January 11, 2021 Reflection – The strength and love for all people
The strength and love for all people January 11, 2021 Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Dear Family of Mary! Today I want to share with you the last homily that Fr. Slavko Barbaric gave. It was at mass in Medjugorje on November 24, 2000. He celebrated a special mass with a group of pilgrims from Germany, and honored Franz Gollowitsch, the organizer of the pilgrimage. This was Franz’s 250th pilgrimage! He had been bringing people to Medjugorje for many years! Fr. Slavko spoke about the importance of living Our Lady’s messages. Here is his homily: I would like to say once again ‘thank you’ from the bottom of my heart for all the people who responded in their own way to the message of the Virgin Mary. As Mary has emphasized, it is always good to know that we are very important for her, that she can do nothing without us. When we heard her say, ‘thank you’ for the first time, we were a bit surprised because usually we are the ones appealing to God. It is good to expect everything from God and therefore to be in Adoration in front of the All Powerful. But we have heard Our Lady say, “I need you, you are so important for me, without you I can do nothing.” Very often we do not want to believe it, even if it is the case. God wants each one of us, in the time and in the situation in which we find ourselves. He wants us and has blessed us with talents which he wants to develop in us through His Grace and His Spirit so that we can use them to serve Him. The person who uses his talents loves, believes, hopes, helps others, and thinks of them; he is indispensable in the time and the situation in which God has placed him. I have said this often to people who criticize others too much and also to those who think that they would have acted differently towards God if they were in another’s place: “If God had believed that you could live better and serve better in another place or time, He would not have put you here but in another place or time. He would not have put you here but in another situation. Don’t wish you were in another’s place: but rather open your eyes and ears more to the time in which you live, to the people with whom you live. That is your first task: here, you are needed; here, you are important for God; here, God can do nothing without you.” On the one hand, we receive the love of God and the same love reaches out to others through us. When we receive consolation from God, we must share it with others. And it is only in the time and situation in which we are that we can do what God wants, because here He can do nothing without us. There is one thing that Mary has certainly succeed in doing during these 19 years and 5 months; many people who limited themselves to Sunday Mass have become very active in their Christian life thanks to the messages. That is why we can say today, ‘thank you’ because, throughout the world, there are people who are very faithfully sharing the messages of Mary. A Croatian priest, a missionary in India, told me that every Saturday the evening program of Medjugorje is celebrated not only in one parish, but in several parishes. It is also for this reason that Mary, in her latest message, could say that she thanks God and rejoices in the fact that so many people came for this anniversary and that the Church is renewed in the Spirit. I believe that we can still change many things, for example, ourselves, the Church, and our family in order to see with the eyes of Mary. We are often tempted, to judge them. There are, no doubt, problems. But Mary sees the world in a different way. She sees the good, even if there is only a small amount of it and that it is not enough. She sees it and gives thanks for it. Gratitude is the best rule of education. If you want to learn how to educate someone, you must first see the good in him, even if there is only a small amount. Next, you have to look at his potential and work with him on that. If we are blind to all of that, only seeing the negative side, that which is not perfect, which doesn’t agree with us, then we begin to criticize, to condemn, to refuse. Mary sees the good in the world. She also sees what can be improved and works on these aspects. Read the messages! The messages are positive, they give hope, courage. Mary has awoken in us positive strengths and we want to thank her for that. Those who follow Mary have no time for criticism. Mary encourages us to act, even when we think that it is something that can upset us, that is not easy for us or is not within our reach. It is only then that we can enter the third millennium with Mary and Jesus. So, ‘thank you’ to all those throughout the world who follow Mary, who continue to come and organize. Let us thank Franz Gollowitsch again for his work. He has come to Medjugorje all this time, even during the most terrible moments of the war. Today as always, Franz Gollowitsch is a man indefatigably helping our sick, our refugees and our orphans. His coach was and is always full of material aid. I don’t know how he manages to pass police checks but it seems that there again he has contacts. We thank him for that, and we want to accompany him in prayer, him and all those who have come with him, during this Mass. So a new era, a springtime, as Mary says, will be able to happen. It does not coincide with the calendar, but it is the objective of a new decision. There where we believe everything to be cold, destroyed and in ruin, there we can begin a new path. If you decide to love God and others as yourself, and if many do the same thing, the new era will happen. Amen Fr. Slavko studied Our Lady’s messages. He had learned to think like Our Lady! And in this homily, the last homily he gave us, he left us words to remember. Truly, Fr. Slavko understood how Our Lady looked at us. She is a realist. She sees us, in our imperfect form but it doesn’t stop her from calling us. She will take us as we are and begin to build in us all the graces and gifts that we need to help her, and help Jesus. And she wants us to start with others in a similar way, as they are. In our day, Our Lady is still relating to us in this same beautiful and patient way. She is calling us to start where we are and move forward for the good, regardless of how bad things may seem. As Fr. Slavko said, “There where we believe everything to be cold, destroyed and in ruin, there we can begin a new path. If you decide to love God and others as yourself, and if many do the same thing, the new era will happen.” Amen, and Amen! “Dear children! Today when Heaven is near to you in a special way, I call you to prayer so that through prayer you place God in the first place. Little children, today I am near you and I bless each of you with my motherly blessing so that you have the strength and love for all the people you meet in your earthly life and that you can give God’s love. I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into Heaven and intercedes for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (11/25/2000) In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Cathy Nolan © Mary TV 2021