Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Medjugorje: Souha's Most Beautiful Confession

Souha’s most beautiful confession. A group came from the Middle East to spend a few days in Medjugorje, wanting to make a holy pilgrimage. Among them was Souha, a married woman whose husband is a doctor. She came without him because he was working.

Souha had a secret that left her without peace. Soon after her arrival, she went to see a priest from her group and confided to him that she had an abortion. The child that she was expecting was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, and she and her husband did not want him. They decided together to have him removed from the womb and had an abortion performed. Her heart was still restless however and Souha asked the priest, “It’s not a sin, is it?” The priest answered, “But yes, my daughter, it is a sin! A grave sin! You must go to confession!”

Souha was not convinced and she shut herself within her denial. Yet she asked the Blessed Mother for a sign to know whether she should confess this act.

In the evening, at the apparition of the Gospa on the hill with Ivan, Souha was with her group. As soon as the Blessed Mother arrived, Souha unexpectedly bent over with her nose on the ground. She remained like this for a while and when she came back up after the apparition, her friends saw her crying. She told them, “Please call a priest, I must go to confession right away!”

I do not know what happened to her during the apparition, her friends respected her secret, but Our Mother acted.

In tears, Souha made the most beautiful confession of her life. Yes, she touched the horror of sin and it made her cry. She accepted God’s mercy towards her. Her inner peace was at last restored. Now she is free! What a contrast on her face! What light! She witnesses to her friends that she feels a deep joy, as never before in her life.

In Medjugorje, some pilgrims groups have a fine tradition. The guide suggests that each pilgrim receives the responsibility of praying for a particular person of the group during the whole pilgrimage. Thus the first or second night, each one must draw from a little basket the name of another pilgrim. That evening, out of the 150 people in the group, who received the name of Souha and the call to pray for her? A young woman with Down’s syndrome!

That same night, Souha’s husband called, and after hearing his wife’s story, tells her, “You know, I am calling you because I find it strange that you are over there praying to God, while I am here performing abortions. It is not right! Today, I have decided not to that anymore.” He also was crying over the phone. The whole day, he had the feeling that something was happening to his wife and he was ready to take this giant step professionally. Souha could not believe her ears.

This happened last August. Now Souha, her husband and their children are living differently, they put God in the first place. They practice the sacraments and go to Mass almost everyday. They give testimonies. After this memorable pilgrimage, they were wondering how to make reparation for such a past when they suddenly received a call from an orphanage needing help. Sisters were asking them to care for an orphaned child. They saw this as the answer from God, they were grateful to Him and decided to do everything in their power for the child.

And what has become of the aborted baby? In Medjugorje, Mary says of these unborn children, “They are with me”. This child is certainly praying for his parents and for all his little companions who, today, are programmed never to see the sun.

I am asking myself the question: did the baby really have Down’s syndrome? For I see more and more examples of wrong diagnostics: many mothers decide to keep their child whatever the handicap, and often, the child is born perfectly normal. Bizarre! To be meditated!

But God is wonderful! For this family, He changed evil into good. Now hundreds of children (perhaps even thousands) will never be aborted by this doctor who now fights for life.

*“Dear children, tonight I invite you to pray in a special way for the unborn children. Pray especially for the mothers who kill their children. Dear children, I am sad because so many children are killed. Pray that there are no more such mothers in the world.”
(To the Medjugorje Prayer group, 3- 03- 90)
Children of Medjugorje”  www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

Shared by Ed Sousa, Sr..

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Day is Done

Day is done. Everyone here at the cabin has quietly settled in for the night. The house is peaceful and it’s a perfect time to pray and reflect on all that has gone by.

So much to think about, and so much to be grateful for.

Father Paul’s homily today at mass was wonderful. He spoke about “giving to God what belonged to God”.

And, He asked us, “what has God given you”, “what has God given to all of us?”

He reminded us that God has given us the gift of our lives; he tells us that God lives inside each of  us. He says that God has given us everything we possess,. God is with us in our hopes and dreams for the future. He has given us our talents, our families, our  every possessions;

God has given us so much. And, what does God want from us in return? He wants us to love him, to serve him, to be happy with him in this world and the next.1

God looks for our gratefulness.

As I sit here by the lamplight, my heart is filled with gratitude for I am given an awareness of the many blessings God has sent me this day.

Blessings came in many forms. Today my blessings came in forms of laughter shared with my Catholic community after mass. Blessings came in sharing a walk and a rosary with my husband. But most of all for  receiving Christ in the Eucharist; the nourishment of my soul. Nothing in the whole world can compare to this blessing.

I end this day with the Fifth Luminous Mystery, “The Institution of the Eucharist”, fruit of the mystery, love of our Eucharist Lord.

1. I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

2. Jesus took bread, blessed it: "Take and eat, this is My Body."

3. Taking the wine: "This cup is the new covenant in my Blood, shed for you."

4. At that Eucharistic meal, Jesus celebrated the first Mass.

5. At every Mass the sacrifice of Calvary is made present.

6. At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Orders to perpetuate this sacrifice.

7. "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."

8. The Eucharist is a sacrifice inasmuch as it is offered up, and a sacrament inasmuch as it is received.

9. In the Mass we offer ourselves to God, and God gives himself to us.

10. The Mass will be fruitful in the measure of our surrender to the Father.

1 Baltimore Catechism

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

We Are All Called

“If you will be what you should be, you will set all of Italy afire. Don’t be content with the small things: he, the Lord God, wants them great”…St. Catherine

Each and every one of us is called to a particular vocation in life.

Some of us might be called to be doctors; some of might be called to hospital ministry. Some of might be called to be teachers; some of us might be called to help out with religious education programs at our local parishes. Some of us are called to the priesthood; some of us are called to parenthood.Yes, we are all called.

Each of our callings is different from another, but every calling is unique in the eyes of God the Father that made us. And why did God make us?  God made us to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, and to be happy with him forever in heaven.1

Our existence is a manifestation of his love for us. Yet, the world today tries to show us that we don’t need God, that we can have societies and families without him. Little by little we push him aside, we become disconnected from God. Thinking that we know what is best for us, we put our trust in ourselves, rather than putting our trust in God that made us.

Jesus tells us, “You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk”(Luke 11:44).  Our spirituality is catching no one!

Jesus was asking the Pharisees and scholars of his days to wake up, to become what they should be. He is asking us to do the same. He wants us to set the world on fire with the love of his Holy Spirit. He wants our every action and reaction to reflect the love God has for us.

 "Dear children; Also today my motherly heart calls you to prayer, to your personal relationship with God the Father, to the joy of prayer in Him. God the Father is not far away from you and He is not unknown to you. He revealed Himself to you through my Son and gave you Life that is my Son. Therefore, my children do not give in to temptations that want to separate you from God the Father. Pray! Do not attempt to have families and societies without Him. Pray! Pray that your hearts may be flooded with the goodness which comes only from my Son, Who is sincere goodness. Only hearts filled with goodness can comprehend and accept God the Father. I will continue to lead you. In a special way I implore you not to judge your shepherds. My children, are you forgetting that God the Father called them? Pray! Thank you." BVM, Medjugorje, October 2, 2011


Mirjana said: I have never said anything before, but are you aware, brothers and sisters, that the Mother of God was with us? Each of us should ask himself: "Are you worthy of this?" I am saying this because it is difficult for me to see Her (Our Lady) in pain, because each of us is seeking a miracle, but does not want to work a miracle in himself.

1. Baltimore Catechism