“Unless you turn and become like little children…”

Entering the fourth quarter of life I began to think about some of the conditional scriptures like “unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:3) and rather than find a book by a crusty old theologian I decided to consult the experts. My nephew’s son and daughter (8 and 5 years of age). 

The first thing I noticed was that they had no (memorable) past and no concept of the future:- no point arranging a meeting for ice cream at 3pm a week on Tuesday with these kids. They live in the moment whereas I spend much of my time looking back or in fast forward. 

Over breakfast the little girl was not too enthusiastic to eat; I pointed out that if she finished her breakfast it would help her grow taller (a desirable result) and so she finished it and then stood on her chair, and climbed onto the table to check my hypothesis as she towered a quarter inch above me, satisfied that she had indeed grown since our last meeting. 

Next the boy, with the natural desire to test his strength, invited me to practice boxing and MMA,  I was able to successfully block a volley of rights and lefts but the surprise haymaker at the end ‘rattled the bones of my ancestors’ and his face lit up with delight. We are our Father’s sons (The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name Exodus 15:3) I remembered a similar training session with his Dad 25 years before. 

Next the little girl, after finding her crayons, led me by the hand into the garden, which is her artist studio and I assisted in her latest creation; the result would make Picasso weep for his lack of imagination and she showed it around later to delight her audience. (May she never run out of colours!) 

Then despite a lack of gymnastic equipment, I proved useful again, this time my arm served as a horizontal bar which she could leap onto from the bunk bed and swing on. And before I had time to do the risk assessment she was already in mid-air. We continued until one of us was tired. 

A finale was straight after as I felt the paws of a growling lion cub grip my neck as he leaped onto my back to take down the old buffalo… not this time though! 

If we can become like children, it is to live in the moment, to have complete confidence and trust in God but also to grow, be tested and be ever creative. 

Of course there is a subsequent  question, if we become like little children, how does our Father respond? I think He is fully attentive, delighted at our need for Him, cooperative in answering prayers as a good father is to his earthly children’s requests. 

The angels bow to God’s Holiness and majesty, the kings of the earth fall before His power, the greatest sinners are in awe at His mercy and forgiveness. Perhaps those who become His children climb up onto his throne and playfully pluck an eternal whisker from his chin in the knowledge that there will be no repercussions.

“Where Faith Costs”

I have a photo of four Chinese Evangelists on my computer. They are all middle aged, ordinary looking chaps who have spent 47 years between them in prisons and labour camps held by the Chinese Communist government because they believe in Jesus. 

They are the product of a movement of the Holy Spirit in one of the nations most hostile to the Gospel message. And now, many in what is referred to as the House Churches (as they have no physical church buildings) have begun to send evangelists beyond China’s borders into the most untouched regions of the world still held captive in the grip of  Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. As they put it in an excerpt from the book ‘Back to Jerusalem’ :- 

“The Lord has been training Chinese Christians  for the past 50 years through imprisonment, torture, suffering and hardship. Thousands have been treated brutally in prison, thousands more have been sent out across the country as evangelists with nobody to rely on but God himself. They have seen numerous miracles and have come to a deep trust in Jesus that could not have been learned in any other way than through hardship and suffering….We have become soldiers of steel, tempered in the furnace of affliction. We do not fear what people can do to us.” 

If we contrast this with Churches in the free world we see a dismal picture; even in our own denomination we see  nit picking on religious practices like where your hands are during the Our Father,  where to receive communion ,  or whether we should revert back to the Latin Mass (or the silent minority who would like it in the original Aramaic) But how about the lost, does anybody care about them anymore ? 

How the western churches need a portion of this Spirit to revive their drooping fervour; but I wonder if any can pay the cost …perhaps Jesus will also supply the appropriate training to those with a heart for Him.

Exorcist Reveals the Truth About Spiritual Warfare (Fr. Vincent Lampert)

Ep 44 - Satan's 5 Generals

Ep 44 - Satan's 5 Generals: Ever wondered how Satan organizes demons? Did you even think there was an organization to all the chaos? To know your enemy, you must study him. Thankfully, there a…

Why does Jesus Heal People now ?

My wife and I were at a market stall buying dried fish from a vendor in her 80’s, when she asked us if we remembered her. She had attended a talk my wife gave on healing prayer the night before in the church in the remote mountain town we visited. We had given out small bottles of blessed oil (a sacramental) and then Eppie gave her talk instructing the participants on how to approach the Lord for their healing. 

The conditions being , purity of heart and purity of intention. So firstly repentance of our sins and being reconciled with God and others; then purity of intention, or the ‘why’ you want to be healed, because you are needed, by family or others who rely on you. The lady from the market had been troubled by shoulder pain for some time, often being unable to sleep properly, and having placed blessed oil on herself, and prayed for her healing had made an instant recovery. We later learned of another group of friends who had gone to the hospital the next morning to pray for a sister who had dreadful skin problem (possibly leprosy) for some time and she too was healed  within a few days all the sores and puss dried up and her skin returned to normal. 

In the Gospels and Acts of the apostles healing is seen to be a very common and normal thing for Jesus and his followers to do; to restore His children to health; but something much deeper is taking place too. 

There is a turning to God in repentance, the restoration of health follows, an awareness of His living presence within us and in the world, and finally intimacy and union with Him in our prayer. This is the objective, a much closer, more vital dynamic and intimate walk with the living God.

"I AM TORMENTED IN THESE FLAMES"

“Nicholas, man of God, look at me,” cried a soul to Nicholas of Tolentino. The young Augustinian priest had just begun to fall asleep when the voice surprised and alarmed him. The soul identified himself as Friar Pellegrino of Osimo, who Nicholas knew when that friar was alive.

“I am tormented in these flames,” Pelligrino lamented. “God did not reject my contrition and instead did not destine me to eternal punishment, which I deserved due to my weakness, but to purgatorial punishment, in virtue of His mercy.”

Then he begged Nicholas to “celebrate a Mass of the Dead for me, so that I may be freed from my torments.” But Nicholas could not because he was assigned to say the monastery’s community Mass.

“Then at least come with me … see our suffering … pity these unfortunates who await your help…If you celebrate Mass for us, most of these people will be liberated,” Pelligrino again pleaded. Nicholas was then shown a great sea of souls of all ages, sexes and conditions, stretching across the land.

Nicholas prayed all night. In the morning once the monastery’s prior heard his story, he gave Nicholas permission to immediately say the Masses for the Dead. Seven days later, Pelligrino appeared again — this time, accompanied by a victorious multitude also freed.

After that occurrence in the late 13th century, Nicholas spent his years praying and offering Masses for the souls in purgatory. He freed countless numbers. During one Mass, Jesus appeared, thanked him and showed him the souls his Masses had released.

In 1884 Pope Leo XIII declared St. Nicholas of Tolentino universal patron of the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Nicholas’s experience wasn’t a one-time event. Nor was it for other saints along the centuries as they, too, heard or saw souls in purgatory pleading for their help.

No one goes to Heaven impure

"When a person dies, they do not go straight to heaven, unless they are Saints on Earth. You are doing a great evil to your love ones, if you don't pray for them. Do not say, my relative is in heaven now! No they are not. If they are Catholic and died with confession they went to Purgatory. It is your obligation to make sure that person receives the last Sacraments, and your obligation if you truly love them, to pray so they may get out of the fires of Purgatory soon.

A Holy Mass once a year, its cruel! Once a Month is not any better. Think of your time, how will you like people to pray for you? Remember one second in Purgatory feels like years.  Pray and say many Masses for your love ones. No One goes to heaven not pure. I come to tell you that they suffer in Purgatory, that they weep, and that they demand with urgent cries the help of your prayers and your good works.

I seem to hear them crying from the depths of those fires which devour them: "Tell our loved ones, tell our children, tell all our relatives how great the evils are which they are making us suffer. We throw ourselves at their feet to implore the help of their prayers. Ah! Tell them that since we have been separated from them, we have been here burning in the flames!" "

-- Saint John Marie Baptiste Vianney