FROM MARK MALLETT: Mercy in Chaos

IN coming days, God’s mercy is going to come in various and powerful ways—but not all of them easy. Again, I believe we are on the verge of seeing the last Six Seals of Revelation (Ch. 6) definitively opened in this era. Yes, I know—it sounds like "doom and gloom." But it "lies within the plans of divine providence" and is, in many ways, the only hope some souls have….

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES

Most all have heard the stories of survivors of near-death experiences. The common theme is that, in an instant, they saw their lives flash before their eyes. A victim of a plane crash in Utah recounted this experience:

A series of pictures, words, ideas, understanding… It was a scene from my life. It flashed before me with incredible rapidity, and I understood it completely and learned from it. Another scene came, and another, and another, and I was seeing my entire life, every second of it. And I didn’t just understand the events; I relived them. I was that person again, doing those things to my mother, or saying those things to my father or brothers or sisters, and I knew why, for the first time, I had done them or said them. Entirety does not describe the fullness of this review. It included knowledge about myself, that all the books in the world couldn’t contain. I understood every reason for everything I did in my life. —The Other Side, Michael H. Brown, p. 8

Often, people have experienced such an "illumination" moments before death, or what appeared to be imminent death.

MERCY IN CHAOS

The Great Storm that is here and coming is bringing with it chaos. The architects of the "new world order" have as part of their goal the reduction of earth’s population. John Paul II referred to this as a "conspiracy against life… unleashed" (Evangelium Vitae, n. 12).

With time the threats against life have not grown weaker. They are taking on vast proportions…. they are scientifically and systematically programmed threats. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Denver, Colorado, August 14, 1993, World Youth Day

This is the sinister result of a relativism which reigns unopposed: the "right [to life]" ceases to be such, because it is no longer firmly founded on the inviolable dignity of the person, but is made subject to the will of the stronger part. In this way democracy, contradicting its own principles, effectively moves towards a form of totalitarianism.—POPE JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium Vitae, n. 20

The new messianists, in seeking to transform mankind into a collective being disconnected from his Creator, will unknowingly bring about the destruction of the greater portion of mankind. They will unleash unprecedented horrors: famines, plagues, wars, and ultimately Divine Justice. In the beginning they will use coercion to further reduce population, and then if that fails they will use force. —Globalization and the New World Order, Michael D. O’Brien, March 17th, 2009; www.studiobrien.com

But it is this very destruction which God will use to draw souls to Himself who otherwise would not repent. When the World Trade Center towers collapsed, how many souls cried out to Heaven as they faced the last few moments of their mortality? How many repented as Hurricane Katrina brought them face to face with death? How many souls called upon the name of the Lord as the Asian Tsunami swept over their heads?

…and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord. (Acts 2:21)

God is far more interested in our eternal destiny than in our temporal comfort. If His permissive Will allows such tragedies to occur, who knows what graces He infuses in those last few moments? When we hear accounts from those who have had brushes with death, it would seem that there are great graces for at least some souls. Perhaps these graces were merited for them by the prayers and sacrifices of others or by an act of love earlier in their life. Only Heaven knows, but with the Lord:

…we know that all things work for good for those who love God. (Rom 8:5)

Perhaps a soul who rejected "religion" but "loved God" in so far as they truly and sincerely, through no fault of their own, followed their conscience, will be given graces of repentance as calamity strikes, for…

Love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Pt 4:8)

This does not mean that a soul should wait until the last minute to depend upon such graces, nor willfully and knowingly reject the Church that Christ Himself has built as the "sacrament of salvation." Souls that do so are gambling with their eternal destiny.

RICH IN MERCY

God is generous, willing to give eternal life to the one who repents even "at the last second." Jesus told the parable of two groups of workers, some who began early in the day, and others who came in "at the last hour" to work. When it came time to pay them wages, the owner of the vineyard gave equal wages to all. The first group of workers complained:

‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?(Matt 20:12-15)

Then [the good thief] said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:42-43)

The flames of mercy are burning Me—clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls. —Diary of St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, n. 50

HOPE IN DARKNESS

St. Paul teaches that it is God’s will that all should be saved. Heaven, then, is doing everything possible in this late hour to arrange the opportunity for the salvation of the greatest number of souls, as much as freedom permits within the paths that mankind has chosen. Chastisements are coming in which the good and the bad will be taken. But it should bring us hope that, despite the coming darkness, light will be given in ways that we cannot comprehend. Millions of souls might eternally perish if they were to continue on as they have been until now, living out their last days to old age apart from God… but through trial and tribulation, illumination and repentance (even in a "moment"), they may in fact be saved by Mercy in Chaos.

God’s mercy sometimes touches the sinner at the last moment in a wondrous and mysterious way. Outwardly, it seems as if everything were lost, but it is not so. The soul, illumined by a ray of God’s powerful final grace, turns to God in the last moment with such a power of love that, in an instant, it receives from God forgiveness of sin and punishment, while outwardly it shows no sign either of repentance or of contrition, because souls [at that stage] no longer react to external things. Oh, how beyond comprehension is God’s mercy! But horror!—there are also souls who voluntarily and consciously reject and scorn this grace! Although a person is at the point of death, the merciful God gives the soul that interior vivid moment, so that if the soul is willing, it has the possibility of returning to God. But sometimes, the obduracy in souls is so great that consciously they choose hell; they [thus] make useless all the prayers that other souls offer to God for them and even the efforts of God Himself… —Diary of St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, n. 1698

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We are preparing to launch a new webcast: Embracing Hope.TV. The purpose of the show is to prepare the Church for the events which are here and lay directly before her, giving hope and perspective according to our Catholic Faith. We’ll announce the launch of the show here.

Published in: DAILY JOURNAL, THE GREAT TRIALS | on March 27th, 2009 |