Jana: I was spending too much time on Facebook, so all of a sudden, Medjugorje popped up there. It was 2018. I didn’t know anything about it. I wish I would have known a long time ago, but I didn’t.

I wanted to read everything I could about what was going on here. All of a sudden, a few weeks later, it was in the bulletin that there was a group going from our church, Sacred Heart. Father Philip was going so I made an appointment with him to talk to him about it. 

I told Mike, “I’m going to Medjugorje to see, what’s going on over there and what could he say? Because I was going to go no matter what, but he went with me.

I thought I was coming here for myself. I think it was more about him. I really do. 

Mike: I was skeptical. I’ve heard a lot of people have had these moments in their life that they’ve seen things that you question. But when she came to me and said, “You’re going,” I go, “Road trip! Let’s go. I’m game to get out of here.” 

So I had no expectations of anything going on here and I was amazed by what happened. It was touching when our guide, Miki, talked about opening up your heart and the door that didn’t have a handle on it and you have to open up the door [from the inside] to be able to get it. 

I think the craziest thing was when, you know how you walk to the church and there’s that area just before you walk into the grape vines, and someone was having an apparition at Apparition Hill here, and there’s thousands of people up there. Then I remember seeing a light shootout at the end of the apparition. I thought it was a big light, like a big truck or something but it went straight up in the air.

There were people around us. Nobody else saw the light.

And I thought, well, okay, there must be a city behind there on the other side of the mountain. So I questioned it. Then when we walked up Cross Mountain, there’s no city behind it. That kind of struck me.

Understand, I’m not that type of person.

I was still skeptical. 

Then when we talked to Father Philip, he asked me to do the ACTS Retreat. Then he got me involved with the church. I’m on the Finance Committee, the School Finance Committee, the school board, I’m the captain at 5:30 Mass.

Now I’ve got to put up with Father Nicolas. He’s great.

Fr. Nicolas: We go way back. I think both of us can say that we’ve seen a lot of conversions in each other. He knew me before I was in seminary. We went to the same parish, Prince of Peace. 

Jana: Immediately, I wanted to come back [to Medjugorje]. It was immediate. The draw has always been there, year after year. This is our third year since 2018.

Fr. Nicolas: What do you think it is? Why are you drawn to come back? 

Jana: Because I have work to do—I’m going to cry now—because Our Lady needs me. She needs me to tell others what’s going on here, to bring people back to the Church.

I’m working on my family. That’s hard.

I just think we all have a lot that we should be doing that we’re not doing.

I’m consecrated to Her so whatever She wants me to do, that’s what I’m trying to do. 

Fr. Nicolas: You mentioned that you realized the calling here wasn’t really for you, it was to help Mike. We were talking about that last night, openness. Why is it that women in general just have this receptivity and men tend not to be so open about themselves. I think that’s part of God’s plan to have the complementarity of men and women, especially in marriage, in that unique setting. 

There’s a book called The Privilege of Being a Woman by Alice von Hildebrand, and she has this brilliant explanation about Genesis chapter three. Why does the serpent go to Eve first? Over the ages, many theologians thought like well, it’s because women are the weaker sex. She says they got it wrong. Her theory is that the reason the serpent goes to Eve first is because the serpent, being cunning, recognizes the power, a particular power that’s unique to Eve, the power that she has over her husband of influence, so that if the serpent is able to win over Eve, the man is going to follow. Adam is going to do whatever.

I just thought, “That’s so masterful.” And it’s so true. I’m just thinking in my own experience of all the marriages that I know, that is the case. 

Mike: Well, Jana, wanted to come to Medjugorje. “Sure, honey, you got it.”