WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SUFFERINGS. Tuesday, Our LADY OF SORROWS.

  1. Sufferings. 

     If Our Good Lord and His beloved Mother suffered, this should give us an idea why all men must suffer. The whole world is filled with suffering and most cannot give an acceptable explanation for it. No human or natural reason can be given why man suffers. Only a supernatural reason is acceptable that is why only the Catholic Church can give the reason why the whole world, from the youngest to the oldest, from the poorest to the riches, are suffering to some degree. 

      Imagine a country is suffering due to the pandemic. And God adds a huge forest fire to its suffering. Another country is suffering from the corona virus and a huge explosion in the city was added to it. A country in Africa is suffering from the virus, then a mud slide and a flood was added to its sufferings. The question is raised; if there is a good God, why does he allow His creatures to suffer?

     Precisely because there is a great good God. Let us go back to the garden of Eden. God created man and woman and gave them joy, a life free from sufferings and death, and gave them wisdom. He placed them in a beautiful garden called Eden. There God tested them; whether they will do His Will or their own will. They failed the test and they were judged to suffer and to die. However God gave them this chance; He would test them. If they pass the test they will be restored in some way to the garden of Eden. If they failed the test they would be judged to the eternal fires of hell, unless they repent. 

     So why did God judged them to be deserving of suffering?  So they can make reparations for their sins and be saved. Why did God send the virus to the whole world? To make them find out their sins, repent for those sins and make reparation for past sins. God sent the world this suffering to give them an occasion to make up for their sins towards God and be saved. Without suffering, they cannot pay their debt to God and will be lost forever. God, in fact, sent His only Son to suffer  to pay for most of man's sin. He demands that man pay a little bit for his sins. After all they are his sins. 

      Even the sinless Blessed Virgin Mary, who is not supposed to suffer because she had no sin like her Son, had to suffer. Also, for the sins of the world. Christ paid for the sins of man. Nobody can pay for the sins of man. They are too much. Thus in the parable Christ excused the 10,000 denarii  debt of his employee, the bishop, as long as this servant bishops forgave all those who have sinned against them. And because this servant could not forgive, this ungrateful servant was summoned by God; he was told to repay his forgiven sins. He could not, thus this bishops was thrown in hell. 

     The sins of mankind must be paid for to satisfy the Justice of God. Only a God can pay for those sins with His mother. Ordinary man cannot. But man must pay a fraction of his debts. Better still Christ demanded that he forgives all those who have sinned against him and He will, in turn, forgive all of his sins. 

     This is, in fact, a very good deal. Only a dope will let this opportunity go. And the dope in the Gospel did, indeed, let go of this great opportunity and forfeited the forgiveness of his own sin. 

2. Sufferings. 

     Sufferings are the means by which man makes reparation for his sins. Man has no other way to pay for his sins. If man does not pay for his sins, he will go to hell. The only way he can escape the fires of hell is to pay for his sins. But man cannot pay for all his sins, so God sent his Only Son to pay for all of man's sin if he repents and if he forgives all those who have sinned against him.

     All chastisements are opportunities for man to make reparation for his sins. The on-going pandemic, the forest fires, the floods, the wars, the famines, the riots, the typhoons, the earthquakes, etc. are all opportunities to pay for our sins. All suffering, in fact, including sickness, loss of jobs, misunderstandings, persecutions, treasons are sources of suffering to purify the soul from sin. 

     And God, in His great love for man, makes men suffer to give them the chance to avoid hell and go to heaven. It is an act of Love. Thus St. Teresa of Avila noted that it would be a bad sign if man does not suffer because that would be a sign that God does not love him. 

     So when sufferings come, it is a sign that man had committed sin and that he has not repented for that sin. The suffering itself, if taken with patience, erases the sin. So why is there so much sufferings? Because there is so much sin. 

3. Jesus and Mary

     Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Man had not sinned. Ordinarily, they should not suffer. But they gave up that privilege so they can help mankind pay for their insurmountable debts. This is the reason Jesus chose to be crucified even if He could have redeemed mankind just by flicking His fingers. 

     And Christ demanded that His own mother, though free from all sins, had to suffer to set an example of Charity; that she should help mankind pay for their sins. All man must first pay for their own sins, then they should help others pay for their sins, too. 

      

THE GREAT BATTLE WITHIN fought outside in the world.

