Reflections

This Page Reflects Things That God Has Taught Us On This Journey With Ryan and We Hope That This Helps You See Things In a New Perspective. Check Often For New Updates With New Content.

Many parents or kids that have gone through a very hard and painful time (such as cancer) ask themselves, "Why does God let this happen to me?" or something similar. While it is true that things do not happen unless God allows it, the devil is always trying to do harm and God allows it many times, but always for a greater good. (Genesis 50:20- "You meant evil against me; but God allowed it for good, to bring about that many souls should be saved.") Many times when things get worse or we think our prayers are not answered, people get mad at God and they cannot comprehend that if God is good and almighty, why did He allow this to happen to them or their child. Along Ryan's journey, a similar thing happened to us and we asked God to answer us and He did. The answer is hidden in plain sight: the Cross. Jesus was the most innocent ever, and He suffered the most painful Cross for love of us to save us from Satan and eternal death. (1 John 3:8-The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil) and his kingdom of sin and darkness that reigns on the Earth (1 John 5:19-We know that we are of God, but the whole world is in the power of the Evil One)

By His most sorrowful Passion on the Cross, He defeated the Devil, gave us a chance to be saved from the devil's chains, and opened Heaven for us. St. Catherine Emmerich's Visions Volume IV 4.1.66- "I saw too the redeemed souls in countless numbers leaving Sheol, and accompanying the soul of the Lord to a place of bliss below the Heavenly Jerusalem. The soul of the good thief entered with the rest and again saw the Lord, according to His promise, in Paradise. There was prepared for the delight and refreshment of the souls celestial tables.." (This book you can download for free from our "Free Content" Page:)

Although, Jesus has defeated Satan, he still continues to attack us humans and does anything he can to destroy us and lead us to hell, (Revelation 12:17- "The dragon was angry with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus") which is eternal separation from God. Satan tries to start that separation here on the earth as he tries to separate suffering souls that are going through their trials of suffering. (Revelation 12:10- "...The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before God.") There are many examples in the Bible about Satan putting diseases on people like St. Paul, Job, and a woman. (Luke 13:11,16- "There was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 yrs. and she could not straighten herself...[after Jesus frees her He says] should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for 18 yrs. not be released on the Sabbath?") (2 Corinthians 12:7- "To keep me from being to proud by abundant revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, by an angel of Satan to harass me.")

However, Jesus has defeated Satan and He shows us how we, like Him, can conquer Satan and triumph victoriously as He did on His Cross and Resurrection by enduring our own crosses. (John 16:33- "In the world you will have suffering, but be of good courage, I have overcome the world"; Revelation 12:11- "They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not love their lives even unto death.")

These are the promises of Jesus for those who conquer Satan: (Revelation: 2:7, 11, 17, 26-27; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7):

1: “To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

2: “He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.”

3: “To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.”

4: “He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with and iron scepter, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father and I will give him the Morning Star.”

5: “He who conquers shall be clothed like them in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

6: “He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

7: “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

8: "He who conquers shall have this heritage: I will be his God and he shall be my son."

The formula that He gave us to defeat the Evil One is very simple: The First Commandment: (Deuteronomy 6:4- "Hear Israel, The LORD our God is one God and you shall love the LORD with all your heart, soul, and strength.") which is to love God above all things. There are many examples in the Bible about holy people who have followed this commandment until the end of their lives. The most famous example is Job, who endured the suffering that was induced by the devil (Job 1:12). Another example of extraordinary faith was the admirable mother of the Maccabean Martyrs, who watched her 7 children tortured and killed in front of her instead of breaking God's Law. (2 Maccabees Chapter 7 for the whole story). Another great example is the Most Blessed Virgin Mary who loved God above all things and was always subject to His Will, including witnessing her Son being tortured and killed in front of her. The Greatest Example of All is Jesus Christ who, before suffering His Passion, prayed, "Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36) And willingly to save us, entered into His Passion of suffering: betrayal, unjust accusation, flagellation, a crown of thorns over His head, mocking, beating, spitting, insults, carrying His own means of torture, crucifixion, and seeing His own Mother suffering at His death. All of this suffering He did to fulfill the will of God out of love.

Nothing is as important as loving God above all things. As Jesus says, "If any one comes to me and does not detach from his own father, mother, wife, children, siblings, and yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, once he has started and cannot finish everyone will mock him. So therefore, whoever of you doesn't renounce all he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-29,33)

Jesus is saying that we should surrender our loved ones and lives to God's hands since everything belongs to Him. Children belong to God, He lends them to parents. Since they belong to Him, He takes care of them like no one else can. Like the mother of the Maccabean Martyrs said to her son, "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in His mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of His Law." (2 Maccabees 7:22-23) Like this holy mother, we must trust God in everything for He knows the big picture, for He says in Isaiah 55:9, "As heaven is higher than the earth, My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts." God is all about saving souls from eternal damnation. "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be made in the image of His Son in order that He might be the first-born among many brothers and sisters." (Romans 8:28) This is why He allows some of His children to undergo temporary suffering, to save His other children that have gone astray from eternal damnation. For as long as there is sin in the world, there will be suffering. However, we shouldn't be afraid of the one who can kill the body (Satan), but instead fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in Hell (God). (Matthew 10:28)

The devil works like cancer in the background. He doesn't want to be detected and he would prefer you to believe that he doesn't exist. Just like cancer poisons and destroys the body, the devil destroys and poisons the soul continually until it is too late. For, "The devil is a murderer from the beginning and the father of all lies." (John 8:44) He speaks half truths to lure us in.

