Today was ‘Ash Wednesday’, the beginning of ‘Lent’. I attended Mass and received the ‘ashes’. Lent is a 40-day journey of ‘prayer and fasting and almsgiving’. It is a time of grace in which to adopt the ‘attitude’ of the prophet Daniel who said: “I turnedto the Lord, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3)
When we receive the ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the cross the priest will say either:
1-“Remember that you are dust and that you will return to dust.”
2-“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
We never know the day or the hour when we will die. As St Paul said: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2 )
This message of Lent was very much in my thoughts as I began my daily protests against abortion and the ‘Culture of Death’ on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (cf:http://www.solemncharge.com/post/2012/10/19/What-is-the-Culture-of-Death-The-Catholic-Meaning.aspx )
Little did I know though that I would be approached and questioned in-depth by a young adult man, ‘a prodigal son’ (cf:Luke 15:11-32) on the issues of abortion, life, morality, Heaven and Hell. Early in our conversation I realized that I was face to face with a very hurting and sincere young man who was searching for the Truth. I was to discover that he had such a great need and desire to discover the Father’s awesome Love and Mercy for sinners through Jesus Christ, His only Son.
HE CAME STRAIGHT FOR ME
He came straight for me at 10:30 a.m. as I was standing by the ‘Centennial Flame’ on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. On my person was a sign depicting in detail how abortions are done in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. Also hanging on the front of my sign was my 8 inch Crucifix. I also held a sign above my shoulders which read in large letters “The PILL KILLS”. ( www.thepillkills.org )
As he approached me he asked with a respectfull and serious voice:”How are you?” “Very fine.” I responded. Then came the question. “What are you getting at with your signs?” I replied:”Read it and you will know.”
BIG PEOPLE KILLING LITTLE PEOPLE
He then said:”Who are you to judge others?” I replied:
“I am not judging others, I am showing what abortion does to unborn babies…it is murder….BIG people killing little people.”
He argued:”But a fetus is not human yet in the early stages.” I responded:” You know according to Section 223.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada, you are right, the baby is not human until it is 100% removed from the womb. However, everyone knows it is a human being. Science ( http://lightoftruth.tumblr.com/post/12935111919/what-science-tells-us-about-the-unborn ) has proven countless number of times that it is a human being from the very instant that the male sperm enters into the female egg.”
Yet he still maintained he was pro-choice, that a woman should have the right to choose. I said: “Yes , the right to choose to kill…BIG people killing Little people.”
I reasoned with Danny (pseudo name). There is only two differences between a baby in the womb of a woman and you. First, the baby has just ‘begun’ its life and you are?….”18 years”, he said. Second difference is the ‘location’. The baby is in the womb, out of sight and you have been born for 18 years now, you are MUCH OLDER than the baby and you say the ‘adult’, the mother and sometimes the father has the right to kill the baby in the womb if she chooses to do so.
If you who are 18 years older than the tiny helpless baby in the womb or its mother believe it is okay to kill it, then why shouldn’t a Senior such as I, some 49 years OLDER than you, not have the right to kill you? Danny could not answer me.
THE QUESTION OF ‘JUDGING OTHERS’, CALLING SIN A SIN.
He returned to the question of ‘judging others’. I explained to Danny that there was a difference between judging others and calling ‘a sin a sin’ and the important reasons for doing so. I told him that here I was arguing from the standpoint of a Christian, whom he quickly made clear that he was not. I continued and told him it was my duty as a Christian to help someone else who is committing a sin in order to save them from Hell. I quoted James 5:19-20: “Mybrethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
I then brought up the subject of the Ten Commandments. It is the Ten Commandments that is the ‘Standard’ that a Christian goes by to know God’s Law and to know right from wrong. It is a Christian’s ‘moral compass’. I named off a few of the Commandments. I told him how important they were by speaking about Matthew 22:36-40:
36 Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
38 This is the greatest and the first commandment.
39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
The first four Commandments (cf: Exodus 20) tell us specifically how to love God and the last six Commandments tell us how to love others.
