Hi I am Aniela. I was going to go to Medjugorje just last month but ended up deathly sick and almost died. Maybe next time. Saw a thread on here so I joined up to reply to it. Am I allowed to reply to old threads? I was brought up Catholic by my Catholic mom. My dad is Agnostic. My one brother is Catholic but my other brother is Agnostic. I was not a fervent Catholic but since 2009 I am closer to God and care about my faith and now wear a Scapular. I am not good at saying the Rosary or Divine Mercy prayer every day but I know I should. I do when I am with my mom. She has inspired me and taught me a lot. Most of my friends are Agnostic so really I only have my mom.
Hi Aniela, welcome! I personally think it is ok to reply to old threads. I have not seen a moderator discourage it at least. Sounds like your Mom is a good one!
Old wine is best; like old threads. You seem to have taken such huge spiritual steps in such a short time. Welcome to the home of MAry.
I'm so glad for the support of your Mom! I'm praying that the Lord help you find Catholic companions your own age! Concerning your prayer life, may I suggest a few things? I give you permission to "blow me out of the water" if you are already beyond what I suggest. Establish a routine with which you can be fairly consistent. A Morning Prayer within the first half hour of waking is important because an early surrender to God gets one off on a good foot. Dedicate each decade of your Rosary to the intentions most important in your life. Your concern and love for others will provide motivation for you to become more regular in praying with Our Lady. Begin going to one daily Mass each week beyond your Sunday Holy Mass and build from there. In other words, small, holy habits will lead to deeper commitments as the love of Jesus pours into your heart. And go to confession on a regular basis, at least monthly. The self-knowledge you acquire from this habit will reveal to you the areas of personal weakness by which the devil seeks to discourage you. Discouragement is one of his chief assault weapons. Aniela, It's been 9 years that you been growing spiritually! I get excited when young people choose to turn their back on the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thank you. You inspire me! Safe Under Mary's Mantle!
I like that Mario and will have to remember it...holy habits. It is soooo much easier to pray whenever it is part of the daily routine. Welcome Aniela. You are not alone. Many of us here have family and friends in various stages of spirituality. This forum is a good solid rock foundation for spiritual growth and camaraderie. We hope that you visit often.
I am sorry you got that ill and couldn't go to medjegori. Maybe there is a reason that happened, only God knows. I always wanted to go myself but it is expensive to go there. I will pray for you that you will still go there. Take care and may God bless you....gary.
Aniela I find helpful sometimes with the Rosary to say it along with you tube recitations. There are many good ones out there. Welcome to the forum. God bless!!
I also have said the rosary with you tube on several occasions. I have also found it more inspiring to pray the rosary along with other living souls together. It is good to be able to talk about our Blessed Mother and her rosary with others. Thank you...Gary
I get distracted very easily so i use utube. Father Peyton is my favorite. As i told my daughter yesterday when she was so sad and is away from the Church as mother Teresa said to say Mary our Mother please be a Mother to me now. Baby steps and you will get there. Welcome!!!!
Welcome Aniela. The same thing happened to me. I had my ticket in hand to fly to Medjugorje in the 1990's and my appendix burst the morning of the flight. I was very disappointed at the time, but got to go to Lourdes instead which turned out to be amazing. Don't worry Our Lady knows what she's doing
I just got my kidney transplant 6 months ag0 (will be in 5 days) but with the Pandemic it is looking more and more like my mom and I won't be able to go. Now it is finances as I am on disability and my mom's passport is about to expire and she is saying she isn't going to renew it as it cost a lot and she never used it the last time. She never left the country even once. So she sees it as wasted money. She is now retired and because she didn't know what she was doing (I tried to help but how do I know? I never went through retirement) and now with income tax they say she owes quite a few thousand dollars. I think my password has already expired which she had helped me financially to get. Also my youngest brother moved in to her place because his son's mother kicked him out of the house claiming "disability doesn't let people live with me or I will lose my money". A lot of us suspect she just wanted a child to continue getting money from the government. My brother is not paying rent to my mom and she buys and makes him his lunch every day. He has a bad temper, sometimes doesn't come home, and doesn't really communicate with her so she never knows what is going on in his life. She is very saddened and feeling depressed. She felt obligated to give him the chance to get back on his feet because she did that for my other brother who did pay rent at first and then said he needed to save for a house and wedding so he can move out and communicated all his plans with my mom. She said having him live there was a lot easier than my youngest brother. She