conspiracy central

Dupont's 50 year old book listing a lot of catholic prophecies is on line at internet archives.

Lots of warnings against the Muslims, but I suspect most of those prophecies were about the danger of an expanding Ottoman empire and not about today... wikipedia notes that the last attack in southern Italy was in 1630...the battle of Lepanto was 1571, and the seige of Vienna was 1529 more here.

the problem with prophecies is that a lot are exaggerations of what one worries about.

Yet the prophecies of Fatima make one wonder...they came true, and even the fall of Russia and it's conversion seem to be coming true.

For Medjugorje, things are a bit more dicy.. lots of fake stuff coming out of there, so you have to watch if it's real or not...

.yet I remember back in the cold war days when it was prophecized that there would not be a World war III, and that Russia would end up supporting Christianity all over the world, whereas the west would reject christianity because it would be materialistic. Hmmm...

A lot of folks worry about the pope prophecy of St Malachy, that this would be the last pope. Given the way he is dissing off the believers to please the crowds, it sort of makes one worry.

but then there is the prophecy of great tsunamis by an irish lady who apparently likes money...but she is hated by the press there in such a rabid way, and rejected by the wishy washy bishops there, that makes you feel maybe she is genuine. She did warn Ireland against joining the EU, and that this would lead to the dechristianization of the place. Well, they seem to be doing that pretty well on their own...

yet if there is a loss of faith in Ireland, one has to also remember the ancient prophecy that Ireland will be drowned in a wave 7 years before the anti christ takes over. So far, no tsunami, but although rare, have occured in the British Iles, although some might have been storm surges, floods are not unknown.

but few accurate prophecies are about the USA: Here is one that scares me, because I remember reading this book in 1980, when I was home from Africa between jobs. It sounded crazy then, but what is scary a lot of these things came true since then.

The author is the writer of the cross and the switchblade...and warning: He preaches like a fire and brimstone southern preacher....but since I can't find the book on line for free, you either have to listen or take my word for it.

A lot of folks think he is just a fearmonger, as is this article in a christian publication who criticized his 1999 warning to NYCity about fires and riots and conomic collapse as just being the same old stuff

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE — EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

so of course no riots occured, and the economic collapse is a slow moving trainwreck, so he was wrong..(on the other hand, 9-11 anyone? and it was a minor miracle that this terrorist attack did not result in what he fortold. Maybe he was wrong, or maybe, as Jonah found out, maybe somebody prayed and the results were less severe than they could have been).

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finally, there are visions all over the place that have a big following...and a lot of them don't have "messages" but seem to be asking us to pray:

Egypt

Damascus

Mosel

Yugoslavia

Rwanda.

All of which came before trouble erputed in those areas.

It reminds me of a book on one of the academic publishers from Univ of California, which described what could be called a "failed vision" in basque country in the early 1930's. Lots of people got visions but no one continued to do so, maybe because they didn't spiritually cooperate, or whatever. Yet what the book didn't figure out, was that this might not have been merely a reaction to secular modernity, but a psychic or heavenly warning about the upcoming communist takeover that killed a lot of catholic priests and nuns out of hatred, not to mention the civil war that followed.

So what about the Philippines? Visions here all the time, but no big ones, except Lipa, which was shut down by the Vatican, and of course, EDSA.

(Protestant) General Ramos backed Cory's win against Marcos, who was stuffing the ballot boxes, so that meant the army wouldn't stop her or her followers who were demonstrating. So Macos got in military from his area.

It was a confrontation on the main street, the EDSA. Cardinal Sin, some nuns, and a statue of our Lady of Fatima leading a million Pinoys praying and singing hymns, facing armed troops who were ordered to shoot...but they did not.

The urban legend is that what stopped them was a "beautiful lady" in white who went up to them and said "Do not hurt my children", so they stood down.

A lame excuse for not shooting innocent people? A heavenly intervention? Or just one of the nuns?

Cardinal Sin always said wryly: He didn't know if there was heavenly intervention or not, but he did point out that none of the nuns who were with him were very good looking...

Any prophet who would fortell that the Philippines would have disasters would be correct, since in the last 25 years we have had major volcanoes, floods, landslide, typhoons, and of course Dengue fever. We are disaster central for the world.

