Medjugorje Day 6: A Divine Mercy
Some of us have been joking that our having been invited here by Our Lady is really because we need “extra help,” that we’re students of the remedial class who were happy to learn that the teacher would be staying in the classroom after the school day to go over the lesson again, which we found difficult to understand the first time. Grateful for this extra help, we find ourselves here, in the school of Our Lady - her school of love.
It’s not a parallel lesson to the Gospel that she teaches in this class, but she is giving of herself beyond what was asked of her by her Son when He first gave her to us from the cross. She has beheld us, and she has helped us by her example and prayers. But here, in Medjugorje, she’s offering extra help to understand more deeply what Our Lord meant when He said to us, “Behold your mother.”
Mary is like that teacher in the school that every child hopes to have at some point in his or her education. And we who are blessed to be in her class are now benefiting from the extra time and attention she’s giving to us at the end of the school day. And it pleases her to offer herself to us in this way, for we are all her “dear children.”
When I last visited with my parents, my mother showed me pictures of my childhood. Among them was a picture of my third grade teacher. I hadn’t seen a picture of her in years. When I saw her face I was moved to tears. “Oh, I knew she was beautiful!” I said. I loved her. And yet, even Ms. Walker was just a glimpse of the beauty and the goodness of Our Lady.
It’s no wonder that when the Communists threatened one of the visionaries, saying that she would only see her father again if she would deny seeing Our Lady, the visionary replied, “I could never deny Our Lady. She is too beautiful.”
What is this gift that God is giving to us these days, that Our Lady should be with us in this way? Is it not a Divine Mercy? Isn’t Jesus’ appearance to Thomas, for example, His way of offering Thomas extra help? “Thomas, I know you didn’t get it the first time, but I haven’t given up on you. Even now, Thomas, touch my wounds. See, I am not a ghost.”
Today, we celebrated Mass at a church named in honor of the Divine Mercy, located on the opposite side of Apparition Hill. In the sanctuary of the church is the very icon before which a man was healed of his crippling MS, the miracle that led to the canonization of Saint Faustina.
It may seem a disjointed visit, but I think it was another sign of God doing great things for us this week, because of what this devotion teaches us about faith. I also happen to have brought with me to Medjugorje, this year, a first class relic of Saint Faustina, with which I blessed the pilgrims upon arriving.
We also learned today through our guide, Ivanka, that Our Lady appeared to Ivan just hours after the death of Pope John Paul II, the Saint who canonized Saint Faustina and established the Feast of Divine Mercy. Our Lady revealed to Ivan that the Holy Father was with her in heaven. And although Pope John Paul did not speak, Our Lady referred to him in the apparition as her “beloved son.”
More importantly, Our Lord is depicted in this particular icon of Divine Mercy as “standing before the door of our hearts,” as described by Saint John in the Book of Revelation, while holding the door of His own heart open to us! Of course, the door behind Him (the door of our heart) has no handles on the outside, because it opens only from the inside. We have to allow Him into our hearts. We have to accept His mercy.
After praying the Rosary with the other pilgrims this evening, our group split up a bit. Some went up Apparition Hill again, others up Cross Mountain. Others made there way for a bite to eat.
I felt called to visit Father Slavko’s grave again, and then to walk far into the fields of Medjugorje, where the silence is profound. There is nothing on Long Island to which I could compare the depth of it, but I tried to take a picture of the silence for you.
Here’s the meditation I shared with the group today. Feel free to make it part of your own prayer. We’re continuing, each day, to look at the parts of the Mass. This morning, we considered the Eucharistic Prayer in light of today’s readings.
God bless you all. +
