Medjugorje Message: May 25, 2024
Dear children! In this time of grace, I am calling you to prayer with the heart. Little children, create prayer groups where you will encourage each other to the good and grow in joy. Little children, you are still far away. That is why continue to convert anew and choose the way of holiness and hope so that God may give you peace in abundance. Thank you for having responded to my call.
River of Light
June 2024
This June 25th will mark the 43rd anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions in Medjugorje. In this month’s message, the Queen of Peace gives us pointed, specific instructions for a path forward in our war-torn, violent, restless, and divided world—the route we must take “so that God may give you peace in abundance.” At this point in our sadly damaged and dissolute condition as a nation, culture and species on a sick and dying planet, the idea of “peace in abundance” seems impossible. What, according to Our Lady, can possibly reverse this path of destruction we have chosen?
She begins: “In this time of grace, I am calling you to prayer with the heart.” This term, “prayer with the heart,” was a hallmark of Our Lady’s early messages in Medjugorje, 43 years ago. In fact, one of the earliest prayer aids coming from the visionaries and villagers’ practice was a small blue, pocket-size booklet called simply “PRAY WITH THE HEART!” by Fr. Slavko Barbaric, OFM. Unfortunately, it seems that Our Lady’s vital message in these four little words—“Pray with the heart“—has been largely missed or misunderstood and ignored over the past four decades. We failed to comprehend that the Blessed Virgin Mary was calling us to the contemplative dimension of the Gospel. What does this mean?
Sacred Scripture lays the groundwork for our understanding of prayer, along with the example of our Lord Jesus as he struggled with the hypocrisy of the Pharisaic religious leaders, always drawing a clear distinction between “prayer of the heart” and the “heart-less” practice of an ego-driven external piety. This issue of “head-fueled” vs. “heart-fueled” prayer remains with us as part of our human condition. It exists in every religious tradition, with the mystical core of authentic “heart-prayer” buried but alive under the often-hypocritical external religious organizational “optics.”
From the very start, the ancient Law and Prophets of Israel identified “LOVE“—God’s love for us and our love for God—as the bedrock of everything in our human life. Upon this relationship of mutual love, with “heart and mind and soul and strength,” hangs the health, peace, happiness, and meaning of our human life. Indeed, the image of a HEART is the universal symbol of LOVE.
But from the start, our human condition also caused us to stray away from the primacy of this love relationship, seeking fulfillment in other, lesser things. Early in the Law of Moses, God says that—even in the jungle of our confusion and distraction with other “gods”—“You shall indeed find God when you search after him with your whole heart and your whole soul. In your distress, when all these [bad] things come upon you, you shall finally return to the Lord, your God. Since your God is a merciful God, he will not abandon and destroy you, nor forget the covenant he made.” (Dt 4:29-31) Such is our hope in this present darkness!
Through the prophet Ezekiel, God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the stony heart from your bodies, and replace it with a natural heart….thus you will be my people and I will be your God.” (Ez 36:26) This profound intimacy that God desires with human beings is also voiced by the prophet Jeremiah: “More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart….But this is the covenant which I will make with Israel. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kin how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more.” (Jer 17:10,31:33) In this great INTIMACY between God and humanity, there is none of the fooling, fraud, or trickery that we perform through the masks, false pretenses and artifice of our human relationships. For “not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) We are always totally “naked” in the Presence of our Creator God!
When Our Lady calls us to “prayer with the heart,” she is calling us to the contemplative dimension of a listening, “Heart-to-Heart,” deeply intimate LOVE RELATIONSHIP with our God—the relationship that God has begged us for with burning yearning and desire throughout all of Sacred Scripture! But the reality of our 21st century world is a hard place for us to cultivate this “contemplative dimension of the Gospel” to which Our Lady calls us through “Prayer with the Heart.” Riddled by the constant bombardments of our technology and the racing images on our devices and screens, we as lone individuals find it very difficult to maintain a consistent daily spiritual practice of deeply-intimate listening prayer.
Our Lady answers this difficulty by saying: “Little children, create prayer groups where you will encourage each other to the good and grow in joy.” While each human person has a unique connection and relationship with God that will unfold privately, personally, and endlessly in new and surprising ways for all eternity, in order to activate and enjoy this unique connection, we need the companionship of other human beings, for we are social creatures by the nature of our design. From Genesis 2:8, “the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone.'” The Trinitarian Godhead is itself a community of three “persons” in loving relationship; so all of creation is modeled upon this “blueprint” of our Source and Origin—meant to be, to learn, and to grow in RELATIONSHIP with others.
