—Spiritual Food For Thought—
The Great Deception — Part III
IT is important to understand that the words I speak here are merely echoes of one of the central warnings Heaven has been sounding through the Holy Fathers this past century: the light of truth is being extinguished in the world. That Truth is Jesus Christ, the light of the world. And humanity cannot survive without Him.
POPE BENEDICT AND THE SMOLDERING CANDLE
Perhaps no pontiff has warned the faithful of The Great Deception more than Pope Benedict XVI.
In The Smoldering Candle, I spoke of how the light of Christ, while being extinguished in the world, is growing brighter and brighter in the little cohort that Mary is preparing. Pope Benedict spoke of this recently as well:
This faith in the Creator Logos, in the Word that created the world, in the one who came like a Child, this faith and its great hope seem to be far from our daily public and private reality… The world is becoming more chaotic and violent: We witness this every day. And the light of God, the light of Truth, is being put out. Life is becoming dark and without a compass. —Advent message, Zenit Dec 19th, 2007
That light, he says, is to shine in us, to be incarnated in our daily lives and witness.
It is therefore very important that we are true believers, and as believers, that we reaffirm forcefully, with our lives, the mystery of salvation that comes with the celebration of Christ's birth… In Bethlehem, the Light which illumines our life was made manifest to the world. —Ibid.
That is to say, we are the compass that is to point to Jesus.
BENEDICT AND THE GREAT DECEPTION
Just yesterday, the Holy Father reiterated the dangers of The Great Deception from a philosophical perspective. In his speech to Rome's Sapienza Universty—a speech he could not deliver in person because of intolerance for his presence (this is significant, given the context of what you're about to read)—the Holy Father blows the trumpet of a coming totalitarianism if the world does not recognize and embrace the Truth.
…the danger of falling into inhumanity can never be completely eliminated… the danger facing the Western world… is that man today, precisely because of the immensity of his knowledge and power, surrenders before the question of truth… This means that, in the end, reason gives way before the pressure of other interests and the lure of efficiency, and is forced to recognize this as the ultimate criterion. —Lecture of POPE BENEDICT XVI; read at Vatican City by Cardinal Bertone; Zenit, Jan 17th, 2008
Pope Benedict uses the striking word "inhumanity." Is this not the warning of this website? That a great spiritual vacuum is being created which either good or evil can fill? The warning that the spirit of Antichrist is active in our world is not intended to scare, but to keep us from being ensnared! Hence, as a Cardinal, the Holy Father spoke candidly about this possibility in our times.
The Apocalypse speaks about God's antagonist, the beast. This animal does not have a name, but a number.
In [the horror of the concentration camps], they cancel faces and history, transforming man into a number, reducing him to a cog in an enormous machine. Man is no more than a function.
In our days, we should not forget that they prefigured the destiny of a world that runs the risk of adopting the same structure of the concentration camps, if the universal law of the machine is accepted. The machines that have been constructed impose the same law. According to this logic, man must be interpreted by a computer and this is only possible if translated into numbers.
The beast is a number and transforms into numbers. God, however, has a name and calls by name. He is a person and looks for the person. ---POPE BENEDICT XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger), Palermo, March 15th, 2000
When all this is considered there is good reason to fear… that there may be already in the world the "Son of Perdition" of whom the Apostle speaks. ---POPE ST. PIUS X, Encylical, E Supremi, n.5
DO NOT BE AFRAID
I often worry that you, the little flock which Jesus asks me to feed through these writings, may become frightened by writings such as today's. But remember this well: Noah and his family were safe in the Ark. They were safe! I will say it again and again and again that Jesus has sent us His Mother as the new Ark. If you put your faith in Him, and hold onto His mother's hand—your mother's hand—you will be safe before, during, and after the Great Storm of our time.
But this is not all about you or me! We have a mission, and it is this: to bring as many souls into the Kingdom as we can through our witness, prayers, and intercession. Why are you afraid? You were born precisely for this time. Doesn't God know what He is doing? You are chosen for this task, and our Blessed Mother wishes you to take it seriously, but with a childlike heart. Regardless of how small or insignificant you may feel, you are appointed by Heaven to participate in The Final Confrontation, the Great Battle of our times, to whatever degree God's will has ordained.
This is not the time for fear, but for clear thinking, prayer, living carefully and soberly, and especially joyfully. For the light of Christ must live, burn, and shine through you!
Praise be to God, praise be to God! What joy it is to know Jesus! What a privilege it is to serve Him.
Be not afraid! Be not afraid! Open your heart wide, and every grace and power and authority will be given you for your role in the great task which lies before you and the whole Church.
Though I walk in the midst of dangers, you guard my life when my enemies rage. You stretch out your hand; your right hand saves me. The LORD is with me to the end. (Psalm 138-7-8)
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