When people believe they are no longer under the restraints of God’s Ten Commandments, they no longer have a STANDARD (moral compass) of right and wrong. They set aside the ‘Divine’ standard for one of their own choosing, e,g., “If it feels good, do it.”
To stress the huge importance of living a life based on the Ten Commandments I said to Danny:
“Danny, let us put the people of today into two groups. In the first group you have the people who are doing their very best to honour the Ten Commandments and live by them. They will experience as a result the blessings of God and reap life and love and eternal life at the end of their days through God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
In the second group put all the people who want no part of God in their life and want to ‘live like the devil’ and enjoy life based on ‘their own standards’ of selfishness, greed and self-centeredness. In the midst of this group you will get a glimpse of what Hell is like. Remember… ‘without God we self-destruct’. That is what is happening in the world today. People are shunning God and the ‘Culture of Death’, comprised of contraception, abortion, euthanasia, murder, suicide, war, human cloning, human sterilization, embryonic stem cell and fetal research, in Vitro fertilization, homosexuality, promiscuity, infidelity and divorce, etc” is growing in leaps and bounds. We are living in a time where money and sex are the gods of this world. We live in a sex-obsessed world. Which of the two groups do you want to belong to Danny?
So Danny replied: “So those in the second group, God sends them to Hell!? I immediately replied: “No! God is so merciful, He sends no one to Hell–if anyone ends up in Hell it is because they have sinned by disobeying God’s Commandments and refused to repent and receive God’s mercy. NOTE: I expand on this in the following link: (cf: https://striveforheavennow.ca/perfect-love/ )
WILL I GO TO HELL FOR THAT KIND OF LIFE?
He then to my great surprise shared with deep felt emotions that he had been repeatedly sexually abused from a very young age by his father. This led him to have as much as sixteen sexual affairs with different people. Then he looked at me and said; “Will I go to Hell for that kind of life?”
I looked Danny in the eyes and said: “Danny, I’m so sorry, you’ve been through Hell as a child. But I have very good news for you.” Pointing to my crucifix attached to the top of my abortion sign I said to Danny:”The blood of Jesus Christ can erase all your sins of your past life–if you are Catholic, go see a priest and go to Confession and be absolved of all those sins. If you are not Catholic make a sincere prayer to God telling Him how deeply you regret your sins. Tell God you are so sorry and He will forgive you.” The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins according to the riches of His grace.:
THREE EXAMPLES OF GOD’S AWESOME MERCY
I then gave Danny three examples of God’s awesome mercy in the lives of different sinners. The first one was a young woman who at age 30 committted suicide by swallowing and overdosing on a whole bottle of depression pills. She was taken to emergency and her heart had stopped beating. She was dead. However , the attending doctor administered cardiovascular pulmonary ressucitation to her. While dead, she told me afterwards that her spirit had left her body and was travelling up a large white tunnel and she met a huge Angel which motioned her to turn around and go back. The doctor managed to get her heart going again. She survived!
Three years later this same woman was very depressed and swallowed two bottles of pills. Found unconscious she was taken to emergency by ambulance and the paramedics had to use electric shocks to get her heart going again. She was at that time a chain smoker and her lungs had collapsed, so they had to operate and do a tracheotomy and a machine breathed for her.
A priest was called in immediately to administer the ‘Sacrament of the Sick’ (formerly known as ‘Last Rites’) to her because the doctors felt she had very little hope of surviving. When I got the news of her condition, I immediately sent out an S.O.S for prayer for her. Dozens of people were interceding for her! She remained in a coma for 25 days. When she regained consciousness my wife and I were at her bedside–this young woman is our daughter.
Here is what she shared with me the same day she came out of her coma: “Dad, when I was in the coma, I remember nothing except that when the priest came to pray for me, God spoke to me!