From the beginning of her apparitions in Medjugorje, Our Lady formed the six young visionaries into a “PRAYER GROUP” (which others also joined), and encouraged the formation of these groups in the village parish of St. James. Today she is telling the WHOLE WORLD to do the same: “create prayer groups.” She does not dictate the format or content of these prayer groups—they may be based on silent Centering Prayer in community; on “Lectio Divina”—the meditative “divine reading” of short Bible passages with silent pauses and brief sharing of the Word that speaks to each person’s heart; on Intercessory Prayer for the private and world needs brought to the group; on Rosary prayer that joins the Mysteries of our faith to our own life mysteries; on Eucharistic Adoration in silence and shared vocal prayer; on Charismatic or healing prayer in the Holy Spirit, etc… All “Prayer with the Heart” must begin and find its grounding in SILENCE and receptive listening.
Beyond that, the only criteria Our Lady mentions is that our groups be places “where you will encourage each other to the good and grow in joy.” Indeed, those are the two natural outcomes of participating in a prayer group: the combined energy and effort of a few persons faithfully showing up on a given day and place to spend time together with the Lord in openness of heart and deep communion through shared silence and focused, intentional speech will inevitably bring “encouragement to the good” in our life—acts of mercy, love and justice—and to “growth in joy“—a holistic sense of peaceful balance and alignment between our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions.
After calling us to “create prayer groups,” Our Lady concludes by reminding us why we need them: “Little children, you are still far away. That is why continue to convert anew and choose the way of holiness and hope so that God may give you peace in abundance.” Our Lady is offering us a remedy and antidote for a serious spiritual sickness, a malady of soul through which our whole world is suffering and dying. She says we are “still far away” from the God-relationship of LOVE that alone can save us and retrieve our planet Earth and this sorrowful, corrupt world from the jaws of destruction we have already entered by our own negligence and bad choices.
As we survey our own situation, let us ponder how “far away” we are. How many hours per day do we spend on some form of electronic device or screen? The average is now 15 hours out of 24—a shocking statistic! And how many hours per day do we give to “prayer with the heart” in loving communion with our God? Yes, we are “still far away.” Who can you invite to join you in forming a prayer group? It can begin very small: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Mt 18:20)
We must “continue to convert anew” because conversion is never a “one and done” event, but an ongoing, daily evolution of spiritual consciousness that is guided, directed, and accomplished by GOD, acting within us when we give God our open-hearted CONSENT in prayer. By lowering all our defenses, walls and masks, we give God permission to penetrate us—to be Present and active in our inmost being to change, heal, liberate, and do all of the things we cannot possibly do for ourselves.
Converting anew each day through “prayer with the heart,” we can thus “choose the way of holiness and hope.” HOLINESS is the “wholeness” of living fully—with one’s whole “heart and mind and soul and strength,” with singleness of purpose and a unity of thoughts, feelings, senses, and spirit all working together as one “in Christ”; all in balance and alignment with the Divine will, grounded in the present moment of God’s providential “Now.” HOPE is a transformed awareness—beginning to discern God’s voice over the noise of the world and see God’s perspective as the Holy Spirit speaks to us through other people, the events of the day, our own circumstances of life, and within our inmost conscience, leading us into a brighter, better future through this new vision of the Divine Presence in every moment and step we take. Indeed, our choosing of “the way of holiness and hope” enables God to “give us peace in abundance.” A peace that we can spread to others, in partnership with Mary, Queen of Peace.
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Empty yourself. Sit quietly, content with the grace of God.
—St. Romuald
The purpose of silence is to break through the crust of the false self.
—Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO
If God is the center of your life, no words are necessary. Your mere presence will touch hearts.
—St. Vincent de Paul
It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than to have words without a heart.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi
Contemplation is a wordless resting in the presence of God beyond all thoughts and images.
—James Finley
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WE CANNOT SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS WITH THE SAME THINKING THAT WE USED WHEN WE CREATED THEM.
—Albert Einstein
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June 2: Corpus Christi Sunday
The Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for authentic life, because in the Eucharist Christ himself is truly in our midst to nourish, console, and sustain us on our journey. Nothing compares to the Eucharist, the sacrament of divine intimacy. Jesus himself “eagerly desired to eat this Passover.” (Lk 22:15)
The Eucharist communicates the Lord’s love for us: a love so great that it nourishes us with himself; a freely given love, always available to every person who hungers. To live the experience of faith means to allow oneself to be nourished by the Lord and to build one’s existence not with material goods but with the reality that does not perish: the gifts of God, his Word and his Body.
—Pope Francis
The Church’s doctrine regarding the Most Holy Eucharist, in which the whole spiritual wealth of the Church is contained: Christ, our Paschal Lamb—the Eucharist—is the source and summit of the whole of Christian life. Against the seeds of discord which our daily experience shows to be so deeply engrained in human nature as a result of sin, there stands the creative power of the unity of Christ’s body.
