Halloween has become the second most celebrated event. This year over 12 billion dollars will be spent on Halloween.

The Origin

Halloween is the abbreviation for All Hallows Eve, a pagan holiday that originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The day marked the end of summer harvest and the beginning of winter. It was also a time of year associated with the dead; part of this festival was to dress as ghosts to scare away evil spirits. This is not to be confused with All Saints Day or All Souls Days, which the Catholic Church celebrates on November 1st and 2nd.

Today Halloween has become into one of the most festive holidays in the U.S., but Satan has tried to make it his, and with the help of Hollywood, evil is thriving.

I have always attempted to play down Halloween; that is why our home is decorated with fall decor. With that in mind, allow me to share a few nightmare stories because the guilt still haunts me.

Not Like Me

I remembered our daughter Sonja posted a picture of a project that she helped her son Lucas with for his second-grade assignment. I marveled at her creativity and wondered where she got this gift. You are either one of those connected together Moms, or you are like me, a last-minute, get-it-together Mom.

The entire time that our kids were in elementary school I could never quite get dates right. Sometimes I would take the kids to a party a week early or otherwise forget to take them at all.

I received all notifications from the school, but with my ADHD and dyslexia I would either forget or make a mental note of  the appointments, thinking that I would remember them, but I never did.

Cesar Chavez

Sonja was in the second grade when she came to me one morning before school to remind me that she had to dress like a famous person. In a panic I dressed her in a boy’s white t-shirt and a light blue button-down shirt with a pair of jeans. Right before exiting the car, I felt her tiny index finger lightly tapping my right shoulder. “Mommy, who am I?” I answered, “You’re Cesar Chavez,  now get out.”  My poor baby was not only a man but the leader of the United Farm Workers. I’m sure Sonja had never heard of Cesar Chavez. When Sonja’s teacher asked her who she was and Sonja answered Cesar Chavez, the teacher could not stop laughing. This made Sonja laugh as well.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween always snuck up on me, so throwing costumes together before dark on the actual date was not an uncommon occurrence. The worst Halloween occurred when I dressed Mikos like the Easter Bunny. I had made this Easter Bunny costume years ago for myself, wearing it on Easter Sunday to hide the eggs.

Poor Mikos! Not only did he wear the bunny costume but I painted his face all weird. This was a church party, and when Mikos walked in he saw his little friends in real costumes. One was a baseball player, the other one was a pirate, but Mikos was the white-faced Easter Bunny!

This must have been the most humiliating Halloween for my eight-year-old son. Sonja was a clown and she did not escape the scary painting  job that I did on her face as well. So instead of a cute clown, she looked like a scary miniature clown.

Homemade Costumes

The following  year I decided to get ahead of the game and make Sonja a costume. Sonja would be a white cat with a nice long tail. But my sewing machine was messing things up. It would sew for an inch, then skip an inch. Even though Sonja’s cat costume was adorable it had so many openings that I had to fix by hand. In spite of this, there were many parts of the costume that remained unstitched!  I had nothing to stuff the tail with, so I used old pantyhose and added a ton of cotton balls. As the day wore on, I had no idea that the cat’s tail weighed so much that it made a big tear on her butt while she was at school. The teacher had to pin the tail on Sonja’s shoulder. By the time she got home the tail appeared much longer!

Dark Princess

The following year I was even better prepared. I purchased a beautiful two-piece outfit for Sonja at a local thrift store. It was a full length skirt with a matching top. This was to be Sonja’s princess gown. Even though it was iridescent black and navy blue, Sonja looked like a princess. Serrano Elementary School allowed the children to wear their costumes to school. Sonja looked beautiful, and with her tiara she made the perfect princess. Perhaps this was Sonja’s first bullying experience. One of her friends came up to her and asked, “What are you dressed as?” Sonja responded, “I’m a princess.” The girl was confused and asked her again. “Are you sure? Because you look like a witch.”

I believe this is the day Sonja started developing a backbone. My little princess stood her ground and said, “No, I am a princess!” When Sonja got home from school that day she shared with me what had happened. In my disbelief I told her the little girl did not mean to be unkind. Then Sonja said, “But don’t princesses wear pink dresses?” My quick response was, “Only the ones that want to look like every other princess. Not you, because  you’re special.”

