What a joy it was for the Mir Medjugorje English Information Center to welcome Medjugorje pastor, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, to the United States, to begin a 5-city evangelization trip, bringing the beautiful messages of the Queen of Peace, to spiritually hungry souls in the USA. This trip will take Fr. Zvonimir to Lafayette, Louisiana; St. Augustine, Florida; San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, Illinois. In light of the recent Vatican announcement, giving the devotion to the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje the highest level of Church approval through the Nihil Obstat, it was especially joyful to be organizing these events to help spread the message of Medjugorje.
The trip began on October 24, 2024, in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Fr. Zvonimir and members of the Mir Center team flew into. We gathered for dinner at Irene’s, one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans. We knew we were at home when we were greeted at the door by the chalk writings over the door post, marking that the establishment was blessed by a priest, and statues of Our Lady and various saints enshrined throughout. Our table was directly in front of the almost life-sized statue of St. Joseph. We were joined by Fr. Damian, a young priest who worked as a waiter at Irene’s years earlier. Light-hearted fun and fantastic food marked the evening. The following day happened to be Fr. Zvonimir’s birthday so our evening culminated in an exuberant singing of “Happy Birthday” to Fr. Zvonimir by Irene’s staff.
During our leisurely morning in Lafayette the following day, we explored the Rip Van Winkle Gardens at Jefferson Island, and experienced our first taste of Cajun cuisine at their café.
The Medjugorje Evening of Prayer was held at Our Lady of Fatima parish, and the church was filled to capacity. Just like in Medjugorje, lines formed at the confessionals of the five priests who were offering the sacrament of Christ’s mercy and love.
One of the “confessionals” was especially unique. When pulling up to the church, all the attendees saw an ambulance parked in front, and most people probably thought someone was sick in the church. The “sickness” that the ambulance came to tend to, however, was spiritual in nature. In 2015, Fr. Michael Champagne purchased an old ambulance, fixed up the inside and made it into a mobile confessional. He calls it his “spiritual care unit”! Since then he has traveled thousands of miles with it and has spent thousands of hours hearing confessions in it. Fr. Michael was in his spiritual care unit, hearing confessions, for the entire duration of the Medjugorje evening of prayer.
The prayer evening began with the rosary, as it does in Medjugorje, and it felt reminiscent of Medjugorje, since it was prayed in English, French and Croatian.
Fr. Zvonimir presided at the holy Mass, and in his homily, he reminded us why we were gathered together that evening:
“Here we have gathered around the message of Medjugorje. For forty-three years, the Blessed Mother has been calling us to what we have heard in the Gospel: to be attentive to her Son, to serve Him with undivided hearts, to pray, to sanctify our days. And we respond to her calls: we pray, celebrate the Eucharist, confess, adore Jesus, read the Bible, fast.”
Fr. Zvonimir also invited us to reflect on the deeper mysteries of life:
“Jesus knows that we are also spiritual beings. And that we need God. That nothing in this world can fulfill us or give meaning to our lives. God is the only meaning. Therefore, all our senses, all our knowledge, and all our time should be dedicated to the Lord. To serve Him. To seek Him. To follow Him. And then life will be beautiful for us. Then we will have all the joy and meaning of life.
But we must seek the Lord. We must give Him our time. Pray every day. Surrender our lives to Him.”
At the end of his homily, Fr. Zvonimir asked a question which should be a source of reflection for all of us:
“Therefore, the question that arises for me today is: Will I accept this gift from God? Will I live this way? Or will I let it pass me by?”
The gift that God is offering us today and every day, is His Body and Blood, in Word and Sacrament, as our nourishment for this journey of life. It a gift freely given, but whether we choose to accept this gift is entirely up to each person.
The evening at the church ended with a beautiful time of silence before the Blessed Sacrament.
Afterwards, so many people throughout the church commented that they felt like they were in Medjugorje.
Our evening continued with a lovely buffet dinner hosted by a local couple, with those who helped organize the evening in attendance. Good food, laughter, fellowship and fun filled the home. The evening ended by once again singing happy birthday to Fr. Zvonimir.
Late night celebrating made the early morning departure for the airport a little more difficult, but thankfully everything went smoothly as we made our way to the next leg of our journey.
Next stop: St. Augustine, Florida!
