Miscellaneous topics
- Jesus would not perform a miracle in front of unbelievers because He knew beforehand their hearts and distrust, as unbelievers would relate miracles to witchcraft. In front of people of faith and trust, He would perform a miracle to deepen their faith. It is people's faith that allows for miracles. Jesus has an abundant flow of mercy, ready to be reached by anybody who asks in trust. When in the Gospel, a woman touches His tassel and gets cured, it is her faith that reaches Jesus' heart and mercy. He probably sees that mercy flowing from His Heart and talks to the woman afterwards. That spring of mercy is always there for those who implore. "For healing is bestowed in proportion to faith." (Catena Aurea, Aquinas).
- Jesus makes the people He loves go through hardships. If we are constantly having setbacks in our lives, humbling us, learning lessons from them, in faith, then we are on our way. Just look at the apostles and how they died. As Jesus said to St. Gertrude in 1290: "When the hand of a father wills to chastise his child, the rod cannot oppose itself. Therefore, I desire that My elect should never attribute their sufferings to those whom I make use of to purify them; but rather let them cast their eyes on My paternal love, which would not allow even a breath of wind to approach them unless it furthered their eternal salvation; therefore they should have compassion on those who stain themselves to purify them." We must keep a positive outlook on all negatives, as Saint Lawrence said in his martyrdom, as he was being barbecued to death,
- When God sees no other way to reach a hardened heart, He will give what it asks for. He'll give us more when we ask for more, but because there is no faith and we rely on our proud selves to get it, a deeper hole is made, detrimental to the soul.
At Jesus' time, Herod was left alone on his murderous rampage until Mary said: "No more!" (a moment before Herod's death), as there was no way to save his soul (source: Agreda). Blessed Emmerich said that Herod felt no earthquake at his home or resurrected bodies during the crucifixion because there would be no positive outcome from it. "For where there is a hope of correction, there it is right to remain; but where the evil is incorrigible, we should go away." (Catena Aurea, Aquinas). Jesus said to Blessed Anne-Maria Taigi in 1810: "Why have a raised Napoleon? To make him the tool of My anger wherewith to chastise the iniquity of the wicked and to humiliate the proud. One wrongdoer destroys other wrongdoers."
- Why is self-inflicted suffering for God favoured by God? Any suffering, self-inflicted or borne for God, is seen as favourable by heaven. Jesus suffered, for the love of man, through a human body; anybody suffering for Jesus, like imitation, is accompanying Jesus; it's the ultimate form of love. As a brother would do for another brother, sharing a heavy load, to make him feel better, and to let him know that he is not alone. It's companionship in Jesus' Passion.
- Labeling people, openly disapproving their ways. Your mercy and judgement will be applied to you. Therese of Lisieux's book and her conversations with a nun soul in purgatory ratify it. Every human being is an image of God. An Arab store owner gifting us fruit at Cana, Israel, and a taxi driver giving us a ride to Tiberias for US$8 when he saw us in distress. Their heart is more giving than mine. Religious knowledge will not make us holier than anybody else, but if we apply that knowledge, we will become a better representative of Christ.
What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it.
Book: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
- You may be thinking, what about the second video? How does it relate to any book? Blessed Emmerich mentions that Jesus immobilized soldiers before his arrest at Gethsemane. In Mary of Agreda's writings, Mary does the same to soldiers harassing Jesus while in prison. After Jesus' birth at Bethlehem, animals would bow to Him. The woman in the second video feels a force to bow to Jesus. There is much more to this subject.
Cow bowing to person, maybe in gratitude after untangling its calf.
- Beyond these books, we may come across books banned by the Vatican. I remember reading a book about angels. Most amazing comments about obedience, as I continued, some information seemed odd. It deviated slowly, and it did not take long to find out that it was banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Other books as well. My advice is simple, scan the book for 'Mary', if Mary is not mentioned, then it goes straight to the trash. During exorcist chats with demons, the demons divulge information, such as: "If I knew Mary while living, I would not be here" or "I wish I was alive to have time to pray to Mary, there is no recourse in hell". If a programme on TV talks about Jesus and ignores Mary, follow the same advice. Mary sits next to the Son, She rules over 2/3 of the angels in heaven and has control over 1/3 of the rebel demons in hell. She is your mother. Ignoring her is ignoring the Son (Jesus said in San Nicolas, Argentina: "He who rejects My Mother rejects Me!" in 1985). Also, do you know who is the most important saint in heaven? Have Saint Joseph in your prayers too. Do you want to know more about Saint Joseph? Read Mary of Agreda and Sister Ephrem's revelations, another beautiful man, unknown to most. Do not read unknown gospels, opinions, or other denominations; it creates confusion, and confusion leads to less reading and praying. Evil creates confusion because it gets them more souls. Maria Valtorta's "The Poem of the Man-God" is one of those forbidden books by the Vatican (condemned by the Holy See in 1949, 1959, 1985, and 1993). The condemnation still "retains its moral force".
