Admittedly, the twaddle in this picture, headed “Padre Pio received this message from Jesus right before he died” came from YouTube, Padre Pio Received This Message From Jesus Right Before He Died not GTV, but there were some false apparitionists and the superstitious on GTV who were sensationalising the solar eclipse of April 8th, like this lot April 8: The Occult and the Prophetic Converge! LI… Well, it’s April 9th now AND WE’RE ALL STILL HERE. This should be a lesson to all those who follow these unapproved alleged apparitions / seers / mystics / locutionists (a.k.a booksellers and video monetisers).

I witnessed a solar eclipse, and lived to tell the tale. I think it was in 1999. I remember all the fake seers and mystics of the day predicting dire consequences – some even saying that the 999 of 1999 was an inversion of 666, the number of the beast, and predicting global catastrophe. In the event, the only catastrophe was that I had to get up and go to work the next morning . Hopefully, most of these frauds have gone to their eternal destination, but sadly, a new generation has sprung up to take their place.

But it is a salutary warning to adhere to the First Commandment and not get involved in pointless speculation and superstition – or believe every ‘religious’ video threatening alleged supernatural doom and gloom, that you see on the various channels, sadly, on occasions, including GTV.

From the Baltimore Catechism: 212. When does a person sin by superstition? A person sins by superstition when he attributes to a creature a power that belongs to God alone, as when he makes use of charms or spells, believes in dreams or fortune-telling, or goes to spiritists. Neither let there be found among you any one that ... consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens. Neither let there be any wizard, nor charmer. (Deuteronomy 19:10-11)