There was so much that has happened already today, I think I'm going to write in more of a narrative/memoir style for this post, in order to try and have it all make sense. Warning: this post is long but has a lot of good stuff in it!!!
I woke up at 6:20am local time. The hotel is really nice, but all the rooms have two tiny twin beds. I have no doubts that my standards are ridiculously high at the moment, because I'm used to plush, king-sized Marriott beds...I woke up in the middle of the night after almost rolling off the bed and got up to push the two beds together. Even then, there's a little bit of a gap, but this way at least I wouldn't fall off! It wasn't the best night of sleep, due to the tiny uncomfortable bed as well as the jet lag, but I was excited for Day One in Medugorje.
After a quick breakfast in the hotel, we walked towards Apparition Hill, to be present for the apparition by the Blue Cross.
Of the six visionaries, only Marija, Ivan, and Vicka still see Mary daily. Mirjiana (pronounced "Meer-ee-ah-nuh") sees the Madonna on the 2nd day of each month - which was today.
Tons of pilgrims, mostly from Italy, make their way to Medugorje for Mirjiana's monthly apparition. The area around the blue cross and the road by which Mirjiana walks to the cross were already packed when we got there, so my group stood and waited on the road leading to the cross.
It amazed me that all of these people were standing there, waiting for an apparition that none of us would be able to see. For about 45 minutes, we stood in the street, praying and waiting. People were singing and talking in different languages - mostly Croatian and Italian. As we got closer to the apparition time, someone started leading the rosary on a loudspeaker, and we all chanted together, in at least three languages. A man next to me was reciting it in Italian, so I listened until I thought I could do it:
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Santa Maria, Madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatori, adesso e nell'ora della nostra morte. Amen.
It was really very beautiful.
I caught just a glimpse of Mirjiana. You could tell she was coming because everyone started clapping. It must be so strange to be treated like a rockstar between your teens and your 50s, all because you're BFFs with Mary. Our guide told me that "Mir" means "Peace" and so "Mirjiana" means "Girl of Peace."
As I said, I couldn't see the cross or Mirjiana as the apparition happened, but everyone was silent while it was happening. All that you could hear was the hooting of an owl and the occasional cough. Thousands of people crowded on these hilly streets, and everyone silent. Amazing.
I didn't really feel anything extraordinary - but I was grateful to have been there.
Later, anyone can go into the info center and pick up the message that Our Lady gave. Here's what she said:
"Dear children, I, your mother, am with you for the sake of your well-being, for the sake of your needs and for the sake of your personal cognition. The Heavenly Father gave you the freedom to decide on your own and to become cognizant on your own. I desire to help you. I desire to be a mother to you, a teacher of the truth – so that in the simplicity of an open heart, you may become cognizant of the immeasurable purity and of the light which comes from it and shatters darkness, the light which brings hope. I, my children, understand your pain and suffering. Who could understand you better than a mother? And you, my children? Small is the number of those who understand and follow me. Great is the number of those who are lost - of those who have not yet become cognizant of the truth in my Son. Therefore, my apostles, pray and act. Bring the light and do not lose hope. I am with you. In a special way I am with your shepherds. With a motherly heart I love and protect them, because they lead you to Heaven that was promised to you by my Son. Thank you.”
After the apparition, we walked down to the church, called St. James. Wouldn't you know - the church was named St. James about 100 years ago, and James is the patron saint of pilgrims. The people who named the church had no idea what an appropriate name that would be...
There is mass every day, in all different languages. We went to the english mass, and it was PACKED. Not even kidding, it was standing room only! I was actually more overwhelmed during the mass than I was during the apparition - every single person in the church was participating. The "Our Father" reminded me of the National Anthem at a Blackhawks game. What I mean is, when Jim Cornelison belts out the anthem in his amazing, powerful voice and the whole stadium is filled with cheering and applause throughout the whole thing, I get chills and always think 'this is how the National anthem is SUPPOSED to be sung!' When I was standing in that church and the words of the Our Father were being professed loudly and truly by every person in there, all I could think was 'this is how Jesus intended us to pray this prayer!!!'
