date: 01.07.2025.
The 28th International Spiritual Retreat for Priests in Medjugorje began with an evening Holy Mass at the White Dome of the church of St. James.
Around 250 priests from 37 countries around the world participated in this spiritual retreat, from: the USA, India, Vietnam, England, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, China, Belgium, Congo, Burkina Faso, Thailand, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Chad, Slovenia, Serbia, Poland, Canada, Slovakia, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The large number of priests gathered were greeted by the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, who said that this week they would pray, reflect and be nourished by the spirituality of Medjugorje. He thanked Fr. Mladen Parlov for coming, who is the lecturer at this spiritual retreat and who presided over the Holy Mass, at which 264 priests concelebrated with him, and the rosary was led before the Holy Mass by Fr. Karlo Lovrić.
At the beginning of the Holy Mass, Fr. Mladen Parlov said that he was happy to be here with all of them and reflect on the priesthood, on the gift that God has given them, and he welcomed everyone to Medjugorje.
In his homily, Fr. Mladen Parlov said that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is "a demanding and urgent task and that nothing should stand in the way of this mission that God entrusts, not to some, but to all".
"This entrustment of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God can very easily be thought of primarily as referring to our priests. And you would not be wrong if you concluded that, but it refers to all believers. Wherever you are, as soon as you are baptized, responsibility for the Kingdom of God has also fallen upon you. Over what? Over whom? First of all, over your life," said Don Mladen Parlov, continuing that today's Gospel in which Jesus calls us to follow them is "a call for everyone to examine their heart between me and the Lord, has something been placed, something obstructed, something prevented?"
"When I want to come to the Lord Jesus, with what motives, with what intentions do I approach him? Okay, I came to Medjugorje to pray for health, a blessing for the family, perhaps to raise a child, perhaps to give thanks for the graces received, perhaps to heal the wounds of the heart. These are good motives, but the greatest motive should be the Lord Jesus himself. I also come to the heavenly Mother to teach me the beauty, the greatness of the face of Jesus. To teach Jesus in her school, as St. John Paul II teaches in his last Marian document, to teach Jesus with Mary. To learn his feelings, his way of thinking. To understand in Mary's school that there is no greater treasure than the Lord Jesus. Discovering him, following him, that is the goal of every Christian life. And on that path, in that goal, nothing must stand in the way," said Fr. Mladen Parlov, emphasizing that God calls us to take on some responsibility for the world we live in.
"Not to close our eyes to evil, but not to turn our backs, but to see what we can do, what we can contribute to make the world a better place. First of all, from our own lives, our own hearts. There, allow the Kingdom to reign, to spread, and then through me, through my closeness to the Lord Jesus, in ways known to the Lord, let it touch, embrace other people. And that is the responsibility of all Christians. Not only priests, religious men and women, but everyone who has received baptism, every disciple of Jesus Christ. We cannot say, I don't care, God forbid, I don't care. Yes? We must care. Because the Lord entrusts you, if nothing else, at least your life. But He entrusts you with a lot of other things, from the world we walk through, to the brothers and sisters we meet, to much, much good," said Fr. Mladen Parlov and emphasized that God gives us great responsibilities and that we need to recognize them and that nothing should separate us from His love. So he ended his homily with the words of Saint Paul, who says in his Epistle to the Romans that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor perdition, nor sword. You can listen to the entire homily in the audio recording.
This spiritual retreat continued and lasted until Friday, for four days. The priests were given lectures, participated in adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, participated in the evening prayer program, prayed at the grave of Fr. Slavko Barbarić, Apparition Hill, Cross Mountain, where they confessed to each other... (PHOTO)
