Today, we attended 9.30AM Mass, which was being offered for the repose of soul of my brother, Ian Graeme Cormack. Before leaving for church, I prayed for encouragement from God to believe that Ian was saved because he appeared to be an atheist. He certainly did not approve of the Catholic Churchs doctrine on Authority. I then opened the Bible. The page opened onto Matthew 21:18 and I read until verse 22, the parable of the Fig Tree, and it shows Jesus authority over Nature. Initially I was saddened because the first verses seemed so appropriate but not in a good way. Then, JOY! Verse 22 reads: Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith. Well, we did pray hard for Ians salvation during his illness if God did not wish to grant him healing. I am absolutely certain that a great many unbelieving souls, as they hover between this world and the next before dying, do accept the graces all souls are offered to understand certain things so they repent and are saved. The Sunday Gospel for this Sunday follows after the Fig Tree parable, it is the next parable but one. Anyway, I attended Mass full of hope and whilst there I remembered Ian loved Nature. He and his wife were staunch supporters of Wildlife Trusts wherever they lived, and today it is also the Feast of St. Francis. I did not choose this day for Ians Mass, I was given it as the first day available by one of the Oratory Brothers who looks after the Mass Requests book. God being outside human Time, knows ahead what we will pray.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 18:31:33 +0000