The chastisement: is it coming, or is it already here?

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Some friends discussed the issue of the chastisement the other day, and some thought it was coming, while others thought it was already here.

I tend to agree with those who say we are already in it. Just look at the chaos in the minds, the lack of ability to see the difference between good and evil, the confusion and scandal inside Holy Mother Church, the growing killings of Catholics worldwide, and the terrible natural disasters.

This, however, does not mean that even worse chastisements are not ahead of us in case mankind still does not convert and stop offending God with sin and crime and every type of vice possible.

"If They Do Not Stop Offending God"

The Fatima message can be summed up in a vehement appeal for the world's conversion. The Blessed Mother presented the devotion to her Immaculate Heart as a means to obtain special graces for that conversion. This devotion is to be manifested in the Communion of Reparation of the First Saturdays and the consecration of Russia the way that Our Lady requested.

If that way of mercy were rejected, justice would be meted out with the succession of chastisements that the Mother of God enumerated to the little shepherds.

A Succession of Chastisements

Our Lady listed the following punishments "if [men] do not stop offending God":

1. "In the reign of Pius XI another worse [war] will begin;

2. "Russia . . . will spread its errors throughout the world;

3. "Promoting wars and persecutions of the Church;

4. "The good will be martyred;

5. "The Holy Father will have much to suffer;

6. "Many nations will be annihilated."

When, after this whole series of punishments, men finally turn to God and a conversion takes place, not just of individuals but of society as such; of nations, recognizing the social kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Reign of Mary, then her promise will be realized: "Finally, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, it will convert and the world will be given some time of peace."

"Promoting Wars . . . "

1) It would be well to emphasize that Our Lady distinguishes between two types of war that would come as punishment: the Second World War and the "wars" caused by the diffusion of the "errors of Russia."

After the Fatima apparitions, in addition to the Second World War there were countless other wars, some clearly caused by Communists (such as in Korea and Vietnam, or the Chinese Civil War known as the "Nationalist-Communist Civil War" of 1927–1949, which culminated with the implantation of the Communist regime in China).

The Communist factor was also at work in other wars such as the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 or the Greek Civil War of 1944–1945 and 1946–1949, in which the Communists were defeated; and in the colonial wars in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, Communist guerrilla warfare spread on various continents, with guerrilla groups still very active in South America, Asia and Africa. Finally, are the "errors of Russia" not been favored by Islamic terrorism, which seeks to destroy what still remains of Christian civilization in the Western world? How else can one explain the ill-disguised sympathy of the international left toward Islamic terrorists?

". . . Persecutions of the Church . . ."

The Church has been suffering two types of persecution: bloody persecution in some countries, especially in Muslim and Communist ones, and persecution by means of laws and restrictions on the preaching of Church doctrine, particularly in reference to morals, and through a continuing wave of blasphemies and insults.

". . . The Good Will Be Martyred . . ."

Note that Our Lady said that the "good" will be martyred. This appears to indicate that a time will come when it will suffice for anyone to want to be good, that is, faithful to the observance of the Ten Commandments or simply of the Natural Law, even without taking any militant or challenging stance, to become a victim of those who propagate or uphold the "errors of Russia."

As a matter of fact, the homosexual movement has acquired such power these days in the United States and in countless other countries where "hate crime" laws have been approved, that one can ask whether that persecution is not already quite advanced. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly difficult for anyone to live in a way consistent with right principles and reject unnatural sexual practices without being subject to retaliation.

". . . The Holy Father Will Have Much to Suffer . . ."

This is the consequence of the persecution against the Church and the good. The Church is not only the custodian of Divine Revelation, which the Church explains with authority, but is also the guardian of Natural Law. The Church cannot, in any case, accept as legitimate acts such as free love and homosexual practice that are aberrant to nature because these are contrary to their natural end.

Sooner or later, the scorn media has been pouring on Catholics and the Church will turn against the Holy Father himself, as the attack on Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, the text of the third part of the Message, issued by the Holy See, and the prophecies of Jacinta lead to suppose.

". . . Many Nations Will Be Annihilated . . ."

This statement has a political meaning, signifying that many nations will lose their sovereignty and cease to exist as independent nations; a physical, material meaning, as a result of cataclysms of great magnitude such as a giant tsunami that destroys a whole coastal area; or a succession of earthquakes, seaquakes and fires; or still, a nuclear hecatomb that sweeps entire nations, leaving them totally depopulated, destroyed, "annihilated"; and a psychological and cultural meaning: as occurred, for example, with the Roman Empire of the West as a consequence of the barbarian invasions.

Instead of Conversion, a Challenge to God

Unfortunately, instead of heeding the merciful appeals of Our Lady at Fatima, men appear to have chosen the way of perdition, except for a considerable minority of people who take the Blessed Mother's words seriously and that, thanks be to God, has been growing steadily over the years.

Men have not only chosen the way of sin but have picked forms of sin that do not stem from weakness, albeit culpable, but constitute a type of sin in which the sinner takes pride, despises and persecutes virtue and, even worse, challenges God.

Abortion becomes the official law of the land, unions against nature are placed on equal footing with marriage, euthanasia is adopted, people wear clothes that emphasize the most intimate parts of the human body, nudism or semi-nudism spreads on the beaches—all this is a proclamation of rejection of the Law of God.

Even worse, challenging God's wrath, strident parades and demonstrations are held on the national and international levels to display "pride" for practices against nature, picking for this end the more symbolic places like Rome, the capital of Christianity, in the Holy Jubilee Year of 2000; and in 2006, Jerusalem, the city sanctified by the passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Can God remain insensitive to such grievous challenges?

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The second part of this article is taken from Fatima: A Message More Urgent Than Ever by Luiz Solimeo