Hello Everyone!
It’s been great to receive your telephone calls over the past week or so. I’ve been encouraged to hear so many of you chomping at the bit to make your pilgrimage to Medjugorje and I hope and pray we’ll be able to take you there very soon.
I just wanted to share a brief update with you, as I know all things ‘Aglow’ have been rather quiet over the past year.
Quick Update
Firstly, I would like to say we will be leading groups to Medjugorje again at the earliest opportunity. We are here, we’re ready to go and we are looking forward to the next pilgrimage, even if that means quarantine on return - so long as it’s safe and legal to do so.
This could be as early as the 40th anniversary this June and we will be prepared to take last minute bookings for all those hoping to be there for this special occasion. If this is not possible, we have dates scheduled in September and October, as well as for the Youth Festival in August and if we have to wait until 2022 (though I hope and think not), well that’s just what we’ll do.
It’s been a difficult time for so many of us. Over the past 15 months or so I’ve come to realise the significant impact that pilgrimage (in particular Medjugorje) has had on my life. All the many weeks spent on pilgrimage over the past 15 years have been filled with grace, sanctuary and rest for my soul and Medjugorje will continue to be this place for us over the decades to come.
Let’s not forget who’s in control!
God knew EVERYTHING that was coming and He knows EVERYTHING still to come. God is in control. We believe in Him and in the Good News that he brought to the world and we know great things are still to come.
Looking forward to things to come
Our Lady is with us during these days to prepare us for all that’s still to come. We know through the third secret that there is going to be a ‘lasting sign’ that’s going to be permanent, beautiful and indestructible! Vicka told us in an interview that she, knows EXACTLY what the sign will be and she knows the time it will appear and that It is given above all for those people who are still far away from God.
We are likely to see in our lifetimes a great movement of the Holy Spirit like one in the days in the Acts of the Apostles - “Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Unbelievers will come to Jesus and there will be great rejoicing in heaven.
It’s easy to forget and get caught up in the worries and dramas of the world, I’ve been doing it myself over the past 18 months, Covid has been a massive distraction from Jesus. As believers, we should be looking forward to the days ahead, confident in the knowledge that God has called us, especially in these times through Mary, to be apostles of love. God needs you now, to be a humble servant and help Him bring about His purpose as a messenger of love.
It starts today with conversion
It’s important to find sanctuary wherever we are in our lives. We have learnt it’s not always possible to go to our 'special places’ to find the spiritual things we need, peace, rest and time with the Lord that our souls crave. Instead we have to find our ‘secret place’ (see Matthew 6:6) where we can be with God in the ‘here and now’ also.
But that doesn’t take away from the fact that we should take ourselves out of this world from time to time. We see this when Jesus prepared for his ministry fasting for 40 days and nights in the desert and how John the Baptist similarly lived a life of solitude and simplicity in the wilderness.
It’s the same for us. If we want to be like Christ we have to do as He did and pilgrimage is one channel of opportunity to have dedicated time with the Father away from the distractions of this world. Entering that wilderness to encounter our Creator and Father is a big must, particularly in the world we live today.