God gave us free will to choose between Him and Satan. In order to choose, we should ask ourselves what God offers and what Satan offers:

Satan offers riches, praise of men, fame, happiness on earth, minimal suffering, and the freedom to do whatever we want in this temporal life. The catch? Eternal damnation, separation from God, eternal suffering, pain, anguish, and eternal fire.

God offers the opposite:
Temporal suffering on earth, (not because He wants us to suffer, but to purify us from sin, make us resemble Him on the Cross, and to give us a crown of glory in heaven) Besides, when we choose God, Satan will try to attack us like Job to try to separate us from God, so we that can choose him instead of God. The reward? After we have been tested and tried by the devil, if we stand firm in the faith and remain loyal to God, when we die:
Eternal life awaits us, eternal happiness, peace, Paradise, union with God, His angels, His saints (including our loved ones who conquered). No more crying, suffering, or death; only Eternal Joy.

It seems the decision is easy to make and the smartest thing to do is choose God. Then why do we continue to choose Satan?

Perhaps lack of patience? Maybe we want to believe what the majority of the "world" believes? Maybe we want to have "instant gratification" here on earth right now? Possibly lack of faith and trust in our Creator? Not believing in life after death? We are not sure if we will be rewarded for all our suffering and making the right choices? Is it indifference because of all the confusion that exists in the world for having so many religions? We don't believe that God exists? Where do the dead go? Where is their spirit? What happened to them?

Jesus is our only hope, the only one who can save us and the world. Many, like Thomas, doubt or are confused about the truth and ask like Thomas, "How can we know the way?" and Jesus answered, "I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE; NO ONE CAN COME TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME" (John 14:5-6) Jesus is the only one who can truly save us and as St. Peter says, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved." (Acts 4:12) Also as St. Paul says in the first chapter of Galatians, "There is no other Gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and are corrupting the Gospel of Christ."

We shouldn't be ungrateful to Jesus for all that He has done for us through His entire life, Passion, Resurrection, and sending the Holy Spirit, and the things He continues to do today. God has revealed Himself, the One True God, in Jesus and given us immeasurable graces and mercy. For everything that He, the most Holy Creator, has done for us, sinful humans who are really nothing in comparison to Him, it is clear that He deserves all the Glory and Honor and Love. However, when those who already know Him and forget Him and turn and worship other things, He gets upset and saddened that you have chosen something miserable instead of Him, who loves you and wants to give you the best of the best in Heaven. In both Covenants, God makes it very clear that He doesn't want His people worshiping things other than Him. In the Bible, these things are usually idols of other nations that they worship as gods. But these "idols" are not limited to gods of other nations, they are anything that we love and serve more than God. They can be money, power, honor, pleasure, sports, anything. When we fall and worship these idols, God, in His mercy and justice, many times chooses to punish us to bring us back to Him on the right path. "He disciplines him whom He loves, as a loving father would." (Hebrews 12:6)

For Jesus says in the Revelations to St. Bridgette that He always acts with both Mercy and Justice. There is not Mercy without Justice and no Justice without Mercy. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 843 and 844 talks about other religions. In short, it says that other religions (besides Jews and Muslims) search among shadows and images for God. The Church recognizes the glimmer of light and truth found in them as a preparation for the Gospel. However, in their religious behavior, they also display the errors that disfigure the image of God in them: "Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator." So they have many "half-truths". The Evil One often uses these half-truths to deceive humans and lure them into his trap to separate them from God. Since ancient times, people have been known to practice the "deep things of Satan" (cf. Revelation 2:24) like sorcery, witchcraft, divination, fortunetelling, superstitious beliefs, or anything rooted in the occult that is in opposition to our faith.

For example, the Resurrection of the Dead on the Last Day is the central point of our faith. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, "If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ has not been raised and our faith is in vain." Many superstitious and occult practices are based on beliefs in reincarnation, which is clearly in opposition to the resurrection of the dead. (cf. CCC 1013) Just as all die, all will be raised and judged by what we have done and God will right every wrong. He will also repay those who suffered unjustly with glory and those who acted wickedly will be punished. Without the Resurrection of the Dead there really is no True Justice.

Another example that is very common today is a false image of love. To love yourself and do things for only yourself or that love is an emotion or feeling for another person. Scripture says very clearly what love is, "Greater love has no man than this, to lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16) In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love is long-suffering and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it doesn't rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love will never end." The original translation to English for the word "love" is not love, but "charity". Love comes from God alone, for God is love. (1 John 3:8)

So what do we do? "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding. Seek God's Will in all you do and He will show you the path to take." (Proverbs 3:5-6) "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer." (Romans 12:12). "Therefore put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wicked plans of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities and demons, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual army of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take the whole armor of God so that you may be able to withstand the evil day. Stand therefore, with the belt of truth around your waist, put on the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of the Gospel of peace; besides all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming bullets of the Evil One. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit." (Ephesians 6:11-18)

We must fight the good fight of the faith and believe in Jesus's Promises. We should imitate all the saints like Job, the Maccabean Martyrs and the Virgin Mary who conquered the Evil One. Let's carry our crosses and follow Jesus, because all the suffering in this world cannot compare with the glory that you will receive in Heaven. (Romans 8:18) You will find the truth and the answers to all your questions in the Bible. So as the mountains of Ciudad Juarez say, "The Bible is the Truth, READ IT."