"Dear children! Also today I call you: live your vocation in prayer. Now, as never before, Satan wants to suffocate man and his soul by his contagious wind of hatred and unrest. In many hearts there is no joy because there is no God or prayer. Hatred and war are growing from day to day. I am calling you, little children, begin anew, with enthusiasm, the walk of holiness and love; since I have come among you because of this. Together let us be love and forgiveness for all those who know and want to love only with a human love and not with that immeasurable love of God to which God calls you. Little children, may hope in a better tomorrow always be in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Dear children! Also today I call you: live your vocation in prayer.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux entered the cloistered Carmelite convent at a young age and lived there for nine years before passing away at the age of 24. St. Thérèse had a desire to live the life of a missionary, spreading the Gospel directly to those who did not know Jesus. However, due to her life in a cloistered convent, she was unable to fulfill that dream in a direct manner. Instead, she became the patroness of missionaries in another way. She supported missionaries spiritually by praying and sacrificing for them so that they could carry out their mission well. She did all of this with love. St. Thérèse deeply realized that her vocation was love, and she sought to do everything with love. By offering all her prayers and sacrifices with love, she spiritually supported the missionaries spreading Jesus' Gospel to all corners of the world.
Jesus said, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another” (Jn 15:16-17). According to these words, we are those chosen by Jesus to be His disciples, those who have received a vocation. Regardless of our status, position, or circumstances, we are called to bear fruit from the vocation Jesus has given us.
So, what is the vocation that Jesus has given us? Jesus explicitly stated, “This is my command: Love one another.” Our vocation is to love. First, we must love God, and through His love, love our neighbors. The common vocation of love given to all of us does not happen automatically. Love always requires humility and sacrifice, and thus, it must be done with deliberate effort. While our effort and will to love are important, what is even more essential is the strength and grace to love, which we receive from above. That grace is given when we pray.
In Luke 11:5-8, Jesus urges us to pray persistently, saying, “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Lk11:9-10). Since we are praying for the grace to live out the vocation of love that Jesus entrusted to us, He will never refuse our prayer. That is why Our Lady said, “Live your vocation in prayer.”
Now, as never before, Satan wants to suffocate man and his soul by his contagious wind of hatred and unrest.
In his first letter, the Apostle John says, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love” (1 Jn 4:7-8.). As Apostle John confessed, God is love, and the God of love desires that all humans love one another. However, Satan hates it when humans love. This is because when humans love as God loves, they are able to enjoy peace and live harmoniously with others. Satan, on the other hand, does not want our peace, happiness, or salvation. Instead, he is determined to drive us away from God and destroy all human relationships.
If hatred toward God and our neighbor arises within our hearts and we begin to feel restless, we must quickly recognize that Satan is trying to creep into our hearts and suffocate our souls. How does Satan sow seeds of hatred and unrest in our hearts? Through people who have completely surrendered themselves to Satan, through the crimes of hatred they commit, and through social unrest. He also spreads these seeds to many others indirectly via mass media, particularly through television screens.
In this month’s message, Our Lady says that this attack by Satan on humanity is unprecedented. This means that the spiritual battle is fierce, that Satan is making his last stand, and that the triumph of Our Lady's Immaculate Heart is not far off. Although Satan is relentlessly blowing his contagious winds of hatred and unrest, trying to suffocate humanity and our souls in an unprecedented way, if we live our vocation of love with God's strength through prayer, those winds can do us no harm.
In many hearts there is no joy because there is no God or prayer. Hatred and war are growing from day to day. I am calling you, little children, begin anew, with enthusiasm, the walk of holiness and love; since I have come among you because of this.
We live in an era of unprecedented comfort, with countless tools for entertainment and enjoyment. Yet, are we truly joyful and happy all the time? The pleasures brought by worldly things and circumstances are very fleeting. Even if we have many material possessions, they cannot bring lasting joy and happiness to our hearts. Enduring and unchanging joy comes only from spiritual matters. Only when we believe in and love God, living with Him in our lives and praying to maintain a relationship of love with Him, will our hearts be filled with the joy that He gives. This is a joy that no one and nothing in the world can provide.
Hearts that lack God and prayer are at risk of being easily invaded by Satan. Once Satan enters such hearts, he plants seeds of hatred, and those with hatred in their hearts unknowingly begin to wage war against their families, neighbors, coworkers, and many others. Satan also stirs up hatred and conflict between nations, promoting civil wars and international wars due to power struggles or exclusive, malicious religious beliefs.
What can stop the growing hatred and wars? More power, armies, and weapons? No. Our Lady teaches us that only by walking the path of holiness and love can we stop the hatred and wars spreading across the world like a plague. If we wish for God, not Satan, for love, not hatred, for peace, not war, to reign over us and the world, we must live holy lives and lead lives of love.
The change in humanity and the world must begin with ourselves. Before expecting others to become holy or to love, we must first strive to become holy and to love. Our Lady has been appearing in Medjugorje for 33 years and 7 months, continually visiting humanity to teach each one of us this lesson.
Together let us be love and forgiveness for all those who know and want to love only with a human love and not with that immeasurable love of God to which God calls you. Little children, may hope in a better tomorrow always be in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.
The difference between God’s love for humanity and human love is surprisingly simple. God’s love for humanity is unconditional and given without reservation, while human love often comes with conditions and expectations of something in return. In God’s love, the focus is on the recipient of the love, whereas in human love, the focus is often on the giver.
As children of God, we are recipients of His love, and we must follow the example of love that He has shown us. God Himself, in the form of Jesus, gave us this concrete example through the sacrifice of the Cross. Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) To save humanity from sin and death, Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice on the Cross. Moreover, He prayed to God the Father for forgiveness for those who inflicted violence on Him and crucified Him, saying, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34).
As we remember the example of unconditional, forgiving love shown by Jesus, let us reflect on Our Lady's words: “Let us, together, be love and forgiveness for all those who know only human love and wish to love in that way, rather than through the immeasurable love with which God is calling you.”
