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MEDJUGORJE'S CONVERSION STORIES
CONVERSION STORY #7
Sweet Fruit of Medjugorje
"He Was Lost and Has Been Found"
by Rev. James A. Wiley
How does one put into words the immeasurable love, mercy, orgiveness of our Heavenly Father toward His prodigal children? We can never probe the depths in this life. My purpose in writing this article is to show how His love, mercy, and forgiveness led me back to the Church and to the priesthood.
In June of 1974, I turned my back on God, the Church, and the priesthood. The decision to walk away from everything I had once valued did not come overnight. It was several years in the making, and I vowed never to return to the Church or the priesthood.
The seventeen years that followed my departure from active ministry were difficult and trying for me. But once I made up my mind, there was no turning back. A priest friend of mine once asked if I ever thought of returning. While I appreciated his concern for me, I told him it was impossible because I had stopped believing. Was God real? Was He a force in the universe? Was He a personal God? . I wasn't sure any more. Spiritually I had hit bottom. I guess there was nowhere to go but up.
In August of 1988, a friend of mine had just returned from Medjugorje. He told me about six children who said they had seen the Blessed Virgin. She had special messages for the children and the world. In a nice way I told him I didn't believe in apparitions or miracles. We left it at that.
Several weeks later, I was watching a program called "Pittsburgh Today." The afternoon segment was devoted to the strange happenings in a little village in Yugoslavia called Medjugorje. Four individuals were going to share their experiences regarding the apparitions. One man was a journalist from KDKA T.V. in Pittsburgh, PA. There were two attorneys, husband and wife, from Pittsburgh, and a woman who claimed she had been cured of multiple sclerosis through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje. For some unknown reason, I decided to tape the show for later viewing. That evening I played the tape, not once, not twice, but three times. I just couldn't get enough. I wanted to know more, and I wrote to the station asking for more information.
Slowly but surely my life began to change. Up to this point, any theology I professed was almost totally opposed to the teaching of the church. At one point, I had denied the whole sacramental system, especially the Church's teaching on the Eucharist. What happened next was difficult to explain because it didn't happen in any sequence. I suddenly realized I believed again. There were no more doubts, no more questioning. I believed. Thank God, I believed.
I hadn't been to Confession for 18 years and I felt the need to tell it all to a priest. I sought out a Franciscan at Our Lady of the Point Church in Pittsburgh. When I walked out of the church, I was spiritually clean for the first time in many years.
The thought of returning to active ministry and priesthood had not entered my mind. I was happy and content with my new found faith - what more could I ask for? And then it happened. It was Saturday morning, September 24, 1988, the former feast of Our Lady of Ransom. I woke up about 5:30 AM. The first thing that came into my mind was that I should return to the priesthood. I had to be dreaming, but the thought would not go away. The thought of returning to priesthood haunted me the entire week-end.
I sought out my pastor and told him what was happening with me. He listened and then told me he would make some inquiries for me. Presuming this whole incident would all be forgotten in a few days, I told him to take his time. My job as a counselor at a mental health center was satisfying and I wanted to keep it that way. We are talking about a major job change, and I wasn't sure if I could handle that. I was anxious, to say the least.
The pastor told me it was possible to return to active ministry, but I would have to update my theology, Sacred Scripture, and Canon Law. Once this was satisfied, my case would be reviewed, and a decision would be made. So I quit my job, took up residence at a parish in Erie, and updated for the next 11 months.
One day I received a call from the bishop. He had good news. Rome had responded in my favor, and I had been returned to active ministry and priesthood. I was so overjoyed, I thought I would cry. It was like receiving the news of my ordination, April 25, 1958. I should add here that once a priest, always a priest. I never lost my priesthood, just the license to practice, so to speak.
In June of 1993, I made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje to give thanks to God and Our Lady for the many blessings and graces I've received. The high point of the trip was the climb up Cross Mountain, where I got on my knees to give thanks.
Concelebrating Mass each day in St. James Church was an experience I shall always remember. What happiness - what tears of joy!
November 6, 2003, will mark 13 years of active ministry. They've been among the happiest years of my life. My priorities have changed. God is now first in my life. I have a deeper appreciation of the Church and the priesthood. I attribute my return first to God, second, to Our Lady, and third, to the prayers of my mother, who prayed for seventeen years. I asked her if she ever thought I would return to the priesthood. She said she didn't know if it were possible- She just prayed. She lived to help me celebrate my "second first Mass." She died in 1995.
The parable of the Prodigal Son is my favorite, for obvious reasons. The father said to the elder son, "Now we must celebrate and rejoice because your brother was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found." Amen.
"By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. So by their fruits you will know them." (Mt 7:16-18,20)
CONVERSION STORY #8
First, I would like to tell you how much Gene & I enjoy this prayer group. This was the first grace that we received on returning from Medjugorje this year on May 3rd. Our friends, Ellen and Steve, who are in this prayer group came by for some religious articles that we had brought from Medjugorje for them and it happened through her as Blessed Mother had already planted this in my mind.
