PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

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Pray, pray, pray...
In 27 years the message has been the same--Pray.

Saturday night-around the corner from my house--the faithful packed into church pews and stood in the aisle...to hear the man who has been speaking daily with the Blessed Virgin Mary--Ivon Draicevic. And on this night, like every day since he began seeing this heavenly vision-Ivon told the crowd--to pray--daily, fervently and from the heart--just pray--for individual peace, peace within families...and for peace in the world.

I first heard that simple pleading when I interviewed Ivon in 1986 in Medugorje...in Bosnia Hercegovina...He and five young people had been seeing and speaking to the "Queen of Peace" since 1981...And from the beginning the consistent message has been an urgent call for prayer---prayer which has the power to change lives and to change the world.

Married with children, Ivon has grown up...and grown accustomed to the attention and the adulation and the lack of autonomy...He is world renowned...world traveled...and wanted by the most unlikely characters...because his unlikely mission has been assigned to him, by heaven...for the benefit of mankind.

I met Ivon 22 years ago- while reporting on the apparitions for WVUE TV here in New Orleans. Back then, he used an interpreter...last night, he spoke English...warmly endearing-broken English. Ivon warned of the destruction of families through divorce, drugs, alcohol and other forms of abuse...The kinds of human weaknesses that spiral out of control...causing untold heartache and suffering. Ivon said there is only one solution...to open our hearts to the healing power of Love -that God is just waiting to send our way.

I don't care what you say...being a visionary isn't easy...people either think you're a God man or a crazy nut...There's rarely any middle ground. The responsibility is pressure enough...but can you imagine being in the cocoon of heaven...every single day...then being jolted back to earth?! Ivon said sometimes, it takes hours to re- enter this world after crossing over to the next...He said it's painful to leave the luminous Love of the Blessed Mother--and return to the noise and the confusion of this life. But that is his cross and his gift... and he carries both...humbly and lovingly... sharing the simplicity of Mary's message...while understanding the complicated penalty of being human.

Before he left, Ivon prayed over the crowd, one by one...He prayed over me...And later we embraced and chatted and I left with a feeling of peace...The same peace I feel every time I go to Medjugorje...or to mass or to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel...or when I watch my children playing or sleeping...

And because of his visit--and his words--and mainly, because of his example--I am reminded of the most powerful weapon and the most comforting gift-Prayer...So pray-pray-pray! Since the beginning of time, the message has been the same-PRAY!

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