Pray Together With a Joyful Heart

By Fr. Slavko Barbaric

The greatest grace received in Medjugorje is not only the recognition of the necessity for prayer, but the actual will to pray and a real desire to respond to Our Lady's call. This is the main dynamic of Medjugorje. Only through prayer can Our Lady's call main goal be realized - Peace between God and man and peace among men.

Fr. Slavko Barbaric

• Language: English
• Publisher: Medjugorje Web
• Release date: Aug 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452485492

Fr. Slavko Barbaric

Fr. Slavko Barbaric resided in Medjugorje from 1982-2000. He suddenly passed away on November 24, 2000. We will miss him greatly and were moved and inspired by his insightful talks and written commentaries throughout the years. We can all be comforted by Our Lady's monthly message a day after his death, which said: "I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into Heaven and intercedes for you."Fr. Slavko wrote many books about the messages of Medjugorje, and was very involved with the millions of pilgrims that visited from all over the world. He led Adoration, Veneration, fasting retreats, heard confessions, and countless other activities based on Our Lady's messages in Medjugorje. He founded Mothers Village; An orphange on the north edge of Medjugorje. He also worked with Cenacolo; A community in Medjugorje that does amazing work with men and women struggling with addictions. Fr. Slavko was a man of deep faith and insight that truly led the life of a saint.

Book preview

PRAY TOGETHER WITH A JOYFUL HEART

(A Handbook for Prayer Groups)

by

Fr. Slavko Barbarić, O.F.M.

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PUBLISHED BY:

The Medjugorje Web - medjugorje.org at Smashwords

Pray Together With a Joyful Heart

Copyright © Informativni Centar Medjugorje 2006

This other Books by Fr. Slavko are also available in Print at: http://www.medjugorje.org/ccart

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I. PRAYING TOGETHER

II. LEADING A PRAYER MEETING

III. PRAYER MEETINGS AND GROWTH IN CHARISM

IV. OUR LADY’S MESSAGES PERTAINING TO THE FAMILY

Prayer in the Family

Praying the Rosary in the Family

Love in the Family

The Bible in the Family

The Family’s Call to Holiness

Destructive Plans of Satan

God in the First Place

Peace in the Family

Visual Expressions

A Family Prayer Meeting

V. PRAYER FOR UNBELIEVERS ON THE SECOND OF EACH MONTH

Prayer to Experience God’s Love

VI. THE PRAYER GROUP WITH IVAN

Time and Method of the Prayer Meeting

VII. A NEW UNDERTAKING

The Large Prayer Group

The Small Prayer Group

VIII. PRAYER MEETING GUIDELINES

Sequence of a Prayer Meeting

IX. GOLDEN RULES FOR MEDJUGORJE PRAYER GROUPS

External Structure

Internal Structure

Prayer Group Activities

X. THEOLOGICAL AND BIBLICAL BASIS FOR PRAYER GROUPS

XI. THE SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECT OF PRAYER GROUPS

XII. THE PRAYER GROUP AND THE PARISH COMMUNITY

XIII. THE LARGE PRAYER GROUP MEETING

XIV. OUR LADY TEACHES US HOW TO PRAY THE OUR FATHER

XV. THE HOLY SPIRIT

Messages

XVI. VISIONS AND MESSAGES TO JELENA AND MARIJANA VASILJ

White and Black Bread

A Pearl

The Vision of Satan

The Wide Passageway

An Experience of Pain

XVII. MESSAGES

XVIII. JELENA’S WITNESS

Prayer of Surrender

Reading and Contemplating the Word of God

XIX. SLAVICA VASILJ’S TESTIMONY

XX. MARIJANA VASILJ’S TESTIMONY

XXI. FRUITS OF A PRAYER LIFE AS PER OUR LADY’S MESSAGES

A Positive Experience of God’s Creation

Silence in the Heart

XXII. THE SIGNIFICANCE AND MEANING OF BLESSING

XXIII. OUR LADY SPEAKS ABOUT SATAN

Satan and Sin against Holiness

In the Name of Jesus Christ

XXIV. HOLINESS

Holiness - A Gift of God

The Family - A Birth Place of Holiness

Prayer for Holiness

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INTRODUCTION

For many faithful, Medjugorje has become a unique school of prayer. By coming to this parish, many have started to pray. It is in Medjugorje that many have encountered the full richness of a prayer life and have decided to follow Our Lady’s program.

First of all, Our Lady asked for the prayer of the Creed and seven Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s. She herself prayed these prayers with the visionaries. Afterwards, She invited everyone to pray one part of the Rosary; and on August 14, 1984, She asked us to pray all three Mysteries of the Rosary every day - the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. In that same year, She invited the entire parish community to adore Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. She did not stop there, either. She invited us to assist at the celebration of the Holy Mass, not only on Sundays. She also asked us to pray before the Cross and to pray the Stations of the Cross so as to encounter Jesus, Who suffers for us. She invited everyone to read Sacred Scripture daily and to go to confession monthly.