  1. The battle within man.

      Every battle in the world is just an outward reflection of the battle being wages within each man; whether it is a world war, an NBA game, an election, a husband-wife confrontation, a debate, a court case, a treatise or a demonstration. Who wins in the internal battle shows outwardly in a person's response to God's test, either to the pandemic or an election. 

2. What is this interior battle?

     It is a dual battle, first,  between man's own intellect and his own free will, i.e. it is between what he knows is the truth and what he wants as the good. Man's intellect is always on the side of truth; while man's free will is always on the side of evil, i.e. man's desire to satisfy  what he considers good for his flesh. 

      When the truth and the good are identical, there is no battle; the soul is at peace. The battle begins when they are not identical which is often the case. 

     There are different intensities in this war. First, a state where the intellect knows what is true from the teachings of Divine Revelation; a knowledge derived from what God considers is the truth. And when the intellect is able to convince the free will that what is true is, also, good for the will. When the will agrees with the intellect and gives its approval to the intellect that what it considers is true is, also, good for the will, the free will will command the intellect to accept the truth as good for the man. Here we have perfect harmony within man. This is a peaceful man. This concord is superior if it is in the spiritual level. This is the true peace which only God can give. Neither the United Nations nor Pope Francis' fraternity among religions can attain this peace in their wildest dream.

     Secondly, is a situation where the intellect is not well instructed on what is the truth. In this case when the will presents a good that it desires, the intellect in its ignorance can neither approve or deny the request because it is not certain whether it is true or false, in which case it is not sure if it is good or bad.  Here, the free will proceed to satisfy its own desire without the approval of the intellect. Since everything that comes from the blind free will is a sin because it is not approved by the intellect, then we have an emotional decision devoid of rationality and logic. We have an emotional act, a very common basis for judgment among mankind. 

     Third, is a situation where the intellect knows what is true, and the free will knows that the truth known by the intellect is good for the person but, inspite of this, the free will considers the true as bad for the person, then we have a rebellion. A rebellion of one's own free will against one's own intellect. This is what St. Paul described as 'something in me.' It is a rebellion within me. 

     A man knows abortion is evil. The free will is informed that abortion is evil. But the will insist that abortion must be done for whatever reason. Here we have a rebellion of the free will against the intellect. This is how the first rebellion against God occurred. This is what is going on in the whole world right now. We have a world wide rebellion against God within man and it is coming out externally in all the things that are happening in the world from abortion, to world wars. Even elections have become acts of rebellion against God in the way man votes. 

    This was the case of the fall of Adam and Eve. They know the true Will of God, but their free will rejected the truth God gave and considered it as bad for them. So they disobeyed, they rebelled. 

      Let us further analyse this state of affairs. St. Augustine wrote; when the free will that has good as its objective goal chooses sin,  it is in effect choosing an act that is good but has no goodness in it. Sin is the absence of goodness. An evil person is one who has no goodness in him.

       Instead of describing an evil person as one who lacks goodness, to avoid confusion let us just call him in the ordinary way, i.e. an evil man, one who loves evil. 

3. The testing of mankind. 

         God is constantly testing mankind by presenting the test to the mind,  to see what the free will choose, good or evil. Those who choose good will be rewarded, those who choose evil will be punished. Everything that happens in life is a test. The Corona virus is a test, an election is a test. There is, always, a choice between good and evil. There is a good response to the virus, i.e. to repent and believe in Our Lord Jesus. There is an evil response to the virus, i.e. to go out burn stores, loot and murder innocent babies. 

     In an election, the good response is to elect candidates who propose what is good like to save lives of babies. An evil response is to kill babies. To pass the test, mankind must know the test, to kill or not to kill. Man must show their correct response by choosing to vote for those aiming at what is good, like saving lives of babies. To fail the test their response will choose to cooperate in the killing of babies. 

     The party that has the most good platforms must be voted in to pass the test. To vote for those with less good platforms or whose platforms are evil is to fail the test and receive punishment from Almighty God.

4. Who is behind both sides. 

     The devil, on one side, is behind all choices for evil using the world, the flesh. Man, the one tested is on the other side. God is in the middle as judge of the contest. 

     To pass the test is to win the battle within each one of us. To fail the test is for the intellect to be defeated by the sinful free will. The result of this internal test will appear in the way man votes or handle the pandemic. Man will vote depending on who will win in the battle within himself. 

