THIS REALLY GAVE ME SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

At this point I'm preparing a retreat that I am to preach to two batches of graduants from a state university in Samar. I've decided to divide the talks into considerations on the Four Last Things (No, I won't be talking about frills and feeling-good-about-ourselves-because-God-is-so-good kind of thing. I've had enough of chicken-soup for the souls. I'm bent on giving something substantial). These Four Last Things used to be staple in every lengthy Catholic retreat: Death and Judgment, Purgatory, Heaven and Hell. I was having research on material for the meditation on Purgatory when I came upon the revelations to Maria Simma. Entitled The Secret of the Poor Souls in Purgatory, the Austrian visionary talks about her visits done to her by a soul in purgatory. It's very enlightning; it's actually makes very good devotional reading (being a private revelation it's not Church dogma; however it keeps to what the Church teaches about Purgatory); it's not that long and one could be through reading it in less than an hour (that's even to long already). Anyway, among others, this caught my attention:

Are there priests in Purgatory?

Yes, there are many. They didn't promote respect for the Eucharist. So Faith overall suffers. They are often in Purgatory for having neglected prayer — which has diminished their Faith. But there are also many who have gone straight to Heaven.

What would you say, then, to a priest who really wants to live according to the Heart of God?

I would advise him to pray much to the Holy Spirit — and to say his Rosary every day.

The declaration that faith suffers because of the neglect of the Eucharist by many priests. And priests neglect the proper care and delicacy for the Eucharist because they have abandoned their prayer life. No wonder a lot of my brothers make up for lost time in Purgatory. 

This made me think of Angelo Reyes:

What happens to people who have committed suicide? Have you ever been visited by these people?

Up to now, I have never encountered the case of a suicide who was lost — this doesn't mean, of course, that that doesn't exist — but often, the souls tell me that the most guilty were those around them, when they were negligent or spread calumny.

At this moment, I asked Maria if the souls regretted having committed suicide. She answered yes. Often, suicide is due to illness. These souls do regret their act because, as they see things in the light of God, they understand instantly all the graces that were in store for them during the time remaining for them to live — and they do see this time which remained for them, sometimes months or years —– and they also see all the souls they could have helped by offering the rest of their lives to God. In the end, what hurts them most is to see the good that they could have done but didn't, because they shortened their lives. But when the cause is illness, the Lord takes this into account, of course.

This was an eye-opener concerning sexual sins as well, particularly concerning homosexuality:

Have you been visited by souls who, on earth, practiced perversions? I am thinking, for example, about the sexual domain.

Yes, they are not lost, but they have much to suffer to be purified. For example: homosexuality. This truly comes from the Evil One.

What advice would you give, then, to all those people afflicted by homosexuality, with this tendency in them?

Pray a lot for the strength to turn away from it. They should above all pray to the Archangel Michael; he is the great fighter par excellence against the Evil One.