WHAT IS GARABANDAL?: THE WARNING: THE PUNISHMENT: DIRECTLY FROM GOD

Monday, January 26, 2009

THE WARNING: THE PUNISHMENT: DIRECTLY FROM GOD

The Punishment will come directly from God. This is no doubt the most troublesome of all the prophecies of Garabandal, or for that matter, of all the Marian prophecies concerning the "punishment." It is easier to explain "punishment" if we construe it to be the result, even on the corporate or global level, of our loveless and selfish behavior. But if we believe in the all-merciful God who is Father, and that His love for us is unlimited and unconditional, then how could He directly punish the whole world in a dreadful way?

The answer to that question is really beyond us, yet somehow The Punishment is compatible with His mercy. What even the best of theologians cannot understand or explain, we cannot hope to elucidate with absolute clarity. Some will reject this part of the prophecies about The Punishment, seeing it as too harsh to blend with the image of a
merciful Father whom they know by personal experience. Yet The Warning we have just suffered has already accorded the Garabandal message irrefutable confirmation. The Warning itself was a direct intervention from God. We all felt it by immediate experience, and it was "like" a punishment. It was a momentary anticipation of The Punishment, and warns us what The Punishment will be like, if it comes, as a result of our sins. Because of our sin, we felt the searing pain of The Warning. The Punishment will be the full measure of The Warning. Both Warning and Punishment demonstrate that God acts to save the world, and that in this instance, He is intervening directly to tear us away from our sins. The Warning is the first world-wide intervention in history in which God directly warns each one of us of final and eternal punishment to come if we do not repent of our sin. The second world-wide intervention, The Punishment, flows from The Warning and is directly connected with it. Both come directly from God. So The Warning itself should convince us that God can, and does, and will directly punish the world for its sin if it does not change. The Punishment will mean change for us all, for it will be a catastrophe designed to change all of us. For some, it may mean eternal perdition, which they will freely choose in defiance of the Lord's insistence on repentance. Others will be saved "as if by fire." For the whole world, it will mean the end of and age, the "end of the times." The earth will never be the same again.

[To be continued . . .]

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UPDATE: THE CHURCH"S POSITION ON GARABANDAL

The magazine "Garabandal Journal" has updated some information regarding the village of Garabandal, the current Bishop and Pastor.
For many years, while never being condemned, the Garabandal events were under a dark cloud as some of the first bishops (but not all) opposed the events. But the tide started to change with Bishop Juan Antonio del Val Gallo (1971-1991). While he at first did not believe in the apparitions he took a more open position. In 1981, he became a believer and during his reign, he lifted the ban on priests going up to the village and allowed them to celebrate Mass in the village church with the permission of the village pastor. The next bishop, Jose Vilaplana Blasco, was a non-believer, but left in place the positive changes made by Bishop del Val. In 2006, he was transferred to another diocese in southern Spain and Archbishop of Oviedo, Carlos Osoro Sierra, was made Apostolic Administrator of Santander. The Archbishop, building on the positive measures taken by Bishop Del Val, allowed priests visiting Garabandal to celebrate Mass in the village church even if the pastor was not there (he ministered to a number of other villages and was not always in Garabandal). The Archbishop also gave visiting priests faculties to hear confessions.
In 2007, Ed Kelly from the United States, wrote to the Archbishop requesting the current status of Garabandal and received a letter from the prelate, under his own stationary and signed by him dated May 7, 2007, in which he said: "I respect the apparitions and have known of authentic conversions. In light of these events, how can we not always feel the need to open our heart to our mother Mary to tell her that we need her protection, help, spirit, desire, hope and love! I encourage you to continue maintaining this devotion to our Mother."
In 2011, two 50th anniversaries were celebrated in Garabandal (1) for the first appearance of St. Michael on June 18, 1961, and (2) the first vision of Our Lady on July 2, 1961. The celebrations were conducted under the auspices of the Santander Diocese represented by the village pastor Fr. Rolando Cabeza (also dean of the area). During the celebrations, another ban was lifted when Fr. Cabeza, spoke of the apparitions from the pulpit, and read the two formal Messages of Our Lady at Garabandal.
On May 6, 2012, current Bishop of Santander, Vecente Jimenez Zamora (installed in 2007) celebrated a Mass in Garabandal in commemoration of the completion of a restoration project of the village church. In a refreshments period after Mass, he was open and most cordial with all the villagers and visitors. On May1, 2013, the Bishop again celebrated Mass in the village church of Garabandal and prior to the Mass, kissed a crucifix belonging to villager David Toribio that was kissed by the Blessed Virgin at Garabandal. We don't know if the Bishop knew that but we suspect he did.
Bishop Jimenez's Masses in Garabandal were firsts, since no Bishop of Santander had ever said Mass in the village church from the time the apparitions began in 1961.
Deacon John

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WHAT IS GARABANDAL?

Monday, January 26, 2009

THE WARNING: THE PUNISHMENT: DIRECTLY FROM GOD

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