The sermon was also very beautiful. The gospel was the story of Jesus' miracle with the fish and the loaves, and the priest giving the sermon talked about how Jesus creates something beautiful out of our weaknesses, and where we are lacking, He multiplies in order to fill in what's missing.
He told a story of two old ladies, Margaret and Ruth, who both loved playing the piano throughout their lives but both suffered from a stroke, which left a hand useless and they thought they would never play the piano again. Until they found each other! Margaret played with her left hand and Ruth with her right, and they not only rediscovered music, but found each other after having lost almost everyone else.
It's really cool that I can go to church in Bosnia, and the mass is pretty much the same. It reminds me that "Catholic" actually means "universal." One of the only differences was instead of saying "Lord, hear our prayer," the response was "God, graciously hear us" which I thought was really beautiful.
After mass, our guide took us on a tour of the area. He told us that when the apparitions began, one of the questions that the children were asked was "What does Mary look like?" The questioners hoped to find some discrepancy in their responses, but they all responded the same way. "She is very beautiful. More beautiful than words. She has long, dark hair and wears a gray dress and a white veil. She has a crown of stars on her head."
When asked how many stars in her crown, little Jakov counted during the next apparition, and later said "There are 12 stars, but they are not connected by anything, unlike the ones you see on statues, which are connected by wire."
One day, the children gathered the courage to ask Mary "How are you so beautiful?" and Mary smiled and said "I am beautiful because I love."
Our guide told us a little bit about the history of the town. The townspeople put the giant cross up on the mountain in 1933. After World War II, the area was very poor, and there weren't any jobs. The only jobs available were with the government, but if you worked for the communist party, you were not allowed to attend church or publicly believe in God - so people had to choose between a job and their faith. The only other choice was to work elsewhere, which many did. Our guide, Francis, said his father worked with Vicka's (one of the visionaries) father in Germany for 25-30 years or so.
The apparitions began in 1981, and at that time the village didn't have any accommodations for pilgrims. They didn't even have running water! The first pilgrims either stayed a few hours away and drove into town, or they stayed at a house in the village with the villagers. About 5 years after the apparitions began, the communist government was worried about this "lasting sign" that Mary had said was coming. They read about Lourdes, and how our Lady left a spring there, and they were worried that She would bring water to the town, since they didn't have running water, so instead they brought running water to the village!
Our guide also talked about how the Serbs were bombing everywhere in Bosnia in 1992, but Medujorje never took any damage. Apparently, at least once they came with the intention of bombing, but the clouds were too thick and they couldn't see. Other times, the bombs dropped and hit the ground...and nothing happened! War ravaged the area, but the Queen of Peace protected Medugorje.
It reminded me of this church I went to in Rome, where I saw and touched a cannonball lodged in the wall of the church. Allegedly, Mary intervened while Rome was under siege, and prevented the cannonball from destroying the altar.
After learning more about Medugorje's amazing history, we visited Father Slavko's grave. Father Slavko was one of the most influential priests at Medugorje. He was very well educated and also very passionate about the validity of the situation. He welcomed doctors and scientists from all over to test the visionaries, who came to a number of conclusions, including but not limited to: the visionaries appear to lose all sight of the surrounding world during the apparition and their eye movement stops, they also appear to lose all sense of touch and can be picked up, poked, etc and will return to a kneeling position involuntarily. When conversing with our Lady, their larynx ceased moving - except when praying the Our Father. Brain activity remained in an alpha state (the state of wakefulness) during the apparition and never a Beta state (the state of dreams and sleeping). Etc.
So Father Slavko was loved and respected, along with being instrumental in spreading word on what was happening at Medugorje. In 1992, he gave an artist from Slovenia permission to erect a statue called the "Statue of the Risen Christ" near to St. James church. This is a huge, beautiful bronze sculpture, a moving depiction of Jesus in a loin cloth, with His arms raised high and an imprint of His body in the ground behind Him.
In 2000, Father Slavko passed away. Mary told the visionaries that He is in Heaven, interceding on all of our behalf.
In 2001, the Statue of the Risen Christ began to leak fluid out of the knee. Several tests were done to try and discover if it was a hoax and also what the liquid is. They couldn't find any reason for the leaking and proved that it wasn't condensation or anything like that.
Scientists have concluded that the fluid leaking from the statue is unlike any other fluid on Earth, but that it most closely resembles a human tear.