     Man will chose an evil candidate when his own intellect had been defeated by his evil free will. Man will chose a good candidate when his intellect controls the rebellious free will. An evil act begins from within each man and comes out in a ballot. Thus the punishment for an evil act will be given to what is within man, his soul. Because his soul lacks goodness. His soul is evil. 

      Who wants you to fail, the devil. Who wants you to pass? You in order to please God and deserve the reward of everlasting life in heaven. God is like an emperor watching a gladiator in the arena surrounded with tests. He is all powerful and in complete control. But man must pass his test in the arena. God will help if he sees he needs it, if he asked for it IN PRAYER. Otherwise he is alone by himself with the lions. 

5. The devils aiming at man's failure.

     With God acting as Judge, He views the two groups; those doing good and the other doing evil. The good are following the instructions of God as found in Divine Revelation. The evil are following what they want as whispered to them by the devil. 

     Let us see how the confederacy of evil functions according to John Newman. The devil never appears as the head or leader of evil men. If the devil appears as he is, nobody will follow him. He uses his co-horts, those who have become his slaves or those whom he has spiritually possessed. Down the centuries, these evil men have been described in many ways like the 'mystical body of Lucifer.' Who are the humans who make up this body? Let us begin by describing them from their genus, then go down to their species. 

     These men rule the whole world of evil. This makes up the majority of the world. When they die, similar men take over but are still governed by Satan, so their philosophy, their goal, the way they do things are identical because it is the same devil that rules them. Their ultimate goal is always the destruction of the true Church of Christ and the damnation of souls. The most common means is the killing of children, either through abortion, as in the US, or human sacrifice as in the Amazon. 

     Their common characteristic is that they are lovers of money. They are covetous liked Judas. They love the root of all evil. Being lovers of money they commit all evils. They are either rich, the very rich or those who greatly desires to be rich. They will do anything for a price. They will sell their own parents and assassinate a god....for a price.

      Though they are in different parts of the world, they are, like gangsters, united in planning a robbery, united in trying to rule all the governments  of the world controlling the only thing they want, the money of the entire world. So bankers are some of their members. And justices who make laws to enrich themselves. They are the author of regime change, aimed at good rulers and even  at evil rulers. They have no friends, only temporary conspirators. They are the faceless rulers of the world.  

      They want to make this world a vast playground for themselves with everybody else as their slaves. organizationally they are communists. But they are sometimes referred to as the Deep state ruled by the devil. Same style, same goal self destruction in hell. No common good. 

      They are proponents of the  one world government or religion. They are the same devil that is why it is the same techniques, she slogans, she demands, same fact,  since the beginning of time in Paradise up to now. Men die but the devil does not. Same devil, different instrument. 

      They are the  same men who killed Kennedy, Judge Scalia, blew twin tower, killed the Vietnam president, Gaddafy, and the planned  assassination of Trump and Putin is on their table. Their main proposal for  the election  is abortion in cooperation with UN, WHO and the Vatican, the same evils that come out of the free will according to St. Paul.

      Impossible for most man to know the enemy because most men do not know what is right and wrong. If you know, it will be easy to detect such traitors. One political party had presented their platform and they are politically good. The other has absolutely no good platform. You are what you chose. 

     The platforms are all in the natural or political sphere. Which is good enough. But the tests are in the spiritual or supernatural sphere beyond most of man's capability. But some natural platforms are prelude to the spiritual level so natural response, like voting,  is good enough response. 

6. Conclusion.

     The battle begins within man. Then it is externalised. We judge what is inside by analysing the external action. Let us take the example of the Corona virus as a test. 

      Man have sinned and is not repenting. So God sends him a chastisement, the Corona virus. God is in effect saying, you have sinned, you are not repenting so I will threaten you with death followed by judgment. If I find you still unrepentant when you die then your judgment will be eternal hell.

      So we have a test in the form of a chastisement and a message from God taken from the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday, which is days before the chastisement. The intellect acquires this knowledge; I am a sinner, I have not repented, therefore, I must repent. Then my intellect must convince my free will to join my intellect in repenting. The free will having consented will now command my intellect to assent to the act of repenting. After the intellect have assented and together with the consent of the free will, the person acts and live the life of repentance as described by St. Thomas of Aquinas. The man has passed the test. This man will repent by praying, fasting and performing good works. He will progress to his next test. 

     When a man fails the test. 

