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Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!

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TO His Holiness, Pope Francis:

 

Dear Holy Father,

Throughout the pontificate of your predecessor, St. John Paul II, he continually invoked us, the youth of the Church, to become “morning watchmen at the dawn of the new millennium.” [1]POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9; (cf. Is 21:11-12)

…watchmen who proclaim to the world a new dawn of hope, brotherhood and peace. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Guanelli Youth Movement, April 20th, 2002, www.vatican.va

From Ukraine to Madrid, Peru to Canada, he beckoned us to become “protagonists of the new times” [2]POPE JOHN PAUL II, Welcome Ceremony, International Airport of Madrid-Baraja, May 3rd, 2003; www.fjp2.com that lay directly ahead of the Church and the world:

Dear young people, it is up to you to be the watchmen of the morning who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ! —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World, XVII World Youth Day, n. 3; (cf. Is 21:11-12)

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9; (cf. Is 21:11-12)
↑2 POPE JOHN PAUL II, Welcome Ceremony, International Airport of Madrid-Baraja, May 3rd, 2003; www.fjp2.com

Two New Albums… Sneak Preview!

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AT long last, my two new albums are complete! They are being sent off for manufacturing shortly, meaning they will be available toward the end of May. It’s been such a long and challenging road with so many unexpected delays, costs, and long, long nights. In the end, there are fifteen brand new songs recorded from Virginia to Vancouver, Edmonton to Nashville. The first album is called “Vulnerable”, songs I wrote over the years from a place of vulnerability in the face of the inevitable losses that we all experience from time to time. Judging by the reactions I have seen to those who have had a chance to hear the songs, I believe people are going to be deeply moved by this music.

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Jesus is Here!

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WHY do our souls become tepid and weak, cold and sleepy?

The answer in part is because we often do not stay near the “Sun” of God, most especially, near to where He is: the Eucharist. It is precisely in the Eucharist that you and I—like St. John—will find the grace and strength to “stand beneath the Cross”…

 

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Prophecy, Popes, and Piccarreta

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Prayer, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

SINCE the abdication of Peter’s seat by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, there have been many questions surrounding private revelation, some prophecies, and certain prophets. I will attempt to answer those questions here…

I. You occasionally refer to “prophets.” But didn’t prophecy and the line of prophets end with John the Baptist?

II. We don’t have to believe in any private revelation though, do we?

III. You wrote recently that Pope Francis is not an “anti-pope”, as a current prophecy alleges. But wasn’t Pope Honorius a heretic, and therefore, couldn’t the current pope be the “False Prophet”?

IV. But how can a prophecy or prophet be false if their messages ask us to pray the Rosary, Chaplet, and partake in the Sacraments?

V. Can we trust the prophetic writings of the Saints?

VI. How come you do not write more about Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta?

 

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So, What Time is It?

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Nearing Midnight…

 

 

ACCORDING to the revelations Jesus gave to St. Faustina, we are on the threshold of the “day of justice”, the Day of the Lord, after this “time of mercy”. The Church Fathers compared the Day of the Lord to a solar day (see Faustina, and the Day of the Lord). A question then is, how close are we to midnight, the darkest part of the Day—the advent of Antichrist? Although the “antichrist” cannot be restricted to one single individual, [1]As far as the antichrist is concerned, we have seen that in the New Testament he always assumes the lineaments of contemporary history. He cannot be restricted to any single individual. One and the same he wears many masks in each generation. —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Dogmatic Theology, Eschatology 9, Johann Auer and Joseph Ratzinger, 1988, p. 199-200 as St. John taught, [2]cf. 1 John 2:18 Tradition holds that there will indeed come one central character, “the son of perdition,” in the “end times.” [3] …before the Lord’s arrival there will be apostasy, and one well described as the “man of lawlessness”, “the son of perdition” must be revealed, who tradition would come to call the Antichrist. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, “Whether at the end of time or during a tragic lack of peace: Come Lord Jesus!”, L’Osservatore Romano, Nov. 12th, 2008

Of the coming of Antichrist, Scripture tells us to watch for essentially five chief signs:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 As far as the antichrist is concerned, we have seen that in the New Testament he always assumes the lineaments of contemporary history. He cannot be restricted to any single individual. One and the same he wears many masks in each generation. —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Dogmatic Theology, Eschatology 9, Johann Auer and Joseph Ratzinger, 1988, p. 199-200
↑2 cf. 1 John 2:18
↑3 …before the Lord’s arrival there will be apostasy, and one well described as the “man of lawlessness”, “the son of perdition” must be revealed, who tradition would come to call the Antichrist. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, “Whether at the end of time or during a tragic lack of peace: Come Lord Jesus!”, L’Osservatore Romano, Nov. 12th, 2008

Faustina, and the Day of the Lord

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Dawn…

 

 

WHAT does the future hold? That’s a question nearly everyone is asking these days as they watch the unprecedented “signs of the times.” This is what Jesus said to St. Faustina:

Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 848 

And again, He says to her:

You will prepare the world for My final coming. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 429

At first glance, it would appear that the message of Divine Mercy is preparing us for the imminent return of Jesus in glory and the end of the world. When asked if this is what St. Faustina’s words meant, Pope Benedict XVI answered:

If one took this statement in a chronological sense, as an injunction to get ready, as it were, immediately for the Second Coming, it would be false. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Light of the World, A Conversation with Peter Seewald, p. 180-181

The answer lies in understanding what is meant by “the day of justice,” or what is commonly referred to as “the Day of the Lord”…

 

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Authentic Hope

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CHRIST IS RISEN!

