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part two
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
God has sent His Spirit and a True Witness of His Will
No easy task we can assure you! Jesus knew that and that is why the Church considers the Feast of Pentecost as the birthday of the Roman Catholic Church. For before Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised a special gift - the gift of the Spirit, which subsequently was given to those huddled in fear in the upper room after His Ascension. From that time on fortitude replaced weakness, courage, and fear of the Lord replaced anxiety, piety replaced worldliness, and wisdom, knowledge; counsel and understanding replaced ignorance.
All through the life of Jesus, throughout the formation of the Apostles, through the Passion and Death, and during the transformation of His disciples by the Holy Spirit, one person was there in the flesh - Our Blessed Mother. She is here today, imparting this wisdom to all her children through her increased apparitions and messages during these last two decades. If we are truly her children, then we have no choice but to rust in her. She knows what she is talking about. She is a loving mother who doesn't want one of her little ones to go astray. Yet, she sees us, those in her chosen ranks, so to speak, fighting among ourselves, polishing our armor, but not putting it on.
Rather than focusing on the enemy, which Paul pinpoints, we fight amongst ourselves. From petty things to serious slander we erode her army by undermining our cohorts through spiritual pride…that we're right, they're wrong. The real sadness is that we all think what we are doing is right, but, in truth, what we are all doing is wrong, for we are not truly living the Gospel. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). It is not a request by Christ, it is a command. We must love our fellowman whether they are friend or foe in our finite minds. To truly be the Christians Peter speaks about in 2 Peter 1:3-11 we need to refocus on true charity…all of us. For like the early Christians we all stumble on this one. I know I have countless times. Our Lord knows. Our Lady knows. No wonder there are so many reports of weeping statues. They see the damage being done by the wiles of satan and They can see how we fall prey when we don't fully pray!
That's what it is all about: abandoning ourselves to the Divine Will, letting Him, through the Holy Spirit and the Immaculate Virgin Mary, guide us and mold us.
Yet, man has a history of fouling up what God desires. We think in finite terms, God in Infinite. Not one person on the face of this earth can claim to know what is in the mind of God or the Blessed Virgin Mary --His emissary in these times. Yet, we all fall into that trap that we know how God or His Mother would speak or wouldn't speak. And all we need do is open our mouths and satan is there to twist the meaning around so that it causes confusion and doubt where there should be understanding and faith. It happened in the time of Moses and it's still happening now.
Those who are receiving the messages are not miracle workers. They are not saints. They are not oracles. They are fallible human beings just like you and I. They have said "Yes" to God and in turn He has bestowed on them, the beautiful give of private revelation. But with that gift comes a tremendous cross of responsibility, pressure, ridicule and persecution.
Contrary to what some may think; they don't have all the answers. But they trust and know God does, and He is there to help inspire them through the Father'' spouse. Our Lady is trying to guide us, but she needs us to be her hands, her feet, her eyes, her ears, and her mouth. She needs our cooperation. Unfortunately, because she is communicating with us through private revelation we get so tangled up in our own perceptions of what should be done that we hurt her plans rather than help her. No wonder she weeps.
The only way to get untangled is to drop to our knees and ask forgiveness for any wrongs we have done in placing an obstacle in Our Lady's plan for all of us…and then to resume that same posture over and over until it becomes a habit, until we are praying when we are awake, as we fall asleep, when we are at Mass or in church before the Blessed Sacrament, while meditating on the Rosary and Mysteries, while reading Sacred Scripture, while reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, while we are saying numerous ejaculations throughout the day, while we are engrossed in constructive spiritual reading, and while we are watching and taking in the wise words and direction imparted by Mother Angelica and the programming on EWTN, a true blessing in our day amidst all the evil on the "hell-evision" which is truly satan's tabernacle!
These are all ways we can make our daily "devil-check" so that we can check-mate satan and not allow him the advantage of jumping us. If we strive to do this, we'll realize that we can't make a wrong move on the chess board of life with God directing through the Holy Spirit and His spouse the Blessed Mother.
Next installment: Part Three of SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
Groer was born in Vienna, Austria on October 13, 1919 two years to the date after the final apparition at Fatima. His parents were of Czechoslovakian descent and therefore he maintained his citizenship there until 1939 when the Nazi menace surged through Europe. In 1942 he was ordained a priest and became Prefect at the Minor Seminary for the Diocese of Hollabrunn, Austria from 1946 to 1952. He had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a young boy and spent twenty-two years until 1974 restoring the tradition of pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Roggendorf in Austria. In 1970 he became the spiritual director of the Legion of Mary in his country and and four years later joined the monastic community of the Benedictines at Roggendoor and became a Benedictine monk in 1980. Some have maintained that it was here he fell into sin, but only God knows that for sure. The facts are that he was ordained a bishop on September 14, 1986 after Pope John Paul II had named him Archbishop of Vienna two months earlier on July 15th. Two years later the Holy Father included his name in the Consistory of June 28, 1988 when he received the titular church of Saints Joachim and Anne at Tuscolano. Sadly, at the age of 76 he was forced to resign as Archbishop of Vienna in disgrace after allegations surfaced and were substantiated as to his illicit affairs. His resignation came nine years to the day he was ordained bishop of Vienna. He retired to the Benedictine monastery where he became abbot and three years later he would have to resign again for repeated sins of sodomy. As sad as all this is, we must not hide it under the table but face it head on and be thankful that the Pope has replaced him with Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn in striving to reconcile the Austrian people. We also need to pray for Cardinal Groer for satan preys on those who are closest to God and exults when he can bring down one of God's consecrated ones. While up until October 13 this year he would be eligible to vote in the Sacred Conclave, the age limit will eliminate an embarassing situation after that and he will phase out of existence, living out the rest of his life in reparation for the wrongs he has done. He truly needs our prayers and compassion as do the people of Austria.
