Sin, Despair, Pain and Loneliness

The following writing by A Friend of Medjugorje is a very important read to gain much more understanding of what you read above. It is from the last chapter of How To Change Your Husband.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

IN RESPECT OF GOD “THE” “FATHER”

A letter confronting the facade of inclusive language follows. It was written to a priest, who is basically opposed to inclusive language, and it was slipped in during the readings at Sunday Mass without his knowledge:

Dear Father,

November 14, 1995

“On Sunday, September 24, you celebrated the 8:30 a.m. Mass. The lector read the Readings. Reading the Book of 1 Timothy 2:1–8, he read the words “all men.” To my surprise, he then added the words “that is everyone.” The next two times he was supposed to read “all men,” he changed it and read the word “everyone” in its place, completely dropping the biblical translation. My concerns follow.

“‘All men’ is inclusive of all men, women, child-ren, etc. Changing it to “everyone” does not cla-rify the meaning any further since there already is a universal understanding that “all men” means “everyone” in the English language. So there can be no arguments put forth to change “all men,” because it is already inclusive rather than “exclusive” as some would try to portray.

“I can only conclude that those who put forth the agenda to change these words, place before us a disguise, a “façade” of justice and fairness to lead us to think that by doing so they include rather than exclude, all of which seems fair and allows this agenda to slide by the members of the church without alarm to the real intent. How, by chang-ing wording, can we suddenly include something which has never been excluded? That being the case proves that this agenda is not concerned with women being included, rather their problem is the structure of authority which is signified and confirmed when we say “men,” when applied to all women, boys, and girls.

“It seems clear to me that many are seduced into accepting these changes, thinking this is justice; we are “righting wrongs against women.” However, little wisdom is put forth to connect its real agenda, which is an attack on male authority, and once this is achieved, the deterioration of society follows because of no solid direction. This is because direction is God-ordained and in the hands of the male, the provider, and if his importance is nullified, society will lose its way. It can only be this in-depth reason since saying “men,” when applied to all people, is as inclusive as you can get. It then becomes obvious that the real reason, the in-depth reason, is the rejection of “man’s” biblical mandate to guide and lead. This attack on male authority, this rejection, has led to the lack of importance of the father in the family. He is no longer the guide, rather an equal vote with his wife and now even his children. However, also with this erosion of fatherhood has come the challenging of having only male priests, resentment against the hierarchy of the Church, and the questioning of it. Still, this is not the end desire of the agenda. It is apparent that the ultimate goal of this language game is the restructuring and social re-engineering of male authority with the expressed purpose to alter society in order to weaken man’s (male) authority, which will weaken God’s authority, the latter being “the” ultimate goal of this agenda. All au-thority being from God is, of course, always re-sisted by those forces against God. The weaken-ing of fatherhood has resulted in the parallel of the weakening of God the Father’s fatherhood in society. God the Father is no longer respected just as fathers are not. God’s ordained authority is sacred. Men need not apologize for exercising that which God gave them nor be timid in using it, for God expects it when put into action with love or to keep His commandments.

“It must be reflected upon that Eve was deceived. Adam was not. Eve was deceived by the serpent and obeyed him. Adam was seduced by the woman and obeyed her. Authority flowed from God to Adam, and he was to listen to the Father’s commands. It was he who was told before Eve was created not to eat of the fruit. Eve, obeying Adam, told the serpent that they were not to eat of the fruit. The commands from God passed through the man’s authority to the woman and the woman expressed it to the serpent. She did not listen to her husband and did not submit to his guidance which came from the Heavenly Father. Eve, being deceived, reversed the order of authority and listened to the serpent, obeying him. Adam knew it was wrong yet followed the woman, obeying her. Today, it is the same. We are becoming a female-driven society. The danger is women are inclined to being deceived while men have a natural ability to know the right direction, even if they don’t follow it.

“Women are a touch of God, offering great enhancement to man and the elevation of society. Woman was made for man. Man was made for God. She is man’s helpmate, both through which God is glorified. This is supported in Scripture which states:

1 Corinthians 11:7–10

“A man is the image of God and the reflection of His glory. Woman, in turn, is the reflection of man’s glory. Man was not made from woman but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man.”