A man hears Mass on Ash Wednesday and the Liturgy warns him that he should pray, fast and perform good works because a chastisement is coming. His intellect hears this message. His intellect informs his own free will to pray, fast and perform good works as a preparation for death. But the free will wants to rather enjoy some football game rather than repent. So here we see the intellect accenting to repent but the free will refusing to repent. The free will refuses to consent to the assent of the intellect. We have a battle going on within man. He failed his test. As punishment for failing, he will descend to a lower degree of sinfulness. Spiritually he will become worse. The demonstrators and rioters in the US were not demonstrating and rioting four months ago. What happened? They failed their Corona virus test and were punished by becoming more evil. The defeat of the intellect in the battle within is externalized by their rioting. Man had a riot within himself before it came out in New York. Failing the test within was externalised with the riots outside. 

7. Another example, the coming election.

     The coming US election or any election for that matter is a test from God. Shall we do what is good or what is evil. Right now, battles are being waged within the intellects and free wills of each American. 

      The intellects are thinking; we must vote for a good man. The intellect is informing the free will that a good man is good for the country and for me.  Some free wills, enlightened by the intellect is convincing itself that, indeed, the intellect is right in proposing to vote for a good person. Some free wills are convinced and are consenting to the proposition of the intellect that a good man is best for the country. And will give its consent to the assent of the intellect. When the free will consents and the intellect assents, the person will vote for a good person, like a pro-life candidate. He passed the test; he is at peace and will  progress to his next tests.  He will deserve everlasting life, only, when he passed his last test. 

       Let us see one who fails his election test. Remember, these are tests from God to see if you love God or not. This is not a political test. A man says we must vote. But his intellect does not think. Its blank. It does not know what is right or wrong. The free will begins to act by itself freely and says I want to vote for the one I want. The free will does not think; it only desires. It is the intellect that thinks but sometimes it does not think. In which case the free will takes over the function of the intellect. The free will blindly tells the intellect to assent to what the free will had consented to,  to vote for whom it wants. This is pure sentimentalism. It is not rational nor logical. The intellect does not object because it is not thinking. It just obeys the free will. But from the free will comes all evil. So the free will chooses an evil candidate, commands the intellect to do so and the man votes for an evil candidate, because the intellect  does not know what is good.  

8. Conclusion

     Decisions like these, because they are based on God's test, decides whether we go to heaven or we go to hell. 

   

NEW WINE IN NEW WINESKIN. First Friday of the 22nd Weekday in Ordinary time.

 1. The Gospel.

     The followers of the Pharisees fast. How come the followers of Christ do not fast. Christ answers; 'why should they fast if they are with the bridegroom. They should be banqueting. Then Christ shows what was the defect with the Pharisees; because they put new wine in old wineskin. But more because the Pharisees like old wine. Old wine is really better but Christ did not mean to praise their taste. However Christ assured them that when He leaves, His followers will fast. 

     The Gospel writers believed you cannot put new wine in old wineskin, nor a new patch in an old clothe. Both will spoil or tear. I do not know the scientific explanation for this but the Gospel writers believed in this and Christ picked it up to teach a lesson in spirituality. 

     In some parts of the world, like Spain, wine is kept in a wineskin container. This is practical in that they merely squeeze the wineskin bloated with wine and it squirts out of a nozzle straight in your open mouth. No need for a glass. Why new wine placed in an old wineskin will cause both to spoil and go to waste is probably of its incompatibility. Anyway Christ used this to teach a very important lesson. 

     The lesson is this; you cannot put into practice the New Testament commands of Christ if your soul is still living the Old Testament teachings. You will destroy both, spoiling the graces of the New Testament and driving your Old Testament thinking crazy. The right way of doing it is practice the Old Testament, then leave it and proceed towards the New Testament. Christ said that the Old is imperfect while the New is the perfection of the Old. They must be practiced separately, not together. 

     You cannot live both the Old and the New Testament spirituality together. That would either be putting old wine in a new wineskin or putting new wine into old wineskin. Both with tear and spoil .

     Then Christ said; 'new wine must be placed in new wineskin. Old wine must be placed in old wineskin.' What is old wine? The spirituality of the Old Testament, expressed in the 10 Commandments of God.  What is the old wineskin? The baptism of water preached by St. John the Baptist. 

     What is the new wine? The commandments of Christ in the New Testament. This is the life of grace. What is the new wineskin? The monastic life consisting attaining the virtues of Penance preached by Christ followed by the life of Faith, Hope and Charity.