is having a very hard time. She is a good mom though. She calls me every day and we pray together on the phone together because I am immunosuppressed and saying in as much as I can during this pandemic. My youngest brother hates how much religious stuff my mom has around her 1-bedroom apartment. My mom says it doesn't feel like her own place anymore because of how he is. He lives in her bedroom while she sleeps on the couch (her choice after my dad decided to start a new life without the family. She was forced to find a place of her own after he kicked her out and threw away 22 years of marriage - my dad is not a Catholic or even a Christian even though as a child he went to Church. He thinks Baptist but doesn't remember but had told the Catholic priest when they got married that he would become Catholic which he never did). My brother keeps the bedroom door closed at all times and because of his temper my mom is hesitant to even knock on the door to ask him anything. She feels disrespected and lost. She doesn't know why her youngest son who used to fall asleep with a rosary has turned his life around so badly and for the worst. Sometimes he does not even come home and he yells at my mom that he has his own life and is an adult. But she still worries about him and says if anything happened to him she would not even know. Only 3 years ago life didn't seem so out of control and bad. Even some supposedly Catholic sites my mom looks at have added in their own words saying they come from Jesus or Mary but when compared against the source realize they have lied and added their own things. It is getting worse in the world and my mom is so discouraged. She at her age feels like time is running out and doesn't know how she can help her youngest son anymore. She had hoped to focus more on her faith but her own son living in her own home is tearing the family apart and he only blames everyone else. It is always someone else. Never him. I think his temper started after my dad had tossed out my mom and their youngest son. He always wanted to be loved by our dad but when my middle brother was born he was like "I have my son" and didn't want any more kids. I feel bad for my youngest brother for being the unwanted kid in his eyes but with his temper even I am not as close with him and we were always close growing up as the outcasts. We were the shy ones who could never measure up to the eldest brother of us 3 kids. But as I got older I learned how to accept myself but my youngest brother has so much hurt and hate in him because of our dad I don't know if he will ever be able to get out of this anger. There seems to be no rock bottom. My mom is at the point where she has thought of kicking him out of the apartment but she would be so overcome with guilt as he was the one she always tried to protect when my dad used to beat him up that she just can't bring herself to kick him out. She was hoping she would have a surplus of money to help him get a place of his own but once she retired it turned out she now owes money to the government she can't help him out. She feels between a rock and a hard place. If he ever saw me writing about this on a public forum he would disown me as his sister who betrayed him but I am not trying to. I am reaching out for prayers. I know this isn't the prayer section but it was supposed to just be an update on what is going on with myself as well as my mom and it turned into being about my bother who lives with my mother. It is hard to think about a trip to Medjugorie when all this is happening at home.
Aniela, such a sad post. May by the Grace of God and the helping hand of our mother Mary who is the under of knots, may your family finds the peace it needs. My prayers for your family are with you.
What can I say?? My heart goes out to you and your Mom. I will be praying for you. Remember to say Jesus I trust in you.
Hi Aniela, I realize you posted this in 2018. If you have not yet been able to get to Medjugorje, PLEASE send me a private message. If you can manage the money, I have a trip planned for this Oct 24-Nov 7! If not, I am Travel Coordinator for privately owned small company that has led pilgrimages there over 26 years. There WILL be future trips! The Blessed Mother & Holy Spirit have put it in your heart to go. It is a place of great spiritual healing & miracles. Keep praying. Your trials are not going unnoticed. As agonizing as they have been, they will not be in vain. I do hope & pray things have since improved. Hugs to you!
My dearest Aniela, Your story has touched my soul . Mainly because I can commiserate with so much that you are personally going through, I am praying for you. I could say that I believe your younger brother is using drugs and this is the reason he is treating your mother so badly, but this is a given, in todays society, we know there are always other elements that cause behaviours! This however does not answer our question! You and your mother are trusting in God alone. And no matter what obstacles the Lord has allowed, you have remained faithful, Yet Gods power has remained hidden and the food of wavering and doubt can make us feel dejected; However it is God Himself who has brought you both to this ultimate reality and now He will act with a breakthrough of grace for your family ! So do not fear, God will be your strength, Please keep us posted. I am praying for your holy intentions Aniela. And Jesus continues to hold you in His arms, no matter what!
