date: 06.05.2021.
''Dear brothers and sisters, in this time of pandemic of coronavirus let us pray the Holy Rosary inviting all those who wish to join us from their homes, to be united with us in this prayer, invoking in the special way the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. We will reflect on the joyful mysteries, turning our gaze at Jesus and Mary – the cause of our joy. In our prayer, we will be guided by testimonies of St. Francis of Assisi and prayers of St. Brigit”, said the Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto in the beginning of the Rosary in Medjugorje on May 4, 2021.
After the Rosary, the Msgr. Pezzuto continued to celebrate Holy Mass at the White Dome of St. James church in Medjugorje, in concelebration of 19 priests. In his homily, he spoke of Christ’ peace, wondering: What do we mean in the human terms when we speak about peace?
''Usually, peace is considered as the absence of worrying, of suffering, of difficulties, the absence of all that takes away our peace and leads us into the anxiety. When those problems are absent in our lives, we say: 'This is peace!'. It is a human concept and earthly perception of peace, but this is not the peace that Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel. Jesus starts his speech by saying: 'My peace I leave you, my peace I give you'. This is how He gives us to understand peace that He gives, that is not the peace we refer to. The absence of suffering, pain can be peace in human sense, however the experience confirms that such peace exists very rarely'' said Msgr. Pezzuto, emphasising that there is another type of peace, peace that only Jesus can give and that He gives to us.
''It is peace that exists in the depth of our hearts. Even in the situations when we encounter problems and difficulties in our lives, for human suffering as we see it takes away our joy, our peace, but if we focus on problems, pain and suffering along with Jesus, then He would be the one who carries our cross with us. That peace is far greater and wonderous than human, earthly peace that is just the absence of suffering and difficulties'', said Nuncio Pezzuto and wondered: ''How is it possible in human terms to live suffering, pain and have profound peace of human heart at the same time'', then he explained that can be possible ''for Jesus is with us!''
''We need to gaze at the crucified Jesus, we need to look at Him, His passion while He carried his cross, that was not just His, but it is our cross in His life. If we have faith, we should not be afraid of anything discomfortable that can take place in our lives'', said Pezzuto, mentioning at the end of his homily this pandemic, as one of the main reasons that takes away our peace.
''We are worried, disturbed by the news, but this is the moment in which we should awake our faith. We are not alone. We should not say in this challenging situation: 'Where is our God?'. We should not be saying that! We need to say that God in this situation of suffering needs to be more present, than He would have been if it wasn’t for this suffering, but this does not mean that we cannot ask the Lord in prayer to deliver us from suffering, pain and this pandemic'', said the Apostolic Nuncio. He said at the end that we came here to ask the Lord to deliver the world of this situation and that in ''this Marian place we can fervently pray to Mary, the Queen of Peace, to intercede for us with her Son, so that He may help us in this situation''.
Fr. Marinko Sakota, the parish priest of Medjugorje, thanked at the end of Holy Mass to the Nuncio for coming here and being with us.