2. Why will incompatibility spoil and spill both wine and wineskin. 

     Because they belong to different levels of human life. The old is the natural or physical level. The new is the spiritual or supernatural level. You cannot put the physical and supernatural together. 

     Thus a pagan who is an old wineskin who wishes to live the Old Testament spirituality must become a new wineskin, following the repentance of John,  before studying the Old Testament which is new to him. And a good Jew, who is old wineskin, must first live the monastic life and become new wineskin before he can take in the New Testament life. 

3. Why the suicides and domestic quarrels during the lockdown and riots when they abandon the lockdown. Because something new was poured into something old, New wine was poured into old wineskin.

     Here is what happened. When God send mankind the chastisement, i.e. the Corona virus plus some other subsequent other chastisements like forest fires, floods, storms, Nitrate blast, famine, terrorism, wars, riots, etc.....God, at the same time created an atmosphere conducive for man to receive His grace of 'last minute repentance,'  the lockdown and its accompanying adjuncts like economic downfall. With the lockdown, God meant to make man a new wineskin because the grace of 'last minute repentance' which prepares mankind for death and judgment is new wine. New wine was being poured by God in the new wineskin if man repented as taught on Ash Wednesday. 

     But man did not repent during the ideal atmosphere of the lockdown. So we have new wine, the grace of 'last minute repentance' being poured in an old pagan soul wineskin. The result, both spilled and tore. A disaster. 

4. Why did God pour new wine if the wineskin is old?

     No. God prepared everything for man's welfare. He prepared mankind with a universal program of lockdowns. He transformed the world into a world wide hermitage. The eremitical life is the way to become new wineskin for the newest wines. 

     God has to pour new wine because that is the only way a soul can be saved. Why did God pour it when the wineskin is still old? God, in His goodness topsy turvy the world, medically, economically, politically, socially in order to create an atmosphere so that soul can make themselves into new wineskin. God will not force anyone. Some took advantage of the lockdowns and begun to become new wineskin. This is clearly shown in the news especially in the US. While some wasted their opportunity and did nothing thus remaining old wineskin, i.e. remaining atheist, pagan, idolater, liar, thief, arsonist, etc. 

     So when the grace of the new wine came, those who took advantage of the lockdowns and became new wineskin were all right. Those who remained pagan and sinner burst open and spread the spoiled wine and bursted wineskin in their surroundings.       

         

THE DEVIL IS ON THE LOOSE. Tuesday of the 22nd Weekday in Ordinary time.

 1. The Liturgy

      From Advent, through Ash Wednesday, up to Pentecost, the Liturgy taught us how to prepare for our personal deaths. From Pentecost up to the Sundays in Ordinary time, the Liturgy continues to teach us how to perfect our Faith. This is necessary to be able to receive from God the theological virtue of Charity that will make us worthy to attain everlasting life. 

      After learning how to prepare ourselves for our personal individual deaths, the Liturgy, now, teaches us how to prepare for the grand General Judgment when God will judge the entire world. Thus in today's Liturgy, so far from Holy Week, the Gospels deal with Holy Week spirituality.

2. The spirituality of the 6th day.

     On Holy Week, Christ taught His disciples and apostles, no longer how to prepare for death but how to prepare for His Second Coming. The spirituality of Monasticism is based on this; on how to prepare for the General Judgment and at the same time, to prepare ourselves for our personal death.  Sort of two in one training. 

      The only difference between the two preparations is that we can die peacefully during our individual deaths, but it will be filled with commotion and confusion at the approach of General Judgment day. Monastic discipline includes the training for one's personal death and for these commotions and confusions that will accompany the approach of General Judgment Day. Besides, there are several signs that go together that can be seen when General Judgment is approaching, all of  which are not present when only our individual deaths occur. Though a few signs may be present but not all together. 

      So during Holy Week, Christ taught His apostles and disciples how to pass the last test that God will give the human race. It is the same test, whether they will follow God's Will or their own selfish, personal wills. 

     These signs are peculiar to preparation for the General Judgment. It does not show the exact date but shows if the day is at the doorsteps. These signs ddid not appear together before, nor 50 years ago. They are appearing together, today. 

     The monastic movement was meant to produce prophets who will await these signs and announce to the world its presence. Many saints awaited these signs but eventually found out that all the signs that should appear together are not together. St. Bonaventure was one of them. He thought all the signs were present during the time of St. Francis of Assisi to discover that not all the signs were present together. 

