Greetings!

My Mom died yesterday.

In her last hours, a man claiming to be Jesus visited us in her hospital room. Instead of telling her to look to the real Jesus: 

• He told her to confess her sins to him.
• He told her to pray to a deceiving spirit, one that claims to be in charge of heaven, one that pretends to be the mother of Jesus.
• He told her that "St. Januarius" could also help her get to heaven. Legend has it that Mr. Januarius was beheaded in 305, and that some of his blood was collected in a glass vial. People visit Naples (Italy) three times a year to watch the blood allegedly liquify.
• He rubbed some oil on her forehead, and performed a "sacrament" (Last Rites) which he claimed could cleanse her sins. She must receive the sacrament in a "state of grace," having been pretty good and having followed the rules of the Catholic Church. 

My mother's funeral mass is Monday.

Another man claiming to be Jesus will perform the ceremony:

• He will tell my family that a tiny wafer is Jesus, and to worship the wafer.
• He will sacrifice this wafer to his god, and claim that by eating this wafer my family's minor sins will be forgiven. [To have their major sins forgiven, the one's that can keep them out of heaven, they will need to confess them to him].
• He will tell my family that there is a good chance my mother is not in heaven; instead, she is in a place of suffering called "purgatory."
• In order to get her out of her misery, my family should pay good money for masses where others can eat the wafer which he says is Jesus. He won't say how many masses will do the trick.
• Also, my family should obtain indulgences from someone named Joe Ratzinger, a/k/a  "Pope Benedict XVI." This "Pope" also claims to be Jesus, and is so powerful that by his decree my mother can escape her suffering. But he makes no guarantees.

 By God's grace, I was able to pray alone with my mom, sing hymns with her, and read aloud from God's word while she was coherent. When the priest/vulture came, she was unresponsive. For this, I am grateful. I am hopeful that her last thoughts were about real Jesus, the friend of sinners.

 Then if anyone says to you, "Behold, here is the Christ," or "There He is," do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. If therefore they say to you, "Behold, He is in the wilderness," do not go forth, or, "Behold, He is in the inner rooms," do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures gather. (Mt. 24:21-28)