Medjugorje Grey Book

Open Your Hearts to MARY Queen of Peace

Other languages: English, Italiano

This book is the first of the four volumes of sermons and discourses given by Fr. Slavko Barbaric and Fr. Tomislav Vlasic during 1984 - 1987 in Medjugorje, and contains talks given from Easter until December 1984.

All chapters of this book are now included

The spiritual root from which the fruits of the beatitudes come: a total abandonment to God

Welcome, it is something very beautiful ! You went to Medjugorje to find Our Lady and now, returning home, along the way you have found Immaculate Mary. As you see, in the history of salvation, too, Our Lady is at the beginning and at the end of the Revelation, in the Apocalypse. She is to be found in everyday life as well. I have really experienced in my own life that we walk together with Our Lady more easily towards God, with greater security. I say this because Our Lady does not appear by chance, not like any ordinary saint, but has a special role in the Church for the salvation of each one of us. So I think that this period is the time to rediscover Our Lady's role in salvation, not in the sense of pietism, but in the true sense of theological reality, which is that Our Lady has a special role in the salvation of souls.

You have been given enough items of news in the last few days but I would like to add one more thing. Our Lady asks for conversion: who must be converted ? Everybody, even those who know Scripture, theology and all the laws of the Church, because they too are not sufficiently converted in spite of all their knowledge. In today's Gospel you will hear about someone who knew all the laws but did not understand something very small but fundamental: he did not understand love. He knew perfectly well what was necessary for the law but did not understand how to practice it, did not understand that he had to help his neighbour. Look, those who know all about Christianity are not converted if they do not have an open heart because the Holy Spirit acts within our heart. We all need to be converted, good people and even the best people. Read the Book of Job carefully: at the beginning we are told how Satan presented himself before the throne of God and God asked him: 'Have you seen my servant, Job ? There is no one else amongst men as good as he.' later Job was put to the test. First of all, his possessions were destroyed and when he starts to suffer physically he is filled with rage, but God puts Himself before Job and tells him: 'Be quiet ! I am the Creator and you are a creature.' Job replies: 'Earlier, I spoke like a mad man because I did not know You. I knew You only by what was said of You, but now I have known You.' During his suffering Job abandoned himself to God and reached total adoration. He recognised that God is the Creator and that he must adore Him in every situation. There are two points here I want to stress: not even the wise have been converted, not even the best people have been converted yet. We must all go forward and, through the trials of life, participate in the life of God. When we are ready to adore God with joy, as Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes, to jump with joy in our time of trial, when we are poor, slandered: if we are then capable of being full of joy, full of peace whilst suffering all this, then we are on the road to conversion and ready to live our life with God.

I think that this is what Our Lady wants from us; when she says :"Peace", this peace can be reached by means of our conversion and total abandonment to God. So even the best and wisest amongst are called to conversion to reach this spiritual maturity of total peace, total adoration before God and total joy, even in our trials. This is the spiritual root from which the fruits of the Beatitudes come a total abandonment to God. We must all proceed each day and, through our trials, mature in this abandonment like Job who was the best amongst the sons of men. All of us, the whole of Christianity, the whole Church, all the saints on this earth must go forward, going deeper into spiritual life through the trials which God offers us. These trials are very special graces and those who accept them will progress, but those who do not do so will come up against a wall. These trials bring us to spiritual depth. So if you have trials in your lives or difficulties, jump with joy and praise the Lord because He has allowed you these, because it is through them that your spiritual will deepen and the beatitudes increase. All you possess in this life will be increased if you truly participate in your trials with the fullness of your soul, as Job did.

(Fr. Tomislav Vlasic 8th October 1984)

 

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

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