DEAR FAMILY NEWSLETTER

***MARCH/APRIL 1996***

from Ginny Lopez
in APPARITIONS LIST ARCHIVES


CONTENTS:

MEDJUGORJE MESSAGE & COMMENTARY, March 25, 1996

"Dear little children, I invite you to decide again to love God above all else in this time when, due to the spirit of consumerism, one forgets what it means to love and to cherish true values. I invite you again, little children, to put God in the first place in your life. Do not let Satan attract you through material things, but, little children, decide for God who is freedom and love. Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus, I invite you to decide for life, which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call."

COMMENTARY:

We all want what is best for ourselves and for our families_a fine house, an up-to-date car, solid educations, a pension plan and a vacation at least once a year. This is normal. But let's face it, given today's economy it's not always easy providing these things, and often we lose sleep over our failures to be "good providers." It is also possible for material possessions to "own" us. Is this what Blessed Mother refers to when she reminds us that " . . . due to the spirit of consumerism, one forgets what it means to love and to cherish true values"? We must turn in complete trust to God to provide for our needs. Worrying enslaves us and slowly poisons our souls, killing our ability to recognize the things that matter. Attaching too much importance to the material things of this world leads to envy of those who are better off financially, to depression, and ultimately, to despair. Better to place our dependence upon the spiritual treasures of Heaven. God is real and one day we will be with Him. What greater wealth or security could we desire?

MEDUGORJE MESSAGE & COMMENTARY, April 25, 1996

"Dear children: Today I invite you again to put prayer in the first place in your families. Little children, when God is in the first place, then you will, in all that you do, seek the will of God. In this way your daily conversion will become easier. Little children, seek with humility that which is not in order in your hearts. Conversion will become a daily duty that you will do with joy. Little children, I am with you, I bless you all and I invite you to become my witnesses by prayer and personal conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call."

COMMENTARY:

Mary was only fourteen or fifteen when she said yes to God, set aside her own plans, and became the Mother of His Son. She's the perfect example of giving God " . . . first place" in life and seeking His will. It may not be easy at first to give priority to the spiritual life over what needs to be done day in and day out at home and in the work place. Doing so, however, is part of the conversion process and it results in a joyful soul and, ultimately, Heaven. By giving God's will priority in our lives, we become witnesses of Mother.

MEDUGORJE MESSAGE GIVEN TO MIRJANA DURING ANNUAL APPARITION & COMMENTARY, March 18, 1996

"Dear children! On this message, which I give you today through my servant, I desire for you to reflect a long time. My children, great is the love of God. Do not close your eyes, do not close your ears while I repeat to you: Great is His love! Hear my call and my supplication which I direct to you. Consecrate your heart and make in it the home of the Lord. May He dwell in it forever. My eyes and my heart will be here, even when I will no longer appear. Act in everything as I ask you and lead you to the Lord. Do not reject from yourself the name of God, that you may not be rejected. Accept my messages that you may be accepted. Decide, my children, it is the time of decision. Be just and innocent of heart, that I may lead you to your Father, for this, that I am here, is His great love. Thank you for being here.

COMMENTARY:

"The apparition lasted six minutes. Afterwards, Mirjana wrote the following: `We prayed two Our Father's and two Glory Be's for those present and for those who have not yet come to know the love of God. We also spoke of other things, but I cannot speak of them. There was no talk of the secrets. Our Lady blessed all those present and all religious articles. At the beginning of the apparition, Our Lady was joyful and gentle. After that, She was sad for awhile and in the end was again joyful. I, Mirjana, who saw and felt Our Lady's love, call you to truly reflect on and to live this message!'"

PRAYERS & PETITIONS

Please pray for healings for:

pray for:

  • the unemployed, including Irma's and Mary's husbands;
  • thanksgiving for the sale of Janey's and Bonnie's houses;
  • peace and consolation for Rick and Sherry, who recently lost two children (ages 6 & 8) in a drowning accident;
pray for repose of the souls of:

  • Nicolas,
  • May,
  • Nancy C.; pray for:

  • Karl (conversion);
  • for abused children and adults everywhere;
  • true peace and reconciliation throughout the world, especially, in the Middle East (see TIDBITS);
  • the victims of natural disasters;
  • all government and religious leaders, especially, our Holy Father; pray for special intentions for:

  • Joan,
  • Father Martin (Orthodox Archbishop seeking union with Roman Catholic Church and obtaining property in Michigan to begin small monastery devoted to Perpetual Adoration of Blessed Sacrament),
  • Father John (special intention),
  • Char,
  • Elizabeth,
  • Brenda,
  • Torpey Family,
  • Agnes and Brad,
  • John,
  • Brother Barth,
  • Chuck,
  • Suzanne and family,
  • Teresa P. (for all families under attack by satan),
  • Rebecca,
  • John P.,
  • Skala and Sweede families,
  • Alan and Junette. Father, You who know us so well, hear our prayers as we come to You seeking consolation, peace and healing, and offering thanksgiving for all graces received. We ask You this, Father, in the names of Jesus Your Son and Mary His Mother. We love You and we trust in You. Amen.

