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Monday, November 9, 2009

FAST WITH THE HEART BY FATHER SLAVKO BARBARIC


Father Slavko Barbaric has written many books about the messages of Medjugorje during his lifetime. His book Fast with the Heart is one of my favorite books. This is the last book written by Father Slavko and one of his most precious gifts for us. Why did Father Slavko write this book? According to him, fasting is the door to the mystery of Christ's presence in the Eucharist. To meet Christ in the Eucharist, we have to prepare ourselves through fasting. 

In Medjugorje, Our Lady calls us to fast two days a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. But why on Wednesdays and Fridays? Thursday is the day of the Eucharist and the Priesthood. The purpose of the Wednesday fast is to prepare ourselves for the day of the Eucharist. The Friday fast is carried out to offer thanksgiving to God for the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, Christ enters into our lives and we are united with ourselves and with Him forever. If we could experience the glorious presence of Christ in our everyday life and live the Eucharist in everything we do, we are living thr eternal life now. Those who are ready to respond to Our Lady's call to pray and fast with the heart will find this book very inspiring as it clearly explains the whys and hows of fasting in our lives.

What is the best kind of fast? According to Our Lady of Medjugorje, bread and water is not the only way to fast but it is also the best way. As Catholics, we have to get accustomed to "bread and water" fasting since it is the best way to fast. But why "bread and water" fasting? Well, let us ask Father Slavko Barbaric to explain to us the meaning and purpose of the "bread and water" fast. His answer is summarized below.



BREAD AND WATER - PILGRIM'S FOOD

Our Lady's call to fast with bread and water is a call to prepare ourselves for the meeting with Christ in the Eucharist. Fasting increases our self-awareness and enables us to see the meaning and purpose of our earthly life more clearly. As we begin to see life more clearly, we will understand and accept the fact that we are only strangers traveling through this world. This world is not our home because we are pilgrims on a journey toward eternity. As strangers and aliens on Earth, our entire life is comparable to that of a pilgrimage - a journey of self-discovery to seek the presence of God with a destination in mind. We should look toward heaven because this is where our home is. 

Human beings have always been looked upon as wanderers on this earth - not knowing where they come from or where they are going. However, from the standpoint of a believer, our views of being human is entirely different. Life is a journey to eternity. The essence of life is seeking after God and finding Him. As strangers and pilgrims on earth, we are constantly going on a sacred journey in search of ourselves and God. In our minds, there are always questions about eternal life, happiness and peace and the answers to these questions can only be found in our prayers if we diligently seek to receive answers from God. A believer does not wander about aimlessly. He journeys to the fullness of life in search of the final truth about himself and this can only be achieved through an intimate relationship with God. Have faith in this pilgrimage of life as God will reveal Himself to the faithful in a special way.

In the past, there weren't any modern transport facilities and pilgrimages often lasted for weeks, months and even years. During those days, pilgrims could only bring with them the basic necessities of life - bread and water. After all, what else could be more basic than bread and water? Leaving the complex world behind and going on a sacred journey surviving on bread and water, they were free from life's burdens. Setting themselves free from the concerns and problems of life, they were therefore able to travel freely in search of God. However, even after they have returned from their pilgrimage and resumed their normal life, this did not stop them from being pilgrims in everyday life. Why? Because they did not consider this world their permanent home. Because they considered themselves going on a pilgrimage toward their eternal homeland where they could find perfect peace and joy, unity with God and everlasting life.

As we humble ourselves fasting on bread and water, we break ourselves free from the chains of materialism. Escaping materialism is the best way to find greater happiness, contentment, love and inner peace. Fasting also improves our moods, brain functionaing and mental clarity and therefore helps us to know ourselves better. Discovering who we are is essential because we need to find the real meaning and purpose of our existence. Once we have forgotten that we are only temporary residents on earth, we tend to attach ourselves to material things and obsessively pursue wealth. Hence, we become self-destructive because materialism destroys our spiritual life, blinds our eyes with earthly treasures and distracts us from life's purposes.

God has given us the Heavenly Bread, His Son, who has become our companion on our pilgrimage to eternity. This is why Jesus is also called Emmanuel, meaning 'God is with us'. As we set out on our pilgrimage with bread and water as our basic needs, God journeys with us through the bread of life, His Son, Jesus Christ, the life of the world. Let us always remember that God will not let us make the pilgrimage of life alone. The beauty of this journey is that God journeys with us in the form of the Living Bread. Those who choose to journey with God will find the way to eternal life while those who set their minds on earthly possessions instead of on things above would make themselves enemies of God. As what Jesus says, "No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and hate the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

It should be noted that fasting is more than healing, calming the mind and freeing oneself from earthly desires. Fasting is also hungering and thirsting for God, and, together with prayer and charity, are fundamental to our spiritual and religious experiences. The ability to see ourselves clearly, to open ourselves to God and surrender ourselves completely to Him will help us find our way back to Him and be united with Him forever.



FASTING AND GOOD WORKS

In the Old Testament, it has been emphasized that it is not enough just to fast and pray. Apart from fasting and praying, as believers, we must also do charitable works. Fasting, prayer and good works are important practices for our spiritiual lives that always go hand in hand because they are closely associated and connected with each other. Those who fast and pray would become aware of the incongruencies in their lives, their bad habits, their needs, their blessings and thus gain additional self-control and insights that may change their lives for the better. As they focus more attentively on God and less on this materialistic world, they become more charitable and are more willing to give and help those in need. On the contrary, those who do not fast and pray are more likely to be obssessed with wealth and material possessions. However, those who pursue wealth and material possessions are never satisfied with life and are only interested in increasing their earthly possessions and accumulating earthly riches. Once they set their minds on worldly things, they would waste their lives chasing money and possessions. Do wealth accumulation and material possessions make us happy? The more we need, the less we have to give to others. When we are obsessed with worldly things, we may become agitated, avaricious, miserly and even violent if we cannot get what we want. Materialism is bad for us - it destroys us and eats us from the inside out. Once we desire to be rich, we begin comparing ourselves with others and we want to have what others have. If our priority is making money and having many possessions, we have to follow the rhythm of the world. When we start placing wealth and material things at the center of our lives, we are left with very little time and energy to focus on our spiritual values and family life.

Through fasting and prayers, we are capable of seeing ourselves more clearly and as we understand more about the meaning and a purpose of our existence, we become less obsessed with wealth and material possessions. We also become more generous, forgiving, and sensitive to the needs of others and are more ready to help them. Seeing Christ in the poor and suffering, we would do everything we can to help them out of love for Christ. Worldly riches are not true wealth. True wealth is about how much compassion we have for the less fortunate, most vulnerable, poor, suffering and needy people. 

Thanks for reading. You may also like to read FATHER SLAVKO BARBARIC'S BOOK ON FASTING. To view the content page of this blog, please click here.


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