Medjugorje Red Book

Pray with Your Heart

Other languages: English, Italiano

This book is the third of the four volumes of sermons and discourses given by Fr. Slavko Barbaric and Fr. Tomislav Vlasic during 1984 - 1987 in Medjugorje, and contains discourses given from July to December 1985.

Not all chapters of this book are yet included

"As long as you are closed, I cannot talk to you, I cannot give you graces"

Last time we heard how Jesus was sent away from his own country, how God who is omnipotent, was driven from his country and could not, therefore, perform any miracles. By this, you can see the resistance in their souls. Also tomorrow you will listen to this reading and witness how souls put up resistance. On the other hand, you will hear in the Gospel, “Go, preach, testify”, and Jesus sends his apostles without any human means, any power whatsoever, but just says “Go ...”

If you listened to the Gospel well today, you will have heard Jesus saying, “do not worry, but go every hair on your head is counted, do not be afraid”.

I would like to call you to a total opening to the Lord.

Besides these six visionaries, there are two more, especially the visionary Jelena, through whom Our Lady gives messages to a prayer group on mystical life. Once when we were all gathered together and Our Lady wanted to have an evening devoted to a particular programme, a particular message, she simply said , “I cannot talk to you, your hearts are closed ....”.

One evening two weeks ago, she told us, “None of you has practised what I told you to, therefore I cannot talk to you, I cannot give you any graces as long as you are closed ... “. That is why I am telling you, be converted. Our Lady has also invited us towards conversion, prayer, fasting and total abandonment to God. I invite you to confession and hope that each one of you may really become more of a pilgrim and that none of you may be just a tourist. Go to confession, pray, and in that way you will be able to open your hearts and to be made free to receive the messages of Our Lady.

Moreover, I invite all of you to bear witness. But who can testify ? Only a person who has been granted internal light and strength can.

And how can you really be sure of God’s and Our Lady’s presence here ?

In a message through Jelena, Our Lady said, “Each one of you has a particular personal gift and can only grasp it by himself alone, within himself.” The light of faith is something interior, not exterior. There, indeed tomorrow you will listen to the prophet Amos, a herdsman, who says, “The Lord took me from caring for my flocks and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people, Israel’.” This is inner light. And so, you and I must be ready to welcome this inner light; and it is when there is inner light that we are able to realise the presence of Our Lady.

The facts of truth and of faith cannot simply be substantiated by adequate reasoning you must instead start from this inner light. Do you remember when the angel came to greet Our Lady and to invite her to accept the Son of God ? What would have happened if Our Lady had waited for an order ? She started off from an inner certainty. And do you remember when the angel appeared to St. Joseph in his sleep ? What would have happened if St. Joseph had waited for an order ? He, too, started off from an inner certainty, the certainty of faith. St. Francis heard an inner voice saying, “Go and renovate my Church... “ What if he had waited for an order ? Nothing ever would have been done, since everybody was against that inner conviction. I say this, because we must develop the light of faith within us and be moved by the strength of the Holy Spirit. If we are not sure within our hearts, if the light of faith is not there, then we shall doubt even our name and surname. We have to be certain at least of the fact that the only way to save the world has to be the way of peace, which one obtains through conversion, through change and through prayer. I, therefore, invite you to open your hearts in order to welcome the messages of Our Lady and with the opening of your hearts, you will be granted light and inner confidence, with which you will be able to go ahead and testify. Then, when you feel this inner strength, this inner light, do not wait for outside help, since the Lord told the apostles to leave everything , not to take weapons with them, but to just set off with confidence, as he had given them power; and we must ask him today and tomorrow for this power, this strangth and this inner light, so as to be able to go forth and to announce. How can we go about announcing ? Do not go into the cities, Milan, Rome, Turin and shout, ‘Our Lady has appeared !’. In a message to a prayer group Our Lady said, “When you carry my messages, try not to be robbed. Carry my messages with humility, so that when people see happiness in you, they might aspire to become like you. Do not carry my message to throw it away to the others.” This is very important; if you want to carry the message of Our Lady, start by living it and being full of divine strength, bringing happiness , salvation, one’s own salvation to others.

The others will notice you are saved and will ask you, ‘How come you are so happy ?’ And so you will start announcing, pointing out the way to salvation. There, I wish you to welcome these prophecies through the visionaries, so that you may become the people, the messengers of salvation.

Already Fr. Slavko has told you that the Rosary starts at six. In a message, Our Lady has addressed herself to the priests asking them to pray the rosary, as the rosary will protect the Catholic Church from the evil that satan wants to bring to this era. So you priests, pray the rosary, devote time to the rosary ! With this I end and give you my blessing.

(Fr. Tomislav Vlasic 13th July 1985)

 

For God to live in your hearts, you must love.

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