About two weeks ago, I lamented, as did the prophets, quoting Jeremiah, on the fact that people do not want to hear about doom and gloom. They do not want to repent, or face changing their lifestyles.
You can look back at that complaint.
But, today, I wonder if the prophets ever ran out of things to say, and became weary of saying the same-old, same-old?
The Douay-Rheims translation of Habakkuk makes a strong point in a chapter heading. The prophet is fed up with ignorance, with hard-heartedness, knowing that God is about to bring judgement on the people who have left His covenant, His laws.
Habakkuk 3 Douay-Rheims 1
3 A PRAYER OF HABACUC THE PROPHET FOR IGNORANCES.
2 O Lord, I have heard thy hearing, and was afraid. O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life: In the midst of the years thou shalt make it known: when thou art angry, thou wilt remember mercy.
3 God will come from the south, and the holy one from mount Pharan: His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.
4 His brightness shall be as the light; horns are in his hands: There is his strength hid:
5 Death shall go before his face. And the devil shall go forth before his feet.
6 He stood and measured the earth. He beheld, and melted the nations: and the ancient mountains were crushed to pieces. The hills of the world were bowed down by the journeys of his eternity.
7 I saw the tents of Ethiopia for their iniquity, the curtains of the land of Madian shall be troubled.
8 Wast thou angry, O Lord, with the rivers? or was thy wrath upon the rivers? or thy indignation in the sea? Who will ride upon thy horses: and thy chariots are salvation.
9 Thou wilt surely take up thy bow: according to the oaths which thou hast spoken to the tribes. Thou wilt divide the rivers of the earth.
10 The mountains saw thee, and were grieved: the great body of waters passed away. The deep put forth its voice: the deep lifted up its hands.
11 The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation, in the light of thy arrows, they shall go in the brightness of thy glittering spear.
12 In thy anger thou wilt tread the earth under foot: in thy wrath thou wilt astonish the nations.
13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: for salvation with thy Christ. Thou struckest the head of the house of the wicked: thou hast laid bare his foundation even to the neck.
14 Thou hast cursed his sceptres, the head of his warriors, them that came out as a whirlwind to scatter me. Their joy was like that of him that devoureth the poor man in secret.
15 Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses, in the mud of many waters.
16 I have heard and my bowels were troubled: my lips trembled at the voice. Let rottenness enter into my bones, and swarm under me. That I may rest in the day of tribulation: that I may go up to our people that are girded.
17 For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. The labour of the olive tree shall fail: and the fields shall yield no food: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
18 But I will rejoice in the Lord: and I will joy in God my Jesus.
19 The Lord God is my strength: and he will make my feet like the feet of harts: and he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places singing psalms.
The main reason for prophesying is to call people to repentance, not to tell the future.
To be honest, most Catholics only want consolations, like the people in my vision only wanting Smarties.
But, we are not living, will we ever live again in the time of consolations.
We are the generation of trial.
The Old Testament prophets kept on speaking until they were killed by their own people. The great John the Baptist kept reminding Herod of his sins up to end of this prophet's life.
But, I shall admit, it is very difficult to speak with those who simply do not want to hear the truth.
The prophets went into the desert to pray and came out again. St. Francis went into the wilderness, as did many others, but he came out again.
I am about to go into the desert again,
Many of the saints went into the desert and never came out again: Mary of Egypt is one.
Those who are called to be prophets in the world, and a good priest last week told me I was one, which I have known since 1972, frequently complain to God for several reasons.
The most prevalent reason for a prophet's complaints is the dullness of the people who simply are not listening. My long-term readers will remember all my ostrich postings of the last several years.
Since I have been back in the Midwest, it has been my complaint to God that people just do not want to hear anything about the reality of the chaos of our world and in the Church. I am living in a part of America where the god Mammon is adored above all other gods. Gross consumerism runs peoples' lives. Buying and selling seems to be an addiction, and the materialistic philosophy which underpins consumerism, that this world is all that there is, (the spiritual world is ignored), seems the main impetus for daily decisions.
Today, I have been at my wit's end. Women who go to daily Mass do not follow Catholic news. They admit it. They did not know about the Satanic statue, or the new curriculum, or the law-suit pending in Georgia against the Catholic school.
The men do not want to talk about these things, either. They talk about baseball, football, and fishing.
The women only want to talk about food, vacations, and social activities. If one tries to move the conversation to serious matters, people simply move away.
Why? Are people afraid and hiding from the truth because they lack faith in God? Why do they not want to get ready for the hard times?
To this day, I have not heard a sermon about the ssm decision in my parish. I am switching parishes.
