In today's first reading, an incredible thing takes place. The inhabitants of Nineveh respond to Jonah's warning of doom and gloom resulting in the fact that they repent in sackcloth and ashes.What is astounding to me is not the message of the prophet, but the response of the king, who calls his people to change their ways and turn back to God.
Even the king fasts and does mortification, publicly, stating that maybe the Lord God would change His Mind about destruction. God "relents", which merely means that from all time He knew that the Ninevites would repent and become good people.
Now, at Akita, Our Blessed Lady told us that a horrible time of trial and tribulation was imminent. I printed her words a few weeks ago.
"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...The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres; churches and altars will be sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord...The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them."
The trouble is that no one heeded Mary, who is greater than Jonah.
No leader of the Church has called for days of fasting and prayer against all the evils, or has called a rosary crusade.
None.
The importance of leaders declaring fasting and mortification, prayers and penance can be seen in the unity of the nation repenting, each person, one after another, to form a new people, a humbled people.
Jonah succeeded where Mary has not--because of our own free wills.
We all, and especially the leaders in the Church and in governments, have snubbed Mary.
When the tribulation begins, we shall be sorry, indeed, that our leaders were not as obedient and humble as the king of Nineveh. By the way, Nineveh was in what is now Syria or Iraq, depending on the map.