ALLELUIA!

 

 

BROTHERS and sisters, how can we not feel hope on this glorious day? And yet, I know in reality, many of you are uneasy as we read headlines of the beating drums of war, of economic collapse, and growing intolerance for the Church’s moral positions. And many are tired and turned off by the constant stream of profanity, lewdness and violence that fills our airwaves and internet.

It is precisely at the end of the second millennium that immense, threatening clouds converge on the horizon of all humanity and darkness descends upon human souls. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, from a speech (translated from Italian), December, 1983; www.vatican.va

That is our reality. And I can write “be not afraid” over and over again, and yet many remain anxious and worried about many things.

First, we have to realize authentic hope is always conceived in the womb of truth, otherwise, it risks being false hope. Second, hope is so much more than simply “positive words.” In fact, the words are merely invitations. Christ’s three year ministry was one of invitation, but the actual hope was conceived on the Cross. It was then incubated and birthed in the Tomb. This, dear friends, is the path of authentic hope for you and I in these times…

 

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Involuntary Dispossession

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THE Gospel calls us to share our possessions with one another, particularly the poor—a voluntary dispossession of our goods and our time. However, the anti-gospel calls for a sharing of goods that flows, not from the heart, but from a political system that controls and distributes wealth according to the whims of the State. This is known by many forms, particularly that of Communism, which was birthed in 1917 in the Moscow revolution led by Vladimir Lenin.

Seven years ago when this writing apostolate began, I saw a strong image in my heart that I wrote about in The Great Meshing:

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Voluntary Dispossession

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birth-death-ap 
Birth/Death, Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

WITHIN only a week of his elevation to the Seat of Peter, Pope Francis I has already given the Church his first encyclical: the teaching of Christian simplicity. There is no document, no pronouncement, no publication—just the powerful witness of an authentic life of Christian poverty.

With nearly every passing day, we see the thread of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio’s life-before-pope continuing to weave itself into the upholstery of Peter’s seat. Yes, that first pope was just a fisherman, a poor, simple fisherman (the first threads were mere fishing net). When Peter descended the steps of the Upper Room (and began his ascent of the heavenly steps), he was not accompanied by a security detail, even though the threat against the newborn Church was real. He walked among the poor, the sick, and the lame: “bergoglio-kissing-feetSilver and gold, have I none, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rises and walk.”  [1]cf. Acts 3:6 So too, Pope Francis has ridden the bus, walked among the crowds, lowered his bullet-proof shield, and let us “taste and see” the love of Christ. He even personally phoned to cancel his newspaper delivery back in Argentina. [2]www.catholicnewsagency.com

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Acts 3:6
↑2 www.catholicnewsagency.com

Snopocalypse!

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YESTERDAY in prayer, I heard the words in my heart:

The winds of change are blowing and will not cease now until I have purified and cleansed the world.

And with that, a storm of storms came upon us! We woke up this morning to snow banks up to 15 feet in our yard! Most of it was the result, not of snowfall, but strong, unrelenting winds. I went outside and—in between sliding down the white mountains with my sons—snapped a few shots around the farm on a cellphone to share with my readers. I have never seen a wind storm produce results like this!

Admittedly, it’s not quite what I envisioned for the first day of Spring. (I see I’m booked to speak in California next week. Thank God….)

 

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Protector and Defender

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AS I read Pope Francis’ installation homily, I couldn’t help but think of my little encounter with the Blessed Mother’s alleged words six days ago while praying before the Blessed Sacrmament.

Sitting in front of me was a copy of Fr. Stefano Gobbi’s book To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, messages that have received the Imprimatur and other theological endorsements. [1]Fr. Gobbi’s messages predicted the culmination of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart by the year 2000. Obviously, this prediction was either wrong or delayed. Nonetheless, these meditations still provide timely and relevant inspirations. As St. Paul says regarding prophecy, “Retain what is good.” I sat back in my chair and asked the Blessed Mother, who allegedly gave these messages to the late Fr. Gobbi, if she has anything to say about our new pope. The number “567” popped into my head, and so I turned to it. It was a message given to Fr. Stefano in Argentina on March 19th, the Feast of St. Joseph, exactly 17 years ago to this day that Pope Francis officially takes the seat of Peter. At the time I wrote Two Pillars and the New Helmsman, I did not have a copy of the book in front of me. But I want to quote here now a portion of what the Blessed Mother says that day, followed by excerpts from Pope Francis’ homily given today. I can’t help but feel that the Holy Family is wrapping their arms around all of us at this decisive moment in time…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Fr. Gobbi’s messages predicted the culmination of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart by the year 2000. Obviously, this prediction was either wrong or delayed. Nonetheless, these meditations still provide timely and relevant inspirations. As St. Paul says regarding prophecy, “Retain what is good.”

