Fr. Slavko's Reflections on the message of

DECEMBER 25, 1995: "Dear children, today also I rejoice with you and I bring you little Jesus that He bless you. I invite you, dear children, that your life be united with Him. Jesus is the King of Peace, and only He can give you the Peace that you seek. I am with you and I present you to Jesus in a special way now, in this new time when it is necessary to decide for Him. This time is the time of grace. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Today I Also Rejoice With You

The mother who gave birth rejoices. The mother is certainly joyful when she can celebrate her child's birthday. Mary rejoices with all of us because Christmas is certainly a Feast that more than others brings people to be joyful.

And I bring You Little Jesus So that He Bless You

So we can also be certain that Jesus blessed us! Let us, however, not forget that blessing comes from the Latin words "bene dicere" which simply mean "speaking good". Jesus is Savior. He did not come to condemn us, but rather to save us. He came to seek the lost, to heal the wounded, to forgive the sinners, to give bread to the starving and to console the sad. This then is the content of the blessing. To bless means an activity. Jesus blessed us in coming to us and giving His life for us. And always when we open ourselves to Him we are blessed because He fills us with peace, with joy, with love, with trust and in so doing heals the wounds. Mary also told us that we should bless one another. This is certainly not a call to some magical formula, but rather to an activity - a becoming active in love toward one another. Jesus came to us as a child and at the end He took the bread and said: "This is my body". He did everything for us so that he stays with us. He became bread and thereby showed us that He wishes to be united with us. When we consume the bread, the bread will become our life. What we eat really transforms itself into our life and Jesus, let us say, pushed aside all hindrances so that all of us now have access to Him. Bread is a symbol for all foods, but also a food itself. We may not forget bread's path and it is a difficult one. A grain of wheat must be planted in the ground and be nearly destroyed so that it may grow and bring forth new fruit. It must then also be ground and baked, and only then does it become bread. Jesus did everything to be united with us, and Mary says....

I invite You... That Your Life Be United with Him

Therefore everything that we do when we pray, when we fast, when we come to Mass, when we abstain from something, when we fight against egoism, pride and other negative feelings, here it always concerns the same direction - that we can become ever more free, that He can come to us and we unite ourselves with Him. As long as there is pride or any other negative or fearful feeling inside us, it is a sign that we are not yet united with Him. So all spiritual growth is in this direction of being ever more and ever deeper in unity with Him. His name is Emmanuel - God with us - and He stayed with us through His word and through His bread, but also through every human being. So the deeper we become united with Him in the Eucharist and in hearing His word, the more we will become able to be in unity with all people. And precisely this is then the path to peace. Mary again emphasizes...

Jesus Is King Of Peace and Only He Can Give You The Peace That You Seek

We often like to sing the song of the Angels in Bethlehem, "Praise God in the highest. Peace on earth to all men of good will". Jesus also from the Cross confirmed that He is King of Peace because even from there He prayed for his enemies. Therefore He and only He can give us the peace for which we always search. There is no such thing as an easy peace! Peace can only come when we remove everything from us that separates us from it or whatever hinders it from entering us. Jesus offers us peace, we can open ourselves to it, but we cannot create it, buy it, or fabricate it! Peace is a grace. Peace is a gift. Peace is an inner strength that overcomes the difficulties and problems and always to open oneself to what is new. Peace is when we conquer darkness and open ourselves to light, when we conquer hate and open ourselves to love, when we conquer distrust and open ourselves to trust. Peace is not some empty word as they use in diplomacy and in politics. Peace is the deepest need of our souls and it is a reality for which we all yearn, yet peace can only be given to us by God. Jesus Himself said: "Peace I give to you, my peace I leave you. The world can not give you peace." But ONLY He can! Then again the condition for peace is forgiveness. To allow Jesus to heal us. To do what it takes for Him to free us of all that blocks peace from us. Mary again confirms...

I Am With You

and at the same time also in every heart.

And I Present You To Jesus In a special Way

Just as She once offered up Jesus in the Temple to God for our Salvation, so is She today presenting us to Jesus. This means that She prays for us, intercedes for us and speaks for us. She does not judge us. And when She says...

Today In This New Time

We need not think about any possible new and different times, but here it merely concerns every new hour, every new day, every new week, month and year. Every new day is for us the new time, and...

This Time Is The Time Of Grace

The past no longer exists for us and we should free ourselves from it. If there were wounds in the past, we must now allow Jesus to heal us. If there was good in the past we also may not hang onto it and possibly become proud, but rather hand it over to our merciful God. And this is also the case when it concerns the future. To carry fears or worries concerning the future within us is not called for. The future is not in our hands and we ought to place it into our Father's loving hands, our Father who cares for us all. The only thing we have is the present day and every new day that we have been given is the time of grace. This is the new time. Of course, there are individuals and also groups who expect more interesting answers to this question about the future and here possibly speak about potential catastrophes, cataclysms or apocalyptic times or about Jesus' Second Coming. None of this comes out of our messages! What Mary wishes of us is that we become truly conscious that every day is a gift and that every day brings us a renewed chance...

Fra. Slavko, Medjugorje
December 26, 1995