AFTER publishing The Shaking of the Church on Holy Thursday, it was only hours later that a spiritual earthquake, centered in Rome, shook all of Christendom. As chunks of plaster reportedly rained down from the ceiling of St. Peter’s Basilica, headlines across the world rattled with Pope Francis allegedly having said: “Hell Does Not Exist.”Continue reading
FOR two weeks after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a warning continually rose in my heart that the Church was now entering into “dangerous days” and a time of “great confusion.” [1]Cf. How Do You Hide a Tree Those words greatly impacted how I would approach this writing apostolate, knowing that it would be necessary to prepare you, my readers, for the Storm winds that were coming.Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Cf. How Do You Hide a Tree |
|---|
“Lock ’em in and burn it down.”
—protesters at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, against a transgender debate
with Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, March 6th, 2018; washingtontimes.com
Barbarians at the gate… It was absolutely surreal…
The mob neglected to bring torches and pitchforks,
but the sentiment was there: “Lock them in and burn it down”…
— Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson), Twitter posts, March 6, 2018
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you…
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the Lord, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
(Today’s first Mass reading; Jeremiah 7:27-28)
THREE years ago, I wrote of a new “sign of the times” emerging (see The Growing Mob). Like a wave reaching the shore that grows and grows until it becomes a huge tsunami, so too, there is a growing mob mentality toward the Church and freedom of speech. The zeitgeist has shifted; there are a swelling boldness and intolerance sweeping through the courts, flooding the media, and spilling out onto the streets. Yes, the time is right to silence the Church—especially as the sexual sins of priests continue to emerge, and the hierarchy becomes increasingly divided on pastoral issues.Continue reading
Saul attacking David, Guercino (1591-1666)
Regarding my article on The Anti-Mercy, someone felt that I was not critical enough of Pope Francis. “Confusion is not from God,” they wrote. No, confusion is not from God. But God can use confusion to sift and purify His Church. I think this is precisely what is happening at this hour. Francis’ pontificate is bringing into full light those clergymen and laymen who seemed as though waiting in the wings to promote a heterodox version of Catholic teaching (cf. When the Weeds Begin to Head). But it is also bringing to light those who have been bound up in legalism hiding behind a wall of orthodoxy. It is revealing those whose faith is genuinely in Christ, and those whose faith is in themselves; those who are humble and loyal, and those who aren’t.
So how do we approach this “Pope of surprises”, who seems to startle nearly everyone these days? The following was published on January 22nd, 2016 and has been updated today… The answer, most certainly, is not with the irreverent and crude criticism that has become a staple of this generation. Here, David’s example is most relevant…
A woman asked today if I’ve written anything to clarify the confusion over the Pope’s post-Synodal document, Amoris Laetitia. She said,
I love the Church and always plan to be a Catholic. Yet, I am confused about Pope Francis’ last Exhortation. I know the true teachings on marriage. Sadly I am a divorced Catholic. My husband started another family while still married to me. It still hurts very much. As the Church can’t change its teachings, why hasn’t this been made clear or professed?
She is correct: the teachings on marriage are clear and immutable. The present confusion is really a sad reflection of the Church’s sinfulness within her individual members. This woman’s pain is for her a double-edged sword. For she is cut to the heart by her husband’s infidelity and then, at the same time, cut by those bishops who are now suggesting that her husband might be able to receive the Sacraments, even while in a state of objective adultery.
The following was published on March 4th, 2017 regarding a novel re-interpretation of marriage and the sacraments by some bishop’s conferences, and the emerging “anti-mercy” in our times…Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 7th, 2017
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
Memorial of St. Ambrose
Liturgical texts here
WITH the controversial events of this week that unfolded in Rome (see The Papacy is Not One Pope), the words have been lingering in my mind once again that all of this is a testing of the faithful. I wrote about this in October 2014 shortly after the tendentious Synod on the family (see The Testing). Most important in that writing is the part about Gideon….
I also wrote then as I do now: “what happened in Rome was not a test to see how loyal you are to the Pope, but how much faith you have in Jesus Christ who promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church.” I also said, “if you think that there is confusion now, wait till you see what’s coming…”Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 15th, 2017
Wednesday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial St. Albert the Great
Liturgical texts here
“FAITHFUL AND TRUE”
EVERY day, the sun rises, the seasons advance, babies are born, and others pass away. It is easy to forget that we are living in a dramatic, dynamic story, an epic true tale that is unfolding moment by moment. The world is racing toward its climax: the judgment of the nations. To God and the angels and saints, this story is ever-present; it occupies their love and heightens holy anticipation toward the Day when the work of Jesus Christ will be brought to completion.Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 21st, 2017
Saturday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
IT can be a terrifying thing to feel your faith in Christ waning. Perhaps you are one of those people.Continue reading
First published October 20th, 2009. I have added a recent message from Our Lady below…
THERE is a cup of suffering that is to be drunk from twice in the fullness of time. It has already been emptied by Our Lord Jesus Himself who, in the Garden of Gethsemane, placed it to His lips in His holy prayer of abandonment:
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will. (Matt 26:39)
The cup is to be filled again so that His Body, who, in following its Head, will enter into its own Passion in her participation in the redemption of souls:
People were screaming “Jesus, Jesus” and running in all directions. —an Earthquake victim in Haiti after a 7.0 quake, January 12th, 2010, Reuters News Agency
IN coming times, God’s mercy is going to be revealed in various ways—but not all of them easy. Again, I believe we may be on the verge of seeing the Seals of Revolution definitively opened… the hard labor pains at the end of this era. By this, I mean that war, economic collapse, famine, plagues, persecution, and a Great Shaking are imminent, though only God knows the times and seasons. [1]cf. The Seven Year Trial – Part II Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Seven Year Trial – Part II |
|---|