Not one word on the Synod, not one word on the growing evil around us, not one word about the growing threat to religious freedom.
One of my friend's went to a pastor who has yet to refer to the SCOTUS decision and asked him why he has not said anything. His reply was so vague that she could not believe his apathy. "The bishops statement was in the local Catholic paper." Actually, it was not mentioned in the Catholic paper at all.
Another priest told her that if he brought this up, people would walk out of Mass.
Those Catholics, including priests, who refuse to understand what is happening around us will not be prepared for the real onslaught of evil to come upon us soon.
I predict at least one priest will be in jail by the end of this year because of the new amendment to the Constitution.
Jeremiah was frustrated and at his wit's end, as one sees in his words taken down by Baruch. And, he was persecuted for speaking the truth to his people.
Jeremiah 38:1-6 Douay-Rheims
38 Now Saphatias the son of Mathan, and Gedelias the son of Phassur, and Juchal the son of Selemias, and Phassur the son of Melchias heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying:
2 Thus saith the Lord: Whosoever shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live.
3 Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.
4 And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death: for on purpose he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, that remain in this city, and the hands of the people, speaking to them according to these words: for this man seeketh not peace to this people, but evil.
5 And king Sedecias said: Behold he is in your hands: for it is not lawful for the king to deny you any thing.
6 Then they took Jeremias and cast him into the dungeon of Melchias the son of Amelech, which was in the entry of the prison: and they let down Jeremias by ropes into the dungeon, wherein there was no water, but mire. And Jeremias sunk into the mire.
Daily, I see the blindness, willful blindness, of those Catholics who just think life will go on as it has before a month ago.
No.
No.
No.
Part of my problem is that I do not have people around me daily who understand the depth of the evil unleashed upon our nation. I have a few friends close by who understand, but they do not have time to pray together and have their own families. I need to pray more and do more penance.
I repeat the prophecy of Our Lady in Akita, an approved apparition of our times, just to console myself that what I see coming is, indeed, dire, and needing penance.
If I tell people I fast or do penance, I am accused of being fanatical and extreme.
Without prayer and penance, most people living today will go to hell. We faithful Catholics must become more committed to deep prayer, and real penances.
People just do not "get it".
End of my complaint for the day...Here are Mary's words from Akita.
“Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with My Son, for souls who will repair, by their suffering and their poverty, for the sinners and ingrates.
“In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With My Son, I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him and form a cohort of victim souls.
“Prayer, penance, and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father's anger. I desire this also from your community, that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men. Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice: offer (whatever God may send) in reparation for sins. Let each one endeavour, according to her capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.
“Even in a secular institute, prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered. Without attaching too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master.”
“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 the 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 other Bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests). 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 the 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 no longer be pardon for them.
“...Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able to still save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in Me will be saved.”
Lamentations 1 Douay-Rheims
1 Aleph. How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! how is the mistress of the Gentiles become as a widow: the princes of provinces made tributary!
2 Beth. Weeping she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: there is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies.
3 Ghimel. Juda hath removed her dwelling place because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage: she hath dwelt among the nations, and she hath found no rest: all her persecutors have taken her in the midst of straits.
4 Daleth. The ways of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast: all her gates are broken down: her priests sigh: her virgins are in affliction, and she is oppressed with bitterness.
5 He. Her adversaries are become her lords, her enemies are enriched: because the Lord hath spoken against her for the multitude of her iniquities: her children are led into captivity: before the face of the oppressor.
6 Vau. And from the daughter of Sion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like rams that find no pastures: and they are gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer.
7 Zain. Jerusalem hath remembered the days of her affliction, and prevarication of all her desirable things which she had from the days of old, when her people fell in the enemy's hand, and there was no helper: the enemies have seen her, and have mocked at her sabbaths.
8 Heth. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore is she become unstable: all that honoured her have despised her, because they have seen her shame: but she sighed and turned backward.
9 Teth. Her filthiness is on her feet, and she hath not remembered her end: she is wonderfully cast down, not having a comforter: behold, O Lord, my affliction, because the enemy is lifted up.
10 Jod. The enemy hath put out his hand to all her desirable things: for she hath seen the Gentiles enter into her sanctuary, of whom thou gavest commandment that they should not enter into thy church.
11 Caph. All her people sigh, they seek bread: they have given all their precious things for food to relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile.
12 Lamed. O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow: for he hath made a vintage of me, as the Lord spoke in the day of his fierce anger.
13 Mem. From above he hath sent fire into my bones, and hath chastised me: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day long.
