“Vae victis ..Woe to the Vanquished”

Recently I visited a town renowned for its traditional blacksmiths; everything from machetes for farming to replicas of battle-ready medieval swords. The process is long and exacting; spring steel forged at high temperature and hammered repeatedly on the anvil into shape and its cutting edges prepared; tempered and quenched to harden the steel; and sharpening with grindstone and then assembled with hilt and pommel. 

All of which reminded me of a confessor I had many years ago. My last visit to him ended with a mysterious warning: “expect a lot of suffering”.  As a recent returnee to the Father’s house I was thinking more of unlimited ‘fatted calf’ barbecue for some time to come; but he spotted something else: a rusted chunk of spring steel that would need a lot of work. The only way for God to bring about change in the heart of man is really by means of suffering; there is no other way. 

And right on cue it began. I didn’t know the enemy would be given such a free hand (or have a couple of little helpers placed in my circle). I felt like an unarmed, bewildered Hobbit being overrun by an army of ugly violent Orcs as I underwent the beginner’s spiritual warfare training. Analogous to Prometheus having his liver torn out every day; my mind and heart were tormented by whatever deceiving spirit was let loose. The only relief I found were a few minutes per day at Mass during the consecration and a few minutes afterward. Whatever it was had to flee at that point it seems. I could only pray and cling to a God I barely knew (I never prayed so much, so hard or for so long) trusting that the horror would in fact end, which two years later it did. Delivered just as suddenly as it began, at His word, and the aggressors were finally vanquished. Vae victis ! I too had been forged, hammered, tempered, sharpened, hopefully a little more useful by then in the hand of the Maker.

St. John Baptist de La Salle: The Dignity of Believers

Below is a new book :- St. John Baptist  de La Salle: The Dignity of Believers By Eppie V. Estanislao Clark, PhD.

Feel free to download and share .

Download Link

The Path of Glory e-book (free Download)

Here is a link to the Path of Glory e-book.

This is a wonderful book of testimonies from the Philippines. How great is our God !

 The Path of Glory e-book

The Boy who Shared

Many years ago, I had a Catholic Truth Society children’s book, kept in my grandparent’s house, which I looked at often when I visited, entitled “The Boy who Shared”. It was about the feeding of the five thousand from the perspective of the boy; as I didn’t like reading much I followed the story by looking at the pictures.

All our actions do have a ripple effect; but when they are in union with Jesus that effect can be enormous and far reaching. When the boy bankrolled the miracle with five loaves and 2 fish, he could not have anticipated such ROI (return on investment). Five thousand men were fed; this story was etched in the minds of every believer across 20 centuries and around the world. 

I read a more recent story from South Africa a few years ago, about a youth pastor, who after a long day decided to stop at a burger joint for a big dinner. Outside was a group of 5 street children begging and the Holy Spirit prompted him to get them each a hamburger. Whilst he realised this would reduce his anticipated feast, he submitted to the inspiration and bought 6 burgers including one for himself. He went outside to distribute them and as he did another crowd of street kids ran across the road towards him. There would not be enough. Anyway as he slipped his hand into the bag there was always one more there, he gave one to each of the newcomers and at the end there was still one left for him. The lesser known miracle of the multiplication of hamburgers!

No act of kindness or charity, done in union with God, is without its effect, both immediate and eternal. As St Paul puts it in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Medjugorje International Relief

Lord, make them good; punish them!

The grandson of one of my mentors, when he was a small boy, prayed for an adversary who had offended him in some way “Lord, make him good, punish him”. Out of the mouths of babes, wisdom! For he knew from his brief experience on earth that being punished for bad behaviour led to either a change of heart or as a boy at least a temporary change in behaviour.

It was interesting to learn that an eminent exorcist used a rather similar prayer during an exorcism where the demon was reluctant to obey his commands. So he prayed to God the Father to “punish him in a way he has never been punished before” Moments later, agonising howls of anguish, impossible for Hollywood to simulate, emanated from the demon as he was punished and then became compliant and submitted to the commands given by the Priest.

A few weeks ago I spent the night in the historic town of Taal in Batangas, in a house where the freedom fighters who began the liberation of the Philippines from Spanish Colonial rule, used to meet and make their plans. It made me reflect on how quickly idealism and self-sacrifice can decay to abuse of power, self-interest, and the corruption that Filipinos have become accustomed to since full independence barely 80 years ago.

Some commentators theorise that whilst having the appearance of government, with a senate, congress, governors etc. it is now essentially a failed state. More akin to a loosely affiliated entrepreneurial criminal enterprise of political dynasties, land owners and business people whose sole task is to harvest cash from the public purse by any and all means with complete disregard for God, country or people. 

Everything in heaven and on earth operates on authority. Even if the votes have been purchased illegitimately, those in power have been given authority by the people. And perhaps this is why ‘people-power’ has no real effect as the on-going pantomime performances in congress and senate illustrate. However there is one avenue left to explore for real change which is to appeal to the One who has complete authority over all. ‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”(Matt 28:18) And the church and its members have the task of enforcing it by prayer. Often we hear in church petitions asking God to make leaders honest, or humble or to have integrity… that’s nice, but to get the job done we need more than a suggestion we need the prayers of the young boy  and the exorcist  “Lord, Make them good (or compliant); Punish them” and then watch Him work.

                                                                                                                                              

“A place Prepared for us”

  

                                                                                                                                                

Statistics can be deceptive. There are now more than 1.4 Billion Catholics on the planet. Some is the result of evangelisation and much due to cultural inheritance as infants are baptised soon after birth. So whilst the picture may look rosy at first sight the reality may be quite different. 

The advantage of infant Baptism is that the new born receives grace immediately and therefore has some measure of protection from the enemy of our souls; but it must be built upon. Ultimately each person must make a conscious decision for God, to be a follower of Jesus. Many seem to think that after Baptism and perhaps participation in sacramental programmes that salvation is a ‘done deal’ with little or no requirement to live differently from the rest of humanity.

Recently, I read of the experience of St Teresa of Avilla where she was shown an unusual vision. We may be familiar with the message from scripture that Jesus is preparing a place for us in His kingdom, which He has of course, but what she saw was the alternative… Satan imitates what God does and she was shown the place prepared for her in hell that her sins merited. She described it, “The entrance seemed to be by a long narrow pass, like a furnace, very low, dark, and close. The ground seemed to be saturated with water, mere mud, exceedingly foul, sending forth pestilential odours, and covered with loathsome vermin. At the end was a hollow place in the wall, like a closet, and in that I saw myself confined. All this was even pleasant to behold in comparison with what I felt there. There is no exaggeration in what I am saying.  I felt a fire in my soul. I cannot see how it is possible to describe it. My bodily sufferings were unendurable....especially when I saw that there would be no intermission, nor any end to them. These sufferings were nothing in comparison with the anguish of my soul, a sense of oppression, of stifling, and of pain so keen, accompanied by so hopeless and cruel an infliction, that I know not how to speak of it. If I said that the soul is continually being torn from the body, it would be nothing, for that implies the destruction of life by the hands of another but here it is the soul itself that is tearing itself in pieces. I cannot describe that inward fire or that despair, surpassing all torments and all pain. I did not see who it was that tormented me, but I felt myself on fire, and torn to pieces, as it seemed to me; and, I repeat it, this inward fire and despair are the greatest torments of all. Left in that pestilential place, and utterly without the power to hope for comfort, I could neither sit nor lie down: there was no room. I was placed as it were in a hole in the wall; and those walls, terrible to look on of themselves, hemmed me in on every side. I could not breathe. There was no light, but all was thick darkness. I do not understand how it is; though there was no light, yet everything that can give pain by being seen was visible” (Teresa of Ávila, 2007, Chapter 32, Section 2).

I imagine she was quite motivated to become a saint following such a harrowing vision.  And we too must take our commitment to God seriously, to choose our eternal destination carefully. “To not decide is to decide”.

Reference: Teresa of Ávila. (2007). The life of St. Teresa of Jesus (D. Lewis, Trans.). [Cosimo Classics]. (Original work published 1565)

Our Lady's Latest Message from Medjugorje (July 25, 2026)

“Dear children! 

While darkness and peacelessness rule in many hearts, you, little children, be prayer and my extended hands of love. Little children, place the Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your family and read it, so that it may be an encouragement for you to conversion and a new life; because Satan is strong and seduces hearts. Your hearts, through my maternal Heart, I desire to commend to the Heart of my Son Jesus, so that He, the Risen One, may reign in you and joy may begin to reign in you and around you. 

Thank you for having responded to my call.