
Venezuelan mother of numerous children and alleged mystic, who lived between
the years of 1928 and 2004.

Bishop Bootkoski will give a truly religious sense to this judicial act by
conducting the opening of the cause in the context of a Mass to be
celebrated at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen, on Sunday,
January 31, 2010 at 3:00pm. The Betania Choir of Venezuela, composed of the
family members and spiritual followers of Maria Esperanze will provide the
music for this liturgical celebration.

Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, Roman Postulator of Maria Esperanza's cause, explained
that, "A beautification cause involves a years-long process of examinatiion
of the candidate's life, virtues, writings, reputation for holiness, and
reputation for intercession." When a candidate's cause is open, that person
is called a servant of God. After the servant of God's heroic virtue has
been proven, he or she is declared "venerable." Then, to be beautified, one
miracle must be attributed to the venerable's intercession. Finally, a
second miracle is needed for canonization. Dr. Ambrosi said, "The Church's
criteria for accepting a miracle are very rigorous."

Maria Esperanza was born in Monasas State, Venezuela, on Novmember 22, 1928.
From an early age, she exhibited a life of virtue and devotion to God, and
was endowed with special charisms like supernatural knowledge, healings,
visions, and the ability to read the hearts of others.

Her gifts and virtues attracted many followers. In 1954, she married Mr.
Geo Bianchini and they had six daughters and one son. She and her husband
raised their children in an exemplary manner and she continued to use her
spiritual gifts to assist souls and to form the consciences of all who
sought her counsel.

On March 25, 1984, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Maria Esperanza and 150 of
her associates at a tropical farm named Betania, 50 miles south of Caracas.
Our Lady manifested herself in Betania under the title: "Mary, Virgin and
Mother, Reconciler of all Peoples and Nations."

These apparitions were approved in 1987 by the local Bishop, Monsignor Pio
Bello, in consultation with then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the
Congregatioin for the Doctrine of the Faith. (Cardinal Ratzinger was
elected Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005.)

Dear Family of Mary!

Our Lady's message through Mirjana of January 2nd, 2010:

"Dear children! Today I am calling you, with complete trust and love, to set out with me, because I desire to acquaint you with my Son. Do not be afraid, my children, I am here with you, I am next to you. I am showing you the way to forgive yourselves, to forgive others, and, with sincere repentance of heart, to kneel before the Father. Make everything die in you that hinders you from loving and saving - that you may be with Him and in Him. Decide for a new beginning, a beginning of sincere love of God Himself. Thank you."

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn's has been in Medjugorje since December 28, and he gave this marvelous homily on New Year's Eve in the church of St. James. Two days later Our Lady gave this beautiful message through Mirjana. Both the Cardinal and Our Lady seem to be on the same page! Here is the Cardinal's homily, given during the Vigil Mass at Medjugorje celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God:

"Praised be Jesus Christ!

"Dear brothers and sisters here in the church and on the squares in front of the church, and in the yellow hall... We are all conscious of the fact that it is a big privilege to not have to celebrate the New Year with champagne. Maybe later...

"But now we are allowed to celebrate the beginning of the New Year with Mary and Joseph and with the child that is lying in the manger and with the shepherds.

"These days, we have all come to Medjugorje to be especially close to the Mother of the Lord. To be more exact, we have to say that we have come here because we know that the Mother of the Lord wants to be close to us.

"With her, we want to begin the New Year. And the first thing that moves me when I think about the manger and the shepherds is that there were no angels present. Here there is an angel at the nativity set (points), but in the gospel there are no angels there. They were on the hills with the shepherds. An entire host of angels! But Mary and Joseph only heard about it. The shepherds told them. You also didn't see the Gospa. But there are people here who told about it. And we trust that the Mother of God really is close to us.

"Belief comes from hearing. And it impresses me that first, in the gospel of today, there is talk about hearing. We have to listen to the good news first. We have two ears, two eyes, and only one mouth. That means we have to listen much, watch much, and then talk also. And what are we supposed to say? We are supposed to report what we have seen and heard. The world needs a new evangelization and that is only possible through people for whom it is impossible to keep silent about what they have seen and heard.

"We all have received the faith. And through baptism we all have received the task to pass on the faith. The shepherds related what they were told. And from there it went on. The gospel, the good news was told and those who told it were believable. Those who heard also saw that the word and life harmonize; that what the witnesses saw is also true in their life.

