Last week I wrote to you on Saint Padre Pio’s Feast Day, so I thought that this week I would continue to quote his letters, since they would be of greatest help to you, my dear friend whom I love. Because Padre Pio taught me so much about my Holy Guardian Angel and how my Angel wants me to speak to him and ask him to help me, I thought you might benefit from St. Padre Pio’s own words about his own Guardian Angel. His experiences can inspire you to turn to your own Guardian Angel—everyone has one, you know—and rely on your Angel to help you in all of life’s circumstances. God has given each of us a Holy Guardian Angel.
“On Saturday,” wrote St. Padre Pio in his Letters, Volume 1, “I turned to my Angel and after he had kept me waiting a while, there he was, hovering close to me, singing hymns to the Divine Majesty in his angelic voice. There followed one of the usual scenes; I rebuked him bitterly for having kept me waiting so long when I had not failed to call him to my assistance. To punish him, I did not want to look him in the face, I wanted to get away, to escape from him. But he, poor creature, caught up with me almost in tears and held me until I raised my eyes to his face and found him all upset. Then he said, ‘I am always close to you, my beloved young man. I am always hovering around you with the affection aroused by your gratitude to the Beloved of your heart. This affection of mine will never end, not even when you die. I know that your generous heart beats all the time for the One we both love; you would cross every mountain and every desert in search of Him, to see Him again, to embrace Him again in these extreme moments.…’”
You, my friend whom I love, have a Holy Guardian Angel, just like Saint Padre Pio has. Turn to that Angel; ask him to make known to you his presence in some special way. I know he will help you and be your best friend. Jesus has sent him to you.
And please know that I love you.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Happy Saint Padre Pio Feast Day!
Happy Feast Day to you, my friend!
Yes, today is Saint Padre Pio’s Feast Day. Hooray for you, St. Pio! Since it is his day, I am going to let him speak for himself, rather than my sharing with you any anecdotes from his life or from the lives of those who knew and loved him.
So now, from Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Two, I offer you these words of hope and encouragement:
“Do not lose faith in God’s Providence,” said Padre Pio. “Put your trust in God; abandon yourself to Him; and let Him take care of you. Then rest assured that you will not be confounded. I understand and am deeply aware that the trial is hard and the battle fierce. But I also understand that the fruit you will gather, in due course, will be very abundant. The crown that is being woven for you up above is far greater than can be humanly conceived. You will perhaps laugh at me for saying such things…but I know quite well what I am saying. Judge me as you think fit, but what I want from you is that, as the trial increases, your abandonment and trust in God may also increase. Immerse yourself ever more deeply in humility and in blessing the Lord, who in His goodness deigns to visit you in this way, so as to prepare you to share in building up the Heavenly Kingdom. I therefore exhort you, again, to be trustful. A soul who trusts in her Lord and places all her hope in Him has nothing to fear. The enemy of our salvation is always around us to snatch from our hearts the anchor that is to lead us to salvation, by which I mean trust in God our Father. Let us keep a very firm hold on this anchor and not relinquish it for a single moment.” (Saint Padre Pio's Letters, Volume )
Do you need faith, my dear friend? The Word of God says that “faith is a gift,” so now all you have to do is ask for that faith, and God will grant it to you. And while you are at it, why not ask Saint Padre Pio to always help you to hold onto that “anchor,” that “trust in God our Father,” about which he just spoke to you? Then “pray, hope, and don’t worry,” as Saint Padre Pio always advised.
Talk to you again next week, my dear friend whom I love.
Yes, today is Saint Padre Pio’s Feast Day. Hooray for you, St. Pio! Since it is his day, I am going to let him speak for himself, rather than my sharing with you any anecdotes from his life or from the lives of those who knew and loved him.
So now, from Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Two, I offer you these words of hope and encouragement:
“Do not lose faith in God’s Providence,” said Padre Pio. “Put your trust in God; abandon yourself to Him; and let Him take care of you. Then rest assured that you will not be confounded. I understand and am deeply aware that the trial is hard and the battle fierce. But I also understand that the fruit you will gather, in due course, will be very abundant. The crown that is being woven for you up above is far greater than can be humanly conceived. You will perhaps laugh at me for saying such things…but I know quite well what I am saying. Judge me as you think fit, but what I want from you is that, as the trial increases, your abandonment and trust in God may also increase. Immerse yourself ever more deeply in humility and in blessing the Lord, who in His goodness deigns to visit you in this way, so as to prepare you to share in building up the Heavenly Kingdom. I therefore exhort you, again, to be trustful. A soul who trusts in her Lord and places all her hope in Him has nothing to fear. The enemy of our salvation is always around us to snatch from our hearts the anchor that is to lead us to salvation, by which I mean trust in God our Father. Let us keep a very firm hold on this anchor and not relinquish it for a single moment.” (Saint Padre Pio's Letters, Volume )
Do you need faith, my dear friend? The Word of God says that “faith is a gift,” so now all you have to do is ask for that faith, and God will grant it to you. And while you are at it, why not ask Saint Padre Pio to always help you to hold onto that “anchor,” that “trust in God our Father,” about which he just spoke to you? Then “pray, hope, and don’t worry,” as Saint Padre Pio always advised.
Talk to you again next week, my dear friend whom I love.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Do You Wish You Had More Time to Spend with God?
Here is a little tidbit from Dorothy Gaudiose’s book, Prophet of the People. She worked for St. Padre Pio at his monastery in Italy for three years, so she knew him well. This is a true story she related in her book:
At Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, high on the mountain in his monastery home, St. Padre Pio would take a break from his hard work helping the thousands of poor souls who came to him, to go outside for some fresh air and sunshine. One day while enjoying the mountain air and the songs of the birds, he noticed that visitors from all over the world began to gather around him, the famous stigmatized priest who bore—for fifty years—the five bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified in his hands, feet, and side.
Padre Pio hated people making a fuss over him, but God did use him to save souls, so this day Padre Pio sighed and smiled gently as a young married woman from the village at the base of the mountain approached him. “Padre,” she said to him, her face blushing from her shyness and humility, “I live next door to the church and every morning after my husband goes to work and the baby is sleeping, I go into the church and hear Mass and receive Holy Communion.” The young woman, fearing St. Padre Pio would yell at her for leaving her little one, quickly added, “Worrying that my baby might wake up while I’m gone, I leave the church right after receiving the Host. Am I making God angry?”
Smiling at the young mother, Padre Pio said, “No, you’re not displeasing God at all.” St. Pio explained later to a crowd of people: “That young mother pleases God more with her little time in church than you or I do when we spend all day in church.” He continued, “She is taking time out of her duties in order to serve Him.”
So, my dear friend, do you want to spend more time with God in church but can’t afford the time from your daily duties. Do not worry one second. Take to heart these words from St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, which I’ve chosen for you today: “During the course of the day, when you are unable to do anything else, call on Jesus even in the midst of all your occupations, with resigned groanings of the soul. He will come to stay untied to your soul always, through his grace and holy love.”
May Jesus always smile on you, my dear friend!
At Our Lady of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, high on the mountain in his monastery home, St. Padre Pio would take a break from his hard work helping the thousands of poor souls who came to him, to go outside for some fresh air and sunshine. One day while enjoying the mountain air and the songs of the birds, he noticed that visitors from all over the world began to gather around him, the famous stigmatized priest who bore—for fifty years—the five bleeding wounds of Christ Crucified in his hands, feet, and side.
Padre Pio hated people making a fuss over him, but God did use him to save souls, so this day Padre Pio sighed and smiled gently as a young married woman from the village at the base of the mountain approached him. “Padre,” she said to him, her face blushing from her shyness and humility, “I live next door to the church and every morning after my husband goes to work and the baby is sleeping, I go into the church and hear Mass and receive Holy Communion.” The young woman, fearing St. Padre Pio would yell at her for leaving her little one, quickly added, “Worrying that my baby might wake up while I’m gone, I leave the church right after receiving the Host. Am I making God angry?”
Smiling at the young mother, Padre Pio said, “No, you’re not displeasing God at all.” St. Pio explained later to a crowd of people: “That young mother pleases God more with her little time in church than you or I do when we spend all day in church.” He continued, “She is taking time out of her duties in order to serve Him.”
So, my dear friend, do you want to spend more time with God in church but can’t afford the time from your daily duties. Do not worry one second. Take to heart these words from St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, which I’ve chosen for you today: “During the course of the day, when you are unable to do anything else, call on Jesus even in the midst of all your occupations, with resigned groanings of the soul. He will come to stay untied to your soul always, through his grace and holy love.”
May Jesus always smile on you, my dear friend!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Never Fear: God Truly Is Within You
Probably, my wonderful friend, whom I dearly love, it would be better if I made my weekly messages to you much shorter. You are most likely very busy. And since you are so busy, perhaps a few words from three of the Saints—including, of course, Saint Padre Pio, the famous stigmatist-priest—about taking time to rest and refresh yourself would be helpful to you?
First, these words of Saint Anselmo will help you to take a deep breath and let go of your troubles, at least for a few moments: “Come on…escape for a short time from your chores, leave your tumultuous thoughts. Put your busy activities and grave worries to one side for a moment.”
Nice words, right? But now what do you do during that brief time, after you’ve set aside your chores and worries? Saint Anselmo answers that question for you: “Wait a while for God and rest in Him. Go deep inside your soul and exclude everything except God and that which helps you search for Him, then close the door and look for God.”
Why go inside yourself to find God? Saint John of the Cross answers your question with this: “It is to be noted that Jesus, the Word of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, essentially and presently are hidden in the inner part of the soul. Therefore the soul which wishes to find them must retreat into itself as if all the rest didn’t exist.”
But you know how weak and sinful you can be, so you wonder how God could ever be within your soul. I totally understand; I too feel that way about myself, but in God’s great Mercy and Love for us, He chooses to dwell within us, so now take a third Saint’s word for it, Saint Padre Pio’s word: “The knowledge of your interior unworthiness and sinfulness is an extremely pure divine light by which your very being and your ability to commit any sin, without the help of grace, is placed before your consideration. That light is due to the great mercy of God and was granted to the greatest saints because it positions their souls in a place sheltered from all feelings of vanity or pride, thus strengthening humility, which is the foundation of true virtue and Christian perfection. Saint Teresa also had this knowledge….”
Please let Saint Padre Pio leave you with these consoling thoughts, my dear friend whom I love: “In conclusion, rest assured, and be happy, because God is pleased with you and finds His peaceful dwelling place within you. Temptations, discomfort, restlessness, etc., are the merchandise offered by the enemy, but you reject them, so they do no harm. Remember this: if the devil makes a din, he is still outside and not inside at all.” (St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Three, pages548–550)
Never fear, my precious friend; Jesus is with you!
First, these words of Saint Anselmo will help you to take a deep breath and let go of your troubles, at least for a few moments: “Come on…escape for a short time from your chores, leave your tumultuous thoughts. Put your busy activities and grave worries to one side for a moment.”
Nice words, right? But now what do you do during that brief time, after you’ve set aside your chores and worries? Saint Anselmo answers that question for you: “Wait a while for God and rest in Him. Go deep inside your soul and exclude everything except God and that which helps you search for Him, then close the door and look for God.”
Why go inside yourself to find God? Saint John of the Cross answers your question with this: “It is to be noted that Jesus, the Word of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, essentially and presently are hidden in the inner part of the soul. Therefore the soul which wishes to find them must retreat into itself as if all the rest didn’t exist.”
But you know how weak and sinful you can be, so you wonder how God could ever be within your soul. I totally understand; I too feel that way about myself, but in God’s great Mercy and Love for us, He chooses to dwell within us, so now take a third Saint’s word for it, Saint Padre Pio’s word: “The knowledge of your interior unworthiness and sinfulness is an extremely pure divine light by which your very being and your ability to commit any sin, without the help of grace, is placed before your consideration. That light is due to the great mercy of God and was granted to the greatest saints because it positions their souls in a place sheltered from all feelings of vanity or pride, thus strengthening humility, which is the foundation of true virtue and Christian perfection. Saint Teresa also had this knowledge….”