I looked at our daughter and asked: “What did God say to you?” Then to explain how God spoke to her, she took both her hands and held them outwards towards me as though she was offering me something. This was the gesture God used towards her. He said to her:
“If you wish, I will give you another chance to live.”
Then my daughter looked at me and said:”I thought to myself, ‘Why not take advantage of an opportunity like that!”
She said “YES” to God’s offer! You see, there are two ‘miracles’ here that happened. First, our daughter did not die! Secondly, remember she overdosed because she was so depressed and said ‘NO’ to LIFE and now she had the ‘Grace’ obtained by the prayers of a multitude of Christians and the Sacrament of the Sick, to say ‘YES’ to LIFE!!
God’s Mercy has no limits. The power of prayer and God’s mercy is nothing less than tsunamically awesome!
TWO ROBBERS PUT TO DEATH ALONGSIDE OF JESUS
I then felt inspired to share two incidents from the Bible of God’s Mercy with Danny.
The first one had to do with the two robbers put to death alongside Jesus, as described in Luke 23:32-43.
Luke 23:32-43
32 And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
33 And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there; and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.
35 And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.
36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
37 And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
38 And there was also a superscription written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil.
42 And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
While the bad thief cursed and mocked Jesus, the other thief defended Jesus and sincerely repented of his sins. Merciful Jesus looked at him and said: “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” What an awesome display of God’s mercy!
THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY:GO AND SIN NO MORE
I then took Danny to John 8:1-11, which is about the woman caught in the act of adultery.
John 8:1-11
8 And Jesus went unto mount Olivet.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and sitting down he taught them.
3 And the scribes and the Pharisees bring unto him a woman taken in adultery: and they set her in the midst,
4 And said to him: Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one. But what sayest thou?
6 And this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 When therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground.
9 But they hearing this, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. And Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 Then Jesus lifting up himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?
11 Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.
As we can see here Jesus brought out plainly how we ‘are ALL sinners’ needing a Saviour. He said to the Scribes and Pharisees: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” One by one, dropping their stone, starting with the eldest, the Scribes and Pharisees left. Then Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery: “Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?” She replied: “No man, Lord.” Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.”
Jesus gave her mercy…but also a stern warning, SIN NO MORE..in other words don’t go back into the same evil lifestyle.
After sharing these three accounts of God’s awesome Mercy with Danny I added: “You see Danny, we are all sinners and deserve Hell when we break God’s Commandments but all that God asks of us is to come to Jesus in all sincerety of our heart and say: “I have sinned, I am so sorry, please forgive me.” and the precious blood of Jesus shed at Calvary washes away all our sins. John 1:7
1 John 1:7
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
7 But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
I then pointed to the large surfaces of the lawns on Parliament Hill covered with a pure, white snow and said to Danny: “Contrast these fields of white snow in all their purity of appearance to the dirty, streets and sidewalks of Ottawa at this time of the years, all dirty, muddy and yukky. The white snow is an image of the forgiven sinner’s soul, washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb!
I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK YOU TO PRAY FOR ME!
Danny was shivering, an hour had passed as though like a ‘moment’ in the cold 20 below zero weather and had to leave, but I quickly said to him: “I promise you one thing Danny, I will pray for you and continue to pray for you.” Danny replied with a surprised look on his face…”I was just going to ask you to pray for me!”
This statement from Danny that he was going to ask me to pray for him showed me that Danny left with the ‘attitude’ of the ‘prodigal son’. He ‘desires’ to change his life and turn to the Father. He too, is on his Lenten journey! Praise God!
Mother Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, please grant Danny the necessary graces he needs to fully surrender to Jesus as Saviour and Lord of his life. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!
Our meeting on the Hill was not a co-incidence, it was one of those extraordinary Mercy-filled God-Incidents!
God bless you Danny,
You are in my prayers.
Donald Andre Bruneau,
March 9, 2014.