date: 27.03.2019.
On March 22, 2019, the 26th International Spiritual Retreat for the Organisers of the Pilgirmages ended with the Holy Mass, celebrated by the parish priest, Fr. Marinko Sakota. This retreat began on March 18 and gathered around 360 participants from 28 countries. Fr. Marinko was the lecturer and in his final homily, he emphasised how Our Lady invited us to read the Holy Scripture and to read it with the heart.
“In these days, we were trying to get to know Jesus, in Adoration, in Holy Mass, in Veneration of the Cross, in reading the Holy Scripture. To get to know Jesus it means to ask ourselves – What does Jesus want? This is where some things can easily be confused, what do I think that Jesus want, what do I think that Jesus says or speaks and what Jesus really wants. Let us recall disciples who had the same problem. They understood Jesus in their own way and thought they know Him, that they know His intentions, said Fr. Marinko and mentioned two brothers, sons of Zebedee, James and John who were thinking that Jesus was about to institute the Kingdom and they wanted to be at His side, before all others.
“Along with Him, but in a completely wrong way, on the left and right side of him, so you can see how one can be even close to Him, but in a wrong way. It took them time to understand how Jesus really thought and how God’s will is something different. This is how we should be reading the Word of God, by penetrating into it, listening to it. Listening is very important, but with our hearts, asking ourselves what does God want, not what I want or what I think, as God is the one who desires to transform and change all that is within us. Just like the stone rejected by the builders that God takes as His keystone to build His kingdom on it. This happened so many times, it happened to Joseph too. He was rejected by his brothers but he became the stone through which they survived, the keystone of his nation and his people. Just like disciples of Jesus, maybe we would have never chosen them, not just Judas, but also the others, but Jesus chose exactly them”, concluded Fr. Marinko in his homily.
The Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, spoke at this retreat about the history of the pilgrimages and role of the organisers and leaders in this process.
The theme of this retreat as well as of all the others that will take place this year is:„Follow me!“ (Mk 10, 21). The next spiritual retreat to be held in the 7th International spiritual retreat for life, to be held in Medjugorje from May 29 to June 1, 2019.
