:: 평화의 모후 사도회 홈페이지에 오신 것을 환영합니다. ::

KOR

> Messages > Fr. Stephen Shin’s Reflections on the Messages

Fr. Stephen Shin’s Reflections on the Messages

2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012

2011	2010	2009	2008	2007

January 25, 2026

"Dear children, Today, I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know God's love. Little children, be different from others and be positive people of prayer and love towards God, that with your lives, you may be a sign of God's love to others. I bless you with my motherly blessing and intercede for each of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call." (With ecclesiastical approval)

Dear children, Today, I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know God's love.

According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve are the first ancestors of humanity, and from them were born the first brothers, Cain and Abel. When God did not look with favor upon Cain’s offering but accepted the offering of his brother Abel, Cain became filled with anger. He led his brother Abel out into the field and killed him. When God then asked Cain where his brother Abel was, Cain replied, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” pretending ignorance (cf. Gn 4:3–9).

This biblical account conveys a fundamental message: conflicts—whether between brothers or within any human relationship—must never be resolved through violence. More deeply still, it teaches us that in every circumstance human beings are called to coexist, to protect one another’s lives and well-being, and to take responsibility for one another.

Although the Old Testament does contain references to God as Father, the people of Israel used this expression with great reverence and caution. They even considered it irreverent to pronounce God’s name directly, choosing instead titles such as Elohim or Adonaiin place of Yahweh.

Yet Jesus, in proclaiming the Gospel, addressed God as “Father.” Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly called God Father, and when He taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer, He instructed them to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven.”

Through this expression, Jesus defined the relationship between God and humanity, and among human beings themselves. God is Father; we are His children; and therefore all people are brothers and sisters. In this way, Jesus revealed that all humanity forms one great family, gathered under God as Father.

For this reason, Christians do not hesitate to call one another brothers and sisters. In the life of the Church, in the celebration of the liturgy, and in daily life, this language comes naturally to us. Jesus taught us that since God is our Father and we are His children, we must recognize and live as brothers and sisters to one another.

If we truly keep this truth in mind, the words of Our Lady will not seem difficult to us: “Dear children, Today, I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know God's love.” All people of the world—especially those who do not yet know God’s love—are children of God and of Our Lady, and therefore our brothers and sisters. As members of God’s family, we bear a fraternal responsibility toward them.

How, then, are we to live out this responsibility? Our Lady tells us clearly: we are to become prayer and blessing for them. This does not mean simply offering a prayer or a blessing once in a while. Rather, it means that they are to be continually present within our prayer and our blessing. Our prayer must not be confined to ourselves but must remain constantly open and directed toward them.

Thus, the intention of our prayer must expand beyond ourselves and our families to embrace all people, especially those who have not yet come to know God’s love. We are called not only to ask for the well-being and blessings of our own households, but to pray that all people may live in happiness and peace, and that God’s blessing may rest upon them always.

Little children, be different from others and be positive people of prayer and love towards God, that with your lives, you may be a sign of God's love to others.

“Little children, be different from others.” This expression appears for the first time in Our Lady’s messages. Upon hearing these words, one may naturally think of the Pharisees often mentioned in the Gospel. Unlike the Sadducees, who were priests, the Pharisees were lay people who sought to live the Law more strictly than anyone else and who were determined to lead holy lives. They chose for themselves the name “Pharisee,” meaning “the separated ones,” wishing to be recognized as those set apart from others.

Their desire to live differently is understandable. They did not want a lax or superficial faith, but rather sought to serve God rigorously and to observe His Law faithfully. Yet in the eyes of Jesus, they were hypocrites. Though they appeared outwardly devout and meticulous in observing the Law, they placed their own piety above God. Lacking love—the true heart of the Law—they fell into outward observance and pride. For this reason, Jesus strongly rebuked the Pharisees and the scribes (cf. Mt 23:1–36).

When Our Lady calls us to be different from others, her words also contain a warning: we must not become modern-day Pharisees. Even today, within the Church and in the world, we often encounter people who claim to be “different” and behave with arrogance. Just as Judas, who betrayed Jesus, still exists in every age, so too do Pharisees.

Our Lady desires a very different kind of “difference.” She calls us to become positive people of prayer and love toward God. When a person truly loves God and prays with sincerity, that person naturally becomes different. We can sense it in their face, in their voice, in their manner of speaking, in their attitude, and even in the way they walk or turn away.

Certainly, we must become such people for the sake of our own salvation and peace. We are called to be different. Yet when this difference is sought only for ourselves, it becomes dangerous, for it can easily lead us into the pride of the Pharisee. Our Lady calls us to become different so that our lives may have a good influence on others, inviting them too to discover God’s love and to find salvation and peace.

For this reason, Our Lady calls us to become a sign of God’s love to others through our lives. What matters here is not our words, but the way we live. We can always speak beautifully and convincingly about God’s love. Yet if those words are truly authentic, they must be supported by concrete actions and by the witness of our lives. That is why life speaks more powerfully than words, and why the testimony of a life lived in love carries real and lasting strength.

I bless you with my motherly blessing and intercede for each of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.

In recent messages, Our Lady has repeated these words at the conclusion. Although she always blesses us and intercedes for us, her insistence at this moment reveals how much more we now need her blessing and intercession. It is also a sign that we are living in times more difficult and burdensome than before.

Let us therefore thank Our Lady, who takes our struggles and hardships as her own, who blesses us all the more, and who remembers each of us individually as she intercedes for us before her Son. And with grateful hearts, let us respond to her call.

December 25, 2025

“Dear children! Also today - when God permits me to carry to you in my arms little Jesus, the King of Peace, that He may fill you with the ardor of love and peace, so that every heart may be similar to His Heart in this time of grace - be resolute and courageous defenders of the love of your God, that in this time of grace He may give you His peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (With ecclesiastical approval)

Dear children! Also today - when God permits me to carry to you in my arms little Jesus, the King of Peace.

