Ashamed of Jesus

Photo from The Passion of the Christ

 

SINCE my trip to the Holy Land, something deep within has been stirring, a holy fire, a holy desire to make Jesus loved and known again. I say “again” because, not only has the Holy Land barely retained a Christian presence, but the entire Western world is in a rapid collapse of Christian belief and values,[1]cf. All the Difference and hence, the destruction of its moral compass.Continue reading

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. All the Difference

The Eighth Sacrament

 

THERE is a little “now word” that has been stuck in my thoughts for years, if not decades. And that is the growing need for authentic Christian community. While we have seven sacraments in the Church, which are essentially “encounters” with the Lord, I believe one could also speak of an “eighth sacrament” based on Jesus’ teaching:Continue reading

All the Difference

 

CARDINAL Sarah was blunt: “A West that denies its faith, its history, its roots, and its identity is destined for contempt, for death, and disappearance.” [1]cf. The African Now Word Statistics reveal that this is not a prophetic warning—it’s a prophetic fulfillment:Continue reading

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. The African Now Word

The African Now Word

Cardinal Sarah kneels before the Blessed Sacrament in Toronto (University of St Michael’s College)
Photo: Catholic Herald

 

CARDINAL Robert Sarah has given a stunning, perceptive and prescient interview in the Catholic Herald today. It not only repeats “the now word” in terms of the warning that I have been compelled to speak for over a decade, but most especially and importantly, the solutions. Here are some of the key thoughts from Cardinal Sarah’s interview along with links for new readers to some of my writings that parallel and expand his observations:Continue reading

The Cross is Love

 

WHENEVER we see someone suffering, we often say “Oh, that person’s cross is heavy.” Or I might think that my own circumstances, be they unexpected sorrows, reversals, trials, breakdowns, health issues, etc. are my “cross to carry.” Moreover, we might seek out certain mortifications, fasts, and observances to add to our “cross.” While it is true that suffering is part of one’s cross, to reduce it to this is to miss what the Cross truly signifies: love. Continue reading

Loving Jesus

 

FRANKLY, I feel unworthy of writing on the present subject, as one who has loved the Lord so poorly. Everyday I set out to love Him, but by the time I enter an examination of conscience, I find that I have loved myself more. And the words of St. Paul become my own:Continue reading

Finding Jesus

 

WALKING along the Sea of Galilee one morning, I wondered how it was possible that Jesus was so rejected and even tortured and killed. I mean, here was One who not only loved, but was love itself: “for God is love.” [1]1 John 4:8 Every breath then, every word, every glance, every thought, every moment was imbued with Divine Love, so much so that hardened sinners would simply leave everything at once at the mere sound of his voice.Continue reading

Footnotes

Footnotes
1 1 John 4:8

The Crisis Behind the Crisis

 

To repent is to not just acknowledge that I have done wrong;
it is to turn my back on the wrong and start incarnating the Gospel.
On this hinges the future of Christianity in the world today.
The world does not believe what Christ taught
because we do not incarnate it. 
—Servant of God Catherine Doherty, from Kiss of Christ

 

THE Church’s greatest moral crisis continues to escalate in our times. This has resulted in “lay inquisitions” led by Catholic media, calls for sweeping reforms, an overhaul of alert systems, updated procedures, the excommunication of bishops, and so forth. But all of this fails to recognize the real root of the problem and why every “fix” proposed thus far, no matter how backed by righteous indignation and sound reason, fails to deal with the crisis within the crisis.Continue reading

On Weaponizing the Mass

 

THERE are serious seismic changes occurring in the world and our culture almost on an hourly basis. It doesn’t take a keen eye to recognize that the prophetic warnings foretold over many centuries are unfolding now in real time. So why have I focused on the radical conservatism in the Church this week (not to mention radical liberalism through abortion)? Because one of the foretold events is a coming schism. “A house divided against itself will fall,” Jesus warned.Continue reading

The Bloody Red Herring

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam,  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

 

THERE is a collective gasp rising from America, and rightly so. Politicians have begun to move in several States to repeal restrictions on abortion that would then allow the procedure up until the moment of birth. But more than that. Today, the Governor of Virginia defended a proposed bill that would let mothers and their abortion provider decide whether a baby whose mother is in labor, or a baby born alive through a botched abortion, can still be killed.

