BY PRISCILLA GREEAR

Staff Writer

MARIETTA--Author Wayne Weible told people at St. Joseph's Church March 7 to open their hearts like children to God and live the message of peace, prayer and conversion given in Marian apparitions in Medjugorje.

Weible, then a Lutheran journalist, became interested in the apparitions in the former communist Yugoslavia in 1985 while writing an article for his four weekly newspapers. After seeing a videotape of the six young visionaries he became convinced of the authenticity of the apparitions. He also felt a strong call to write about the Medjugorje message.

As events unfolded, Weible sold his newspaper business and published an eight-page news report on Medjugorje that has sold over 50 million copies. He and his wife converted to Catholicism in 1991. He has traveled to Medjugorje over 20 times, lectures widely and has written three popular books on the events. The reported apparitions, which began in June 1981, have been investigated by the Catholic Church but a formal ruling on them has not been given.

Author and evangelist Father Ken Roberts celebrated Mass prior to Weible's talk. Father Roberts had the children in the congregation approach the altar and spoke to them about the transfiguration of Jesus.

He said that believing in the transfiguration of Christ means accepting his divinity and noted that 70 percent of Catholics don't believe church teaching that in the Eucharist the bread and wine becomes the real presence of Christ. He told the congregation to repent of their sins and change sinful behavior and noted that this is Mary's message in all of her apparitions.

Following the praying of the rosary, Weible spoke of the Medjugorje message to pray, fast, repent of sin, go to confession and seek conversion. He said Mary tells people to be aware of their sins, to contemplate and be contrite about them, yet not to dwell on them and to move beyond them.

The purpose of all apparitions, he continued, is "to focus hearts on God. Whether it's in Conyers or Medjugorje or Australia, the fruit is the conversion of the heart to God."

He said the result of following the message is peace and advised believers to avoid the temptations of Satan who tries to take away peace once it is found, particularly for those who have recently returned from Medjugorje pilgrimages.

"Satan has tried to cap that fountain of grace called Medjugorje and Mary is saying come, pray, fast and go to confession. I need you, I need your prayers," he said. "In your heart you see...not in a textbook. This is where the conversion begins and we become his children."

Weible said the message is for all people of faith, whether Christians, Muslims or Jews.

"It is the most important event taking place in the world today and only a handful of people in the world are aware of it because so many people in the world think Mary is Catholic," Weible said. "She's Jewish. She's the mother universal...This message is for everyone...The core of Medjugorje is ecumenism or unity."

Many Muslim pilgrims have visited Medjugorje, he said.

Weible described how Mary initially appeared to the children following an early morning storm with Jesus in her arms and summoned them to climb a nearby hill.

"Children are the heart and soul of Medjugorje. Our Lady looked at them and smiled," he said. "She said, 'I've come to tell you that God exists and he loves you. I've come to teach you to pray. I've come to teach you the ways of God.'"

She continued to appear to the children daily at the village church for over two years and conversions began to occur among parishioners and pilgrims. The visionaries, he reported, continue to see the Blessed Mother daily.

The speaker said the Medjugorje message "isn't just about wonderful witness stories about conversion. It's about the battle between good and evil. Look into the eyes of your children and you will see what Mary is asking of each of us so that the battle will succeed in the world."

Cherie Peters, a parishioner at the Church of St. Benedict, Duluth, who was raised as a Presbyterian, read Weible's first book, "Medjugorje: The Message," in 1993 and said, "I read the book and prayed my first rosary and had a real change of heart...You just have that revelation. The Holy Spirit comes down and hits you. I didn't have an understanding of sin."

"(Mary) brings us closer to Jesus Christ. She acts like a magnifying glass for Jesus Christ. I was on the road to hell even though I was a churchgoer...Through her intercession she saved my soul...Mary is a fountain to the Holy Spirit."

"I used to read very graphic sexual novels. It was like the Holy Spirit opened my eyes. The biggest impact of the book was a sense of sin," she said.

She began giving the book to others, including her Methodist sister who began praying the rosary and developed a devotion to Mary. Peters later opened a Catholic bookstore, Ave Maria Gifts and Books in Alpharetta.

Msgr. Donald Kenny, St. Joseph's pastor, led a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in October 1997 and said that regardless of whether the apparition is approved by the Catholic Church he has seen people spiritually changed.

"It is certainly drawing people to prayer. I've seen people radically changed because of Medjugorje."

Jason Price, a parishioner at the Cathedral of Christ the King who is in a discernment group for the priesthood, has read Weible's works yet said," I don't know if (Mary) really influences me...It's one of the areas of my faith life that's in growth."

Herbert Blanchard, a St. Joseph parishioner, noted that Weible specified that one should have an appropriate devoted to Mary.

"(Non-Catholics) think we actually worship her...She doesn't want you to worship her...She leads you to Jesus," Blanchard said.