The Hour of Judas

 

THERE is a scene in the Wizard of Oz when the little mutt Toto pulls back the curtain and reveals the truth behind the “Wizard.” So too, in Christ’s Passion, the curtain is drawn back and Judas is revealed, setting in motion a chain of events that scatters and divides the flock of Christ…

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The Great Unveiling

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for April 11th, 2017
Tuesday of Holy Week

Liturgical texts here

 

Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until He has executed and performed
the thoughts of His heart.

In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
(Jeremiah 23:19-20)

 

JEREMIAH’s words are reminiscent of the prophet Daniel’s, who said something similar after he too received visions of the “latter days”:

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What If…?

What’s around the bend?

 

IN an open letter to the Pope, [1]cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming! I outlined to His Holiness the theological foundations for an “era of peace” as opposed to the heresy of millenarianism. [2]cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676 Indeed, Padre Martino Penasa posed the question on the scriptural foundation of an historic and universal era of peace versus millenarianism to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “È imminente una nuova era di vita cristiana?” (“Is a new era of Christian life imminent?”). The Prefect at that time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger replied, “La questione è ancora aperta alla libera discussione, giacchè la Santa Sede non si è ancora pronunciata in modo definitivo”:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!
2 cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676

The Popes, and the Dawning Era

Photo, Max Rossi/Reuters

 

THERE can be no doubt that the pontiffs of the last century have been exercising their prophetic office so as to awaken believers to the drama unfolding in our day (see Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting?). It is a decisive battle between the culture of life and the culture of death… the woman clothed with the sun—in labor to give birth to a new era—versus the dragon who seeks to destroy it, if not attempt to establish his own kingdom and “new age” (see Rev 12:1-4; 13:2). But while we know Satan will fail, Christ will not. The great Marian saint, Louis de Montfort, frames it well:

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Ministry Clan

The Mallett Clan

 

WRITING to you several thousand feet above the earth on my way to Missouri to give a “healing and strengthening” retreat with Annie Karto and Fr. Philip Scott, two wonderful servants of God’s love. This is the first time in a while that I’ve done any ministry outside my office. In the past few years, in discernment with my spiritual director, I feel that the Lord has asked me to leave behind most public events and focus on listening and writing to you, my dear readers. This year, I’m taking on a bit more outside ministry; it feels like a last “push” in some respects… I’ll have more announcements of upcoming dates shortly.

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When the Stones Cry Out

ON THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH,
SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

 

To repent is not just to 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 de Hueck Doherty, Kiss of Christ

 

GOD sends His people prophets, not because the Word Made Flesh is not sufficient, but because our reason, darkened by sin, and our faith, wounded by doubt, at times need the special light that Heaven gives in order to exhort us to “repent and believe the Good News.” [1]Mark 1:15 As the Baroness said, the world does not believe because Christians do not seem to believe either.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Mark 1:15

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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Hymn to the Divine Will

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 11th, 2017
Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

WHENEVER I have debated with atheists, I find that there is almost always an underlying judgment: Christians are judgmental prigs. Actually, it was a concern that Pope Benedict once expressed—that we might be putting the wrong foot foward:

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The Heart of God

The Heart of Jesus Christ, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta; R. Mulata (20th century) 

 

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…

 

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The Authentic Mercy

 

IT was the most cunning of lies in the Garden of Eden…

You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of [the fruit of the tree of knowledge] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil. (Sunday’s first reading)

Satan lured Adam and Eve with the sophistry that there was no law greater than themselves. That their conscience was the law; that “good and evil” was relative, and thus “pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” But as I explained last time, this lie has become an Anti-Mercy in our times that once again seeks to console the sinner by stroking his ego rather than healing him with the balm of mercy… authentic mercy.

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The Season of Joy

 

I like to call Lent the “season of joy.” That might seem odd given that we mark these days with ashes, fasting, reflection on the sorrowful Passion of Jesus, and of course, our own sacrifices and penances… But that’s precisely why Lent can and should become a season of joy for every Christian—and not just “at Easter.” The reason is this: the more we empty our hearts of “self” and all those idols that we’ve erected (which we imagine will bring us happiness)… the more room there is for God. And the more God lives in me, the more alive I am… the more I become like Him, who is Joy and Love itself.

