Man’s state of mind partly depends on his words, says priest in Medjugorje

By Jakob Marschner in Bosnia-Hercegovina 

MEDJUGORJE – Reflecting on the Virgin Mary’s latest message Father Ljubo Kurtović, the assistant pastor of Medjugorje, profoundly elaborates on the Church’s theology on the power of man’s choice of words. The one who blesses will be blessed, the one who curses will see his curses returning to him, Father Ljubo reflects on the message in which the Virgin told the world that it works a lot and seeks God’s blessing too little. 

“The words we are pronouncing say much about ourselves. A word can wound and heal, it can kill and bring back to life. This is why it is important to overcome what is bad and evil within us with what is good, pure and blessed. Whatever is blessed brings blessing. Bless a thing and it will bless you! Curse it and it will curse you! Whatever you judge in your life will come back to you and hurt you. If you bless a situation, it has no more strength to hurt you and, even if for a time it causes you trouble, little by little this trouble will disappear, and the blessing coming from a pure heart will become a blessing for others. When you bless, you become ready to receive blessing,” Father Ljubo writes in his official monthly message commentary. 

“Blessing is the strength and the light for our paths. Through the blessing, light and peace enter into us. As soon as someone starts to bless instead of cursing, wishing good to others instead of cursing them, he becomes healthy, happy, saved from the hands of the enemy”, the assistant pastor further elaborates on the message given by the Virgin on May 25^th: 

“Dear children! At this time of grace, I call you to prayer. Little children, you work much but without God's blessing. Bless and seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to lead you at this time so that you may comprehend and live in the grace of this time. Convert, little children, and kneel in the silence of your hearts. Put God in the centre of your being so that, in that way, you can witness in joy the beauty that God continually gives in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call”, the Virgin said last week. 

Going further in reflecting on this message, Father Ljubo Kurtović states that even the vice of envy can be turned into good if only man would choose a lifestyle of blessing every situation and person: 

“It is in the nature of man to be envious, to speak badly about others, even to curse those who have a successful life and richness. We become envious and find it difficult to bless those who have achieved something in life, who obtained something. Instead, we have the tendency to criticize and to speak evil. If God has given visible gifts to someone, be great and give thanks for this goodness of God, expressed in the life of your brother, let your eye not be envious! If you see someone blessed by the strength of God, bless this person and blessing will come into your life also. This is the promise of God,” he writes. 

“Bless also the circumstances of your life. Bless, so that an improvement may happen in your life, because you change others through what you think, speak and expect of them. If we feed people with hope, faith, love and trust, they will succeed. To satiate oneself and others with blessings and positive thoughts and words, means to give life within oneself and within others to all the treasures, which we are and which we carry,” Medjugorje’s assistant pastor reflects. 

Over the years the Virgin Mary has mentioned the power and necessity of blessings in a number of Medjugorje messages. Her words have shown that even Christians underestimate the value of God’s benediction: 

“Dear children, I desire to call you to grow in love. A flower is not able to grow normally without water. So also you, dear children, are not able to grow without God’s blessing. From day to day you need to seek His blessing so you will grow normally and perform all your actions in union with God. Thank you for having responded to my call,” Our Lady of Medjugorje said on April 10^th 1986. 

“Little children, give thanks unceasingly for all that you possess, for each little gift, which God has given you so that a joyful blessing always comes down from God upon your life," said part of the message from August 25^th 1988. 

An integrated, yet only little talked-about part of the Virgin Mary’s message given in Medjugorje is the so-called Special Blessing by means of which everyone who has received it can in turn bless other people in the name of Our Lady. According to visionary Marija Pavlović-Lunetti, the seer to receive information on this blessing, it has the power to start and strengthen conversion processes. Once received the Special Blessing lasts a whole life. To pass it on to others, a simple spontaneous prayer is fine. When giving the Special Blessing to an unbeliever, it has been advised to do it silently to avoid the usual useless discussions. 

Marija also said that the Special Blessing works independently from geographical distance, allowing a person who has the blessing to bless even people located in other cities or countries. Sister Emmanuel Maillard’s book “Medjugorje, the 90s” (Queenship, 1997) contains a handful of testimonies as to the working of the Special Blessing, among them the tale of the immidiate conversion of a leading satanist. 

According to Marija Pavlović-Lunetti the Blessed Virgin wants this blessing to be frequently used, even to the point of silently blessing the strangers in the street, yet no formal apostolate has been formed to accompany the Special Blessing. Chances are that people interested in receiving and passing on this blessing can obtain it by taking contact to persons or groups experienced in arranging tours to Medjugorje. 

Speaking of blessings Medjugorje itself was Saturday blessed with a double rainbow in the middle of a day with lots of sun but not a single drop of rain. Several people, among them the one who writes these lines, witnessed a semi-circle rainbow formed around the Sun, and another smaller rainbow right next to it, both of which were visible for more than an hour. 

(before writing this religious article, God’s blessing was asked for...)

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