     This was the challenge of Joseph Ratzinger as a young theologian. He tried to find out where St. Bonaventure made a mistake and wanted to correct it. He wanted to continue his study on this but it was cut short because he became Pope. Supposedly, he continued his study on St. Bonaventure on his spare time during his Papacy when suddenly he saw all the signs existing together. Thus he announced that we are in the sixth day. A announcement nobody took notice. Nobody had any idea what the 6th Day was all about. 

     The 6th Day is Friday. In the days of creation, the sixth Day is the last day before the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the last day when Holy Mother the Church will take a short rest, sort of resting in the tomb with Christ, before she is taken up to heaven to wed the bridegroom, Jesus Christ. It is Good Friday and the signs that General Judgment Day is by the door is exactly what happened on Good Friday. 

      When Christ was teaching all these signs to His  apostles, they asked Christ, is it the end of the world? Yes, including the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. the destruction of the world. 

3. The signs present today.

     The pandemic exposed the fact that the world have done none of the steps necessary for a good death. Man was not ready to die at all. Thus the Corona virus was meant to, primarily,  scare man to think of death and begin to repent. God did not send the pandemic for a medical response. It was for a spiritual purpose and only a spiritual response can stop it. No vaccine can stop it. 

      Some have begun to repent. Some refused to repent. The natural consequence is that those who repent will gradually progress morally in the spiritual life. Those who do not repent will rapidly regress to committing more serious sins and crimes.

     The Corona virus pandemic is God's test for mankind that begun to separate mankind, with one group tending towards goodness and perfection; while the other would regress to greater sinfulness and depravity. And this is beginning to show world wide; from the US, to Lebanon, to Belarus to France and London. 

     Clearly from the news, some people are becoming morally better while others are getting worse. This was not noticeable five months ago.  It is clearly seen in the news today;  the good are getting better. And the bad are getting worse and deprave. The gap is becoming more pronounced.

4. The signs are clear;  it is not enough to prepare for death. We must prepare for General Judgment where every one will be judge by God for every deed that have done. And God's Justice will be meted out to the whole world; from who should pay for the world wars, for the revolutions, for the abortions, for the adulteries, for the murders, for the lies, for the heresies, for the idolatries, for the demonstrations. for destroying holy statues and for burning churches.  

     The signs for the approaching General Judgment was mentioned by Christ to His apostles on Holy Week. There are five general signs that occurred on Good Friday as types to occur today again. The Gospel yesterday and today mentions one; that many souls are spiritual possessed by the devil. That is why Christ always exorcises before preaching. 

5. How the devil works. 

    God uses the devil, amongst many other things, to test man. Whether man will do God's Will or do his own will. 

     The is evil, par excellence the epitome of evil, but the devil cannot tempt man or even approach him without God sending him to test man. He first finds out what are man's favourite sins and then uses these sins to tempt man. He cannot know what is in man's mind and heart but he can watch and study man to get this information. The talkative man easily reveals  himself  to the devil. 

      When a man sins and does not repent, God punishes the man by delivering him to the powers of the devil. St. Paul calls this 'deliverance to the devil for the destruction of his body.' Thus the unrepentant sinner continuously fall deeper into more serious sins. At some point the devil possess the soul of the sinner and enslave it. The soul is now used by the devil to destroy other souls. In so doing, the possessed soul takes on the characteristics of the devil, himself. He becomes a liar like his father the devil. He kills. He hates God and everybody shown in destroying statues of men and saints. He becomes totally ignorant of the supernatural realities, etc.

      The world have been sinning for many years. It is about time the devil should be possessing most spiritually. The devil knows whom to possess first; the spiritual leaders to make it easier for him to destroy the greatest number of souls. He begins with the Pope, the bishops and the priest. With those people destroyed, he does not have to bother destroying the ordinary man, women and children. 

       Today we see signs of demonic possession of most of mankind. Just like on Good Friday  you would not find anyone in favour of Christ. Maybe a few of His disciples, His Mother Mary and a few holy women. But even one of His own apostles would betray Him. It will be the same today. The betrayal would come from His own Church. St. Hildegard wrote, the betrayer would come from the womb of the Church. No wonder Pope Benedict made her a 'Doctor of the Church.' Because Benedict has mastered these signs. 