Mikos’ Trauma 

After the Easter bunny costume incident, Mikos never trusted me with Halloween, and he never dressed up in a costume either! He preferred to trick or treat in regular clothes for the rest of his Trick or Treating days.

Halloween In the Sixties

My childhood costume was either a ghost or a hobo, alternating every other year. My mom never had to worry about me on Halloween, as life was much simpler. Today my grandkids have their costumes months ahead of time, with no originality. They are costly and poorly made. Maybe I will surprise my grandchildren with homemade costumes next year.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, I ask that You would protect all persons attending any Halloween gatherings, especially the children. May we celebrate this season by not opening any doors to the occult. May You manifest Your glory on those who seek and long to be in Your presence. Amen

On Tuesday, October 17th, my dear friend and mentor Joanne Petronella passed away peacefully.

Joanne

Joanne founded our lay ministry, Christ In You The Hope of Glory International Ministries. She was Catholic to the core but ministered to Protestants as well. Her ecumenical calling opened many doors to other countries. I am her fruit and because of her teachings and life experience my journey continues. I would like to share some stories about this powerful woman of God.

South Korea

A few weeks ago there was a report of a young army private crossing the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea. As I watched the news unfold, I thought to myself, “I’ve been there!” I remember the turquoise-colored buildings like it was yesterday.

How did I ever end up at the Demilitarized Zone? Well, I can thank  Joanne for that adventure. We were a small group invited to minister in South Korea: Joanne, Gina and me. This trip was in the mid 2000’s. Meetings were scheduled with large groups of pastors throughout our stay. These meetings lingered for hours, but this was when Joanne was at her best. She encouraged these pastors to fulfill their calling in South Korea with many receiving private prayer.

As much as the world was tugging at me to see some sights while in Korea,  it was never to be. We were there on a mission and both Gina and I understood our roles; we were to come alongside Joanne in prayer.

On the one day that we did have downtime, Joanne asked if our host, Pastor Kim, could drive us to the DMZ to pray for peace between these two countries. I remember traveling through some farmlands and through mountains to reach the DMZ,  which was 35 miles from Seoul. At this time of her life Joanne was restricted to a wheelchair, but that never stopped her from ministering.

I was wide-eyed and tried to capture every sight, remembering to register the memory and place it in the porticos of my mind.

Joanne had the gift of prophecy and generously bestowed this gift on every person who came to her for prayer. I remember Gina and I had to write the names of the people who needed prayer. This list was extensive and the people could not get enough of what Joanne had to offer. Sometimes we would not get back to the hotel until midnight. Much fruit was poured out on their behalf.

Yes, this mighty woman of God captured the hearts of many South Koreans, and it was a pleasure being part of this missionary trip.

Nepal/Tibet Border

Have I seen the tallest mountain in the world? Yes, I have. Mount Everest’s peaks can be seen through the meandering roads going up to the Tibet Border.

Before visiting Tibet, we were ministering in Nepal. This is where I met Pastor Brian and his beautiful wife Ruth, who were hosting our visit. This trip was a battery of one meeting after another. Joanne had purchased over 100 red duffel bags to be  filled with medicine to be handed out to the pastors from Nepal and the Tibet Border. Oh, how I remember asking friends and family members to donate medicines for us to take to Nepal and the Tibet Border. Joanne was strict about this, making sure we each had a large suitcase filled with medical supplies.

The President’s Palace

Did we get to meet the president of Nepal? No, not this time.  But we did have a meeting with the Secretary of State at the residence of the President of Nepal. We were traveling in a white passenger van with our team of about eight, plus Brian and Ruth. We received a warm welcome and were ushered into a meeting room upstairs. Though we did have a scheduled meeting with the president of Nepal, he was called to an urgent matter.

Hebrew Teaching and Traditions

As a team we understood many of the Jewish customs. Once a year around Passover we would reenact a traditional Seder Dinner. Everything had to be perfect or else someone was going to receive the wrath of Joanne. I remember the hardboiled-eggs, dipping the bitter herbs into salt water, and the lamb shank bone that represented the Paschal sacrificial offering. The diced apples with raisins dusted with cinnamon, represented the bricks that the Egyptians forced the Israelites to make while in slavery. Joanne went to great lengths to teach us this rich lesson on the Jewish Passover.

