Live from San Antonio

We are in San Antonio, a city rich in Catholic heritage, which was named after St. Anthony, who celebrated the first mass here almost 400 years ago. Our mission is that of “spiritual recharge” with “carefree timelessness”—Matthew Kelly-- for each other and with God.

Saturday, as part of an audience of over 10,000, we listened to the internationally known priest, Father Corapi, www.fathercorapi.com. He was sponsored by our special friends, Greg and Julie Alexander, founders of the Alexander House, www.thealexanderhouse.org and the “Covenant of Love” marriage enrichment and ministry programs. (Watch for more—the ministry is coming to TT soon!)

Father Corapi is a “conservative, Harley riding,” priest, who is a Vietnam vet, was once a millionaire businessman in Hollywood and Las Vegas, and lost everything, becoming homeless as he succumbed to drug addiction. Thru his conversion, Father Corapi was ordained a priest by Pope John Paul II with Mother Theresa in attendance in 1991. He appears regularly on EWTN TV and radio stations and is known for speaking the hard truth about where our country and our families are headed spiritually.

His message this weekend was entitled “Life, Love and the Purpose of Our Existence.”
In summary, of the 16 pages of notes I took, Father Corapi said, ‘“The time is at hand to change your life,” because “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” And in the end there are only 2 choices, There is Heaven, or There is Hell. “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”’ Luke 12:32-48.

He said, “The United States is in a state of spiritual warfare” (see Ephesians 6: 10-17.) Our nation is unraveling before our eyes and yet we continue to ignore the signs of the consequences of our sin. And that our life, our love, our souls depend on how we respond to the conflict around us.

This “spiritual warfare” is seen in 4000 abortions and 3600 divorces in the USA each DAY. One half of all marriages end in divorce and almost as many couples are cohabitating without the benefit of marriage. Because marriages are failing, and our children are in misery, so too are our communities and our nation in chaos. Our youth are being denied the teachings of morality, church, and marriage. There is an open, organized attempt to deny the existence of God, just as we have been denied the rights to mention God in our public school classrooms. And the recent rulings by the courts concerning homosexuality and same sex unions which is spoken so strongly against within the teachings of the Bible are another “failure” to heed God’s commands.

Pope Pius XII once said: “The greatest sin of our generation is that it has lost all sense of sin.” And yet we have been told over and over that God will punish and destroy those who sin.

Some of the reason for these sins, these failures, this evil in our society, can be pointed back to the choice to question, and then to go against, the Churches’ moral teachings, especially the introduction of birth control and the ever increasing materialism and secularism in our society.

In Fatima, Portugal, where Our Lady, The Blessed Mother of God, Mary, appeared in 1917 to 3 children and now, again as she appears daily since 1981, in Medjugorje, Bosnia, www.medjugorje.org , Mary brings the message: “I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.”

She continues, by adding repeatedly: “More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” This, along with the message, “The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the hand of her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes,” should be more than enough warning. However, many Christians have either never heard the warning or have chosen to ignore the warnings. And with each passing day more and more of the predictions made by the Blessed Mother to the children of Fatima and Medjugorje are coming true.
Father Corapi brings much the same message, saying that we must change our ways, heed the commandments, listen and speak the truth, and live by the cross—first with God and then by loving our neighbor as ourself.

Dear God: Praise Be Your Love given freely for life. Help me to Love you more fully by always being ready to sacrifice my life for your sake. Help me to never “water down” or only speak “partial” truths because they are “easier” to bear. Help me be “spiritually ready” to fight the battles and the spiritual war I see all around me. Bless our politicians so that they will listen and act as you command. Thank you for giving Stan & I the opportunity of “carefree timelessness” to spend with you and with each other. Amen.

Will we heed the warnings of Mary and of Father Corapi? Will we do as we are asked: to pray daily, to say the rosary daily, to receive the Eucharist weekly, and to read the bible regularly? Or will we risk being unready sinners, denying the Church teachings and living immorally, choosing only what feels good and not following the commandments?
Blessings from San Antonio,
Charlotte