14 Nun. The yoke of my iniquities hath watched: they are folded together in his hand, and put upon my neck: my strength is weakened: the Lord hath delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise.
15 Samech. The Lord hath taken away all my mighty men out of the midst of me: he hath called against me the time, to destroy my chosen men: the Lord hath trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Juda.
16 Ain. Therefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water: because the comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me: my children are desolate because the enemy hath prevailed.
17 Phe. Sion hath spread forth her hands, there is none to comfort her: the Lord hath commanded against Jacob, his enemies are round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.
18 Sade. The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath: hear, I pray you, all ye people, and see my sorrow: my virgins, and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 Coph. I called for my friends, but they deceived me: my priests and my ancients pined away in the city: while they sought their food, to relieve their souls.
20 Res. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled: my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness: abroad the sword destroyeth, and at home there is death alike.
21 Sin. They have heard that I sigh, and there is none to comfort me: all my enemies have heard of my evil, they have rejoiced that thou hast done it: thou hast brought a day of consolation, and they shall be like unto me.
22 Thau. Let all their evil be present before thee: and make vintage of them, as thou hast made vintage of me for all my iniquities: for my sighs are many, and my heart is sorrowful.
For only the second time in my adult life, I missed Holy Thursday Mass. However, I am going into a silent retreat tonight which will end Easter morning. Not the same as being with my people, but....
When I ponder on the reasons why I could not get to church today, one thing stuck in my mind.
As usual, I experience something harsh before my fellow brothers and sisters in order to warn them.
In the not too distant future, many of us, perhaps the majority, may not have access to the Triduum. If you do now, take advantage of this great grace.
Many enemies both outside and inside the Church bear upon our daily lives, but this situation will come to a crisis soon.
No priests, or only disobedient ones, no bishops, or only disobedient ones, no sacraments...and so on, will be the norm in many dioceses.
So, tonight, as I begin a time of solitary prayer, I am reminded of the recusants in my beloved England, who did not have the Mass or sacraments except on rare occasions.
Pray for yourselves...Christ's warning to the Women of Jerusalem echo tonight. The Jews and Romans used the green wood to fashion Jesus' Cross...when things are going well, this is how some people act. What will happen in times of great tribulation?
Luke 23
26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
1:1 ALEPH. Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo! Facta est quasi vidua domina gentium; princeps provinciarum facta est sub tributo.
1:2 BETH. Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimæ ejus in maxillis ejus: non est qui consoletur eam, ex omnibus caris ejus; omnes amici ejus spreverunt eam, et facti sunt ei inimici.
1:3 GHIMEL. Migravit Judas propter afflictionem, et multitudinem servitutis; habitavit inter gentes, nec invenit requiem: omnes persecutores ejus apprehenderunt eam inter angustias.
1:4 DALETH. Viæ Sion lugent, eo quod non sint qui veniant ad solemnitatem: omnes portæ ejus destructæ, sacerdotes ejus gementes; virgines ejus squalidæ, et ipsa oppressa amaritudine.
1:5 HE. Facti sunt hostes ejus in capite; inimici ejus locupletati sunt: quia Dominus locutus est super eam propter multitudinem iniquitatum ejus. Parvuli ejus ducti sunt in captivitatem ante faciem tribulantis.
1:6 VAU. Et egressus est a filia Sion omnis decor ejus; facti sunt principes ejus velut arietes non invenientes pascua, et abierunt absque fortitudine ante faciem subsequentis.
1:7 ZAIN. Recordata est Jerusalem dierum afflictionis suæ, et prævaricationis, omnium desiderabilium suorum, quæ habuerat a diebus antiquis, cum caderet populus ejus in manu hostili, et non esset auxiliator: viderunt eam hostes, et deriserunt sabbata ejus.
1:8 HETH. Peccatum peccavit Hierusalem, propterea instabilis facta est: omnes qui glorificabant eam spreverunt illam: quia viderunt ignominiam eius: ipsa autem gemens et conversa retrorsum.
1:9 TETH. Sordes eius in pedibus eius: nec recordata est finis sui. Deposita est vehementer: non habens consolatorem. Vide Domine afflictionem meam: quoniam erectus est inimicus.
1:10 IOD. Manum suam misit hostis ad omnia desiderabilia ejus, quia vidit gentes ingressas sanctuarium suum, de quibus præceperas ne intrarent in ecclesiam tuam.
1:11 CAPH. Omnis populus ejus gemens, et quærens panem; dederunt pretiosa quæque pro cibo ad refocillandam animam. Vide, Domine, et considera quoniam facta sum vilis!
