Permisssion is granted to republish or reprint Disclaimer – the views in this article are those of the author alone. ANNOUNCEMENT. If you will attend the papal Mass, either in Luneta or Palo, or elsewhere, even on television, bring your rosaries and hold it up for papal blessing, which will be a reminder that your rosary was blessed personally by the Vicar of Christ, you should pray it, not just keep it.
1. RUBYU’S DIRECT HIT OF METRO-MANILA UNLIKELY BUT STILL POSSIBLE AFTER LANDFALL
when you call Me when you pray to Me, I shall listen to you when you look for Me, you shall find Me when you seek Me with all your heart, I shall be with you, I shall change your lot and gather all of you together from all places where I have banished you and bring you back to your home Jeremiah 29:12-15 UPDATE AS OF 5pm, Saturday, December 6. Ruby has picked up speed from 10 kph as of 1030am to 16 kph as of 5pm, making the possibility of floods and sustained winds less intense. The possibility of Ruby veering north to hit Manila is less likely as far as the landfall forecast OF PAGASA as of 5pm predicts, especially since the Northeast Monsoon (amihan) is pushing it slightly southward. The path is towards Mindoro, as the map shows (source – http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/655285/ruby-to-make-landfall-in-eastern-samar-at-8-p-m-saturday). No signal no. 1 alert yet in Metro-Manila although a state of emergency may be declared tomorrow, Sunday, according to DZMM.
LET US PRAY THAT RUBY DOES NOT VEER NORTH TO HIT METRO-MANILA. LET US ALSO PRAY FOR THOSE IN ITS PATH. OUR PRAYERS ARE CRITICAL AND CAN CHANGE THE PATH OF THE STORM, AND CAN LESSEN THE DEVASTATION. EVERY HAIL MARY COUNTS.
Our prayers can still ‘change the mind’ of the Lord. He can make the storm move away as He did in the past when two storms (after Ondoy) interacted, neutralized each other, and veered wildly north, sparing Luzon. Marian devotees attribute this to the prayers to Our Lady.
2. The Papal Visit and Ruby’s Omen
The first question that comes to mind is – are we the object of God’s wrath? And if so, why? Is it a ‘punishment’ or is He just telling us we are not praying enough? Is it a wake-up call? What is Ruby’s omen? These questions will never be answered. We can just speculate. It is hard at times to discern God’s will. His ways are not our ways.
But answering the questions is less important than preparing for the onslaught. As as soon as Ruby (international name Hagupit) entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility, Archbishop John Du of Palo called on the faithful to an Oratio Imperata (Mandatory Prayer). Heaven must be clogged up with the tens of thousands of prayers now soaring up. The Palo cathedral in suburban Tacloban in Leyte bore the brunt of Yolanda, where hundreds of refugees were killed when the roof fell. A makeshift cemetery was built beside the cathedral, which has been rebuilt and is now the focus of Pope Francis’ visit – from death and destruction to rebirth and reconstruction, a new beginning in our relationship with God.
Pope Francis will say Mass at Palo, and is inviting 20 survivors of Yolanda and 5 of the Bohol-Cebu earthquake to a luncheon at Archbishop Du’s residence. He is giving importance to Filipinos in disaster-prone areas. His message is simple – return to the Lord. When he dispatched to the disaster area a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the doomsday prophetess of the modern age, right after the Bohol earthquake, his goal was to make Filipinos realize that prayer to the Lord through Our Lady can avert future disasters. There is a campaign to have thousands of rosaries blest by the Pope during his masses at Luneta and Palo to be given to Yolanda survivors.
Is Ruby’s omen related to the Papal Visit? Is Ruby reinforcing the Pope’s message of prayer as the means to avert future disasters?
Panic buying has emptied all groceries in Samar-Leyte. This means less urgency to give food and water to evacuees. If there is a cooking gas shortage, everyone can revert to firewood. There will be less looting, and prices will not be as high as in Yolanda.
If Samar-Leyte ignored Yolanda and did not know what the words ‘storm surge’ meant, the pendulum swings. Everyone is crystal clear on that subject. Everyone is informed, alerted, and mobilized for Ruby, from indifference to total preparedness. However, Ruby will yield 4 to 5 meters storm surge, while Yolanda yielded 12 meters. eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
PLEASE PRAY FOR FILIPINOS IN THIS HOUR OF TRIBULATION.
return to Me with your whole heart with fasting and weeping and mourning rend your hearts not your garments return to Me your Lord your God for gracious and merciful am I slow to anger, rich in kindness relenting in punishment Joel 2:12-13
I am the Lord, there is no other I give you strength, although you know Me not I do these things so that all men from east to west may know I alone am Lord I create light and darkness, refuge and suffering I the Lord do all these things I send My justice like soft rain from the sky to quench the parched earth and bring salvation to all
Isaiah 45:5-8
restore our fortunes Lord like the parched streams You restored in the southern desert those who sow in tears shall reap in joy even as they weep carrying the seeds to be sown they shall come back rejoicing bearing the fill of harvest
Psalm 126
amdg
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