This is a debate on legalizing infanticide.Continue reading

Was Pope Francis’ Election Invalid?

 

A group of cardinals known as “St. Gallen’s mafia” apparently wanted Jorge Bergoglio elected to advance their modernist agenda. News of this group emerged a few years ago and has led some to continue to allege that the election of Pope Francis is, therefore, invalid. Continue reading

The Catholic Fail

 

FOR twelve years the Lord has asked me to sit upon the “rampart” as one of John Paul II’s “watchmen” and speak about what I see coming—not according to my own ideas, pre-conceptions, or thoughts, but according to the authentic Public and private revelation through which God continually speaks to his People. But taking my eyes off the horizon the past few days and looking instead to our own House, the Catholic Church, I find myself bowing my head in shame.Continue reading

Human Sexuality and Freedom – Part V

 

TRUE freedom is living each moment in the fullest reality of who you are.

And who are you? That is the aching, over-arching question that mostly eludes this present generation in a world where the elderly have misplaced the answer, the Church has fumbled it, and the media has ignored it. But here it is:

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Human Sexuality and Freedom – Part IV

 

As we continue this five part series on Human Sexuality and Freedom, we now examine some of the moral questions on what is right and what is wrong. Please note, this is for mature readers…

 

ANSWERS TO INTIMATE QUESTIONS

 

SOMEONE once said, “The truth will set you free—but first it will tick you off.”

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Human Sexuality and Freedom – Part III

 

ON THE DIGNITY OF MAN AND WOMAN

 

THERE is a joy that we must rediscover as Christians today: the joy of seeing the face of God in the other—and this includes those who have compromised their sexuality. In our contemporary times, St. John Paul II, Blessed Mother Teresa, Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Jean Vanier and others come to mind as individuals who found the capacity to recognize God’s image, even in the distressing disguise of poverty, brokenness, and sin. They saw, as it were, the “crucified Christ” in the other.

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Human Sexuality and Freedom – Part II

 

ON GOODNESS AND CHOICES

 

THERE is something else that must be said about the creation of man and woman that was determined “in the beginning.” And if we don’t understand this, if we don’t grasp this, then any discussion of morality, of right or wrong choices, of following God’s designs, risks casting the discussion of human sexuality into a sterile list of prohibitions. And this, I am certain, would only serve to deepen the divide between the Church’s beautiful and rich teachings on sexuality, and those who feel alienated by her.

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Human Sexuality and Freedom – Part I

ON THE ORIGINS OF SEXUALITY

 

There is a full-blown crisis today—a crisis in human sexuality. It follows in the wake of a generation that is almost entirely un-catechized on the truth, beauty, and goodness of our bodies and their God-designed functions. The following series of writings is a frank discussion on the subject that will cover questions regarding alternative forms of marriage, masturbation, sodomy, oral sex, etc. Because the world is discussing these issues every day on radio, television and the internet. Does the Church have nothing to say on these matters? How do we respond? Indeed, she does—she has something beautiful to say.

“The truth will set you free,” Jesus said. Perhaps this is no more true than in matters of human sexuality. This series is recommended for mature readers… First published in June, 2015. 

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Interpreting Revelation

 

 

WITHOUT a doubt, the Book of Revelation is one of the most controversial in all of Sacred Scripture. On one end of the spectrum are fundamentalists who take every word literally or out of context. On the other are those who believe the book has already been fulfilled in the first century or who ascribe to the book a merely allegorical interpretation.Continue reading

Pope Francis On…

 

…as the Church’s one and only indivisible magisterium, the pope and the bishops in union with him carry the gravest responsibility that no ambiguous sign or unclear teaching comes from them, confusing the faithful or lulling them into a false sense of security.
—Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, former prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; First ThingsApril 20th, 2018

 

THE Pope can be confusing, his words ambiguous, his thoughts incomplete. There are many rumours, suspicions, and accusations that the current Pontiff is trying to change Catholic teaching. So, for the record, here is Pope Francis…Continue reading

Papal Puzzlery

 

A comprehensive response to many questions directed my way regarding the turbulent pontificate of Pope Francis. I apologize that this is a bit lengthier than usual. But thankfully, it is answering several readers’ questions….