"How can we be witnesses of the good news? First, by looking to Mary. Mary kept all that happened in her heart and pondered it.

"Brothers and sisters, what we need most in this time is prayer. I'm saying this with a sadness of some sorts. I know that I'm not praying enough. I know that prayer is life. Without the living relationship with God our life becomes dry and empty.

"What does the Mother of God tell us all the time? Pray. Make yourself time for prayer. Is that a good resolution for the New Year? For us priests and deacons? For us all? Time for prayer - it gives so much strength and so much joy; so much clarity. Let us ask Mary, that she helps us to pray more. When we pray our word is also filled with life. And then our testimony is credible.

"I want to tell you something about what the apostle Paul told us. The Year of Paul is already over; we are now in the Year of Priests. But the word of the apostle Paul was so strong because it was filled with life. In the reading of today he talks about God sending his Son so that we can become sons. The daughters are not excluded here. Daughters and sons are meant together. But Paul says we are called to become sons - not slaves. Like Jesus is Son of God we are supposed to be allowed to call God, Father. In the beginning of this year the apostle Paul tells us: You are sons and not slaves.

"I believe Medjugorje is a place where a lot of people confess. Confession is deliverance from the slavery of sin. Nothing makes us less free than sin. God wants us as sons: Freedom of the children of God. And for that he gifted us with the sacrament of reconciliation. We are to have a new relationship with God, to be allowed to call him Abba. Jesus invited us to that in a way that we trust him, that we trust God. There is so much fear of God in us .

" 'Jesus, I trust in you' [in Croatian]. I can also speak Polish [laughter]. Jesu Ufam Tobie. Jesus, I trust in you. Pope John Paul II left us this message: Trust in the mercy of God. Trust in the mercy of Jesus.

"Trust can be heroic sometimes, if life becomes difficult. If a marriage becomes a burden, if an illness oppresses us, if we don't know what becomes of our work - then to say Jesu Ufam Tobie - that can be heroic. Trust - that really is an act of faith. And again we look to Mary. Who has made and given this act of trust, of faith, more than Mary? Jesu Ufam Tobie. That is to be our program in the coming year.

"It is almost midnight and the fireworks are cracking outside. But we are not cracking, we are praying. We are not cracking, but we are singing!

"And a last word: The shepherds returned and praised God, praised him for what they heard and seen. We, too, will return home. In order that we can become witnesses of the gospel, we have to praise God first. The shepherds praised God for what they have seen and heard. I hope that we can all drive home, travel home after these days here, and praise God for what we have seen and heard. Then people will also believe us when we tell. Then our word will be credible.

"Now it is almost midnight. It is exactly the right moment to profess our faith. With this faith we are going into the New Year. God bless this year."

(Video of Cardinal Schönborn's January 1, 2010 homily in St. James Church in Medjugorje can be found at http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/ )

(Denis highlighted the portions of the homily that he felt were most affirming of the events of Medjugorje! It is rare to have such a pastor of the Church speak so openly of Our Lady's presence in Medjugorje. Praise God!)

In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan

Mary TV

Mary TV has begun
something new.

We have begun a live transmission of the daily Rosary from our website, www.marytv.tv .

December 2, 2009

Dear Family of Mary!

Today we will receive a message through Mirjana! In the mean time, I would like to share some news with all of you. Mary TV has begun something new. With the help of our great team in Texas, we have begun a live transmission of the daily Rosary from our website, www.marytv.tv .

For now, Denis and I will pray the Rosary every day at 11:00 am EST. It will last about 30 minutes. We are excited by this new step. It is the first tiny fruit from Mary TV! Each day Denis will lead the Rosary, and share some of his experiences with the Gospa. It will be a way to support families in Our Lady's call to pray. It will be a way for Our Lady's children all over the world to join together to pray for her intentions. Please join us for the live transmission at 11:00 am EST (US) at www.marytv.tv ! We hope in the future to offer the recorded version of each day's Rosary on the website for those who can't join the live transmission.

