Immaculee Ilibagiza is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide - a genocide which led to the bloodshed of over a million of its people. Her and seven other women survived by hiding in a 3 foot by 4 foot bathroom. For three months.
I want to share this 4 minute video of her experience of the genocide as she lived through it. Please watch it.
The massacre was rather short - from April to July in 1994. Five months. It was waged between two rival groups in Rwanda - the Tutsis and the Hutus.
Warnings from Heaven
The Blessed Mother had been appearing to the children in this African country twelve years prior, warning the people of that country to repent lest they see "rivers of blood" and "people killing each other." Her messages can be found in the book Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa. (Official Church approval given in 2001 to these apparitions - see link here for more information).
More importantly, our Lady made it very clear to the children that her messages of warning were not meant just for the children, or their parish, or even their country....but rather, for the entire world. What happened in Rwanda is a foreshadow of what will happen in the world if people to not repent and convert their hearts.
Here are some of the messages given by our Lady:
"If am turning to parish of Kibeho, it does not mean that I am concerned only for Kibeho or for the Diocese of Butare or for Rwanda, or for the whole of Africa. I am concerned with and turning to the whole world. The world is evil and rushes towards its ruin. It is about to fall in its abyss. The world is in rebellion against GOD. Many sins are being committed. There is no love and no peace. If you do not repent and convert your hearts, you will all fall into an abyss."
"We must be converted, we must pray and mortify ourselves. Satan tries to ruin us. God wants our prayers from the heart."
"I have come to prepare the way for my Son for your good and you do not want to understand. The time remaining is short and you are absent-minded. You are distracted by the goods of this world which are passing.....Do not forget that God is more powerful than all the evil in the world. Tell the youth not to spoil they future by the wrong way of living, which can weigh heavily on their future. Don't lose Heaven for the world."
"We must change our lives, renounce sin. Pray and prepare for death and for the end of the world. We must prepare while there is still time. Those who do well will go to Heaven. If they do evil, they will condemn themselves with no hope of appeal. Do not lose time in doing good and praying."
Guard Your Heart
Bill and I listened to Immaculee speak years ago at a local parish. When she retells her story, she notes, in hindsight, how instrumental the media was in turning people against one another...even people who went to the same school together or were childhood friends!
Do we not see this happening here? It's hard not to see the seething poison of hatred, bitterness and disgust in the hearts of people, on display on the media, especially social media. It's hard not to read the polarizing rhetoric used in headlines, tweets and the like.
The anger? I do get it. I understand it. I absolutely feel it at times. BUT....big BUT...the Lord warns us in Scripture:
"In your anger, do not sin." [Ephesians 4:26]
Anger may certainly be justified (actually, in reality, every person who is angry at someone or something always feels justified about it...). Anger at injustice is normal and a sign that you're human. But it's what we do with that anger that matters. Does it take a foothold in our hearts, causing bitterness and hatred at the very thought of a person or groups of people? Or do we lay it all at the Lord's feet, telling Him of our frustration and sadness, asking Him to direct our next move and allowing us to return to a place of interior peace?
We should never take action while our emotions are in high-gear because it's a fact that our emotions can very much cloud our thinking and reasoning and overshadow right judgment. We also need to turn off the "replay" and "repeat" button when it comes to the sin and injustice that entertains our thoughts and self-conversations. Take a break from the stupid media until peace returns. We need to be on guard right now or we might commit actions we'd one day regret. Or worse yet, it might lead us to sin...be it in our thoughts, words or actions. Remember...
"In your anger, do not sin." [Ephesians 4:26]
Yet I'll be the first to admit, the utter lawlessness and injustice happening in our nation (on many levels since the coronavirus appeared on stage) and the lawlessness actually breaking out all over the world creates a very trying situation in which we must still learn to love. The Lord commands that we must love our enemies. Yet when He speaks of the signs of the times, He warns us how difficult it will be to practice true charity....
And because iniquity abounds, the love of many shall grow cold. [Matthew 24:12]
Let's be real. Lawlessness and sin are nearly everywhere.
But let us pass right now through the crucible that will form us in love. This is how we are being shaped. And NOT the type of fluffy, feel-good love that's been hijacked by our modern society in movies, sappy songs and the like. I am talking about the type of love that imitates Jesus Christ's love for YOU, for me. The type of love that involves suffering, sacrifice and self-renouncement. Just. Like. Our Lord. It will mean taking the "narrow way" - the difficult path. It will mean making choices to love, not because they're easy but because they're right and lead us closer to Heaven and to God.
Our Lady warns us to repent and come back to her Son. We must repent of our sins, specifically and daily. We MUST, now more than ever, soften our hearts with love, through prayer. Through going back to confession even if it has been decades. Through going to Mass to worship and receive Jesus in the Eucharist who is Love itself! Do you read your Bible every day? Pick it up and stop leaving it on your coffee table or shelf like it's a decoration. Get it out of your drawer. Spend at least 15 minutes a day reading a small section of a chapter slowly, meditating on it and conversing with God in your heart.
Remember, Immaculee, who survived the Rwandan genocide of over a million people, noted how instrumental the media was in turning people against one another. The Blessed Mother's messages in Kibeho were meant to foreshadow what will happen in the world if people to not repent and convert their hearts. ...And that means every single one of us.
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