Signs of the Times  

   (con't).......THEY WILL IGNORE MY PRESENCE, EVEN THOUGH THEY WILL BE NEXT TO ME.  IN MY SON, THEY WILL TREAT ME CRUELLY, NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THE GOOD HE WILL DO FOR THEM.  IN MY SON, THEY WILL SPEAK ILL OF ME, THEY WILL CRUCIFY ME TO BRING ABOUT MY DEATH.

      SHALL I STOP BECAUSE OF THIS?  NO, MY LOVE FOR MY CHILDREN, MEN, IS TOO GREAT.  I DID NOT STOP THERE.  UNDERSTAND WELL, THAT I LOVED YOU, AS IT WERE, MORE THAN MY BELOVED SON, OR RATHER, MORE THAN MYSELF.

      WHAT I AM TELLING YOU IS SO TRUE THAT, IF ONE OF MY CREATURES HAD BEEN ENOUGH TO ATONE FOR THE SINS OF OTHER MEN THROUGH A LIFE AND DEATH SIMILAR TO THOSE OF MY SON, I WOULD HAVE HESITATED.  WHY?  BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE BETRAYED MY LOVE BY MAKING A BELOVED CREATURE SUFFER, RATHER THAN SUFFERING MYSELF, IN MY SON.  I WOULD NEVER HAVE WISHED MY CHILDREN TO SUFFER.  THIS, THEN, IN BRIEF, IS THE STORY OF MY LOVE UNTIL MY COMING AMONG MEN THROUGH MY SON.

     MOST MEN KNOW ALL THESE EVENTS, BUT THEY FAIL TO GRASP THE ESSENTIAL THING: THAT LOVE WAS THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN IT ALL!


    YES, IT IS LOVE.  THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO IMPRESS UPON YOU.  NOW THIS LOVE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN.  I WANT TO REMIND YOU OF IT, SO THAT YOU CAN LEARN TO KNOW ME AS I AM, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE, LIKE SLAVES, AFRAID OF A FATHER WHO LOVES YOU SO MUCH.

       YOU SEE, IN THIS STORY WE ARE ONLY AT THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST CENTURY, AND I WOULD LIKE TO BRING IT UP TO THE PRESENT TIME, THE 20TH CENTURY.---OG, HOW MY PATERNAL LOVE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN BY MEN!  YET I LOVE YOU SO TENDERLY!  IN MY SON, THAT IS TO SAY, IN THE PERSON OF MY SON MADE MAN, WHAT HAVE I NOT DONE!  DIVINITY IS VEILED IN THIS HUMANITY, IT IS SHRUNK, IMPOVERISHED, HUMILIATED.  WITH MY SON, JESUS, I LED A LIFE OF SACRIFICE AND WORK.  I RECEIVED HIS PRAYERS, THAT MAN MIGHT HAVE A CLEARLY INDICATED PATH ALONG WHICH TO WALKALWAYS IN JUSTICE, SO AS TO REACH ME SAFELY!

    OF COURSE, I CAN UNDERSTAND MY CHILDREN'S WEAKNESSES!  BECAUSE OF THIS, I ASKED MY SON TO GIVE THEM THE MEANS TO GET UP AGAIN AFTER THEY HAD FALLEN.  THESE MEANS WILL HELP THEM TO PURIFY THEMSELVES FROM THEIR SINS, SO THAT THEY MAY STILL BE THE CHILDREN OF MY LOVE.  THEY ARE CHIEFLY, THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS.  AND THE GREATEST MEANS OF SECURING YOUR SALVATION, DESPITE YOUR FALLS, IS THE CROSS, MY SON'S BLOOD POURED OUT UPON YOU EVERY MOMENT, IF YOU SO WISH, BOTH IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND IN THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.

      MY DEAR CHILDREN, I HAVE LAVISHED THESE GIFTS UPON YOU WITH SPECIAL GRACES FOR 20 CENTURIES, BUT WITH WHAT MISERABLE RESULTS.  HOW MANY OF MY CREATURES, WHO BECOME CHILDREN OF MY LOVE THROUGH MY SON, HAVE QUICKLY THROWN THEMSELVES INTO THE ETERNAL ABYSS!  tRULY, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY INFINITE GOODNESS; I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!

      YOU, AT LEAST, WHO KNOW THAT I, MYSELF AM COMING TO TALK TO YOU, TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF MY LOVE, FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DO NOT THROW THEMSELVES OVER THE PRECIPICE.  I AM YOUR FATHER!

     IS IT POSSIBLE THAT, HAVING CALLED ME YOUR FATHER AND HAVING SHOWN YOUR LOVE FOR ME, YOU COULD FIND IN ME SUCH A HARD AND INSENSITIVE HEART AS TO LET YOU PERISH?  NO, NO, DO NOT BELIEVE IT!  I AM THE BEST OF FATHERS!  I KNOW MT CREATURES' WEAKNESSES!  COME TO ME, COME WITH CONFIDENCE AND LOVE!  I WILL FORGIVE YOUAFTER YOU HAVE REPENTED.  EVEN IF YOUR SINS WERE AS REPULSIVE AS MUD, YOUR CONFIDENCE AND YOUR LOVE WILL MAKE ME FORGET THEM, SO YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED!  I AM JUST, IT IS TRUE, BUT LOVE PAYS FOR EVERYTHING!




     LISTEN, MY CHILDREN, LET US MAKE A COMPARISON, AND YOU WILL BE ASSURED OF MY LOVE.  FOR ME, YOUR SINS ARE LIKE IRON AND YOUR ACTS OF LOVE LIKE GOLD.  IF YOU GAVE ME A THOUSAND POUNDS OF IRON, IT WOULD NOT BE LIKE GIVING ME JUST TEN POUNDS OF GOLD!  IN OTHER WORDS, WITH JUST A LITTLE LOVE, GREAT INIQUITIES CAN BE EXPIATED.

   THIS, THEN, IS ONE VERY LIGHT-HEARTED WAY OF LOOKING  AT MY JUDGMENT OF MY CHILDREN, MEN, ALL OF THEM, WITHOUT EXCEPTION.  YOU MUST COME TO ME.  I AM SO CLOSE TO YOU!  YOU MUST LOVE ME AND HONOR ME SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE JUDGED, OR RATHER, THAT YOU WILL BE JUDGED WITH INFINITELY MERCIFUL LOVE....


TO BE CON'T.............