“Medjugorje is not a threat to the Church – but a gift,” says priest who pastored at Medjugorje for seven years.
• Fr Ljubo Kurtovic OFM made a return visit to Medjugorje recently and gave this talk to english-speaking pilgrims. Transcript is by Angela Callan.
Welcome to Medjugorje!
I have been a priest for 18 years, and I have been given the grace to serve here for seven years – from 2000 to 2007.
When I came to Medjugorje first it was in 1982. I was born 50 kilometres from here and we walked all the way. I recall only the pain in my feet – I was thirteen years old. The faithful of this area always came in great numbers for the Anniversary and for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I never saw Our Lady, but I am a priest because of her. I was stubborn and Our Lady needed more time with me.
How is it possible that Our Lady has been appearing for so long? We cannot constrain God by our ways as this could be an obstacle to come to God. Our Lady first came holding the baby Jesus. All her messages could be summed up on that first day – she has nothing to give us but Jesus. She wants us to be happy here on earth and then with her in heaven.
There is nothing new in Our Lady’s messages. There are no extra solutions. We have Expresso coffee but there is no Expresso prayer. The messages are the Gospel said in a motherly way.
If a child is going wrong a parent forgives, loves and suffers. We are all responsible for our own life but Our Lady encourages us. The messages are prayer itself. Our Lady says, “Dear children, I respect your freedom.” Freedom is a gift of God or it is our weakness – we can also decide for the other side.
The late Fr Slavko died on November 24, 2000, at the top of Krizevac. There is a memorial there. At the time the apparitions started he was studying in Germany. He was sent to Medjugorje and desired to meet the visionaries. They answered all his questions, but none of them asked him if he believed – they left him free. God never forces and Our Lady doesn’t come with guns. Medjugorje is not a threat. It is hope. It is the open heaven.
On October 25, 2014, Our Lady said: “Be aware that your life is short and passing. Therefore, yearn for eternity and keep preparing your hearts in prayer.” Death is with us but we do not experience heaven only when we die but here on earth. After death it is already decided. Life is a basket to fill with good deeds. St Paul tells us that we live in faith, that we are not locked up inside. Faith is a personal relationship with God and we need to nourish it.
The apparitions are not opposing reason. The experts cannot say what the visionaries see, but they can say they are not sick and they are not hallucinating. That is with the help of science, but across the border faith is helping us.
If you ask me, “Do you live Our Lady’s messages?” this is the same as asking, “Do you live the Gospel?” Iwould have to answer that I could always do better. When we come to Medjugorje the most significant thing is the change of heart – conversion, to make you hearts like the hearts of Jesus and Mary. God can do this! Also pray for the conversion of other people. Many have woken up spiritually here. Some say that it seems as if life has then become harder – but that is what the Gospel tells us. If you want a pleasant life, don’t choose Our Lady as your patron. If you choose her she won’t leave you alone. It is true, because she wants what is best for us.
Our Lady has not left us alone for more than 33 years. One year after the apparitions started the visionaries asked Our Lady why she had been with them for so long, and she replied: “Why? Are you bored with me already?” Maybe we don’t appreciate the grace of the apparitions. When we are healthy we don’t appreciate it until we get sick.
What I say to pilgrims leaving Medjugorje is, “Don’t leave Our Lady here, take her home with you.” That means making a decision, taking one step to make our relationship with God more profound. We could make more time to pray, be more disciplined, visit the sick… When we are with God there is no time to rest. We can climb the hill taking small steps.
There was a small boy who started school. He told his parents it was wonderful – they had been taught to sing and learned their alphabet. There was just one problem – the teacher had said they would have to come back the next day. The hardest thing in spiritual life is perseverance. Everday life is often not pleasant or easy. We feel at home here in Medjugorje where we are loved, forgiven and embraced. God created us in love and the desire to be loved has been placed in our hearts. We cannot saisfy that desire with expensive things.
I have been a priest for 18 years, and I have been given the grace to serve here for seven years – from 2000 to 2007.
When I came to Medjugorje first it was in 1982. I was born 50 kilometres from here and we walked all the way. I recall only the pain in my feet – I was thirteen years old. The faithful of this area always came in great numbers for the Anniversary and for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I never saw Our Lady, but I am a priest because of her. I was stubborn and Our Lady needed more time with me.
How is it possible that Our Lady has been appearing for so long? We cannot constrain God by our ways as this could be an obstacle to come to God. Our Lady first came holding the baby Jesus. All her messages could be summed up on that first day – she has nothing to give us but Jesus. She wants us to be happy here on earth and then with her in heaven.
There is nothing new in Our Lady’s messages. There are no extra solutions. We have Expresso coffee but there is no Expresso prayer. The messages are the Gospel said in a motherly way.
If a child is going wrong a parent forgives, loves and suffers. We are all responsible for our own life but Our Lady encourages us. The messages are prayer itself. Our Lady says, “Dear children, I respect your freedom.” Freedom is a gift of God or it is our weakness – we can also decide for the other side.
The late Fr Slavko died on November 24, 2000, at the top of Krizevac. There is a memorial there. At the time the apparitions started he was studying in Germany. He was sent to Medjugorje and desired to meet the visionaries. They answered all his questions, but none of them asked him if he believed – they left him free. God never forces and Our Lady doesn’t come with guns. Medjugorje is not a threat. It is hope. It is the open heaven.
On October 25, 2014, Our Lady said: “Be aware that your life is short and passing. Therefore, yearn for eternity and keep preparing your hearts in prayer.” Death is with us but we do not experience heaven only when we die but here on earth. After death it is already decided. Life is a basket to fill with good deeds. St Paul tells us that we live in faith, that we are not locked up inside. Faith is a personal relationship with God and we need to nourish it.
The apparitions are not opposing reason. The experts cannot say what the visionaries see, but they can say they are not sick and they are not hallucinating. That is with the help of science, but across the border faith is helping us.
If you ask me, “Do you live Our Lady’s messages?” this is the same as asking, “Do you live the Gospel?” Iwould have to answer that I could always do better. When we come to Medjugorje the most significant thing is the change of heart – conversion, to make you hearts like the hearts of Jesus and Mary. God can do this! Also pray for the conversion of other people. Many have woken up spiritually here. Some say that it seems as if life has then become harder – but that is what the Gospel tells us. If you want a pleasant life, don’t choose Our Lady as your patron. If you choose her she won’t leave you alone. It is true, because she wants what is best for us.
Our Lady has not left us alone for more than 33 years. One year after the apparitions started the visionaries asked Our Lady why she had been with them for so long, and she replied: “Why? Are you bored with me already?” Maybe we don’t appreciate the grace of the apparitions. When we are healthy we don’t appreciate it until we get sick.
What I say to pilgrims leaving Medjugorje is, “Don’t leave Our Lady here, take her home with you.” That means making a decision, taking one step to make our relationship with God more profound. We could make more time to pray, be more disciplined, visit the sick… When we are with God there is no time to rest. We can climb the hill taking small steps.
There was a small boy who started school. He told his parents it was wonderful – they had been taught to sing and learned their alphabet. There was just one problem – the teacher had said they would have to come back the next day. The hardest thing in spiritual life is perseverance. Everday life is often not pleasant or easy. We feel at home here in Medjugorje where we are loved, forgiven and embraced. God created us in love and the desire to be loved has been placed in our hearts. We cannot saisfy that desire with expensive things.
Our Lady tells us: “Dear children, if you knew how much I love you, you would cry for joy.” A man who came to Medjugorje was praying the Rosary on Apparition Hill. He read those words for the first time “cry for joy”. He felt as if a living person was saying them and he experienced the love of Our Lady. Meeting with another person is experienced when you trust. We can meet Our Lady with our spiritual eyes. God is the fullness of love. The one who carried God in her heart can guide us to God humself. Our Lady is saying to us, “Do whatever he tells you.” Medjugorje is not a threat to the Church but a gift.
Our Lady is often telling us, “This is a time of grace.” The Israelites left Egypt but there is a desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. After conversion come temptations – to go back to Egypt because there was plenty to eat there. We experience the death of loved ones, injustice, and we can ask, “Where is God? How does he allow this to happen?” The Father experienced pain when he sent his Son who had a human heart and worked with human hands. Our God is so close he took on human destiny.
Our Lady gives words we can take into our hearts and live them. Take these back home with you. John, at the foot of the Cross, accepted her for all of us. She can help us as much as our hearts are open to her.
I wish you a blessed pilgrimage and a true encounter with Our Lady.
Our Lady is often telling us, “This is a time of grace.” The Israelites left Egypt but there is a desert between Egypt and the Promised Land. After conversion come temptations – to go back to Egypt because there was plenty to eat there. We experience the death of loved ones, injustice, and we can ask, “Where is God? How does he allow this to happen?” The Father experienced pain when he sent his Son who had a human heart and worked with human hands. Our God is so close he took on human destiny.
Our Lady gives words we can take into our hearts and live them. Take these back home with you. John, at the foot of the Cross, accepted her for all of us. She can help us as much as our hearts are open to her.
I wish you a blessed pilgrimage and a true encounter with Our Lady.
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