The Living will envy the dead

In a TV ‘cop’ show I watched the other day, as they were about to introduce a new character they used the phrase – “He’s old testament” to let us know this muscled giant would dispense justice swiftly and squarely without compromise or any faffing around. And so he did. 

The God of the old testament, the one who flooded the earth in Noah’s day, poured fire from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah, rescued His people from the Egyptians and gave us the ten commandments has not taken early retirement. 

It is said that the Father, in this post Resurrection era, views the world through the wounds of His son. It is no less horrifying to Him but sees that the price of our iniquity has been paid by the sacrifice of the Son. And even though the state of the world is far worse now than ever in human history, His anger is held back by the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice. The purpose of that sacrifice was to cancel the debt, to make mercy & forgiveness available. For humanity’s part, we are required (as a minimum) to seek mercy and accept forgiveness and turn back to God. 

What happens when humanity stops turning back to Him, when a tipping point is reached where the sin is so great and the desire to repent or change is almost entirely absent? He sends a warning. I was reading about the approved apparitions in Akita in Japan in the 1970’s where Our Lady spoke to a Japanese nun about what would happen. One message reads “As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests” 

It’s hard to imagine what ‘envy the dead’ might look like but surely it’s better to avoid it by heeding this and the many other heavenly warnings we are receiving. The local bishop called it an update on Fatima and if we pay attention to this and the more recent apparitions which point to the same end (although in our day with greater urgency perhaps) disaster can be averted or lessened. Some people wonder why so many apparitions of Mary in our days, it’s because she is pleading with us to change, to pay attention, to see how precious human souls really are and how tragic when lost for lack of prayer or vigilance. 

Maybe this time of year is a good opportunity to begin again.

“All things new”

                                                                    

Perhaps the greatest mystery for us is what happens if we actually make it to heaven? The subjects of purgatory and hell have been very well documented over the centuries but heaven... eternal life...it’s a bit vague. Sitting on a cloud with a harp is an unbearable image, singing for 10,000 years might be a bit much too.

Some days ago, a chap called Maurice Mounsdon died, he was 101 and was one of the ‘last of the few’, a former pilot in the Battle of Britain. Most of his mates from those days would have been dead for 80 years by now. It reminded me of a favourite image of the here-after, which is from the end of the movie Titanic.

In the film, as the old lady breathed her last, she was transported down below the waves to the ancient wreck. As her spirit glided along its decks they were once again flooded with light. The rust and decay gave way to complete restoration of every detail. As she made her entrance and went up the grand staircase, all her acquaintances smiled and applauded as she was reunited with her beloved. A grand reunion, all things made new, nothing lost and she was young again without infirmity.

I think Maurice must have had a similar journey, as his guardian angel led him to have his debriefing with the Lord, I can well imagine the rest of the ‘firebirds’ (56 squadron) on hand to welcome him home and if there’s a soundtrack it must have been a Merlin engine’s roar! Nothing is lost in death, all things are made new and what is important to us now, what we have loved in life is still a part of us it’s just perfected by then. We think of deceased loved ones at this time of year, we will see them again!

“Disrupting ISIS Recruitment”

I recently visited the Island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the scene of the siege of Marawi, where the ISIS affiliated ‘Maute group’ briefly took over the city and inevitably met their end. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to stir people from passivity and complacency; face a situation head on and contend with it. 

I met with the staff of Duyog Marawi a group initiated by the Redemptorist order with support from the wider Catholic Church in the Philippines. Their staff and volunteers are Muslims and Catholics, mostly young people who are committed to peace and the restoration of the lives of those affected by the troubles in Marawi. Duyog means to ‘accompany’ and the group intends to ‘journey with’ the Meranaw people as they move through the various stages of recovery and development.

Before the insurrection in Marawi, ISIS recruited children as young as 9 years old as fighters, the younger they are the easier to brainwash, coerce and manipulate. The Maute family ran a residential school where many were recruited and whilst their families noticed how their joy left them to be replaced by aggression and hatred, they did not anticipate the outcome. Now however, through Duyog Marawi, the Muslim community have taken ownership of the problem. 

Duyog Marawi is now involved in countering the ideology and recruitment tactics of ISIS through a mobile Madrasah (Islamic school) for the children and a similar system to reach older youth to warn them ahead of time and teach them proper values. They are seriously disrupting ISIS recruitment through their efforts. The Muslim communities are forearmed now and can better protect their youth from those who would merely seek to profit from their children’s deaths.

As I listened to the three courageous young Meranaw Duyog Marawi staff, Juji, Jam and Hudaifa, it occurred to me that every young person seeks to know and find his part in the larger story, a noble or worthy cause to champion. Along with their Christian colleagues they had chosen the way of peace. They are the beacons of hope for a shared, common future.

As Christian and Muslim youth unite under a common banner of peace and understanding to protect their communities and nation from those who come only to ‘kill, steal and destroy’ (John 10:10), they become an impenetrable phalanx (interlocked shields) that will break the waves of fanciful infantile ideologies that crash against them, with unshakeable resolve and manly courage.

Perhaps communities in other nations can learn from this excellent project and apply a similar model to prevent radicalization of the young.