Signs, messages, warnings
Is it really, as touted by the mainstream press, the "fist of God" -- an unusual cloud formation over Portugal? Said the Weather Channel last weekend (1/30/16), "When locals living on the Portuguese island of Madeira woke up on Monday, they didn't expect to see something quite so supernatural in the morning sky. Weather blogger Rogerio Pacheco captured the photo above around 8 a.m. and since then, it's gone viral. 'For me, the cloud looks like an outstretched hand with a fireball,' Pacheco said. Others have compared it to a flaming comet."
In the era of photo-shopping, we'll wait on it. But it is a strange time for phenomena such as clouds as well as uncanny sounds: those deep earthen echoes and "booms" that continue unabated around the world, as if our planet, about to give birth, of some kind, groans. Are great quakes and fiery sky events augured?
Do politics play a part?
Does it matter if we choose someone who unabashedly endorses abortion or someone who is in wanton contradiction of biblical passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 ("Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things")?
"Never before has America been at such a crossroads," we mentioned the other day, in announcing a new retreat series. "While some have been premature in their expectations and predictions, the rough intuition of a time-table set forth by Catholic mystics such as Maria Esperanza and Josyp Terelya remains on course."
God does not so much use a "fist," nor send us disaster, as we draw it to ourselves. And while all eyes are on politics, how about other factors that may figure in more than that: such as the rampant viewing of pornography (many "Christian" men involved)?
It is interesting to note that Madeira, where the cloud supposedly was photographed, is also the place that drew a bit of note in the prophetic world a few years back when an reputed visionary named Pedro Regis of South America quoted a vision as informing him (January 21, 2010): "Dear Sons and Daughters, the island of Madeira will be devastated, and the dwellers of a big city on the banks of the Tejo river will experience a heavy cross. Bend your knees in prayer. God sent Me to call you to holiness. Live turned towards paradise, the only place for which you were created. Humanity will carry a heavy cross because people have gotten away from their Creator. Return. Your God awaits you with open arms. I am your Sorrowful Mother and I suffer because of what is coming to you. Seek strength in the Eucharist and testify to My appeals with courage. This is the message I give you today in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Thank you for permitting Me to reunite you here once more. I bless you in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit. Amen. Be at peace."
A month later was a major disaster there. "Rescue workers dug through heaps of mud, boulders, and debris on Sunday on the Portuguese island of Madeira, searching for victims buried by flash floods and mudslides that had already killed at least 42 people in the popular tourist area," said the newswires on February 22, 2010. "The floods were so powerful they carved paths down mountains and through the city, churning under bridges and even tearing some down. Residents had to cling to railings to avoid being swept away. Cars were consumed by the force of the water, and the streets were littered with the battered shells of overturned vehicles that had been swept downstream."
And now the cloud -- as if to warn of fire [see Fear of Fire].
We present it all for discernment in the spirit of biblical admonition not to despise prophecy (particularly the sign of Jonah).
Claims another alleged seer, Valentina Papagna of Sydney, Australia (December 31, 2015), "This morning while I was praying and making my morning offerings, the angel of the Lord appeared to me and said, 'You pray for good intentions that God will bless the world in the coming year, and give peace and reconciliation to the world. See how the weather patterns have changed everywhere in the world. People notice it is unseasonable weather and they wonder why these disasters keep happening and keep coming, such as the cyclones, hurricanes, and even the floods in England.
"People are still blind. God is trying to tell them something. There is one disaster that will have to come which will be the worst one. As in the time of Moses when he parted the sea and the people could walk through to the other side, two great walls of water were created to the left and to the right." In that instant I was given a vision of Moses parting the sea.
"The angel continued, 'The wall of water that will come now won't be parted as in the time of Moses, but will be a massive wall of water, rising to huge heights. It will flood many inhabited areas, and will be worse than anything that has come before.'
"The angel showed me a vision of the surging wall of seawater, as high as tall buildings, flooding and destroying densely inhabited areas somewhere in the world. In that moment I was so shocked and frightened at what I saw, that I didn't think to ask the angel in which part of the world this disaster would happen.
"The angel said, 'Tell people to pray. Tell them this is very serious. Tell them to change their lives and to stop offending God. He is so offended by humanity."
[resources: Fear of Fire, Tower of Light, and Sent To Earth]
[see also: Michael Brown retreat, West Palm Beach, February 13]
[And also: Weather Channel story]
[Feedback from June Klins of Pennsylvania: "I just read your piece on the hand of God. Today I saw what I considered the 'hand of God' also. It was a cloud shaped just like a hand, but out of the hand came beautiful rays of light. I say the rays of light first and then noticed the hand. I could not take a picture as I was driving on a main road at a fast clip and besides, I do not have a smart phone, and did not have my camera with me. It made me feel so good though to see that. Quite the opposite of the fireball. I just thought I'd share."]
