Medjugorje: Father Jozo "because Our Lady tells us to fast"

God created all other creatures and submitted them to man; however man became his slave. We are addicted to many things: from food, from alcohol, from drugs, etc. When we are polluted by hatred nobody can persuade you to change, grace must intervene so that you can overcome satan, like Christ in the desert.

It is not possible for grace to intervene if no sacrifice is made. We can do without many things; you can live without houses, as happened in the war in Mostar and Sarajevo for many. In a second, those people no longer had homes. Everything is ephemeral: we must rest our security only in Christ: Here is my Body for you, here is my nourishment, the Eucharist. Our Lady had predicted the war ten years before and said: "You can avoid it with prayer and fasting". The world has not trusted in the apparitions of Medjugorje and the war has broken out.

Our Lady says: Pray and fast because times are bad. Many say it is not true. But how is this not true? We see war today, but look: the war is worse than atheism, materialism. What do you think of a mother who agrees to suppress her son, a doctor who agrees to abortion? And they are thousands! You cannot say that only in Bosnia there is war, in Europe there is war and everywhere because there is no love; in the destroyed and separated family there is war. This is why it is important to fast, to see how Satan builds false ways to mislead us from good.

Today fra Jozo tells us about the great grace that the whole parish received during the first fast: the desire to confess.

One day Yakov came to the Church and told me that he had a message from Our Lady. I replied to him to wait for the end of the Mass. At the end I put it on the altar and he said: "Our Lady asked to fast." It was Wednesday.

I asked the parishioners if they understood the message well and I proposed to fast on the following Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Some protested that it was little. In those days nobody felt hungry, all the parishioners felt only love for the Madonna. On Friday afternoon thousands of faithful asked to confess. Over one hundred priests have confessed all afternoon and all night. It was wonderful. After that day, we started fasting on Wednesday and Friday.