The call to go back to God’s Commandments
As a true Mother, Our Lady at Medjugorje never tires from calling us to go back to God. Her maternal mission always asks of her to remind us to do whatever he tells you (John 2:5).
In these brief reflections which the Holy Spirit is giving me today I want to discover with you the beauty and profundity of the message she gave to Marija Pavlovic –Lunetti, given on the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Friday 25 March 2022:
“Dear children! I am listening to your cry and prayers for peace. For years, satan has been fighting for war. That is why God sent me among you to guide you on the way of holiness, because mankind is at a crossroad. I am calling you to return to God and to God’s Commandments that it may be good for you on earth, and that you may come out of this crisis into which you have entered because you are not listening to God Who loves you and desires to save you and lead you to a new life. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
This message is all the more actual. We all know of the great tribulation the world has entered in due to the war in Ukraine. Pope Francis did not mince his words in utterly denouncing this cruel war when, after the Angelus of Sunday 27 March 2022, he said:
More than a month has gone by since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, of the beginning of this cruel and senseless war, that, like every war, represents a defeat for everyone, for everyone of us. We need to reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die.
War does not devastate the present only, but the future of a society as well. I read that from the beginning of the aggression in Ukraine, one of every two children has been displaced from their country. This means destroying the future, causing dramatic trauma in the smallest and most innocent among us. This is the bestiality of war – a barbarous and sacrilegious act!
War should not be something that is inevitable. We should not accustom ourselves to war. Instead, we need to convert today’s anger into a commitment for tomorrow, because if, after what is happening, we remain like we were before, we will all be guilty in some way. Before the danger of self-destruction, may humanity understand that the moment has come to abolish war, to erase it from human history before it erases human history.
I beg every political leader to reflect on this, to dedicate themselves to this! And, looking on battered Ukraine to understand how each day of war worsens the situation for everyone. Therefore, I renew my appeal: Enough. Stop it. Silence the weapons. Move seriously toward peace. Let us continue to pray untiringly to the Queen of Peace, to whom we consecrated humanity, in particular Russia and Ukraine, with such a huge and intense participation for which I thank all of you. Let us pray together. Hail Mary….
It is really amazing that Pope Francis closed his heartfelt appeal by praying to the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Peace.
In her message Mary mentions humanity’s return to God’s Commandments. She qualifies God’s Commandments as sure a way to exit this disastrous crisis we, as humanity, are sinking in. We need to obey the Commandments in order to meet Christ personally. In his catechesis of Wednesday 18 August 2021, Pope Francis said: So what do we do with the Commandments? We must observe them, but as an aid to the encounter with Jesus Christ. The heart of the Commandments is that singular and exclusive meeting with Jesus to which Mary, at Medjugorje, always refers to. In fact, she tells us: Do whatever he tells you (John 2:5).
Let us heed to God’s living Word, Christ, the Prince of Peace, in order that we may have peace and have it in abundance!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
