When we take into account my official involvement in issues related to Medjugorje, I can only say that you are absolutely wrong. But either way, faith can not be imposed, work at your discretion, now and after the announcement of the results, free will was given you by God. My writing here really makes no sense, so I will now be limited only to reading. These articles that you have specified are plain yellow press.
I very much agree with the thrust of what you're saying, Padraig, but I also see some signs of hope that things may be changing within certain circles that have emerged historically from within Protestantism (here I think that Kathy K and I are both saying something similar). If you look at current Pentecostals such as Terry Bennett (see 'dire prophetic warning' thread), Rick Joyner, John Paul Jackson, Nevillle Johnson, Sadhu Sendar Selvaraj or their personal mystical experience is actually far more foundational to them than any commitment to the Reformation. That's what makes their testimonies so compelling and is the reason why sites such as Spirit Daily and www.afterthewarning.com will sometimes link to Pentecostal material. I'm trying to do as much comparative research on this as I can, and I'm seeing that the common ground between the experience of these folks and mystically open Catholics is just huge. My gut tells me that there's a convergence in process here. We've already noted the way in which God seems to be revealing the truth about the Real Eucharistic presence to Pentecostals within the Protestant tradition, so surely it can only be a matter of time before the same happens with the Mother of God (somehow Protestants have been deceived into denying their own birthright here, as not only do they as all Christians claim the Patristic heritage that proclaimed Mary as Theotokos, but Martin Luther himself - for all his many faults - was hugely Marian. He was after all the one who said 'God is our Father, Jesus is our brother, Mary is our mother'). My observation of these Pentecostal mystics is that God's pedagogy has certain recurring characteristics, one of which is that He takes people from where they are and reveals things gradually according to what they can handle, rather than changing all their paradigms at once, which would just be overload. This means that He first seems to change what can be changed within an existing theological framework - for example, if someone has pastoral/teaching responsibility in a community which struggles with the notion that God stopped speaking through the prophets with the death of the Apostles, that's what He will address first, because it is so foundational. Then once it has been established that God does speak today, He can tackle the issue of the pre-tribulation Rapture and other false teachings that can be corrected without suddenly requiring people with no preparation to accept, say, the authenticity of Lourdes and Fatima. In other words, God's pedagogy builds cumulatively. Right now, what I see Him dealing with in terms of doctrine through giving Pentecostals various prophetic experiences are questions such as the Eucharist, communion of the saints (Rick Joyner had a visionary encounter with Thomas à Kempis!!), the existence of degrees of reward in Heaven (deconstructing much popular Protestant theology) and purgatory. I find this all tremendously exciting as tangible evidence of what God is doing today, and surely revelation about or from Our Lady can't be far behind, indeed there are glimpses of this already - it's just that a lot of groundwork has had to be laid first. Recently I heard Indian prophetic preacher Sadhu Selvaraj - a real Elijah/John the Baptist lookalike, by the way, who seems to have prophesied both the Fukushima tsunami and the recent Filipino typhoon - talking beautifully about how God had revealed to him the way in which Mary taught Jesus the Scriptures as a child, for example. If and when she herself appears to some of these Protestant mystics - which is something I pray for - then I'm sure that truly remarkable things will happen.
This is a very strong claim. Official involvement? Can you provide details/supporting documentation? On what level?
Let me throw in one more thing, for your discernment. In one of the most striking 'True Life in God' messages dating from back in 1987, we find the following alleged dialogue between Jesus and Vassula Ryden about Protestants and Mary: December 22, 1987 Vassula, the time has come to unite My Church, come together again beloved, come and rebuild these ancient ruins, rebuild My old foundation a foundation established by My own Hand, honour My Mother as I, who is The Word and above all honour her, would I then not desire you who are dust and ashes recognise Her as Queen of Heaven, honouring Her? My grief of today is to see how little My creation know of Her importance, those under the name of Luther and who have isolated themselves entirely, must return to Peter; Lord! They will be shocked! Vassula, I will bend their knee to venerate My Mother; it is I, the Lord, who is speaking; I will bend them! and when they do, I will let My Light shine on them and rise them, I will strengthen your stems, and you shall be like an irrigated garden, like a spring of water whose waters never run dry, I will rebuild My Foundation; December 23, 1987 My God, the Protestants will be shocked! (I couldn’t get over it.) Vassula I have been waiting years for them to change, now leave Me free to write down My desires; The reason why I cite the words in bold with a certain amount of emotion and conviction about their authenticity is very simple. As a 'Post-Protestant', this is precisely what the Lord did to me.
