Spiritual retreat for priests began in Medjugorje. This spiritual retreat is taking place for the 27^th time, and this year the theme is “Mary has chosen the good part…” (Lk 10, 42).

The lecturer at this spiritual retreat is Br. Ante Vučković, who, along with the concelebration of 170 priests, also celebrated the Holy Mass on the first day of the spiritual retreat, which will last until Friday.

In his homily, looking back at the evangelical fragment from Matthew’s Gospel in which Jesus commands to cross over to the other side, he said that it is suitable for the first day of this spiritual retreat, he said that they should come out of isolation and create community, so that we show deep trust in His word, to learn to serve others…

Br. Ante Vučković said about the command to “cross to the other side” that it should be understood as a command to move from a sinful life to a free life, and that Medjugorje is a privileged place where a large part of people much more easily listen to God’s command to cross over to the other side.

“We are called to cross over. How do we plan it? With what forces? In which way? It is inevitable that we will all cross over at some point. In which way? We can always ask: what are things like in my life? Have I isolated myself from others or have I learned to create fellowship from closeness with Him? Am I still a stranger in relation to Him, not understanding either His words or His gestures… as if it were someone far away who speaks an unknown language, or have I opened within myself the possibility of trusting His word, even if I did not understand it at first? When I look at my whole life, have I learned to serve others?”, these are the questions that Br. Ante Vučković asked in his homily, and he called them big questions and said that they need to be answered and that there should be time for them.

“Medjugorje is a very specific place that allows us, both as a community and as individuals, to have time for big questions and that when we leave it, we cross the river with the awareness that we have found the answers to how we can cross the river with His power”, Br. Ante Vučković concluded.

In addition to participating in the evening prayer program and lectures, the participants of this spiritual retreat will pray the Rosary on Apparition Hill, the Way of the Cross on Cross Mountain, and they will participate in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and on the last day they will also visit the grave of Br. Slavko Barbarić, who founded this spiritual retreat.

About 196 priests from 36 countries are participating in the spiritual renewal: Italy, Romania, Brazil, Albania, Austria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, the USA, Malawi, England, India, Ireland, Spain, Colombia, Hungary, Guatemala, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova, Israel, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Belgium, Korea, Argentina, Uruguay and France.