In 1999, we first heard of Medjugorje as to be aware of what we were hearing. Gene & I were discussing what to do for our 50th anniversary in 2000 on this Sunday and before mass we were in the vestibule looking at the new St. Elizabeth Ann Seton statue, when the man, whom we didn't know at the time came up and put a note in Gene's hand. It said to write to Wayne Weible for his newspaper on the Miracle of Medjugorje. (By the way, this man works constantly for our lady to make known Medjugorje and he's
never been there). We did that. Gene started reading the paper one day and I would guess that he had only read it for 20 minutes then he looked up and said to me,"We need to go here". ( He always said he would not go to Europe). I was dusting. I sortof glanced and said "yeh, right", then I looked and he looked very serious. I said,"Are you serious?" As soon as
I saw his expression again, I knew that something wonderful was happening to him right then.
I am a convert. However, I am the one who prayed the rosary every day for years and years. I loved Blessed Mother from the very beginning of my conversion and she had a very special place in my heart and life.
However, she is much stronger in my life today after going to Medjugorje. We went there for Holy Week in April of 2000. We saw the spinning sun the first time and Gene's rosary turned gold, but those were only signs. At the end of every day, we would say that if nothing else happened, we would be forever thankful for the wonderful blessings of that day, then the next day would be so full of wonderment and graces. We were completely in awe.We were with a Mary Sue and Larry Eck from Medjugorje
Magazine on a Married Couples Retreat Pilgrimmage and it couldn't have been more perfect for our 50th anniversary.
Our group got the special marriage blessing from Fr. Jozo holding the crucifix. This was very moving.
Since the first trip, our two kids have come back to the church and are very close to Our Lady. Our daughter went to Medjugorje and was there during 9-11. She has fibromyalgia, but her faith is making it much easier to deal with. Our son has had much pain in his personal life and his newly renewed faith has done wonders in helping him through this He would love to go to Medjugorje, and when Blessed Mother decides, she will make
it possible.This is much too complicated to relate but our lives have been completely changed with this first trip to Medjugorje.
We took our 2nd trip to Medjugorje the last week of April of this yr. and came home May 3rd. after witnessing Marijana's apparition on the 2nd of May. We have that apparition on tape. We stayed at Marijana's and she gave us a talk and personal interview for our group and it was great. We saw another miracle of the sun after Marijana's apparition walking out of the area where the apparition was but it was different this time with the
rainbow starting at the top of the sun, but then we walked on (it was very crowded and Gene was ahead with a small suitcase with blessed articles) when I looked at the people standing on the short wall around the area and they all had yellow circles on their faces, then I looked at the sky and little suns were pulsating around the sky and shining on the faces of the people making them yellow. I yelled at Gene to look at the sky and when he turned around, he had the yellow on his face and top of
his head. There was a large crowd and they were very pushy trying to get out of the area. Ordinarily, I would have possibly been panicked but I knew Blessed Mother and Jesus was with us. We didn't make it up Cross Mt. in 2000, so Gene decided that, no matter what, he was going up Cross Mt.
It was very warm that day. Gene had just had carotid surgery in Feb., so I was a little skeptical, but I knew that if he wanted to go that Blessed Mother would help him. We told the group to go on that we would just take our time and go up. We had a little angel in the group, Cynthia, from Pa. who insisted she stay with us and show us the way as she had been up many times before. She did. About the 3rd or 4th station, I looked at Gene and I wasn't sure he could make it, but I ask him and he
said he was going to the top. I started praying for help and Cynthia was giving us pep talks and we would rest at each station and in-between. As we neared the top, it seemed to get easier and when we got to the top, we had this very refreshing breeze and recuperation of body and spirit that is indescribable. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs. to go up and about half that time to come down. We had a couple of angels helping us down, mostly just watching to see if we were o.k. We got cheered by the group when we got to the top and again when we got back to Marijana's in time for dinner. The amazing thing is that we weren't tired when we got back as we thought and we weren't even sore the next morning. Amazing graces from Blessed Mother and Jesus. Gene was determined to get to the top of
Cross Mt. to let Blessed Mother know that she led him to her Son and he wanted to prove it to her. We attended the Christ the King conference in Colo. Spgs., Colo. for our anniversary this year on Aug. lst. and this was very interesting and rewarding, also. My birthday is the day after Blessed Mother's, so we
celebrated all the wonderful graces and blessings together.
Thanks be to God.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I have had to leave a lot out. I can't even begin to tell you all the changes and blessings and peace that has come into our lives. We are no exception as these graces and blessings happen to all who follow Blessed Mother's wishes for them to go to Medjugorje. We still have crosses to bear, but with the help of Our Lady, Our Lord and all the angels and saints in heaven, they have become much lighter and we have more grace of acceptance than we did. God Bless All of You. Juanita & Gene
NOTE:
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