My dad Joe and brother Joseph arrived in Medjugorje yesterday. Today my dad went to confession for the first time in about 25 years and received Communion at Mass for the first time in 17 years. He cried through both. To say I am grateful for God's love, mercy, and grace is an understatement. Please offer to God a short prayer of thanksgiving for me, and ask Him to strengthen my dad's faith and my brother's perseverance in his vocation. Thank you!
How wonderful and will offer a prayer of thanksgiving for this great grace. My dad was baptized a Catholic at the age of 87 years old so we must always have faith that God works in each soul, sometimes through one of their children.
A wonderful grace, Purple Flower. Prayer of Thanksgiving offered. Your prayers and fasting and those of your family members have been heard.
I am so happy for all your family PF , but especially for the 2 Josephs! And st Joseph feast day is in 2 days! It’s Lent but this deserves an Alleluia!
This is wonderful to hear. Medjugorje has been so instrumental in conversions! Congrats and prayers of thanksgiving
If your dad and brother could say, did Mirjana have her apparition in private or in public on March 18th? I saw a photo in Sr. Emmanuel's newsletter with a photograph of Mirjana in public, but was wondering if that was an old photograph or one from the apparition/message of March 18th. Thanks! here it is: On March 18, the visionary, Mirjana Soldo, received her yearly apparition and Our Lady gave this message: “Dear children, by the merciful love of God, I am with you. That is why, as a mother, I am calling you to believe in love - the love that is union with my Son. With love you help others to open their hearts to come to know my Son and to come to love Him. My children, love makes it for my Son to illuminate your hearts with His grace, to grow in you and to give you peace. My children, if you live love, if you live my Son, you will have peace and you will be happy. In love is victory. Thank you.”
That's an old picture. My brother says Mirjana did not leave her home for the apparition. The pilgrims gathered by themselves at the Blue Cross. My brother and dad's group did get to meet privately with one of the visionaries, but they were asked not to talk about it, as it was a rare favor.
Update: My brother and dad have returned home from Medjugorje. I wanted to tell you something wonderful. First of all, my dad has resolved to go to Mass every Sunday from now on. And he has downloaded an app onto his phone to teach him how to pray the rosary, and wants to pray it every day. And my brother? He spent the whole trip being of help to others and thinking the call to Medjugorje was really for our dad...that Joseph's purpose there was just to bring our dad along. But very early on they had run into two men, both named Gary, and briefly introduced themselves without really talking about anything personal. They occasionally saw them in passing but never spoke again. On the flight home, my brother went to the bathroom at the airport between flights, and when he walked back, he saw my dad standing there talking with the two Gary's! They all looked at Joseph as he approached, and had a look of wonder on their faces. My Dad said, "You're not gonna believe what Gary just told me!" Apparently later in the day when the Garys and Josephs had first met, the younger Gary was praying to Mary, whom he has always had a special devotion to, even as a kid. All of a sudden, he heard her tell him, "Tell Joseph he is going to be a priest." He had been looking for an opportunity the whole rest of the trip to tell Joseph, but they'd never actually run into each other, and he was feeling super guilty about it. Then they saw my dad at the airport and Gary was able to tell him! He was so surprised and amazed to hear that Joseph is indeed planning to apply to the seminary and had secretly been hoping for some kind of confirmation from Mary. What a lovely gift she gave him! I told Joseph, too, it is a neat parallel, that on his first trip to Medjugorje as a kid with me, it was on the return journey home that he announced to me out of the blue, "I've decided I'm going to be a priest."
