SPECIAL COMMENTARY – Understanding Prophecy – Sacred Scriptures, Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 38, and the Holy Death of Pope Benedict XVI – By “a soul” – MaryRefugeOfSouls

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March 2, 2023, Lent Season

Blessings dearly beloved ones,

So, people have asked me about the (unfulfilled) prophecy about the martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI. So, I, “a soul” of MaryRefugeOfSouls, want to address the naysayers of Catholic prophecy, particularly, those who are casting stones at the chosen messengers who are faithful to God and were obedient to God by simply repeating the heavenly message given to them to announce the potential martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI.

Firstly, I want to say that some of the things that I have come across and read by various Catholic “experts” is really shameful. I am sorry, but there are some people that are lacking true Christian charity in their words, even to the point of taking, seemingly, “delight” that Pope Benedict XVI was not martyred. In truth, I remember reading a rambling article written by a “purported” Catholic theologian where he took pride in the fact that he never completely endorsed a particularly well-loved priest who had spoken about the possible martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI and how this faithful priest must be a “false prophet”.

Honestly, beloved ones, I could barely finish reading the article, as truthfully, I told the person who sent it to me that it makes me want to vomit about how arrogant this person sounded. And honestly, it reminded me how Our Lord, Jesus Christ, had shared in a message given to one of the chosen messengers that I promote on this blog, that He has very little time to dedicate to many theologians. This is because many of them are “modern-day Pharisees” who are the first ones ready to cast stones against others.

How very right Our Beloved Lord Is!!

So, I want to make this very important point. If you are following Catholic private revelation, because you want to solely keep track of prophetic events and figure out God’s timeline, stop, because you do not understand the purpose of private revelation. The primary purpose of heavenly messages is for our edification, our personal holiness, to help bring us closer to the Most Sacred Heart of God, and to help us make it to Heaven.

As I have stated numerous times before and will state again, I do not use fulfilled or unfulfilled prophecies as my litmus test to determine if a chosen messenger is authentic or not. Through the years, the Holy Spirit has guided me to use other means for discernment, and that is why I am comfortable in featuring the chosen messengers that I do on this blog, MaryRefugeOfSouls. I do not easily fall away from believing in a chosen messenger if a given prophecy goes unfulfilled. I recognize that one of the main reasons that prophecy is given in the first place, especially, a bad one, is so the faithful can pray, so it can be mitigated, changed, or even canceled.

Regarding the prophecy of the possible martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI, many chosen messengers have been given public messages about this, particularly, in the past ten years or so. And I will share with you, beloved ones, thinking about this possible manner of death for our beloved holy father, affected my heart, as we all love him. So, in particular, for this past year, one of my daily intentions has been for the well-being of Pope Benedict XVI and that God might have Mercy and spare him from a potential death as a holy martyr. So, my dearest brothers and sisters, honestly, when our holy father, Pope Benedict XVI, died from natural causes, I was immediately thrilled that our dear father was spared such a harsh death, even a glorious one as a holy Christian martyr.

My dearest brothers and sisters, honestly, I do not understand a lot of people’s mentalities. A lot of people’s hearts are not right with the Lord. To gloat over how superior a person’s discernment is, because he did not fall for a “failed” prophecy over how someone could have died, really sickens me. Moreover, to have Catholic “experts” like theologians pat themselves on the back, because they are “smarter” than the rest of the faithful who really strive to understand God’s Most Sacred Heart, truly upsets me.

I am sorry, but these “experts” are fools in my eyes. Because, instead of asking God, to enlighten them as to how they should properly interpret such a situation, they are all rushing to the door to be the first ones to publicly state their superiority on the matter. Furthermore, apparent “friends” of chosen messengers who have prophesied the possible martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI, are so quick to turn their backs on them. They are so eager to distance themselves, because they cannot handle one “failed” prophecy and the “stigma” of associating with or supporting any potential “false prophet”.

Firstly, as Sacred Scriptures states, it is incomprehensible to fully understand the Ways of God.

Secondly, the prophecy about the potential martyrdom of Pope Benedict XVI is not a false prophecy. Certainly, it is an unfulfilled prophecy, but not a false prophecy. I do not like to use the words, “false” or even “failed”, because it implies that the initial prophecy was somehow wrong. But, the original prophecy was truthful and was given by God to many different chosen messengers. In truth, this unfulfilled prophecy is actually a success in God’s Holy Eyes. Why? Because people who actually cared about the future demise of our beloved holy father prayed from the heart for his well-being. And so, due to heartfelt prayer from many people through the years, God was able to change the prophecy for the better. So, clearly, such a positive outcome from a given bad prophecy is actually a success to God.

It is when people bask in their pride and do not do anything to mitigate divine warnings that results in prophecy being a failure. This is because the people fail to respond accordingly to the given bad prophecy. Moreover, to determine whether a prophecy is truly successful, one must consider the intended purpose of why it was initially given by God. All the times that ancient Israel did not heed God’s warnings and were chastised in Sacred Scriptures are not successful prophecies. How could they be? Souls were clearly lost.

Truly, the fact that so many divine warnings were fulfilled in the Holy Bible must be complete failures in the Mind of God. Rather, look to the situation exemplified by the Prophet Jonah and the prophesied destruction of the city of Nineveh. The king and those in charge truly believed the divine warning, resulting in fasting and prayer by everyone, including the animals. And did God carry out the chastisement? No, God mitigated the prophecy and spared Nineveh at that time.