It is therefore the hope that human weakness may come to pose less of an obstacle to the action of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, and that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, the saving presence of Christ in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood may shine brightly upon all people. Let all Christ’s faithful participate in the Most Holy Eucharist as fully, consciously, and actively as they can, honoring it lovingly by their devotion and the manner of their life.
—Redemptionis Sacramentum, Congregation of Divine Worship
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June 7: The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
What the heart of a God-man desires ultimately cannot be fully understood. But this heart of flesh—which, though transfigured, still beats in heaven—must surely be filled with ardor and tenderness, with hope and inexhaustible, never-ending love. The world of today, with its discoveries and boundless aspirations, can no longer understand it. And yet, this heart is like a sun that shines on the whole world and on every human person. We must believe and trust in this heart, which will never delude us. It is a source of great hope for every human being; a lamp that shines amidst the dark moments of life.
—Servant of God Chiara Lubich
Doctors tell parents right after a baby’s birth to hold the infant close to their heart, which helps to regulate the baby’s heartbeat. Proximity causes a conformity of the heart. Christ invites us to come close to him. When the Savior draws us close, the beat of our heart begins to match his. The healing and renewal of the heart is one of the consistent promises of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament. If we are to be saved, it must happen through a transformation of the heart.
The heart is the absolute foundation of the person. The heart is the dwelling place where “I am”…the place of decision, the place of truth. What is true of my heart is true of me in the most radical sense. It is there that we need healing and transformation. The heart is the “place of encounter.” (CCC 2563) It is where my “I” meets the “I” of the Lord and is transformed. Think of the Beloved Disciple as he reclined next to Christ at the Last Supper, his head resting on our Lord’s chest, hearing the steady rhythm of the Sacred Heart, which would be pierced for love of us.
We too can listen to the heart of Jesus Christ. We hear what John heard every time we attend Mass: “Take this, all of you, and eat of it…” We can hear the eagerness of Christ’s heart, his desire to give himself to us for our salvation. If the heart is the place of truth, what is the truth in the heart of Jesus Christ? It is this: God saves, God loves, God is love, and that love is for you, for all of us. What is our response to all this? The word Eucharist means “thanksgiving.” A necessary consequence of our hearts beginning to beat like that of Christ—which the Eucharist accomplishes—is that we will become more grateful.
—Fr. Jonah Teller, OP
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June 8: The Immaculate Heart of Mary
There was a divine music in all Mary said and did…that charmed every true heart that came near her. Her innocence, her humility and modesty, her simplicity, sincerity, and truthfulness, her unselfishness, her unaffected interest in everyone who came to her, her purity; and were we to see her now, neither our first thought nor our second thought would be, what she could do for us with her Son (though she can do so much)—but our first thought would be, “Oh, how beautiful!”
—St. John Henry Newman
Mary is called the Queen of contemplatives….But what does this mean? To live a contemplative life it to live at depth; to live below the surface in the world of faith, the world of reality and not appearances. What we are told of Mary’s holiness is expressed in three sayings. The first: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” I am yours absolutely. Do your will in me and through me; I have no ambitions even of the most religious and spiritual kind. Do your will in darkness and pain if need be. I do not ask to understand, I commit myself to you completely. This is the perfect contemplative stance. The second glimpse of Mary comes through Elizabeth: “Blessed are you for believing everything the Lord promised you will be fulfilled.” You have allowed God to fulfill his promises in you. And in between this perfect offering of trust and its consummation in her Assumption, we are told that Mary “kept all these words and pondered them in her heart.” Yes, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it. (Lk 11:28)
Contemplative living has written into it this Marian attitude or mode of being. We are to be contemplatives living in the depths of reality. Our fantasy can take us into excitements, delights, satisfactions. Faith keeps us in the here and now: in this moment and no other, in this situation and no other. Here is my Jesus, here in this moment, this duty, this set of circumstances. What a test of faith is this daily round…in the dull, wearing pain, lacking all glamour and grandeur! All the time, the heart of the contemplative is racing out beyond appearances to embrace the Beloved who cannot be seen or felt. It means being drawn secretly to God. Mary has allowed herself to be transformed by love into what she was called to be.
—Sr. Ruth Burrows, OCD
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It is not easy to love someone whom we dislike. That is why we must open ourselves to Christ. We must have the attitude of a helpless child, believing that Jesus himself will come and love in us even those whom we do not like. This attitude will enable us to come to agape love. When negative feelings increase in us, only Christ is able to love in us. His presence in us brings us conversion. However, this Presence is actualized to the extent of humility in us—to the extent that we are little and helpless before God. Hence, a difficulty in our relationship with people is a chance to open ourselves to grace, to the love of Jesus.