Padraig, you hit the nail on the head with this insight. It demonstrates how faith can be shared within families like the Walton's, but the worship is stale without the Eucharist. The pictures on our wall's of the Blessed Mother, saints and crucifixes are an outward sign of where our hearts should be always. The walls within Protestants Churches, and sadly to say many Catholic Churches today, are but a realization of the hollow worship given to God in these places. Lip service I call it, because it does not penetrate the heart.
Peter; all this reminds me of the great prayer of Jesus at the end of the Gospel of St John, 'That they all may be one'. As Pope John Paul said in 'Redemtoris Missio'. 'in the Gospel of St. John, this salvific universality of Christ embraces all the aspects of his mission of grace, truth and revelation: the Word is "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9). And again, "no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (Jn 1:18; cf. Mt 11:27). God's revelation becomes definitive and complete through his only-begotten Son: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world" (Heb 1:1-2; cf. Jn 14:6). In this definitive Word of his revelation, God has made himself known in the fullest possible way. He has revealed to mankind who he is. This definitive self-revelation of God is the fundamental reason why the Church is missionary by her very nature. She cannot do other than proclaim the Gospel, that is, the fullness of the truth which God has enabled us to know about himself. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/j...jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio_en.html
Christ's prayers as Second Person of the Blessed Trinity addressed to the Heavenly Father through the Power of the Holy Spirit are all perfect prayers and will by definition be perfectly answered; thus His prayer for Unity for the seamless Unity of the Church will and must be answered....and answered perfectly. John 17:21 Prayer for all Believers 20"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;…
This being so, one of the great Signs of these End Times is the action of the Holy Spirit amongst the Churches Acts 2:17 Peter Preaches to the Crowd …16but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 17'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; 18EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy.… It occurs to me, Peter, that you are a living example of this pouring forth of the Spirit of Love. View attachment 1544
View attachment 1546 Yes Mark , but on the other hand I suspect Catholics like myself were victims of a mythos , a certain propaganda that put forth the Church as being perfect. In fact the Great Schism and the so called, 'Reformation' would never ever have happened if we Catholcis had been the Christians we were and are supposed to be. Nor would the Entire World tremble at the edge of the abyss if we, the Salt, that was supposed to have savoured the Earth, the yeast that was supposed to give birth to the Rich wine of the Spirit had not lost the savour its power to leaven the bread of the Earth. We have, all of us, much to answer for: Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. View attachment 1545
We are indeed about to be, '... cast out and trodden under the feet of men.' So that the seed that dies can be reborn. Watered with the blood of the Faithful.
Unity will be forged under the pain of persecution and tribulation By the time God is finished with correcting this generation we will be one under Our Father.
I find that all I can do at this time is pray and do penance for those around me, including many family members. Few if any, seem to want to hear or discuss the signs of the times. I don't know if they are afraid to or they are intimidated about hearing of the tribulations forthcoming. Aside from the many faithful on this site, there seems to be no one who has a clue. Yet, in talking to some employees at work, they seem to know something is not right, they just can not articulate with any detail what it is. Perhaps prayer and penance is what is most needed at this time and once the events really kick in people will then want to listen and discuss to true nature of what is happening.
As you wrote this all I could think of was the Pope's description that Our Church (which means us) will need to be like a field hospital. You only need a field hospital when there are wounded people coming from a battle. We are being prepared.