Just Today

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GOD wants to slow us down. More than that, He wants us to rest, even in chaos. Jesus never rushed to His Passion. He took the time to have a last meal, a last teaching, an intimate moment of washing another’s feet. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He set aside time to pray, to gather His strength, to seek the will of the Father. So as the Church approaches her own Passion, we too should imitate our Savior and become a people of rest. In fact, only in this way can we possibly offer ourselves as true instruments of “salt and light.”

What does it mean to “rest”?

When you die, all worrying, all restlessness, all passions cease, and the soul is suspended in a state of stillness… a state of rest. Meditate on this, for that should be our state in this life, since Jesus calls us to a state of “dying” while we live:

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it…. I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. (Matt 16:24-25; John 12:24)

Of course, in this life, we cannot help but wrestle with our passions and struggle with our weaknesses. The key, then, is not to let yourself be caught up in the rushing currents and impulses of the flesh, in the tossing waves of the passions. Rather, dive deep into the soul where the Waters of the Spirit are still.

We do this by living in a state of trust.

 

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Two Pillars & The New Helmsman

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Photo by Gregorio Borgia, AP

 

 

I say to you, you are Peter, and
upon
this
rock
I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld
shall not prevail against it.
(Matt 16:18)

 

WE were driving over the frozen ice road on Lake Winnipeg yesterday when I glanced at my cellphone. The last message I received before our signal faded was “Habemus Papam!”

This morning, I have been able to find a local here on this remote Indian reserve who has a satellite connection—and with that, our first images of The New Helmsman. A faithful, humble, solid Argentinian.

A rock.

A few days ago, I was inspired to reflect on the dream of St. John Bosco in Living the Dream? sensing the anticipation that Heaven would grant the Church a helmsman who would continue to steer the Barque of Peter between the Two Pillars of Bosco’s dream.

The new Pope, putting the enemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host; and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.—https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/01/pope-benedict-and-the-two-columns/

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Living the Dream?

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AS I mentioned recently, the word remains strong on my heart, “You are entering dangerous days.” Yesterday, with an “intensity” and “eyes which seemed filled with shadows and concern,” a Cardinal turned to a Vatican blogger and said, “It is a dangerous time. Pray for us.” [1]March 11th, 2013, www.themoynihanletters.com

Yes, there is a sense that the Church is entering unchartered waters. She has faced many trials, some very grave, in her two thousand years of history. But our times are different…

…ours has a darkness different in kind from any that has been before it. The special peril of the time before us is the spread of that plague of infidelity, that the Apostles and our Lord Himself have predicted as the worst calamity of the last times of the Church. And at least a shadow, a typical image of the last times is coming over the world. —Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), sermon at opening of St. Bernard’s Seminary, October 2, 1873, The Infidelity of the Future

And yet, there is an excitement rising up in my soul, a sense of the anticipation of Our Lady and Our Lord. For we are on the cusp of the greatest trials and the greatest victories of the Church.

 

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 March 11th, 2013, www.themoynihanletters.com

The Question on Questioning Prophecy

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The “empty” Chair of Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy

 

THE past two weeks, the words keep rising in my heart, “You have entered dangerous days…” And for good reason.

The enemies of the Church are many from both within and without. Of course, this is nothing new. But what is new is the current zeitgeist, the prevailing winds of intolerance toward Catholicism on a near global scale. While atheism and moral relativism continue to strike at the hull of the Barque of Peter, the Church is not without her internal divisions.

For one, there is building steam in some quarters of the Church that the next Vicar of Christ will be an anti-pope. I wrote about this in Possible… or Not? In response, the bulk of letters I’ve received are grateful for clearing the air on what the Church teaches and for putting an end to tremendous confusion. At the same time, one writer accused me of blasphemy and putting my soul at risk; another of overstepping my bounds; and yet another saying that my writing on this was more of a danger to the Church than the actual prophecy itself. While this was going on, I had evangelical Christians reminding me that the Catholic Church is Satanic, and traditionalist Catholics saying I was damned for following any pope after Pius X.

No, it is not surprising that a pope has resigned. What is surprising is that it took 600 years since the last one.