Opening yourselves to the descent of Christ, whether through the holy sacraments or in prayer, allows you to love others. You can give Christ to others to the extent that you accept him and allow him to encompass you. The more you allow God to live and act in you, the more capable you are of loving others.
—Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer
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We begin our heaven here below in the divine peace Jesus gives us. Our only happiness lies in that. The world shrinks the heart without ever filling it. Jesus makes it grow and fill continually. This inner serenity that appears externally is a true sermon, for it is a great glory for Jesus that his servants are so tranquil, so happily peaceful, in the radiance of his heart. It is a duty for you to spread this peace around you.
The Host speaks to us. The living silence of the Host preaches a heavenly peace. Jesus expects to find it in the hearts of his friends, since it is the heritage we have received from him. He finds it so seldom!…War is everywhere. And the profound cause of this discord is the pride of nations and of men. Each one of us is partly responsible for this because of our pride. It is through the hearts of those who love him and whom he has filled with his divine peace that Jesus radiates peace in the world. The first way to work for peace is to let Jesus establish it in our souls.
—Fr. Jean du Coeur de Jesus D’Elbee
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The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution that has to start with each one of us?
—Servant of God Dorothy Day
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To enter into relationship with the risen Christ, we have to let go of ourselves, surrender control of our lives, and let the Spirit be given to us. We think that we might lose our individuality, yet surrendering to God actually increases it. For once in our lives, we’re truly free to become ourselves rather than what others want us to be. The highest form of self-possession is the capacity to give ourselves away. By giving ourselves completely to God, we come to be possessed by God and in full possession of ourselves at the same time.
—Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM
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Gratitude will be the doorstop that keeps the door to your heart open. Peace and humility will be its gatekeeper. Cherish your heart, for it is from that place that you live.
—Nicky Morris
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If we can see a likely path to our desired outcome, we have hope; if we can see no possible path to our desired outcome, we have despair. But when our prime motive is LOVE, a different logic comes into play. We find courage and confidence, not in the likelihood of a good outcome, but in our commitment to love. Love may not provide a way through to a solution to our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step at a time. Sustained by this fierce love, we may persevere long enough that a new way may appear. We will live by love through our final breath. We will live as beautifully, bravely, and kindly as we can as long as we can, no matter how ugly, scary, and mean the world becomes; even if failure and death seem inevitable. Hope is complicated. But, even if hope fails, something bigger can replace it, and that is LOVE.
—Brian McLaren
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God seems to adjust himself to every creature at its level of consciousness, however primitive. What Jesus has done is to integrate the human condition with all its limitations. He completely identified with us as a human being. He threw away all the divine privileges and showed us how to be human in a divine way, which involves the realization of being called to unity with God and oneness with each other.
That seems to be the program: to change what is most opposite to God or distant from God into divine love itself, and in this way to manifest what is the deepest reality of God, which is God’s HUMILITY. He doesn’t seem to care about being God. He has everything and needs nothing, except to pour out his goodness and love on those who are willing to accept them. Once humans have a certain choice, limited though it is, God does not control everything that happens. He has to respect the gift he has given us of a significant degree of freedom and autonomy.
—Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO
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Wisdom from Pope Francis
“The Way of the Heart” is the formation program of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network—the Apostleship of Prayer. It draws our heart to be nearer to the Heart of Jesus, to align our hearts with His heart’s sentiments, desires and yearnings. It invites us to unite ourselves to the mission which Jesus received from the Father. It leads us to commit ourselves with Him to take up the challenges that confront humanity and the mission of the Church.
Every month the Pope articulates these challenges through his intentions, which help us to understand the mission of Christ in our day…to mobilize us, docile to the Holy Spirit, for prayer and service…transforming us for a mission of compassion for the world.
The Pope’s Prayer Intention for June 2024: Let us pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys fraught with danger and violence, may find welcome and new living opportunities in their host countries. Amen.
To reject the contemplative dimension of any religion is to reject the religion itself, however loyal one may be to its externals and rituals. This is because the contemplative dimension is the heart and soul of every religion. It initiates the movement into higher states of consciousness. The great wisdom teachings of the Vedas, Upanishads, Buddhist Sutras, Old and New Testaments, and the Koran bear witness to this truth. Right now there are about two billion Christians on the planet. If a significant portion of them were to embrace the contemplative dimension of the gospel, the emerging global society would experience a powerful surge toward enduring peace. If this contemplative dimension of the Christian religion is not presented, the Gospel is not being adequately preached.
– Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO
