Venezuela April 06

I arrived in Caracas, Venezuela on April 4th to start a 5 days mission. Venezuela is a dear neighboring country which is going through a very difficult purification in all aspects: politically, socially, economically and spiritually. It reminds me of Colombia a while back, when starting a trial, a purification that hasn't ended yet, but is getting to a much lighter level nowadays. A time when life is worth nothing, where danger is out there hunting every one and killing the innocent. A time of martyrdom. A time of persecution to the morals and values, to religious believers. A time when government officials are worshipping the devil in all aspects. I was told by dear Catholic friends how so many government officials and high rank militaries, are practicing Babaloo, which is an extremely dark spirituality originally from Africa and managed by high sorceres from Cuba. It is also known as "Santeria". It involves long rituals where a great variety of animals are sacrificed and in some cases human sacrifices. It is a long story not possible to narrate right now.

I went to the city of Valencia first to mission at a beautiful church run by the Scalibrinian missionaries originally from Italy. I gave a talk to a large audience that night and contemplated a sad congregation that was mourning the killing of three young adolescent brothers and their driver who were kidnapped by some corrupt policemen and executed after being severely tortured. They were part of a very good Catholic Maronite Middle Eastern family. There were no words that could encourage the audience to forget such a horrendous crime, but there was a sense of reparation while I was relating to them the story of my kidnapping in Colombia by the rebels of the FARC, during which I was called by God to return to my faith. I was able to convey to them some of the suffering we have had in Colombia and how we all had to kneel and dress ourselves like in the old testament in times of trials: with sack cloths and ashes, asking God for forgiveness. I spoke about the need of a true conversion, the calling of God to humanity for a drastic change. It is not only Venezuela and Colombia and a few other obvious countries which will be purified. It will be the entire earth. The whole world has gone astray from God and the trumpets from high above are sounding louder, for a while already, but there are not many ears to hear through the noise of this corrupted world.
We came to the end of the two hours conference, with much more hope and strength to fight the good fight of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit inundated the room with much love and a Grace of mourning for the conversion of all sinners, for a true change of heart. For the real love for the Eucharist. I was talking about asking God the Father, to give us hunger for Jesus, for the Eucharistic bread, so that we wont hunger and thirst at the moment of departing this body. I spoke about how important it was to make sure it is Jesus we are hungry for and not hungry for our poor selves for which only food we are able to provide is the poison of sin. We had an audience which was rich in the variety of age groups. Two couples had organized the event, both very committed to the church and filled with love and enthusiasm for spreading the Kingdom of The Lord our God everywhere. We had two radio interviews during the day, prior to the evening talk at the church. I was highly taken care of by these dear brothers in Christ.

The next day I went to Barquisimeto, an industrial city and also a musical city, famous for a great artistic talent of its people. I was able to get acquainted with our Lady of The Divine Shepherd. It is a wonderful testimony of a priest who 150 years ago during the time of the plague of Cholera, came to this area and brought the statute with him and asked a favor from our Lady saying: Let it be that I'll be the last one to die of Cholera, make me the last one, let's ask God to end it with me. And so it was, he died shortly after his request and the whole area knew about the great intercession of Our Lady before the Divine Tribunal and how such a horrifying plague was stopped. After this, the devotion to her has been so great that each year on her feast, close to two million pilgrims come to the procession.

We were driving to a place where I was to give my first talk, when we ran into a pilgrimage of the statute of our Lady of The Divine Shepherd, that was being taken to another parish. It has been a tradition of many years, that during this liturgical time of lent, she visits several parishes and the faithful give her enormous respect.
I asked her silently as she passed me by: Lady, could you make sure that I get a statute of you before I leave town tomorrow morning, I want to take you home and introduce you to the servants of the house of prayer in Bogotá, who do not know you in this avocation. Needless to say, the next morning as I was being driven to the bus station to go to Caracas, my host stopped at a house and they invited me in for a minute. The lady of the house walked me into a little chapel she had in her beautiful house and after saying a prayer for me and my mission, she went to the altar and picked up a beautiful statue of our lady of the Divine Shepherd and told me: Our Lady wants you to take this back to where you are going.

I gave my first talk at a church downtown, run by a Spanish priest who came to Venezuela 50 years ago as a missionary and stayed on with a wonderful mission all of these years. He is 80 years old and he told me that he is happy and in excellent health. He is a very holy man, I was able to gather that from him. He built a church in a very poor and difficult area of town, he is charismatic and has a great following from the humble and simple, he has so many testimonies of his priesthood in Venezuela, I'll need an encyclopedia to write about him. He was happy with my talk to his congregation and invited me to come back next September God willing for a two day retreat.
In the evening, I spoke at a house where many faithful meet, it was a good size congregation and I spoke a lot like the talk in Valencia, about the Eucharist; especially stressing the point of giving it all to Jesus and Mary, to stop mediocracy and to begin a real construction of the house of God in the heart. Talking about how difficult it is going to be for those who do not nourish themselves spiritually now, because they will not have enough strength to hold the ground for God in a time not very far from today.
I parted town early the next morning . The brothers in Christ that hosted me in Barquisimeto were especially committed. One of them had a mission of picking up children that were autistic and retarded and who no one was helping. It is a great and beautiful work of charity.

I was happy to meet them all and left with a heart filled with their love, which was authentic love of Jesus, promising to return in God's will next September.

I took a bus to Caracas, which is a relatively short drive. Saturday the 8th I spoke at a church in a two session conference for four hours total, to a good sized audience.
The people in Caracas where also very receptive and open to the message. It was very obvious that they knew what they were facing as a family and as a country. It was not easy to face it. But the Lord worked wonders throughout the day and I could sense the deliverance and healing presence all around them. It was a very anointed day and everyone left with a share of Jesus' touch in their hearts. Heaven was present in a very special tender and merciful way, during all of my mission in Venezuela. Where there is so much suffering of the people of God, there is always a consoling Christ that shows up with the Celestial Court to tell His people: Do not be afraid, all things will come to pass. Follow my words and you will find eternity, a permanent source of truth.

I left Venezuela with a prayerful heart fill with much love for all the brothers and sisters in Christ I got to know and see again. They need our prayers, so that God gives them strength and keeps them faithful and brave in the midst of these present trials they are going through right now.
May the Lord Jesus bless the remnant of Venezuela, May He keeps them all together. I have to say that the Venezuelan family that invited me to mission there, I met in Vancouver Canada, they are an exemplary catholic family and I highly appreciate their love and dedication to the Kingdom of God. May the Lord bless them in a very especial way.