Over the past few weeks, I have sensed a new urgency in my soul to share the Gospel---Christ's message of love, forgiveness, conversion, and repentance with the world (or at least with the people God has placed in my little corner of the world). I certainly am no "end times guru," but I cannot dismiss this intense feeling in my heart to prepare for tribulations and even Christ's second coming perhaps. I do not feel fearful about this, but rather I am eager for these events to unfold. However, I do feel a slight heaviness and an urgency to accomplish what I feel God is calling me (and all Christians) to do---to strive for a deeper relationship with Him and to help others embrace a relationship with Him before it is too late. I am praying for God to reveal to me how I am to spread the Gospel. Is it enough to simply live it and share it with my family and friends? Or is there something more I am supposed to do with this gift of faith I have been given? I have confidence that the Lord will shine His light upon my path as I go, and that I need only to trust and obey (easier said than done).
Perhaps one reason these feelings are being stirred in my soul is because I have been reading a lot about recent apparitions of Jesus and Mary throughout the world. In the past 50 years, Jesus and his mother Mary have been appearing to individuals more than in the previous centuries combined. That seems significant to me. And their messages are becoming more and more urgent and specific---calling us to conversion, begging us to embrace God's love, warning us of the natural disasters, as well as the political and economic crises that we are seeing all over the news. Through these countless messages from Heaven it is so beautifully evident to me that God loves us so much that He doesn't want a single soul to be lost. He loves us so intensely that He is doing everything possible to get our attention before the time to accept His offer of salvation runs out. It continues to shock and sadden me how many people in the world have never even heard of the many miraculous appearances of Jesus and his mother that are happening all around us (not just in far away places like France and Bosnia, but all over the U.S. too!), not to mention other miracles such as people receiving the stigmata (yes, there are many holy people that carry the wounds of Christ even today!), and Eucharistic miracles of the consecrated host turning into Christ's flesh in front of the entire congregation! Why aren't these stories on CNN? I think we all know the reason. Our secular culture doesn't care about Christ, and Satan doesn't want the truth to be heard. That is why God is calling upon you and me to be His voice instead.
I have read accounts of numerous apparitions of Jesus, Mary, and other saints. I especially like to follow the events happening in Medjugorje, since it is the 1 apparition site that I've actually visited (and hope to visit again someday soon). Each of the messages given in Medjugorje are filled with so much motherly love as Mary gently urges us to embrace her Son and live the Gospel daily. Mary has been appearing in Medjugorje every day since 1981 (a length that exceeds any other apparition in history), but she has told the 6 visionaries who see her that once she stops appearing to them she will never appear again on this earth. That also seems significant to me, especially since Mary has been appearing ever since the time of the apostles nearly 2000 years ago. Perhaps this is why I am feeling the need to share her messages so urgently now. So please bear with me as I periodically continue to share whatever messages God compels me to share. I hope the words that I share will always bless and encourage you in your faith, just as I am being blessed and encouraged in my faith when I share them with you...
(to be continued) :)
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