Clearly, that “failed” prophecy of Jonah was the REAL success for God in the Holy Bible.

Furthermore, dear brothers and sisters, I do not know if any of these supposed Catholic “experts”, especially, the theologians even really read the Holy Bible. I say this, because many of them speak of Divine Mercy, but it is apparent to me that they do not understand God’s Merciful Heart. This is because they want to rest all their arguments on all the biblical examples when God carried out His Divine Justice due to failed divine warnings. But, if you really want to understand the intimacies of God’s Heart, you need to study and meditate on those examples when God showed His Compassion and Loving Mercy on those who heeded the signs and warnings when He gave them. Sadly, many of these experts are so quick to judge. They are not praying to God with open hearts. I know this, because if they were sincere, God would show them the answers in His Holy Word.

Beloved ones, please understand these three important points:

(1) God Is the Ultimate Author of Life and Death;

(2) The Power of Prayer can really change things, such as events, situations, and people’s destinies; AND

(3) Private Revelation, especially, prophecies about bad outcomes, is not written in stone and always has the potential to be changed by God.

In conclusion, I ask people who are sincerely seeking understanding from Our Lord on this matter, to read and meditate on Sacred Scriptures, specifically, the Book of Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 38. Because, it is very evident that God, Who Is the Ultimate Author of Life and Death, really can change and really can delay a person’s manner of prophesied death by the strength and power of prayer.

And for all the Catholic prophecy naysayers and critics, fairweather “friends”, and especially, the “purported” theologians, who claim to read Sacred Scriptures, how could you miss such a prime example, clearly on point, of Our Lord’s Mercy?

I am not a theologian and, honestly, as I have admitted many times on this blog, I am not at all that knowledgeable in the Holy Bible. It is actually a definite weakness of mine. I have even admitted publicly that at times, praying the Most Holy Rosary, has been a challenge for me. So, it is not like I am claiming to be an expert or well-educated in any way in our holy Catholic faith. Truthfully, the only strength that I will claim is that I love to sing love-songs to my Beloved, Jesus. That, and I do know that frequent Confession and Internal Adoration of my Beloved, Jesus, in Holy Communion has totally been my saving grace all these years. It is the sole reason that I am capable of doing this blog, MaryRefugeOfSouls, and able to write commentaries.

I share this all, because even, I, a true weakling in Sacred Scriptures, was shown this biblical story from the Prophet Isaiah when I meditated on what God wanted me to share in this writing. So, I really do not understand how people more well-versed in studying Sacred Scriptures have totally missed the mark on this, and have not realized for themselves the other observations that I have made in this commentary. The only thing that I can think is that so many people desire such quick, easy solutions to seemingly, unpleasant situations, that they prefer to harden their hearts and make harsh, unfounded judgments about good people. So, rather than waiting upon the Lord for the actual answer in God’s timing — which can take often some time to be revealed — they make themselves blind and deaf to how the Holy Spirit wants to speak His Truth. And then, other people who want to appear knowledgeable, will latch on to such unfounded judgments by the “experts”, pouncing on the fact that such-and-such chosen messengers must be wrong. This, then, in turn, perpetuates the harm done to good people’s reputations, furthering the kingdom of darkness on earth, not God’s Kingdom of Light.

A final note. I have purposefully not named any actors, good or bad, in this commentary. Because I do not believe in calling people out by name, especially, when I have to talk negatively about matters. I am all about lifting people up and not tearing them down. To be honest, I never planned or even intended to do a writing on this topic. But, sometimes, people will write me and it will move me so much, that I feel compelled to write a public response. So, this is the reason why I did this writing. To shed further light and help people in their own discernment. As it really displeases me when I witness the good reputation of sincere people who deeply love and follow the Lord is distorted, hurt, ruined and even destroyed. Especially by those that people look up to for deeper knowledge and wisdom about God.

I am not a perfect person and I never will be in this earthly life. Nor do I expect other people to be perfect either. But, having this prophecy blog, MaryRefugeOfSouls, I am actually a rare person that has an online platform where I can actually speak up and defend others, the “little ones”, who, out of humility, love and obedience to God, do not have a voice to protest injustice done to them.

So, rightly or wrongly, I have chosen to cry out on a wrong that I see happening and being perpetuated by others within our Holy Church. You may have a different perception and disagree with everything that I have written here, and that is fine. But, it is something that I felt compelled to do, as I have witnessed this behavior repeated through the years that has really harmed the ministries and missions of good people of God.

Thank you very kindly for considering this commentary.

God bless,
A Soul

REFERENCE:

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Book of Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 38

Hezekiah’s Illness

38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord: 3 “Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.

7 “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[a]

9 A writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

10 I said: In the noontide of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord
in the land of the living;
I shall look upon mortals no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;[b]
13 I cry for help[c] until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.[d]

14 Like a swallow or a crane[e] I clamor,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security!
15 But what can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
All my sleep has fled[f]
because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, by these things people live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.[g]
Oh, restore me to health and make me live!
17 Surely it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but you have held back[h] my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank you,
death cannot praise you;
those who go down to the Pit cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, they thank you,
as I do this day;
fathers make known to children
your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
and we will sing to stringed instruments[i]
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the Lord.

21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Footnotes
Isaiah 38:8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:12 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:13 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:14 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:15 Cn Compare Syr: Heb I will walk slowly all my years
Isaiah 38:16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 38:17 Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb loved
Isaiah 38:20 Heb my stringed instruments