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Mary’s Message Of Hope

During the 16th and 17th centuries, our Blessed Mother Mary appeared in Ecuador to a little known Spanish nun. She gave both a warning and hope for the future. Mary predicted a “spiritual catastrophe” that would occur in the Catholic church, beginning sometime after the mid 1900’s and spread.

One thing that Mary shared was that many would be unable to receive the Sacraments (Holy Communion, Confession, Baptism…). And did this not occur during Covid? While Walmart was deemed “essential”, church was not!

Mary also warned that the Sacrament of Marriage would be attacked. And has it not been? Less and less young people are even getting married. Gay marriage seems to be the law of the land, despite the fact that it is clearly displeasing to God! And in spite of the fact that during the Sacrament of Marriage, we pledge before God to love another person until death due us part, divorce has grown by leaps and bounds.

Does God forgive us if we ask in Jesus’ Name and repent? Of course! God forgives all of those who truly repent though His Son Jesus Christ. But the increase of men and woman breaking the vows that they made before God is concerning. Is Marriage under attack? Yes!

There will, for a variety of reasons, be a decrease in Priestly and Religious vocations. And that is important, for who will teach us? And who will help to hold us accountable? Who will lead the effort to continue the faith?

Many of the sick will not receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. In other Christian Churches, this is simply called a Prayer for the Sick. And it’s also important. For those prayers sometimes bring healing and always bring comfort.

Mary also told us that priests who truly serve the Lord would be attacked. Have they not been? Both priests and ministers who truly serve the Lord ARE being attacked. And their message, found in God’s Word, ARE under attack as well!

Mary also said that many of the Faithful would be Blinded. Truly unable to see what is happening around them and to them, and truly unable to see what God requires of them! Will they be lost?

Mary also said even more people will fall into sin! Too many will pick and choose among God’s Word, seeking to justify their sinful choices, but there will be no justification before God!

“Widespread moral corruption, Profanation of the Sacraments of Matrimony, Depraved Priests, Unbridled Lust, Loss of Innocence and Lack of Priestly and Religious Vocations” are just a few of the evils that Mary warned us would happen.

This will be a time of punishment. But Mary said, ” I will always be there ready to listen to their cries and soothe their pain. Tell them that they should always run to their Mother with confidence and love…”

And Mary also said, “But when evil finally seems to triumph over all, when all seems lost, Complete Restoration of the Church will begin and the Church will finally reawaken.” Because God loves us 🙂

We need to pray daily, both for the courage we will need and that our Faith will grow-despite the difficult challenges we will face. And God WILL answer, because He loves us 🙂

The Assumption of Mary

As the Apostles prayed and watched, Mary died and later was taken into Heaven, body and soul. Some believe this and some do not. I do.

But make no mistake, this is not just a Catholic belief. Martin Luther also believed in the Assumption of Mary, as did the great Protestant reformer H. Bullinger.

Why wouldn’t Mary be Assumed in to Heaven. Assumed simply means that God took Mary’s body up into Heaven with Her soul. Why wouldn’t He?

Imagine how much God must have loved Mary. How much Jesus must have loved His mother! She followed their Will always. She walked with them Daily. No matter what the Cost, no matter how much Pain or Suffering, Mary was always Faithful and always Willing. A True Temple of the Holy Spirit, Mary loved us all and She has never stopped 🙂

Of course, God would want to do something special for Mary!

Shades of Sodom and Gomorrah

By Chris Moen

“Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in the ancient city of Sodom up until the time of its destruction (Genesis 14:12; 19:1). Sodom and Gomorrah were among five cities of the lush Jordan valley (Genesis 14:2). The region “was of extraordinary beauty and fertility. … Its appearance was then so attractive as to bear comparison with the garden of the Lord and the land of Egypt” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Genesis 13:10-12).

In spite of the beauty and abundance of good things in those cities, Sodom and Gomorrah were also renowned for their wickedness. Rather than living by God’s instructions, “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD” (Genesis 13:13).

So God investigated “the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah,” and He decided to destroy them in Lot’s day because their sin was “very grave” (Genesis 18:20). It was in God’s perfect judgment that He destroyed these cities, letting them serve as sobering examples for all mankind to learn from.

Jesus Christ said that societies at the end of the age would parallel those in the days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30). Regarding the time of Lot, Jesus said, “They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (verses 28-29). The discerning individual will look further into God’s Word to comprehend what Jesus meant.