Denis feels that our internet Rosary will be a vehicle for good on the internet. He was led to compose this prayer for our Rosary:

"Dear Mother and Queen of Peace! Thank you for coming again today for us. We pray this little rosary - feeling very much like David against Goliath - consecrating the internet to you. We pray that through all modern means of communications technologies, freed from the enemy's seduction, the world will come to know the beauty of your face! We make this consecration in union with Sts. Claire and Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who prayed one Hail Mary before Holy Mass to Our Lady of Medjugorje, and the Servant of God, John Paul the Great, who every day went to Medjugorje in prayer - and who told us in his will: 'Victory, when it will come, will be a victory through Maria!' Through Christ Our Lord, Amen."

Pray for the success of this endeavor! Join us if you can! Thank you for all the prayer and support you have given us over the years, to get to this point. We are very grateful!

In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
©2009 Mary TV
www.marytv.tv

“WE ARE NOW STANDING IN THE FACE OF THE

GREATEST HISTORICAL CONFRONTATION

HUMANITY HAS GONE THROUGH.

I DO NOT THINK THAT WIDE CIRCLES

OF AMERICAN SOCIETY OR

WIDE CIRCLES OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

REALIZE THIS FULLY. WE ARE NOW FACING THE

FINAL CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE CHURCH

AND THE ANTI-CHURCH, OF THE GOSPEL VERSUS

THE ANTI-GOSPEL.”

Karol Cardinal Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)
November 1978

It is helpful to realize that Jesus is working in Medjugorje. He is forming a plan and fulfilling it in that place. Jesus is working there. And He needs our help. He needs our prayers and our sacrifices as fuel added to the fire of love that He has ignited in that place for the salvation of many people.

Our Lady has often warned us that Satan is working against the plan of God in Medjugorje. He is terrified at what Jesus is preparing there. I am more and more convinced that the battle over the whole world is taking place in Medjugorje. As we see nation after nation falling into the hands of leaders who do not value life, who do not value the rights of the unborn, and who have no faith, we can better understand why Jesus is so active in Medjugorje. He is preparing to raise up His Mother in Her Triumph there and declare open war on the enemy in the last battle of our age.

And so Our Lady has asked us (since the beginning) to pray and to sacrifice for the fulfillment of God's plan in Medjugorje. Many, many of us have responded to Her call. But we can't grow tired now. Our prayers and sacrifices are still needed, maybe now more than ever! The battle is intense. Now is the time to stand fast and not lose ground.

And so, let us redouble our efforts to pray together for the grace of Medjugorje to succeed! We few may be the remnant that will make the difference! Our steadfast commitment to Our Lady of Medjugorje may be the tiny but necessary offering the tips the scale and wins the day! Remember to pray for Our Lady's intentions and Jesus' intentions for Medjugorje every day, especially as we enter Lent. This is the time for valiant deeds!

In Jesus and Mary!

Cathy Nolan
©2009 Mary TV
www.marytv.tv

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Vicka, broadcast live by Radio Maria Italia from Medjugorje on 1/2/08 PADRE LIVIO – The Madonna also spoke of false prophets saying, “Those who make catastrophic predictions are false prophets. They say: ‘in that particular year, on that particular day, there will be a catastrophe’. I have always said that the chastisement will come if the world does not convert. Therefore I invite everyone to conversion. Everything depends on your conversion” (December 15, 1983). So now I ask you, if we convert will there still be the ten secrets, or no?

VICKA – No, no, the ten secrets will take place for sure. The Madonna has already given them. She has described nine of them to me and now I am waiting for the last one. I can only tell about the secret which is the sign on the mountain which I already spoke about and now I only want to say this about the seventh secret: that the Madonna said that half of the seventh secret has been cancelled because of our prayers. She recommends that we continue praying because with our prayers we can cancel also other secrets. The other one was the ninth secret – number nine.

PADRE LIVIO – So, in essence, the discourse is this; The Madonna urges us to convert, She tells us not to wait for the sign on the mountain in order to convert, and in any event, “…all the secrets that I have confided will be realized and also the visible sign will be made manifest. When the visible sign comes, for many it will already be too late” (December 23, 1982). What does that mean?

VICKA – The Madonna did not explain why it will be too late and I did not ask. She only said that we are now living in a time of grace.

PADRE LIVIO – So, it is important to convert before the sign is made manifest?

VICKA – Every day the Madonna calls us to conversion, to the conversion of our hearts, you understand? And 27 and a half years later the Madonna is still among us and our hearts are still too closed, too distant. I don’t know, I don’t know what it could be, but “too late” seems right.

