Medjugorje Blue Book

Abandon Yourselves Totally to Me

Other languages: English, Italiano
Content of the article
  1. The main message is this : the presence of Our Lady
  2. The family must pray together and read the Bible
  3. To fast means to open up to the Lord
  4. When you are humble, when you pray fervently and when you love, satan cannot even draw close
  5. This is the time of decision
  6. I am with you and I am your Mother
  7. 'Today is the Feast of the Mother of goodness, love and mercy', and She gave us her blessing.
  8. 'Pray so that all the trials which come from satan might result in the glory of God'
  9. We must enter into our prayer before we begin to pray
  10. 'But why do you pray ? To be with God, to feel God inside yourselves'
  11. 'I am beautiful because I love. If you want to be beautiful, love'
  12. 'Be reconciled with Our Lord'
  13. "In our daily lives, we must find the Word of God which saves us in a real way"
  14. I say to you: love
  15. Pray with your Hearts
  16. "In our daily lives, we must find the Word of God which saves us in a real way"
  17. "I knock, but there are so many hearts that still do not open to Me"
  18. You must die in order to be resurrected
  19. 'I invite you to the light you must bring to all those who are in darkness' Lent messages
  20. Our Lady has taught us to take three steps forward in group prayer.
  21. Many stop at Easter and do not live the Resurrection
  22. The first thing to understand is the Will of God, even in suffering
  23. The apparitions are a stage in the spiritual life of the Church
  24. "Pray that hearts gripped by sin may open. I wish for this. God wishes it through me."
  25. When we say "pray" to the people, many do not know what it means
  26. Pray to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment
  27. "You ask me to stay with you always, not to leave you, but now I ask you not to leave me"
  28. In every prayer, we must express our inner life
  29. "I invite you to a more active prayer, and to participate in the Holy Mass. I would like every Mass to become an experience of God for you."
  30. The last daily meeting between Ivanka and Our Lady (7th May 1985)
  31. There is a fundamental error: to ask for things instead of seeking God.

This book is the second 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 January to June 1985.

30 Chapters of this book are now completed

You must die in order to be resurrected

Yesterday evening, through Ivanka, the visionary to whom Our Lady talks about the problems of the Church and the world, there was a short message: "You in the parish have got a great and difficult cross, but do not be frightened. My Son will help you carry it." This message is not only for the parish, but for each of us. Messages are usually on Thursdays, but yesterday evening (Good Friday) She gave us this message, a word a Mother can say to her children, her sons, her daughters.

She said: "You have got a great and difficult cross, but do not be frightened. My Son will help you carry it."

A message precisely for each of us. When we are in trouble, Our Lord always wants to help us if we seek this help with an open heart.

Through Jelena She said something that can help us understand this evening's liturgy and also our lives.

Last Saturday Our Lady gave a symbol, an image. She said: "You all know flowers. A flower must blossom and every part of the flower is very important for the flower. But at a certain moment the flower must fade so that the seed can ripen, and eventually, when it has ripened, other flowers appear."

Jelena could not explain this, but it is for the priest to explain: it is very clear. I think that in this, the whole of today's liturgy is contained: you need to die to be able to be resurrected.

Sometimes we say: what a shame, a flower fades. But if it does not, it cannot produce a seed and ripen; the seed from where the other flowers come.

If you do not die, you do not multiply life. And if you are not prepared, as Jesus said in the Gospel, to lose your life you cannot look forward to the Resurrection. Also yesterday I reminded the people of what Jesus said from the Cross "Here is your Son" , "here is your Mother."

And all those who do not want to carry the cross, all those who do not want what Jesus said: 'If you want to save your life without taking up your cross you will lose it', all those who do not want to stay at the foot of the Cross, will never hear this word "here is your Mother."

The same in this symbol: if we want to save our lives, without God, we will lose them. Our lives will not be multiplied.

This evening the question is this: what is the meaning of dying ? It is the same as Our Lord Jesus said: for all of us dying means dying to sin, dying to selfishness, dying to quarrels, dying to the negative side we have got in our hearts.

In this way the life of peace, of love rises once more, a new life full of grace.

So when Our Lord begs us to die, He does not beg, He does not expect us to annihilate ourselves. Our Lord does not want us to be annihilated, but wants us to carry in our hearts the fullness of peace and love.

And during the liturgy which will be in Croatian some words will also be said for you let this principle enter your hearts: at some time a flower has to fade to be able to produce a new life.

But look: a flower fades at the right moment. You must not pick it. If a flower is picked from the ground it cannot bring forth the ripe seed. This means for all of us to be always patient with ourselves and with others.

Do not unroot something by means of impatience, hate. You need grace to understand this. During this liturgy may you try to understand with your hearts this concept.

Yesterday in the group, through Jelena, Our Lady said something else that can help: "Every day you must look for the strength to be able to stand a day like today." She was speaking also about Herself and said: "Rejoice, be of good cheer, because Jesus, my Son, drank His cup."

Look, here is also a very important point. If every day we try to die a little bit to sin, to die a bit to the negative side we all have: in what we say, in our actions, in our conduct, we will be strengthened, we will be rooted in Our Lord.

All the difficulties and every time we die will be for us, also a path to resurrection. If we do not travel along this path with Our Lord every day, maybe a difficulty, a trial will show us we are without Our Lord's help. Then these two things : "You can have joy, because the Lord my Son, drank His cup."

An example that must be before our eyes and our hearts: when there is a cup, when there is a cross, we must carry it. Even illness or pain is never given to annihilate us, but to go forward. And I say to you also: cheer up whenever you have drunk a cup, whenever you have had a cross, because by means of the cross Resurrection comes. This morning I spoke with a family who came here a year ago. A child of theirs used to have an allergy and had to receive continuous treatment. But no remedy could be found. They heard about the visionaries, so brought the little girl here: since a year now she has not been having any further discomfort.

I said that when you meet Our Lord you solve also your physical problems. Our Lord has promised also to give signs. This is the experience of many and I leave it with you, to give you an impulse. Look: if you have opened your hearts Our Lord can do everything with you, inside you. And if He teaches us sometimes that we must die, that we must cry like Jesus yesterday: 'Father, why did you abandon me? ' afterwards resurrection will come.

In the message of 28th March, She said: "Dear children, pray, pray, pray. In prayer you will have the deepest joy and solve all difficult situations, the ones that look impossible to you. "

This is very important too. Praying means meeting Our Lord and when we meet one who is almighty, who love us, who lets Himself be called Father by us there is no situation that cannot be solved. Not by us, but by Our Lord in us.

This is the very thing Our Lady wants of all of us: She wants us to be ready to die to sin and to be resurrected to peace, to reconciliation.

In a message (14th March) She said: "Many are those coming to you: give them light, dear children." There is nobody all over the world who does not want peace but there are not many who give it: who give light, who offer themselves as love.

During these days we must learn this and above all, those of us present how to give light. And when you go back home, to your families, to work, to school, to your studies, rather than wanting to be loved or wanting others to give you peace: give peace, love others and you will see that life is more beautiful, because Jesus has risen. Now pray. Let this flower live in your hearts, then die and bring forth fruit again.

(Fr. Slavko Barbaric 6th April, 1985)

(P81 )

 

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

`