 

FROM a reader:

I pray for conversion and for the intentions of Pope Francis everyday.  I am one who initially fell in love with the Holy Father when he was first elected, but over the years of his Pontificate, he has confused me and made me very concerned that his liberal Jesuit spirituality was almost goose-stepping with the left-leaning world view and liberal times. I am a Secular Franciscan so my profession binds me to obedience to him.  But I must admit that he scares me… How do we know he is not an anti-pope?  Is the media twisting his words? Are we to blindly follow and pray for him all the more?  This is what I have been doing, but my heart is conflicted.

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Justin the Just

Justin Trudeau at Gay Pride Parade, Vancouver, 2016; Ben Nelms/Reuters

 

HISTORY shows that when men or women aspire to the leadership of a country, they almost always come with an ideology—and aspire to leave with a legacy. Few are just mere managers. Whether they are Vladimir Lenin, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Donald Trump, Kim Yong-un, or Angela Merkel; whether they are on the left or the right, an atheist or a Christian, brutal or passive—they intend to leave their mark in the history books, for better or worse (always thinking it is “for the better”, of course). Ambition can be a blessing or a curse.Continue reading

The Papacy is Not One Pope

The Chair of Peter, St. Peter’s, Rome; Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

 

OVER the weekend, Pope Francis added to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (the record of the papacy’s official acts) a letter he sent to the Bishops of Buenos Aires last year, approving their guidelines for discerning Communion for the divorced and remarried based on their interpretation of the post-synodal document, Amoris Laetitia. But this has served to only further stir muddy waters over the question of whether or not Pope Francis is opening the door for Communion to Catholics who are in an objectively adulterous situation.Continue reading

Barquing Up the Wrong Tree

 

HE looked at me intensely and said, “Mark, you have a lot of readers. If Pope Francis teaches error, you must break away and lead your flock in truth.”

I was stunned by the clergyman’s words. For one, “my flock” of readers do not belong to me. They (you) are Christ’s possession. And of you, He says:

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Why Did You Quote Medjugorje?

Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana Soldo, Photo courtesy LaPresse

 

“WHY did you quote that unapproved private revelation?”

It’s a question I get asked on occasion. Moreover, rarely do I see an adequate answer to it, even among the Church’s best apologists. The question itself betrays a serious deficit in catechesis among average Catholics when it comes to mysticism and private revelation. Why are we so afraid to even listen?Continue reading

Participating in Jesus

Detail from the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1508–1512

 

ONCE one understands the Cross—that we are not mere observers but active participants in the salvation of the world—it changes everything. Because now, by uniting the whole of your activity to Jesus, you yourself become a “living sacrifice” who is “hidden” in Christ. You become a real instrument of grace through the merits of Christ’s Cross and a participant in His divine “office” through His Resurrection.Continue reading

Understanding the Cross

 

MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS

 

OFFER it up.” It’s the most common Catholic answer we give to others who are suffering. There is truth and reason as to why we say it, but do we really understand what we mean? Do we really know the power of suffering in Christ? Do we really “get” the Cross?Continue reading

True Woman, True Man

 

ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

 

DURING the scene of “Our Lady” at Arcātheos, it seemed as if the Blessed Mother really was present, and sending us a message at that. One of those messages had to do with what it means to be a true woman, and thus, a true man. It ties into Our Lady’s overall message to humanity at this time, that a period of peace is coming, and thus, renewal…Continue reading

Real Food, Real Presence

 

IF we seek Jesus, the Beloved, we should seek Him where He is. And where He is, is there, on the altars of His Church. Why then is He not surrounded by thousands of believers every day in the Masses said throughout the world? Is it because even we Catholics no longer believe that His Body is Real Food and His Blood, Real Presence?Continue reading

Who Are You to Judge?

OPT. MEMORIAL OF
THE FIRST MARTYRS OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH

 

“WHO are you to judge?”

Sounds virtuous, doesn’t it? But when these words are used to deflect from taking a moral stand, to wash one’s hands of responsibility for others, to remain uncommitted in the face of injustice… then it is cowardice. Moral relativism is cowardice. And today, we are awash in cowards—and the consequences are no small thing. Pope Benedict calls it…Continue reading

The Need for Jesus

 

SOMETIMES the discussion of God, religion, truth, freedom, divine laws, etc. can cause us to lose sight of the fundamental message of Christianity: not only do we need Jesus in order to be saved, but we need Him in order to be happy.Continue reading

The Blue Butterfly

 

A recent debate I had with a few atheists inspired this story… The Blue Butterfly symbolizes the presence of God. 

 

HE sat at the edge of the circular cement pond in the middle of the park, a fountain trickling away at its center. His cupped hands were raised in front of his eyes. Peter gazed through a tiny crack as though he were looking into the face of his first love. Inside, he held a treasure: a blue butterfly.Continue reading

Making Way for Angels

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 7th, 2017
Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Liturgical texts here 

 

SOMETHING remarkable happens when we give praise to God: His ministering angels are released in our midst.Continue reading

True Evangelization

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 24th, 2017
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE has been much hullabaloo since Pope Francis’ comments a few years back denouncing proselytism—the attempt to convert someone to one’s own religious faith. For those who did not scrutinize his actual statement, it caused confusion because, bringing souls to Jesus Christ—that is, into Christianity—is precisely why the Church exists. So either Pope Francis was abandoning the Church’s Great Commission, or perhaps he meant something else.Continue reading

A Crisis of Community

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 9th, 2017
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

ONE of the most fascinating aspects of the early Church is that, after Pentecost, they immediately, almost instinctively, formed community. They sold everything they had and held it in common so that everyone’s needs were cared for. And yet, no where do we see an explicit command from Jesus to do as such. It was so radical, so contrary to the thinking of the time, that these early communities transformed the world around them.Continue reading

Turn On the Headlights

 THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 16–17th, 2017
Thursday-Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

JADED. Disappointed. Betrayed… those are some of the feelings many have after watching one failed prediction after another in recent years. We were told the “millenium” computer bug, or Y2K, would bring the end of modern civilization as we know it when the clocks turned January 1st, 2000… but nothing happened beyond the echoes of Auld Lang Syne. Then there were the spiritual predictions of those, such as the late Fr. Stefano Gobbi, that foretold the climax of the Great Tribulation around the same period. This was followed by more failed predictions regarding the date of the so-called “Warning”, of an economic collapse, of no 2017 Presidential Inauguration in the U.S., etc..

So you might find it odd for me to say that, at this hour in the world, we need prophecy more than ever. Why? In the Book of Revelation, an angel says to St. John:

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The Great Ark


Look Up by Michael D. O’Brien

 

If there is a Storm in our times, will God provide an “ark”? The answer is “Yes!” But perhaps never before have Christians doubted this provision so much as in our times as controversy over Pope Francis rages, and the rational minds of our post-modern era must grapple with the mystical. Nonetheless, here is the Ark Jesus is providing for us at this hour. I will also address “what to do” in the Ark in the days ahead. First published May 11th, 2011. 

