Words of wisdom from Pope John Paul I. Even though his Pontificate was short , he did leave us with a wonderful quote that immediately reminded me of something Mary said at Garabandal. He said: "What a mistake those who do not hope make! Judas made a huge blunder the day in which he sold Christ for 30 denarii, but he made an even bigger one when he thought that his sin was too great to be forgiven. No sin is too big: any wretchedness, however great, can always be enclosed in infinite mercy." Reminds me of a part of Mary's 2nd message at Garabandal: 2nd message:June 18, 1965-- " You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by your efforts. If you ask His forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will pardon you. "
Why yes ! Funny you should ask....... TODAY IN GARABANDAL HISTORY: SEPTEMBER 29, 1967 In the evening of the Feast of St. Michael, Conchita, preferring not to join this group in prayer, rather climbed up to the Pines with a few other persons. While the visionary and her friends knelt down in prayer, a star rose and remained above them during their whole prayer! Excerpt from 'Garabandal' Book, J. Serre, page 214
I forgot to post this today, a wonderful story: LUNCH WITH CONCHITA . September 29, 2012 I had the extraordinary blessing today of having a long lunch with Conchita, and learning some invaluable life lessons. I wrote down alot on napkins to be accurate. The first was, I talked to her in general terms about the Warning ( because so many people are concerned and worried about it, I never discuss dates ). Her advice was amazingly simple and profound ! She said " Have faith and do not worry. If you have faith, you have everything ! " , Pray and don’t worry “. Her concise advice demonstrates how to live a simple happy life. (sounds like she got some advice from Padre Pio). God bless her and her example to us. Lunch lesson#2. We were discussing how so many people are going to psychiatrists, or take drugs or drink to fight lonliness, and she said " Do people realize how lucky they are, that there are churches everywhere, where God is waiting to talk to them ? " Lunch lesson#3. We talked about how the world's perception of happiness is linked to consumerism. Here is her idea of "happiness". She said (I'm paraphrasing) If you seek money, money is not happiness, if you seek health, it is not happiness, if you seek Heaven, Heaven IS Happiness ! Lunch Lesson#4. On the topic of how to pray. We talked about how to "ask" God for help with a particular intention. We tend to " tell him " what we want, instead of realizing he already knows what we want, or really need. We have to learn to submit ourselves to his will, trusting in him and he will provide what we truly need, and what we need to do to draw ourselves closer to him. I know I'm as guilty as the next guy that "thinks I know what’s best for me ". I am still learning how to completely trust God in everything, don't feel bad, I'm a work in progress too,lol. Lunch lesson#5. Suffering . Who wants it ?? You know when you're in the presence of a true holy person when they embrace suffering, almost joyfully. Padre Pio said "if you knew the value of suffering, you'd never give it up ". I listened on how she described the purpose of suffering, and "taking up your cross" has so much spiritual value, we truly don't comprehend it sometimes. We talked about there is so much cancer in the world, and the suffering it brings, and again there was a simple profound thought ,is it possible the illness is allowed by God, and maybe this person will actually benefit from the illness by bringing them closer to God then they would have ever been. Lets face it, when you are really sick ,what is the first thing you think about ,praying to get well ! I can tell you from experience, having to have had two surgeries in December of 2023 to remove a cancerous tumor from my kidney ,and go back for a second operation to repair damaged veins still bleeding, I never had prayed for God and Jesus to be closer to me and heal me than at that time. It’s humbling. Her little story was simple, inspiring ,and brilliant. She said (again I’m paraphrasing the long story), There was a sheep herder, who each day would tend to his flock, and each day one of his sheep would run toward the edge of a mountain cliff, and almost fall over. Each day he would pull him back, but the sheep "wanted to run toward the edge of the cliff". Finally the Sheepherder decided to break a leg on the sheep, well knowing this was painful, and would prevent the sheep from walking. Each day though, he would pick up the sheep and carry it on his shoulders as he went out into the field. This allowed the sheep to still be outside, but more importantly the two of them bonded and became closer because the sheep was dependant on the herder. The herder knew that this the right thing to do, even though I’m sure it was not what the sheep wanted, but in the end, he healed, walked again , and the two were closer than ever. I never looked at suffering again the same way. I offer it up daily and ask God to draw me closer to him, for he knows best. - Glenn.