Although all of this pertains to us as individuals, the invitation to prayer does not stop there. Our Lady also calls us to pray in the family and in prayer groups. The visionaries continually stress that the first prayer group is actually the family and, only after that, in the general sense, is it the prayer group.

Neither the content nor the manner of prayer is new. This invitation has been known to us from the beginning. What is new, however, is that in Medjugorje many have come to understand the necessity of prayer and have started to pray.

In the world today there are many individuals who pray. Many families have responded to Our Lady’s call to prayer, and many prayer groups which follow Our Lady’s teachings and messages have been formed.

In Her messages Our Lady has most often called us to prayer even more often than She has called us to peace. We will understand this when we accept the fact that prayer is a means to a goal. That goal is peace.

The aim of this book is to help all those who have responded to Our Lady’s call - whether individually, as a family or as a prayer group - to understand the meaning of that call and to function and grow properly in Our Lady’s spirit.

The greatest grace received in Medjugorje is not only the recognition of the necessity for prayer, but the actual will to pray and a real desire to respond to Our Lady’s call. This is the main dynamic of Medjugorje. Only through prayer can Our Lady’s call main goal be realized

- peace between God and man and peace among men.

Additionally, it is my desire to present in this book the history and the development, as well as the methodology and education, of Our Lady’s messages.

Likewise, it is my desire that this book will help individuals who pray and prayer groups to escape the dangers which threaten them, and so put to good use all the advantages of praying together.

This book also includes practical suggestions for organizing prayer and praying together.

It is most important that through the events of Medjugorje many have readily responded to the call to pray becoming worthy and faithful disciples of prayer, with a genuine desire to pray. This is the greatest grace of Medjugorje. The messages and the invitations of Our Lady, in themselves, contain nothing new. It is the motivation to pray and the experience of prayer that are new and powerful.

The meaning and the strength of the events of Medjugorje lie herein. If no one responded to the call to pray, all of the messages and events would have no meaning. In themselves they contain nothing new. They only repeat what is known already.

It is my wish that in reading this book you may come to feel a deep desire to pray and realize this desire on a personal level, then on a family level and the level of a prayer group.

The Holy Spirit is the true teacher of prayer. For this reason it is important for all of us who are in Mary’s school to pray to Him as She invites us to. When He pours Himself out in His fullness, our hearts will be prepared to pray without ceasing.

May it be so.

Fr. Slavko Barbaric, OFM St. James Parish, Medjugorje

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I. PRAYING TOGETHER

I have often been asked, What is a prayer group and how is it to be led? I have given various answers, with a desire to help the pilgrims put their good will and good resolutions into practice.

First of all we need to remember that Jesus said when two or more are gathered together in prayer to the Father, in His name, the Father will grant them what they pray for (Mt 18,19-20). Thus, as we can see from a Biblical perspective, prayer together has a special power. Once we recognize that prayer is a conversation with God, however, it is important to stress that it has its own vocabulary, grammar and content, which, as in any language, need to be well practiced.

When we are learning a language and want to speak it, we must converse with others. Without such conversation we are unable to learn. Likewise, in order to be able to converse with others, we need to practice on our own and learn the words and the grammar. It is the same with prayer. In order for us to learn to pray well, we must pray with others; and in order to pray with others, we must pray on our own also. Personal prayer is a condition for praying together, and praying together helps us to pray on our own.

If we only prayed with others, we would not be able to grow in prayer. Likewise, if we did not pray with others, in our solitude and separation from others, we would be in danger of never learning how to pray properly.

The first prayer group is the family. Parents must pray with their children, and children must pray with their parents. Just as it is impossible to envision a family where there is no dialogue, it is impossible to envision a Christian family where there is no prayer together. This is equally important for both parents and children. Mother Teresa said that a family that prays together, stays together, and a family that stays together grows in love.

In the educational sense, it is important for children to see their parents praying and to learn to pray with them. We are well aware of the stage in a child’s development when a child experiences his father as the strongest and the smartest man in the world. This is good for the personal development of a child. When a child sees his father praying with his hands folded in prayer, a child comprehends, even if subconsciously, that just as he folds his hands when asking his mother and father for something, so his father folds his hands before someone who is greater and stronger, smarter and richer than he is. In this way, the heart and soul of a child become open to a supernatural experience. A child thus becomes capable of meeting God the Father, Who is almighty and transcends every human creature dependent on Him. For this reason, it is very important for parents to pray with children and for the father to be active in prayer. It is also important for the prayer in the family to be on a regular basis.

If the parents do not pray together and do not pray with their children, it is difficult to expect the children to pray.

Today when we hear that young people do not want to pray, it is always a sad indication that parents failed in their prayer life. As a child is growing up, there is a time of crisis in prayer. This is completely normal. It is in these growth crisis situations that a child must decide for personal prayer and a personal encounter with God. This can last for an extended period, but when parents pray with their children, those children will be able to overcome every crisis and emerge more mature in their faith.

Every family needs to pray together, regardless of the age of the children. Children perceive things and events, and they feel and experience the family