September 20, 2017 A.D.
Our Lady of Medjugorje said on January 19, 1989:
This above message was given by Our Lady through Marija in the home of a Friend of Medjugorje and his wife. This message was a confirmation of something he had asked “boldly” for, two years previous.
On September 20, 1986, a Friend of Medjugorje walked into Blessed Sacrament Church in Birmingham with a special intention. Blessed Sacrament was the church of his childhood, where he received all the sacraments, where as a child he explored every corner (and carved his name on a pew too.)
A Friend of Medjugorje sat in front of Our Lady’s statue to write a question. What he wrote would set in motion a course of events which could never have been imagined at the time. The following story was told in a Silver Jubilee writing:
“…In the middle of September 1986, a Friend of Medjugorje found himself preparing to travel to Boston for a meeting with other Medjugorje believers. One of the Franciscan priests from Medjugorje, Fr. Pervan, would also be there. The first week of October, which was a week after the Boston meeting, our founder was scheduled to go to Medjugorje. But before he went to Boston, he saw that an opportunity was presenting itself to follow through with this strong inspiration, hoping to have a chance to ask Fr. Pervan permission to ask the question in an apparition. But what should the question be?”
Fr. Pervan, the parish priest of Medjugorje gave his permission for a Friend of Medjugorje to ask Our Lady a question, and in his own hand, Fr. Pervan personally wrote to Marija, showing his consent. The Silver Jubilee writing continues:
“Our founder approached a friend who had been to Medjugorje and asked him to write the question, believing himself to be unworthy to ask Our Lady a question. Upon meeting with this friend later, our founder was surprised, unsettled, and deflated with disappointment to read what he had come up with. His question had to do with his friend’s own personal future—a job he was seeking, or something of that nature. Our founder knew instinctively that this would be a wasted opportunity to go before Our Lady with a self-centered question like this. Though our founder still did not believe himself worthy enough to write the petition, he made the decision to do it after seeing the results of asking someone else, and it fell back in his lap…”
The following was scratched down in Blessed Sacrament Church, on September 20, 1986, by Friend of Medjugorje:
This was a bold thing to ask. It was his desire to see Our Lady bring Her blessing here as well. Though he wrote in his petition, “we humbly ask” and “we surrender this parish” there was no “we” in writing this petition. But in humility, he could not bring himself write the word “I”. Again, his thoughts were, who was he to think that he could go before Our Lady on his own behalf and ask a question?
Taking the question to Medjugorje in October 1986, he was not able to get to Marija to have his question presented. He began to think it was not God’s will, so he abandoned the entire idea of asking a question, as it was getting late and he was to leave the next day. Suddenly, Berta, a Croatian guide who was also trying to get to Marija, approached him and said that Marija was waiting for him, and for him to come immediately. A Friend of Medjugorje sat down with Marija and explained why he was asking for this grace. Marija also read Fr. Pervan’s letter to her. Marija said she was going to present his question to Our Lady that evening. Though Our Lady did not answer questions anymore, Our Lady surprisingly responded to his question by saying on October 6, 1986:
Now, over 30 years later, we see the history of what Our Lady has done with a Friend of Medjugorje, his family and the mission of Caritas. But, it is easy to see his question in light of the history of all that has happened and not in the context of when it was written. There was no “we”, there was no Caritas, there was no Tabernacle of Our Lady’s Messages, there was no Mej.com, there was no history of apparitions in his home. There was simply a bold ask, a bold move, and a hope that God would not disappoint.
More for your Spiritual Nourishment
What Happened on October 6, 1986 – Caritas Silver Jubilee Anniversary
New Friend of Medjugorje section and timeline, History with Our Lady
