The Daily Cross

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This meditation continues to build upon the previous writings: Understanding The Cross and Participating in Jesus… 

 

WHILE polarization and divisions continue to widen in the world, and controversy and confusion billow through the Church (like the “smoke of satan”)… I hear two words from Jesus right now for my readers: “Be faithful.” Yes, try to live these words each moment today in the face of temptation, demands, opportunities for selflessness, obedience, persecution, etc. and one will quickly discover that just being faithful with what one has is enough of a daily challenge.

Indeed, it is the daily cross.Continue reading →

Can We Exhaust God’s Mercy?

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 24th, 2017
Sunday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Liturgical texts here

 

I am on my way back from the “Flame of Love” conference in Philadelphia. It was beautiful. Around 500 people packed a hotel room that was filled with the Holy Spirit from the first minute. All of us are leaving with renewed hope and strength in the Lord. I have some long layovers in airports on my way back to Canada, and so am taking this time to reflect with you on today’s readings….Continue reading →

Participating in Jesus

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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

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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 →

Mercy in Chaos

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People were screaming “Jesus, Jesus” and running in all directions. —an Earthquake victim in Haiti after a 7.0 quake, January 12th, 2010, Reuters News Agency

 

IN coming times, God’s mercy is going to be revealed in various ways—but not all of them easy. Again, I believe we may be on the verge of seeing the Seals of Revolution definitively opened… the hard labor pains at the end of this era. By this, I mean that war, economic collapse, famine, plagues, persecution, and a Great Shaking are imminent, though only God knows the times and seasons. [1]cf. The Seven Year Trial – Part II Continue reading →

Footnotes

Going Into the Deep

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 7th, 2017
Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Liturgical texts here

 

WHEN Jesus speaks to the crowds, he does so in the shallows of the lake. There, He speaks to them at their level, in parables, in simplicity. For He knows that many are only curious, seeking the sensational, following at a distance…. But when Jesus desires to call the Apostles to Himself, He asks them to put out “into the deep.”Continue reading →

Afraid of the Call

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 5th, 2017
Sunday & Tuesday
of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Liturgical texts here

 

ST. Augustine once said, “Lord, make me pure, but not yet!” 

He betrayed a common fear among believers and unbelievers alike: that being a follower of Jesus means having to forego earthly joys; that it is ultimately a call into suffering, deprivation, and pain on this earth; to mortification of the flesh, annihilation of the will, and rejection of pleasure. After all, in last Sunday’s readings, we heard St. Paul say, “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” [1]cf. Rom 12:1 and Jesus say:Continue reading →

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Rom 12:1

A Thread of Mercy

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IF the world is Hanging by a Thread, it is the strong thread of Divine Mercy—such is the love of God for this poor humanity. 

I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy.  —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1588

In those tender words, we hear the interweaving of God’s mercy with His justice. It is never one without the other. For justice is God’s love expressed in a divine order that holds the cosmos together by laws—whether they are laws of nature, or laws of “the heart”. So whether one sows seed into the ground, love into the heart, or sin into the soul, one will always reap what he sows. That is a perennial truth that transcends all religions and times… and is being played out dramatically on 24 hour cable news.Continue reading →