"Dear children! The Most High in His goodness gave me to you to lead you on the way of peace. Many have responded and are praying, but there are many creatures who do not have peace and have not come to know the God of love. Therefore, little children, pray and love, create prayer groups to encourage each other to the good. I am with you and am praying for your conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call." (With Ecclesiastical approval)

Dear children! The Most High in His goodness gave me to you to lead you on the way of peace.

The Evangelist John proclaims the coming of Jesus in these words: 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

This verse is so well known that it feels deeply familiar to us. However, I would like to draw new attention to the first part of the passage—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” In particular, I wish to focus on the expression “He gave His only Son.”

The verse could have said, “He sent His only Son,” yet it deliberately uses the expression “He gave His only Son.” Why is that? There is a profound difference in meaning between sending and giving.

When God sends His only Son, it implies that the Son is dispatched as His representative into the world, to fulfill the mission entrusted to Him and then return to the Father. In other words, His ownership or belonging still remains with God.

However, when God gives His only Son, it means that He did not merely send Him as a messenger, but completely entrusted Him to us—the One who was entirely given to humanity for our salvation.

Thus, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, is the One whom God has completely given to us in love. Although Jesus, through His Resurrection and Ascension, is seated at the right hand of God the Father, He still remains on our side—Emmanuel, “God with us,” the Lord who abides with us forever.

Therefore, the following words of Saint Paul still live within us today, resounding with power and majesty:

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not with Him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm 8:28–39).

Just as God, out of His great love for the world, gave His only Son, so too, in His infinite goodness, the Most High has given us the Blessed Virgin Mary—to lead us, through her, on the path of peace.

The Blessed Mother is the prophet of God sent for our conversion, yet at the same time, she is the most precious gift given to us—the Queen of Peace and our Mother. She was wholly given to us by God to lead us to Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.

Our Lady of Medjugorje is not merely a messenger who conveys the words of God. She is a loving Mother who truly loves each one of us, who is always with us, sharing in our joys and sorrows, hopes and sufferings. And with all her strength, she strives to lead us to Jesus and to Heaven.

If such a Mother, together with the Lord Jesus, is on our side and remains with us, then what indeed do we have to fear?

Many have responded and are praying, but there are many creatures who do not have peace and have not come to know the God of love. 

To lead us on the path of peace, the Most High God has given us the Blessed Mother. For the past forty-four years and four months, she has unceasingly spoken to us, saying: “Pray with the heart until prayer becomes your life.”

Our Lady continually invites us to the way of prayer because she knows better than anyone that only through prayer can we discover the true path of peace. Many who have responded to her call have experienced peace within their lives of prayer and have come to a deeper awareness of God’s love.

Yet sadly, there are still many who do not respond to her countless calls and invitations—to the way of prayer, the way of peace. And so, with a sorrowful mother’s heart, Our Lady says to us:

Therefore, little children, pray and love, create prayer groups to encourage each other to the good. 

Our Lady desires that those of us who have already responded to her call create prayer groups, praying together, loving one another, and encouraging each other to walk toward goodness. In her words, “Create prayer groups,” lies an invitation to pray not alone, but together, and to pray regularly and perseveringly.

Whether it be spouses, families, or fellow believers—whenever two or more gather daily, weekly, or monthly to pray the Rosary together, to read and meditate on the scriptures and Our Lady’s messages, and to put those words into practice in daily life—such prayer gains a power far greater than when one prays alone.

Just as the Korean proverb says, “Even a sheet of paper is lighter when lifted by two,” so too, prayer shared with others becomes easier, more steadfast, and more enduring. Our Lady desires that our families, our Church, and indeed the whole world, become one great community of prayer. And she herself is showing us that model even now, through the living example of Medjugorje.

I am with you and am praying for your conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Our Lady is always with us. Thus, whether we pray alone or gather in community, she is there among us, praying with us and for us.

In this way, the “School of Prayer” with Our Lady is open every day. In that school, she is our teacher, guiding us to pray with the heart. Each day, we attend her lessons in prayer, learning how to draw closer to God through the practice of heartfelt prayer. 

Through this daily prayer with Our Lady, the greatest miracle that takes place within us is conversion. Conversion means recognizing our sins, discovering the immensity of God’s mercy, and allowing our lives to be completely transformed according to His will—becoming new beings who belong entirely to God. And this conversion is possible only through prayer.

Of course, there are times when special conversions occur through extraordinary graces from God. Yet, in most cases, conversion does not happen without prayer. This is why Our Lady’s deepest desire for us is precisely conversion. In her message of February 25, 1996, she said: “Dear children! Today I call you to conversion. This is the most important message that I have given you here.”

Thus, Our Lady does not merely call us to conversion; she walks with us on that journey and prays for us as we strive to return to God. Just as someone gives a final push from below to help another climb over a high wall, so too, through her prayers, Our Lady strengthens and supports us so that we may achieve complete conversion.

The Most High God has given us the Blessed Mother to lead us on the path of peace. She is with us, interceding for our conversion—our Mother who is on our side and always by our side. With such a Mother accompanying us, what do we have to fear?

Let us, then, respond to her call with love and perseverance, so that we may live in peace and come to know ever more deeply the God of love.