Schindler's List / Penance! Penance! Penance!

God speaks to us in many ways, leading us to who we are truly supposed to be.  Most people, push away the harder, more eternal truths because frankly, they are quite terrifying.  God is far more terrifying than the devil ever thought about being.  Most people are like the German's that lived around the Death Camps during WWII, vaguely aware of what the real truth is, but pushing it away because it would interfere with their everyday lives and security.  People hate change and few will embrace it even for themselves, nevertheless for the good of another.   But some will, even at great risk to themselves.  These brave souls are needed even today.  

You see, what happened in Schindler's list is happening even today, but in a way that most people do not perceive.   

Today we have many souls that are on the road to eternal suffering.  They are blinded by the world and the devil, made quite comfortable in their sins so that they would never even consider changing anything.  "Why change?  I am comfortable, well fed, warm, and entertained now.   I have the sex I want, regardless of marriage of myself or my partner or their gender or perhaps them being even to young to consent.  Who cares what God says, my desire is all I care about. " 

These are the "demon pillows",  for they make the sinner comfortable in every sin that keeps them from God and in the devil's territory.  God sends them messengers to call them to repentance and penance, but they push it away because everything is so pleasant where they are now.  They think it will never change.  

They can smell the death pouring from the chimney next door, and knows it signals death, but they close the windows and the blinds, and spray scent to shoo away the 'unpleasantness'.   Surely that can't be for me, they say,  that is not meant for me, that is meant for others.  Do they make their own hearts beat? Do they will the next breath of life in their lungs?  They have no concern for their own mortality.  

When a soul is deep in the devils trap the devil's constant whisper is, "All is well."   This is what the Germans told those getting off the trains, "All is well, work hard, do everything we tell you and all will be well."   The devil is a liar, the only true safety is in God.  

Few will be brave and break free of this comfort and seek after a state of grace so that they may enter into eternal joy.  We have a shadow of this eternal joy in the Holy Mass.  In the Holy Mass you are the closest you can be to the throne of God and your own judgement that anyone can be while you are still in the flesh.  

Do you think you are going to heaven?  You should tremble at the idea of your own  judgment.  Our judgement is a fearful thing, even if we are a Saint.  Have you forgotten that even the great Saint Faustina of the Divine Mercy was shown that if she had died when Jesus had shown her her own judgement that she would have had to spend 1 day in Purgatory? 
"You are guilty of one day of fire in PURGATORY" (Diary 36).  

What did Jesus teach himself?  "No, I say to you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)

The Third Secret of Fatima: 
"We saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!'"

Brave souls will ponder my words and seek God to know the true state of their soul.  Hopefully with this knowledge they will seek again to do all things as God ordered out of love for Him.  To return to Him and His friendship. 

Hero souls will hear my words, and like Oskar Schindler will look around and see the loss of so many souls and weep.  Then, after taking the steps of the brave souls and becoming friends again with God, they will then sacrifice everything they have for the salvation of another, seeking God's mercy for that soul, no matter the cost to themselves.   

Never forget, souls fall in to hell by their own free will.  This final prison will never see those that enter it ever come out.  They will never rest, nor know any peace or comfort again, but the greatest suffering...for all eternity.  Be a hero, petition God for the living who are in the greatest sin, seeking nothing for yourself.  God desires to hear the prayers of the righteous and do the will of the holy souls that seeks nothing for themselves, but out of love for God alone seeks the good of another. 

Like Oskar Schindler when he was taking his Jews out of Auschwitz and was putting them on the train, he looked around and saw those that he could not save.  He saw those that were going to the gas chambers.  This is the sad reality of eternity.  We must strive to seek the salvation of as many lost souls that we can, but there are souls that by their own desires will not be saved.  There are some souls that will never turn to God no matter how many opportunities they have been given.   This is the mystery and terrifying aspect of the gift of free will. 

But when we breathe our last, we must have the comfort to know that we did everything we could in our prayers, petitions, and penances to God for those with the blackest of hearts.  

Be hidden, love Him, trust Him, do not fear, do not run, and never, never quit.  

"(You're)..too late." The Hospice

Today in prayer I asked God to send me to where there was the blackest of heart that needed prayer.

I was inspired to go to a local Hospice.  I went into the building, not sure if I was in the right place, and finding the directory, I found where I needed to be.  Coming out of the elevators, I saw a chair and sat down.  To my right what looked like a sheriff standing guard outside one of the rooms.  There was a middle aged woman talking to him.  It was obvious that something very serious was happening in that room.  I stood up and took out my Rosary and began to pray the Divine Mercy for the soul in that room. 

                                                                               *****
[Pray as much as you can for the dying. By your entreaties [that is, insistent prayers], obtain for them trust in My mercy, because they have most need of trust, and have it the least. Be assured that the grace of eternal salvation for certain souls in their final moment depends on your prayer. You know the whole abyss of My mercy, so draw upon it for yourself and especially for poor sinners. Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy not embrace a trusting soul." (Diary of St. Faustina, 1777)]
                                                                            ***** 
As I was praying the Divine Mercy, some people came out of the room that were crying, it was obvious that whomever was in that room had just passed away.  They hugged, and cried, and consoled each other, and then after some time, got in the elevator and left.  After some time, a man with a gurney came out of an elevator and went into the room.  I am still praying the Chaplet and after a few minutes the man came out with a body on the gurney under a blanket.  I began to pray the Divine Mercy out loud, but quietly.   The man got in  the elevator with his charge, and the doors closed.  Just a few seconds after the door closed, a white haired man came from the left, he looked directly at me and with a malicious smile said , "...too late." 

 I knew immediately what this was, and no...I wasn't too late.  God had made sure of that, I was right on time.  

I do not know the result of my prayers, but I don't have to...I trust Jesus, and I know what St. Faustina said IS TRUE. 

                                                                   ***** 
Earlier, our Lord said to her, "At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same" (Diary, 811). 

                                                                  ***** 
There is absolutely no use in reading the writings of the Saints if we are not willing to put the knowledge given to use for the benefit of another. 

St. Faustina Pray for US!

St. Michael and the Scales

There is no excel spreadsheet in heaven of all the prayers or good works that you must do to be granted access to heaven.  We can do no action that benefits God in any way, because He is God, He is eternal, already complete and if we could do an action that benefited Him, then in some way He would be found to be lacking in something.  This is why the gift of the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus is completely, free and unmerited, because if all the human beings that have ever lived prayed constantly from their conception to their death could still not open the gates of Heaven and save us from the eternal suffering of hell they way that the blood of Jesus did.  

Yet, God gives us an 'action' plan of salvation.  We are not to just stay in our Churches and 'check the box' of Sunday Mass or Church service and think we are 'done' with God stuff for that week.  Have we basically gone up to God after a week of living the way WE choose and not the way GOD chooses and saying, "So God, are we good?"  These are the lukewarm most in danger of eternal fire because they seek only something for themselves and nothing for their brother or sister. 

This action that God seeks of us is an action of love for another that is completely hidden, between you and God alone.  If you are seeking notoriety, or to tell someone of the good works you do, then your audience is your God, not Jesus.  In being hidden we communicate more effectively  with God and He begins our path of purification.  But what action are we to do if we can do nothing for God?  What did God himself do?  He went forth from the Temple (Church), and preached the word of salvation, healing the sick, not only for their healing and wholeness but to show the truth of God.  But you would say that He was not hidden at these times, and you would be correct.  However, there were far more times that Jesus was hidden and spoke the truth of God and healed the sick that are not written in scripture.   Jesus wasn't doing anything for God, He is God,  Jesus was showing the truth of God and how we are supposed to respond to His word by His love and action for another.   

This is what Jesus is telling us...YOU ARE FOR THE OTHER, serve, pray, teach, heal, raise the dead.   Yes...MIRACLES are possible, but you must be COMPLETELY FOR THE OTHER, seeking NOTHING for yourself but the salvation of the soul that God has put in your path. 

There is a Jesus that you don't know, that can only be revealed through praying and studying the path of the Passion.  Jesus felt the sins of those around Him, and this sin was painful.  Jesus was fully God and His heart suffered feeling the sins of those around Him.   He then offered this pain back to the Father for them.  This was before the Passion.  Jesus was hurting for those in sin long before the Passion, but it is not recorded in scripture.   This is the hidden POURING OUT OF SELF FOR YOUR BRETHREN that Jesus is calling each of us to do.  

It is in this pouring out of self for another in a hidden way that is between you and God alone that our hearts begin the path of purification.  God shapes our hearts to be like either His Son's Sacred Heart, or the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Mother's especially are put on the path of purification toward the Immaculate Heart.  

It is not what we do that merits us heaven, for what we do shall not be weighed on the scales of infinite justice, but WHAT WE DO WITH THE INTENTION IN OUR HEART AT THE TIME OF OUR ACTION, WORD OR THOUGHT. 

The mystery of being hidden, is that right now, you have a hidden heart that only you know.  If you think that God does not see, or know what is deep in your heart, think again.  What is hidden on Earth will be revealed for all to see in Eternity.  

Right now, your hidden heart is either striving for heaven, or striving for hell, you can't straddle the fence with God.    So even if you donate to charity, or volunteer at a homeless shelter, but are in an adulterous relationship, God knows it all.  Don't' think that you can commit adultery and then do 'something for God' to make up for it like charity.  You are still on the road to hell.   God remembers everything we do, say and our intention for our actions FOR ALL ETERNITY.. REPENT while there is still time and return back to God, completely, with thought, word, action...and in the secret of our hearts. 

When you die and face the Judgement, it is your actions, WITH YOUR HEART that will be weighed against the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Will your heart be weighed against this eternal and perfect pouring out of the holy blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and found to be lacking?  Does the devil have his finger on your side of the scale, pulling you to him?

This is also why those that lay their life down for another, the martyrs who offer their life for the reason of love alone go straight to heaven and do not suffer Purgatory because their offering of their very lives for love alone mirrors Christ's offering on the cross.

Time is short...turn your heart fully to God while there is time. 

A Dream of Padre Pio

Before God gave me my current Spiritual Director, I was feeling very alone, and I asked God to send me someone to guide me.  

That night I had a dream.  I was in a large beautiful Church, like a Cathedral.  The floors where marble.  

Padre Pio came up to me carrying an open book, He showed me the book, and I looked down and the book was blurry, I couldn’t read the names that were in the book, but I knew that he was showing me those that I was to pray for, even though I could not read their names. 

He then looked up from the book with very kind but serious eyes and he said to me, “Do not exalt yourself.” 

St. Padre Pio, must humble, pray for us.