PADRE LIVIO – You have always said, and also the Madonna of Medjugorje, that when we talk about the ten secrets, we must do so always inviting everyone to hope. In fact in one of the Madonna’s messages She said, “We must never take away hope”. The Madonna didn’t come to frighten us but to call us back to responsibility and to conversion in a context which always inspires hope. The Madonna even once said, in the first year of the apparitions: “For the Christian there is only one attitude with regard to the future: hope of salvation” (June 10, 1982).

VICKA – Well, you see, the Madonna is here among us to save our souls, truly; She did not come in order to boss us ‘do this, do that or else’ …She is here to occupy Herself with our souls, She says that She is the Mother of everyone and loves everyone. “You do not know how much I love you; if you knew you would cry for joy.” We are still a long way away from Her joy…you understand? All those little things, simple things…She always gives hope. And then you read Her face which She shows you…it is so sad! But She gives you so much joy! She lifts you up, She gives you strength! And this is so encouraging.

PADRE LIVIO – In all of my radio broadcasts I try to underline this fact too, that the ten secrets are a time of grace because it is in this time that the power of the evil one will be conquered by the Madonna. The Madonna is here as “Queen”.

VICKA – The Madonna many times has told us that the evil one knows where we are weakest and he looks for the empty places in us (places not dedicated to God) that he can inhabit: and he has found many places among the young and in families, breaking them up. The evil one does a lot of things like this you know. But the Madonna has said that when we feel peace in our hearts and joy and tranquility, then you can see very clearly that this comes from God. We must be able to distinguish immediately that which comes from God and that which does not, we need to keep awake and persevere with making the change in our lives so that we can keep the evil one at bay.

PADRE LIVIO – This means that if we stay close to the Madonna we will feel joy in our hearts and we will not feel this anxious fear about our future. In fact, the Madonna once said that he who prays has no fear about the future.

VICKA – Certainly: he who prays has no fear about the future and he who fasts has no fear of the evil one. We have a great grace…we are living in a time of grace. I have never heard a word come from the Madonna that created fear…She always gives you hope. She gives joy and tranquility. You can see that the Madonna and Her Son defeat all that evil that exists. We shouldn’t have any fear but we must follow what They want. He who follows the Madonna and lives Her messages has no motive for being afraid. He who has fear, is afraid even of himself…he must do something to start himself going in the right direction and then he can follow the messages of the Madonna.

PADRE LIVIO – Power is of God, evil is dangerous and Satan is strong. Anxious fear for the future certainly is not befitting of believers, but today there exists a worrying concern which is not to be undervalued. On two occasions John Paul II affirmed that the world was in danger of destroying itself. The seer Ivan declared in a video broadcast that the Madonna had said the very same thing to him, that is, that the world was at risk of destroying itself. So, it’s not wise to be too superficial. In one message the Madonna said, “I will pray my Son to not punish the world, but I beg you; convert yourselves. You all cannot imagine what will happen and neither that which God the Father will send upon the earth. For this I repeat, convert yourselves. Renounce everything. Do penance” (April 25, 1983). Here one sees how hope and concern can coexist.

VICKA – The Madonna has been with us all these many years precisely so that we might come near to God and convert ourselves. As a mother, the Madonna does not want to lose even one of Her children. She comes from Heaven to the Earth to save us but we are still too far away from Her. But She never forces anyone, She never says, “You must convert, you must do this and that” no…She doesn’t force anyone. She says to each one of us, “My son, do what your heart tells you to do”. And She waits for us like a mother. She waits for everyone. She does all that She can do, but apparently our hearts are still very, very hard.

www.radiomaria.it

Dear Family of Mary!

Yesterday in prayer I received an image. It was of an old fashioned key hole, you know the kind that is opened by a skeleton key. It was in a door that was shut, but through it I could see to the other side of the door. On the other side was a beautiful Eden like scene with flowers and trees and green, green grass. (Maybe we have been reading too much from Genesis lately at Mass!) As I pondered the image it came to me that Our Lady's messages are just such a key hole for those who listen to them. They help us glimpse the life of Heaven. As we obey Our Lady through prayer, fasting, penance, receiving the sacraments, and reading scripture, we construct in our hearts the life of Heaven. We begin to glimpse the innocent and pure life we are destined to live in Heaven, even now.