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Judgment Begins With the Household

 Photo by EPA, at 6pm in Rome, February 11th, 2013
 

 

AS a young man, I dreamed of being a singer/songwriter, of dedicating my life to music. But it seemed too unrealistic and impractical. And so I went into mechanical engineering—a profession that paid well, but was totally unsuitable to my gifts and disposition. After three years, I made a leap into the world of television news. But my soul grew restless until the Lord eventually called me into full-time ministry. There, I thought I would live out my days as a singer of ballads. But God had other plans.

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The Winds of Change

“Mary’s Pope”; photo by Gabriel Bouys/Getty Images

 

First published May 10th, 2007… It’s interesting to note what is said at the end of this—the sense of a “pause” coming before the “Storm” would begin to swirl in greater and greater chaos as we begin to approach the “Eye.” I believe we are entering that chaos now, which also serves a purpose. More on that tomorrow… 

 

IN our last few concert tours of the United States and Canada, [1]My wife and our children at that time we have noticed that no matter where we go, strong sustained winds have followed us. At home now, these winds have barely taken a break. Others I have spoken to have also noticed an increase of winds.

It is a sign, I believe, of the presence of our Blessed Mother and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit. From the story of Our Lady of Fatima:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 My wife and our children at that time

Creation Reborn

 

 


THE “culture of death”, that Great Culling and The Great Poisoning, are not the final word. The havoc wreaked upon the planet by man is not the final say on human affairs. For neither the New nor the Old Testament speak of the end of the world after the influence and reign of the “beast.” Rather, they speak of a divine renovation of the earth where true peace and justice will reign for a time as the “knowledge of the Lord” spreads from sea to sea (cf. Is 11:4-9; Jer 31:1-6; Ezek 36:10-11; Mic 4:1-7; Zech 9:10; Matt 24:14; Rev 20:4).

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of nations will bow low before him. (Ps 22:28)

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And So, It Comes

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for February 13th-15th, 2017

Liturgical texts here

Cain slaying Abel, Titian, c. 1487—1576

 

This is an important writing for you and your family. It is an address to the hour in which humanity is now living. I have combined three meditations in one so that the flow of thought remains unbroken.There are some serious and powerful prophetic words here worth discerning at this hour….

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The Great Poisoning

 


FEW
writings have ever led me to the point of tears, as this one has. Three years ago, the Lord put it on my heart to write about The Great Poisoning. Since then, the poisoning of our world has only increased exponentially. The bottom line is that much of what we consume, drink, breathe, bathe and clean with, is toxic. The health and well-being of people all over the world are being compromised as cancer rates, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, allergies, auto-immune conditions and drug-resistant diseases continue to sky-rocket at alarming rates. And the cause of much of this is within an arm’s length of most people.

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A Catholic Answer to the Refugee Crisis

Refugees, courtesy Associated Press

 

IT is one of the most volatile topics in the world right now—and one of the least balanced discussions at that: refugees, and what do with the overwhelming exodus. St. John Paul II called the issue “perhaps the greatest tragedy of all the human tragedies of our time.” [1]Address to Refugees in Exile at Morong, Philippines, Feb. 21st, 1981 For some, the answer is simple: take them in, whenever, however many they are, and whomever they may be. For others, it is more complex, thereby demanding a more measured and restrained response; at stake, they say, is not only the safety and wellbeing of individuals fleeing violence and persecution, but the safety and stability of nations. If that is the case, what is the middle road, one that safeguards the dignity and lives of genuine refugees while at the same time safeguarding the common good? What is our response as Catholics to be?

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Address to Refugees in Exile at Morong, Philippines, Feb. 21st, 1981

Come Away With Me

 

While writing about the Storm of Fear, TemptationDivision, and Confusion recently, the writing below was lingering in the back of my mind. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the Apostles, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” [1]Mark 6:31 There is so much happening, so fast in our world as we approach the Eye of the Storm, that we risk getting disoriented and “lost” if we don’t heed our Master’s words… and enter into the solitude of prayer where He can, as the Psalmist says, give “me repose beside restful waters”. 