 

JESUS said that the period before His eventual return would be “as it was in the days of Noah…” That is, many would be oblivious to the Storm gathering around them: “They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.” [1]Matt 24:37-29 St. Paul indicated that the coming of the “Day of the Lord” would be “like a thief in the night.” [2]1 These 5:2 This Storm, as the Church teaches, contains the Passion of the Church, who will follow her Head in her own passage through a corporate “death” and resurrection. [3]Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675 Just as many of the “leaders” of the temple and even the Apostles themselves seemed unaware, even to the last moment, that Jesus had to truly suffer and die, so too many in the Church seem oblivious to the consistent prophetic warnings of the popes and the Blessed Mother—warnings that announce and signal a…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Matt 24:37-29
2 1 These 5:2
3 Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675

Jesus, the Wise Builder

 

As I continue to study the “beast” of Revelation 13, some fascinating things are emerging which I wish to pray and reflect on further before writing them. In the meantime, I am receiving letters of concern again about the growing division in the Church over Amoris Laetitia, the Pope’s recent Apostolic Exhortation. For the moment, I want to republish these important points, lest we forget…

 

SAINT John Paul II once wrote:

…the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming. Familiaris Consortio, n. 8

We need to pray for wisdom in these times, especially when the Church is under attack from all sides. In my lifetime, I have never seen such doubt, fears, and reservations from Catholics regarding the future of the Church, and in particular, the Holy Father. Not in little part due to some heretical private revelation, but also at times to some incomplete or abstruse statements from the Pope himself. As such, not a few persist in the belief that Pope Francis is going to “destroy” the Church—and the rhetoric against him is becoming increasingly acrimonious. And so once again, without turning a blind eye to the growing divisions in the Church, my top seven reasons why many of these fears are baseless…

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The Counter-Revolution

St. Maximillian Kolbe

 

I concluded Trajectory saying that we are being prepared for a new evangelization. This is what we must pre-occupy ourselves with—not building bunkers and storing food. There is a “restoration” coming. Our Lady speaks of it, as well as the popes (see The Popes, and the Dawning Era). So do not dwell on the labour pains, but the birth to come. The purification of the world is but a small part of the masterplan unfolding, even if it is to emerge from the blood of martyrs…

 

IT is the hour of the Counter-Revolution to begin. The hour when each of us, according to the graces, faith, and gifts accorded us by the Holy Spirit are being called forth into this present darkness as flames of love and light. For, as Pope Benedict once said:

We cannot calmly accept the rest of humanity falling back again into paganism. —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), The New Evangelization, Building the Civilization of Love; Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers, December 12, 2000

…you shall not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. (cf. Lev 19:16)

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The Last Grace

purgatoryangelAn Angel, Freeing the Souls from Purgatory by Ludovico Carracci, c1612

 

ALL SOULS’ DAY

 

Having been away from home for most of the past two months, I am still catching up on many things, and so am out of a rhythm with my writing. I hope to be on a better track by next week.

I am watching and praying with all of you, especially my American friends as a painful election looms…

 

HEAVEN is only for the perfect. It is true!

But then one might ask, “How can I get to Heaven, then, for I am far from perfect?” Another might answer saying, “The Blood of Jesus will wash you clean!” And this too is true whenever we sincerely ask forgiveness: Jesus’ Blood takes away our sins. But does that suddenly make me perfectly selfless, humble, and charitable—ie. fully restored to the image of God in whom I am created? The honest person knows that this is rarely the case. Usually, even after Confession, there are still remnants of the “old self”—a need for deeper healing of sinful wounds and cleansing of intention and desires. In a word, few of us truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength, as we are commanded to.

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Pray for Your Shepherds

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, August 17th, 2016

Liturgical texts here

mother-of-priestsOur Lady of Grace and the Masters of the Order of Montesa
Spanish School (15th century)


I AM
so blessed, in many ways, by the present mission Jesus has given me in writing you. One day, over tens years ago, the Lord nudged my heart saying, “Put your thoughts from your journal online.” And so I did… and now there are tens of thousands of you reading these words from all over the world. How mysterious are God’s ways! But not only that… as a result, I have been able to read your words in countless letters, emails, and notes. I hold every letter I get as precious, and feel very sad that I haven’t been able to respond to all of you. But every letter is read; every word is noted; every intention is lifted up daily in prayer.

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