    TIDBITS

    FROM A CHRISTIAN IN THE MIDDLE EAST COMES this plea for prayer: "Peace in Christ. I'm in real danger. Fundamentalist Moslems tell me that they have evidences and witnesses that I'm going to church for worshiping Christ. They [threaten] me that I'll be killed. I report [their] action to the security; the security capture me for 36 hours. I just came in from there. The security order me to leave { } in a month or they will send me back to [my] country. I'm really down and I feel that I pass a big crisis. I'm trying to find my way out of { } now. [Please] pray for me. (STN)

    LOCATED IN WASHINGTON, DC, THE BASILICA OF THE National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was built in honor of Mary, Mother of our Savior, and her Immaculate Conception. Built in Byzantine-Roman style, it can now be toured online by accessing the "Virtual Tour" on the World Wide Web: http://www.ewtn.com/Nat_Shrine/index.htm

    FROM JOSEPH CARDINAL BERNARDIN TO THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO, during Lent 1996: "The day before I underwent cancer surgery last June, the Holy Father called and, in addition to assuring me of his prayers, he spoke beautifully about the redemptive value of suffering. Quite simply, this means that, like Jesus, we do not have to let our suffering destroy our spirit, our ability to see meaning in our lives, our determination to continue using our God-given gifts in ways that will enrich both ourselves and others. Indeed, sometimes we make our greatest impact - we accomplish our greatest good - when we are suffering, when we are weakened by disease. Why? Because then we see more clearly what is important in life; we find it easier to discern what is essential and what is not; there is greater authenticity in what we say and do. What I am saying is not theoretical; it is real. In my contacts with hundreds of sick people - whether their illness was temporary or terminal - I have been moved by their goodness, their concern for their family and friends, their faith, their willingness to put themselves in the hands of the Lord. I also know the change that my personal suffering has brought in my own life and outlook.

    "I hasten to add that seeing and accepting suffering in this light does not take away all the fear, pain, anxiety, and frustration so commonly associated with illness and suffering. And we should not hesitate to recognize and talk about these realities. No matter how strong our faith may be, we are still human, and we cannot always control our feelings and emotions; indeed, we should not. This has surely been my experience. During the weeks after my surgery, during the time of subsequent treatment and, more recently, when I experienced the immobility and pain of fractured vertebrae, I was subject to all these emotions. Moreover, I found myself easily moved to tears, and, like many of you, there were times when I said, "Lord, I have done my best to serve you. Why is this happening to me?"

    "As I have said so often, there is no contradiction between having a deep faith in Jesus and his saving power and, at the same time, experiencing fear, anxiety, and frustration. Our faith gives us a perspective that enables us to deal positively and realistically with these realities and to see beyond them. Our faith indeed is the basis for our hope. As Christians, our hope is rooted in the fact that God's love and care for us is permanent and unchanging. When we know that we are so loved, we can face life, regardless of it's difficulties, with hope. Even if we cannot be physically cured, hope gives us comfort by strengthening our confidence in life, both our earthly life and our life hereafter. I personally face the future with great confidence and hope. I pray that you do also."

    BATIMORE'S "CATHOLIC REVIEW" REPORTS THAT "DETROIT CARDINAL ADAM J. MAIDA called Jack Kevorkian `a very dangerous man' . . . .. During an April 23 taping of `DIALOGUE,' a program of the Catholic Television Network of Detroit, Cardinal Maida responded to questions about whether he considers Dr. Kevorkian dangerous. `Yes, I do,' said the cardinal. `He has set himself up as a god. He has flaunted the law. He has contempt for those who would disagree with him. I think [Dr. Kevorkian] is a very dangerous man.' Dr. Kevorkian was on trial in Michigan for the third time in connection with the assisted suicides of several people."