I am reminded again of Blessed Cardinal Newman’s words that are now blasting like a trumpet above the earth:

Satan may adopt the more alarming weapons of deceit—he may hide himself—he may attempt to seduce us in little things, and so to move the Church, not all at once, but by little and little from her true position… It is his policy to split us up and divide us, to dislodge us gradually from our rock of strength. And if there is to be a persecution, perhaps it will be then; then, perhaps, when we are all of us in all parts of Christendom so divided, and so reduced, so full of schism, so close upon heresy… and Antichrist appear as a persecutor, and the barbarous nations around break in. —Venerable John Henry Newman, Sermon IV: The Persecution of Antichrist

 

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Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos

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Photo by Oli Kekäläinen

 

 

First published on April 17th, 2011, I woke up this morning sensing the Lord wanted me to republish this. The main point is at the end, and the need for wisdom. For new readers, the rest of this meditation can also serve as a wake-up call to the seriousness of our times….

 

SOME time ago, I listened on the radio to a news story about a serial killer somewhere on the loose in New York, and all the horrified responses. My first reaction was anger at the stupidity of this generation. Do we seriously believe that constantly glorifying psychopathic killers, mass murderers, vile rapists, and war in our “entertainment” has no effect on our emotional and spiritual well-being? A quick glance at the shelves of a movie rental store reveals a culture so dumbed down, so oblivious, so blinded to the reality of our internal sickness that we actually believe our obsession with sexual idolatry, horror, and violence is normal.

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The Fundamental Problem

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St. Peter who was given “the keys of the kingdom “
 

 

I HAVE received a number of emails, some from Catholics who aren’t sure how to answer their “evangelical” family members, and others from fundamentalists who are certain the Catholic Church is neither biblical nor Christian. Several letters contained long explanations why they feel this Scripture means this and why they think this quote means that. After reading these letters, and considering the hours it would take to respond to them, I thought I would address instead the fundamental problem: just who exactly has the authority to interpret Scripture?

 

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TruNews Interview

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MARK MALLETT was the guest on TruNews.com, an evangelical radio podcast, on February 28th, 2013. With host, Rick Wiles, they discussed the resignation of the Pope, apostasy in the Church, and the theology of the “end times” from a Catholic perspective.

An evangelical Christian interviewing a Catholic in a rare interview! Listen in at:

TruNews.com

Possible… or Not?

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APTOPIX VATICAN PALM SUNDAYPhoto courtesy The Globe and Mail
 
 

IN light of recent historic events in the papacy, and this, the last working day of Benedict XVI, two current prophecies in particular are gaining traction among believers regarding the next pope. I am asked about them constantly in person as well as by email. So, I am compelled to finally give a timely response.

The problem is that the following prophecies are diametrically opposed to one another. One or both of them, therefore, cannot be true….

 

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The Hour of the Laity

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World Youth Day

 

 

WE are entering a most profound period of purification of the Church and the planet. The signs of the times are all around us as the upheaval in nature, the economy, and social and political stability speaks of a world on the verge of a Global Revolution. Thus, I believe we are also approaching the hour of God’s “last effort” before the “day of justice” arrives (see The Last Effort), as St. Faustina recorded in her diary. Not the end of the world, but the end of an era:

Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 848

Blood and Water is pouring forth this moment from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is this mercy gushing forth from the Heart of the Savior that is the final effort to…

…withdraw [mankind] from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.—St. Margaret Mary (1647-1690), sacredheartdevotion.com

It is for this that I believe we have been called into The Bastion—a time of intense prayer, focus, and preparation as the Winds of Change gather strength. For the heavens and earth are going to shake, and God is going to concentrate His love into one last moment of grace before the world is purified. [1]see The Eye of the Storm and The Great Earthquake It is for this time that God has prepared a little army, primarily of the laity.

 

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Footnotes

A Black Pope?

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SINCE Pope Benedict XVI renounced his office, I have received several emails asking about papal prophecies, from St. Malachi to contemporary private revelation. Most notable are modern prophecies that are completely opposed to one another. One “seer” claims that Benedict XVI will be the last true pope and that any future popes will not be from God, while another speaks of a chosen soul prepared to lead the Church through tribulations. I can tell you now that at least one of the above “prophecies” directly contradicts Sacred Scripture and Tradition. 

Given the rampant speculation and real confusion spreading throughout many quarters, it is good to revisit this writing on what Jesus and His Church have consistently taught and understood for 2000 years. Let me just add this brief prologue: if I were the devil—at this moment in the Church and the world—I would do my best to discredit the priesthood, undermine the Holy Father’s authority, sow doubt in the Magisterium, and attempt to make the faithful believe that they can only rely now upon their own inner instincts and private revelation.

That, simply, is a recipe for deception.

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The Sixth Day

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

 

 

FOR some reason, a deep sorrow came over me in April of 2012, which was immediately after the Pope’s trip to Cuba. That sorrow culminated in a writing three weeks later called Removing the Restrainer. It speaks in part about how the Pope and the Church are a force restraining the “lawless one,” the Antichrist. Little did I or hardly anyone know that the Holy Father decided then, after that trip, to renounce his office, which he did this past February 11th of 2013.

