In a way they can stomach having to obey and fear jesus because he is God but not the little woman from nazareth they cannot have that. it causes them terrible pain.
Yes! The mere realization that an embodied spirit (Our Lady) has higher authority than the angelic host is painfully incomprehensible to them! Canticles of Canticles 6:9 Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?
The deepest pit of hell is reserved for those human beings who on this earth utter blasphemies against our Lady. Woe betide them when they face the Judegement of the King of Kings.
The only thing I can say of such people is the words of Jesus, 'They know not what they do'. If they did they would not do it. So I hope God will make allowances. There is a funny story about St Ignatious of Loyala just after his conversion. He was riding a donkey and met a Muslim on another donkey and they got a talking about religion and the subject came round to talking about Our Lady. The poor Muslim started having very bad things to say about her and the saint outraged decided at once to kill him. However he paused and asked God to decide the matter for him. They had reached a fork in the road and Ignatious told God if he wanted the man dead he should stay on the road with him he would strike him dead. If he wanted him to live he should head of on the other path. The lucky old Muslim headed of in other direction.
Yes, I've done this myself, too! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
I think the Demons simply cannot understand the concept of Humility. It simply baffles them. They are so much the opposite of humble they have no foothold for understanding. So when Jesus was alive the mystics inform us , the Devils and the bad angels simply could not get a handle on the Holy Family , they new something was going on but they could simply not understand what. The idea that God could incarnate and as a child in a little family in Nazareth totally stumped them. So the Holy Family fell below their target radar. So when it came to the Passion of Jesus the Devil and Demons kept on tempting Jesus to react as they themselves would have reacted with anger and violence whose source is Pride. It was only at the very point of Christ's Death that things clicked, but by then it was too late and he and the bad angels were Eternally defeated. It was his very own pride that defeated him. In a sense it is always his pride that defeats him.
Proud people cannot enter heaven, they are too big. Only little children can enter heaven, because they are small enough to enter in. Luke 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Matthew 19:24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
I've finalized the homily I mentioned above. My Pastor has encouraged me to lengthen my homilies. Well, this one will be 20 minutes and covers a lot of ground focusing on our particular judgment, the reality of hell, that we're not simply churchgoers, but as the 2nd reading from Galatians accents- family, called to look out for, to care for, and to call one another on. And Our Lady never leaves our side. She is forever the faithful Mum. A lot of territory to cover; still, it feels coherent. Gal 4:4-7 Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God. Your prayers would be appreciated!
Praying for you now, Terry as I walk the Beach up the Shore Line at Jordanstown. 20 minutes! Amazing! So much work and effort! An act of love. I think watching utube videos of homilies in the USA ,I think they are inclined to have much , much longer homilies than here in Ireland. I don;t know if I ever heard a 20 minute homily before. Such a powerful courageous subject matter, though. Again I was a child when I last heard anyone preach on Hell and Eternal Salvation. I'd love to hear if you have any reactions from the Congregation. I read a lovely story about a young priest who was determined to preach a wonderful homily, the best ever and spent days on days writing it. On Sunday morning he was very busy and distracted rushed out of the house without his notes. All that effort wasted! So when it came time to Preach he admitted what he had done and asked everyone to pray that the Holy Spirit would come down and and preach to them instead. So they all had five minutes silence to listen to the voice of God. After Mass was over a gentleman came into the Sacristy in tears saying that, 'Homily' was the best he had ever heard, that he believed it had changed his life forever. There is a Lesson in that somewhere or other, though I am not quite sure what it is. Lovely Scripture, one of my favourites on prayer.
Thank you for asking, Padraig. There were two themes that went well together. I drew upon Fr. Schier's own testimony to first share the following: Fr. Stephen Scheier, a priest for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. Ordained in 1973. Traveling home on October 18, 1985 – head-on collision Fr. Scheier was thrown from his vehicle. His entire scalp was taken off on the right side. The doctors told him afterwards the right side of his brain was partially sheared off and many cells were crushed. He was unconscious at the scene when the ambulance arrived. Hundreds of people gathered in all the churches of Fredonia and prayed for him that evening. What no one but Fr. Scheier knew, was that before the ambulance arrived, Fr. Scheier had died and experienced his particular judgment. He came before Jesus, who reviewed the details of his life and pronounced His verdict, “Hell”.[a 5 second pause after pronouncing the "H" word produced the desired effect of raised eyebrows; imagine, a priest condemned to Hell.] Fr. Scheier replied, “Yes,” as that was the only logical thing he deserved, after experiencing his life review. At that moment, however, a woman’s voice spoke up, “Son, will you please spare his life and his eternal soul?” The Lord replied, “Mother, he’s been a priest for twelve years for himself and not for me, let him reap the punishment he deserves.” “But Son,” she said, “if we give him special graces and strengths, then let’s see if he bears fruit; if not, your will be done.” There was very short pause, after which Jesus said, “Mother, he’s yours.” Jesus permitted this maternal intervention to allow this priest son to become the man of God that Christ intended. Six months later he returned to his parish a changed man. But an important corollary was that this is the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God: Her prayerfulness in reaction to the shepherds' who were the first eager heralds of the Gospel, is to be our daily reminder. Tying that in with the Letter to the Galatians which basically accented that the Father has adopted us as children through Baptism and the Holy Spirit. With Mother Mary we form a family. We are not just churchgoers, but adopted brothers and sisters who stand against the culture and support one another in the cause of holiness and truth. Let us allow such witness to draw others to the Lord. And let our prayer life mature in response to Our Lady who not only prayed vocal prayers, but twice in the second chapter of Luke: ...kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart! Not exact, but close enough.
This reminds me of something Fr Hardon said and emphasised. 'The more suffering a person has; the more they are called to holiness'. He repeated this three times. When St Tereasa of the Andes was dying one of the sisters said, 'The holy ones always have hard deaths'. Sometimes God has to give us a good kick in the teeth so we pay Him some attention. As Our Lady did at Fatima by showing the three kids hell. That certainly grabbed their attention. I suppose that is what a Good Preacher has to do on occasion , give folks a good kick in the teeth.
The balance that is the Reality of Man. Swinging between those necessary saintly pronouncements that keep us from what would be our inevitable complacency and our Hope in Christ's Sacrifice. Bishop Barron may be right about a hope for few in Hell, but this of all times is not the time to be saying it.
I think you know in a funny kind of way my direct and not so direct encounters with the Devil have been one of the greatest blessings of my Spiritual Life. It is a like a cold shower and wakes you up, bracing, eye opening. It reminded me of the Reality that we are really are in the Spiritual Battle of our lives, walking a real tight rope between heaven and hell and that yes indeed hell and the Demons really, really do exist. I recall having a Conversation with a good and holy priest in Confession with a Parish Priest about Exorcisms. I recall the Father asking me in tones of great doubt, 'Do you believe Demonic Possessions really happen?' This really, really threw me. This was a very,good, holy , highly experienced priest and I just could hardly believe the question he was asking. But I went on to describe to him how my Spiritual Director had conducted an exorcism in the same Diocese and the Phenomena that occurred. His eyes got wider and winder and his mouth dropped open. He couldn't get enough of it. Another such incident was in Medugorje after Mass . Two of the priests with us were asked to assist with an Exorcism in the grave yard back of the Church (they did this for peace and quiet but have stopped now because of this and that). One priest , who was young was a bad lot (he later wound up in jail for along time for sexual wrong doing) and the other a Holy older priest. There was lots of phenomena including the lady, an Italian woman involved in Satanism had levitated quite a distance off the ground. The bad young priest was totally terrified and the older priest didn't look to cool himself. Anyway, just a thought. God can bring great good out of great evil. (The Demon in the video below starts shouting in Italian, 'Basta! (Enough!)
Wow, unbelievable that a priest would doubt demonic possessions really happen. That reminds me of something that happened a while back on EWTN. Everything was quiet and peaceful during the live Mass, but when the priest came back in to pray the rosary with Eucharistic adoration some woman{although the voice was deep, it sounded like a woman even though they never showed her} started moaning and yelling and crying. They evidently finally got her out of the chapel but you could hear her from somewhere moaning and crying throughout the rosary. Poor soul, so many prayers needed in the world. Just look at the world today and how can you not believe that there people walking around possessed of the devil.
One time you know I was in my cell. It was dead quiet no sounds anywhere , I was wide awake and very focused paying attention to all around, praying. I had a little Holy Water Font in the Cell, Waterford Crystal, very solid and beautiful , not easily broken , even if you were to drop it on the floor. Anyway I happened to be looking at it when it rose slightly, before my eyes from the table, slowly. Then it suddenly shot with great force like a sliver bullet, as though it had been fired from a gun and hit the far wall shattering into a hundred little pieces. It literally , I think, did go with the force of a bullet, no human hand could have produced this effect. Very,very fast and hard indeed. Moments like this were and are red pill times. They remind me of the Spiritual Realities going on all around us.
If you pay attention to the priests at Mass you can often see a difference. The ones who truly really believe in the Mass behave very differently from those who do not. If a priest is truly in tune with the Spiritual Realities it changes him and the way he behaves. It is the same with the Laity. If you look round the Church you can kind of see the people who are dancing in time with the Spiritual Music, so to speak. This is why the Mass of Padre Pio was so popular, He truly was an Alter Christus, Another Christ.
Hi Terry. How did it go today? You were in my prayers as well as those listening to you…hoping that even if one heard something it may help them.