First published April 28th, 2015…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Mark 6:31

A Matter of the Heart

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Monday, January 30th, 2017

Liturgical texts here

A monk praying; photo by Tony O’Brien, Christ in the Desert Monastery

 

THE Lord has put many things on my heart to write you in just the past few days. Again, there is a certain sense that time is of the essence. Since God is in eternity, I know this sense of urgency, then, is merely a nudge to wake us up, to stir us again to vigilance and Christ’s perennial words to “watch and pray.” Many of us do a fairly thorough job of watching… but if we do not also pray, things will go badly, very badly in these times (see Hell Unleashed). For what is needed most at this hour is not knowledge so much as divine wisdom. And this, dear friends, is a matter of the heart.

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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

The Storm of Confusion

“You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14)

 

AS I attempt to pen this writing to you today, I confess, I have had to start over several times. The reason is that The Storm of Fear to doubt God and His promises, The Storm of Temptation to turn to worldly solutions and security, and The Storm of Division that has sown judgments and suspicions in people’s hearts… means that many are losing their capacity to trust as they are engulfed in a whirlwind of confusion. And so, I ask you to bear with me, to be patient as I too pick the dust and debris from my eyes (it’s awfully windy up here on the wall!). There is a way through this Storm of Confusion, but it will demand your trust—not in me—but in Jesus, and the Ark He is providing. There are crucial and practical things I will address. But first, a few “now words” on the present moment and the big picture…

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The Storm of Division

Hurricane Sandy, Photograph by Ken Cedeno, Corbis Images

 

WHETHER it has been global politics, the recent American presidential campaign, or family relationships, we are living in a time when divisions are becoming more glaring, intense and bitter. In fact, the more we are connected by social media, the more divided we seem to be as Facebook, forums, and comment sections become a platform by which to disparage the other—even one’s own kin… even one’s own pope. I receive letters from all over the world that mourn the terrible divisions that many are experiencing, particularly within their families. And now we are seeing the remarkable and perhaps even prophesied disunity of “cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops” as foretold by Our Lady of Akita in 1973.

The question, then, is how to bring yourself, and hopefully your family, through this Storm of Division?

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The Storm of Temptation

Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images

 

TEMPTATION is as old as human history. But what is new about temptation in our times is that sin has never been so accessible, so pervasive, and so acceptable. It could rightly be said that there is a veritable deluge of impurity sweeping through the world. And this has a profound effect upon us in three ways. One, is that it attacks the innocence of the soul just to be exposed to the most egregious evils; second, the constant near occasion of sin leads to weariness; and thirdly, the frequent fall of the Christian into these sins, even venial, begins to whittle away contentment and his or her confidence in God leading to anxiety, discouragement, and depression, thereby obscuring the joyful counter-witness of the Christian in the world.

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Why Faith?

Artist Unknown

 

For by grace you have been saved
through faith… (Eph 2:8)

 

HAVE you ever wondered why it is through “faith” that we are saved? Why doesn’t Jesus just appear to the world announcing that He has reconciled us to the Father, and call us to repent? Why does He often seem so distant, so untouchable, intangible, such that we sometimes have to wrestle with doubts? Why doesn’t He walk among us again, producing many miracles and letting us look into His eyes of love?  

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The Storm of Fear

 

IT can be almost fruitless to speak of how to battle against the storms of temptation, division, confusion, oppression, and such unless we have an unshakable confidence in God’s love for us. That is the context for not only this discussion, but for the entire Gospel.