- Let's analyse even further the comment "He who rejects My Mother rejects Me!". Mary is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Christian Orthodox Church, other religions reject any veneration of Mary. In the Roman Catholic Church, Mary represents the Church (but not in the Orthodox Church); that is, Mary embodies and brings us closer to Jesus, in the Roman Catholic Church. God, through Mary, gave us the image of the Church. So, let us now rephrase Jesus message by saying, "He who rejects the image of the Church rejects Me!" or "He who rejects the Roman Catholic Church rejects Jesus!". It is simple and clear enough to understand, and that is why, in Medjugorje, Mary said, "There is only one faith." Mary may appear to people of different faiths to create conversions, but the message is very clear. For their own salvation, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) would advise people to make amends with the Church quickly, . Padre Pio (1887-1968) would go to confession repeatedly, confessing every sin he could remember, before passing away. It may sound immaterial in this short life with all the look-at-me outside noise, but it will become very real in the next. Jesus adores His Mother and the Church so much that, even before Mary was born, he made certain that we followed His fourth commandment as He did in His life...
- Stigmata miracles? Let divine intervention explain this to a Benedict monk, Sep 2013:
It is normal that a priest be stigmatised; what is not normal, in fact, is that he not be... The depth of the impression of the wounds of Jesus in the heart and in the soul of the priest is proportionate to his degree of abandonment to the embrace of Jesus, who desires only to unite him to Himself. In some, the interior impression is so strong that it manifests itself even in the flesh of the priest; in others, the identification with the Crucified remains all interior and hidden; in still others, it is barely sketched in the soul of the priest, because he rebels against the idea of letting himself be crucified with Christ... To offer oneself to the interior stigmatisation is entirely in the logic of priestly ordination. In some men, God permits it to be manifested visibly, with outpourings of blood. In others, the same mystery is lived in secret, without any outward manifestation. It remains that every priest is chosen to bear the marks of the Passion of Christ, and to be the living icon of His immolation each day upon the altar.
Book: In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart - The Journal of a Priest at Prayer by A Benedictine Monk
- God gave us a brain and free will to make decisions on our own. Do not let others make decisions for you. For example, when Stephen Hawkings said, "There is no God," people listened. He only has a Ph.D. in Physics, but he claims, "There is no God." It's like saying: "I searched for God all over the planet, but I could not find God. Thus God does not exist." Jesus would not let scientists investigate saint Gemma's stigmata. Lack of faith?
But the simple folk heard in simplicity; had others been present they would have broken up their silence by contradicting, for where the greater knowledge is, there is the stronger malice. For He that is in haste to be first, is not content to be second (Catena Aurea, Aquinas).
- A few miracles have occurred in photographs, giving a glimpse of Jesus' true face. Pope Francis spends time praying in front of this first-century painting of Mary and Jesus. St. Luke painted this icon of Mary (about the year 50 AD) while she was staying with St. John the Apostle:
Jesus' facial features are very similar to Mary's. The best miracle photograph I could find matching Luke's painting:
Blessed Charles de Foucauld(1858-1916) miracle photo at Host consecration. The Child Jesus.
- Any orders given by a director, confessor, or priest in the Roman Catholic Church to any religious or ordinary person, SUPERSEDES anything that Jesus has ever commanded over his elect or to a member of His Church. This is probably the most difficult thing for people to accept. It is based on the Gospel, Matthew 18:18, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." In many books of the saints, Jesus Himself says and gives priority to His Roman Catholic priests over what He just commanded to the saint. This is beautifully surprising and truly confirms the promises made in the Gospels. That is why it is best to go to a Roman Catholic confessional, pour your heart out, and listen very carefully to the priest's advice because it is coming from Jesus Himself! But remember that obedience ends when we are given a command to sin.
Book: Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux by Therese, de Lisieux, Saint
Book: Facing Adversity with Grace: Lessons from the Saints by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker