THESE days, Facebook seems to fill up frequently with obituaries, adorned with that lone lighted white candle amid a black background and, scrutinizing the comments on the posts, reveal coronavirus as the cause of their deaths. I have noticed, too, that many of the obituaries are for priests as never before in Pampanga and even in other countries, mostly African. Is Heaven speaking a language that has to be discerned? Meanwhile, we grieve.
It's a grief-stricken world since the CCP pandemic and Catholic mystics are telling us that the virus plague is just a prelude to mankind that, by a large measure, is seeking a return to the "normal" instead of to God.
Recent prophecies advise us to prepare not only materially but, more importantly, spiritually by way of conversion. As the Blessed Mother put it aptly in her Garabandal apparitions in the 1960s: "but first, you must live very good lives."
With the coming days unpromising of the "normal," no less than Jesus Christ left us with words that strengthen and comfort. I am thus sharing with readers one such message as conveyed to Anne a Lay Apostle.
While Anne, Kathlyn Anne Clarke in real life, is not short of critics (just like the visionaries of Marian apparitions such as Fatima and Lourdes before the events were approved by the Church), I cite her because the volumes she wrote mostly quoting Jesus, received Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur from Very Rev. John Canon Murphy and Most Rev. Leo O’Reilly, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland where Anne is from.
Quite significantly, the volumes were found credible and were endorsed by world-renowned Mariologist Dr. Mark Miravalle, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, specializing in Mariology.
No more ado and let's have the message of Our Lord as told to Anne on Dec. 12, 2006:
"Life on Earth is filled with change. If you look back on any life, you can see marking points where that life changed. Sometimes change comes in a predictable and expected manner, as in the movement into a vocation for which a person prepared. Sometimes change comes in an abrupt manner, as in situations where a person is injured or dies unexpectedly. It is this, the change viewed as a tragedy, that I wish to discuss today.
"My friend, there are events in every life that stand out as difficult and life-altering. This tragedy, this abrupt change of course, will stand out to you, I know. When you feel a sense of shock, a sense of stunning upset in your life, you must look for me. I am there. I do not remain with my children, day after day, and then abandon them when they most need my support. Your grief is understandable and I will support you in it.
"You will not always understand why I allowed certain things to happen. In your expected inability to understand, you will challenge me. You will say, 'God, how could you have allowed this? God, where are you? God, why have you abandoned us?'
"My friends, bring those questions directly to me because I, myself, am the most sympathetic listener when it comes to these heartfelt cries of anguish. You see, I cried these cries myself. In my humanity, on the cross, I felt abandoned. In my humanity, on the cross, I questioned the value of God’s plan.
"From my viewpoint, nailed to a piece of wood and raised aloft as a subject of total rejection and derision, it appeared that I suffered more than anyone. It appeared that none could know the extent of my pain. My beloved child, I tell you this so you will understand that I, your Savior, grasp the depth of your pain. I will walk you through each moment of anguish, surrounding you with Heaven’s graces. No. You will not be left to walk alone through this tragedy." (End of quote from Jesus.)
Anne also put on record a message she received from St. Ambrose on the same day, as follows:
" My friend, rest with Heaven a moment. At this time, it is important to remember that every life on Earth is finite. When a child is born into a family, there is no way to know the extent of his or her life. There is no way to know the plan for that life. There is no way to know the sufferings and joys that will provide formation for that life in order to bring that child to knowledge of God to the extent that God has intended.
"We, humanity, simply do not know God’s plan. If we accept this truth, we will move through our lives with a greater appreciation for the possibility of change. As you walk the Earth today, which one of you knows whether or not you will be walking the Earth tomorrow?
"No person on Earth today is assured that he will be on Earth tomorrow. Clearly, it was the same in my lifetime. Nobody knows whether or not this is his last day to serve on Earth. In the same way, perhaps you celebrate good health today.
"Does this mean you have a guarantee of good health tomorrow? Can you prevent a circumstance that will alter your health or your ability to serve tomorrow as you serve today? No, dear friend, you cannot. Accept this fact and you will serve in greater humility, aware that God could allow your course to be changed at any moment.
"You, my beloved friend, are experiencing this today. You are stunned by the change in course that God has allowed for you or for someone you love. I understand. I want to compare your situation to that of Jesus Christ’s situation in his Passion because we, as Christians, must compare every experience to the Lord’s experience so we will understand how to best conduct ourselves.
"Jesus suffered terribly before he died. His death was not sudden in terms of time in that he carried a cross to an expected death. That stated, can anyone be prepared for a torture and death such as he experienced? What preparation can there be for a mother to bring her to peace about such torturous treatment of her only child? Can a mother ever reconcile herself to a child’s death, particularly such a violent death?
"My friend, you are possibly shaking your head, saying, “No. It would be impossible for a mother to reconcile herself to the cruelty levied at her Son.”I understand. I agree with you. Taken by itself, without illumination from God, it would be impossible to accept such a set of circumstances. In the same way, if you take your tragedy by itself, without God’s illumination, you may find it impossible to reconcile yourself to it."