On this Christmas Day, Our Lady says: “Dear children! Also today - when God permits me to carry to you in my arms little Jesus, the King of Peace.” What deserves our close attention here is the tense. Jesus was born into this world long ago—well over two thousand years ago—in the form of an infant, so as to become truly human like us. Yet Our Lady speaks in the present tense, saying that God is allowing her to bring the Infant Jesus to us now.

Certainly, the Nativity of Jesus is an event that took place in the past. And yet, that Nativity is also a present event—an event continually renewed in the “now.” Unlike us, who are bound by time and space, God is eternal; for Him, everything is always present. Therefore, today we do not merely remember Jesus who was born long ago; rather, we welcome and adore Jesus who is born anew in our midst today.

Just as she did in those ancient days, Our Lady brings us again this Christmas her Son, the Infant Jesus, the King of Peace, in her arms. What we truly need at Christmas is not a Christmas tree, cards, gift exchanges, or parties, but Jesus Himself. Without Jesus—our Savior and King of Peace—Christmas can have no real meaning. And if Jesus is not with us, our lives can have neither a future nor hope nor eternal life.

Our Lady is bringing us the One who matters most this Christmas. After hearing the angel’s words—“Do not be afraid. For behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born for you, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:10–12)—the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to see the Child lying in the manger. Like them, we too must run to the church, where the manger, the tabernacle, and the Cross are found, kneel before Him, and adore Him deeply.

No one and nothing in this world can give us eternal life. Only the Infant Jesus, born poor and humble, can give us eternal life and true happiness. And the place where we can meet Him is the church. In the church are the manger where He was born, the altar where at every Mass He becomes present anew in the mystery of the Incarnation, the tabernacle where His Body is reserved, the Cross, and the Word. There, too, is the priest, through whom the presence of Jesus is brought to us by all these sacred realities. On the feast of Jesus’ birth, this church becomes our new Bethlehem.

This Christmas, what we must ask of God is this: that He keep our hearts always wide open, so that we may receive with our whole heart Jesus who comes to us each day through Our Lady and through the priest. We must beg that our hearts not be bound to any person or thing in this world, but be open only to Jesus and bound to Him alone.

He may fill you with the ardor of love and peace, so that every heart may be similar to His Heart in this time of grace.

At the birth of Jesus, a multitude of the heavenly host appeared and praised God, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests!” (Lk 2:14). In this hymn, the purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world is revealed with clarity. Jesus came to give glory to God the Father and to grant peace to those who are pleasing to Him.

Who, then, are those who are pleasing to Jesus? They are the ones who first heard this hymn and went to adore Him—the shepherds watching their flocks on the fields of Bethlehem. They received the angel’s words and the sign of Jesus’ birth just as they were. They believed what they saw, and, praising God who had sent them a Savior, they returned home in joy.

Medjugorje is a new Bethlehem of our time. Through the apparitions in Medjugorje, Our Lady desires to make known to the whole world that at every Mass Jesus is born anew upon the altar and that He is truly alive in the Eucharist. We must become the shepherds of this new Bethlehem. Just as they believed and received the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger as the sign of their salvation, so we must firmly believe and receive Jesus who is alive under the appearance of the small white Host—Jesus, the Word made flesh, who dwells among us—as the sign of our salvation.

For this, we need the pure and childlike faith the shepherds possessed. Our Lady calls us to pray with the heart, to pray until prayer becomes life, to pray and to pray again, so that such faith may be born within us. And the end of that prayer is the complete transformation of our hearts—until they become like the Heart of Jesus. If, in prayer, Jesus fills our hearts with the fire of love and with peace, and our hearts come to resemble His Most Sacred Heart, then we will find ourselves shedding tears of joy.

Be resolute and courageous defenders of the love of your God, that in this time of grace He may give you His peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.

In life we defend and protect many things for ourselves. When our life and safety, our rights, or our possessions are threatened, we fight desperately to safeguard them. Yet Our Lady calls us not to defend ourselves, but to “be resolute and courageous defenders of the love of your God.”

This call reveals a sobering reality: the love of God is ignored, rejected, and even persecuted by many. This was true not only in our day, but also at the time of Jesus’ birth. Thus the Evangelist John writes: “He was in the world, and the world came to be through Him, but the world did not know Him. He came to what was His own, but His own people did not accept Him” (Jn 1:10–11).

The same John who proclaimed, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16), also declares in his letter: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). And he bears witness to that love in these words: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might have life through Him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9–10).

God loved us and sent His only Son into this world in our human likeness as a sacrifice of atonement for our sins. Through this love we are saved from sin and death and come to share in eternal life. Nothing in this world can be compared to this love.

Our Lady calls us to become those who firmly and courageously defend this love of our God. To be firm in defending this love means to reject decisively everything that stands against it and to choose only the love of God. There can be no compromise and no mixture. We cannot serve two masters.

Jesus, who showed by His life and His death that God is love, became a sign of contradiction and endured persecution and suffering. Yet He did not retreat even an inch before those who rejected Him. Because He is Truth itself, He always remained in the love of the Father and bore witness to that love to the very end.

Through Jesus we have come to know what the love of God is, and in our daily lives we experience it. Therefore, as children of the Father and disciples of Jesus, we must become those who firmly and courageously proclaim, testify to, and defend that love. The Emmanuel—Jesus, who said, “I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20)—desires that we bear fearless witness to the Gospel, and so He tells us:

“Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven” (Mt 10:26–32).

USA : 6100A Hoskins Hollow Circle, Centreville, VA. 20121

TEL : 703-383-0113

E-mail : aqopmr@gmail.com