The Choice Has Been Made

 

There is no other way to describe it other than an oppressive heaviness. I sat there, hunched over in my pew, straining to listen to the Mass readings on Divine Mercy Sunday. It was as though the words were hitting my ears and bouncing off.

I finally pleaded with the Lord: “What is this heaviness, Jesus?” And I sensed Him say in my interior:

The hearts of this people have grown hard: Because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many has grown cold (cf. Matt 24:12). My words no longer pierce their souls. They are a stiffnecked people as at Meribah and Massah (cf. Ps 95:8). This generation has now made its choice and you are about to live through the reaping of those choices… 

My wife and I were sitting in the balcony — not a place we normally go, but today it was as though the Lord wanted me to see something. I leaned forward and looked down. The Cathedral was half-empty on this, the Feast of Mercy — emptier than I’d ever seen it. It was an exclamation point to His words that, even now — even with the world on the brink of nuclear conflict, economic meltdown, a global famine, and another “pandemic” — souls were not seeking His mercy and the “ocean of graces” [1]Diary St. Faustina, n. 699 that He was offering on this day.[2]see The Last Hope of Salvation 

I recalled again His heart-wrenching words to St. Faustina:

I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy… I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation… —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 126I, 1588

While God’s mercy never ends, it seems to me He is saying that “the time of mercy” is now ending. When? How long do we have since we know we’ve been on borrowed time?

 

The Warning Phase

Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

When God desires to warn mankind, He calls forth prophets or watchmen, often through a profound encounter that gets their attention. 

In their “one to one” encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to The Word of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Savior God, the Lord of history.Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2584

There is an urgency that the prophet feels when God gives Him a word to impart. The word stirs in his soul, burns in his heart, and even becomes a burden until it is spoken.[3]cf. Jer 20:8-10 Without this grace, most prophets would be inclined to simply doubt, procrastinate, or even bury the word “for another time.” 

The urgency the prophet feels is not indicative, however, of the imminence of the prophecy; it is merely the propellant to spread the word to the Body of Christ and even the rest of the world. When exactly that word reaches fulfillment, or whether it will be mitigated, postponed or cancelled, and how many years or even centuries there will be after the prophet first speaks it, is known only to God — unless He reveals it (eg. Gen 7:4, Jonah 3:4). Moreover, there has to be time for the word to reach people.

This writing apostolate began some 18 years ago. It has taken many years for the message here to reach across the world, and even then, to a mere remnant. 

 

The Fulfillment Phase

The fulfillment phase often comes “like a thief in the night.”[4]1 Thess 5:2 There is little or no warning, for the time of warning has passed — the verdict is in. God, who is love and mercy itself, always waits until either justice requires Him to act, or there is such hardness of heart, only chastisement is left as an instrument of mercy.

For the Lord disciplines him whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. (Hebrews 12:6)

Often the first stage of this chastisement is the individual, region, or nation simply reaping what has been sown. 

…let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible. –Sr. Lucia, one of the Fatima visionaries, in a letter to the Holy Father, May 12th, 1982

I have no doubt that the “seals” of Revelation are not only man-made but are deliberate. This is why Our Blessed Mother warned at Fatima of the consequences of letting the errors of Freemasonry, (ie. “errors of Russia”) to spread across the world. This “beast” that is rising out of the sea uses smooth words and catchphrases like “build back better” and “Great Reset” to hide its intentions of creating order out of chaos (ordo ab chaos). This is, in a sense, “God’s punishment” — as much as the “prodigal son” was permitted to reap what he had sown through his rebellion. 

God… is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.  —Message of Fatima, vatican.va

I do not know the Lord’s schedule for this Triumph. But the “now word” today is very clear: humanity has collectively rejected Christ, His Church, and the Gospel. What remains before The Day of Justice seems to me to be one last act of mercy — a worldwide Warning that will at once bring home many prodigal sons and daughters… and sift the weeds from the wheat. 
Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the Day of Justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day. Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary of Divine Mercy, Diary, n. 83

Make Haste to Be in a State of Grace
We have reached a point where we must be ready to meet the Lord at any moment. Dozens of times throughout the messages to American seer Jennifer, Jesus calls people to be ready to stand before Him “in the blink of an eye.”

My people, the time of warning that has been foretold is soon to come to light. I have patiently pleaded with you, My people, yet too many of you continue to give yourselves to the ways of the world… This is a time when My faithful are being called to deep prayer. For in the blink of an eye you may be standing before Me… Do not be like the foolish man who waits for the earth to begin to rock and tremble, for then you may perish… —Jesus allegedly to Jennifer; Words From Jesus, June 14, 2004

Nuclear-armed jets are being deployed over the earth as leaders threaten annihilation of one another. “Experts” are warning that a pandemic ‘100 times worse than COVID’ is already circulating in the United States. World-renowned virologist, Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, has warned that we are entering a “hyper-acute crisis” among highly-vaccinated populations and we will soon see “a massive, massive tsunami” of illness and death among them.[5]cf. April 2, 2024; slaynews.com And hundreds of millions face starvation with hyper-inflation and a growing global food crisis. 
 
At some point, we are going to pass through this Storm… and it appears sooner than later.
 
When asked about the Third Secret of Fatima, Pope John Paul II told a group of pilgrims:
If there is a message in which it is said that the oceans will flood entire sections of the earth; that, from one moment to the other, millions of people will perish… there is no longer any point in really wanting to publish this [third] secret message [of Fatima]… We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because it is only in this way that the Church can be effectively renewed. How many times, indeed, has the renewal of the Church been effected in blood? This time, again, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong, we must prepare ourselves, we must entrust ourselves to Christ and to His Mother, and we must be attentive, very attentive, to the prayer of the Rosary. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, interview with Catholics at Fulda, Germany, Nov. 1980; “Flood and Fire” by Fr. Regis Scanlon, ewtn.com
I suppose what I am saying is that there is little if any time left to even alleviate this tribulation. Collectively, the choice has been made to eject God from the public square. This should be obvious to all. Still, “we know partially and we prophesy partially… we see indistinctly, as in a mirror” (1 Cor 13:9, 12).
 
Nor is all lost. These labor pains are not the end but the beginning of a coming new birth, a new Era of Peace
In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. —Message of Fatima, vatican.va

Yes, a miracle was promised at Fatima, the greatest miracle in the history of the world, second only to the Resurrection. And that miracle will be an era of peace which has never really been granted before to the world. —Cardina Mario Luigi Ciappi, October 9th, 1994 (papal theologian to John Paul II, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I); The Apostolate’s Family Catechism
 
Related Reading
Understanding “the last day”: read The Day of Justice
 


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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Diary St. Faustina, n. 699
2 see The Last Hope of Salvation
3 cf. Jer 20:8-10
4 1 Thess 5:2
5 cf. April 2, 2024; slaynews.com
Posted in HOME, THE GREAT TRIALS.