Since 2001, there have been several cures documented from the fluid, including a blind man regaining sight, a woman being cured of breast cancer, and a child with an extraordinarily rare incurable disease involving tumors behind his eyes becoming fully healthy after touching the fluid to his eyes.
There was a long line to touch the knee - pilgrims waiting patiently to touch the fluid and make the sign of the cross, or to soak handkerchiefs in the fluid to take home to loved ones. Since we're here all week and many people are only here for a couple of days (for Mirjiana's monthly apparition), we didn't wait in line but instead just sat and prayed the rosary together.
There have now been more miracles documented as a result of Medjugorje than either Fatima or Lourdes. The visionaries say that Mary asks us to submit to God's will and accept our situation. She says that we should find peace no matter what's going on in our lives. However, many of the people who have been cured have said that they heard Mary tell them to "believe and to pray" or to simply ask to be healed.
Ever since I found out about Medugorje, I have wondered why the Catholic church hasn't taken an official position on it yet. The last few popes have visited and are in support of other believers doing so, but despite sending commissions to investigate over the years, there isn't an official stance and many Catholics [and other Christians] don't even know about it! I found out today that apparently, they wont take a position until the phenomenon is over with. Something about needing to review it in its totality.
I think that's absolutely crazy! This was a fine approach for other things, such as Fatima and Lourdes and Knock, because those didn't continue for over 3 decades!!! I feel like they should make an exception in this case and review it up until this point. It seems crazy that the church doesn't want to be officially part of something so amazing!
Let me just give Pope Francis a quick call and convince him...
Anyway, now that I've written a novel, I'm going to do what I came back to my hotel to do in the first place - take a quick siesta! After this post, I don't think I'll make another tonight, but I suppose I might surprise myself.
Other things happening this week: Ivan is in town, so he is speaking tomorrow. Vicka is also here, and I'll be going to see her speak on Monday. Tomorrow I am going up apparition hill and Sunday we're doing the stations of the cross on Mt. Krizevac.
Ciao for now!
Friday, May 2, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
The Long Journey
Whew - International travel is exhausting!
Here were my flights, in central time:
Madison to O'Hare, 11:36am-12:25pm
O'Hare to Charlotte, 1:42pm-3:34pm
Charlotte to Munich, 5:55pm-2:45am
Munich to Dubrovnik, 7:45am-9:10am
When I arrived in Dubrovnik, it was 3:10pm local time, but my internal clock said 9am! So exhausting. Then we had to take a 3 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik (in Croatia) to Medjugorje (in Bosnia). So I spent a total of ~13.5 hours flying, ~9 hours in layovers, and ~3 hours on a bus - a whopping 25.5 hour-long trip!!!
Quite the journey. As one of the members of my small group said, "I think Mary picked here on purpose...she didn't want to make it easy!"
Despite the long and exhausting day, I'm happy to say it actually went OK. I managed to grab 5-6 hours of sleep on the international flight, thanks to packing some ZzzQuil, and I napped a bit in the Munich airport and on the last flight as well.
And now, although it's 4pm Central time, the local time is 11pm, and I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm grateful for the exhaustion!
But before I give into dreams, here are some highlights:
I had breakfast at ~3am Central time in Munich, and it consisted of a flaky croissant, a banana, and a delicious cafe latte in this enormous bowl-sized mug. How good it is to be back in Europe!
I even bought a jar of Nutella in the Munich airport, because I have heard that German Nutella is even better than Italian Nutella...we shall see :)
The plane from Munich to Dubrovnik was a little regional guy, kind of like the ones I take from the Madison airport. Oddly enough, the older gentleman sitting next to me went to Loyola Chicago for his Undergrad! Small world.
We took this tiny little bus to Medjugorje, but it was fine because it turns out there are only 8 of us in our group. David (the guy organizing the trip) says he usually has over 20, but this was a smaller trip and there were some cancellations. So it's me and a bunch of people twice my age...!
It's okay though, they're all really nice, and there is one couple in particular that I really enjoyed talking to - about everything from miracles to Finance to the education system in the U.S.
