FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
AFTER the fall of Adam and Eve, God declared to Satan, the serpent:
I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed: she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel. (Gen 3:15; Douay-Rheims)
Not only the woman-Mary, but her seed, the woman-Church, will engage in a battle with the foe. That is, Mary and the remnant which forms her heel.
FOR six months now, the Lord has remained mostly "silent" in my life. It has been a journey through an interior desert where great sand storms swirl and the nights are cold. Many of you understand what I mean. For the Good Shepherd is leading us with His rod and staff through the valley of death, the valley of stripping, the Valley of Achor.
AS world events intensify, many are feeling panicked as they watch their security begin to crumble. It should not be so for believers. God cares for His own (and how He wishes the whole world were of His flock!) The care God provided His people in the exodus from Egypt prefigures the care He is giving to His Church today as they pass through this desert toward the "promised land".
The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light. Thus they could travel both day and night. Neither the column of cloud by day nor the column of fire by night ever left its place in front of the people. (Exodus 13:21-22)
St. Faustina
FEAST OF DIVINE MERCY
First published November 24th, 2006. I have updated this writing…
WHAT would you say was Pope John Paul II’s central mission? Was it to bring down Communism? Was it to unify Catholics and Orthodox? Was it to birth a new evangelization? Or was it to bring the Church a "theology of the body"?
First published April 11th, 2007.
THIS coming Sunday, the eighth day in the Octave of Easter, is Divine Mercy Sunday. Many Catholics still have no idea what this is… which as you’ll see, is a tragedy.
According to Saint Faustina’s diary, Jesus said of this Feast day:
I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity… tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 965
The "last hope of salvation"? One might be tempted to dismiss this along with other dramatic private revelation—except for the fact it was Pope John Paul II who inaugurated the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday according to this private revelation. (See Part II for a complete understanding of Diary entry 965, which does not restrict salvation to Divine Mercy Sunday.)
Painting of the "last vision" of Sr. Lucia
IN what has become known as the "last vision" of Fatima seer Sr. Lucia, while praying before the Blessed Sacrament, she saw a scene which carries many symbols for the period which began with the Virgin’s apparitions up to our present time, and the times to come:
Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers… —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 675
I have quoted this passage several times. Perhaps you have read it several times. But the question is, are you ready for it? Let me ask you again with urgency, "Are you ready for it?"
(First published September 1, 2006, this is now available in pamphlet form. See bottom. )
BEFORE the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord communicated a word so powerful, so pregnant with Mercy, that I left the church exhausted:
Carl Bloch, The Transfiguration
First published June 13th, 2007.
WHAT is this great grace that God will give to the Church in The Coming Pentecost? It is the grace of the Transfiguration.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
California
BEFORE Christmas Eve Mass, I slipped into the church to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Suddenly, I was overcome with a terrible sorrow. I began to experience the rejection of Jesus upon the Cross: the rejection of the sheep whom He loved, led, and healed; the rejection of the high priests whom He taught, and even the Apostles whom He formed. Today, once again, Jesus is being rejected by the nations, betrayed by "high priests," and abandoned by many disciples who once loved Him and sought Him but who now compromise or reject their Catholic (Christian) faith.
Did you think that because Jesus is in Heaven that He no longer suffers? He does, because He loves. Because Love is being rejected all over again. Because He sees the terrible sorrows we are bringing upon ourselves since we do not embrace, or rather, let Love embrace us. Love is pierced once again, this time by the thorns of mockery, the nails of unbelief, and the lance of rejection.
WHEN the Lord inspired me to begin this writing apostolate, I had no idea that it would blossom into several hundred writings read regularly now by thousands throughout the world. With Christmas, the feast of Christ’s coming just around the corner, this seems like a good time to collect some of the central thoughts scattered throughout this website for the sake of new readers, or those still trying to grasp the larger picture presented here.
"Be Not Afraid", by Tommy Christopher Canning
This writing was placed on my heart last night… the woman clothed with the sun appearing in our times, labouring, about to give birth. What I didn’t know was that this morning, my wife was going into labour! I will let you know the outcome…
There is much on my heart these days, but the battle is very thick, and writing has been as easy as jogging in a neck-high swamp. The winds of change are blowing hard, and this writing, I believe, may explain why… Peace be with you! Let us hold one another in prayer that in these times of change, we will shine with the holiness proper to our calling as sons and daughters of a victorious and humble King!
First published July 19th, 2007…
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Rev 11:19)
THE sign of this ark of the covenant appears before a great battle between the dragon and the Church, that is, a persecution. This ark, and the symbolism it carries, is all part of that "sign."