Joseph L’Heureux,
Lay Minister
Nine months into this COVID-19 pandemic we should have had time for reflection.
When we study the history of mankind, we find there’s been numerous plagues that have swept the world such as the Bubonic and Black plagues of Europe, the Spanish flu exactly 100 years ago. These seem to come in cycles but the Bible teaches us that God occasionally has to allow us to go unprotected from Satan, who is out to destroy God’s creation.
When we study the Bible, a history of God’s creation and His attempts to save His people, we find all of creation seems to yearn to do their own thing, which never seems to work.
When God flooded the world for 40 days He was angry for their evil ways. He saved only eight people from that flood, Noah and his family. [Genesis 6-7]
In Genesis 11, we read that man starts to collaborate and creates a tower to reach Him or heaven, to protect himself, “Doing it my way” so to speak, God has to intervene again, this time by confusing their language. Let’s look and understand.
Why? God says, “Look, they are one people, and they all have one language,” [Genesis 11:5] and this is only the beginning of what they can accomplish.
“So let us go down and confuse their language” [Genesis 11:7] and so close to 3,000 languages on Earth, yet last century we landed on the moon. Still we have not attained or reached heaven.
Our next example comes from Genesis 19, Sodom and Gomorrah, two communities that are destroyed by fire. Again, why? Homosexuality and other vices, is running ramped so this time not the whole world, just two communities are destroyed.
I think we have seen and heard of fires devastating forests and cities often enough. The constant Biblical theme is that God is always reaching out to save all people through His Prophets like Moses, Elijah, and Jonah, just to mention a few, and finally John the Baptist, who prepares the way for the coming our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why is Jesus different?
Well, for one thing, He has paid the price for all our sins. He becomes the perfect sacrifice, by dying on the cross, shedding His blood to wash away all our sins.
That was 2,000 years ago; however, through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit He has kept His presence among us through the Mass which establishes the Eucharist, His body and dlood for our consumption. This Mass is a perfect bloodless re-enactment of His last supper and sacrifice on the cross. All this is to try and keep us under His protection, in spite of our sinful nature.
Of course, history continues to show us we are not capable of remaining under His protection, so we keep falling away, by straying from His commandments and refusing to accept what He has accomplished on our behalf.
These pass 600 years God has sent us at different intervals another Heavenly messenger, His Son Jesus’ earthly mother Mary, by appearing at Lourdes, Fatima, Kebeho, Rwanda and now Medjugorje.
Now Mother Mary is not only Jesus’ mother but ours also. Note when Mary and St. John the disciple were at the foot of the cross, He said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son [John], and to John, here is your mother.” Thereby making her, the Mother too all of us. [John 19:26-27]
These daily appearances by Mother Mary began on June 25, 1981, the day after John the Baptist feast day, has if it is the continuation of John preparing the way for Jesus’ personal ministry to His disciples. This appearance, which has lasted until now, just a few months short of 40 years, should make us recall that God led Israel for 40 years through the desert into the Promised Land.
This coincidence of God leading Moses and Israel through the desert for 40 years to the Promised Land seems to be occurring again this time through Mother Mary in Medjugorje.
Mother Mary has been very gentle with us, pleading with us to pray, fast and return to Jesus her Son, and now she is saying that time is running out, and this is her last appearance on Earth.
She also says change and turn to my Son Jesus, before it is too late.
Something we should consider. God bless!