It has been over 100 years since the first of six appearances of Mama Mary in a little village in Fatima, Portugal. Her message which is now more than ever very relevant is for prayer, especially the rosary, acts of charity, fasting, and conversion. Further, in the apparition, the visionaries were given an opportunity to see hell.
While people argue that if God is love, why is there hell? Three things we can learn from the Gospel:
- That a person who believes in God will not remain in darkness. If you look at the world now, we realize that there are fewer people who believe in God. In the Philippines, perhaps they may claim to be Catholic, but they do not follow the teachings of the church. Hence, look at the values and the priorities of people now. One glaring example is abortion – the womb is supposed to be the safest place for a person but that is not the case now.
- Jesus came to save the world. One of the favorite feasts is the Divine Mercy. It is a reminder that God is first and foremost love. But love is a relationship, it is two-way. It is our choice to accept this love or not. There are consequences when we do not accept the love of God. In fact, the basis for judgment is “how we have loved others.”
- Listen to God. We need guidance in life. The best source is the author of life – God. Hence, Jesus has always given us the imagery of the Good Shepherd – “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.”
Hence in this remember that: yes, God is love; yes, He so loved us that he gave his only Son that we might be saved; But He also respects our free will:
- We can believe or not believe
- We can listen or we can do it our way
- We can love or we can be self-absorbed.
In other words, ETERNAL LIFE is a gift, God will respect our decision to be with him or otherwise.
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 