The Message of April 25, 2024:

 “Dear children! I am with you to tell you that I love you and to encourage you to pray, because Satan is strong and every day his power is greater through those who have chosen death and hatred. You, my children, be a prayer and my outstretched hands of love for all those who are in darkness and who seek the light of our God. Thank you for having responded to my call.“

“I am with you to tell you..,” Consciously or subconsciously, we ask ourselves the questions: “Why did the Virgin Mary come to us? Why does she continue to appear for so long and what does she want to achieve with this?

In her messages, she reveals to us the reasons why she is with us. We will list a few of them:

– she wants to tell us that God exists (the first days of apparitions)

– she wants to help us to find true peace,

– she wants to teach us how to pray, and love…

In this message she gives us one more explanation: “I am with you to tell you...” So, the Virgin Mary wants to tell us something. What she wants to tell us must surely be important.  Let’s listen to our Mother: “I am with you to tell you that I love you and to encourage you to pray”. Why does the Virgin Mary want to tell us this? Is it not because we often forget it or are not even aware of it?

“That I love you,” the Virgin Mary first tells us that she loves us. Maybe we will say that it is nothing special, because we are used to these words, as well as the address: “Dear children!” The problem is that we have gotten used to it, and those words don’t touch us anymore; we don’t experience them. Therefore, this message wants to wake us up to accept an incredible truth. Our Lady loves us! The Virgin Mary loves you! The Virgin Mary loves me! Is it even possible to get used to it?! It’s absolutely incredible!

Why does the Virgin Mary love me? Because I deserved it? Because I’m important in this universe? No. It’s not about us; it’s about the Virgin Mary. Her love is miraculous. Her love is so great that she loves us despite our weaknesses and sins. Her love tells us that she cares about us, that we are important, that she is our Mother, and we are her children. A mother’s love is so great that she suffers and cries when we go in the wrong direction. She loves us because she wants us to be well and she wants to help us. When we believe and have an open heart, these words (“I love you”)  she heals the wounded heart in us, brings us peace, joy and security, because we know that the Mother is with me, who cares for me, loves! And one more thing: these words awaken in us the need to respond to this love.

The second thing Our Lady wants is to encourage us to pray. Many believers have the question: “Why does the Virgin Mary most often invite us to prayer?” We know that not everything is about prayer! It is true that not everything is about prayer, but the Virgin Mary invites us to pray because we forget it. It may sound a little strange, but with these persistent invitations to prayer she does not want to say anything other than that to live completely and fully. Not unilaterally, but as a whole. Not on one leg, but on two.

“Pray and work,” is the rule of St. Benedict, this is what makes a full life. Pray, but also work. Work, but also pray. One and the other. We live a fulfilling life when we take care not only of the body, but also of the soul. A full life is when we feed the body and the soul, when we clean the body (washing, showering) but also the soul.

Food for the soul is mainly the Eucharist and the word of God. The cleansing of the soul takes place during holy confession. Such frequent invitations of Mary to pray are a sign that we do not pray, which means that we do not live fully, but one-sidedly, that we stand on one foot (concern only about material things). So who is one-sided? Believers who go to church, pray, and work? Or those who do not go to church, who do not pray, but only work, and think only about material gain?

The second reason why the Virgin Mary invites us to pray is Satan. She is not saying to fear Satan. There is no need to fear because God is stronger.

The Virgin Mary clearly tells us that Satan exists, and we should not underestimate him. God’s word teaches us that Satan is the enemy of man and the father of lies. What is the trap that many fall into? In that Satan never presents himself as an enemy of man, but as a friend, not as the father of lies but of truth, not as darkness but as light (Lucifer=the one who brings light). He tells Adam and Eve that they will become gods, that it is not a sin if they transgress God’s commandment. He wants to help Jesus in the desert and give him bread. Since Satan is the enemy and the father of lies, he lures many to “thin ice.” It does not mean that Satan is at work immediately if negative thoughts about someone or emotions such as anger, envy, or hatred appear in us. But we have to pay attention when something like this shows up, because Satan wants to use these emotions and use us for his purposes. We know that a spark will cause a fire, a negative thought or feeling leads to an argument, not talking, not forgiving, and this is exactly what Satan wants. That is why the Virgin Mary invites us to pray, because when we pray, we turn and return to God, we seek his help and protection. When we ask the Lord to strengthen our faith and for our love to grow within us, then our insides are strengthened and we are ready to resist evil.

We cannot avoid temptations. God’s word teaches us that there were temptations right from the beginning when man was created (Adam and Eve). And Satan also tempted Jesus, but Adam and Eve failed the test and Jesus won. Why did he win? Because he prayed and fasted.

“You, my children, be a prayer and my outstretched hands of love for all those who are in darkness and seek the light of our God.” Whose voice and hands do we want to be? We cannot be neutral. We are always someone’s co-workers. If we are Satan, then through us, he will strengthen his influence and evil will spread. For example, when we speak negatively about others (gossip and slander), who are we serving? When we hate people and do not forgive, whose instruments are we? Mary’s desire is that we be her outstretched hands of love to people who are in darkness. We will be able to do that when we remember that he loves us. It is wisdom when we understand: Our Lady loves me. Me – so weak and sinful person. This means that I am important and that the Virgin Mary is counting on me. How can I not respond to such love? Perhaps I can waste the opportunity that is offered to me? From Mary’s invitation, we can sense that with her hands, she wants to bring peace and love to people who are in darkness, in sin, far from God and God’s love, in conflicts and wars, unforgiven, depressed… And she cannot do it alone, but only through me and you. It is not easy for us who live in today’s society to understand or live Mary’s invitation to help her and people, because we, Christians, are also children of these times, and that means that we are also influenced by society (media, school, …). Isn’t it a popular tendency today to live only for yourself? To make myself feel good, to feel good? Does the thought rule: Nobody is interested in me? Do I not care about others? With this invitation to be her outstretched hands of peace and love to people who are in darkness and sin, the Virgin Mary wants nothing more than what Jesus also wants: that we not only live for ourselves but also for others. And why does he want it? We can answer this question when we understand what true love is.

Marinko Šakota, OFM