Paul called the period just before Christ’s return “perilous times.” He said they would be filled with pleasure-seeking, materialism, immorality, violence, idleness and rejection of the things of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Sodom’s evils described

From the creation, Paul explained, mankind quickly began drifting away from God’s ways (Romans 1:20-25). As mankind went astray, men and women began to exchange the wholesome, God-ordained use of sex for vile and shameful passions (verses 26-27). Paul also listed a number of other sinful behaviors that humans began practicing as they turned from God (verses 28-31).

Likewise addressing sexual immorality, the apostle Jude said that Sodom and Gomorrah, “having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).

What Jude called “strange flesh” (“unnatural lust,” Revised Standard Version) is often called “alternative lifestyles” in our modern age. The term sounds so innocent in our culture, but this denotes sexual behavior that is unnatural and offensive to God (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Jude 1:7).

When we read Genesis 19:1-8, it becomes easy to see that this is what both Paul and Jude had in mind. Sodom’s society was steeped in widespread sexual immorality, including homosexual acts and vicious rapes (verses 4-5). The residents of Sodom had become so evil that God could not find even 10 righteous people among them (Genesis 18:32).

More sins of Sodom

In the book of Ezekiel, God listed some of the other sins of Sodom in the context of showing how Judah had become much like Sodom. God told Judah, “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they [the Sodomites] were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16:49-50).

God also compared the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem with the people of Sodom. “They commit adultery and walk in lies; they also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:14).

When the leadership of a society doesn’t set a good moral example and evil is allowed to flourish, the population will generally decline toward the same bad behavior (Ecclesiastes 8:11). To learn more about the similar societal conditions before the Flood in Noah’s day, read “As in the Days of Noah.”

Signs of the times

In his book Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline (1996), former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Robert H. Bork explained the roots of American cultural decline and degeneracy. He cited increased violence in and sexualization of mass media, the legalization of abortion and the decline of religion, among other factors. These societal ills are contrary to God’s laws that bring peace, success and strength to any nation.

This is clearly a sign of our time. Our Western societies today are following this same trend of flaunting sin openly and publicly.Before God destroyed Judah for following the same pattern as Sodom and Gomorrah, He warned His people that they were becoming boastful and unashamed of their blatant sins. God said, “They declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:9).

This is clearly a sign of our time. Our Western societies today are following this same trend of flaunting sin openly and publicly.

God spoke about Judah’s moral decline, asking, “‘Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 6:15).

We should pay attention to this warning today!

Could disaster strike again?

God preserved the biblical record of Sodom and Gomorrah for every generation to read and take warning. Today the world is heading recklessly toward the edge of a cliff, like a runaway car down a winding mountain road. As humans reject God’s laws of sexual morality and cast off all restraint, without large-scale repentance, eventually disaster will come.

God does not enjoy punishing people (Ezekiel 33:11). God truly desires everyone to repent and turn toward Him, seeking His mercy (Isaiah 55:6-7). But God also does not change His abhorrence of wickedness. Eventually, God will punish everyone who hears and then rejects His laws.

God offers people and nations a way to avoid punishment, saying, “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it” (Jeremiah 18:7-8, emphasis added).”

For more by Chris Moen: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/authors/chris-moen/

“The Hope Of Every Heart”

A very dear friend of mine shared this with me and I wanted to share it with you 🙂

“Thousands of years of fervent, desperate prayers to God and pleas for deliverance were answered the day Christ was born. It was the absolute shaking of the spiritual and physical realms when God Himself was incarnated – becoming one of us in order to carry out All His Promises He had given through the ages. His Word shares with you, “they shall call His name IMMANUEL, which translated means GOD with us.” Truly, this IS the foundation upon which every hope and joy rests. It IS the Truth that God IS with you!! For some find Christmas a difficult time of year because their focus is on relationships, possessions, activities and disappointments, instead of keeping their eyes on the One who has given them All things. One looks to what they don’t have instead of what cannot be taken from them.

Your Heavenly Father, Son and Holy Spirit IS with you! He Loves you. He listens to the cries of your heart. When you are hurting, He IS near to you and cares for you. When you are powerless, He gives you His Strength. When you are in despair, He brings His Promises to mind and reveals His Blessings He has planned for you. When you feel disrespected, worthless, or inadequate, He reminds you that you are His, that He died for you, that He adores you, that He IS your adequacy and that He will NEVER let you go. He IS SO Good!!

