THE PROBLEM with those who dare broadcast specific dates for prophecies is that they cheer the devil. Such were the prophecies, mostly posted on youtube, about last Sept. 23 as the official kick off for a rolling Armageddon. One said that unusual and devastating solar flares from the sun would reach earth by then, while another warned that the mysterious Planet X or Nibiru would finally graze near earth and shake our planet to near oblivion.
It’s way past Sept. 23 but not a single fly indicated anything awry and, this morning, my elderly parents were able to amble their way to the breakfast table even sans their canes. Outside, the banana vendor was still hawking loudly in a neighborhood that woke up to kids needing to be dressed up for school and to stray dogs threatening their safety. What Armageddon?
The devil must have delighted, because every Armageddon fail chips off the credibility of prophecies in general. Failed prophecies could make some people, who have read about prophecies from our Marian times, finally disbelieving of any prognostication altogether, including credible ones that give no specifics of dates. Thus, loses the impact of calls for conversion as condition against some prophetic warnings of chastisements.
Despite the Sept. 23 fail, however, only the blinded would not realize the unusual times, often lumped as climate change. The better informed would however, realize that it’s not just climate: the wars and rumors of wars, astonishing visual and auditory signs in the sky, astronomical aberrations, etc. are outside the ken of mere climate.
We’re facing something apocalyptic, so say Marian visionaries of our days, as I have been wont to repeat and repeat in this column. When asked how to prepare children for the most trying times, one visionary replied simply: always be prepared to face God.
Especially in our times, remaining pristine as a Christian would be most difficult. Temptations to sin abound and for Catholics, it is no comfort that there are priests who burden rather than relieve. Like this priest who, in the confessional, chided me for having committed the same sins I had already committed in my forgiven past. I was tempted to remind him the there is no Congress churning out a million laws in Heaven and that with God giving mankind only 10 commandments, there are good chances of repetition.
Anyways, I came across some wise words from Padre Pio, whom we revere dearly, and I am sharing them with the readers to strengthen them in these times of apocalypse. Here are Padre Pio’s words engraved at his tomb in Italy.
1. Do not turn in on yourself as so often happens, unfortunately. In the midst of trials which may afflict you, just place your confidence in our Supreme Good in the knowledge that He takes more care of us than a mother takes of her child.
2. Don’t allow any sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely. If ever you insist on being sad, then let it be a holy sadness at the sight of the evil that is spreading more and more in society nowadays. How many poor are every day deserting God, our Supreme Good!
3. To refuse to submit one’s own judgement to that of others, especially to those who are quite expert in the fi eld in question, is a sign that we possess very little docility and an all too obvious sign of secret pride.
4. The soul that is destined to reign with Jesus Christ in eternal glory, then, must be remodeled by the blows of hammer and chisel. But what are these blows of the hammer and chisel by which the divine Artist prepares the stone, the chosen soul? These strokes of the chisel are the shadows, fears, temptations, spiritual torments and agitation, with a dash of desolation and even physical pain.
5. Never lie down to sleep without having first examined your conscience on the way you have spent the day and without first turning your thoughts to God. Then off er and consecrate your whole person and that of every Christian. Off er, moreover, to the glory of His divine Majesty, the rest you are about to take and never forget your Guardian Angel who is always close to you, who never leaves you no matter how badly you treat him. O unspeakable excellence of this good angel of ours! How many times, alas, have I made him weep when I refused to comply with his wishes which were also God’s wishes! May this most faithful friend of ours save us from further unfaithfulness.
6. Drive away what the enemy is whispering loudly in your ear when he wants you to believe you are almost on the point of being lost. Despite these evil insinuations, the Lord is with you as never before in your tribulations. God tells us. Take heart, then, and don’t be afraid, for it is quite certain that the one who fears to be lost will not be lost and the one who fights with his eyes fixed on God will cry victory and the triumphal hymn. There is nothing to be afraid, for the heavenly Father has promised us the necessary help to prevent us from being overcome by temptations.
7. May Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, enable you to understand all that is contained in the great secret of suffering borne with a Christian spirit. May she obtain for you all the strength you require to climb to the summit of Calvary loaded with your own cross. Great strength is needed, unfortunately, to follow this path, but take heart, for the Savior will never leave you alone or without his help.
8. No matter how great the trial to which the Lord is to subject you, no matter how unbearable your spiritual desolation at certain moments of your life, never lose heart. Have recourse with more childlike trust to Jesus who will never be able to resist bestowing on you some little solace and comfort. Turn to Him at all times even when the devil tries to cast a pall over your life by showing you your sins lift up your voice loudly to Him and let it express your spiritual humility, your heartfelt contrition and your vocal prayer. It is true that God’s power triumphs over everything, but humble and suffering prayer prevails over God Himself.
