Remember what David did? Slaying the giant, Goliath. What did he use? He used stones, right? We’ve got stones. Medjugorje has a lot of stones, right? But we’ve got five stones. One of them is the Word of God. And it is alive and yet do we love the Word of God? Do we read the Word of God? Do we listen to the Word of God?” Yes and no. But when it becomes too constricting, we say, I’m not into that. I’m not into that. I don’t really want to follow what God has to say.
Then we have the Rosary. Oh, it’s so easy to pray the Rosary here in Medjugorje, isn’t it? It just happens. Watch what happens when we go home. “Let’s see, I have to pray the Rosary today. Well, let’s see, I have to watch Glenn Beck and then I have to watch Fox News. Well I can squeeze it in.” And as the day goes on, all of the sudden what happens? “Oh no, I never prayed my Rosary.” What is the Rosary? Do you know that the Rosary is the Gospel of Jesus in prayer? When we pray the Rosary, what are we contemplating? The life of Jesus. So when a Protestant friend of yours says, “The Rosary? How can you pray the Rosary? You’re worshipping Mary!” No we’re not. We’re contemplating the life of Jesus. Do you know Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus? Then let me tell you about the Rosary. And then go through all the mysteries. And it was wonderful that John Paul II added the Luminous mysteries, because now what happened? We have the entire life of Christ and there are only two mysteries in the entire Rosary that are not in the Bible. The Assumption of our Blessed Mother and the Coronation of our Blessed Mother as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Do you know how St. Padre Pio referred to the Rosary? One day he was sitting there and he said to his companions, “Bring me my weapon.” Father, you can’t have a gun. I don’t need a gun. The Rosary is the weapon. satan hates the Rosary. he’s even said, and I can’t remember what saint said it, “If the faithful only knew how much power, how much pain is inflicted upon my head when one Hail Mary is said.” Well, grab those beads and give him a migraine that he won’t forget! Think about it. Send him back to hell. Send him back to hell where he belongs.
And then, of course, we have the Eucharist. And yet so many times we approach the Table and our eyes are not open and neither are our hearts. Doesn’t it say in Scripture, Jesus says “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” It’s not it could be, it’s may be, it’s a symbol—No! It is! It is! Go back and tell your Protestant brothers and sisters, hey, you know what? I’m a fundamentalist because we do exactly what Jesus says, ‘Take and eat, this is…’, it’s a definitive statement. For those of you who don’t believe that this is real, go home on your computer and check out YouTube. Type in Eucharistic Miracle of Argentina and listen to a testimony given by a cardiologist. He took a sample of a Host, a consecrated Host that had fallen on the floor. The priest had put It in water to dissolve. When he went to take it out of the Tabernacle he noticed that there was a spot and it was red and he took it and he gave it to this man. And he couldn’t believe what he saw. Well, he could believe, but he wanted to go further. Here was heart muscle and do you know what? The cells were alive. The cells were alive! How could that be? It’s Jesus, that’s how it could be. And we’re called to come out of our doubt. We’re called to shed our negative doubting Thomas and to come out, step out in faith and to be nourished.
(...) So we have these five stones to lead us closer to God: The Word of God, Eucharist, Fasting, Confession & the Rosary
St. James Church, Medjugorje, Father Neil s homily
 |
| Medjugorje |
Then we have the Rosary. Oh, it’s so easy to pray the Rosary here in Medjugorje, isn’t it? It just happens. Watch what happens when we go home. “Let’s see, I have to pray the Rosary today. Well, let’s see, I have to watch Glenn Beck and then I have to watch Fox News. Well I can squeeze it in.” And as the day goes on, all of the sudden what happens? “Oh no, I never prayed my Rosary.” What is the Rosary? Do you know that the Rosary is the Gospel of Jesus in prayer? When we pray the Rosary, what are we contemplating? The life of Jesus. So when a Protestant friend of yours says, “The Rosary? How can you pray the Rosary? You’re worshipping Mary!” No we’re not. We’re contemplating the life of Jesus. Do you know Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus? Then let me tell you about the Rosary. And then go through all the mysteries. And it was wonderful that John Paul II added the Luminous mysteries, because now what happened? We have the entire life of Christ and there are only two mysteries in the entire Rosary that are not in the Bible. The Assumption of our Blessed Mother and the Coronation of our Blessed Mother as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Do you know how St. Padre Pio referred to the Rosary? One day he was sitting there and he said to his companions, “Bring me my weapon.” Father, you can’t have a gun. I don’t need a gun. The Rosary is the weapon. satan hates the Rosary. he’s even said, and I can’t remember what saint said it, “If the faithful only knew how much power, how much pain is inflicted upon my head when one Hail Mary is said.” Well, grab those beads and give him a migraine that he won’t forget! Think about it. Send him back to hell. Send him back to hell where he belongs.
And then, of course, we have the Eucharist. And yet so many times we approach the Table and our eyes are not open and neither are our hearts. Doesn’t it say in Scripture, Jesus says “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” It’s not it could be, it’s may be, it’s a symbol—No! It is! It is! Go back and tell your Protestant brothers and sisters, hey, you know what? I’m a fundamentalist because we do exactly what Jesus says, ‘Take and eat, this is…’, it’s a definitive statement. For those of you who don’t believe that this is real, go home on your computer and check out YouTube. Type in Eucharistic Miracle of Argentina and listen to a testimony given by a cardiologist. He took a sample of a Host, a consecrated Host that had fallen on the floor. The priest had put It in water to dissolve. When he went to take it out of the Tabernacle he noticed that there was a spot and it was red and he took it and he gave it to this man. And he couldn’t believe what he saw. Well, he could believe, but he wanted to go further. Here was heart muscle and do you know what? The cells were alive. The cells were alive! How could that be? It’s Jesus, that’s how it could be. And we’re called to come out of our doubt. We’re called to shed our negative doubting Thomas and to come out, step out in faith and to be nourished.
(...) So we have these five stones to lead us closer to God: The Word of God, Eucharist, Fasting, Confession & the Rosary
St. James Church, Medjugorje, Father Neil s homily