Thursday, April 11, 2013

Hell Exists Even For Those Who Don't Believe In It Until They Get There

"Jesus came to tell us everyone is wanted in paradise, and that hell, about which little gets said today, exists and is eternal for those who shut their hearts to His love.”
 
~ Pope Benedict XVI ~


Friday, April 20, 2012

Gloria Polo Testimony: How She Was Shown The Reality of Hell and Demons

Gloria Polo died after being terribly burned by a lightning bolt on May 5, 1995 in Bogotá, Colombia; she was judged, and then came back to life. This is her testimony.

But first I must tell you something, brothers: I was a “dietetic (cafeteria) Catholic”, I was for my whole life, because my relationship with God was taken care of in a 25 minute Sunday Mass, and that’s all. I went to the Mass where the priest spoke less, because I got tired! What anguish I felt, with those priests who spoke a lot! This was my relationship with God! For this all the worldly currents drug me along: I lacked the protection of prayer well done with faith, even in the Mass! One day, when I was studying for the specialization, I heard a priest affirm that hell does not exist, and not even the demons! It was precisely what I wanted to hear! I immediately thought to myself: if the demons do not exist, and there is no hell, then we all go to Heaven! And thus, what is there to fear?!

What makes me most sad now, and I confess to you with great shame, is that the only tie that still held me in the Church, was the fear of the devil. When I heard that hell does not exist, I immediately said: very good, if we all go to Heaven, it is not important what we are or what we do!

This determined my total moving away from the Lord. I distanced myself from the Church and I began to speak badly, with cusswords, etc. I no longer had any fear of sin, and I began to ruin my relationship with God. I began to say to everyone that the demons do not exist, that they are the inventions of the priests, that they are the manipulations on the part of the Church, and finally… I arrived to the point of saying to my colleagues at the University that God does not exist, that we were products of evolution, etc. etc., succeeding in influencing many people.

Let us return now to the operating room: when I saw myself in that situation, what terrible fright! I finally saw that the demons existed, and how, and they came to seek precisely me! They came to present to me the bill, one could say, since I had accepted their offers of sin! And these offers are not free! One pays!! My sins had their consequences...

In that moment, then, I began to see come out, of the wall of the operating room, so many persons, apparently common, normal, but with a look full of hate, diabolic, frightening, who made my soul tremble: I immediately perceived that we were dealing with demons. I had in myself a special awareness: I understood in fact that to each one of these I owed something, that sin is not gratuitous, and that the principle lie of the devil is to say that he does not exist: this is his best strategy in order to work as he pleases with us. I realized that yes, he exists, and that he came to surround me, to seek me! Just imagine the fright, the terror!!

~ Gloria Polo;  excerpt from here ~

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: Using Everything for the Glory of God

" I can't bear being photographed,
but I make use of everything for the glory of God.
When I allow a person to take a photograph,
I tell Jesus to take one soul to Heaven out of Purgatory."

~ Blessed Teresa of Calcutta ~
excerpt from The Joy in Loving by Mother Teresa

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI: The Promise of Eternal Life

"...the Church invites us to pray for the faithful departed...As human beings, we have a natural fear of death and we rebel against its apparent finality. Faith teaches us that the fear of death is lightened by a great hope, the hope of eternity, which gives our lives their fullest meaning. The God who is love offers us the promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of his Son. In Christ, death no longer appears as an abyss of emptiness, but rather a path to life which will never end. Christ is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in him will never die. Each Sunday, in reciting the Creed, we reaffirm our faith in this mystery. As we remember our dear departed ones, united with them in the communion of the saints, may our faith inspire us to follow Christ more closely and to work in this world to build a future of hope."

Friday, October 7, 2011

Rosary Promises From Our Blessed Mother


6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.

10. The faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.

All 15 Promises of Our Lady for those who faithfully recite the Rosary:
 

Quotes about the Rosary:


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Msgr Charles Pope: The Trivializing of God's Judgment Following Death

Too many make light of judgment today. Too many announce the immediate arrival of the deceased into heaven. They usher Jesus away from the Judgment Seat, take the seat themselves, and pronounce that, “Joe is in heaven!” They usually follow this “canonization” with some triviality such as “He’s probably playing poker with Jesus and Noah right now!” (For presumably “Joe” liked poker here, and thus heaven must include poker (of all things)).

The complete ignoring of the judgement that follows death is emblematic of our age which answers to no one. Even among Christians, there is a widespread trivializing of the notion of judgment. Yet Jesus in ways too countless to set forth here, commands a sobriety about judgment and says, But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken (Matt 12:36). If even our words will be judged, how much more so our deeds which many make light of.

Further God is Truth Himself and he will not simply call good in us what is defective or sinful. Judgement is a moment of truth where the divine physician makes a true diagnosis, not a flattering one. And whatever remains unfinished he, by his grace and power will bring it to completion. This too is part of his mercy as well as his justice. Some purgation is surely a likely reality for most adults who die. St. Paul speaks of us as unfinished works when he says, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6). Do we really think that “Joe” is just going to walk into heaven just as he died, with a pack of cards in his hands, no less? Perhaps some saints have been fully perfected by their death, but it seems more likely most of us will need purgation and to pass through purifying fire as St. Paul describes.

So, we are back to fire. And fire must be respected. Back-slapping at funerals ought to be replaced with a little more knee-bending and confident but sober prayer for our beloved who have died. They would probably appreciate a little more prayer from us, for they have encountered Truth, unlike a lot of us who still like to entertain fanciful notions, contrary to Scripture that judgment is either non-existent or “no big deal.”

~ Msgr. Charles Pope; excerpts from here ~

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Fr. Mark Bozada: Purgatory Is God's Merciful Gift to Us

My Dear People,
It has been the glorious tradition of the Catholic Church to pray for the dead, particularly our own family members. We know that we all sin. We lack perfect contrition for our sin. And so, when we die, everyone with the exception of Our Blessed Mother, carries the stain of sin into eternity. There are no shadows in Heaven, because we are immersed in the Light and Beauty of God. God the Father is merciful. We have the opportunity to have “burned”from our souls any remaining stain of sin. Purgatory is God’s merciful gift to us.
 
Poor souls found there cannot sin nor pray for themselves. That’s where we come into the picture. Our prayers, masses, rosaries, novenas, indulgences, and sacrifices are what “lift up”the poor souls in Purgatory. PLEASE, please remember to pray and sacrifice daily for the deceased members of your family. Your “prayer relief” is the greatest treasure they can receive in their state of being purified. We pray each month at the poor souls mass, for all of your prayer intentions. Please make praying for the dead a daily habit in your life. When you and I find ourselves in Purgatory, after our own death ,it is then that we will thank God for all the prayers we will receive on our behalf.

Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,
Fr. Mark Bozada

May we always be eager to pray for the repose of the poor souls in purgatory.
(Source)