At the beginning of the book's introduction Jakov Bubalo wrote: “The first two books by Fr Slavko Barbarić, Pray with the Heart and Give me your wounded Heart, spoke about prayer with the heart and confession with the heart. This one, Celebrate Mass with the Heart, speaks not only about the human heart, but leads us into the very heart of the Christian liturgy – Holy Mass - the unbloody sacrifice of Jesus. It leads us to the dearest and the most precious thing that God could have ever offered to His creatures. It describes the most beautiful miracle and brings us face to face to the greatest wonder of the infinite love of God for men.“ At the end of the introduction, he added: “Just like the two preceding books, this book contains prayers, Bible quotations, Our Lady's messages, texts written by Saint Francis of Assisi and other saints.“
At the beginning and the end of the introduction part of the book we can perceive the basic key of the book, the reasons for its creation, and the mission that this book has. Fr Slavko's words, inspired by Our Lady's messages and many years of experience with the pilgrims from all over the world are so simple and easy to intrigue so much that these little booklets travel around the world to the hearts of many people every day. That path, opened by Our Lady was continued by Fr Slavko. This book-set teach us how to surrender our wounded heart to Him and how to begin to pray. Then, after we accept that, the Holy Mass as the culmination of our Catholic life and beliefs becomes the most beautiful meeting on earth. It was Our Lady who wanted this to be done by Fr Slavko, her servant. He wrote somewhere in the first chapters: “Holy Bible or Holy Scripture is God's Word spoken to men at difficult times and through different people, but always with the same message: God loves men and offers salvation. God speaks directly to some people, for example the prophets, and then they speak in His name. Some lives and destinies are in themselves God's message,“ not knowing that he will be one of the prophets he was talking about.
Most of all, this book encourages us to reflect on the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. Answering quoestions as:
- How to make Mass as center of our life?
- How to prepare for Holy Mass?
- Which prayers to pray before?
- How to make Him, Jesus in the centre of our life?
Somewhere in the middle of the book he wrote: „In her messages, Our Lady tells us simple things in order to encourage us in a motherly way, to stir us up, to teach us and educate us. Her invitation to endure trials is an encouragement for all those who are tired or scared, who have maybe lost the desire to participate in the eucharistic sacrifice.“ After that he conveys Our Lady's message from April 15, 1988: „Dear children! God wants to make you holy; that is why He is inviting you through me to complete surrender. Let Holy Mass be your life. Understand that a church is God's palace, a place in which I gather you and want to show you the way to God. Come and pray. Do not look at others or gossip, but let your life be a testimony on the way of holiness. Churches are worthy of respect and they are consecrated because God, who became man, dwells in them day and night. Therefore, little children, believe and pray to the Father to increase your faith, and then ask for what you need. I am with you. I look forward with joy to your conversion and I protect you with my motherly mantle. Thank you for having responded to my call.“
Our Lady continues to call us to the conversion and she thanks for responding, but are we? That is the basic question? Do we really pray with the heart? Do we live with the heart? Are we going to the Holy Mass with the heart? Every new day is our calling to the conversion but what with the people around us? There's always „that one“ who needs to find hope and for whom we pray.
If You think that Fr Slavko words can help You or can help someone near You in the way of holliness, You may buy the book in the link below:
