MY wife turned to me and said, “You’re under siege. You should ask your readers to pray for you.” Continue reading
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The Great Refuge and Safe Harbour
WHENEVER I write of “chastisements” or “divine justice,” I always cringe, because so often these terms are misunderstood. Because of our own woundedness, and thus distorted views of “justice”, we project our misconceptions on God. We see justice as “hitting back” or others getting “what they deserve.” But what we often don’t understand is that the “chastisements” of God, the “punishments” of the Father, are rooted always, always, always, in love.Continue reading
When the Earth Cries Out
I HAVE resisted writing this article for months now. So many of you are going through such intense trials that what is needed most is encouragement and consolation, hope and assurance. I promise you, this article contains that—though perhaps not in the way you will expect. Whatever you and I are going through now is a preparation for what is coming: the birth of an era of peace on the other side of the hard labour pains the earth is beginning to undergo…
It is not my place to edit God. What follows are the words being given to us at this time from Heaven. Our role, rather, is to discern them with the Church:
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. (1 Thess 5:19-21)
Fighting Fire with Fire
DURING one Mass, I was attacked by the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev 12:10). The entire Liturgy rolled by and I had barely been able to absorb a word as I wrestled against the discouragement of the enemy. I began my morning prayer, and the (convincing) lies intensified, so much so, I could do nothing but pray aloud, my mind completely under siege.
When We Doubt
SHE looked at me like I was crazy. As I spoke at a recent conference about the Church’s mission to evangelize and the power of the Gospel, a woman seated near the back had a contorted look on her face. She would occasionally whisper mockingly to her sister sitting beside her and then return to me with a stupefied gaze. It was hard not to notice. But then, it was hard not to notice her sister’s expression, which was markedly different; her eyes spoke of a soul searching, processing, and yet, not certain.Continue reading
Priests, and the Coming Triumph
Procession of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal (Reuters)
The long-prepared and ongoing process of dissolution of the Christian concept of morality was, as I have tried to show, marked by an unprecedented radicalism in the 1960s… In various seminaries, homosexual cliques were established…
—EMERITUS POPE BENEDICT, essay on the current crisis of faith in the Church, Apr 10, 2019; Catholic News Agency
…the darkest clouds gather over the Catholic Church. As though out of a deep abyss, countless incomprehensible cases of sexual abuse from the past come to light—acts committed by priests and religious. The clouds cast their shadows even on the Chair of Peter. Now no one is talking anymore about the moral authority for the world that is usually granted a Pope. How great is this crisis? Is it really, as we occasionally read, one of the greatest in the history of the Church?
—Peter Seewald’s question to Pope Benedict XVI, from Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times (Ignatius Press), p. 23Continue reading
Recovering Who We Are
Nothing remains for Us, therefore, but to invite this poor world that has shed so much blood, has dug so many graves, has destroyed so many works, has deprived so many men of bread and labor, nothing else remains for us, We say, but to invite it in the loving words of the sacred Liturgy: “Be thou converted to the Lord thy God.” —POPE PIUS XI, Caritate Christi Compulsi, May 3rd, 1932; vatican.va
…we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him. Many of them are quietly seeking God, led by a yearning to see his face, even in countries of ancient Christian tradition. All of them have a right to receive the Gospel. Christians have the duty to proclaim the Gospel without excluding anyone… John Paul II asked us to recognize that “there must be no lessening of the impetus to preach the Gospel” to those who are far from Christ, “because this is the first task of the Church”. —POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 15; vatican.va
Five Means to “Be Not Afraid”
Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors to Christ”!
—ST. JOHN PAUL II, Homily, Saint Peter’s Square
October 22, 1978, No. 5
YES, I know John Paul II often said, “Be not afraid!” But as we see the Storm winds increasing around us and waves beginning to overwhelm the Barque of Peter… as freedom of religion and speech become fragile and the possibility of an antichrist remains on the horizon… as Marian prophecies are being fulfilled in real-time and the warnings of the popes go unheeded… as your own personal troubles, divisions and sorrows mount around you… how can one possibly not be afraid?”
The answer is that the holy courage St. John Paul II calls us to is not an emotion, but a divine gift. It is the fruit of faith. If you are afraid, it may be precisely because you have not yet fully opened the gift. So here are five ways for you to begin walking in holy courage in our times. (These five means are also “hidden” in a homily Pope Francis gave during the dark hours of Easter Vigil in April, 2013)…
Climate Confusion
THE Catechism states that “Christ endowed the Church’s shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals.” [1]cf. CCC, n. 890 However, when it comes to matters of science, politics, economics, etc., the Church generally steps aside, limiting herself to being a guiding voice in terms of ethics and morality as pertains to the development and dignity of the person and stewardship of the earth. Continue reading
| 1. | ↑ | cf. CCC, n. 890 |
The Black Ship
IT was a dream of the spirit of antichrist. It came to me at the beginning of my ministry in 1994.