As I continued to pray, I was led to ask this question: Who can best see through a key hole? Answer: A child! A child is small enough to peer right through the key hole because they are small. A child's face is small too, so it is no problem to get up close to the key hole. I realized that if we are child-like, we have a much better chance of seeing through Our Lady's key hole. We need to be small and trusting like children to live Our Lady's messages. They are simple messages. They are spoken in simple language, and give very simple advice. They require a trusting and simple response. Nothing complicated here.

Our Lady's messages are a gift from Heaven for our world today. And don't we need such a gift? It would seem that the grownups of our time have pretty much botched things up. Maybe we need to be led by a Child into God's Kingdom. Jesus, the Son of the Father, was always Child. He always did the will of His Father. We can follow His example and be children too. We can be led by Our Lady and Her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, into the Kingdom.

Our Lady gave a message in 1992 in which she asked us to live her messages because it was through those very messages that God wanted to do miracles. It might be good to recall that message today:

"Dear children! Today as never before I invite you to live my messages and to put them into practice in your life. I have come to you to help you and, therefore, I invite you to change your life because you have taken a path of misery, a path of ruin. When I told you: convert, pray, fast, be reconciled, you took these messages superficially. You started to live them and then you stopped, because it was difficult for you. No, dear children, when something is good, you have to persevere in the good and not think: God does not see me, He is not listening, He is not helping. And so you have gone away from God and from me because of your miserable interest. I wanted to create of you an oasis of peace, love and goodness.

God wanted you, with your love and with His help, to do miracles and, thus, give an example. Therefore, here is what I say to you: Satan is playing with you and with your souls and I cannot help you because you are far away from my heart. Therefore, pray, live my messages and then you will see the miracles of God's love in your everyday life. Thank you for having responded to my call." (March 25, 1992)

May we be childlike enough to gaze through the key hole into God's Kingdom of love. May we even be small enough one day to pass through the key hole into the Kingdom!

In Jesus and Mary!

Cathy Nolan
© 2009 Mary TV
www.marytv.tv

In the history of the Church there have been many apparitions. More than their messages it is the fact of the apparitions themselves that should make us reflect. They do not seem to add anything to what we already know from our faith, but it is as if a part of the world that is always present, though usually hidden, were suddenly made visible to us. As though the eyes of man acquired new powers of vision and were no longer limited to seeing only this world and what happens in it.

But what is the actual significance of the apparitions for the Church and even more for those who have managed to see that which we others do not see? To me, it seems to be fundamental that through the apparitions, we are certain of the existence of a world of light, of purity and love. Of a world that is present but remains invisible and does not appear except when a completely gratuitous will so desires it, but even then remains a privilege and a gift.

Above all, it is, therefore, the recognition of the victorious presence of good, because that which appears is certainly part of God’s world.

This divine world is a witness to the victory of good. Therefore, it is certainly a gift of God, which in those most serious and difficult times when we seem to be overcome by evil, guarantees that evil has no power in the world to which we Christians have been introduced by Divine Grace. By our faith we know this is true, but our human experience suggests that evil has overwhelmed everything else and rendered all our hopes vain.

What is this world of light that appears so gratuitously? Usually it is the Virgin Mary and here too, we must ask ourselves, why the world of sin is answered by the world of God and the presence of the pure Virgin. Even before Our Lady, is it not Christ rising in all His humanity who should reveal the divine world and the victory over evil? So why Our Lady? Certainly, as liturgy teaches us, it is because in Her the whole of creation is renewed. She is victorious and is Herself the new creation uncontaminated by evil.

Do apparitions therefore anticipate Christ’s victory over evil: The apparition of the Virgin is a reassurance that the very person who existed before has now been freed of all conditioning – that is, limits determined mainly by sin but also from the very condition of being a human being. In fact, these apparitions bear witness to a freedom that creation in itself, even without sin, does not seem able to have; namely, freedom from the limits of time and space….So, in some ways apparitions anticipate the manifestation of Christ’s victory over the powers of evil that seem to be a great and continuous threat to the world around us. Not only do they anticipate but they also make the redeemed world present, even though this world remains invisible. God does not guarantee us anything beforehand or when He has decided on the manifestation of victory over the disruptive powers and the powers of death, but with the apparitions He assures us of His presence.

Apparitions are not, therefore, an act of God on Man’s imagination. I do not think that their objective reality can be denied. It really is the Holy Virgin who appears and people really do establish a relationship with Her and Her divine Son. In this way, men live in two worlds: a visible world that is destined to end and an invisible world that cannot be violated by those who deny its existence.

