28th Sunday, Medjugorje (Rich Young Man)

Some of you are interested in hearing about my trip to Medjugorje. I decided to hold off on explaining that until next week. Rather, this week I will give a brief history of the alleged apparitions and explain how Medjugorje played an important role in me becoming a priest.

The alleged apparations have not been officially approved by the Church. In June of 1981, Mary began to appear to 6 children with messages for the world. She identified Herself as the Queen of Peace. Her messages were to pray for peace in the heart, in the family and in the world. She said prayer and fasting can avert war and suspend the laws of nature. She asked people to return to God. She said to confess monthly, attend Sunday Mass and daily Mass regularly; Pray all three mysteries of the Rosary daily; Read the bible everyday; Pray with the Heart and Fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.

10 years later to the exact day when the apparitions started, the Balkan war broke out and many people died. The result of the war ended Yugoslavia as a country as many of the nations declared their independence. Communism fell and people were once again able to practice their faith.

Because the apparitions continued and due to the controversy of the bishop and their local Franciscans, a Vatican commission was sent to Medjugorje to investigate. The commission voted 15 out of 17 in favor of the first seven apparitions as authentic. The remaining apparitions they were evenly split and the pope will eventually declare the apparitions authentic or not.

I would like to briefly explain how the alleged apparitions have affected me years ago. Back in 1990, my grandmother suffered a heart condition and needed a pacemaker. I went to visit her in the hospital in Great Bend and by God’s providence, her children (my father, aunts, uncle) and some cousins were there. Little did any of us know, it was time for her to depart from this life. As she was lying in the hospital bed, I told her I would pray a rosary for her, but I didn’t know how to pray it. I had learned as a child, but later forgot. About an hour later she suddenly took a turn for the worse and ended up dying before all of us.

Later that year, I heard about the alleged apparitions of Mary and the messages: 1. confess monthly. 2. Attend Sunday Mass and daily Mass regularly 3. Pray all three mysteries of the Rosary daily, 4. Read the bible daily 5. Pray with the Heart. 6. Fast on Wednesday and Friday. At this time in my life, when I was in my 20’s, I was not attending Mass nor had I been to confession for years. At the beginning of the year, I made my confession and then began to live the messages of Our Lady: attending Mass regularly including weekday Masses, reading the bible, fasting on Wed. and Friday and I learned how to pray the Rosary and prayed the first one for my grandmother.

The following year, in 1991, I went to Medjugorje. While in Medjugorje, a priest in confession suggested I pray and ask God if He was calling me to become a priest. Unfortunately, I wasn’t interested at all. I wanted to be married and have a large family. I wanted to finish my degree at Fort Hays State and I wanted to be wealthy. I had plans to be the owner of a grocery store chain. I wanted a new car because I was tired of my old cars breaking down all the time and I wanted the prestige of it too. But God had other plans. While in Medjugorje, I prayed and asked Our Lady and St. Francis of Assisi for help in coming to know if I was called to be a priest. And they answered my prayers. It was in Medjugorje, for the first time, I thought I was called to be priest, but I would need to give up the idea of worldly riches. St. Francis of Assisi gave the example I needed of being willing to give up everything and to be willing to live a life not attached to worldly things, so that I could become a disciple of Jesus. St. Francis was a rich young man, whose father was a wealthy merchant, but Francis gave up everything to follow Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, the rich young man’s heart is stirred by an interior grace to know what is needed to gain eternal life. He said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Our Lord reminded him it is necessary to gain eternal life by keeping the commandments. The man responds saying he kept all the commandments from his childhood. He was enlightened by grace to come to know there is more to gaining heaven then keeping the commandments. The man was a good man because lived a moral life since his youth. Jesus desiring to call the young man to something greater and giving him the opportunity to respond with generosity, looked at him with love. Can you imagine Jesus looking at you with love? Who could resist the loving face of Jesus asking you to do something?

Then Jesus asked the young man to become one of His disciples. He told him, “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me.” But the man’s face fell and he went away sad because he had many possessions and did not want to part with them. Because his heart is tied to his possessions, even the prospect of gaining eternal life fails to conquer his affections for them. He did not obey the grace welling up within him. Had the young man gave up his wealth and followed Jesus, he would now be a saint in heaven. If he gave up his possessions, he would have been assured of gazing on the face of Jesus forever in heaven.

Listen to the words of St. Paul to Timothy with regard to riches. He said, “We brought nothing into this world, nor have we the power to take anything out. If we have food and clothing we have all that we need. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and a trap. They are letting themselves be captured by foolish and harmful desires which drag men down to ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil. Some men in their passion for it have strayed from the faith, and have come to grief amid great pain.”

The man in today’s Gospel, walked away sad because he valued his possessions greater than helping the poor, rather than having treasure in heaven.

Is there a lack of vocations to the priesthood due to the love of money and possessions? The young man refused to become a disciple of Jesus because he refused to give up his possessions. Certainly there is a natural desire to have a family too, which is good. But Our Lord calls His disciples to make that sacrifice as well.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord we have given up everything.” He had given up his wife, his family and his fishing business. Peter was wealthy owner of a fishing business and so he had to give up his riches to become an apostle.

And Jesus responded saying, ““Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions and eternal life in the age to come.”

It is not easy to give up a wife, children and a family as well as a comfortable life, but our treasure is in heaven. This world is passing away and all that is within it, will turn to nothing. Instead we will have the joy of having eternal life with many mothers, sisters, and children and lands in paradise. Over the next few weeks, I will explain about my current trip. At the end of Mass, I will hand out pictures of Mary with the messages on the back and ask that you pray about responding to the messages in your daily life.

Let us pray to Our Lady:

O Mary, Queen of Peace, grant that we may all be good disciples of Jesus living our life in harmony with they way God desires of us and help us to be detached from the things of this world and to be attached to God alone. Help us to know we have a Mother in heaven who loves us and intercedes for us, as Your children. Amen.