1:12 LAMED. O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite, et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus! quoniam vindemiavit me, ut locutus est Dominus, in die iræ furoris sui.
1:13 MEM. De excelso misit ignem in ossibus meis et erudivit me: expandit rete pedibus meis: convertit me retrorsum: posuit me desolatam tota die maerore confectam.
1:1 ALEPH. How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the cities has become a vassal.
1:2 BETH. She weeps bitterly in the night, tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.
1:3 GHIMEL. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
1:4 DALETH. The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the appointed feasts; all her gates are desolate, her priests groan; her maidens have been dragged away, and she herself suffers bitterly.
1:5 HE. Her foes have become the head, her enemies prosper, because the Lord has made her suffer for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe.
1:6 VAU. From the daughter of Zion has departed all her majesty. Her princes have become like harts that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.
1:7 ZAIN. Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and bitterness all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, the foe gloated over her, mocking at her downfall.
1:8 HETH. Jerusalem sinned grievously, therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; yea, she herself groans, and turns her face away.
1:9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her doom; therefore her fall is terrible, she has no comforter. "O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!"
1:10 IOD. The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; yea, she has seen the nations invade her sanctuary, those whom thou didst forbid to enter thy congregation.
1:11 CAPH. All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. "Look, O Lord, and behold, for I am despised."
1:12 LAMED. "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger."
1:13 MEM. "From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long.
Chapter 2
2:8 HETH. Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiæ Sion; tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perditione: luxitque antemurale, et murus pariter dissipatus est.
2:9 TETH. Defixæ sunt in terra portæ ejus, perdidit et contrivit vectes ejus; regem ejus et principes ejus in gentibus: non est lex, et prophetæ ejus non invenerunt visionem a Domino.
2:10 IOD. Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiæ Sion; consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis: abjecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Jerusalem.
2:11 CAPH. Defecerunt præ lacrimis oculi mei, conturbata sunt viscera mea; effusum est in terra jecur meum super contritione filiæ populi mei, cum deficeret parvulus et lactens in plateis oppidi.
2:12 LAMED. Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis, cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.
2:13 MEM. Cui comparabo te, vel cui assimilabo te, filia Jerusalem? cui exæquabo te, et consolabor te, virgo, filia Sion? magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?
2:14 NUN. Prophetæ tui viderunt tibi falsa et stulta; nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad pœnitentiam provocarent; viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et ejectiones.
Chapter 2
2:8 HETH. The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he marked it off by the line; he restrained not his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament, they languish together.
2:9 TETH. Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets obtain no vision from the Lord.
2:10 IOD. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have cast dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the maidens of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.
2:11 CAPH. My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my heart is poured out in grief because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babes faint in the streets of the city.
2:12 LAMED. They cry to their mothers, "Where is bread and wine?" as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers' bosom.
2:13 MEM. What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can restore you?
2:14 NUN. Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles false and misleading.
Chapter 3
3:1 ALEPH. Ego vir videns paupertatem meam in virga indignationis ejus.
3:2 ALEPH. Me minavit, et adduxit in tenebras, et non in lucem.
3:3 ALEPH. Tantum in me vertit et convertit manum suam tota die.
3:4 BETH. Vetustam fecit pellem meam et carnem meam; contrivit ossa mea.
3:22 HETH. Misericordiæ Domini, quia non sumus consumpti; quia non defecerunt miserationes ejus.
3:23 HETH. Novi diluculo, multa est fides tua.
3:24 HETH. Pars mea Dominus, dixit anima mea; propterea exspectabo eum.
3:25 TETH. Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum.
3:26 TETH. Bonum est præstolari cum silentio salutare Dei.
3:27 TETH. Bonum est viro cum portaverit jugum ab adolescentia sua.
Chapter 3
3:1 ALEPH. I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;
3:2 ALEPH. he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
3:3 ALEPH. surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.
3:4 BETH. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;
3:22 HETH. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
3:23 HETH. they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
3:24 HETH. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."
3:25 TETH. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
3:26 TETH. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
3:27 TETH. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Chapter 4
4:1 ALEPH. Quomodo obscuratum est aurum, mutatus est color optimus! dispersi sunt lapides sanctuarii in capite omnium platearum!
4:2 BETH. Filii Sion inclyti, et amicti auro primo: quomodo reputati sunt in vasa testea, opus manuum figuli!
4:3 GHIMEL. Sed et lamiæ nudaverunt mammam, lactaverunt catulos suos: filia populi mei crudelis quasi struthio in deserto.