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Coming Through the Storm

Fort Lauderdale Airport aftermath… when will the madness end?  Courtesy nydailynews.com

 

THERE has been a great deal of attention on this website to the exterior dimensions of the Storm that has descended upon the world… a Storm that has been in the making for centuries, if not millenia. However, what is most important is being aware of the interior aspects of the Storm that are raging in many souls that are becoming more evident by the day: the storm surge of temptation, the winds of division, the rainfall of errors, the roar of oppression, and so forth. Nearly every red-blooded male I encounter these days is struggling against pornography. Families and marriages everywhere are being torn asunder by divisions and fighting. Errors and confusion are spreading regarding moral absolutes and the nature of authentic love… Few, it seems, realize what is happening, and it can be explained in one simple Scripture:

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Christmas is Never Over

 

CHRISTMAS is over? You’d think so by the world’s standards. The “top forty” has replaced Christmas music; sales signs have replaced ornaments; lights have been dimmed and Christmas trees kicked to the curb. But for us as Catholic Christians, we are still in the midst of a contemplative gaze at the Word who has become flesh—God become man. Or at least, it should be so. We still await the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles, to those Magi who travel from afar to see the Messiah, the one who is to “shepherd” God’s people. This “epiphany” (commemorated this Sunday) is, in fact, the pinnacle of Christmas, because it reveals that Jesus is no longer “just” for the Jews, but for every man, woman and child who wanders in darkness.

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Jesus

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Saturday, December 31st, 2016
The Seventh Day of the Nativity of Our Lord and
Vigil of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God

Liturgical texts here


Embracing Hope, by Léa Mallett

 

THERE is one word on my heart on this eve of the Solemnity of the Mother of God:

Jesus.

This is the “now word” on the threshold of 2017, the “now word” I hear Our Lady prophesying over the nations and the Church, over families and souls:

JESUS.

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The Sifted

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 26th, 2016
Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr

Liturgical texts here

St. Stephen the Martyr, Bernardo Cavallino (d. 1656)

 

To be a martyr is to feel the storm coming and willingly to endure it at the call of duty, for Christ’s sake, and for the good of the brethren. —Blessed John Henry Newman, from Magnificat, Dec. 26th, 2016

 

IT may seem odd that, the very next day after the joyful feast of Christmas Day, we commemorate the martyrdom of the first professed Christian. And yet, it is most fitting, because this Babe whom we adore is also a Babe whom we must follow—from the crib to the Cross. While the world races to the nearest stores for “Boxing Day” sales, Christians are called on this day to flee from the world and refocus their eyes and hearts upon eternity. And that requires a renewed renunciation of self—most especially, the renunciation of being liked, accepted, and blended into the landscape of the world. And this all the more as those who hold fast to moral absolutes and Sacred Tradition today are being labeled as “haters”, “rigid”, “intolerant”, “dangerous”, and “terrorists” of the common good.

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Prisoner of Love

“Baby Jesus” by Deborah Woodall

 

HE comes to us as a baby… gently, quietly, helplessly. He does not arrive with a retinue of guards or with an overwhelming apparition. He comes as an infant, his hands and feet powerless to hurt anyone. He comes as if to say,

I have not come to condemn you, but to give you life.

A baby. A prisoner of love. 

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Our Compass

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 21st, 2016

Liturgical texts here

 

IN the Spring of 2014, I went through a terrible darkness. I felt tremendous doubts, surges of fear, despair, terror, and abandonment. I began one day with prayer as usual, and then… she came.

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The Kingdom Will Never End

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

Liturgical texts here

The Annunciation; Sandro Botticelli; 1485

 

AMONG the most powerful and prophetic words spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel was the promise that her Son’s Kingdom would never end. This is good news for those who fear that the Catholic Church is in its death throws…

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Capitalism and the Beast

 

YES, God’s Word will be vindicated… but standing in the way, or at least trying to, will be what St. John calls a “beast.” It is a false kingdom offering to the world a false hope and false security through technology, transhumanism, and a generic spirituality that makes “a pretense of religion but denies its power.” [1]2 Tim 3:5 That is, it will be Satan’s version of the kingdom of God—without God. It will be so convincing, so seemingly reasonable, so irresistible, that the world in general will “worship” it. [2]Rev 13:12 The word for worship here in the Latin is adorare: people will “adore” the Beast.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 2 Tim 3:5
2 Rev 13:12

Vindication and Glory

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. John of the Cross

Liturgical texts here


From the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1511

 

“OH well, I tried.”

Somehow, after thousands of years of salvation history, the suffering, death and Resurrection of the Son of God, the arduous journey of the Church and her saints through the centuries… I doubt those will be the Lord’s words in the end. Scripture tells us otherwise:

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The Great Deliverance

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Lucy

Liturgical texts here

 

AMONG the Old Testament prophets who foretell a great purification of the world followed by an era of peace is Zephaniah. He echoes what Isaiah, Ezekiel and others foresee: that a Messiah will come and judge the nations and establish His reign on earth. What they did not realize is that His reign would be spiritual in nature in order to fulfil the words that the Messiah would one day teach God’s people to pray: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

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Living the Book of Revelation


The Woman Clothed with the Sun, by John Collier

ON THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

 

This writing is an important backdrop to what I want to write next on the “beast”. The last three popes (and Benedict XVI and John Paul II in particular) have indicated rather explicitly that we are living the Book of Revelation. But first, a letter I received from a beautiful young priest:

I rarely miss a Now Word post.  I’ve found your writing to be very balanced, well researched, and pointing each reader toward something very important: faithfulness to Christ and His Church. Over the course of this past year I’ve been experiencing (I can’t really explain it) a sense that we are living in the end times (I know you’ve been writing about this for awhile but it’s really only been the last year and half that it’s been hitting me).  There are too many signs that seem to indicate that something is about to happen.  Lot’s to pray about that’s for sure! But a deep sense above all to trust and to draw close to the Lord and our Blessed Mother.

The following was first published November 24th, 2010…

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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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Hiding in Plain Sight

 

NOT long after we were married, my wife planted our first garden. She took me for a tour pointing out the potatoes, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, corn, etc. After she finished showing me the rows, I turned to her and said, “But where’s the pickles?” She looked at me, pointed to a row and said, “The cucumbers are there.”

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Comfort in His Coming

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 6th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Nicholas

Liturgical texts here

jesusspirit

 

IS it possible that, this Advent, we are truly preparing for the coming of Jesus? If we listen to what the popes have been saying (The Popes, and the Dawning Era), to what Our Lady is saying (Is Jesus Really Coming?), to what the Church Fathers are saying (The Middle Coming), and put all the pieces together (Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!), the answer is an emphatic “yes!” Not that Jesus is coming this December 25th. And nor is He coming in a way that evangelical movie flicks have been suggesting, preceded by a rapture, etc. It is a coming of Christ within the hearts of the faithful to bring to fulfillment all the promises of Scripture that we are reading this month in the book of Isaiah.

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Can We Have This Discussion?

wontlisten

 

SEVERAL weeks ago, I wrote that it is time for me ‘to speak directly, boldly, and without apology to the “remnant” who are listening. It is only a remnant of readers now, not because they are special, but chosen; it is a remnant, not because all are not invited, but few respond.’ [1]cf. The Convergence and the Blessing That is, I have spent ten years writing about the times we live in, constantly referencing Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium so as to bring balance to a discussion that perhaps too frequently relies only on private revelation. Nonetheless, there are some who simply feel any discussion of the “end times” or the crises we face is too gloomy, negative, or fanatical—and so they simply delete and unsubscribe. So be it. Pope Benedict was pretty straightforward about such souls:

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Footnotes

The Tiger in the Cage

 

The following meditation is based on today’s second Mass reading of the first day of Advent 2016. In order to be an effective player in the Counter-Revolution, we must first have a real revolution of the heart… 

 

I am like a tiger in a cage.

Through Baptism, Jesus has thrown open the door of my prison and set me free… and yet, I find myself pacing back and forth in the same rut of sin. The door is open, but I do not run headlong into the Wilderness of Freedom… the plains of joy, the mountains of wisdom, the waters of refreshment… I can see them in the distance, and yet I remain a prisoner of my own accord. Why? Why don’t I run? Why am I hesitating? Why do I stay in this shallow rut of sin, of dirt, bones, and waste, pacing back and forth, back and forth?

Why?

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