This resignation has brought us closer to the threshold of the Day of the Lord…

 

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The Pope: Thermometer of Apostasy

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BenedictCandle

As I asked Our Blessed Mother to guide my writing this morning, immediately this meditation from March 25th, 2009 came to mind:

 

HAVING traveled and preached in over 40 American states and nearly all of Canada’s provinces, I have been afforded a wide-ranging glimpse of the Church on this continent. I have met many wonderful lay people, deeply committed priests, and devoted and reverent religious. But they have become so few in number that I am beginning to hear the words of Jesus in a new and startling way:

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?(Luke 18:8)

It is said that if you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. But if you slowly heat the water, it will remain in the pot and boil to death. The Church in many parts of the world is beginning to reach the boiling point. If you want to know how hot the water is, watch the attack upon Peter.

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A Day of Grace…

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Audience with Pope Benedict XVI — Presenting the Pope my music

 

Eight years ago in 2005, my wife came bounding into the room with some shocking news: “Cardinal Ratzinger has just been elected Pope!” Today, the news is no less shocking that, after several centuries, our times will see the first pope to resign his office. My mailbox this morning has questions from ‘what does this mean in the scope of the “end times”?’, to ‘will there now be a “black pope“?’, etc. Rather than elaborate or speculate at this time, the first thought that comes to mind is the unexpected meeting I had with Pope Benedict in October of 2006, and the way it all unfolded…. From a letter to my readers on October 24th, 2006:

 

DEAR friends,

I write you this evening from my hotel just a stone’s throw from St. Peter’s Square. These have been grace-filled days. Of course, many of you are wondering if I met the Pope… 

The reason for my trip here was to sing at a concert October 22nd to honor the 25th anniversary of the John Paul II Foundation, as well as the 28th anniversary of the late pontiff’s installation as pope on October 22nd, 1978. 

 

A CONCERT FOR POPE JOHN PAUL II

As we rehearsed several times over the course of two days for the event which will be televised nationally in Poland next week, I began to feel out of place. I was surrounded by some of the greatest talents in Poland, incredible singers and musicians. At one point, I went outside to get some fresh air and walk along an ancient Roman wall. I began to pine, “Why am I here, Lord? I don’t fit in amongst these giants!” I cannot tell you how I know, but I sensed John Paul II reply in my heart, “That is why you are here, because you are so small.”

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The Near Occasion of Sin

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THERE is a simple but beautiful prayer called “The Act of Contrition” prayed by the penitent at the end of Confession:

O my God, I am sorry with all my heart for having sinned against You. I detest all of my sins because of Your just punishment, but most of all because they offend You my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.

The “near occasion of sin.” Those four words can save you.

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The Heart of the New Revolution

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IT seemed like a benign philosophy—deism. That the world was indeed created by God… but then left for man to sort it out himself and determine his own destiny. It was a little lie, born in the 16th century, that was a catalyst in part for the “Enlightenment” period, which gave birth to atheistic materialism, which was embodied by Communism, which has prepared the soil for where we are today: on the threshold of a Global Revolution.

The Global Revolution taking place today is unlike anything seen before. It certainly has political-economic dimensions like past revolutions. In fact, the very conditions that led to the French Revolution (and its violent persecution of the Church) are among us today in several parts of the world: high unemployment, food shortages, and anger fomenting against the authority of both Church and State. In fact, the conditions today are ripe for upheaval (read The Seven Seals of Revolution).

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So, What Do I Do?

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Hope of the Drowning, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

AFTER a talk I gave to a group of university students on what the popes have been saying about the “end times”, a young man pulled me aside with a question. “So, if we are living in the “end times,” what are we supposed to do about it?” It’s an excellent question, which I went on to answer in my next talk with them.

These webpages exist for a reason: to propel us toward God! But I know it provokes other questions: “What am I to do?” “How does this change my current situation?” “Should I be doing more to prepare?”

I’ll let Paul VI answer the question, and then expand on it:

There is a great uneasiness at this time in the world and in the Church, and that which is in question is the faith. It so happens now that I repeat to myself the obscure phrase of Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke: ‘When the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on the earth?’…I sometimes read the Gospel passage of the end times and I attest that, at this time, some signs of this end are emerging. Are we close to the end? This we will never know. We must always hold ourselves in readiness, but everything could last a very long time yet. —POPE PAUL VI, The Secret Paul VI, Jean Guitton, p. 152-153, Reference (7), p. ix.

 

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Warning from the Past

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Auschwitz “Death Camp”

 

AS my readers know, at the beginning of 2008, I received in prayer that it would be “the Year of the Unfolding.” That we would begin to see the collapse of the economic, then social, then political order. Clearly, everything is on schedule for those with eyes to see.