        With Lucifer heading the confederacy of evil against the Church as her last test, how many can survive? As the apostles asked; 'who can be saved?' Christ answered; 'with man no one. But with unceasing prayer of Faith, God will save you.' Unceasing prayer; this is the reason for the lockdown and the closing of all worldly entertainments. Because of the need for 'unceasing' prayer. 

        The onslaught of this last test was not felt 50 years ago. Today, it is at its apex. We, already see those who have descended continuously to the abyss of sins. Their hope is fading. We are now watching those who are struggling to rise up to the perfection of Charity. It is slow but sure. Their hope for salvation is very good. They just have to continue standing up for the truth and the good; and condemn outwardly all evil and sin. It must be very clear on whose side each one stands. For God or for the devil.       

 

LOSING ONE'S LIFE , 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

  1. The Liturgy.

      We have just celebrated the 'Passion of St. John the Baptist. This will be followed by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  We are reminded of these two incidents in the midst of the imminent danger of everyone losing their lives through the pandemic. However, the Liturgy is offering us another way of dying physically. It is referred to as 'losing one's life.'

     Christ had reminded us that the way to heaven is 'by denying oneself, taking up one's cross and following Him.' We have to follow Christ by, likewise, losing our lives. But this is not physically but mystically. Through the present occurring pandemic, the liturgy is teaching us how to mystically die in a way that we may be worthy of attaining everlasting life. It is summarised in the above just mentioned command, but stated as 'losing one's life and saving one's life.' 'He who saves his life will lose it. He who loses his life for my sake will save it.' 

2. Who is the one who saves his life?

     At first glance, the above statement seems to be a good advice but St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote that the consequence of such an act is that he will lose his soul. He will go to hell. And who is such a man? He is the one who have  a desire to live a life in the world satisfying most of the desires of his body or flesh. When he dies, he will go to hell. 

3. Who is the one who loses his life?

     At first glance, this seems to be carelessness. But again St. Thomas wrote that this is the man who gives up all worldly thoughts, plans and opinions. And he gives up all his worldly plans and desires to be able to fill up his mind and heart with heavenly desires. He must do this in order to be able to love God, knowing well that to love the things of the world will prevent him from loving God. Love of God and creatures are contradictory. You will love one and hate the other. 

4. Mystical death is the way to prepare for one's physical death. 

     This is the reason why God created the present worldwide atmosphere occasioned by the Corona virus pandemic. The present scenario where all are in a lockdown, where all worldly entertainments have ceased, where human interaction is discouraged, etc. is the perfect scenario to undergo a mystical death. Man had practically 'lose his way of life.' Man had, in effect, died to the world. 

       If a soul willingly undergoes this state of affairs 'for the sake of Christ,' i.e. in order to know the Will of God, he will be undergoing a mystical death. He had actually followed Christ to the cross. He had died like John the Baptist. In theology, this is referred to as 'white martyrdom.' It is like undergoing 'red martyrdom,' as Christ and John underwent.

       This is the reason why many found this state of affairs unbearable. So unbearable that the whole world are demonstrating against it. Of course, because it is like dying while you are still alive. And that is precisely what is mystical death. It is dying while you are still alive. It is unbearable if it is just physically accepted. But it is done for the sake of Christ, i.e. if it is done as an occasion to repent for one's past sins, it will be a very enriching experience. For one will grow in virtue and goodness. And this is evident in the news. As its unbearableness is, also, very obvious in the news; boredom, restlessness and suicides. 

5. Mystical death is in preparation for the General Judgment. 

     In the Catholic Church, it is not enough, just to die a good death. We must die like Christ and like John the Baptist; just in case we reach   general judgement day. You see, if we died 50 years ago, there would still have been a purgatory where we can correct our small mistakes, be perfected there and enter heaven. But if we reach the General Judgment day, there will be no purgatory. We must die perfect, without defects. And to do this is to under a 'mystical death,' like the way Christ died, with absolutely no worldly thoughts and no worldly desires. 

     Anyway, when we die we will really have to leave behind all our worldly thoughts and desires, whether we like it or not. Mystical death is for the soul to give up these worldly thoughts and desires voluntarily while we are still alive for the sake of Christ. This is giving up, not physically, but interiorly by the spiritual faculties of mind and will. By doing so we will certainly receive  a favourable judgment from the Divine Judge. 

     Sadly, the news is showing that people are violating the present protocol in their great desire to return and enjoy the world. Everybody is in the streets, in the beaches, in the pubs, etc.. They love their lives without the fear in that in so doing they will lose it..