A Priest's Experience: Medjugorje, Mary, and Catholic Faith

The Presence of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje

• 💡 Father Jacques Niizi feels the Virgin Mary's presence in Medjugorje, primarily through her daily messages of love and peace.
• 💬 He notes the Virgin Mary's consistent message of "My beloved children," which deeply touches him and emphasizes her motherly love and desire to save humanity.
• 📌 The messages from Medjugorje are compared to those from Kibeho, Rwanda, both warning about the need for conversion and change to avoid catastrophe.

Essential Catholic Practices

• 🙏 The Rosary is highlighted as a powerful tool for meditation, helping to summarize and understand the entire life of Jesus through Mary.
• 💧 Confession is presented as crucial for healing the soul, likened to showering or seeking medical help for the body, and is described as a free source of peace and love.
• 🍞 The Eucharist is seen as a profound act of God's genius, transforming bread into Jesus's body, providing spiritual power, peace, and the promise of eternal life.

Understanding God and Vocation

• 🧠 Father Niizi explains that God the Father is best understood through Jesus, who revealed God's image and taught the "Our Father" prayer, emphasizing one universal Father.
• 🎯 Finding one's vocation can happen through a direct call from God or through the guidance of the Church, priests, religious people, and parents, requiring an open heart.

Suffering and the Way of the Cross

• 🚶‍♂️ The Stations of the Cross are particularly meaningful to Father Niizi, helping him understand suffering and the absence of God he felt during humanitarian disasters in Rwanda.
• 📖 A book titled "The Absence of God" helped him realize that the problem is not God, but human hearts and their actions, such as greed and envy.
• ✅ He sees Jesus in all those who suffer due to injustice and war, and the Way of the Cross helps him connect with and live life well.

The Role of the Virgin Mary in Faith

• 🌟 Medjugorje is described as a privileged place where the Virgin Mary chose to appear, allowing visitors to experience her messages live.
• 💡 For Protestants questioning the Virgin Mary's role, Father Niizi argues that God Himself chose Mary as an instrument to come to humanity, suggesting we should follow the path God chose.