    A NEW MEMORIAL TO BLESSED FAUSTINA, A LIFE-SIZE statue donated by the family of Javier Suarez-Marill of Falls Church, Virginia, was blessed and dedicate by Bishop P. Francis Murphy at the National Shrine Grotto of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, Maryland on May 11, 1996. Blessed Faustina, a Polish cloistered Sister of Our Lady of Mercy, had visions of Jesus that led to the Divine Mercy devotion.

    EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE IN NAJU, SOUTH KOREA - PART II:

    "Sworn Testimony of Witnesses of Miraculous transformation of Consecrated Host and Wine, changing into living and moving flesh and blood, when Julia Kim received Holy Communion during the Celebration of the Eucharist at the open air Mass, celebrated in the field of the valley amidst the mountains outside Naju, at 5 p.m. on September 22, 1995.

    "I, Bishop Roman Danylak, Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Toronto for Ukrainian Catholics in Toronto, Canada, and titular bishop of Nyssa, herewith solemnly testify that I concelebrated the Divine Liturgy, or Holy Mass, with the Reverend Fathers Aloysius Chang, parish priest of the Kwangju Archdiocese in Korea, invited by me to assist during my visit to Korea; and Joseph Peter Finn, retired priest of the Diocese of London, Canada, on Friday, September 22, at 5 p.m. in an open air celebration on the grounds of the valley where a future church is to be erected, God-willing, to the honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother of God.

    "Following the Liturgy of the Word, I delivered a brief homily for the occasion. After the communion of the priests, Fr. Chang and I administered Holy Communion under both species to Julia Kim and the eleven others. As we continued the distribution of Holy Communion to the others present, we heard a sudden sobbing of one of the women assisting at Mass. The Sacred Host received by Julia was changed to living flesh and blood. Father Joseph Finn, who had remained at the altar during the communion of the faithful, was observing Julia; he noted that at the moment he turned to observe Julia, he saw the white edge of the host disappearing and changing into the substance of living flesh.

    "Fr. Chang and I returned to Julia. The host had changed to dark red, living flesh and blood flowing from it. After Mass, Julia shared with us that she experienced the Divine Flesh as a thick consistency and a copious flowing of blood, more so than on the occasion of previous miracles of the changing of the host into bleeding flesh. We remained in silence and prayer; all present had the opportunity of viewing and venerating the miraculous host. After some moments I asked Julia to swallow and consume the host. And after the Mass Julia explained that the Host had become large and fleshy; and that she consumed it with some difficulty. The taste of blood remained in her mouth for some time. I then asked that she be given a glass of water, from the miraculous source of water nearby. As she drank the water, her finger touched her lips, and a trace of blood was visible on her finger. She rinsed her finger in the water and drank it." (Signed by Bishop Roman Danylak, Fathers Joseph P. Finn and Aloysius Chang, and others present)

    "Post Scriptum: After Mass and thanksgiving, one of the women present, Michaeline from Tejan, gave testimony to a miraculous healing she had experienced at the time of the Consecration at this Mass. Over the previous ten days she had been suffering from intense back and shoulder pains. She was to go to the hospital for medical examination the following Monday. It was she that had cried out suddenly and began to sob, during the time of communion, when she observed Julia sucking her cheeks when she had received the host and had drunk from the chalice. Michaeline realized that the host was changing in Julia's mouth." (Signed +Roman Danylak)

    BISHOP DANYLAK CONTINUES IN ANOTHER PIECE OF correspondence: "I consider the events around Julia, her messages and the phenomena as private revelation. The messages she received do belong to the order of private revelation and must be discerned by the Church. The weeping in tears and tears of blood of the statue of the Blessed Virgin, though of the order of private revelation, are first and foremost observable facts, phenomena which can be perceived and examined not only by our senses, but by scientific instruments as well. And this must be done. The Eucharistic phenomena are also observable facts, witnessed by a multiplicity of individual lay people and qualified clergy, including at least two bishops. The Eucharist which changed into the flesh of the human heart and blood was also an observable phenomenon; but it was also a reality to be accepted by divine faith. Firstly, the hosts were consecrated by three priests, including myself. With divine faith we believe that the consecrated species of bread and wine, are truly the substance of the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Christ Himself is present body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist.

    "The second reality observed was the change of the species of bread and wine into the species of flesh and blood, and with the change in the species, the substance of the Real Presence of Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity continue to be present. The first is the empirical presence of the heart-shaped flesh and blood, which had been the species of bread and wine; and both species, are the signs of the substantial presence of the living Christ. This is not private revelation. This touches upon our Catholic faith."

    THE MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST:

    My name is Massimo Piccinini. I was born in Rome 24 years ago and am a physics student at the University of Rome, "La Sapienza." For one year and a half I have begun my personal experience as a witness of Our Lady's [alleged] apparitions here in Rome, to a visionary whose name is Marisa Rossi. My father [originally] told me about these extraordinary events.

    My participation [in] these events [began] with a meeting only for young people...and on that day She gave a personal message to all of us during the apparition to Marisa...you can be sure that it is very exciting to receive a personal message from Our Lady. Afterwords, I have been to two other meetings like that, and then I [began] to go to the other public apparitions.

    Marisa Rossi is a very precocious visionary because she has been seeing Our Lady since she was a child (currently Marisa is about 60). Since 1971, her spiritual director is a Catholic priest whose name is Don Claudio Gatti (tel.+39-6-3380587; fax.+39-6-3387254, only Italian speech), but it has to be outlined that since 4th September 1993, the apparitions have become public, according to Our Lady's request that came from God.

    Marisa looks like an ordinary woman of the people. She is simple and lovable. Her life is full of pains, directly sent to her by God and freely accepted, above all for souls' salvation.

    Every Sunday morning, just after a rosary, and also every Thursday evening, Marisa has a public apparition. Marisa talks to Our Lady in a loud voice, so that everyone can hear. All the conversations are recorded and videos are made too. Our Lady [is called] "The Mother of the Eucharist"...the messages are centered on the Eucharist,...Our Lady wants people to love more Jesus the Eucharist...these apparitions will be remembered in the future as "The Eucharistic Apparitions."

    Since 14th September 1995, more than 20 [alleged] Eucharistic miracles have happened. During Our Lady's apparitions, one or more Holy Hosts suddenly appear between Marisa's hands. Marisa has explained to us that Our Lady appears to her, bringing the chalice and the Eucharist, and during the apparition She gives her the communion, giving her the Host on her hands. So in that moment, when God wants, the Host becomes visible to everybody around Marisa and so we see It appearing between her hands. These events have been directly observed by hundreds of people gathered in Via delle Benedettine 91, Rome, where in a little house or in its garden, the apparitions take place. All the miracles have been recorded and I have sent a videotape to Ginny, showing the great miracle [that] happened on 18th February 1996. These miracles are also the proof of the reality of Our Lady's apparitions . . . ..

    I can't explain all the troubles that Marisa Rossi and Don Claudio Gatti are really suffering, getting on this great and important mission. Up to now the Commission of Enquiry, constituted one year ago by the Ecclesiastical Authority, has chosen the absolute silence about these extraordinary events. In addition, a few days ago, they have forbidden the exposition and adoration of the Holy Host that will appear in the future to Marisa. They must be consumed immediately. But on this regard the message given on 31st March by Our Lady is very clear. You can read it on my homepage that I have set up on the Internet at the beginning of this year. You will find a lot of other information, messages and photos on it and I update it about every week, adding the new messages currently given to Marisa. The homepage URL is:

    http://www.mclink.it/personal/MC0675/

    Pray for the triumph of the Eucharist!

    Massimo Piccinini Rome, April 6th, 1996.

    [NOTE: The reason that the exposition and adoration is not allowed at this time is that the actual Consecration of the Hosts cannot be validated. Allegedly, these hosts are "rescued" from black masses and taken from tabernacles in a supernatural manner. gl]

    IN CLOSING:

    The primary aim of DEAR FAMILY is to provide a wholesome, CATHOLIC atmosphere for the investigation and discernment of alleged apparition phenomona. As children of a loving God, we regard these hopeful "possibilities" as a sign of God's continuing concern and undying love for His human family. DEAR FAMILY makes every effort to present for your discenment, only those phenomena faithful to the teachings of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith. All material in DEAR FAMILY is reviewed to insure that nothing reported is scandalous or harmful to anyone's faith. This newsletter strives to be a ministry of spiritually useful information. In additon, DEAR FAMILY freely and cheerfully proclaims obedience to the Holy Catholic Church, its direction and its instruction.

    God bless :-) DEAR FAMILY, is an independent ministry. It subsists solely on God, free-will donations, which are gratefully accepted, and the generosity of my family. Please copy and pass this newsletter on to others. My thanks to all who make this ministry possible.

    APPARITIONS LIST ARCHIVES
    Apparitions List (Apar-l)is an internet mailing list dedicated to sharing information of all approved apparitions by the Catholic Church, and all reputable on-going apparitions, that are not contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

    DEAR FAMILY NEWSLETTER
    This monthly publication covers various apparitions.
    Ginny Lopez(lagin@aol.com)


    mbd@frontier.net