The worst man in the world knows a great deal more of his duty than the best man does. It is not for want of knowledge that men go to pieces, but rather for want of obedience to the knowledge of the good they already possess.
Earthly rulers say nohting concerning the temper or spirit of those who obey; all they ask is compliance with edicts and laws. Threats and penalties are attached to infractions, such as a fine for speeding. The legal world says, "If you fear me, you will keep my commandments." But in the Divine order it is different. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
In our day, liberty is taking the place of obedience. Obedience, it is said, has had its day. Civilization is in danger when the rights of liberty plead against the duties of obedience as if the two were opposed to one another. A man who has never obeyed is not the man who will know how to command. Steady drudgery and apprenticeship are the necessary training for the conduct of a great business. He will be a poor general wh has never been a lieutenant in the ranks.
Hence Our Blessed Lord went down to Nazareth and was subject to His mother and foster father; then He became obedient unto death, even unto the death on the Cross.
Obedience is not the quality of slaves, for slaves act against their will. He who had liberty to do all things became subject to His parents to prove that obedience is the pathway to freedom. As St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "You who are children must show obedience in the Lord to your parents; it is your duty."
The parent is strong when he says to the child, "I must have your obedience because I am responsible to God for your upbringing in goodness and truth." On the other hand, the child's strongest encouragement is in the same thought: "In obeying my parents I am doing that which is pleasing to God, and I do it because I love the Lord."
In the book of Lamentations it is written: "It is good for a man to bear the yoke from his youth." A horse must be broken in while he is a colt; a dog must be trained when he is young. So it is with youth. He who has never learned to submit will make himself a tyrant when he obtains power. A silver spoon has choked many a youth.
St. Thomas Aquinas said, "The respect that one has for the rule flows naturally from the respect that one has for the person who gave it." Authority must always have behind it some value which elicits respect and reverence.
In courtship, there are no laws, but the lover always seeks to fulfill the will of the beloved; and in religion, no compulsion is felt by anyone who loves Christ. The real basis of obedience in the family, therefore, is not the fear of punishment, just as in religion it is not the fear of hell. Rather, it is based on the fact that one never wants to hurt anyone whom one loves. It will bear repeating that Our Blessed Lord said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
I offer to all who will but trust in Me, My very Heart. It is Meek and Humble, which is what all My own must be, or they are fools who delude themselves. If you do not resemble My Heart, I shall cast you aside and turn My ardent gaze upon those of pure heart.
How My Mother weeps because so many who She gathered beneath Her Immaculate Mantle are no longer there! Her Sorrowful Heart weeps and My Own Sacred Heart is torn asunder. I behold the hearts of those who now speak only evil; they lack all charity. Woe to them! Triple woe, for they are but pawns of the evil one. O! Woe! They wear sheep's clothing while they defy My Will. I am God. They are My children. I hold out My Mercy but they cast it aside in the name of human justice.
O! The sorrows that will come upon them. The sorrows that are coming to all the world, I beseech all: PRAY! Be as My Peter and Paul, and serve Me, your God in steadfastness.
I love you. I bless you. Prepare!
Do not forget to give all honor to My Most Precious Blood, for Its Power is Infinite, and today My children do not even reflect upon It!
I gave every drop of My Blood for all the world. How I desire for My children everywhere to come to Me, to be washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb.
Renew in your hearts great devotion to My Most Precious Blood, and never fail to embrace It, to immerse yourselves in It as you begin and end each day. Daily unite yourselves to Me, and trust that, through My Most Precious Blood, I blot out all sins of those with humble and contrite hearts.
How sad I am that devotion to My Most Precious Blood is all but forgotten. I solemnly tell all the world: The moment is at hand when to My faithful ones I will make visible My adorable, Precious Blood, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
No longer deny Me, your God! Do not deny the signs I am giving you. If you turn to Me, many of the sufferings of your nation and the world shall be mitigated through My Precious Blood, the Font of Divine Mercy. To many I will give an outward sign of My True Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Know that as these signs increase the hour of My Mother's Immaculate Heart's Triumph will be upon you.
Pray very much and trust in Me alone. Do not give ear to anyone who spews forth venom. They are satan's pawns. Heed Sacred Scripture. Obey the Vicar of Christ and all the doctrines and dogmas of My True Church.
Go to the Sacraments well-prepared, for again I solemnly tell you the Hour of Justice comes like a thief in the night.
Prepare through humility, obedience and littleness.
I love and bless you who are all My children. No longer sin and cause My Heart sorrow. Pray much and much shall be given you!
