On August 7, after the evening Mass, Fr. Jozo spoke to the people commenting on those who came off Apparition Mountain carrying clods of earth, stones, flowers, etc. He said:
“You are wrong if you think that peace will come into your lives with that clod of earth, those few leaves of thyme. God wants only one thing from you—your heart… We have all resolved to renew ourselves. Each of us is part of the world, and we want our own part to be a more fruitful one. That is the message of Mary’s apparitions: be converted, trust the Gospel, make peace with one another and with God.â€
Fr. Jozo then added:
“Great alarm is being felt at your coming here. satan and the forces of darkness are alarmed; those who have turned their backs on God are alarmed. We have become a sign of the Church’s reawakening to its mission.â€