Father Livio: the fruits of the pilgrimage to Medjugorje

What has always struck me and even amazed me in the pilgrims who go to Medjugorje is the well-established fact that in their great majority they return home full of enthusiasm. Often it has happened to me to recommend the pilgrimage to people in serious moral and spiritual difficulties and sometimes even desperate and almost always have benefited greatly. Not infrequently these are young people and men, much less available to easy emotions. But it is above all the charm that Medjugorje exerts on the most distant that impresses. People who have been away from the Church for years, and rarely criticize it, discover in that remote parish the features of simplicity and fervor that bring them closer to the faith and practice of Christian life. It is also extraordinary that, despite the effort and expense of the journey, many do not tire of returning as thirsty deer to the sources of water. There is no doubt that in Medjugorje there is a special grace that makes this place unique and unrepeatable. What is it about?

The irresistible charm of Medjugorje is given by the presence of Mary. We know that these apparitions are different from all previous ones of the Madonna because they are related to the person of the seer and not to a particular place. In this long period the Queen of Peace has appeared in countless places on earth, wherever the visionaries have gone or lived there. Yet none of them have become a "holy place". Only Medjugorje is the blessed land, the center of irradiation of the presence of Mary. On some occasions she herself has kept to clarify that the messages she gives them "there", even if the visionary Marija, who receives them, is in Italy. But above all, the Queen of Peace said that in Medjugorje she gives particular graces of conversion. Every pilgrim who enters that oasis of peace is welcomed and embraced by an invisible but real presence. If the heart is available and open to the supernatural, it becomes a ground where the seeds of grace are thrown with full hands, which in time will bear fruit, according to the correspondence of each one.

The focal point of the experience that pilgrims have in Medjugorje is precisely this: the perception of a presence. It is as if one suddenly discovered that the Madonna really exists and that she entered her life by taking care of him. You will object that a good Christian already believes in Our Lady and prays to her in her needs. It is true, but more often than not God is not present in our life as a person whose love and concern we experience in our daily lives. We believe in God and Our Lady more with the mind than with the heart. In Medjugorje many discover the presence of Mary with the heart and "feel" it like a mother who follows them with concern, enveloping them with her love. Nothing is more extraordinary and shocking than this presence that shakes hearts and swells the eyes with tears. Not a few in Medjugorje cry with emotion because for the first time in their lives they have experienced how much God loves them, despite a life of misery, distance and sins.

It is an experience that radically changes people's lives. Indeed, many testify. You believed that God was far away, that he did not take care of you and that he had too many things to think about to lay his eyes on a miserable like you. You were convinced that you were a poor fellow that God perhaps looked severely and with little consideration. But here you find that you too are an object of God's love, not unlike all the others, even if they are closer to him than you. How many drug addicted boys in Medjugorje have rediscovered their dignity and a new enthusiasm for life, after having touched the abysses of shame! You feel the compassionate eye of Mary that rests on you, you perceive his smile that encourages you and gives you confidence, you feel his mother's heart beating with love "only" for you, as if you only existed in the world and Our Lady had nothing else to take care of except your life. This extraordinary experience is the grace par excellence of Medjugorje and is such as to radically change the lives of people, so not a few affirm that their Christian life has started or restarted the moment of meeting with the Queen of peace.

Discovering the presence of Mary in your life you also discover the fundamental importance of prayer. In fact, Our Lady comes above all to pray with us and for us. She is in a sense the living prayer. His teaching on prayer is extraordinary. It can certainly be said that each of his messages is an exhortation and a teaching on the need to pray. In Medjugorje, however, you realize that neither lips nor external gestures are enough and that prayer must be born from the heart. In other words, prayer must become an experience of God and his love.

You cannot reach this goal overnight. Our Lady gives you points of reference to be faithful to: morning and evening prayers, the holy rosary, the Holy Mass. It invites you to punctuate the day of ejaculation, in order to sanctify every moment you live. If you are faithful to these commitments, even in moments of aridity and tiredness, prayer will slowly gush from the depths of your heart like a pool of pure water that spills your life. If at the beginning of your spiritual journey, and especially when you have returned home from Medjugorje, you will feel the fatigue, then, more and more frequently, you will experience the joy of praying. The prayer of joy is one of the most precious fruits of the journey of conversion that begins in Medjugorje.

Is the prayer of joy possible? The positive answer comes directly from the testimony of all those who experience it. However, after a few moments of grace that Our Lady makes you experience in Medjugorje, it is normal that the times of grayness and sloth occur. Medjugorje is an oasis that is difficult to bring back to everyday life, with the nagging problems of work, the family, in addition to the distractions and seductions of the surrounding world. Therefore, once you get home, you must create your own inner oasis, and organize your day in such a way that the times of prayer never fail. Fatigue and dryness are not necessarily negative, because through this passage you will strengthen your will and make it more and more available to God. Know that holiness does not consist in feeling, but in the will for good. Your prayer can be highly meritorious and pleasing to God even if you don't "feel" anything. It will be the grace of the Holy Spirit to give you joy in praying, when it will be appropriate and useful for your spiritual progress.

With Mary and prayer the beauty and greatness of life is revealed to you. This is one of the most precious fruits of the pilgrimage, which explains why people return home happy. It is an experience that involves many, but especially the young people, who often come to Medjugorje in search of that "something" that gives meaning to their life. They wonder about their vocation and mission. Some grope in the dark and feel nauseous for an empty and ideless existence. Mary's maternal presence is that light which illuminates them and which opens up new horizons of commitment and hope for them. The Queen of Peace has repeatedly said that each of us has great value in God's plan, young or old. She called everyone together in her army of witnesses, saying that she needs everyone and that she can't help us if we don't help her.

Then one understands that one's life is precious for oneself and for others. It becomes aware of the admirable divine plan of creation and redemption and of its unique and irreplaceable place in this admirable project. He knows that, whatever his occupation here on earth, humble or prestigious, in reality there is a task and a mission that the owner of the vineyard entrusts to everyone and it is here that you play the value of life and decide on your eternal destiny . Before arriving in Medjugorje perhaps we believed we were insignificant wheels of a merciless and anonymous gear. The overwhelming experience of a flat, gray life generated depression and anguish. When we found out how much Mary loves us and how precious we are in her plan of salvation, which she is carrying out on the order of the Most High, we are so happy that we would sing and dance like David following the Ark. This, dear friend, is not exaltation, but true happiness. That's right: Our Lady makes us happy, but above all makes us industrious. From Medjugorje all return apostles. They discovered that precious pearl that they want to let others find too.