“The danger is when positions of authority are filled by women on a wide scale, the degradation of society will follow. Women have the “qualities” to fill these positions, even exceeding men in many ways. But they do not possess the direction, guideship ability, and far-reaching consequences of decisions made that come with God-given authority in the same way a man has. A mechanic can easily mislead a woman about a problem with her car that does not exist, because it is her nature to trust. Man is more suspect and can be misled but far less likely than women. From satan’s standpoint, therefore, it becomes important, if evil is to prevail, that man’s authority be not only challenged but usurped which, in turn, will lead to the destruction of society. Once a great many positions of authority are filled with women, by usurpation, society’s fall will follow, just as Eve’s trust in the serpent began the fall of all men. While I do not argue that women can fill positions and exercise authority, it must come through man and be subject to him, not equal to or over him.** Through this she will be pro-tected and fruit will come from her wisdom and decisions. When not subject to man, she is destined to go astray and will be deceived. Even saints understanding this value, so as not to go astray, protected themselves by a spiritual director, submitting to spiritual direction.

“St. Teresa herself spoke about women and how easily they are deceived. She spoke of evil among the religious and said she speaks more of women than of men. Carmelite Kieran Kavanaugh O.C.D., author of St. Teresa of Avila’s four volumes of her life, writes:

“The ideal gradually grew more wide-spread that women, the daughters of Eve, could serve as satan’s intermediary, in order to more easily tempt man and draw him to evil.” 

“I know what I say to you would be perceived by present society as radical, yet I know past Christian societies would judge the present society as radical. I prefer to be in harmony with those principals which, when followed, cause society to function in an orderly way. Anyone who prays, studies the lives of the saints, the Scriptures, Our Lady’s messages given in Medjugorje, and the Church’s past history will come to the same conclusions.

“While I deserve it because of my sins, I, as an individual, do not mind my manhood, husbandhood, and fatherhood being demeaned, degraded, and trampled. However, because my manhood, husbandhood, and fatherhood are characteristic representation on earth of God the Father’s to my children, my wife, and society, I revolt against what in truth is a ‘masked’ attack on God our Father. I encourage all ‘males’ to resist, through love, the softening and mushing of that which is God-given and to remain firm in the exercising of their rightful authority from God for family and society. It is time for them to fill their sacred and holy position which can only be done by living His precepts, and then for them to realize the importance of this authority in their roles to lead society back on course. It is not important that society no longer gives the ‘male’ this authority, for it is not they who decide it nor theirs to give. We have it by God’s design. We should exercise it even against a society which rejects it. It is we who have the strength and right to do so because it is from Him Who, being the singular author of all men, is the “One” from Whom all authority rests.

“I, therefore, most vehemently oppose the change of Scriptural words, especially to meet an agenda of social rearranging. I know many of those who do, do so without even realizing what they are doing. It is important that they be made aware. I know to say things such as this is not wise by the world’s ways if anyone is concerned about repu-tations and what people may think of him. However, Jesus’ example of not going with the prevailing thought, but rather speaking clearly, is the road to travel. No doubt that it was for Him very rough, but so too will it be for any who takes up the cross, tries to live the faith, and speaks clearly. I am not thin-skinned, rather I place the armor of Jesus before me as protection. Whatever you choose to do with this I leave to you. Whether you use it, post it in the Church, or discard it, I trust in God your direction for it.”

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
A Friend of Medjugorje

The truth is through many plans of satan, inclusive language being one, the Fatherhood of God is being undermined. Why? It is important for satan to attack God’s authority in order for him to change men and women’s roles here on earth.

One priest mentioned on Father’s Day that at a deten-tion home he visits he cannot mention God the Father because the juveniles have no earthly father to relate to and, in most cases, hate the name. That same view for them holds true for the Father in Heaven. Fathers’ and mothers’ roles are extremely important and we must make them more clear in the future and resist the whims of social changes. We must resist this social engineering. Indeed, satan’s goal is to make God the Father hated and so satan works to make earthly fatherhood despised and hated, which serves perfectly his plan.

Today’s society clearly suffers from this challenge to male authority and the father’s right to lead the family. Few wives understand this, as in the case of the following couple:

“A couple was in counseling sessions and a question was put forth to them. The wife said, ‘I’ll do whatever my husband says. He is my husband. Whatever he says that is what I’ll do.’ Upon which she then got up, turned to him, and said, ‘Get up Bill. Come on. Let’s go!’”

It was quite obvious to the counselor who was in charge, that the woman lived not at all what she professed.

