THE world is thirsting to experience God, to find the tangible presence of the One who created them. He is love, and therefore, it is the Presence of Love through His Body, His Church, that can bring salvation to a lonely and hurting humanity.
Charity alone will save the world. —St. Luigi Orione, L’Osservatore Romano, June 30th, 2010
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WHAT you are about to read has the potential to not only set women, but in particular men, free from undue burden, and radically change the course of your life. That’s the power of God’s Word…
Ask your average man what his first priority is, and he will almost always tell you it’s to "bring home the bacon," "pay the bills," and "make ends meet." But that’s not what Jesus says…
THE darker the world becomes, the brighter the stars of Christian witness will be. We may be in a spiritual winter, but a "new springtime" is coming. In this webcast, Mark explains why the Gospel has yet to reach the ends of the earth and why the opportunity to evangelize has never been greater and yet never so difficult… and that God is preparing us for the new evangelization, which is here and coming…
To watch The Coming New Evangelization, go to Embracinghope.tv
SPIRITUAL RENEWAL AND HEALING CONFERENCE
September 17-18th, 2010
Mandan, North Dakota, USA
SPIRIT OF LIFE CATHOLIC CHURCH
801, 1st St. SE
Mandan, ND
Guest Speaker: MARK MALLETT
IN my 1997 television documentary, What in the World is Going On?, a Canadian weather analyst spoke about the bizarre extremes in weather. Thirteen years later, those extremes continue with this year being more pronounced than ever.
In prayer, I sensed the Father say,
Do not doubt that I am speaking through the weather. Am I not the Lord of sun, snow, rain, and wind? All pour forth from my storehouse. But man himself can inhibit My natural order. Man himself can interfere with divine providence. Hence, I have forewarned from of old the "natural disasters" that would come because of man’s sin—because man himself would wreck the world that I created. Heaven itself is weeping at the awful sight: the power of man that strikes at the earth’s very foundations… The Divine Order has been interrupted and chaos and horror will follow man because he has left open the door to the spirit of death("Abaddon"; cf. Rev 9:11) Who can close the door but My Son? When the world cries out for Jesus, then He will come. Until then, death will be the companion of earth’s inhabitants. I grieve. Death is not my plan, but life. Come back to Me My children… come back to Me.
IF I may once again bare my soul to you, that somehow you may benefit from my weakness. As St. Paul said, "I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me." Indeed, may He dwell with you!
THE ROAD TO DESPAIR
Since my family moved to a small farm on the Canadian prairies, we have been met with one financial crisis after another through vehicle breakdowns, wind storms, and all kinds of unexpected costs. It has led me to great discouragement, and at times even despair, to the point where I began to feel abandoned. When I would go to pray, I would put in my time… but began to doubt that God was really paying much attention to me—a form of self-pity.
Pearl of Great Price by Michael D. O’Brien
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. (Matt 13:44-46)
IN my last three writings, we have talked about finding peace in suffering and joy in the big picture and finding mercy when we least deserve it. But I could summarize it all in this: the kingdom of God is found in the will of God. That is to say, the will of God, His Word, unlocks for the believer every spiritual blessing from Heaven, including peace, joy, and mercy. The will of God is the pearl of great price. Understand this, seek this, find this, and you will have everything.
FROM a reader:
In my prayer life and in praying for very specific things, particularly my husband’s abuse of pornography and all the things that result from this abuse, such as loneliness, dishonesty, mistrust, isolation, fear etc. Jesus tells me to be full of joy and gratitude. I get that God allows us so many burdens in life so that our souls may be purified and perfected. He wants us to learn to recognize our own sinfulness and self -love and realize we can’t do anything without Him, but He also tells me specifically to carry it with joy. This seems to elude me… I don’t know how to be joyful in the midst of my pain. I get that this pain is an opportunity from God but I don’t understand why God allows this kind of evil in my home and how am I expected to be joyful about it? He just keeps telling me to pray, give thanks and be joyful and laugh! Any thoughts?
Dear reader. Jesus is truth. He would never, therefore, ask us to dwell in falsehood. He would never demand us to "give thanks and be joyful and laugh" about something as grievous as your husband’s addiction. Nor does He expect someone to chuckle when a loved one dies, or loses his house in a fire, or is laid off from a job. The Gospels do not speak of the Lord laughing or smiling during His Passion. Rather, they recount how the Son of God endured a rare medical condition called hoematidrosis in which, due to severe mental anguish, blood capillaries burst, and the ensuing blood clots are then carried away from the skin surface by sweat, appearing as drops of blood (Luke 22:44).
So, then, what do these Scripture passages mean:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Phil 4:4)
In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:18)
FROM a reader:
So what do I do when I forget that sufferings are His blessings to bring me closer to Him, when I am in the middle of them and get impatient and angry and rude and short tempered… when He’s not always at the forefront of my mind and I get caught up in emotions and feelings and the world and then the opportunity to do the right thing is lost? How do I ALWAYS keep Him in the forefront of my heart and mind and not (re)act like the rest of the world that doesn’t believe?
This precious letter summarizes the wound in my own heart, the fierce struggle and literal war that has broken out in my soul. There is so much in this letter that opens the door for light, beginning with its raw honesty…
HIDDEN it seems from the ears of the world is the collective cry I hear from the Body of Christ, a cry that is reaching the Heavens: "Father, if it is possible take this cup away from me!" Letters I receive speak of tremendous family and financial strain, lost security, and growing concern over The Perfect Storm that has emerged on the horizon. But as my spiritual director often says, we are in "boot camp," training for this present and coming "final confrontation" that the Church is facing, as John Paul II put it. What appears to be contradictions, endless difficulties, and even a sense of abandonment is the Spirit of Jesus working through the firm hand of the Mother of God, forming her troops and preparing them for the battle of the ages. As it says in that precious book of Sirach:
My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. (Sirach 2:1-5)
WHEN it came time for Jesus to enter His Passion, He set His face toward Jerusalem. It is time for the Church to set her face toward her own Calvary as the storm clouds of persecution continue to gather on the horizon. In the next episode of Embracing Hope TV, Mark explains how Jesus prophetically signals the spiritual condition necessary for the Body of Christ to follow its Head on the Way of the Cross, in this Final Confrontation that the Church is now facing…
To watch this episode, go to www.embracinghope.tv
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WHY is God letting me suffer in this way? Why are there so many obstacles to happiness and growing in holiness? Why does life have to be so painful? It feels as though I go from valley to valley (even though I know there are peaks in between). Why, God?