Medjugorje Speaks to Families

Here we continue to present the Medjugorje messages in connection with the Bible, the Magisterium and the testimonies of the saints.

Christmas, "a family celebration"

"...the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger" (Lk 2 :15-16).

"The Good Lord had to work a small miracle to make me grow up in an instant, and he did it on that unforgettable Christmas Eve; in the light that illuminates the delights of the Holy Trinity, Jesus, the sweet newborn Baby, changed the night of my soul into torrents of light... On that night when he made himself weak and suffering out of love for me, he made me strong and courageous. He clothed me with his armor, and since that blessed night, I haven't lost any battles, but on the contrary I've walked from victory to victory and began a giant race as it were!..."

(St Therese of the Child Jesus, Manuscript A, 44v°/45r°)

"Dear children! These days I am calling you to family prayer. In God's name many times I have given many messages, but you did not listen. This Christmas will be unforgettable for you only if you accept the messages I give you. Dear children, don't let that day of joy for me become my saddest day. Thank you for having responded to my call." (Medjugorje 12/06/84 full message)

"I wish in a special way on Christmas Day to give mothers my own special motherly blessing." (12/19/85)

"Dear children, today I bring the little Jesus to you in a special way, that he may bless you with his blessing of peace and love. Dear children, remember that this is a grace that many people neither understand nor accept. Therefore, you who have said that you are mine, and seek my help, give all of yourself. First of all, give your love to your families and show them a good example." (Medjugorje, Christmas 1991)

With this message of Christmas 1991, we enter into a deeper spiritual life: To God who gives himself to us-God became man!-we answer by giving ourselves, by making of our lives a gift, by entering in the movement of God! This spirituality of self-giving in families is also a leitmotiv of John Paul II, as the following paragraphs demonstrate.

Discover all the greatness and the joy of this life that God gives you

"The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being"(Gn 2 :7).

Life is a chance, seize it

Life is beauty, admire it
Life is bliss, savor it
Life is a dream, make of it a reality
Life is a challenge, fact it
Life is a game, play it
Life is precious, take care of it
Life is richness, conserve it
Life is love, joy in it
Life is a mystery, pierce it
Life is promise, fulfill it (...)

(Saint Teresa of Calcutta)

"Dear children, today I invite you all to rejoice in the life which God has given you. Little children, rejoice in God, the Creator, because he created you so wonderfully. Pray that your life be joyful thanksgiving which flows out of your heart like a river of joy. Little children, give thanks unceasingly for all that you possess, for each little gift that God has given you, so that a joyful blessing always comes down from God upon your life. Thank you for having responded to my call." (Medjugorje 08/25/88 full message)

Give all of yourself

"When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head." (Mk 14:3)

"He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of (about) fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd" (Lk 9 :13-16).

"The human story of Saint Zdislava, who was born in Moravia and lived in North Bohemia in the 14th century, stands out by an extraordinary capacity of self-giving to others. [...] Her example is eminently relevant today, especially as it relates to the value of the family who, as she teaches us, must be open to God, to the gift of life and to the needs of the poor."

(John Paul II, Homily for the canonization of Zdislava of Lemberk, July 2, 1995)

"Continence serves indirectly to highlight what is most lasting and most profoundly personal in the vocation to marriage. It highlights that which in the dimensions of temporality (and at the same time in the perspective of the other world) corresponds to the dignity of the personal gift, bound to the nuptial meaning of the body in its masculinity or femininity."

(John Paul II, General Audience of May 5, 1982)

"She was married to a brutal alcoholic who, to take revenge on the dignity of his wife, didn't find anything better than to alienate her from her son, by reserving for himself the right to raise him in his own way. The result was the one we could expect. Without direction or discipline, the boy, who besides was quite gifted, wasted his life: until the time when tuberculosis brought him back to his mother, who had never ceased to provide for him materially. [...] There was in her person a discrete and smiling serenity that never left her. What fear, anyway, could have troubled her? She couldn't lose anything, since she had already lost all. [...] When he finally discovered the face of his mother, all his being was at once purified. He saw himself then through the mirror of her love and didn't wish to ignore any longer the greatness in himself that this love was proof of. [...] In that prodigious gift of an unlimited generosity, he had recognized God. There was no other gospel for him and he died in his light."

(M. Zundel, Croyez-vous en l'homme ? (Do You Believe in Man?) Cerf, Paris, 1996, p. 108-113)

In full harmony with the Scriptures and the Tradition, here are several messages of Medjugorje and the date on which they were received:

"Dear Children, everyday people who are in darkness come into your homes. Dear children, give them the light!" 03/14/85

"Dear children, today I am calling you to a complete surrender to God. Everything you do and everything you own, give it to God so that he reign over your life like a king of all that you possess." 07/25/88

"Dear children, I invite you now to be open to God. See, children, how nature begins to give fruit and life. In the same way I invite you to live with God and to surrender completely to him." 05/25/89

" ... Give all of yourself. First of all, give your love to your families and show them a good example." Christmas 1991

"Remember that your life does not belong to you, but it's a gift with which you must bring joy to others and lead them to eternal life." Christmas 1992

"Dear children, remember that you are here on earth on the path to eternity and that your home is in heaven. Therefore, little children, be open to God's love and leave egoism and sin. May your joy be only in discovering God in daily prayer. That is why you need to make good use of this time and pray, pray, pray; and God is near to you in prayer and through prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call." 07/25/00 (full message)

Excerpt from: F. Breynaert,

Les messages de Medjugorje avec la Bible, le magistère et les saints.
Edition le Ver Luisant 2006, Diffusion Mediapaul.