The bus ride was also really gorgeous. Croatia reminded me a lot of Italy, with these little houses tucked on the coast and in all these hills and valleys. We stopped at this restaurant/cafe at the halfway point of the drive and the coffee bar was exactly like some that I went to in Rome.
There were also young men staring at me. I had forgotten about that, haha. At one point, I was so used to that, and I actually became quite the blatant people-watcher as well. It was a hard habit to break when I got back to Chicago! Haha
The man who arranged the bus ride for us spent part of the journey telling us the story of the apparitions at Medjugorje - in case we hadn't heard I guess. Here's a summarized version, with some things that I hadn't known before italicized:
- Mary appeared, holding a baby, to six children in Medjugorje. They were so terrified that they fled instead of approaching her. They had never heard of Fatima or Lourdes, and they didn't know what to think. The youngest who saw her was only 10 years old. Another was 16, but he was so freaked out they he locked himself in his room for the rest of the day.
- The next day, after calming down a bit, the kids all decided to go back. Some curious neighbors decided to tag along, and were astonished when all the children started sprinting up the mountain "as if flying" and dropped to their knees, eyes transfixed in one place, mouths moving, with no sound coming out.
- The children asked "Why here? Why us?" and Mary said "There is faith here" and "I do not always choose the best."
- The communist government was really upset for multiple reasons. One, they had brainwashed the people to believe that God was a fantasy, and two, they feared all these people gathering in one place. They dragged the children to a hospital and had them tested to prove that they were insane, but the doctors released them and said they were perfectly healthy.
- Some militia took to guarding the mountain where Mary was appearing.
- One day, a priest - Father Jozo - was praying in the church in Medjugorje (St. James) when he heard a voice say "Go outside and protect my children." He went outside and the six children were running from the militia and said "Father, please protect us!" He hid them in the church and then sent the militia running in the wrong direction. Father Jozo was eventually imprisoned for his support of the visionaries.
- Mary began imparting ten secrets to the visionaries. The third secret is the only one that anyone knows anything about, and all we know is that it will be a lasting sign on the mountain in Medjugorje, that it will be beautiful and indestructible and that anyone can come and see it.
- Once Mary finishes telling all 10 secrets to one of the visionaries, she ceases appearing to them daily. Only 3 of the 6 visionaries continue to see Mary daily.
- On the last daily apparition for one of the visionaries (Ivanka maybe?) Mary asked if there was anything she could do for her, and she said "Yes, I would like to see my earthly mother," who had died before Mary started appearing, and whom Mary had said was in Heaven. Ivanka's(?) mother appeared and hugged and kissed her and told her she was proud of her.
- One of the visionaries is named Marija. Her name is pronounced like Maria and she currently lives in Italy.
- Mary's primary message is this: convert and reconcile to God. Be at peace within yourself, and then at peace within your family, and only then will the world find peace. She says the lasting sign on Medjugorje will convert many, but that it is better to convert now.
I feel like my life has been anything but peaceful lately, and I really hope that this pilgrimage will sow seeds of peace in my heart that will last long after I leave this place!
When we finally arrived at the hotel, we got checked in and ate dinner around 8:30pm. We walked around town a bit, and I found myself laughing, because it reminded me a bit of Florida - meaning, there are souvenir shops every 3 feet! But instead of shot glasses and spray painted t-shirts, there are rosaries, cross necklaces, and religious statues. Too funny.
The best part of my night? Getting some gelato, obviously.
So. Freaking. Good.
Tomorrow we wake up early and head to the hills for an apparition! Stay tuned...!
Here were my flights, in central time:
Madison to O'Hare, 11:36am-12:25pm
O'Hare to Charlotte, 1:42pm-3:34pm
Charlotte to Munich, 5:55pm-2:45am
Munich to Dubrovnik, 7:45am-9:10am
When I arrived in Dubrovnik, it was 3:10pm local time, but my internal clock said 9am! So exhausting. Then we had to take a 3 hour bus ride from Dubrovnik (in Croatia) to Medjugorje (in Bosnia). So I spent a total of ~13.5 hours flying, ~9 hours in layovers, and ~3 hours on a bus - a whopping 25.5 hour-long trip!!!
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| New Passport stamp! |
Despite the long and exhausting day, I'm happy to say it actually went OK. I managed to grab 5-6 hours of sleep on the international flight, thanks to packing some ZzzQuil, and I napped a bit in the Munich airport and on the last flight as well.
