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(St. Michael’s in Ukraine, Adopted Patron Saint of Kyiv, Ukraine)

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” – Daniel 12:1-2

Need more be said?

Watch, Prepare and Pray!

“David also said to Solomon his son, Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God is with you.” – 1 Chronicles 28:20

The above picture is where we live.  There is physical devastation, but there is also devastation of the soul.  How many times do we run from really looking at the world around us?  And how many times have we said to ourselves, “it doesn’t matter”.  Especially when it comes to issues such as to who runs this country and the war in Ukraine.  But, as we are forced to see, it does matter. 

If we vote for people such as Biden, than we are responsible for what occurs under his regime.  We can’t vote for people like Biden and then look the other way when people are brutally murdered in the Ukraine.  The responsibility for the War in the Ukraine lies with a number of countries, including America.  And each of our votes – matter.

This world is broken.  Only God can fix it, but we can help.  We can do what is right.  We can vote for a President and Congress who serves our Lord, because the ones we currently have – don’t.  We can’t change what has happened in the past, but we can change what happens today and tomorrow.  And we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us to see the Truth of what is occurring in our world – and what is coming.

Watch through the Eyes of God, Prepare for what is coming, and Pray.

Put your faith in God, for He is always Faithful!

In the 16^th  and 17^th  century, Mary appeared to a little known nun in Ecuador.  It was not nearly as widely reported as Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Lourdes.  And there is probably a reason for that – Mary, our Blessed Mother came to warn us.  However, Our Blessed Mother 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 reawaken.“

Our Lady of Good Sucess

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

One thing that Mary shared was that many would be unable to receive the Sacraments (Holy Communion, Confession, Baptism….).  And has this not occurred due to 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 getting married.  Gay Marriage seems to be the law of the land, despite it being 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, of course.  God forgives all those who truly repent through His Son Jesus Christ.  But the increase of men and women breaking the vow that they made before God is concerning.

There will, for a variety of reasons, be a decrease in Priestly and Religious Vocations.  And that’s important, for who will teach and 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 important.  For those prayers can sometimes bring healing and always bring comfort.

Mary also told us that priests who truly serve the Lord will be attacked.  Both priests and ministers who truly serve the Lord are being attacked daily.  And their message, found in God’s Word is under attack as well.

Mary also said that many of the Faithful will be blinded.  Truly unable to see what is happening around them and truly unable to see what God requires of them!  Will they be lost? Is that not true? How many people, who we really care about, just seem “unable” to see God’s Truth?

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 Sacrament of Matrimony, Depraved Priests, Unbridled lust, Loss of Innocence and Lack of Priestly and Religious vocations” are just a few of the evils which the Blessed Mother warned us would happen.

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 and God is always Faithful.

We need to pray daily, both for the courage we will need and that our faith will grow – despite the difficult challenges we face. And God WILL answer  for our Help and our Hope come from God. And only God 🙂

Thank you, Mary!

This is the beginning of the dark times, not the end.  We will either rise to the occasion or we will fall.  We will either see a great revival, or we will lose.  For only God can Help us now.

Currently, we are facing a war for this nation’s Soul.  A war for our nation’s very survival is coming.

Sadly, although many good servants of Christ have continued to pray and love Him, our nation as a whole has turned away from God.

Our country has been Blessed beyond even our greatest hopes and dreams!  It’s difficult to fathom why our nation, which has been so greatly Blessed by God, would turn away from our Creator, but we have.  Some might even say our nation has turned against our Creator, but until our nation turns back to serving our Lord, we will continue to pay the price.

“To whom much is given, much is expected”.  This concept is from Luke 12:48.

Watch, Prepare, Pray…

First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemoller. Pastor Martin Niemoller was a Christian Pastor born in Germany.  He wrote this poem in 1946.  It was true then and it is true today.

First They Came

“First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

If we allow Russia to take the Ukraine by force, to murder innocent women and children; Putin will not stop at the Ukraine.

Watch, Prepare and Pray. And pray that our nation turns back to God in time!

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” – Daniel 12:1-2

There is no doubt that we are about to enter into some very dark times. The Ukraine already has. But God does not leave us without recourse. His Mercy is always with those who believe in his Son Jesus. We will be “delivered” and Jesus will return 🙂

Remember how God takes care of the sparrow? “Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there” is a line in a song by Wilder Adams.

“When your heart begins to fail, don’t forget that God answers prayers” is great advice too. (from the same song).

God will always be faithful and Jesus will always love us, the Holy Spirit is here to Help us and Mary prays for us. War does not change that! Our destination is still the same!

President Reagan’s foreign policy was once said to be based on, “Peace through Strength”. President Reagan was right. Peace can only be obtained through strength. As a nation, we no longer have that strength, but we still can. If we choose too.

Our strength comes from God, and God alone. The closer we are to God, the stronger we are. And that is just one reason that prayer matters! It is through prayer that we deepen our relationship with God. Prayer can be what we tell God and what God tells us. It can simply be our “Thank you” for all that God has given us.

Prayer can be many things, but it should be a constant in our lives and it should be in Jesus’ Name. If we want to be strong, we need to pray daily.

And a time is coming when we will need all of our strength and God’s!

There is something that makes us all smile-babies. And how many of us find ourselves smiling at the antics of a toddler? Their innocence and smiles make us smile.

But how much of that innocence will be lost forever if the war in Ukraine goes forward? It’s not just soldiers who will be injured and killed; it will be Mothers and babies. It will be children. And they will loose their innocence forever.

Jesus said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” (Matthew 18:6–7, NIV)

Can you imagine watching your mother killed, injured or raped? Imagine you are 5, and you are watching your mother raped right before your eyes and then watch as she is killed, her blood pooling on the floor in front of you. The soldier who brutally raped and killed your mom in front of you, looks at you. He raises his gun and points it at you. And you, even as a child, think you will be next. But he lowers his weapon and walks out.

But even as a child, you wish he had killed you. For now, you are left to live with the memory of your mom, who loved you above all else, being brutally raped and murdered. Now, you are left to fend for yourself at age five, you must find food, water and shelter. This is what war is! This is what we don’t want to face from the comfort of our homes!

Someone else’s battle? Perhaps. But we are all part of God’s family and we don’t get to forget them, nor do we get to forget our responsibility for them, because they are part of our family!

Once before we stood on the sidelines. During the first years of WWII, many were injured and killed. Could we have saved any of them? Should we have? How many suffered because we were afraid?

If war happens, it will happen, in part, because we allowed it to happen.

Pray for peace. For if there is war, there will be great suffering. And if there is great suffering, the responsibilty will be with us all.