The Blessed Lady said, "You make the evil one happy when you sin, and you make yourself and your creator sad. If you die in sin, you will never see the Eternal Father again. Remember, do not spend any of your time in gossip and evil thought".
Message of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the apparition ground in Aokpe, Nigeria - 1st January 1994
Many scholars, sadly, see the devil as a personification of some abstract phenomenon while some schools of thought perceive the devil as simply the absence of God. The truth is that he is a person and real. From the words of the Blessed mother, it is clear that he is a person. He delights in seeing us falling into sin and remaining there. He knows that without holiness no one can see God (Heb. 12:14).
A saint is not one who never commits sin but the one who never remains in that state. A saint frequently examines herself, takes advantage of the sacrament of penance and constantly resolves to be holy with “a firm purpose of amendment”. What is our reward if we live saintly lives? Our reward is that we shall see God. On that day our yearnings will stop.
Let us think about our endless desires from childhood. We want water, food, clothes, house, love, degrees, marriage, wealth, fame, positions of authority and if all these are available we still yearn for something. The empty soul does not know what it yearns for. The secret was revealed to the Psalmist : “As the deer pants for water, so my soul yearns for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1). Therefore, a soul that does not see God at the end of its journey is the most unfortunate. It is enough torment and enough hell.
Our heavenly mother warns us of the consequence of sin. A soul that dies in sin will not see God – short and simple. Therefore, our time must be judiciously used to grow in sanctity and in faith not in gossip and evil thoughts.