And now, although it's 4pm Central time, the local time is 11pm, and I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm grateful for the exhaustion!
But before I give into dreams, here are some highlights:
I had breakfast at ~3am Central time in Munich, and it consisted of a flaky croissant, a banana, and a delicious cafe latte in this enormous bowl-sized mug. How good it is to be back in Europe!
I even bought a jar of Nutella in the Munich airport, because I have heard that German Nutella is even better than Italian Nutella...we shall see :)
The plane from Munich to Dubrovnik was a little regional guy, kind of like the ones I take from the Madison airport. Oddly enough, the older gentleman sitting next to me went to Loyola Chicago for his Undergrad! Small world.
We took this tiny little bus to Medjugorje, but it was fine because it turns out there are only 8 of us in our group. David (the guy organizing the trip) says he usually has over 20, but this was a smaller trip and there were some cancellations. So it's me and a bunch of people twice my age...!
It's okay though, they're all really nice, and there is one couple in particular that I really enjoyed talking to - about everything from miracles to Finance to the education system in the U.S.
The bus ride was also really gorgeous. Croatia reminded me a lot of Italy, with these little houses tucked on the coast and in all these hills and valleys. We stopped at this restaurant/cafe at the halfway point of the drive and the coffee bar was exactly like some that I went to in Rome.
There were also young men staring at me. I had forgotten about that, haha. At one point, I was so used to that, and I actually became quite the blatant people-watcher as well. It was a hard habit to break when I got back to Chicago! Haha
The man who arranged the bus ride for us spent part of the journey telling us the story of the apparitions at Medjugorje - in case we hadn't heard I guess. Here's a summarized version, with some things that I hadn't known before italicized:
- Mary appeared, holding a baby, to six children in Medjugorje. They were so terrified that they fled instead of approaching her. They had never heard of Fatima or Lourdes, and they didn't know what to think. The youngest who saw her was only 10 years old. Another was 16, but he was so freaked out they he locked himself in his room for the rest of the day.
- The next day, after calming down a bit, the kids all decided to go back. Some curious neighbors decided to tag along, and were astonished when all the children started sprinting up the mountain "as if flying" and dropped to their knees, eyes transfixed in one place, mouths moving, with no sound coming out.
- The children asked "Why here? Why us?" and Mary said "There is faith here" and "I do not always choose the best."
- The communist government was really upset for multiple reasons. One, they had brainwashed the people to believe that God was a fantasy, and two, they feared all these people gathering in one place. They dragged the children to a hospital and had them tested to prove that they were insane, but the doctors released them and said they were perfectly healthy.
- Some militia took to guarding the mountain where Mary was appearing.
- One day, a priest - Father Jozo - was praying in the church in Medjugorje (St. James) when he heard a voice say "Go outside and protect my children." He went outside and the six children were running from the militia and said "Father, please protect us!" He hid them in the church and then sent the militia running in the wrong direction. Father Jozo was eventually imprisoned for his support of the visionaries.
- Mary began imparting ten secrets to the visionaries. The third secret is the only one that anyone knows anything about, and all we know is that it will be a lasting sign on the mountain in Medjugorje, that it will be beautiful and indestructible and that anyone can come and see it.
- Once Mary finishes telling all 10 secrets to one of the visionaries, she ceases appearing to them daily. Only 3 of the 6 visionaries continue to see Mary daily.
- On the last daily apparition for one of the visionaries (Ivanka maybe?) Mary asked if there was anything she could do for her, and she said "Yes, I would like to see my earthly mother," who had died before Mary started appearing, and whom Mary had said was in Heaven. Ivanka's(?) mother appeared and hugged and kissed her and told her she was proud of her.
- One of the visionaries is named Marija. Her name is pronounced like Maria and she currently lives in Italy.
- Mary's primary message is this: convert and reconcile to God. Be at peace within yourself, and then at peace within your family, and only then will the world find peace. She says the lasting sign on Medjugorje will convert many, but that it is better to convert now.
I feel like my life has been anything but peaceful lately, and I really hope that this pilgrimage will sow seeds of peace in my heart that will last long after I leave this place!