Present society’s problems may be blamed on many things; music, husband’s abandonment, divorce, crime etc… While these are great problems in our society today, just as many would blame the problems of Israel and the Arab countries on many different issues, they are not the root problem. They are the “fruit” of the core root problem. The Arabs and Jews’ core root problem was Sarah’s usurping and Abraham’s allowing Sarah to lead him. Few realize today when they hear about the conflict between the Jews and Arabs that it origi-nates from a family problem dating back thousands of years, in which Sarah did not obey, but usurped Abraham’s authority, and he complied, allowing her to lead him. At the prodding of his wife, he had relations with a servant who gave birth to a son, “Ishmael.” Later, Sarah conceived and gave birth to Isaac. Ishmael and Isaac were family, related by blood, yet through Sarah’s bending and usurping, hatred entered the family, and Isaac, whom all Jews descended from and Ishmael, whom all Arabs descended from, set the stage for thousands of years of suffering, sorrow, and persecutions, all because of a single act of disobedience to God’s structure and working order.

Still it might be said, “But I’m not Sarah. My small acts account for nothing.” Sarah certainly did not understand the importance of her role at the time she was living. How could she? In the present time, the time we all are living in, Our Lady, in Her first message to the world, had this to tell us:

January 25, 1987

“…Dear children, I want you to comprehend that God has chosen each one of you, in order to use you in a great plan for the salvation of mankind. You are not able to comprehend how great your role is in God’s design…”

By this we see that a woman, living out her role as wife and mother as perfectly as possible, “will,” not “may,” have a “great” effect upon society and the world.

Today the hatred between Israel and the Arab countries is blamed on land squabbles, atrocities against each other, etc…which is a distortion of the reason all those issues exist. In comparison, the core problem in today’s society is the struggle for female domination over male authority and also man’s weakness to hold the course which he knows in his heart he must follow to guide the family.

Just as satan hid the Arab and Jew problem beneath conflict and strife, so today he also does the same between men and women, by raising issues of conflict and strife, all of which are the result of jockeying for power, and all of which would be alleviated with only “one” head. Through conflict and strife satan is able to keep us from discovering and going deep enough to see the problem. satan, then, is easily able to perpetuate it.

Yet, with a little wisdom satan’s deception can be uncovered, and there is evidence of this everywhere in society. Usually the best and most clear evidence of satan’s hidden agenda of reversing the roles set down by God can be found associated with vices. Cigarette advertising is extremely guilty of this influence on society, even for those who do not smoke. Its message still influences subliminally. A current Newport cigarette advertisement on billboards and airport displays shows a man and a woman arm wrestling. His muscles are flexed and his face is tilted downward with a grimace on it as he looks at his large muscle. The woman is looking outward towards the public with a somewhat devious smile, as if to say, “I’ve got him under my control,” effortlessly holding him at bay. His countenance seems to say, “I am not strong enough. My muscles are much larger, and she is a woman. How is it she dominates me?” He seems puzzled at the loss of his man-hood. She conveys in her countenance, “Women are in charge; use your womanly traits to dominate. Everything is in my control. Look at me! I’m happy being in charge of man. You can be the same.” Are we reading more than what is there? Study the picture! One might say, “Should we really believe satan is active in such advertising?” Yes! It is a promotion of a vice. When this is the case, satan is very active in such promotion. He has a master scheme with multiple purposes, and smoking is not his sole message. We must ask ourselves what arm wrestling between a man and a woman has to do with cigarettes, unless its message is much more than cigarettes. Stranger still, a cigarette does not even appear in the ad. Another recent cigarette company shows a woman and man both wearing pants with a statement saying to the effect, “Who cares who wears the pants?” — a clear challenge of manly authority.