Please let Saint Padre Pio leave you with these consoling thoughts, my dear friend whom I love: “In conclusion, rest assured, and be happy, because God is pleased with you and finds His peaceful dwelling place within you. Temptations, discomfort, restlessness, etc., are the merchandise offered by the enemy, but you reject them, so they do no harm. Remember this: if the devil makes a din, he is still outside and not inside at all.” (St. Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume Three, pages548–550)
Never fear, my precious friend; Jesus is with you!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
An Eternity of Joy and Peace Awaits You and Your Loved Ones
Today, my dear friend, whom I love and whom God loves, I offer you Saint Paul’s words of comfort: “For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the Archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
Why do I speak of the dead today? It is because I feel that you might be fearful of death, fearful of the fate of someone you love who is dying, fearful of the outcome of a serious health problem you or a loved one is experiencing, fearful of what is to become of you and your family in this violent world in which we live. If so, take heart; there truly is a Heaven where you and your loved ones will spend eternity with God in joy and peace and love. Never fear. Saint Padre Pio, the famous stigmatist who bore the five ever-bleeding wounds of Christ for fifty long years in his hands, feet, and side, was visited countless times by souls who had gone to Heaven or Purgatory—the “waiting room of Heaven,” the place where we get gently “showered” by God’s grace so that any sins left on our souls are lovingly and tenderly washed away before we are whisked into Heaven to forever be in God’s glorious Presence and the presence of all those we love who have gone before us. Saint Padre Pio’s experiences with those who had died are to be found in the hundreds of books written about him. (Many of those books were written by me, by the way, by God’s grace and the intercession of St. Padre Pio and Our Lady and my Holy Guardian Angel.) Madame Katharina Tangari, in her book Stories of Padre Pio, (TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.), says that Saint Padre Pio’s life and mystical experiences with the “dead-in-Christ” should encourage us to “walk simply and naturally in the domain of the supernatural.” Madame Katharina, who visited Padre Pio more than seventy times, said that whatever St. Padre Pio does, “is rooted in Jesus Christ, which is why it becomes so efficacious [effective]. Even from afar, he can become for us God’s supernatural instrument, and as such he guides us, so that from time to time, we too may become little instruments of God’s providence and mercy.”
Even though he is now in Heaven, in that “afar” Madame Katharina just mentioned, Saint Padre Pio can do more for you today than he could while on Earth. What are your fears and concerns? What illnesses do you carry? What troubles are bombarding you and your loved ones? Look up. Padre Pio is smiling at you, waiting for you to ask him to intercede with Jesus Christ for you. Tell Padre Pio your troubles and ask him to help you. He will certainly do whatever he can for you. If you happen to smell a sweet aroma anytime soon, and the aroma seems to have no natural origin, know that it is a sign from Padre Pio that he has heard your prayer and is doing what he can for you. He is now closer than ever to the Source of Life, the Ruler of All Nature, Jesus Christ Himself.
I love you, dear friend. “Pray, hope, and don’t worry,” as St. Padre Pio always said.
Please let me end with a blessing just for you from Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 2: “May Jesus be in your heart; may He bless you, console you, and smile upon you! Amen.”
Why do I speak of the dead today? It is because I feel that you might be fearful of death, fearful of the fate of someone you love who is dying, fearful of the outcome of a serious health problem you or a loved one is experiencing, fearful of what is to become of you and your family in this violent world in which we live. If so, take heart; there truly is a Heaven where you and your loved ones will spend eternity with God in joy and peace and love. Never fear. Saint Padre Pio, the famous stigmatist who bore the five ever-bleeding wounds of Christ for fifty long years in his hands, feet, and side, was visited countless times by souls who had gone to Heaven or Purgatory—the “waiting room of Heaven,” the place where we get gently “showered” by God’s grace so that any sins left on our souls are lovingly and tenderly washed away before we are whisked into Heaven to forever be in God’s glorious Presence and the presence of all those we love who have gone before us. Saint Padre Pio’s experiences with those who had died are to be found in the hundreds of books written about him. (Many of those books were written by me, by the way, by God’s grace and the intercession of St. Padre Pio and Our Lady and my Holy Guardian Angel.) Madame Katharina Tangari, in her book Stories of Padre Pio, (TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.), says that Saint Padre Pio’s life and mystical experiences with the “dead-in-Christ” should encourage us to “walk simply and naturally in the domain of the supernatural.” Madame Katharina, who visited Padre Pio more than seventy times, said that whatever St. Padre Pio does, “is rooted in Jesus Christ, which is why it becomes so efficacious [effective]. Even from afar, he can become for us God’s supernatural instrument, and as such he guides us, so that from time to time, we too may become little instruments of God’s providence and mercy.”