When we finally arrived at the hotel, we got checked in and ate dinner around 8:30pm. We walked around town a bit, and I found myself laughing, because it reminded me a bit of Florida - meaning, there are souvenir shops every 3 feet! But instead of shot glasses and spray painted t-shirts, there are rosaries, cross necklaces, and religious statues. Too funny.
The best part of my night? Getting some gelato, obviously.
So. Freaking. Good.
Tomorrow we wake up early and head to the hills for an apparition! Stay tuned...!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
How My Strange Vacation Came About
On March 18 of this year, my friend Austin told me about a trip his dad was organizing to Medjugorje ...six weeks later. On March 19, I decided to go.
It might seem like a hasty decision, but it was definitely not one I made lightly. Not only does this trip put a dent in my wallet, but it also uses up all of my vacation days for the remainder of the year - and we're only in month 4 haha.
The truth is, I have wanted to go to Medjugorje for six years or so, and up until now I couldn't afford it and didn't know how to get there. So on March 18, when I realized that I could afford it (both in terms of my bank account and my vacation days), I decided to go.
So here I am, sitting in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, enjoying a glass of red wine and waiting for my international flight. This will be my 3rd flight today and it won't even be my last. Quite the journey, but I have a feeling that it will be worth it.
So why am I going to Medjugorje, you ask? For the past couple weeks or so, I've been giving my friends and coworkers a heads up that at the start of May, I will be in Bosnia. Responses I have received have varied, but most include an incredulous, startled response that goes something along the lines of "...Why?!?!?"
Well, in case I haven't told you yet, there's this little town in Bosnia (Medjugorje) where there have reportedly been visions of the Virgin Mary. Every day. For the past 30 years or so.
Seriously.
Now the responses that I receive from THAT statement vary even more. I'd say about 10% of the people I tell have heard of Medjugorje, about 20% are really interested and ask questions, and about 70% of people think that I'm totally off my rocker. Which I am, but that's besides the point ;)
What interests me the most is that there are so many faith-filled, God-loving people who believe every single word of the Gospel (including the stories of Jesus performing miracles) but scoff at the idea of real miracles happening today and doubt the story of the visionaries who have had daily conversations with the Mother of Jesus.
As one friend asked me: "So, you actually believe that this is happening?"
Well, yeah. How can I not?
As you probably know, I'm a pretty emotional, faith-filled, passionate person; but let's take a second and look at this from a purely logical standpoint:
Do I believe that Jesus was the Son of God, born to the Virgin Mary, who was free of sin? Yes.
Do I believe that Jesus performed a variety of miracles, one of which being His resurrection and ascension into Heaven? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary was taken up into Heaven, body and soul? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary was crowned the Queen of Peace, over all of Heaven and Earth? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary could appear to six children in Medjugorje in the 80's, if she so wished? Yes!
Do I believe that Mary's continued appearance in this town could result in real miracles happening there? Yes!
Do those last two beliefs really differ so greatly from the first few? Why is it so much easier to believe in the Gospel than to believe in Medjugorje? There are and have been priests and bishops and other members of the church who have also doubted Medjugorje's validity - some vehemently so. Why do we find it so hard to believe?
Are miracles and Jesus easier to believe in because it happened 2000 years ago? Because it wasn't a "civilized" time and we didn't have HD TV and airplanes and smart phones?
What does that mean about our belief? Is it truly so small, so confined to "some other place, some other time" ???
"Oh yeah, Jesus was alive and performed miracles alright...2000 years ago."
"Oh yeah, Jesus will come back and bring Heaven to earth and salvation to all who will accept it, but there's no way it will happen in MY lifetime. Sometime in the distant future probably."
Arggghhhhhhhhh! That makes me want to throw something, but all I have handy is this glass of red wine and it's really delicious, so I won't do that...
Alright, I'm going to get off my soapbox now. I just wanted to point out the contradiction inherent in a believer's skepticism of miracles in today's day and age. It's okay to doubt, it's okay to question, but it's good to have an open mind and an open heart, and it's better to remember that God is capable of amazing things - so let's not confine him to some day and age that's not just ours, yeah?