On the other hand, the (?Fake) Irish visionary I cited above once fortold that Filipinos would spread the gospel throughout the world that had embraced atheism. When I heard her say this 35 years ago, I thought she was nuts, but given that our OFW are all over the place, and many have invigorated Catholicism or preached bible christianity to those around them, that too might be true.

stuff to read while the world is going nuts

Professor Podles has an essay on "Forgiveness Sunday" in Orthodox churches.

We are to blame for the calamities in the world, for the sufferings of dumb creatures, and for the diseases and torments of innocent children, for through the fall of man the beatitude and beauty of all creation has been marred. O Christ our God, greatest of innocent Sufferers! Thou alone canst forgive all. Forgive, then, all and everything, and grant to the world its primordial prosperity, that the living and the dead may rejoice and cry:

ALLELUIA!

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In Medjugorje, the virgin prophecized that World War III would not happen, but that the west would turn away from God while Russia would spread Christianity in the world. Yes, I know that isn't approved, but the liberals hate all visions and the conservatives got upset because she said the Orthodox and local Muslims were her children and that people needed to love and forgive each other. Not good for the rabid, but in light of the war between ethnic groups in Yugoslavia, it sounds like she was warning good folks to find what was common among them instead of hating other religions. But that's just me.

Canadian Mark Mallet discusses the defense of Christians by Russia, using the Fatima prophecies in his commentary.

Russia and Putin would better be interpreted as a czar, not a communist tyrant: through the Czar's idea that Russia needed to defend Christianity, and the Russian xenophobic culture that predates Communism by a couple of centuries.

And this includes defense of Orthodox Christians in the east

add to earlier rant

And every day I pass the masoleum to our ex mayor who ordered the hit that killed Dr. Ito.

He was buried with honors, including with the knights of Columbus even though he was under indictment for the murders.

Maybe he repented you say? Well, the week after his daughter was elected mayor, there was an attempted hit against the family who was the original target in Dr. Ito's shooting. Luckily for the target they missed, but his bodyguard and several bystanders where killed.

And to make things worse, it happened on the way home from our cousin Leo's funeral...


sigh yes I know

I need to be charitable and forgive.

But too often forgiveness means blindness, especially when the person you forgive is a sociopath.

if you go to the original post by Rev Sensing, you note that one of those commenting mentioned that those photoing a dead child wanted you to hate God or disbelieve in him.

My comment: No, it is to make us to allow God to use our hands.

This might not mean joining the Marines to become a peacekeeper in Liberia, but might mean doing something small for Love of God, like caring for your family and neighbors. Ruanda is cited, but that would never have happened if the church had preached love between ethnic groups. (and yes, I realize that many Christians refused to cooperate and died because of this, but that many went along with the killings for fear of being killed or because they had hatred in their hearts).

So if I see a dead African child, I say: Been there, done that. But now I am old.

All I can do is rant on blogs, and say a few prayers for the Lord to change hearts.

who am I to judge (send money, promote socialism and all is forgiven)

Rev Sensing has an essay about Jesus cleansing the temple.

Usually naive western theologians and the present socialist pope see this as being angry at capitalism, as if honest entrepeneurs who ran the kiosks there...

But anyone with third world experience reads the story beween the lines: The kiosk owners were allowed to overcharge and cheat the customers, but also probably gave kickbacks to the temple priests.

the problem is corruption, and the way to change it is to change the hearts of men.

But going around spreading mushy love and vague condemnations of sins only lets the sinners ignore that you are talking about them.

as one priest in Mexico noted: speaking too specifically on sin can get you killed.

Father Jesus Mendoza has been the priest there for more than 20 years.
He knows who the criminals are and says they constantly watch him, meaning he has to be careful with his sermons.
"If I say something careless, that could put me in danger and I would have to leave, and I don't want to leave," he says.''...

