The Divine Chastisements

With the Warning and Miracle now behind humanity, those who refused to pass through the "door of Mercy" must now pass through the "door of justice."

Many people have a difficult time reconciling the "God of love" with a "God of chastisements." However, no one seems to complain when a dangerous murderer is locked behind bars or a cruel dictator is brought to trial. "It is just," we say. If we who are made in God's image feel the reasonableness of justice, then surely the Creator of the universe has an infinitely more keen sense of justice. But His is also a perfectly ordered justice rooted in love. Human justice tends toward vengeance; but God's justice is always toward restoration.

My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. (Heb 12:5-6)

If you want to know how God really feels about having to resort to chastisement, hear Jesus' words to St. Faustina:

The flames of mercy are burning Me—clamouring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness.  —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 177

In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy. —Ibid. n. 1588

And again, to Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta:

My Justice can bear no more; My will wants to Triumph, and would want to Triumph by means of Love in order to Establish Its Kingdom. But man does not want to come to meet this Love, therefore, it is necessary to use Justice. —Jesus to Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta; Nov. 16th, 1926

 

The Door of Justice

The sifting of the Warning has taken place—the weeds from the wheat...

The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. —ST. POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993

...and only the wheat can remain.

…when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church... she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death. —Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Faith and Future, Ignatius Press, 2009

But this is not possible unless Satan is chained, the wicked cleansed from the earth, and a universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit renews the face of the earth. As Jesus said to Luisa:

…the chastisements are necessary; this will serve to prepare the ground so that the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat [the Divine Will] may form in the midst of the human family. So, many lives, which will be an obstacle to the triumph of my Kingdom, will disappear from the face of the earth… —Diary, September 12th, 1926; The Crown of Sanctity On the Revelations of Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta, Daniel O’Connor, p. 459

"The meek shall inherit the earth," said Christ. And they will sing the Magnificat:

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. (Luke 1:50-55)

But not before great chastisements befall the earth. Perhaps chief among them is the scourge of Antichrist who comes at first as a "prince of peace," but ends with a reign of terror. Yet, said Aquinas:

Even the demons are checked by good angels lest they harm as much as they would. In like manner, Antichrist will not do as much harm as he would wish. —St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I, Q.113, Art. 4

Indeed, many of the remnant will already be in refuges, hidden and sustained by Divine Providence.

“God will purge the earth with chastisements, and a great part of the current generation will be destroyed”, but [Jesus] also affirms that “chastisements do not approach those individuals who receive the great Gift of Living in the Divine Will”, for God “protects them and the places where they reside”. —Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi, The Gift of Living in the Divine Will in the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta

 

The Chastisements

The Book of Revelation, while filled with many symbols, gives an idea of the chastisements that follow the Warning. As we heard after the Seventh Seal was broken:

Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God. (Revelation 7:2)

If the first half of the Storm was primarily man's doing, the last half is God's:

God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions, and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. —Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Catholic Prophecy, P. 76

Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine [consequences]... The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues [cleansing]. —St. Hildegard, Catholic Prophecy, p. 79 (1098-1179 A.D.)

One of the most famous prophecies in our times is that of Our Lady of Akita to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa:

As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. —October 13, 1973, ewtn.com

Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta also describes such a sorrowful scene:

I was outside of myself and I could see nothing but fire. It seemed that the earth would open and threaten to swallow cities, mountains and men. It seemed that the Lord would want to destroy the earth, but in a special way three different places, distant from one another, and some of them also in Italy. They seemed to be three mouths of volcanoes—some were sending out fire which flooded the cities, and in some places the earth was opening and horrible quakes would occur. I could not understand very well whether these things were happening or will have to happen. How many ruins! Yet, the cause of this is only sin, and man does not want to surrender; it seems that man has placed himself against God, and God will arm the elements against man—water, fire, wind and many other things, which will cause many upon many to die. The Crown of Sanctity: On the Revelations of Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta by Daniel O’Connor, p. 108,  Kindle Edition

At the end of it all, writes the prophet Zechariah:

...two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'” (Zech 13:8-9)

As the earth tremors and the Church in places undergoes her own Passion under the persecution of Antichrist, the faithful may echo the cry of St. Louis de Montfort:

Your divine commandments are broken, your Gospel is thrown aside, torrents of iniquity flood the whole earth carrying away even your servants… Will everything come to the same end as Sodom and Gomorrah? Will you never break your silence? Will you tolerate all this for ever? Is it not true that your will must be done on earth as it is in heaven? Is it not true that your kingdom must come? Did you not give to some souls, dear to you, a vision of the future renewal of the Church? —St. Louis de Montfort, Prayer for Missionaries, n. 5

And they will hear a voice in the Heavens cry out "it is done"[1]Rev 16:17 followed by the hoof beats of a Rider Upon a White Horse whose coming will destroy the Antichrist and cleanse the earth after Three Days of Darkness...

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Footnotes

Footnotes

1 Rev 16:17
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