Anyway. I haven't blogged since Rome, and I haven't really written a whole lot since then in general (notice the ramblings and the tangents in this post...), but I'd like to write about the week I'm about to have.
And if you're interested in reading about it...all I ask is that you keep an open mind and an open heart.
Okay, I think I should head to my gate now. I hope the Zzzquil works...!
Love from the sky (flying will always and forever amaze me)!
Maria
It might seem like a hasty decision, but it was definitely not one I made lightly. Not only does this trip put a dent in my wallet, but it also uses up all of my vacation days for the remainder of the year - and we're only in month 4 haha.
The truth is, I have wanted to go to Medjugorje for six years or so, and up until now I couldn't afford it and didn't know how to get there. So on March 18, when I realized that I could afford it (both in terms of my bank account and my vacation days), I decided to go.
So here I am, sitting in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, enjoying a glass of red wine and waiting for my international flight. This will be my 3rd flight today and it won't even be my last. Quite the journey, but I have a feeling that it will be worth it.
So why am I going to Medjugorje, you ask? For the past couple weeks or so, I've been giving my friends and coworkers a heads up that at the start of May, I will be in Bosnia. Responses I have received have varied, but most include an incredulous, startled response that goes something along the lines of "...Why?!?!?"
Well, in case I haven't told you yet, there's this little town in Bosnia (Medjugorje) where there have reportedly been visions of the Virgin Mary. Every day. For the past 30 years or so.
Seriously.
Now the responses that I receive from THAT statement vary even more. I'd say about 10% of the people I tell have heard of Medjugorje, about 20% are really interested and ask questions, and about 70% of people think that I'm totally off my rocker. Which I am, but that's besides the point ;)
What interests me the most is that there are so many faith-filled, God-loving people who believe every single word of the Gospel (including the stories of Jesus performing miracles) but scoff at the idea of real miracles happening today and doubt the story of the visionaries who have had daily conversations with the Mother of Jesus.
As one friend asked me: "So, you actually believe that this is happening?"
Well, yeah. How can I not?
As you probably know, I'm a pretty emotional, faith-filled, passionate person; but let's take a second and look at this from a purely logical standpoint:
Do I believe that Jesus was the Son of God, born to the Virgin Mary, who was free of sin? Yes.
Do I believe that Jesus performed a variety of miracles, one of which being His resurrection and ascension into Heaven? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary was taken up into Heaven, body and soul? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary was crowned the Queen of Peace, over all of Heaven and Earth? Yes.
Do I believe that Mary could appear to six children in Medjugorje in the 80's, if she so wished? Yes!
Do I believe that Mary's continued appearance in this town could result in real miracles happening there? Yes!
Do those last two beliefs really differ so greatly from the first few? Why is it so much easier to believe in the Gospel than to believe in Medjugorje? There are and have been priests and bishops and other members of the church who have also doubted Medjugorje's validity - some vehemently so. Why do we find it so hard to believe?
Are miracles and Jesus easier to believe in because it happened 2000 years ago? Because it wasn't a "civilized" time and we didn't have HD TV and airplanes and smart phones?
What does that mean about our belief? Is it truly so small, so confined to "some other place, some other time" ???
"Oh yeah, Jesus was alive and performed miracles alright...2000 years ago."
"Oh yeah, Jesus will come back and bring Heaven to earth and salvation to all who will accept it, but there's no way it will happen in MY lifetime. Sometime in the distant future probably."
Arggghhhhhhhhh! That makes me want to throw something, but all I have handy is this glass of red wine and it's really delicious, so I won't do that...
Alright, I'm going to get off my soapbox now. I just wanted to point out the contradiction inherent in a believer's skepticism of miracles in today's day and age. It's okay to doubt, it's okay to question, but it's good to have an open mind and an open heart, and it's better to remember that God is capable of amazing things - so let's not confine him to some day and age that's not just ours, yeah?
Anyway. I haven't blogged since Rome, and I haven't really written a whole lot since then in general (notice the ramblings and the tangents in this post...), but I'd like to write about the week I'm about to have.
And if you're interested in reading about it...all I ask is that you keep an open mind and an open heart.
Okay, I think I should head to my gate now. I hope the Zzzquil works...!
Love from the sky (flying will always and forever amaze me)!
Maria
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