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Some people go through an entire life not knowing their purpose or why God has given them the gifts he has. Up until June of 2010 I was a secure, self employed business man (LaVallee Bakery), married for 35 years, with two adult children as partners in our enterprise.  My priorities were golf, business, family, and God in that order.

I met Jim Caviezel at the Catholics Men’s conference in 2010, and he invited me to Medjugorje. At the time, Medjugorje was not on my radar; in fact I could not even spell it or know where it was. After the invite, I boldly told Jim, “do not get your hopes up; I am not flying fifteen hours to say a Rosary.” Today I pray the rosary not say the rosary.

Our Lady has a way of showing us a different path, and she certainly did with me. I am forever grateful to her love, and the direction she used to bring me back to her Son. While in Medjugorje for the first time, I experienced a life confession, behind Saint James church, that was full of love, forgiveness, and continuous tears. After two and a half hours, my shirt was soaked. This single experience of the sacrament has made the biggest impact on my life. Soon after returning home, I started to passionately live the five stones of Medjugorje, and reading the messages. I am now a daily Mass participant, a daily scripture reader, I pray the Rosary daily, go to Confession weekly, and fast on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays. Personally, Medjugorje and Our Lady have transformed my life. Now I know why she is called Queen of Peace.

During this trip to Medjugorje, I started reading all the books of Father Slavko Barbaric, but I was especially intrigued by his fasting books. Fasting is the one tool that Our Lord has given us, and we are not using it. It is rarely practiced, and seldom taught in our church today. Yet, in biblical times fasting was a way of life. Should it be a way of life today? I believe so!

Until we are able to detach ourselves from the worldly things I do not believe we are able to get closer to God. Our prayer intentions are sent to God by way of snail mail, and with fasting it becomes a FEDEX to Our Lord. In fact, I often like to say to my friends, “Our Lady is the FedEx to her Son, Jesus. How would you like all your prayer intentions to come back with a confirmation from Our Lord?” I can say this because I am sure that my full conversion could not have been possible without fasting.

Here is an example of how God answers the prayers of those who fast. LaVallee’s Fasting Breads was founded in early 2012 and we launched a pilot program during the Lenten season of that year. The Lenten fasting challenge had over two hundred and fifty people sign up and commit to deepening their prayer and fasting during the Lenten season. While at Easter Mass in 2012, I had returned from receiving the Holy Eucharist, and prayed to God about the possibility of a year round fasting program. I specifically asked Our Lord to give me a direct message that I could understand if He wanted to continue this project year round. Our Lord didn’t waste any time. On that same night, I received a phone call at home. The caller was my Dad’s best friend— a man that I had not spoken to or seen in over thirty-five years. The last time I saw him was at my father’s funeral in 1975. Mr. Bill Toland was reading an article on LaVallee Fasting Breads in the Boston Pilot Newspaper and opened the conversation by saying:

“I don’t know what prompts an 86 year old man to call someone that he hasn’t seen in 35 years, but I am reading the Pilot and this article on you and the fasting breads. I want you to know that if your Dad were alive today, he would be very proud of this project and I also want you to know that you need to continue this – the Church needs fasting.”

You see, in one phone call Our Lord answered my prayer and defined to me what he had planned for me when I was created by him. The gift of forty years of experience in the bakery business allowed me to learn how to create the proper fasting breads, and help answer his Mother’s call to prayer and fasting. Father Svet once said to me “Andrew if you do not do this, no one will. Our Lord has saved this task for your life.”  I agree with him, and with great love and devotion to Our Lady we have created Live the Fast, a full time year round fasting movement focused on the benefits of prayer and fasting. www.livethefast.com

Our Lady of Medjugorje has called each of us. I encourage you to prayerfully consider deepening your spiritual life through fervent prayer and fasting and allow yourself to be fully transformed in the light of Our Lady and her most precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.