99
September 09, 1998

PRAY . . .

In her message of August 25th Our Lady talks about and exhorts to prayer. At first glance it seems to be the only content of this message. But the last sentence of the message: "pray until your life becomes prayer", places prayer into a framework without which prayer is an empty word. Our Lady does not prescribe prayer to us that is separated from life, rather prayer that unconditionally fits into life's practice, content and sense. Because a prayer life prescribes that kind of prayer to us, we must carefully watch over our prayer life and prayer content. For that there is no better literature than Jesus's own teaching on prayer in Chapter 6 of Matthew's gospel. Jesus's directives on prayer direct that prayer be a search for the possibility of man, by his own likeness with God, drawing close to God. Prayer, therefore, helps a Christian on the path of life, which is a path toward God, not to lose sight of his goal. When he is on a path toward God, he sees God as his goal, his journey is continuously imbued with experience that does not make him a burden to his neighbor. On the contrary! Joy develops and grows, despite any kind of difficulty, and becomes a harmonious life in which it is hard to distinguish which part of it is prayer. Our Lady's primary wish is harmony in life and prayer is the assistant in man's labor to realize harmony in life. In that sense Our Lady invites us, pray, pray, pray. . .

Fr. Ivan Landeka

NUMBER OF COMMUNIONS AND CONCELEBRANTS

During August in the shrine of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje 202,000 Holy Communions were distributed and there were 4,707 concelebrations at mass by priests from home and abroad, that is 152 priests per day.

We shall enumerate some of the countries from which pilgrims came to visit Medjugorje in August: Poland, Hong Kong, The Caribbean, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Brazil, Italy, France, Korea, Romania, Mexico, Slovenia, Hungary, Korea, Lebanon, Ukraine, Macedonia, Aruba, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Paraguay, South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Siberia, Canada, Gabon, England, Ireland, Sweden, United States and, of course, Croatia.

POPE VISITING CROATIA FOR THE SECOND TIME

Our Holy Father Pope John Paul II is visiting Croatia for the second time. It is an exceptionally important moment for the history of our church and nation. Many Medjugorje pilgrims are asking us how to take part in the meeting with our Holy Father whether in Marija Bistrica October 3rd or in Split October 4th, 1998. The Medjugorje parish office has the possibility of securing the necessary entrance ticket for taking part in the meeting with our Holy Father. We are therefore notifying all foreign pilgrims who want to participate in one of these meetings to contact us no later than September 15th, 1998 in order to secure an entrance ticket in time. Your reservation can be made by fax: ++387-88-651-444 or e-mail: medjugorje-mir@medjugorje.hr. This applies only to those pilgrims who have already made plans for their travel by bus, and not to those pilgrims who intend to travel by private automobile.

FASTING AND PRAYER SEMINARS

As part of preparation for Christmas, three fasting and prayer seminars will be held during Advent in the prayer house "Domus Pacis" in Medjugorje. Our Holy Father John Paul II invites us in his encyclical "The Gospel of Life": ". . .return seriously and humbly to fasting and prayer. . ." and Our Lady herself in her messages has invited us so many times to fasting and prayer. Once she even said: ". . .by fasting and prayer even wars can be stopped. . ." Therefore, we invite all those who wish to prepare more deeply for the feast of Christ's birth to take part in these seminars. Since they are rich in experiences they are a real opportunity for that. The seminars will be conducted on the following dates:

November 29 - December 4, 1998.
December 5 - December 10, 1998.
December 14 - December 20, 1998.

Fr. Slavko Barbaric will be the organizer and leader of the seminars. The cost is 20 DM per day. If after making a reservation, you should be hindered from taking part in the seminar, we ask you kindly to cancel your reservation at least one week in advance of the beginning of the seminar. You can make your reservations by telephone at the Information Office: ++387-88-651-988.

Published by: INFORMATIVNI CENTAR MIR - Svetiste Kraljice mira ( Information Center MIR - Shrine of the Queen of Peace), 88266 Medjugorje, BiH, fax number: +387-88-651-444.
Director: fra Miljenko Stojic.
You can receive the latest issue of the Press Bulletin at any time on your own fax machine in the tone mode by dialing the
Robofax in our Information Center at +387 88 65 15 55.
E-mail: medjugorje-mir@medjugorje.hr; Internet: http://www.medjugorje.hr
Published every other Wednesday.

---

Last Modified 09/09/98