And this is the true world that God has redeemed. Our Lady cannot abandon Her children before the public and solemn manifestation of Her victory over evil. The Mother of all, She could not abandon us when we are living with suffering, subjected to all temptations and incapable of avoiding death. She no longer belongs to this world, but Her presence in Her apparitions assures us that the divine world is already present and that the trials of this world can never be greater than Her grace. Above all, they can never stop Our Lady from helping Her children who are involved in the struggle against the forces of hell. The world of God is not only real but it is not even minimally separated from this world. It is this world that might be separated from the redeemed world.

Thus, the apparitions tell us about the double dimension in the lives of men. We live in a world that seems to be without God yet. Instead, according to our faith, we live in the world of God. It is as though man was divided by these two dimensions. Being part of the present world he seems to live in the “world of the absence”, but he also lives in the world of a creation that has already been renewed by the presence of God.

From “Avvenire” May 18

In 1981, the first year of Our Lady's apparitions in Medjugorje, she said "The world with all its present tensions is going towards its ruin. If it wants to be saved, it must have peace, but it will only have peace if it finds God; those who find God find a joy in their hearts from which comes peace." She has made it clear that Her weapon of choice in the battle now raging in our world is the rosary. Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC, founder of the Family Rosary Crusade has said "Mary is omnipotent in Her power of intercession. God wills that something be done and it happens; Mary prays that something be done, and He never refuses Her."

Below are listed the great benefits of Praying the Family Rosary, by Fr. Peyton, CSC.

~ To establish the presence of God in the home; "For where two or three are gathered together for my sake, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt XVIII, 20).

~ To provide an example for the younger members of the family to carry on throughout life.

~ To strengthen the parents feelings of responsibility toward the children's spiritual life.

~ To establish and maintain a peaceful spirit within the family.

~ To obtain the special grace that is gained through oral collective prayer, which has a special value of its own.

~ To create a means for understanding, unity, respect and obedience within the family group.

~ To assure the discipline of the will implied in the faithful attention to family prayer.

~ To enlist this aid to faith as a means of keeping alive a solid living practical faith in the family.

~ To pray for spiritual and material needs of the family, such as sustenance, health, forgiveness, strength of perseverance and strength against temptation.

~ To petition for success for each member of the family in his or her vocation in life.

As we prayerfully meditate on Our Lady’s reported monthly message of April 25, 2008 from Medjugorje, please step back and contemplate what reportedly is occurring at Medjugorje. It is unprecedented and should leave us speechless. At Lourdes, Our Lady appeared in 1858 to Bernadette a total of 18 times over 6 months. At Fatima in 1917, Our Lady appeared to the three shepherd children monthly for 6 months---for a total also of 18 appearances. These respective 18 appearances have had a profound impact.

At Medjugorje, Our Lady (starting on June 24, 1981) reportedly appeared at first to each of the 6 youths daily. She then concluded her appearances with one reported visionary, Ivanka, and then many years later to a second, Mirjana, and then many years later to a third, Jakov. To the remaining three, Vicka, Marija and Ivan---now all in their 40’s---she continues to appear daily. We are now in year 27 of the reported daily appearances. To make the point, the total number of reported appearances by Our Blessed Mother at Medjugorje is now in the approximate range of 30,000 appearances!

No one ever would have predicted such an intervention from Heaven. If there is an unmistakable sign of the times, this is it.

In an interesting development, the Vatican now has taken out of the hands of any local commissions any determination regarding the authenticity of the reported apparitions at Medjugorje and moved all such decision making to Rome. That also is unprecedented. We should never become casual or take for granted what Our Lady as the messenger on behalf of her Son Jesus Christ reportedly is doing at Medjugorje.

Our Lady first brought her Son Jesus into the world on December 25. The official commencement of her reported appearances at Medjugorje is exactly half-way through the calendar year—June 25. Her first appearance reported at Medjugorje occurred the day before, June 24, which is the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, the first messenger clearing the path for Jesus Christ. The symbolism of the dates, the sheer number of appearances, and the messages of faith, prayer, peace, fasting, reconciliation and love should be a constant reminder to us that NOW is the time to convert and continue converting to a life of the spirit in this world. Let us pray more and more.