Gaza

Not too many Americans  can say that they have been to Gaza. I have been there. We were there to minister to the Missionaries of Charity (Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s organization). Joanne ministered to Palestinian Christians and to Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Missionaries of Charity.

I love to walk, so the following morning Millie, a team member, and I decided to take a stroll down the beach on the Gaza strip. Suddenly a hotel worker came running out and yelling, “Do you want to get shot to death? You can’t walk on the beach here!”  Millie and I quickly made our way back to the hotel.

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is located on the West Bank. In all our  years of traveling to the Holy Land, Bethlehem was always part of the trip.

One year we were scheduled to perform a play in Bethlehem. Even though only 2%  Palestinians are Christians, we were going to share the love of Christ.

With only a few hours of rehearsal, none of us knew our lines, let alone when to get on stage. As a group we went up to Joanne and asked if she could give us better direction. She yelled, “At the last minute you want help! Sorry, too late!” We looked at each other and laughed. Even though we did not know our lines, the show must go on! So we did our best to perform a play in English to an Arabic- speaking group.

Croatia

We were invited by Christofori, a powerful group of Catholics in Croatia. I will never forget the beautiful welcome we received from our Croatian family. They are deep-rooted in the Doctrine of the Catholic Church whereas we  love our Catholic roots. These days were filled with traveling to different cities in Croatia as Joanne ministered to them. We, as a team, prayed for so many individuals. I will return to this country soon!

Paris, France

Joanne transferred the responsibility of planning a Marian journey to me. We were to visit the sights in Europe where Our Blessed Mother Mary had appeared. Although I thought I was an experienced world traveler, on the second day of the trip I was the victim of a pickpocket on the metro train in Paris. My wallet with all my Euros, American money and credit cards were gone!

Joanne had given us a stern warning not to travel by that means. I was the ring leader of that rebellion and a group of us, including Father Leonard decided to save a lot of money by using the metro. At dinner I had to come clean.  Joanne raked me over the coals for not heeding her godly advice. This rebuke lasted until dessert. Yet the worse part of this terrible situation was that I had to phone home to tell my husband Mike about the incident.

Saying Goodbye

I praise God that He allowed me to visit Joanne while she was in her frail state. I reminded her of some of these stories and she laughed and asked me to tell her more. Sometimes we don’t always get along with those we love, and Joanne and I had some of those days. In spite of this I can share that she showed me the world through the eyes of Jesus. I will miss her sarcastic sense of  humor and her beautiful, loud laughter. but mostly her kind, motherly advice.

On one of my last visits she said, “Lynda, I love you very much and I want you to know that I lived a very happy and fulfilled life.”

My Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for all that Joanne has accomplished in her lifetime. All the souls that she redirected, all the leaders that she brought from the ashes. Every one of us who sat under her teachings is richer in the love of Christ. May my precious friend rest in Your loving arms. Amen.

After viewing several prophecies from well known seers, I wanted to stay home and crawl back into bed. One of the videos that I saw on YouTube was “Garabandal Warning, Our Ladys Message and Prophecies” along with “October Warning” by Mark Mallet.

From: St. Joseph’s Publications

The Warning
(The first of the Great Events prophesied at Garabandal)

The main visionary Conchita has declared:

• The Warning is a thing that comes directly from God and will be visible throughout the entire world in whatever place anyone might be.
• The Warning will be like a revelation of our sins and it will be seen and experienced equally by believers and non-believers and people of any religion whatsoever.
• The Warning is like a purification for the Miracle.
• And it is a sort of a catastrophe. It will make us think of the dead, that is, we would prefer to be dead rather than to experience the Warning.
• The Warning is something supernatural and will not be explained by science.
• It will be seen and felt.
• The Warning will be a correction of the conscience of the world.
• For those who do not know Christ, they will believe it is a Warning from God.
• The most important thing about that day is that everyone in the whole world will see a sign, a grace, or a punishment within themselves, in other words, a Warning.
• They will find themselves all alone in the world no matter where they are at the time, alone with their conscience right before God.
• They will then see all their sins and what their sins have caused.
• We will all feel it differently because it will depend on our conscience. The Warning will be very personal, therefore, we will all react differently to it.
• The most important thing will be to recognize our own sins and the bad consequences of them.
• Your experience of the Warning will be different from mine because your sins are different from mine.
• This will be a Warning to see what you have done with your sins.
• It will be like a purification before the Miracle to see if with the Warning and Miracle we will be converted.
• The Virgin told me that before the Miracle, God will be sending us a Warning so as to purify us or prepare us to see the Miracle and in this way we may draw enough grace to change our lives toward God.
• It is a phenomenon which will be seen and felt in all the world and everywhere; I have always given as an example that of two stars that collide.
• This phenomenon will not cause physical damage, but it will horrify us because at that very moment we will see our souls and the harm we have done.
• It will be as though we were in agony but we will not die by its effects but perhaps we will die of fright or shock to see ourselves.
• No one will have doubts of it being from God, and of its not being human.
• I who know what it is, am very much afraid of that day.
• The Virgin told us that the Warning and Miracle will be the last warnings or public manifestations that God will give us. This is why I believe that after them we will be near the end of time.

Under Investigation

The Catholic Church does not take these prophecies lightly, so the apparitions of Our Lady of Garabandal are still under investigation.  Please watch the videos and decide for yourself.

Occupy Until He Comes (Luke 19:13)

Some of these events were to take place in mid-October. In spite of this, we kept our plans to visit our granddaughter Maddie in Phoenix, Arizona, this past weekend. Our youngest grandson, Jacob, was leaving for his Outdoor Education trip on October 10th. Our son Mikos and his family were traveling to Las Vegas on the same weekend. So if anything had occurred, we would have been scattered hundreds of miles away from each other.

The Miraculous Medal

I was not about to tell our daughter Sonja to keep Jacob home from his scheduled trip, so I did the next best thing: I pulled Jacob aside and handed him a Miraculous medal, explaining to him that it must be on his person at all times. Jacob safely pinned the medal on a blue band that he had around his wrist. I prayed for the Lord to guard Jacob and his sixth-grade classmates with traveling mercies. I gave Sonja three additional medals for the rest of the family.

I added the Miraculous medal to the cross that I wear around my neck. I gave one to Mike and told him to place it in his wallet. I had already given one to Maddie before she left for college, and when I see Mikos, Jenny and Will, they will be receiving the same medals.

The Promises of the Miraculous Medal

During Our Lady’s visit to Catherine Laboure on November 27,1830, rays of light flowed from rings on her fingers that were made of precious stones; however, some of the stones on the ring did not shine.

Mary explained:

“These rays symbolize the graces I shed upon those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask.”

Mary then spoke of the medal with these words:

“All who wear it will receive great graces; they should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence.”

The medal is simply a visible sign of the inner devotion the wearer has for Mary and  her Son, Jesus.

Global Warning

The Enemy has us so caught up on Global Warming to distract us from what we should really be concerned about. God wants us to live in peace but its inhabitance are at war with one another. We need to be in a state of grace to be able to discern what is expected of us. Stop using the Lord’s name in vain, attend church services, pray for world leaders to open their eyes to truth and to operate in the love of God. Ask the Lord to deliver you of all addictions, fast and pray! If you are Catholic, attend Mass more regularly, pray the Rosary and go to Confession!

Do Not Fear

If we are in a state of fear, we are vulnerable, and the Enemy can easily attack. With that said, remain vigilant and pray for those who do not believe. Ask to be used of God. Know that the Enemy is at our doorstep but he will never prevail.

Those of us who understand the Word of God know that God will always favor Israel. They will have victory.

Regardless of what’s being reported, the world will witness the sloppy overflow of students protesting in favor of the terrorists. Granted this is due to the years of erroneous teaching by their universities’ instructors. The effect on their confused minds has led to the indoctrination of their students.

What about Hollywood? Will the scales finally fall off of their eyes? We shall see.

So much truth will be exposed, and we will see with our own eyes what Mary has been sent to warn us about. Evil will have no recourse with what is taking place because God will intervene.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, We stand in the gap and bombard heaven for this war in Israel to end. We ask Your Holy Hand of favor for our Jewish brothers and sisters. Guide them to victory. I pray also for the innocent victims in Gaza who are caught in the crossfire. Save those who call upon Your Name. Amen.