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A MATTER OF EMPHASIS
by Connie Hoebich
Are we focusing on prophecy or on sanctification?
Prophecy has a mysterious power with men. Some
shrink from it, others thrive on it. All, it seems, are roused by
it. Perhaps the reason is deep in our nature for, in truth, the human
schematic is rooted in prophecy. Regarding a certain tree, Adam was
told: “On the day you eat of it … you shall surely die.”
After the fall, even as the prophetic words of condemnation were being
pronounced, Adam heard also that the privileges he had abused woud
one day be restored; and for centuries. God’s Chosen People were
nourished in hope by this prophecy of the messiah to come. Throughout
scripture and secular history, From Abraham to John the Baptist, Nostradamus
to Jeanne Dixon, men have rallied ‘round the soothsayers. Or
they have stoned them. Indifference to a prophet is rare. Prophecy
provokes.
Case in point: the Garabandalists—you and I. How often have
we heard, “Tell me more about the miracle,” or “The
warning-what will it be like?” or “The punishment, will
it come in my lifetime?” Sometimes I fret that men have absorbed
nothing else about Garabandal except Warning, Miracle, and Chastisement—and
this without perspective. Prophecy has intrigued them. They will
toss the Garabandal prophecies around for a while, then tuck them
away in some cerebral recess with yesterday’s horoscope. If,
after I’ve presented Garabandal, men walk away thinking only
Warning, Miracle, Chastisement, then I have failed in some way.
Fr. J.M. Laffineur, who, for nine years
before his death in 1970, championed the cause of Garabandal in
writings and lectures around the world, often said in his holy zeal:
“We must announce the warning of Garabandal everywhere, incessantly,
assiduously.” This is, of course, our mission—but only
part of our mission. We must just as assiduously make clear the
correct sequence of emphasis’ Our Lady comes with a message
from God: the warning, the miracle God provides so that men may
believe the message. Spectacular as they will surely be, the warning
and the miracle are subordinately cast in the drama of Garabandal.
It is the message—and the active fulfillment of it—that
must permeate the world.
What God asks of men in the message of Garabandal will sanctify
them. What He does through the warning and the miracle is to put
His signature on this call to sanctification. That signature, written
also in the phenomena of the ecstasies and the graces and cures
already manifest, ratifies the message. It says: “See, I show
you that the words of the little girls in Spain are My words spoken
through My Mother. I have appealed to you. Heed My words.”
For us, who have been called by Our Lady to announce these words,
the dramatic wonders God works are a reward for our persevering
work—and an inspiration, that we may ever more tirelessly proclaim
the message. Indeed, when the memories of the warning and the miracle
have been etched in our hearts, and with the glory of God’s
permanent sign resplendent before our eyes, our work will have only
just begun.
Eagerly as we look forward to the miracle,
these days of waiting are something of a luxury for us. We don’t
as yet feel the pressure of time. The chastisement looms—but
way off. We must have the miracle first. Ah, but after the miracle
… It will be you and I – racing the clock. And whether
or not God’s arm is restrained will depend on just how well
we have done our work in these years. If Garabandal has held people
by prophecy alone, where will the people be when two thirds of the
prophecy is complete? To them, the show—all they wanted to
see of it—will be over. But if we have preached reform of heart
and spiritual growth, God will have worked many miracles of grace
in men’s souls, and we shall have armies of recruits to do
the work that must follow the great miracle.
This is what Conchita means when she says repeatedly: “Fulfill
the message!” She has even said people don’t have to believe
in the apparitions—“but they must fulfill the message!”
Think of it. She has seen the Mother of God some 2,000 times, but
this is not what she would impress you with. Rather: fulfill the
message! “My food is to do the will of the One Who sent Me
and to complete His work.”
Are we, the believers, putting the emphasis where it must be? Are
we focusing on prophecy or on sanctification? Are we fulfilling
the message? “First, we must lead good lives,” Our Lady
said. OK, chalk that up for us. But what about the rest—which
the Virgin, in fact, listed first:
“We must make many sacrifices,
perform much penance,
visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently.”
And her closing words:
“Think about the passion of Jesus.”
This is Garabandal. Not alone prophecy and the
spectacle of phenomena. Prophecy does not sanctify, but the quiet,
moment-to-moment activity of prayer, penance and Christ crucified
in our hearts does. This is God’s appeal at Garabandal, and
it must bear fruit in individuals first and eventually, through
them, the world.
Is the message of Garabandal fulfilled in us as individuals? Good!
Then we are worthy promoters. And our Heavenly Mother is blessing
our work.
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