Mt 24:30 – The “warning” / “illumination of conscience”. You’ll be “cut to shreds.” How to prepare.

Here’s Matthew 24:30a…

• καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ τότε κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς.
• And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of earth will be cut to shreds.

Now, that Sign of the Son of Man might well be the Cross, enormously, gloriously shining forth from heaven for all to witness, not able to be erased, destroyed, covered over. Alternatively:

• Καὶ σημεῖον μέγα ὤφθη ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, γυνὴ περιβεβλημένη τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ἡ σελήνη ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς στέφανος ἀστέρων δώδεκα.
• And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

Mind you, that woman, that Ark of the Covenant, is with-Child, Jesus. Is that woman the Sign of the Son of Man? She is the warrior woman of Genesis 3:15, the Mother of the Redeemer. She is the woman of Cana, whose hour of intercession for us will be on Calvary, where God marries His Bride, the Church. She is the woman under the Cross given to John, to us. She is the woman of the Apocalypse 12:1.

Either way, all the tribes of the earth will understand the intervention of God into this sinful world, and will know how offensive original sin is, how offensive our own sins are. We will be cut to shreds, κόψονται, the most intense grieving for sin.

Some will likely die of fright, though this is meant for our salvation, a great, great mercy bidding us to repent from sin, make reparation for sin, giving us time to go to confession.

But this will be, as is indicating by κόψονται, getting cut to shreds, a most overwhelming experience.

Is there a way to lessen the burden, the fright, and increase our capacity to repent and confess for the sake of our eternal salvation? Yes.

When you have some time, get a pen and paper and sincerely, humbly ask your guardian angel to assist you with an examination of conscience. Ask him to be gentle, as he will get the job done. Bring your list to Sacramental Confession of what he will bring to mind for you – like bolts of lightning – all the times even as a kid if you were incomplete in making a Confession, or ambiguous, or self-excusing.

I did this. Yes. Bolts of lightning is an apt description. I forgot to ask him to be gentle about it!

And then, while you will be cut to shreds by the Sign of the Son of Man, you will be thankful, and one with Jesus, just as the doubter, the Apostle Thomas was cut to shreds, I’m sure bursting into tears, when he had to place his fingers in the nail prints and his hand into the side, into the Heart of Jesus. “My Lord and my God.”

There is much talk these days about the warning, the illumination of conscience, from many apparition sites, whether fake or real. Regardless, this is in Sacred Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit, from the very mouth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Believe the Holy Spirit. Believe the Son of the Living God.

Do you still doubt even our Lord? Go ahead, ask your guardian angel to assist you with an examination of conscience. He will cut you to shreds. Better to do this now rather than later, this getting cut to shreds, so very helpfully, by your guardian angel.

Having done that, having gone to Confession, including all such things just as I was instructed by, as it were, the lightning coming my way, I am most appreciative. Thanks, guardian angel. Thanks be to God for the Sign in Heaven that is coming upon the whole world.