Can it then be said that all these people who write these advertisements have a set agenda to alter society? No. While some do, many have no clue as to the underlying agenda of satan. There is fertile ground amongst vice for satan to inspire in the promotion of any vice that requires talent to be creative, to be inspired, or to think up ideas. It would be incorrect to think that satan would not be aggressively involved. Just as with an open chicken coop and a fox, satan will inspire. There are so many things, so many ideas that we buy ourselves that we know are harmful to us both physically and spiritually. Why, then, do we buy them? Because they are packaged in such an irresistible and enticing way. More than the “thing,” we “accept” the “message” they are selling. Our Lady warned us about this on June 25, 1989, at Ivanka’s annual apparition. She said:

“Pray, because you are in great temptation and danger because the world and material goods lead you into slavery. satan is active in this plan…”

So, can satan’s activity in inspiring these thoughts to put forth his agenda be discounted? This breeding ground for evil reveals many things. Not long ago a massive billboard campaign, again on cigarettes, had this as its promotional line, “Your Basic Message.” Is anyone logically able to show what this has to do with cigarettes? On the other hand, it has a great deal to do with an assault on Our Lady’s messages. Our Lady’s messages are simple, given for Her children in a very uncomplicated way, for us to be as children to understand them. Her “basic message” is to offer us holiness. satan’s basic message is to offer us vice, pleasure, entertainment, etc…, especially for youth, which is cigarettes in this case, but often times many other things as well. Jakov was quoted as saying once that Our Lady gives us the “basic messages” of prayer, fasting, confession, peace.

Of course, these examples begin to rise into the issues and away from the core problem, but they are offered to show you how much satan has infiltrated throughout our daily lives and to reveal his hidden agenda to divert you from recognizing a problem and finding the solution, which is to follow God’s structure for the family. Many things in society reveal step by step the “equal authority” agenda and its aim to “upstage” all male authority. All that is needed is a little observation of entities like the media, teaching institutions, government, etc….observation which will easily reveal a massive, masterful, interwoven plan of which none of the mentioned entities sit down and plan together, yet all are influenced by an unseen, evil force which causes these entities to work in union together for the same agenda. Only one being can do that. lucifer.

The saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is hardly recalled today, in order that no one will be reminded of the hell which will come into a family when a wife and mother usurps her husband’s authority. We wipe away and sanitize all reminders of such so that in doing so, rebellion against a husband or disobeying him will appear as no big deal. Any reminder that would bring attention to certain truths, such as the previous saying, is looked on in our present society with disdain. Hence, the naming of hurricanes using women’s names solely, which had been done for decades, stopped. The reason put forth was a “fairness” which equates that everything must be equal between men and women, even though God did not make it that way, either physically or emotionally. Yet in this case the truth is very simple. Statements such as “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” (hurricane), even though they speak truth, are labeled as “no-nos.” satan wants to hide these reminders and he tricks us in many ways. He plays on our sensitivity for fairness, our language, our sayings, our directions, which easily causes us to place ourselves in his hands. We do not reflect on why we are changing the gender names of hurricanes. Why were they named only after women to start with? Was it because there were elements of truth that all of society knew and accepted of how a rebellious women’s disposition compared to a hurricane? Our changing it insinuates that those who began calling hurricanes women’s names were wrong, that there was no true reason for naming hurricanes as such. The purpose in originally naming hurricanes was because of the truth that what a rebellious woman is like is comparable to a hurricane. The purpose of this example is not to name hurricanes after women but to unveil this one among hundreds of other slight things which are master-minded by the forces of evil to deceive or to conceal certain realities. We must reflect on all these things and not accept them and put ourselves in satan’s hands. Our Lady said May 25, 1987:

“…Dear children, you are ready to commit sin, and put yourselves in the hands of satan without reflecting…”

It certainly is not a sin, and it may not be a big deal to you about changing the gender names of hurricanes. You may be glad that it has happened, and that is not wrong in itself. However, what is important is the “reason” this and hundreds of other issues are going in this direction — that satan is playing with us. He is misguiding and misdirecting our souls through seemingly trivial things, but once reflected upon show up as sparks which light the forest fires. Our Lady says:

“…satan is playing with you and with your souls…” (March 25, 1992)

Also Our Lady says:

“…Dear children, satan is lurking for each indi-vidual. Especially in everyday affairs, he wants to spread confusion among each one of you…” (September 4, 1986)

There is no practical way to resist society’s direction in changing language, gender roles, etc. except through the living of Our Lady’s messages and the enlightening of souls, one by one. Tell them and encourage them to read these writings and pray. Pray to Our Lady, that many more will come to the truth Her messages are now revealing and exposing for today.

** This has nothing to do with her equality in regard to worth and dignity as a woman. Before God as a soul, she is equally entitled to the same dignity and graces due a man, nor is woman any less, even in the slightest, in comparison to man in these regards.