I am living exactly the same thing and..... last Thursday I took part in a meeting with parishioners (all older people) to reply to the questionnaire of the Pope regarding the problem issues of "modern" society within the Church. It was incredible: they agree with the demands of the same sex marriages (because we have to be "open-minded"), they agree that not married people, but who live together, should also have the possibility to receive the sacraments (because we may not "discriminate"). They do not understand A BIT of what are the Commands of God and Why or what are the Sacraments ! I can tell you, I was there in the middle of a battle field but I deed not keep my mouth shut. We are really living the End of Times. No question about it, as says the Pope himself: Pope Francis: Times of Persecution Mean the Lord Is Near Pontiff Warns of Worldly Temptation to Keep Religion Private Vatican City, November 28, 2013 (Zenit.org) | 5103 hits Worldly powers that wish to make religion something private exists in this world. This was the warning Pope Francis gave this morning during Mass at Casa Santa Marta. The Holy Father reflected on the first reading where Daniel is thrown in the Lion’s den for praying to God, while the Gospel recalled Jesus’ description of the end of days. Speaking on the final battle described by Jesus, the Pope said that there is an underlying temptation that will be faced by all which he called “the universal temptation”: the desecration of the temple, the desecration of faith. “What does this mean? It will be like the triumph of the prince of this world: the defeat of God. It seems that in that final moment of calamity, he will take possession of this world, that he will be the master of this world,” he said. An example of this desecration of faith can be shown in the book of Daniel who is condemned to death for adoring God. This desecration has a specific name: “the prohibition of worship.” “[There] religion cannot be spoken of, it is something private, no? Publicly it is not spoken about. The religious signs are taken down. The laws that come from the worldly powers must be obeyed. You can do so many beautiful things except adore God. Worship is prohibited,” the Pope said. “This is the center of this end. And when this arrives in its fullness - to the ‘kairos’ of this pagan attitude, when this is fulfilled - then yes, He will come: ‘And they will see the Son of man come on a cloud with great power and glory.’ Christians who have suffered in times of persecution, in times of the prohibition of worship are a prophecy of that which will happen to all.” Concluding his homily, Pope Francis called on the faithful to be loyal and patient. The times of persecution mean that that the victory of Jesus Christ is near. “This week it will do us well to think of this general apostasy, which is called the prohibition of adoration and ask ourselves: ‘Do I adore the Lord ? Do I adore Jesus Christ, the Lord? Or is it half and half, do I play the play the prince of this world,” he said. “To adore till the end, with loyalty and faithfulness: this is the grace that we should ask for this week.” (J.A.E.) (November 28, 2013)
I suppose Eliisa it is pretty bad in Ireland too. Maybe not as bad as Belgium yet. But pretty bad. One thing that amazes me really is just how bad things have gotten so quick. It is as though we had left a joint of meat in the kitchen and when we go back again to look it is writhing with maggots and covered in flies. People and the Church in general and the world too are like that going bad very quick. I don't write this to be negative or depressing , for I am ever full of joy and peace and brimming hope. Why? Well because as Billy Graham one said I have read my bible to the end and I know it has a happy ending. View attachment 1550 But also we have the promise of Our Blessed Lady, 'In the End My Immaculate Heart will Triumph' Before this Triumph however certain events must occur. Part of this is that the meat of men's hearts must grow ever more rotten and set in evil. This is occurring because the very gates of hell, in these latter times have been opened and the demons are flooding across the faith of the Earth in their serried millions. Never in all of history have they been so powerful. A huge darkness has fallen on the face of the Earth. But we poor children have become so accustomed to it we no longer even realise we cannot even see our noses in front of us. As time moves forward one of the things we will see more and more of is the devil showing his hand more and more clearly right before our very eyes in strange events and manifestations as more and more people become completely possessed by the devil I will tell you two such strange events I noticed only in the last week or so. I always sit at the front of the Church in front of Our Lady's shrine and after mass and sit for 15 minutes praying on my own before moving on to work. You know although I have going to the same Church , to the same mass for more years than I cna count and always sitting in the same place I know no one there, they are all complete strangers. But the last week or so two men I do not even know have come up to me and...well started to stand there insulting me. At first I thought they were joking, though i do not know them and laughed along with them. But as the days have passed I notice them getting rougher and they seem to have a real rage and anger towards me. I have no idea why they are doing this. But it is just so very,very spooky. Another time , when I gt up in the morning I walk the dogs around the city streets for 15 minutes. No one is about and I just love the dark and quiet. But the other morning I was crossing the top of a large street and one of my dogs stopped suddenly staring intently down the street. Well I kind of got a glimpse of what he saw, a kind of swirling darkness, of evil moving up the street. Outside a certain house. Anyhow I expect this kind of spookiness to break out everywhere very soon as events move to their climax.
