“.. what I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” – Matthew 10:27.

Why am I doing this? – I never desired this. I know the ridicule and the disdain that go with it. So why bother about the salvation of other souls, I myself am struggling to save mine? I can live peacefully and quietly up to the time I die, and I have six cute grandkids who make me smile all day, so why bother? But then these were brought to me, from the Lord Almighty, how can I refuse HIM? The Lord has made me a ‘watchman.’

“.. when the watchman sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.” – Ezekiel 33:2.

Mga kapatid, now I’ve blown my trumpet, and surely you heard it. You must heed my warning, and also warn your neighbors – you must also blow your own little trumpets.

“.. no one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar, instead they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.” – Luke 8:16.

Make Reparations For Your Sins

“many times, you have to be stupid to be wise . .”

2019-May-25   . . .   By: ncdm

Sometime ago, I had an argument with two of my close relatives. It grew and became serious, and we don’t give a damn to each other since then. As I strive to become righteous, it came as I repent for my sins that I also have to confess this. This inner voice in me said, “I must make amends with them”. But I countered and argued that if I do, their bloated egos will reach new record highs, then they’ll produce more exaggerated stories about how despicable I am that will circulate not just in Laguna but throughout the country and across the seas up to the ends of the world. That voice replied, “in your struggle for righteousness, many times you have to be stupid to be wise.” Frankly up to now, I still don’t have that courage “to be wise” – I hope there will come the appropriate circumstance.

This week of 2019-May-10, three prominent figures in government passed away: former House Speaker Prospero Nograles, former House Leader Roilo Golez, and former CSC chairwoman Karina David. So, did they go to Heaven? Yes, maybe all of them, . . or maybe just two of them, . . or maybe none of them. The big question is, “have they satisfied the requirements for entry to heaven?” Two of the most important of these are:

1. have they repented for their sins?
2. have they made reparation for their sins?

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What is “reparation for sins”?

The Bible has clearly answered this:

“.. if I tell a righteous person that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. . . And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right: if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, return what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil – that person will surely live; he will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.” – Ezekiel 33:13.

The LORD said to Moses: “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit – when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, or whatever it was they swore falsely about. They must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day they present their guilt offering.” – Leviticus 6:1.

Penance is the most important requirement for salvation, but it can be incomplete unless there is restitution. For government officials who made ‘immoral gains’ from their posts, restitution is such a great dilemma. For the longest time, I don’t remember any government official who voluntarily returned what he has stolen. Well anyway, all of them swear to God that they are honest and righteous.

Mga kapatid, reparation for sins make Penance complete. Very often Padre Pio emphasize this in his Sermons.

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Saint Faustina

Saint Faustina -[1905-1938, Krakow, Poland]- was beatified on 1993-Apr-18, and canonized on 2000-Apr-30, both by Pope John Paul II.

The DIARY of Sister Faustina, written in the form of a journal, records the last four years of her life. It reveals the depths of her spiritual life and illustrates the high degree of her soul’s union with God. The Lord endowed Sister Faustina with tremendous graces: the gift of contemplation, a deep knowledge of the mystery of the mercy of God, visions, revelations, the hidden stigmata, the gifts of prophecy and of reading human souls, and also the rare gift of mystical espousal. [ Diary Introduction, p. 10, Polish Edition ] DIARY of Saint Faustina – Marian Press, 2005

Here I’m quoting some of the passages in her Diary, for you to ponder..

“ Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. ” – Diary #1728.
“My Mercy doesn’t want it, but Justice demands it.” – Diary #20.

Saint Faustina has ‘toured extensively’ the abyss of Hell and Purgatory, and also the undescribably beautiful Heaven.

“ Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! . . . There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin.” – Diary #741.

So to those adulterers, ladies and gentlemen, you know where it will hurt eternally – it’s there.

The Five First Saturdays Devotion — [ this is the verbatim introduction from Donal Anthony Foley ] The First Saturdays devotion, which the Blessed Virgin expounded at Fatima in 1917-July to the three seers, and later fully explained to Sister Lucia in 1925-December, could almost be described as one of the “forgotten,” or at least “neglected”, parts of the Fatima message. Most Catholics are familiar with the Rosary and with devotion to Our Lady in general, but if you mention the First Saturdays devotion of reparation, quite often the response is a puzzled look. Even when it has been explained, people still don’t appreciate its importance – but it is so vital that we have to make the effort to do that.

The First Saturdays devotion really comes under the heading of “reparation” as far as the Fatima message is concerned, and is closely linked to devotion to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. Reparation – the idea that we should make up for our own and other’s sins – is not a popular idea nowadays, but since it received so much emphasis at Fatima, it should not be ignored. – – The Five First Saturdays Devotion — [bluearmy.com]

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