The Disappearing Priest
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| Saint Elijah's Church |
The Disappearing Priest
By Tony Zuniga
Fr. Jozo is considered by many to be a living saint. He went to prison to protect the six visionaries when the communists attempted to jail them. Maime [my wife] and I went to his Mass at St. Elijah’s church, about an hour from Medjugorje. And even though we were told that the Mass would be in Croatian, and that we would not understand it, we were asked to just simply look at Fr. Jozo and listen. God would do the rest. We did, and God did.
At the moment of Consecration, when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass, Fr. Jozo repeated Jesus’s words, “This is My Body!” As he slowly raised the Sacred Host, I heard two loud thumps to my right. Startled, I turned my head in that direction. Two women who were standing nearby had just dropped hard on their knees, as if hit by a two by four. I found out later that one of them did not believe in Jesus, and the other one did not believe in Mary. Apparently their conversion took place in an instant. tant.
At the moment of Consecration, when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass, Fr. Jozo repeated Jesus’s words, “This is My Body!” As he slowly raised the Sacred Host, I heard two loud thumps to my right. Startled, I turned my head in that direction. Two women who were standing nearby had just dropped hard on their knees, as if hit by a two by four. I found out later that one of them did not believe in Jesus, and the other one did not believe in Mary. Apparently their conversion took place in an instant. tant.
Then my own miracle happened. When I turned back toward the altar to see Fr. Jozo, he disappeared right in front of my eyes. The Sacred Host remained floating in mid air, but Fr. Jozo just wasn’t there. I rubbed my eyes. I looked under and around the altar. All I could see was the Sacred Host, floating and vibrating, about three feet above the altar. My heart was pounding. So I turned to Maime to tell her to look, but could not reach her. The church was packed with people, and Maime had her head down in adoration. So I turned to the left, and saw another woman staring and looking towards the altar, shocked, just like I was.
After Mass, I went directly to this woman. Before I could ask her anything, she asked me, “Are you going to tell me about the disappearing priest?” My heart leaped with joy. For a moment I thought I had imagined things, or I was the only one who had experienced this. But this woman challenged me, “What did this miracle mean to you?”
I answered quickly and without hesitation. “Jesus Christ is above everyone and everything, including His own Mother, more important than the priest, and all of us. He is the center of our existence, the core of our being, the King and Lord of our lives, the Master of our destiny, our friend and personal Savior!” The woman smiled and said, “Good! Now, go out into the world and tell everyone you meet what you saw and experienced here.”
The miracle of Medjugorje, however, is not the outer, incredible manifestations we see with earthly eyes, but the continual transformation, in tremendous numbers, of the lives and souls of people who go there. Many who went to Medjugorje had never been inside their churches in forty or fifty years. Today, they are daily communicants. Marriages are strengthened and blessed. Young people who lived in sin, from drugs, to sex, to hatred, and kids who had abandoned their families and forgotten about Jesus are liberated from all evil, and now feel free and forgiven. Today, after returning from Medjugorje, they go out and preach the Good News wherever they find themselves. The people of God have returned to God and are now rejoicing.
After Mass, I went directly to this woman. Before I could ask her anything, she asked me, “Are you going to tell me about the disappearing priest?” My heart leaped with joy. For a moment I thought I had imagined things, or I was the only one who had experienced this. But this woman challenged me, “What did this miracle mean to you?”
I answered quickly and without hesitation. “Jesus Christ is above everyone and everything, including His own Mother, more important than the priest, and all of us. He is the center of our existence, the core of our being, the King and Lord of our lives, the Master of our destiny, our friend and personal Savior!” The woman smiled and said, “Good! Now, go out into the world and tell everyone you meet what you saw and experienced here.”
The miracle of Medjugorje, however, is not the outer, incredible manifestations we see with earthly eyes, but the continual transformation, in tremendous numbers, of the lives and souls of people who go there. Many who went to Medjugorje had never been inside their churches in forty or fifty years. Today, they are daily communicants. Marriages are strengthened and blessed. Young people who lived in sin, from drugs, to sex, to hatred, and kids who had abandoned their families and forgotten about Jesus are liberated from all evil, and now feel free and forgiven. Today, after returning from Medjugorje, they go out and preach the Good News wherever they find themselves. The people of God have returned to God and are now rejoicing.
Editor’s note: The above is an excerpt from the book Mother of the Most Beautiful Love in the World, Copyright 1995.
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