Reflection on the Message of July 25, 2002

OUR PATRON SAINTS – A HELP ON OUR WAY TO GOD

"Dear children! Today I rejoice with your patron saint and call you to be open to God’s will, so that in you and through you, faith may grow in the people you meet in your everyday life. Little children, pray until prayer becomes joy for you. Ask your holy protectors to help you grow in love towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call." Message of July 25, 2002

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Today, Our Lady tells us that she is present with us in the celebration of St. James, the Patron saint of pilgrims and of the parish of Medjugorje, which she has chosen, in order to obtain, through her intercession, so many graces from God. It was not a coincidence that St. James was chosen as the Patron Saint of this parish, just as it is not a coincidence – as Our Lady said in one message – that the parishioners constructed a cross on the hill above Medjugorje in 1933, to mark the 1900 years since the passion of Jesus. They could not imagine that so many people would come on pilgrimage to this cross, that so many graces would be poured out precisely on that place. God has his marvellous plans that are inaccessible for us, but his hand is sure. The parishioners have built this cross with love, and God always gives more than we can give him in return.

In this message, Mary, our Mother, assures us once again of her presence, and not only hers, but also the presence of St. James and the entire heavenly court. She speaks about the unity between the Pilgrim Church that we are, and the Glorified Church that represent all those who unceasingly praise God. This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us: “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness.... They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.... So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.” (CCC 956) “They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. … Their intercession is their most exalted service to God's plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.” (CCC 2683) Saint Therese of the Child Jesus said: “I will spend my heaven in doing good on the earth!”

It is thanks to the existence of the saints and the Patron saints, friends of God, who love men, that our life has meaning and this earth is not cursed. Because they love men, they infinitely need God and thus become holy. They are a bridge between heaven and earth. We ask the saints to help us, to bring from God what we cannot obtain ourselves, to watch over us and lead us to God. They take care of us, they protect us, they set us free and heal us, they intercede for us and are always on our side. They are the only ones who know the meaning and who know how to live. Saints and Patron saints call us to be good to one another, to reconcile and to forgive. One becomes a saint in desiring with one’s whole heart to become a friend of God, in entering into dialogue with God through prayer, so that we may allow God to enter into our life and change it, as Mary teaches us for so many years now.

Holiness is the programme of our life. Only the saints were normal and healthy people, because they were the friends of God, source of life.

Mary calls us again to pray, so that we may reach joy, and more precisely God, the source of joy. Our Mother places this powerful means into our hands. All her apparitions here in Medjugorje, all her words and messages, are only means that lead to the goal, which is God. Our Lady’s apparitions here are not a goal but a means and an appeal. Why not take all that God gives us through our Mother? Let us listen to the call of her heart, which loves us, and in which there is place for every man.

Medjugorje 26.7.2002.
Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic