Breaking History

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 1
ASH WEDNESDAY

corp2303_Fotorby Commander Richard Brehn, NOAA Corps

 

Scroll to the bottom to listen to the podcast of each meditation if you wish. Remember, you can find each day here: Prayer Retreat.

 

WE are living in extraordinary times.

And in the midst of them, here you are. No doubt, you probably feel powerless in the face of the many changes taking place in our world—an insignificant player, a person with little to no impact on the world around you, let alone the course of history. Perhaps you feel as though you are tied to the rope of history and being dragged behind the Great Ship of Time, tossing and turning helplessly in its wake. Continue reading

The Necessity of Faith

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 2

 

NEW! I am now adding podcasts to this Lenten Retreat (including yesterday). Scroll to the bottom to listen through the media player.

 

BEFORE I can write further, I sense Our Lady saying that, unless we have faith in God, nothing in our spiritual lives will change. Or as St. Paul put it…

…without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb 11:6)

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On Being Faithful

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 3

 

Dear friends, this is not the meditation I had planned for today. However, I have been dealing with one little crisis after another for the past two weeks and, in truth, have been writing these meditations after midnight, averaging only four hours sleep a night the past week. I am exhausted. And so, after putting out several little fires today, I prayed about what to do—and this writing came immediately to mind. It is, for me, one of the most important “words” on my heart this past year, as it has helped me through so many trials by simply reminding myself to “be faithful.” To be certain, this message is an important part of this Lenten Retreat. Thanks for understanding.

I apologize that there is no podcast for today… I’m simply out of gas, as it’s almost 2am. I have an important “word” on Russia that I will publish shortly… something I’ve been praying about since last summer. Thanks for your prayers…

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The Good Death

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 4

deathtoself_Fotor

 

IT says in Proverbs,

Without a vision the people lose restraint. (Prov 29:18)

In the first days of this Lenten Retreat, then, it is imperative that we have a vision of what it means to be a Christian, the vision of the Gospel. Or, as the prophet Hosea says:

My people perish for want of knowledge! (Hosea 4:6)

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The Inner Self

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 5

contemplation1

 

ARE you still with me? It’s now Day 5 of our retreat, and I am certain many of you are struggling in these first days to stay committed. But take that, perhaps, as a sign that you might need this retreat more than you realize. I can say that this is the case for myself.

Today, we continue expanding the vision of what it means to be a Christian and who we are in Christ…

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The Blessed Helpers

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 6

mary-mother-of-god-holding-sacred-heart-bible-rosary-2_FotorArtist Unknown

 

AND so, the spiritual or “interior” life consists in co-operating with grace in order that Jesus’s divine life may live in and through me. So if Christianity consists in Jesus being formed in me, how will God make this possible? Here is a question for you: how did God make it possible the first time for Jesus to be formed in the flesh? The answer is through the Holy Spirit and Mary.

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Self-Knowledge

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 7

sknowl_Fotor

 

MY brother and I used to share the same room growing up. There were some nights that we couldn’t stop giggling. Inevitably, we’d hear the footsteps of dad coming down the hallway, and we’d shrink beneath the covers pretending we were asleep. Then the door would open…

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On Humility

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 8

huymility_Fotor

 

IT is one thing to have self-knowledge; to see clearly the reality of one’s spiritual poverty, lack of virtue, or deficit in charity—in a word, to see the abyss of one’s misery. But self-knowledge alone is not enough. It must be wed to humility in order for grace to take effect. Compare again Peter and Judas: both came face to face with the truth of their inner corruption, but in the first case self-knowledge was wed with humility, while in the latter, it was wed to pride. And as the Proverbs say, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” [1]Prov 16:18

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Prov 16:18

The Tribunal of Mercy

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 9

confessional6

 

THE first path by which the Lord can begin to transform a soul is opened when that person, seeing themselves in the light of truth, acknowledges their poverty and need for Him in a spirit of humility. This is a grace and gift initiated by the Lord Himself who loves the sinner so much, that He seeks him or her out, most especially when they are enclosed in the darkness of sin. As Matthew the Poor wrote…

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On Making a Good Confession

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 10

zamora-confession_Fotor2

 

JUST as important as going to Confession on a regular basis, is knowing also how to make a good Confession. This is more important than many realize, since it is the truth which sets us free. What happens, then, when we obscure or hide the truth?

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My Boo-boo…Your Benefit

 

For those who are taking the Lenten Retreat, I made a boo-boo. There are 40 days in Lent, not counting Sundays (because they are the “Day of the Lord“). However, I did a meditation for last Sunday. So as of today, we are essentially caught up. I will resume Day 11 on Monday morning. 

However, this provides a wonderful unintended pause for those who need a pause—that is, for those who are despairing as they look into the mirror, those who are discouraged, afraid, and disgusted to the point that they practically hate themselves. Self-knowledge must lead to the Savior—not self-hatred. I have two writings for you that are perhaps critical at this moment, otherwise, one could lose the most necessary perspective in the interior life: that of keeping one’s eyes always fixed upon Jesus and His mercy…

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On Docility

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 12

sacredheart001_Fotor

 

TO “prepare the way of the Lord,” the prophet Isaiah entreats us to make the road straight, the valleys lifted up, and “every mountain and hill made low.” In Day 8 we meditated On Humility—leveling those mountains of pride. But the evil brothers of pride are the foothills of ambition and self-will. And the bulldozer of these is humility’s sister: meekness.

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On Losing One’s Salvation

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 14 

slippinghands_Fotor

 

SALVATION is a gift, a pure gift from God that no one earns. It is freely given because “God so loved world.” [1]John 3:16 In one of the more moving revelations from Jesus to St. Faustina, He beckons:

Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me—clamoring to be spent… I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness. Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 50

The Apostle Paul wrote that God “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” [2]1 Tim 2:4 So there is no question of God’s generosity and burning desire to see every single man and woman remain with Him for eternity. However, it is equally true that we can not only refuse this gift, but forfeit it, even after we have been “saved.”

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 John 3:16
2 1 Tim 2:4

An Intimate Testimony

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 15

 

 

IF you’ve ever been to one of my retreats before, then you’ll know I prefer to speak from the heart. I find it leaves room for the Lord or Our Lady to do whatever they want—like change the subject. Well, today is one of those moments. Yesterday, we reflected on the gift of salvation, which is also a privilege and calling to bear fruit for the Kingdom. As St. Paul said in Ephesians…

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Resting in the Stern

 LENTEN RETREAT
Day 16

asleepstern_Fotor

 

THERE is a reason, brothers and sisters, why I feel Heaven wants to do this Lenten Retreat this year, that up until now, I have not voiced. But I feel this is the moment to speak about it. The reason is that a violent spiritual Storm is bearing down all around us. The winds of “change” are blowing hard; the waves of confusion are spilling over the bow; the Barque of Peter is beginning to rock… and in the midst of it, Jesus is inviting you and me to the stern.

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Of Desire

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 17

restingjesus_Fotor3from Christ at Rest, by Hans Holbein the Younger (1519)

 

TO rest with Jesus in the Storm is not a passive rest, as though we are to remain oblivious to the world around us. It is not…

…the rest of inactivity, but of the harmonious working of all the faculties and affections—of will, heart, imagination, conscience—because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development. —J. Patrick, Vine’s Expository, p. 529; cf. Hastings’ Bible Dictionary

Think of the Earth and its orbit. The planet is in perpetual motion, always encircling the Sun, thereby generating the seasons; always rotating, generating night and day; always faithful to the course set out for it by the Creator. There you have the picture of what it means to “rest”: to live perfectly in the Divine Will.

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Time is Love

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 18

mindofchrist_FotorAs the deer longs for streams of water…

 

PERHAPS you feel as incapable of holiness as I do in continuing to write this Lenten Retreat. Good. Then we have both entered a critical point in self-knowledge—that apart from God’s grace, we can do nothing. But that does not mean that we should do nothing.

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On Christian Perfection

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 20

beauty-3

 

SOME might find this the most intimidating and discouraging Scripture in the Bible.

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48) 

Why would Jesus say such a thing to mere mortals like you and me who grapple daily with doing God’s will? Because to be holy as God is holy is when you and I will be happiest.

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A Revolution of the Mind

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 21

Mind of Christ g2

 

EVERY now again in my research, I’ll stumble across a website that takes exception to my own because they say, “Mark Mallett claims to hear from Heaven.” My first reaction is, “Gee, doesn’t every Christian hear the voice of the Lord?” No, I don’t hear an audible voice. But I certainly hear God speaking through the Mass Readings, morning prayer, the Rosary, the Magisterium, my bishop, my spiritual director, my wife, my readers—even a sunset. For God says in Jeremiah…

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Mastery of Self

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 23

self-mastery_Fotor

 

LAST time, I spoke about remaining steadfast on the Narrow Pilgrim Road, “rejecting temptation to your right, and illusion to your left.” But before I speak further about the important subject of temptation, I think it will be helpful to know more of the nature of a Christian—of what happens to you and me in Baptism—and what doesn’t.

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On Innocence

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 24

ontempt4a

 

WHAT a gift we have through the Sacrament of Baptism: the innocence of a soul is restored. And should we sin after that, the Sacrament of Penance restores that innocence again. God wants you and me to be innocent because He delights in the beauty of a pristine soul, re-made again in His image. Even the most hardened sinner, if they appeal to God’s mercy, are restored to a primordial beauty. One could say that in such a soul, God sees himself. Moreover, He delights in our innocence because He knows that is when we are most capable of joy.

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Of Temptation

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 25

temptation2The Temptation by Eric Armusik

 

I remember a scene from the film The Passion of the Christ when Jesus kisses the cross after they place it on His shoulders. That’s because He knew His suffering would redeem the world. Likewise, some of the saints in the early Church deliberately traveled to Rome so that they could be martyred, knowing that it would hasten their union with God.

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The Simple Way of Jesus

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 26

stepping-stones-God

 

EVERYTHING I have said up to this point in our retreat can be summed up in this way: life in Christ consists in doing the will of the Father with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is that simple! In order to grow in holiness, to reach even the very heights of sanctity and union with God, it isn’t necessary to become a theologian. In fact, that might even be a stumbling block for some.

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The Grace Moment

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 27

dishes

 

WHEN God entered human history in the flesh through the person of Jesus, one could say that He baptized time itself. Suddenly, God—to whom all eternity is present—was walking through seconds, minutes, hours, and days. Jesus was revealing that time itself is an intersection between Heaven and earth. His communion with the Father, His solitude in prayer, and His whole ministry were all measured in time and eternity at once…. And then He turned to us and said…

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All Things in Love

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 28

Crown of Thorns and the Holy Bible

 

FOR all the beautiful teachings Jesus gave—the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, the Last Supper discourse in John, or the many profound parables—Christ’s most eloquent and powerful sermon was the unspoken word of the Cross: His Passion and death. When Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father, it wasn’t a matter of faithfully checking off a Divine To Do list, a kind of scrupulous fulfilling of the letter of the law. Rather, Jesus went deeper, further, and more intensely in His obedience, for He did all things in love to the very end.

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The Precedence of Prayer

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 29

balloonready

 

EVERYTHING we’ve discussed so far in this Lenten Retreat is equipping you and me to soar toward the heights of sanctity and union with God (and remember, with Him, all things are possible). And yet—and this is of utmost importance—without prayer, it would be like someone who has laid out a hot air balloon upon the ground and set up all their equipment. The pilot tries to climb into the gondola, which is the will of God. He is familiar with his flying manuals, which are the Scriptures and the Catechism. His basket is tethered to the balloon by the ropes of the Sacraments. And last, he has stretched out his balloon along the ground—that is, he has conceded a certain willingness, abandonment, and desire to fly toward Heaven…. But so long as the burner of prayer remains unlit, the balloon—which is his heart—will never expand, and his spiritual life will remain grounded.

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The Goal of Prayer

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 31

balloon2a

 

I have to laugh, because I am the last person I would have ever imagined to be speaking about prayer. Growing up, I was hyper, constantly moving, always ready to play. I had a hard time sitting still at Mass. And books, to me, were a waste of good playtime. So, by the time I graduated from high school, I had probably read less than ten books in my whole life. And while I did read my Bible, the prospect of sitting down and praying for any length of time was challenging, to say the least.

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Praying Heavenward

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 32

Sunset Hot Air Balloon2

 

THE beginning of prayer is desire, desire to love God, who has loved us first. Desire is the “pilot light” which keeps the burner of prayer lit, always ready to mingle with the “propane” of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who then ignites, animates, and fills our hearts with grace, enabling us to begin the ascent, along the Way of Jesus, to union with the Father. (And by the way, when I say “union with God”, what I mean is a real and actual union of wills, desires, and love such that God lives totally and freely in you, and you in Him). And so, if you have stayed with me this long in this Lenten Retreat, I have no doubt that the pilot light of your heart is lit and ready to burst into flame!

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Soaring in the Spirit

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 33

albuquerque-hot-air-balloon-ride-at-sunset-in-albuquerque-167423

 

THOMAS Merton once said, “There are a thousand ways to the Way.” But there are some foundational principles when it comes to the structure of our prayer-time that can help us advance more quickly toward communion with God, especially in our weakness and struggles with distraction.

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The Second Burner

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 34

double-burner2

 

NOW here is the thing, my dear brothers and sisters: the interior life, like a hot air balloon, has not one, but two burners. Our Lord was very clear about this when He said:

You shall love the Lord your God…[and]  You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:33)

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On Time and Distractions

LENTEN RETREAT
Day 35

distractions5a

 

OF course, one of the great obstacles and seeming tensions between one’s interior life and the exterior demands of one’s vocation, is time. “I don’t have time to pray! I’m a mother! I don’t have time! I work all day! I’m a student! I travel! I run a company! I’m a priest with a big parish… I don’t have time!

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Untethering the Heart

LENTEN RETREAT
 Day 36

tethered3

 

THE “hot air balloon” represents one’s heart; the “gondola basket” is the will of God; the “propane” is the Holy Spirit; and the two “burners” of love of God and neighbour, when lit by the “pilot light” of our desire, fill our hearts with the Flame of Love, enabling us to soar toward union with God. Or so it would seem. What is it that is still holding me back…?

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