Encourage you this Christmas to focus on the Hope of every heart: Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Unwrap the Gift that was first given so long ago on that Extraordinary Night in the town of Bethlehem. Do not be distracted by the presents, the food, the activity, or the trimmings. Just look to Immanuel, God with us. Focus on His Presence no matter where you are. Rediscover the Absolute Wonder of Christmas. You will also see how Jesus meets your every need. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be Done. Amen. Peace”

May you have a Happy and Holy Christmas Season as you prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth 🙂

Isaiah: God’s Warning!

In Isaiah, God warns us of what will happen if we do not listen and obey:

“I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

⁵Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.” – Isaiah 66:4-5

Why it is so hard for some to believe the teachings of God, but so easy for some to believe the lies of this world?

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready!

Two Men – One War

While praying the Rosary, I saw a young man dressed in an air force uniform and he told me his story:

“I flew planes and shot down other places, but never saw anyone actually die. It was all so far way.

One day, my plane was shot down and I managed to parachute down, but landed in the midst of fighting. I saw a man get shot and ran over to help him.

As he lay dying, there was not much I could do to help him physically, so I prayed. As I knelt beside him praying, I also was also shot.

And as I lay there dying, I realized that none of us really had a choice in this war and I prayed that God would forgive us both.”

How Then Do We Live?

How we live is not governed by a country; it’s governed by God! And fortunately for us, He shared exactly how we need to live in His Word. For God is the ultimate decider of right and wrong!

Children and Parents

“6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

⁵Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; ⁶not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ⁸knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

⁹And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that ^[a]your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[b]wiles of the devil. ¹²For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of ^[c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gracious Greeting

²¹But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; ²²whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.

²³Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.“ – Ephesians 6

Welcome St. Lucia

God’s Gift

God wants each of His children to
know about His Gift to them: nature!

“In every true searcher of Nature there is a kind of religious reverence, for he finds it impossible to imagine that he is the first to have thought out the exceedingly delicates threads that connect his perceptions.”

Albert Einstein

Gabriel’s Assignment

A very good friend shared this with me, and I wanted to share it too 🙂

“Once upon a time, as the tall, stately angel rose and walked toward the front of God’s angels in training, there was a buzz among them. Gabriel was a living legend. He cleared his throat, “I’ve been asked to speak to you today about what I’ve learned throughout my career. Most important is this: we are servants of the Most High God. This lesson I learned not during my days here, but from a human being, a girl. I had been summoned before God to be briefed on a new mission. He told me, “Gabriel, you have a most delicate assignment. I AM sending My Son to redeem the earth, To do this He must become a human Himself. Your mission is to announce this plan to the young woman I have chosen to be His mother. Her name is Mary. She lives in the village of Nazareth in Galilee. She is betrothed to be married. That means that she is already considered a wife, though she is living at home until the final ceremonies a few months from now. And Gabriel, she is a virgin.” God concluded with these words, “Gabriel, by all means, be gentle.”

She’s only a child, he thought when he first saw her upon arrival. Betrothed at that age? But such were the customs of that place and he was assured that the Father knows what He is doing. Gabriel said to Mary, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; you are blessed among women!” Without a doubt, she was troubled. Then Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom there will be no end.” Of course, Mary said to Gabriel, “How can this be, since I am not yet married?” Gabriel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will over-shadow you; that Holy One who IS to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing IS impossible!”

AMAZING! The Father was prepared to rest His entire Christ introduction on this young girl – her response, her decision. She was to be the mother of God’s own Son – so young. Then Mary said, “Behold the maid-servant of the Lord! Let it be according to your word.” Gabriel knew this was going to be difficult for Mary, with trying to explain this to anyone. Who would believe her? Her father would be furious, her mother deeply hurt. And Joseph? There would be no wedding. Her dreams of normal marriage and family vanished in an instant. And town fathers? Would they try to stone her? This is how Gabriel met Mary. She taught him what it means to be a servant when it’s hard to obey, when there seems to be no hope except God’s Promises. Mary took his words given to him by the Father, “For with God nothing IS impossible,” and BELIEVED them. Gabriel shared with those looking intently at him, “When I struggle with obedience, I think of this young girl who began a servant’s journey with the words: “Behold the maid-servant of the Lord! Let it be according to your word.”

My thoughts and prayers are with you to learn from Mary, to BELIEVE with God NOTHING IS impossible. That you ask Him for His Will and Purpose for your life on earth and Truly Trust Him in His Direction for you. That you know His Joy and Peace in being His servant. That you share Him with others. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”