Seasons come and go in Medjugorje like everywhere else. It’s cold in Medjugorje these days, as can be readily seen by what the pilgrims wore this morning in the early morning hours of November 2, 2011. Bundled up in coats, hats and gloves most of these pilgrims spent an uncomfortable night at the Blue Cross, accepting the sacrifice so to have the best chance of seeing Mirjana in ecstasy the following morning. It is no longer possible to arrive at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and get near the inner circle. Even arriving at 9:00 pm the night before is too late for one of these coveted seats. As a Friend of Medjugorje once wrote, “it is beautiful to see Heaven finally getting the attention, where people are gathering well before the apparition, when we hear about the world spending the night waiting in line for tickets for a concert or for other events of no consequence.” Every month pilgrims are arriving earlier and earlier.

Tears fall expressing the joy in Mirjana’s heart in seeing Our Lady arrive this morning, November 2, 2011, on the Feast of the Holy Souls.

Mirjana’s face reflects the pain of Our Lady in the words She gave to us today. Our Lady is so motherly and in Her words, though She desires to point out our failure in love, She does so with tenderness and encouragement. Yet, Mirjana’s reaction to Our Lady’s words gives the reality of the pain of Our Lady in seeing Her children less than what She desires of them. Every message of Our Lady must be taken and seriously reflected upon for our own individual lives asking that the Holy Spirit would enlighten us to our errors and give us the strength to change our hearts. Are you one that takes the time to reflect upon Our Lady’s words or do Her words get just a passing glance from you, more from curiosity than for serious consideration that She is speaking directly to you?

Mirjana crosses her heart with her hands during today’s apparition. Our Lady asks us today, “…If you open your hearts, I will lead you…” People often ask what does it mean to open one’s heart? Our Lady asked one other time this question: “…Is your heart open for me? Do you permit me to purify and prepare it for my Son?…” April 2, 2008 To be open to Our Lady, to have an open heart, we must be willing to allow Her to show us things about ourselves that need to be purified from our lives. We need to allow Her to show us our selfishness and closed-mindedness that keeps us distant from the Father. It’s an attitude of humbly kneeling before Our Lady submitting to Her request to purify us.

A Friend of Medjugorje wrote in Entering a New Time the following:

“As a mother, Our Lady is truly coming to the world to actually birth us. She said:

March 25, 1990

“…As I bore Jesus in My womb, so also, dear children, do I wish to bear you unto holiness…”

Our Lady didn’t say as I bore Jesus “like” or “symbolically” I want to bear you. She said “as I bore Jesus in my womb so also, dear children, do I wish to bear you unto holiness.” Our Lady is somehow rebirthing us into holiness through Her love as She loved Jesus. The fact is, it is not just unbelievers who need to be reborn, but all Catholics and Christians. Perhaps Protestants are more correct in their concept of being reborn than we give credit for.”

Always there is a look of pure joy and love on Mirjana’s face at Our Lady’s departure.

“We have not comprehended the magnitude of the gift God is giving us through the invitation Our Lady now offers us. It is a great gift which we do not deserve. Our Lady said:

March 25, 1990

“…Little children, understand also the greatness of the gift which God is giving you through me, so that I may protect you with my mantle and lead you to the joy of life…”

“Purification leads to joy, and God wants joy for us in this life when we live holy and pure. Ivan, the visionary, says our lives will become almost perfect if we do everything God wants. True, however, purification must take place first, and that means many trials, but God does want us to be happy in this life. Once we are purified, we will be grateful for everything God gives us.”

From Entering a New Time by A Friend of Medjugorje

With Our Lady gone from sight, Mirjana closes her eyes perhaps to capture interiorly the vision of Our Lady and to savor the last moments of her apparition.

After today’s apparition, Mirjana leans against a wheelchair next to her, reflecting upon what she has just seen and heard. She says that the encounter with Our Lady each month leaves her without strength and she must take some moments to compose herself before facing the crowds around her while slowly making her way back to her home.

After the apparition of Mirjana this morning, November 2, 2011, pilgrims flow out into the street from the Blue Cross. On this Feast of the Holy Souls, we are reminded that all of us are called to be holy and to become saints. Pilgrims come to Medjugorje from all over the world seeking personal graces, miracles, faith, to satisfy their curiosity, etc. But as Our Lady said today, to be a Christian means to be concerned for those who do not know or recognize the Father’s love. “…with your life, you may show them the love of God…”