[thebpman]

Why is the forum not buzzing with excitement after the last message.
There are plenty of Mums (Moms) and Dads out there.
When is the ONLY time you tell a child to wait? The only time you tell a child to wait is right before the thing they want happens. How long this wait will be, I don’t know, but just that Our Lady is telling us to wait has to mean it's not far off.

[Merlorrich]

Well thebpman, that is an interesting prospect for sure. Let's see how it pans out.

What is the waiting for ? I too would be interested in reading what forum members have to say about that.

"Dear children!
This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving. God is giving Himself to you that we may love Him above everything. Therefore, little children, open your hearts and families, so that this waiting may become prayer and love and, especially, giving.
I am with you, little children, and encourage you not to give up from what is good, because the fruits are seen and heard of afar. That is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to lead you away from prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call."

[bluecross]

“This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving.”

She is referring to ADVENT… a four-week season of joyful expectation… and waiting for the birth of Christ.

[thebpman]

Oh of course she is. Hopes dashed yet again. Advent. Is the end of Satan's 100 years of power ever going to end? It will happen, I'm sure of it. Just when, I have no idea. I was sold on medjugorje with the idea that the secrets would be revealed soon, that I must hurry to convert. Now 30 years later, my whole adult life it still hasn't happened. I'm feeling a bit ripped off to be honest. I look like an absolute fool, but still I'm going to keep striving to live the messages as best I can, because I have nowhere else to turn. I honestly am feeling misled or even lied to. I am so disappointed. Thanks Bluecross for pointing out what the message means.
Our Lady is appearing in Medjugorje. People who follow her messages become holy, happy people. The fruits of Medjugorje are profound.
I obviously haven't been putting enough effort into it because I am not holy or happy. I've just been waiting for an easy fix.
The prayer did save me and see me through a prolonged period of mental illness. I'm just pissed off right now because what I thought was going to be the best Christmas in history will instead be just another Christmas. Ungrateful turd, aren't I.

[bluecross]

Know that whatever condition or state we find ourselves in, God loves us. It’s not a secret.

Christmas reminds us of this truth. That’s why we celebrate.

For God gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. (John 3 : 16)

Advent: a time of preparation, and a time for making the ‘easy fix’ to mend our ways and reconcile with God and each other. There are great graces given through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is the gift mentioned in the message – “God is giving himself to you that we may love him above everything” – his great gift of mercy.

[thebpman]

I think I'm over my little hissy fit. Thanks BC.
I'm just going look at things a bit differently. I don’t even know what I'm expecting to happen.

[johntt]

I have great sympathy with 'bpman' here! I think many who have believed in Medjugorje have become a little frustrated by the time scale of everything! But if we feel we are being tested, think about those who followed Garabandal from the beginning in the 1960s! The predicted Warning was even then described as 'soon'. I remember telling my boss at work (who was an atheist) that I would become a bit worried if the secrets of Medjugorje had not started to unfurl by the year 2000!

But 'bpman' has recognised his and my error when he says "I've just been waiting for an easy fix" Yes, we are an ungrateful lot but the important thing is to persevere. God's timing is very different to our own but we know it is perfect so we just need to stay patient and faithful.

[Merlorrich]

I was wondering too when the 100 years might be up. I had thought 2017 would be the year because of the centenary since the apparitions.

I think we should probably be a little cautious about wishing things to happen soon, because any chastisement such as the three days of darkness doesn't sound great for those who haven't converted. I thank God for His mercy and patience. I hope and pray that ALL mankind will convert.

[thebpman]

BC I've always believed the visionaries when they said Our Lady never brings darkness, only light. So I've been a bit confused about some of the secrets being chastisements. The three days of darkness has some very convincing visionaries supporting it ( along with a lot that aren't so convincing )
I can't see how God can separate us into sheep and goats unless it is a world wide individual revalation on how we stand with God.
Anyway, I'm not thinking about it anymore. It'll happen when it happens. I won't get excited by reading between lines in Our Lady's messages. She'll say plain as day that it's time for the secrets.
When the man who was said to be going to be healed of blindness on the day of the Garabandal sign died, it seemed like a blow for it's followers. But Our Lady said he would see it when it happened and now his blindness is definitely healed, so I don't see his death as proof of the apparitions being false.

[Prodigals]

When the man who was said to be going to be healed of blindness on the day of the Garabandal sign died, it seemed like a blow for it's followers.

Why do you doubt that it won't happen? Many people have the nearsighted belief that it had to happen while he was still among us. Conchita wrote to him saying "you shall see on the very day of the Miracle". Why can't that still happen?

[bluecross]

I don’t pay much attention to claims of ‘secrets’. As I said earlier, God’s unconditional love is no secret. Anyone who knows and can accept this truth shouldn’t have to concern themselves with “secrets”.

I won't get excited by reading between lines in Our Lady's messages. She'll say plain as day that it's time for the secrets.

Only the visionaries speak to the people about “secrets”. So it’s no surprise that some people try to read between the lines of Our Lady’s messages for references to the “secrets”. Our Lady has never mentioned the word “secrets” in any of her messages to the world given through the seer Marija.

[thebpman]

Prodigals, yes, that was what I was trying to say.

[maryannlucy]

bpman, I am one who does not think that Our Lady of Medjugorje is simply talking about Advent in her recent messages. This is a very huge plan of hers that has spanned several decades and spread throughout the entire world. Her messages are simple and profound. She stated from the beginning that "I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God." That is what we are to keep striving for through how we interact with others, our prayers, and penances. She told us to not tire of praying because 'the fruits are seen and heard of afar.' I think Our Lady knows that we are tired and that is why in many messages she keeps asking us for prayers. Here is a link to a website with the latest messages https://www.medjugorje.ws/en/messages/ Her words: "encourage you not to give up from what is good (Nov.25), "This, little children, is a time of grace, a time and a call to conversion for you and the future generations." (Oct. 25), "I am calling you to be courageous and to not grow weary, because even the smallest good—the smallest sign of love—conquers evil which is all the more visible (Oct.2)." I would cite more examples but I have to get my son from school. Keep up the good fight.

[ActionReq]

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Just a bible quote.
Probably.

[bluecross]

mayannlucy wrote:

I am one who does not think that Our Lady of Medjugorje is simply talking about Advent in her recent messages.

I didn’t say she was. I commented on her opening sentence: “This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving” and said it was a reference to Advent.

I think it was Fr Jozo who, very early on, identified certain themes in Our Lady’s messages. They became known as the “five stones” and recognised as a call to Prayer, Fasting, the Eucharist, Reading the Bible and Confession.

Many of Our Lady’s messages are also themed around the great feasts and seasons of the Church, Advent, and Christmas, in particular, when she usually appears to Marija with the Infant Jesus.

Most of her Advent messages are usually a call to prepare for the coming of the Infant Jesus with prayer and confession – and she generally refers to this period as “a time of grace”. She seldom uses this expression for other months, but for November. She did so in her most recent message.

Check back through the messages given to Marija during the November months using the link given by maryannlucy. https://www.medjugorje.ws/en/messages/

In these instances we can understand that the “time of grace” is a reference to Advent.

Advent is consistent theme in the November messages going back to the 90’s.

[bluecross]

Many of Our Lady’s messages are also themed around the great feasts and seasons of the Church, Advent, and Christmas, in particular, when she usually appears to Marija with the Infant Jesus.

Here’s an instance of Our Lady referring to the season of Lent as a “time of grace”.

January 25, 2008 "Dear children! With the time of Lent, you are approaching a time of grace. Your heart is like ploughed soil, and it is ready to receive the fruit which will grow into what is good.”

Our Lady walks with the Church.

[bluecross]

Fr Slavko spoke about Advent being a “time of grace” in one of his commentaries on on the messages...

I greet you all, dear readers, and I hope that we all celebrated a joyful Christmas. I also hope that, as Mary invited us in last month's message, we all had prepared ourselves well for Jesus' coming with prayer, fasts and small offerings. It was her wish that Advent become a time of grace for us, and that we always be ready to do good. This was the condition for being able to feel Jesus' birth in our hearts. (December 29, 1996)

He also referred to Lent as a “time of grace”

Every one of us has certainly already thought about what we will do in this respect during this time of Lent, this time of grace. This is a time of grace because during this time we want to be especially close to the suffering Jesus. (February 27, 1998)

Fr Slavko also explained the “time of grace” phrase in other commentaries:

If we do what Mary tells us, then this time will truly become a time of grace. We may not forget that for God the time of grace is always possible because He is always merciful. So it depends upon us and our actions every day to what degree this time becomes a time of grace. Faith, our own believing and then become active, is also a very important message and grace. It means to give one's own heart to the Lord, to entrust oneself to Him and, like a child, to permit oneself to be led by Him. February 27, 1996

From God's point of view, all times are a time of grace for us. God is always ready to give us His graces; but when it comes to us, one can say that the time of grace begins whenever we make our decisions to pray, to fast, to confess, to go to Holy Mass, and to offer up small sacrifices. For God it will never be too late, whereas for us it may become a bit late because the harder our hearts become, the more difficult it becomes to receive graces. November 27, 1996

As I see it, our time on earth is a “time of grace”, if we understand or recognise it, or choose it to be that way.

And sure, Our Lady’s visitation to Medjugorje is a “time of grace”, a unique grace it the way it has continued over so many years and has been shared by so many througout the world. All grace is a gift from God.

[bluecross]

More from Fr Slavko on “time of grace”…

To carry fears or worries concerning the future within us is not called for. The future is not in our hands and we ought to place it into our Father's loving hands, our Father who cares for us all. The only thing we have is the present day and every new day that we have been given is the time of grace. This is the new time. Of course, there are individuals and also groups who expect more interesting answers to this question about the future and here possibly speak about potential catastrophes, cataclysms or apocalyptic times or about Jesus' Second Coming. None of this comes out of our messages! (Fr Slavko, December 26, 1995)

Every one of us has certainly already thought about what we will do in this respect during this time of Lent, this time of grace. This is a time of grace because during this time we want to be especially close to the suffering Jesus. (February 27, 1998)

“Little children, this is a time of grace”… This she has already said in many other messages, and "a time of grace" means for us, here in Medjugorje, and for all our pilgrims, the day that Mary's apparitions began, on June 25, 1981 -- and so, 16 years and 11 months ago. Many people have had the experience, and they have received the grace to pray, the grace to believe, the grace to reconcile with one another, the grace to love one another, the grace to do good, and among so many other graces, especially the grace of going to the Sacrament of Confession, which was inspired by their wish for inner cleansing. The "time of grace", a renewed world, began especially with Jesus' Coming some 2,000 years ago. Yet we may also call these times in which we live "the end times" -- but ONLY "the end times" in the sense that God has done everything that He had planned to do to save us, and to heal us. With the Coming of Jesus, this plan of God has been accomplished. It is our assignment that we, in these times of grace, also become a part of His plan. God is gracious for all time, He always loves, and He is not more merciful today than He was, for instance, before the beginning of the apparitions. It is ONLY the people who have perhaps become a little more responsive, a little more merciful, a little more willing, and therein a little more open to His graces than we were before June 25, 1981. (May 28, 1998)

THIS IS A TIME OF GRACE... Mary has given us this expression several times over these years, but we must really remain very conscious that this expression may not be turned so that people may come to think that any time has more or fewer graces than any other time. God is the fulfillment of goodness, of love, of mercy and of all graces, and with all our prayers and fasts we are still unable to make God be more grace-giving. If our God can be more complete today than He was yesterday or tomorrow more complete than today, then He is not the God in whom we believe. So, from the very beginning when God gave us time, it is really all been a time of grace. Here it only concerns us. It is WE who can experience these times differently, for instance, when we think of Christmas or Easter or different Feasts, then we all know that many people have a much easier time to come to Holy Mass, to Confession and to prayer, and then again forget for a while. But it is all a time of grace. All those who know of and follow the phenomenon Medjugorje know that from the very first day until today, every day can be understood as a time of grace. How much joy have people had since they found out that Mary is really appearing here? How much peace and how many renewed decisions to pray and to fast have been made since Mary began appearing here? How many decisions have people made to love one another and to reconcile especially at Confession and with one another since Mary began appearing here? All this is a time of grace. And if we may really speak quite radically, one can also say that we ought not pray, "Lord, have mercy on us!", but rather "Lord, give us the grace that we may accept what You are constantly offering to us!" Just as it says in the prayer that Mary dictated to Jelena, "Give me the grace that I may become merciful to You", we should really become more conscious of the fact that we should also be merciful toward God and to also pray for this. October 28, 1999