The Last Hour

Italian Earthquake, May 20th, 2012, Associated Press

 

LIKE it’s happened in the past, I felt called by Our Lord to go and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. It was intense, deep, sorrowful… I sensed the Lord had a word this time, not for me, but for you… for the Church. After giving it to my spiritual director, I share it now with you…

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The Hour of Great Mercy

 

EVERY day, an extraordinary grace is made available to us that previous generations did not have or were not aware of. It is a grace tailored for our generation who, since the early 20th century, is now living in a “time of mercy.” Continue reading

The Signs of Our Times

Notre Dame on Fire, Thomas Samson/Agence France-Presse

 

IT was the coldest day on our visit to Jerusalem last month. The breeze was merciless as the sun fought against the clouds for dominion. It was here on the Mount of Olives that Jesus wept over that ancient city. Our pilgrim group entered the chapel there, rising above the Garden of Gethsemane, to say Mass.Continue reading

Sleeping While the House Burns

 

THERE is a scene from the 1980’s comedy series The Naked Gun where a car chase ends with a fireworks factory blowing up, people running in every direction, and general mayhem. The main cop played by Leslie Nielsen makes his way through the crowd of gawkers and, with explosions going off behind him, states calmly, “Nothing to see here, please disperse. Nothing to see here, please.”
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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

Lightening the Cross

 

The secret of happiness is docility to God and generosity to the needy…
—POPE BENEDICT XVI, Nov 2nd, 2005, Zenit

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other…
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta

 

WE speak so much of how heavy our crosses are. But did you know that crosses can be light? Do you know what makes them lighter? It is love. The kind of love that Jesus spoke about: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