Chapter 4
4:1 ALEPH. How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street.
4:2 BETH. The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are reckoned as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands!
4:3 GHIMEL. Even the jackals give the breast and suckle their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
Chapter 5
5:1 Recordare, Domine, quid acciderit nobis; intuere et respice opprobrium nostrum.
5:2 Hæreditas nostra versa est ad alienos, domus nostræ ad extraneos.
5:3 Pupilli facti sumus absque patre, matres nostræ quasi viduæ.
5:5 Cervicibus nostris minabamur, lassis non dabatur requies.
Chapter 5
5:1 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; behold, and see our disgrace!
5:2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens.
5:3 We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.
5:4 We must pay for the water we drink, the wood we get must be bought.
5:5 With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest.
Yesterday, I came across several groups of people who are acting as if the world was the same as in 1970. These people refuse to acknowledge the changing situation in Europe and are making plans for elaborate vacations in areas which are not safe.
Thankfully, one of my best friends, who for reasons of work, has gone to Europe yearly since 1965, decided not to go this year because of the dangerous and volatile situations in France, England, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Serious problems happened in Sweden recently as well.
Those who think that Europe is not now experiencing the true beginnings of jihad are purposefully being stupid.
I cannot explain to Americans enough that the NWO is underway and the unleashing of terrorism in Europe is part of the plan.
Is it arrogance which makes American refuse to look at the truth and seriousness of the changes abroad? What causes willful stupidity?
A few days ago I wrote that God has let the devil off the lead for a while. This is to punish us for the sins of the nations.
There are four sins which cry out to God for vengeance. If the fourth one is made legal in America in May or June through the Supreme Court, God will not ignore the evil of the other three: willful murder, the sin of Sodom, oppression of the poor, and defrauding laborers of their wages,CCC 1867. I have written of these on this blog for years and years. Willful murder is abortion; oppression of the poor is gross consumerism and socialism, which take away the dignity of the poor; derfrauding laborers of their wages is paying maids and nannies seven dollars an hour, and not taking care of those who are the working poor because one does not want to be identified with the poor. Widows and orphans are ignored even by Catholics. These sins are committed daily in the United States. Sodomy will be enshrined in law after May or June. Do Americans honestly think that God will not respond in justice, He Who is Justice? Do Americans not see the pattern of violence in the world as a just punishment on Christians who have compromised the Gospel? Willful stupidity cannot be excused. God created us as rational beings. We are responsible to know the signs of the times, to repent, to help others repent.
On a bright sunny day in May of 1972, God called me "Jeremiah". I did not want to be a Jeremiah. He brought to my mind the passage from the book by this prophet of his call. To be a prophet is not to tell the future, but to bring people to repentance. I was very young and complained to God. He told me age had nothing to do with the vocation of the prophet. Prophets desire to bring souls to God. I have tried to do this in the perfection series. I have tried to do this with the call to podding and community. I have tried to do this by revealing real news. I have tried to do this by referring to the daily readings and the Divine Office, which always speak to the times. I wrote novellas laced with visions and poetry laced with the love of the Bridegroom. God made me unafraid, free to go and say what He told me to say, and allowed me to endure suffering. All these are graces. These are calls for the Church in America more than in any other country of the world as the States are so wealthy. I am losing patience with willful stupidity.
One feels the words of God in one's body when one is a prophet. It is hard to explain. One feels the agony of Christ in Gethsemane, looking at the sins of the people who refuse to accept God's love.
I was a prophet in the classroom, as my students recognized. From 2003 on, I introduced my students to the fact that they would make up the age of martyrs. Some listened. Some did not.
The one thing about being a prophet is that one knows one is going to fail. Being a failure is part of the vocation of the prophet.
Someone phoned me yesterday and said that on some talk show, they heard a man say all what I had been saying for a long time about the passing of ssm in America-no clergyman, no churchs in some areas, schism.
People will look for priests and churches and there will be none.
From the beginning of my blog in January of 2007, until the inauguration speech in 2009 of the president's first term, I warned people of the evil of this choice. I failed miserably pointing out the anti-life record, the Chicago Alinksy connections, and the connection to violent Black Liberation Theology, with its hatred of the Jews.
I failed.
I have failed again and again in moving people to become saints, as the only changes which will come politically must come from changes of hearts. Without repentance, politics mean nothing.
Today, I lament at this failure and look at my own sin and faults as contributing to this failure.
Lament, Americans, do penance. My words are coming to an end. Lamentations I and II by Thomas Tallis, which I last heard in person in England so long ago. I am already in exile.