Even though he is now in Heaven, in that “afar” Madame Katharina just mentioned, Saint Padre Pio can do more for you today than he could while on Earth. What are your fears and concerns? What illnesses do you carry? What troubles are bombarding you and your loved ones? Look up. Padre Pio is smiling at you, waiting for you to ask him to intercede with Jesus Christ for you. Tell Padre Pio your troubles and ask him to help you. He will certainly do whatever he can for you. If you happen to smell a sweet aroma anytime soon, and the aroma seems to have no natural origin, know that it is a sign from Padre Pio that he has heard your prayer and is doing what he can for you. He is now closer than ever to the Source of Life, the Ruler of All Nature, Jesus Christ Himself.
I love you, dear friend. “Pray, hope, and don’t worry,” as St. Padre Pio always said.
Please let me end with a blessing just for you from Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 2: “May Jesus be in your heart; may He bless you, console you, and smile upon you! Amen.”
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Your Prayers are Perfume for God
Hello, my dear friend. Perhaps you’ve been feeling burdened? You can give those burdens to Jesus, you know, but don’t take my word for it. Let me share Saint Padre Pio’s words with you, his encouragement, because the words of Padre Pio, the famous stigmatist-priest, never go out of date; they can always lift up your spirit and speak to your heart and soul. Like the precious eternal all-powerful words of Holy Scripture, the words of all of God’s holy Saints echo His truths to us. But before I share with you some of Saint Pio’s words let me begin with The Truth, the Word of God:
“…in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all
things in Him who strengthens me. …my God will supply every
need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(Philippians 4:12-19)
Now, for Saint Padre Pio’s words for you today: “I tell you,” says Padre Pio, “Let not your heart be troubled, as Jesus Himself said. Yes, do not let your heart be troubled in the hour of trial, because Jesus has promised His real assistance to those who follow Him. Therefore, remember Jesus when you are in the hour of trial. Turn to Him and you will always obtain relief, gaining and singing external victory.” (Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3)
Let me end with one more bit of encouragement for you, which I just found in my friend Dorothy Gaudiose’s book, Prophet of the People, on page 165. Dorothy was my close friend and worked for Padre Pio for three years at his monastery in Italy. Here are a few of his words that Dorothy recorded in her book: “Prayer must be insistent inasmuch as insistence denotes faith. The prayers of the Saints in Heaven and of just souls on earth are perfume that will never fade.”
There—your prayers, my dear friend in Christ, are perfume for our dear Lord Jesus. I can smell the sweet aroma rising as you lift your heart to Him. He loves you, and so do I. Amen!
“…in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all
things in Him who strengthens me. …my God will supply every
need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
(Philippians 4:12-19)
Now, for Saint Padre Pio’s words for you today: “I tell you,” says Padre Pio, “Let not your heart be troubled, as Jesus Himself said. Yes, do not let your heart be troubled in the hour of trial, because Jesus has promised His real assistance to those who follow Him. Therefore, remember Jesus when you are in the hour of trial. Turn to Him and you will always obtain relief, gaining and singing external victory.” (Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3)
Let me end with one more bit of encouragement for you, which I just found in my friend Dorothy Gaudiose’s book, Prophet of the People, on page 165. Dorothy was my close friend and worked for Padre Pio for three years at his monastery in Italy. Here are a few of his words that Dorothy recorded in her book: “Prayer must be insistent inasmuch as insistence denotes faith. The prayers of the Saints in Heaven and of just souls on earth are perfume that will never fade.”
There—your prayers, my dear friend in Christ, are perfume for our dear Lord Jesus. I can smell the sweet aroma rising as you lift your heart to Him. He loves you, and so do I. Amen!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Peace and Joy in This Life and the Next
Today you might be interested in hearing about Saint Padre Pio’s gift of prophecy. God gave him the ability to sometimes foresee future events. For example, Padre Pio would often tell a couple what the sex of their unborn child would be or when a certain individual was going to be healed of a specific affliction. Sometimes, if a person really wanted to know when he was going to die, Saint Padre Pio—with his usual calm and faith and clarity—would share the day or week of death with that individual. One day after Mass at his mountain monastery in Southern Italy, Padre Pio turned to one of the policeman who had been assigned as a bodyguard for him and said, smiling as usual, “I’d like to see you in my cell after I finish here and after I make my thanksgiving.”
