Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Iowa Jesus

In the 1990's, Marian Conferences started up in the USA.  We went to one of the first in Des Moines, Iowa in 1992.  We knew we were called to this conference because the last thing I do gladly, is travel; and Iowa certainly wasn't on my list of states to visit.  After our pilgrimage to Medjugoje in May of 1990, I became a 'true' Catholic (a revert) again and my husband was a brand new Catholic (a convert). Our spiritual adventures in Medjugorje were incredible and quite a gift from God.  The photo of Jesus on this blog of mine, 'AND AMAZING GRACE'; was a miraculous one indeed.  It was Friday afternoon and we just got into Des Moines, Iowa.  We got our hotel room and walked over to the conference center and into the room where the Friday evening activities were to start.  It was early in the afternoon and there was pretty much nobody there except for a few people setting up their books and things to sell in a back room.  John, my husband and I were just walking around checking it all out and we saw another one or two people doing the same but they didn't stay long.  We wandered about and John went one way and I went towards the stage where there was an altar set up and a very large crucifix of Jesus hanging up high.  Since getting a camera, I was always drawn to taking pictures of crucifixes while in Italy and elsewhere.  And so I looked through my camera which was blessed in Medjugorje in 1990 and I zoomed in on Jesus's face, and His wounds and started taking pictures.  I noticed that the blood started to move from His wounds and it was as though Jesus had become alive for me through the camera.  I dropped the camera to my side and looked up with my eyes and saw the crucifix as normal but when I looked through my camera, Jesus started to bleed from His wounds and He opened His eyes slightly towards me.  I then looked around for John but he was way in the back of the conference room but there was a lady that was on the stage with me and so I said, would you please look through this camera at Jesus.  I said "stand right here and look up at Him".  I was pretty weirded out in a good way and she never said a word to me but just did as I asked. I  stood there while she looked up at Jesus through my camera in the same spot and with the same zoom lens and after she looked, she handed me back the camera, never said a word but her face was a bit in awe and she hit the floor on her knees adoring Jesus on the crucifix.  We never spoke.  I got my answer, I believe she saw the same thing I did...Jesus came alive for her too.