Sodom and Gomorrah
With the rise in violence, abortion, sexual immorality, the breakdown of family, abuse of children, extreme economic inequality, pollution, genocide, terrorism and war many people are saying, “Surely God can’t allow this to continue.”
People ask if God is going to punish us. They remember what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. They think of natural disasters like gigantic earthquakes and volcanoes or an asteroid hitting our planet and wiping out a major part of life on earth.
“If things get much worse”, people say, “We’re going to see God’s justice not his mercy. Maybe there is nothing more we can do. We’re not winning. Evil seems to be swamping the world. God must act.”
Furthermore, Catholics are aware of the various warnings that have come to us from Marian apparitions, visionaries and mystics. In many different ways the warnings have been issued.
“God is holding back his hand at this time.”
“The Great Chastisement is coming”
“God’s wrath is about to fall.”
Is God going to punish us?
It’s a good question, and the Sacred Scriptures say that the Father who loves his children will chastise them in order to turn them to the good.
If God punishes us how does he do it?
There are four ways. The first chastisement is on the individual level, and his justice is built into the system he gave us to live by. What I mean is that sin usually has its own reward. The punishment is built in. If you take certain decisions and actions, the consequences will follow as certainly as night follows day. A huge amount of human misery is caused by wrong human choices.
If you choose to disobey God’s laws and your behaviors go against nature and God’s commandments, then you will suffer the consequences. It doesn’t take much thought to realize that was why God told you not to behave in that way in the first place. “Don’t put your hand on the stove child!” So if you disobey and put your hand on the stove you get burnt.
The second way God punishes us is on the societal level. Continue Reading