But last year, my meditation on “Mystery Babylon” put a new perspective on everything. It places the United States of America at a very central role in the rise of a New World Order. The late Venezuelan mystic, Servant of God Maria Esperanza, perceived on some level the importance of America—that her rise or fall would determine the fate of the world:

I feel the United States has to save the world… —The Bridge to Heaven: Interviews with Maria Esperanza of Betania, by Michael H. Brown, p. 43

But clearly the corruption that laid waste to the Roman Empire is dissolving the foundations of America—and rising in their place is something strangely familiar. Quite frighteningly familiar. Please take the time to read this post below from my archives of November 2008, at the time of the American election. This is a spiritual, not a political reflection. It will challenge many, anger others, and hopefully awaken many more. We always face the danger of evil overcoming us if we do not remain vigilant. Hence, this writing is not an accusation, but a warning… a warning from the past.

I have more to write on this subject and how, what is happening in America and the world at large, was actually foretold by Our Lady of Fatima. However, in prayer today, I sensed the Lord telling me to focus in the next few weeks solely on getting my albums done. That they, somehow, have a part to play in the prophetic aspect of my ministry (see Ezekiel 33, particularly verses 32-33). His will be done!

Lastly, please keep me in your prayers. Without explaining it, I think you can imagine the spiritual attack on this ministry, and my family. God bless you. You all remain in my daily petitions….

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Open Wide the Draft of Your Heart

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HAS your heart grown cold? There’s usually a good reason, and Mark gives you four possibilities in this inspiring webcast. Watch this all-new Embracing Hope webcast with author and host Mark Mallett:

Open Wide the Draft of Your Heart

Go to: www.embracinghope.tv to watch other webcasts by Mark.

 

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The Sacrament of the Present Moment

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HEAVEN’S treasuries are wide-open.  God is pouring tremendous graces upon whomever will ask for them in these days of change.  Regarding His mercy, Jesus once lamented to St. Faustina,

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 of St. Faustina, n. 177

The question then, is how to receive these graces? While God may pour them out in very miraculous or supernatural ways, such as in the Sacraments, I believe they are constantly available to us through the ordinary course of our daily lives. To be more precise, they are to be found in the present moment.

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Does He Hear the Cry of the Poor?

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“YES, we should love our enemies and pray for their conversions,” she agreed. “But I am angry over those who destroy innocence and goodness. This world has lost its appeal to me! Wouldn’t Christ come running to His Bride who is increasingly abused and crying out?”

These were the sentiments of a friend of mine whom I spoke with after one of my ministry events. I pondered her thoughts, emotional, yet reasonable. “What you’re asking,” I said, “is if God hears the cry of the poor?”

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The Stones of Contradiction

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I’LL never forget that day. I was praying in my spiritual director’s chapel before the Blessed Sacrament when I heard in my heart the words: 

Lay hands on the sick and I will heal them.

I trembled in my soul. I suddenly had images of devout little women with doilies on their heads clamoring around, crowds pushing in, people wanting to touch “the healer.” I shuddered again and began to weep as my soul recoiled. “Jesus, if you are really asking this, then I need you to confirm it.” Immediately, I heard:

Pick up your bible.

I grabbed my bible and it fell open to the last page of Mark where I read,

These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name… They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:18-18)

In an instant, my body was inexplicably charged with “electricity” and my hands vibrated with a powerful anointing for about five minutes. It was an unmistakable physical sign what I was to do…

 

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The End of This Age

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WE are approaching, not the end of the world, but the end of this age. How, then, will this present era end?

Many of the popes have written in prayerful anticipation of a coming age when the Church will establish her spiritual reign to the ends of the earth. But it is clear from Scripture, the early Church Fathers, and the revelations given to St. Faustina and other holy mystics, that the world must first be purified of all wickedness, beginning with Satan himself.

 

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As We Get Closer

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THESE past seven years, I have felt the Lord comparing what is here and coming upon the world to a hurricane. The closer one gets to the eye of the storm, the more intense the winds become. Likewise, the closer we get to the Eye of the Storm—what mystics and saints have referred to as a global “warning” or “illumination of conscience” (perhaps the “sixth seal” of Revelation)—the more intense world events will become.

We began to feel the first winds of this Great Storm in 2008 when the global economic collapse began to unfold [1]cf. The Year of the Unfolding, Landslide &, The Coming Counterfeit. What we will see in the days and months ahead will be events unfolding very rapidly, one upon the other, that will increase the intensity of this Great Storm. It is the convergence of chaos. [2]cf. Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos Already, there are significant events happening all over the world that, unless you are watching, as this ministry is, most will be oblivious to them.

 

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Footnotes

The Sun of Justice

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FEAST OF ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

Mark will be in Chicago this weekend. See details below!

 

 

Look to the East! The Sun of Justice is rising. He comes, the Rider Upon the White Horse!


THE call to the Bastion (see To the Bastion!) is a call to come to Jesus, the Rock, in the Blessed Sacrament, and there, to wait with Our Blessed Mother for the Battle orders. It is a time of intense preparation, not anxious, but intense—by fasting, frequent Confession, the Rosary, and attending Mass whenever one can, so as to be in a state of childlike attentiveness. And do not forget love, my friends, which without with all the others are empty. For I believe the Seals of Revelation are about to be broken by the “Lamb who seemed to have been slain”, as St. John foresaw it in chapters 5-6 in the Apocalypse.

