Abbey-Roads2

Just as in the days of Noah…

When imposters to the faith criticise fidelity, and popular culture mocks devotion, and governments declare good evil, and evil good, remember these words: 

Pope John Paul II, two years prior to his elevation to the papacy gave an address in the United States wherein he stated, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine providence. It is a trial which the whole Church . . . must take up.”  The address was widely disseminated after Wotyla’s election to the papacy, when it was republished in the November 9, 1978, issue of The Wall Street Journal. - Source

In a similar vein:

Pope Benedict XVI  also warned:  “The judgment announced by the Lord Jesus referred above all to the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. But the threat of judgment also regards us, the church of Europe, Europe and the West in general.  With this Gospel, the Lord is also crying out to our ears the words that in the Book of Revelation he addresses to the Church of Ephesus: ‘If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place’ (2: 5). Light can also be taken away from us and we do well to let this warning ring out with its full seriousness in our hearts.” - Homily 

“At some point in history, however, a generation is going to go through the final stage of the apocalypse, yet to them it will appear to be a normal world.”  - Michael O’Brien, Author
 

A young saint.

I knew very little about the Focolare Movement, until I came across a biography of a young woman, Chiara Luce Badano, whose cause for beatification has been introduced.  From the outset, the founder of Focolare, Chiara Lubich, told the youth of the movement, “You must become a generation of saints.”  I believe Chiara Luce Badano has done so.  The beauty and innocence of her life causes me to tear up - although I’m not weeping for her, but for my sins in the light of such holiness.  May she pray for us now and at the hour of our death.  Amen

Excerpts from Chiara Luce’s life.

   [Chiara was born in Sassello, an inland Ligurian region in Italy, on 29 October 1971. It’s a picturesque township situated between the mountains and the city.  Chiara was the only child of a truck-driver, Ruggero Badano, and his wife Maria Teresa Caviglia.]

   On hearing the news that she had bone cancer, Chiara Luce, after a moment’s silence, accepted the outcome courageously, without tears or rebellion. “I’m young. I’m sure I’ll make it,”she said. Her father, Ruggero, told us, “We were sure that Jesus was in our midst in that moment and he gave us the strength to accept it.” This was when a dramatic change took place in Chiara Luce’s life and her rapid ascent towards holiness began.

   She was admitted to hospital many times and her kindness and unselfishness really stood out. Setting aside her own need to rest, she spent time walking around the wards with a drug-dependent girl suffering from serious depression. This meant getting out of bed despite the pain caused by the huge growth on her spine. “I’ll have time to rest later,” she used to say.

   There is a tape-recording from this period of Chiara Luce’s life where she herself tells  of undergoing a very painful medical procedure.
   “When the doctors began to carry out this small, but quite demanding, procedure, a lady with a very beautiful and luminous smile came in. She came up to me and took me by the hand, and her touch filled me with courage.
   In the same way that she arrived, she disappeared, and I could no longer see her. But my heart was filled with an immense joy and all fear left me. In that moment I understood that if we’re always ready for everything, God sends us many signs of his love.”

 When she lost the use of her legs, Chiara said, “If I had to choose between walking or going to heaven, I would choose going to heaven.” With the last CAT scan, all hopes of remission disappeared. This was the beginning of a very intense spiritual trial. But she never gave up. She always had the support of Chiara Lubich who wrote to her, “God loves you immensely and wants to penetrate the depths of your soul to allow you to experience heaven on earth.” She refused to take morphine. “It reduces my lucidity,” she said, “and there’s only one thing I can do now: to offer my suffering to Jesus because I want to share as much as possible in his suffering on the cross.”

   19 July 1989: Chiara nearly died because of a hemorrhage. She said, “Don’t shed any tears for me. I’m going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don’t want people crying, but singing with all their hearts.”

   Referring to the intravenous drip attached to her arm, she said, “These drops are nothing compared to the nails driven into the hands of Jesus.” And with each falling drop, she would say, “For You, Jesus”. When Cardinal Saldarini visited her in hospital, he asked her, “The light in your eyes is splendid. Where does it come from?” She replied, “I try to love Jesus as much as I can.”

  Occasionally she asked her parents not to let her friends come into her room – for her an unusual request. One day she explained, “It doesn’t mean that I care any less for them or that I’m sad. It’s because I sometimes find it so hard to ‘come down’ from where my spirit is living and then to climb back up again.” This was the atmosphere of Paradise that those around her experienced.

She wrote to her friends, “Previously I felt another world was awaiting me and the most I could do was to let go. Instead now I feel enfolded in a marvellous plan of God which is slowly being unveiled to me.”  - Source

H/T to Spirit Daily