Happy that the famous stigmatist-priest wanted to see him personally, the policeman smiled and waited with joyful expectation outside St. Padre Pio’s cell.
Soon Padre Pio arrived and invited the policeman into his cell where he gently informed him, “Within a week you will go home to visit your parents and there you shall die.”
Imagine the policeman’s shock at Padre Pio’s words. “But I’m well and never felt better,” said the policeman.
“My son,” said Padre Pio to him, “don’t worry. What is this life? A pilgrimage. We’re all on a pilgrimage, my son. Ask for a leave of absence and go home to take care of your affairs. Tomorrow you’re going to die. Your parents love you and need to know.”
After Padre Pio spoke to the policeman’s superiors for him, the young policeman received a leave of absence. When the policeman arrived home, he told his parents, “Padre Pio told me I’m going to die, so I came to say goodbye to you and tell you how much I love you.” A week later he died.
Why did I share such a sad event with you today? I wanted you to know that if you have recently experienced the loss of a close friend or relative, do not fear. That person is with the Lord. And to prove to you that what I say is true, let me please quote Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, pages 729-30:
“Live tranquilly, always…. This present life is given to us in order to acquire the eternal, and due to a lack of reflection, we base our affections on that which pertains to this world through which we are passing, so that when we have to leave it we are frightened and agitated. Believe me, in order to live happily while on pilgrimage, we must keep before our eyes the hope of arriving at our Homeland where we will stay for eternity. And in the meantime we should believe this firmly, because given that it is God who calls us to Himself, He watches how we make our way to Him, and He will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good. He knows what we are, and He will extend His paternal hand to us while we are going through rough stretches, so that nothing will prevent us from running quickly to Him. … He has defended you up to now. Simply hold on tightly to the hand of His divine Providence, and He will help you in all events….”
May Saint Padre Pio, the miracle worker and stigmatist, intercede with Jesus to obtain for you, my dear friend, the peace and healing and joy you need in this life. And may Padre Pio intercede with Jesus also to obtain for you joy and peace and health in the next life where you will be forever with those you love who have gone before you. Amen!
Happy that the famous stigmatist-priest wanted to see him personally, the policeman smiled and waited with joyful expectation outside St. Padre Pio’s cell.
Soon Padre Pio arrived and invited the policeman into his cell where he gently informed him, “Within a week you will go home to visit your parents and there you shall die.”
Imagine the policeman’s shock at Padre Pio’s words. “But I’m well and never felt better,” said the policeman.
“My son,” said Padre Pio to him, “don’t worry. What is this life? A pilgrimage. We’re all on a pilgrimage, my son. Ask for a leave of absence and go home to take care of your affairs. Tomorrow you’re going to die. Your parents love you and need to know.”
After Padre Pio spoke to the policeman’s superiors for him, the young policeman received a leave of absence. When the policeman arrived home, he told his parents, “Padre Pio told me I’m going to die, so I came to say goodbye to you and tell you how much I love you.” A week later he died.
Why did I share such a sad event with you today? I wanted you to know that if you have recently experienced the loss of a close friend or relative, do not fear. That person is with the Lord. And to prove to you that what I say is true, let me please quote Saint Padre Pio’s Letters, Volume 3, pages 729-30:
“Live tranquilly, always…. This present life is given to us in order to acquire the eternal, and due to a lack of reflection, we base our affections on that which pertains to this world through which we are passing, so that when we have to leave it we are frightened and agitated. Believe me, in order to live happily while on pilgrimage, we must keep before our eyes the hope of arriving at our Homeland where we will stay for eternity. And in the meantime we should believe this firmly, because given that it is God who calls us to Himself, He watches how we make our way to Him, and He will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good. He knows what we are, and He will extend His paternal hand to us while we are going through rough stretches, so that nothing will prevent us from running quickly to Him. … He has defended you up to now. Simply hold on tightly to the hand of His divine Providence, and He will help you in all events….”
May Saint Padre Pio, the miracle worker and stigmatist, intercede with Jesus to obtain for you, my dear friend, the peace and healing and joy you need in this life. And may Padre Pio intercede with Jesus also to obtain for you joy and peace and health in the next life where you will be forever with those you love who have gone before you. Amen!
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