The Coming Effect of Grace

Every year at this time, there is the predictable lament that the “meaning of Christmas” has been lost. No doubt, it’s been heavily commercialized, whether by corporations, Hollywood, or the music industry. As such, Christians might be tempted to heap scorn upon the culture, venting our indignation and dismay at how Christmas has been hijacked.

And yet, whether people understand this Christian Feast or not, they still benefit from the effects of this time as Christmas Day draws near. It’s like the minutes before dawn, when the first light begins to scatter the darkness, transforming the horizon’s gloomy clouds into burning embers that herald the coming of the Sun. Even if one were so engaged and caught up in his own affairs that he was completely oblivious to the sunrise, he would still benefit from all the effects of the light and heat of the Sun’s rays.

So too, with this season. Some might dismiss it as mere nostalgia… the soft lights brightening the darkest days of the year, wreaths decorating our doorways, and Bing Crosby dreaming of a White Christmas. On the other hand, we could take a less cynical view and see that, within all the secular romantic Christmas songs, glowing street lights, corny Hallmark movies and increasing cheer, is a world that yearns for Jesus – without knowing Him by name. Rather than insult the culture for distorting the “meaning of Christmas,” perhaps we could see within these expressions the seeds of a yearning for true peace on earth. It’s not up to the corporations but us, we Christians, to enunciate this clearly.

We do this by becoming “little Christmases” — by welcoming Jesus daily into our hearts so that we can reveal Him to everyone we meet. The necessity of daily prayer, of an authentic interior life, is the means by which we supernaturally bring Christmas to others, thus revealing to them the message of Christmas: Emmanuel — “God is with us”; He has come to save us from our sins.

And He is coming again. The following reflection was written on December 21, 2017, and explains this “effect of grace” that seems to permeate society at this time of year…

IN the remarkable approved revelations to Elizabeth Kindelmann, a Hungarian woman who was widowed at the age of thirty-two with six children, Our Lord reveals an aspect of the “Triumph of the Immaculate Heart” that is coming.

The Lord Jesus had a really deep conversation with me. He asked me to urgently take the messages to the bishop. (It was March 27, 1963, and I did that.) He spoke to me at length about the time of grace and the Spirit of Love quite comparable to the first Pentecost, flooding the earth with its power. That will be the great miracle drawing the attention of all humanity. All that is the effusion of the effect of grace of the Blessed Virgin’s Flame of Love. The earth has been covered in darkness because of the lack of faith in the soul of humanity and therefore will experience a great jolt. Following that, people will believe. This jolt, by the power of faith, will create a new world. Through the Flame of Love of the Blessed Virgin, faith will take root in souls, and the face of the earth will be renewed, because “nothing like it has happened ever since the Word became Flesh.” The renewal of the earth, although flooded with sufferings, will come about by the power of intercession of the Blessed Virgin. —The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary: The Spiritual Diary (Kindle Edition, Loc. 2898-2899); approved in 2009 by Cardinal Péter Erdö Cardinal, Primate and Archbishop. Note: Pope Francis gave his Apostolic Blessing upon the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Movement on June 19th, 2013.

Several times throughout her diary, the Blessed Virgin or Jesus speak of the “Flame of love” and the “effect of grace” that will eventually change the course of humanity. The Flame is understood as Jesus Christ himself. But what is the “effect of grace”?

If we think of the coming of Jesus like the rising of the sun at dawn, then the “effect of grace” is like the first ray of dawn or the subtle haze that crests the horizon. And with that first light there comes a sense of hope and anticipation of the triumph over the darkness of night.

Or at this time of year, many speak of the “Christmas spirit.” And it is true; as we approach Christmas Day each year, which is the advent of Jesus coming into the world, there is a certain “peace and goodwill” that pervades mankind where it is celebrated, even among those who reject the Gospel message. They are feeling the “effect” of the grace of the Incarnation and God’s coming among us—Emmanuel.

I think too of my daughter’s weddings. Both of them had remained pure for their wedding day, and with their husbands, radiated a peace, light and grace that we all felt. I remember one individual of the choir who was hired to play his stringed instrument and how he was deeply moved by what he thought was going to be “just another wedding.” I don’t know his faith background. But he unwittingly felt the “effect” of the grace at work in the bride and groom and the Sacraments that day.

Think too of the Holy Spirit who descended like a “tongue of fire” at Pentecost. The light and glow of that flame, through the Apostles, converted 3000 that day.

Last, we have perhaps the best example of the “effect of grace” at work when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth:

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb… at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (cf. Luke 1:41-45)

Neither Elizabeth nor the unborn infant, John the Baptist, saw Jesus. But Mary, “full of grace”, whose womb was the tabernacle of God, became a vessel of her Son’s presence. Through her, Elizabeth and John experienced the “effect of grace”. It is this kind of “effect” that is coming upon humanity, through Mary’s children primarily, that will bind Satan’s power. But not until the world passes through a Great Storm.

And I, the beautiful ray of dawn, I will blind Satan. I will free this world darkened by hatred and contaminated by the sulfurous and steaming lava of Satan. The air which gave life to souls has become suffocating and deadly. No dying soul should be damned. My Flame of Love is already lighting up. You know, my little one, the elect will have to fight against the Prince of Darkness. It will be a terrible storm. Rather, it will be a hurricane which will want to destroy the faith and confidence of even the elect. In this terrible turmoil currently brewing up, you will see the brightness of my Flame of Love illuminating Heaven and earth by the effusion of its effect of grace I am passing on to souls in this dark night. —Our Lady to Elizabeth, The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary: The Spiritual Diary (Kindle Locations 2994-2997).

But now is a time of waiting, fasting and prayer. It is the time of the “Upper Room” when, gathered with Our Lady, we await this “new Pentecost” that the popes have been praying for this past century.

Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield… (Psalm 33:20)

It is the hour when we must shake ourselves from our indifference and disbelief, and prepare for what has been foretold for centuries.

The great storm is coming and it will carry away indifferent souls who are consumed by laziness. The great danger will erupt when I take away my hand of protection. Warn everyone, especially the priests, so they are shaken out of their indifference. —Jesus to Elizabeth, The Flame of Love, Imprimatur by Archbishop Charles Chaput, p. 77

It is the hour to enter the Ark of Our Lady’s heart:

My Mother is Noah’s Ark… —The Flame of Love, p. 109; Imprimatur Archbishop Charles Chaput

The grace from the Flame of Love of My Mother’s Immaculate Heart will be to your generation what Noah’s Ark was to his generation. —Our Lord to Elizabeth Kindelmann; The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, The Spiritual Diary, p. 294

When we emerge on the other side of this time into a new “era of peace”, according to Our Lady of Fatima, I believe the Church will hear those beautiful words from the Song of Songs:

For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! (Today’s first reading)

As the papal theologian for Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II, confirmed:

Yes, a miracle was promised at Fatima, the greatest miracle in the history of the world, second only to the Resurrection. And that miracle will be an era of peace which has never really been granted before to the world. —Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, October 9th, 1994; The Apostolate’s Family Catechism, p. 35

We humbly implore the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, that He may “graciously grant to the Church the gifts of unity and peace,” and may renew the face of the earth by a fresh outpouring of His charity for the salvation of all. —POPE BENEDICT XV, Pacem Dei Munus Pulcherrimum, May 23rd, 1920

Yes, Come Holy Spirit, come quickly! Come Lord Jesus, You who are the Flame of Love, and dispel the cold and darkness of this night with your loving presence and the “effect of grace” radiating from Our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart.

O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely. (Today’s first reading)

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