Wonderful, thanks for sharing that Padraig. I sent it on to a friend who has just come back from Medjugorje. I've seen Fr. Kilcoyne online but had never heard him preaching before. Very Power-ful. Amen!
I have listening to so many homilies and testimonies from Medugorje. The Holy Spirit seems to light them up and they go off like rocket ships. So wonderful to see, bless them.
The friend who I sent the video you posted to, had watched it yesterday. He's very aware of Fr. Kilcoyne and he sent back a couple of other ones. This is Fr. Brendan in Medjugorje last year. https://video.marytv.tv/watch/mudQR8sacJn?ctx=t2IRKm6DsiE,IRBKmbjFsDA
Another wonderful homily by Fr. Brendan Kilcoyne in Medugorje in October '24. https://video.marytv.tv/watch/mHVHaFspCzN?ctx=t2IRKm6DsiE,IRBKmbjFsDA
October 25th, 2026 message, very serious. "Dear children! A fire of hatred and wars is spreading in the hearts of people who do not want peace but their own weak interests. That is why, little children, you be prayer and my extended hands of love and peace for all those who are far from my motherly heart. Pray more strongly and more for the peace that God desires to give you but you do not want it. I am with you and I am praying that peace may prevail and reign in every heart. Thank you for having responded to my call. ”
This message has really impacted me. Maybe its because of everything I've had to walk through these past few years? Or maybe its what is going on in this world and the sense I have that we are hurtling towards a big moment? And there is a sentence that has left me questioning ... “Pray more strongly and more for the peace that God desires to give you but you do not want it.” I've been wondering what Mary means when she says we do not want peace. I find myself thinking about my own spiritual journey over these past two and a half years. Much of that journey has been about something I thought I already knew: that God loves me. Of course, I knew that in my head. I've believed it for as long as I can remember. But knowing it in my head and allowing it to become a living reality in my heart have turned out to be two very different things. I'm slowly coming to understand that God really does love me, despite my sins, my weaknesses, and all the ways I fall short. I know He wants my happiness. He isn't asking me to achieve some impossible perfection before He will embrace me. He simply asks me to love Him as best I can and let His love change me. It sounds simple, but I've found it surprisingly difficult to live. I think part of my struggle has been recognizing the many false idols I've allowed to take God's place in my heart. Some are obvious. Others are much more subtle. Even the desire to become a better person, to grow in holiness, or to somehow get my spiritual life right can become an obstacle. I begin relying more on my own efforts than on God's grace. I've come to see my self-reliance as a type of idol that has been an obstacle in my relationship with God. This month's message feels very personal because it seems to speak directly to this struggle. I want God's peace, but I still find it difficult to receive it as a gift. Part of me still believes I have to earn it, that I have to become better, pray better, or overcome my weaknesses before I can truly rest in His love. I've slowly been learning that I can't change my own heart through my willpower. I've tried and failed! I am finally getting it that any real change has to come from Christ working in me. This message actually makes me think about the Shema: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” More than anything, I want to do this but i don't always do it. I don't simply want to know about God or do all the right religious things, but to love Him with my whole heart. I wish I could say I'm there but I'm not. I think I'm beginning to understand that the journey itself is less about becoming someone worthy of God's love and more about learning to receive the love He has always wanted to give me. And maybe Mary is showing me that His peace is inseparable from that love. I also find comforting how Mary ends her message: “I am with you and I am praying that peace may prevail and reign in every heart.” It is so reassuring that she is with me and praying for me and all of us. I think Our Lady understands how difficult it can be to let go of the things I cling to, even when they keep me from the very peace I desire. Im still reflecting on her words, and I think there is more to them than my own personal interpretation. But they have caused me to look a little more closely at my own heart today which is a gift. Am I truly allowing myself to be loved by God just as I am, while trusting Him to make me into the person He created me to be? Or am I still trying, in subtle ways, to earn what He is freely offering? The prayer that continues to rise from my heart today is something a catechist shared with me recently... Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a poor sinner. I have come to see that mercy and peace are not two different gifts. As I learn to ask and receive His mercy, the more room there is in my heart for His peace. Maybe this is what Our Lady is saying?
Jesus is Peace. He told us that. Too many people do not focus on Jesus. This world is nothing, it’s our school for learning. There are many things I have been meditating on lately, maybe because I have been getting deeper into St.John of the Cross.
I enjoyed most : I think I'm beginning to understand that the journey itself is less about becoming someone worthy of God's love and more about learning to receive the love He has always wanted to give me. And maybe Mary is showing me that His peace is inseparable from that love.
This is so very true. There is a part of me that deeply holds on to resentment. I can't let it go of my own accord, only when I pray to God to let it go for me does it begin to happen.
Florence, this pilgrimage is finished now. 550 km. Kinda sad it's over, happy to be blessed to do it.
It was such a beautiful day today, 25c (77F) and sunny. Late in October too! It will greatly shorten the Winter. I decided to take a walk in the afternoon down the steep canyon to the river and the beach down there were people go in swimming. A steep descent down but a steep hike back up. But about half way back up I was praying and looked up to the sky and just said to myself. 'Lord are you really up there listening?' All at once there breeze came with this most beautiful scent, like new baked bread mixed up with flowers and incense. Then I laughed and thought to myself that yes He was indeed listening. All pure grace. All pure mercy.