Consider the current signs of the times as 2012 enter its final seasons: as war brews in the Middle East, the second seal seems to speak of global war; as the United Nations warns of a global food crisis in 2013, the third seal speaks of food rationing; as mysterious diseases and outbreaks are popping up all over the world, the fourth seal speaks of plagues and further famine and chaos; as the United States, Canada, and many other countries begin to move to curtail freedom of speech and thought, the fifth seal speaks of persecution. All of this leads to the sixth seal, which as I’ve written before, appears very much to be some kind of “illumination of conscience” of the entire world (cf. Revelation Illumination)—a great gift to humanity  before the door of Mercy closes, and the door of Justice opens wide (cf. The Doors of Faustina).

As I consider that the words below were first written in October of 2007, one can’t help but thank God that we have had these past five years to further prepare our hearts for the Great Storm that is now unfolding in our time…

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So Little Time Left

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On the first Friday of this month, also the Feast day of St. Faustina, my wife’s mother, Margaret, passed away. We are preparing for the funeral now. Thanks to all for your prayers for Margaret and the family.

As we watch the explosion of evil all over the world, from the most shocking blasphemies against God in theaters, to the imminent collapse of economies, to the specter of nuclear war, the words of this writing below are rarely far from my heart. They were confirmed again today by my spiritual director. Another priest I know, a very prayerful and attentive soul, said just today that the Father is telling him, “Few know how very little time there really is.”

Our response? Do not delay your conversion. Do not delay going to Confession to begin again. Do not put off reconciling with God until tomorrow, for as St. Paul wrote, “Today is the day of salvation.“

First published November 13th, 2010

 

LATE this past summer of 2010, the Lord began to speak a word in my heart that carries a new urgency. It is has been steadily burning in my heart until I woke up this morning weeping, unable to contain it any longer. I spoke with my spiritual director who confirmed what has been weighing on my heart.

As my readers and viewers know, I have striven to speak to you through the words of the Magisterium. But underlying everything I’ve written and spoken of here, in my book, and in my webcasts, are the personal directions that I hear in prayer—that many of you are also hearing in prayer. I will not deviate from the course, except to underscore what has already been said with ‘urgency’ by the Holy Fathers, by sharing with you the private words I have been given. For they are really not meant, at this point, to be kept hidden.

Here is the “message” as it has been given since August in passages from my diary…

 

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Cowards!

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Warning: contains graphic image

 

IT’S called partial birth abortion. Unborn babies, usually over 20 weeks gestation, are pulled alive from the womb with forceps until only the head remains in the cervix. After puncturing the base of the skull, the brain is suctioned out, the skull collapses, and the dead child is delivered. The procedure is legal in Canada for two reasons: one is that there are no laws restricting abortion here, thus, a nine month pregnancy can be terminated, even up to the due date; the second is because Canada’s Criminal Code states that, until a baby is born, it is not recognized as a “human.” [1]cf. Section 223 of the Criminal Code Thus, even if a baby is fully grown and the head remains in the birth canal, it is still not considered “human” until it is fully delivered.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Section 223 of the Criminal Code

Is a Fetus a Person?

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Unborn baby at 20 weeks

 

 

In the course of my travels, I lost track of local news and did not learn until recently that back home, in Canada, the government is going to vote on Motion 312 this week. It proposes to re-examine section 223 of Canada’s Criminal Code, which stipulates that a child only becomes a human being once he or she has fully proceeded from the womb. This is on the heels of a ruling by the Canadian Medical Association in August 2012 affirming the Criminal Code in this regard. I confess, I almost swallowed my tongue when I read that! Educated doctors who actually believe a baby is not human until it’s born? I glanced at my calendar. “No, it’s 2012, not 212.” Yet, it would seem that many Canadian doctors, and apparently most politicians, actually believe that a fetus is not a person until it is born. Then what is it? What is this kicking, thumb-sucking, smiling “thing” five minutes before it is born? The following was first written on July 12th, 2008 in attempt to answer this most pressing question of our times…

 

IN response to The Hard Truth – Part V, a Canadian journalist from a national newspaper responded with this question:

If I understand you correctly, you place a great deal of moral emphasis on the capacity of the fetus to feel pain. My question to you is, does this mean abortion is entirely permissible if the fetus is anesthetized? It seems to me that either way you answer, it’s the ethical “personhood” of the fetus that is truly relevant, and its ability to feel pain tells us little if anything about it.

