I know this should have been in another catagory but the threads there are really good and I didn't want to distract from them. This is a message from Ana Shawl, Medjugorje Web and IIPG. It really touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Hi there Dear prayer group family, Today, is the 24th of June. The feast day of St. John the Baptist and the very first day Our Lady appeared in Medjugorje. Although she appeared on the 24th of June, she asked the visionaries to celebrate the anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugroje on the 25th, because that is the first day in which she spoke to them. So, I am getting excited! I am saying to myself, "wow, so, 29 years ago, on this day, it had started out to be a day like any other day, but God didn't want that day to be like any other." There was something that was going to happen at 6:40 this evening, on the Feast of St. John the Baptist that would change the lives of everyone. For every one of us in this prayer group and in the world forever. What did most of us do that morning? For those who are under 29 years old. They were born into a world where the Blessed Mother has always been appearing. For those over 29 years old, it was something incredible to hear that Our Lady at that time, started appearing now, many of us knew and heard about Lourdes and Fatima but in our day in age there is a Medjugorje? When we think back, can we remember what road we were on? What our interests were? Were they of God or were we just doing our own thing, as we had always done on whatever road we chose? Our Lady always asked for the conversion of sinners and I have always thought about whoever it was that prayed for me and my conversion and thank God that they did. I remember sitting in the kitchen June 1981 at my parents house when my relatives called from Medjugorje. My mom was on the phone and I remember her elbowing me, looking at me with big eyes saying, 'Our Lady has appeared in Medjugorje to 6 children and a friend had been cured of blindness. He asked his wife to go and get him dirt and grass from the hill to rub in his eyes. He did and he could see. When my mom said this, I had a lump in my throat, and stared at the phone, everything almost seemed as in slow motion and I just knew that I had to go. The feeling stayed with me a long time and finally I made my first pilgrimage, November 1983 I went to Medjugorje. Now, when I go to Medjugorje, I still feel that same way, there is so much excitement around the anniversary. People are coming from every corner of the earth just as it is sung in the Medjugorje Hymn. I asked Ivan what he felt like on this day. He said that he will never forget it for as long as he lives. He remembers just being a kid, 16 years old, he remembers the smells, the weather, what he was doing and what he was feeling. As the time gets closer to the apparition time, he feels that excitement, he remembers what he felt like when he heard the voice yelling for him to come and look at something up on the hill. He remembers walking and seeing Vicka and how because of the way she was behaving, scared and shaking, that he knew he had to follow her and see what she was talking about. Going with Vicka then and having her point up to the top of the hill and say," look ,Our Lady!" I don't know, I just love this time. After Medjugorje I remember feeling kind of strange because now all of a sudden, I wasn't interested in some of the things I used to be interested in. I think it was the same for many of you. Even those in the group who have not been to Medjugorje yet, but you have heard Our Lady as she has called you, and things have changed. We look at things now, in a different way. We look at all things now, leading to God and to Heaven. Changing our views from the world and worldly things to Heaven and heavenly things costs us sometimes relationships jobs or whatever else it is that God is saying might not be the best for us. Slowly I remember, friends left, things and friends that you thought would always be around, now were going away. You could talk to people about Medjugorje, your experiences there, but so many just look at you as though you had two heads. Many for the most part still do, but at least we are planting that seed right? Anyway, things have to change, for God to work and change us. God clears obstacles for us because he loves us. At first, you think now that I have found Medjugorje and Our Lady, my life has gone haywire. Some people have written and say they just want to give up on praying because now, they have no more friends, they lost their job and other things like that. To me, this is God's transition time for us. If we look back to the way we were and where we were going, we can ask, if Our Lady hadn't come, where would we be now. So, there you go. Just two cents from me about the Anniversary of these wonderful Apparitions in Medjugorje. How God loves us so much, that He allows His mother to be with us in such a special way and for so long. She is my mother and she is your mother. She has called us and we are all trying to respond to her call as best as we can. Dear Mother, please accept the love from each of us in this group, how much we thank you for being here and guiding us, taking us by the hand and leading us to your Son all these past 29 years. Please recommend us to your son, all of our needs, our desires and we pray especially for all your intentions. God Bless you all love Ana __._,_.___