"We hope (the pope will) touch on sore subjects," he says."High levels of corruption and the links between politicians and criminals - that is where this country gets stuck.

so don't expect more than mushy unspecific words from the Pope, who is charitable to all...

and expect him to condemn "unbridled capitalism" as if capitalism (not the unbridled corrupt part) that will be cured by socialism (as if socialism can't be even more corrupt).

can you imagine a Pope saying to the crooked politicians who greet him "Thou Shalt not steal" means not taking bribes, not skimming twenty percent off the top of the contract, and not killing people who protest or expose your corruption"? And no photo ops with me until you promise me you will repent...

nah, that type of fingerpointing could get a fella killed.

reality check: In South America, like here in the Philippines, it is the Protestants who stress honesty in business, no stealing, no cheating on your wife, no sleeping with your employees and other traits. Business is seen as good a way to bring prosperity to the poor, not as the enemy to be destroyed.

and the dirty little secret is that liberation theology has resulted in people in South America leaving the church in droves, because the church promotes socialism, not Jesus...

The state is very conscious of Francis' popularity and his huge standing particularly in Latin America," says Austen Ivereigh, author of a biography of Pope Francis.
"I think they want to be identified with it -

"Mexico's deep, deep problem is despair," says Mr Ivereigh...
"You can increase the security as much as you like, [but] Mexico can only change when hearts and minds are converted."That's really what he's come to do."

Heh. Convert hearts?

Yes, that will work. I just watched the movie "Woodlawn" where changing hearts allowed a racially divided football team to see each other as brothers.

But that is only the first step.

Too often, for Pope Francis, it also means "don't judge".

Oh, he makes a lot of protests against those who make the pursuit of money their main object of life. But where are the specifics, like "stop skimming twenty percent off the top...stop requiring "gifts" to do your job...stop killing reporters who are whistleblowers, and no more hit jobs on your political rivals because they might win the election and you won't be able to continue looting public funds"...

Will he allow the crooked politicians with blood on their hands get photo ops with him, as he did here in the Philippines?

and will he recognize that there are ten commandments, not just one that often is translated by the US press as "wink wink gays are fine

One problem here in the Philippines is that corruption not only stops people from investing here, but that bribes allow smuggling/illegal logging/illegal mining that exploit the workers, destroy local businessmen and farmers, and destroy the environment.

And what about the social environment? Exporting ten percent of the hardest working people to enable their families left behind is a major problem...
And now we are seeing poor elderly whose family is overseas and they have no one to care for them. Honor thy father and mother anyone?

And of course, the laxity of the commandment against adultary has resulted in a million street kids, and we are now seeing broken families (and more will happen as soon as the easy divorce law is passed to obey the Obama administration).

And finally, just ignore the corruption of the gay lifestyle. Right now, gays are part of society and it's life and let live in the provinces, but in Makati, there is a growing San Francisco type gay lifestyle that is spreading HIV. And of course, the "who am I to judge" attitude suggests self control is no longer needed for gays...

So if we object to the demise of our family and the family business, and the slow but constant diversion of Lolo's hard earned funds into partying and gifts for paramours, well, we are told "that's what I am"and we cannot condemn him.

Excuse me for being homophobic, but like adultary, the sin is not sex per se, but how the corruption hurts other around them..

but Pope Francis won't care if his winking at gay sex means, instead of condeming sexual sins among the heterosexuals, he is winking at any and all sex outside of marriage as something we should not be judgemental about...

just ignore the sex tourism industry that exploits our teenagers and street kids into a lifestyle of promicuity and drugs and violence.

To make things worse, the Pope allows dodos like this be influential in church meetings. 

sigh.

oh well: He keeps the PC MSM happy...

and they will ignore that the pedophile scandal has been put on hold since he got in. (Benedict fought the SOB's that were deep into coverups, but Francis just lets them hold meetings while undermining the idea of sexual purity by his off the cuff remarks and outreaches to unrepentant gays...

yes, Jesus ate with sinners, but he did so to offer them the good news of salvation, not to wink at their sins.

from StGregory the great:

CHAPTER 10
The prudence required of the ruler in applying correction and connivance, rigour and gentleness.
It should also be observed that at times the faults of subjects must be prudently overlooked, but they should be given to understand that they are being overlooked. Sometimes even what is openly known should be judiciously tolerated,, while in other cases even hidden faults must be subjected to a close scrutiny; and, as the case may be, they should be either gently reproved or sharply censured......

the danger of too openly condemning is that the person may harden their heart.

The danger of silence is that he will not recognize he is committing a sin...

and that is true for politicians who order hits on their enemies as it is for rich businessmen who feel they are not commiting a sin when they break their marriage vows and even sexually exploit their workers.