The last evening of the 34th Youth Festival in Medjugorje, and on the memorial day of St. Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the Holy Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno and the Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan, Msgr. Petar Palić. Upon his arrival in Medjugorje, Medjugorje parish priest Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić thanked him for his arrival, who was among the 502 concelebrants at Holy Mass last night. Fr. Zvonimir expressed his hope that this time was a time of grace for the youth and opportunity for spiritual renewal.
Bishop Palić thanked Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, Medjugorje priests, and pilgrims for their arrival, especially calling on the priests to show young people the right path in life.
Before the Holy Mass, a hundred-meter-long banner was brought to the altar on which the young people wrote their prayers in the last days.
At the beginning of his homily, Msgr. Palić said that he was happy “that today, as the bishop of this diocese, at the end of this year’s Youth Festival, I am celebrating this Eucharist with you”.
This 34th Youth Festival is held under the motto “Here are my mother and my brothers!” (Mt 12, 49) and this is what Msgr. Palic spoke about.
“You came here so that in this simple place and in this simple parish, in communion around the Lord Jesus, you would learn who is Jesus’ brother and sister and mother and who is our brother and sister and mother,” said Bishop Palić, reminding at the end of the Youth Festival how the question echoed to everyone these days: Who is your brother, sister, father, mother?
“We know that apart from blood ties, there are other ties that connect us to others. We are here from different parts of the world. Although we know that we are not all related by blood, we all feel that we are connected by one inner bond, a spiritual bond that transcends all boundaries. Here, next to us, sit our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. By baptism, by the sacraments we celebrate, by the faith we profess, we become part of a great family, the Church of Jesus, which for many is and will become a new home, a new family. We are sisters and brothers because we are connected by the desire, the effort, the desire to do the will of our Father who is in heaven. That is why a Christian is joyful, fulfilled because he knows he is not alone. Because he knows that with him there are many who breathe the same, who think the same, who want the same: to do the Father’s will in their lives and build Christ’s kingdom,” said Mgr. Palić adding that the Kingdom in some situations and circumstances is not impressive and powerful and that it does not have spectacular beginnings.
Since today is the memorial day of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Msgr. Palic in his homily also spoke about their relationship with Jesus, and Jesus’ arrival in their home.
He said that life can burden us so much, circumstances can worry us so much, that we forget about the time we need to nurture our relationship with Jesus, so he quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who said: “Without love, even the most important activities lose their value and do not bring joy. Without a deeper meaning, all our activities are reduced to sterile and unorganized activism”.
“For some of us Christians, the problem is not what we do, but what we don’t do. Time spent with Jesus and with brothers and sisters in prayer, in the celebration of the sacraments, in Eucharistic communion is not wasted time. It has to be the first priority or everything else we do will fall apart. Our first responsibility as Christians is to sit at the feet of Jesus. If we don’t do that, we might do a lot of things, but our lives around us will fall apart”, said the Mostar-Duvanj bishop, emphasizing that “having God’s priorities means that we choose not only what is good, but what is the best”.
“I don’t know if you chose the best by coming to Medjugorje. But, if you came here and wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus, if you allowed him to be changed by his Spirit, to radically change your life, then I am convinced that you have chosen a “better” part that no one can take away from you. In this, we are similar to another Mary, the mother of Jesus and the Mother of the Church, who always chose the presence of Jesus, even under the cross.
Therefore, live without fear, live joyfully with the awareness that Jesus accompanies you with his Spirit and testify that it is beautiful to live with Jesus and live for Jesus”, concluded the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, Msgr. Petar Palić in his homily at the Holy Mass on the last evening of the 34th Youth Festival.
Holy Mass was followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the day ended with a mission in which the representatives of all countries received a rosary as a gift, and Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, invited them to accept the rosaries, told them to be evangelizers in their families, their cities, their countries…
“Go, dear young people, into the world, to your countries, to your families and parish communities and give them what you have received here,” said Bishop Palić before giving his blessing at the end of the evening.
This last day, like the others, began with prayer, catechesis and testimonies at 9 o’clock at the White Dome of the church of St. James in Medjugorje. Josip Milković is blind, with severe hearing impairment, both his arms and one leg were amputated, and the other leg was damaged, as well as his internal organs. The severe damage was caused by the explosion of the device at the Cerovac military training ground near Karlovac, where as a student at the officers’ school he was undergoing his last training in handling explosive devices. The injuries were severe, he was in a coma for 52 days with little chance of survival, but despite his severe injuries, he continued his life as an officer of the Croatian Army.
Comparing his life with the biblical story of Job, he gave a testimony on the fourth day of the 34th Youth Festival in Medjugorje. His mother Ana also spoke along with him.
Before his testimony, a catechesis was given to the young people by Dr. Asja Palinić Cvitanović, before morning prayer led by the parish priest of Medjugorje and the morning part of the program concluded with a testimony of Fr. Marcelo Marcian from Uruguay who had his conversion in Medjugorje that led him to the priesthood.
