Fr. Martin’s reflection on - Our Lady’s Message

25^th January 2026

“Dear children! today, I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know God's love. Little children, be different from others and be positive people of prayer and love towards God, that with your lives, you may be a sign of God's love to others. I bless you with my motherly blessing and intercede for each of you before my Son Jesus.

Thank you for having responded to my call.”

(With Ecclesiastical approval)

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Medjugorje North East and beyond, from the start of the Apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje, Mary has always emphasised the importance Of Prayer. We call Medjugorje, ‘The school of Our Lady’ because it is a place where Our Lady teaches us foremost to ‘Pray with the heart.’ That is with faith and love. So many pilgrims to that holy place have received the gift of a renewed prayer life, deepening their Faith and love for God and neighbour. For Our Lady everything begins and ends in prayer, for it is in prayer, where all genuine renewal begins, and all spiritual and pastoral renewal too.

So with this in mind let us begin our reflection on this month’s message.

“Dear Children, today I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know Gods love.”

Our Lady is asking us to think about others, and their spiritual situation. What does it mean to ‘be prayer ?’ In St. Luke’s gospel ( 18:1) Jesus teaches the parable of the persistent Widow and her determined search for justice. It begins, “Jesus taught them a parable about the need to pray continually and never loose heart.” To ‘be prayer and a blessing’. – ‘or to pray continually, doesn’t mean to be always saying our prayers, this would not be possible. Rather it means to always carry within us the grace and the power of prayer. If we are in regular contact with God in prayer, then we should always have an awareness that we carry a presence with us. St. Terese of Lisieux describes prayer as ‘spiritual sunbathing.’

In other words we reflect the rays of the sun on our faces when we have been in the sun. so too in Prayer. Gods presence goes with us. We take into different situations the Lord’s presence because we have encountered him in prayer. Prayer is effusive. Encouraged by the example of my parents, I too desired to pray. St. John 23^rd, saw his Grandfather praying in the fields of Northern Italy one early morning, and he too desired to speak to God. ‘Let your light shine.’ (Mt; 5: 16.)

The one who prays becomes prayer and a blessing for others.

On many occasions Our Lady has told us that she is coming to teach us the way of prayer. This is an inner process of the spirit, our growth in prayer requires generosity of heart, so that we do not remain on a superficial level in the spiritual life.

‘Christ lives his new life in every Christian, who grows until he reaches Christian adulthood. Christ grows in the Christian as faith and love grow stronger, as the Christian becomes more and more aware of his Christianity, and takes on his Christian responsibility more deeply.” N ( Romano Guardini.)

“Little children, be different from others and be positive people of prayer and love towards God, that with your lives you may be a sign of Gods love towards others.”

Our Lady wants us to stand out as her “Dear Children.” Children who are not persuaded by worldly values and trends. But those who are truly with her Son, and his commandments. The difference is we have said ‘yes’ to God, as Mary did at the annunciation. Negativity and cynicism are in plentiful supply today, and they have a corrosive effect on the human spirit. Our Lady asks us to be ‘Positive people of prayer and love towards God.’ People who ‘Await the Blessed hope’ of the coming of our Saviour Jesus. As we begin this New year let this be our attitude, - a true sign of Gods love towards others in all our words and actions.

“Little Children, you speak much about God, but you bear witness little with your life. Therefore, little children, decide for conversion, for your life to be true before God, so that in the truth of your life, you may bear witness to the beauty that God gave you. ( 25^th July, 1996.)

Every Blessing for 2026.

Fr. Martin