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I Will Be Your Refuge

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“Flight Into Egypt”, Michael D. O’Brien

Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child camp in the desert at night as they flee to Egypt.
The stark surroundings accentuate their plight,
the danger they are in, the darkness of the world.
As the mother nurses her child, the father stands watch and plays gently on a flute,
the music soothing the Child to sleep.
Their entire life is founded on mutual trust, love, sacrifice,
and abandonment to divine providence.  —Artist’s notes

 

 

WE can now see it coming into view: the edge of the Great Storm. Over the past seven years, the image of a hurricane is what the Lord has used to teach me about what is coming upon the world. The first half of the Storm are the “labor pains” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew and what St. John describes in more detail in Revelation 6:3-17:

You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. All these are the beginning of the labor pains… (Matt 24:6-8)

 

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Helping Us…

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I have just returned from Louisiana and Mississippi where, indeed, the grace of Christ was made manifest among us. I will never forget the picture I saw when I opened my eyes on the last evening during our closing time of Adoration. Dozens of people from the nearly packed church surrounded the altar, many weeping, as they gazed at the Eucharistic face of Christ in the monstrance. They gathered around Jesus like sheep longing for a shepherd to make them safe and secure in His presence.

For my part, I feel the Lord has given me a different kind of boldness in these days. It is the fruit, in many ways, of our times simply coming into more focus. A spiritual milestone was reached with the writing of The Great Culling. With it, we are able to read in precise terms what the “end times” looks like: it is the “culture of life” versus the “culture of death”.

This struggle parallels the apocalyptic combat described in [Rev 11:19-12:1-6, 10 on the battle between” the woman clothed with the sun” and the “dragon”]. Death battles against Life: a “culture of death” seeks to impose itself on our desire to live, and live to the full… Vast sectors of society are confused about what is right and what is wrong, and are at the mercy of those with the power to “create” opinion and impose it on others.  —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Cherry Creek State Park Homily, Denver, Colorado,

That’s why, when I am preaching in the various churches and I quote John Paul II’s words that we are “facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, the Gospel and the anti-Gospel…”, I always add the words, “…the woman clothed with the sun versus the dragon, the culture of life versus the culture of death, Christ versus the Antichrist.” That, and there is a certain boldness borne in the urgency of our times. Who, that is not prayerfully “watching and praying,” cannot see that the stability of the world hangs now by a thread?Continue reading →

The Great Culling

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SINCE writing Mystery Babylon, I have been watching and praying, waiting and listening for weeks in preparation for this writing.

I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me… Then the LORD answered me and said: write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.(Habb 2:1-2)

Once again, if we want to understand what is here and coming upon the world, we need only listen to the Popes..

 

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He Calls While We Slumber

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Christ Grieving Over the World, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

I feel strongly compelled to re-post this writing here tonight. We are living in a precarious moment, the calm before the Storm, when many are tempted to fall asleep. But we must remain vigilant, that is, our eyes focused on building the Kingdom of Christ in our hearts and then in the world around us. In this way, we will be living in the Father’s constant care and grace, His protection and anointing. We will be living in the Ark, and we must be there now, for soon it will begin to rain justice upon a world that is cracked and dry and thirsting for God.  First published April 30th, 2011.

 

CHRIST IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!

 

INDEED He is risen, alleluia! I am writing you today from San Francisco, USA on the eve and Vigil of Divine Mercy, and Beatification of John Paul II. In the home where I am staying, the sounds of the prayer service taking place in Rome, where the Luminous mysteries are being prayed, are flowing into the room with the gentleness of a trickling spring and the force of a waterfall. One cannot help but be overwhelmed with the fruits of the Resurrection so evident as the Universal Church prays in one voice before the beatification of St. Peter’s successor. The power of the Church—the power of Jesus—is present, both in the visible witness of this event, and in the presence of the communion of Saints. The Holy Spirit is hovering…

Where I am staying, the front room has a wall lined with icons and statues: St. Pio, the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Fatima and Guadalupe, St. Therese de Liseux…. all of them are stained with either tears of oil or blood that have fallen from their eyes in past months. The spiritual director of the couple who lives here is Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, the vice-postulator of St. Faustina’s canonization process. A picture of him meeting John Paul II sits at the feet of one of the statues. A tangible peace and presence of the Blessed Mother seems to pervade the room…

And so, it is in the midst of these two worlds that I write you. On the one hand, I see tears of joy falling from the faces of those praying in Rome; on the other, tears of sorrow falling from the eyes of Our Lord and Lady in this home. And so I ask once again, “Jesus, what do you want me to say to your people?”  And I sense in my heart the words,

Tell my children that I love them. That I am Mercy itself. And Mercy calls My children to wake up. 

 

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Jesus is in Your Boat

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Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Ludolf Backhuysen, 1695

 

IT felt like the last straw. Our vehicles have been breaking down costing a small fortune, the farm animals have been getting sick and mysteriously injured, the machinery has been failing, the garden isn’t growing, windstorms have ravaged the fruit trees, and our apostolate has run out of money. As I raced last week to catch my flight to California for a Marian conference, I cried out in distress to my wife standing in the driveway: Doesn’t the Lord see we are in a free-fall?

I felt abandoned, and let the Lord know it. Two hours later, I arrived at the airport, passed through the gates, and settled down into my seat in the aircraft. I looked out my window as the earth and the chaos of the last month fell away beneath the clouds. “Lord,” I whispered, “to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life…”

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