IN truth, I think most of us are very tired… tired of not only seeing the spirit of violence, impurity, and division sweeping over the world, but tired of having to hear about it—perhaps from people like me too. Yes, I know, I make some people very uncomfortable, even angry. Well, I can assure you that I have been tempted to flee to the “normal life” many times… but I realize that in the temptation to escape this strange writing apostolate is the seed of pride, a wounded pride that does not want to be “that prophet of doom and gloom.” But at the end of every day, I say “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. How can I say ‘no’ to You who did not say ‘no’ to me on the Cross?” The temptation is to simply close my eyes, fall asleep, and pretend that things are not what they really are. And then, Jesus comes with a tear in His eye and gently pokes me, saying:Continue reading
Foxtail in my pasture
I received an email from a distraught reader over an article that appeared recently in Teen Vogue magazine titled: “Anal Sex: What You Need to Know”. The article went on to encourage young people to explore sodomy as if it were as physically harmless and morally benign as clipping one’s toenails. As I pondered that article—and the thousands of headlines I’ve read over the past decade or so since this writing apostolate began, articles which essentially narrate the collapse of Western civilization—a parable came to mind. The parable of my pastures…Continue reading
First published December, 2015 on…
THE MEMORIAL OF ST. AMBROSE
and
VIGIL OF THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY
I received a letter this week (June 2017) from a man who worked for decades with large corporations as an agronomist and agricultural financial analyst. And then, he writes…
It was through that experience that I noticed that trends, policies, corporate training and management techniques were going in a curiously nonsensical direction. It was this movement away from common sense and reason that drove me to questioning and searching for truth, that led me much closer to God…
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 20th, 2017
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Liturgical texts here
Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin by Michael D. O’Brien
THERE is nothing more pitiable than a Christian trying to curry favour with the world—at the cost of his mission.Continue reading
…behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat… (Luke 22:31)
EVERYWHERE I go, I see it; I am reading it in your letters; and I am living it in my own experiences: there is a spirit of division afoot in the world that is driving families and relationships apart like never before. On the national scale, the gulf between the so-called “left” and “right” has widened, and the animosities between them have a reached a hostile, nearly revolutionary pitch. Whether it is seemingly impassable differences between family members, or ideological divides growing within nations, something has shifted in the spiritual realm as if a great sifting is occurring. Servant of God Bishop Fulton Sheen seemed to think so, already, last century:Continue reading
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…
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.
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.
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….
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.
“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…
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?
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.
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.
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…
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:
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Convergence and the Blessing |
|---|
THERE is the equivalent of a socio-political earthquake underway, a Global Revolution that is disturbing the nations and polarizing peoples. To see it unfolding in real-time now speaks of how close the world is to great upheaval.
I received a number of letters and comments over the weekend from my American friends, nearly all of them cordial and hopeful. I get the sense that some feel I am a bit of a “wet rag” in suggesting that the revolutionary spirit afoot in our world today has not nearly run its course, and that America is still facing a great upheaval, as is every nation in the world. This, at least, is the “prophetic consensus” spanning centuries, and frankly, a simple viewing of the “signs of the times”, if not the headlines. But I will also say that, beyond the hard labor pains, a new era of true justice and peace awaits us. There is always hope… but God help me should I offer you a false hope.
“THE fate of the world is teetering,” claimed U.S. President Barack Obama, as he actively campaigned recently for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. [1]cf. Business Insider, Nov. 2nd, 2016 He was referring to the possible election of Donald Trump—an anti-establishment candidate—and suggested that the world’s fate is hanging in the balance, were the real estate magnate to be elected.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Business Insider, Nov. 2nd, 2016 |
|---|
A rather unexpected invitation to build a soup kitchen, followed by several remarkable confirmations, came rolling my way earlier this week. And so, with that, my daughter and I have abruptly left for Mexico to help complete a little “diner for Christ.” As such, I won’t be in communication with my readers until I get back.
The thought came to me to repost the following writing from April 6th, 2008… God bless you, pray for our safety, and know that you are always in my prayers. You are loved.
IT is a refugee crisis unseen in magnitude since World War II. It comes at a time when many Western nations have been or are in the midst of elections. That is to say, there is nothing like political rhetoric to cloud the real issues surrounding this crisis. That sounds cynical, but it is a sad reality, and a dangerous one at that. For this is no ordinary migration…
My first grandchild, Clara Marian, born July 27th, 2016
IT was a long labor, but at last the ping of a text broke the silence. “It’s a girl!” And with that the long wait, and all the tension and worry that accompanies child birth, was over. My first grandchild was born.
My sons (the uncles) and I stood in the waiting room of the hospital as the nurses wrapped up their duties. In the room next to us, we could hear the wailing and cries of another mother in the throws of hard labor. “It hurts!” she exclaimed. “Why isn’t it coming out??” The young mother was in complete distress, her voice ringing with desperation. Then at last, after several more cries and groans, the sound of new life filled the corridor. Suddenly, all the pain of the previous moment evaporated… and I thought of the Gospel of St. John:
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 28th, 2016
Memorial of St. Irenaeus
Liturgical texts here
LOOKING over his shoulder at the past 2000 years, and then, the times directly ahead, John Paul II made a profound statement:
The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993
Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images
WHAT would it be like to stand in the winds of a hurricane as the eye of the storm approached? According to those who have been through it, there is a constant roar, debris and dust are flying everywhere, and you can barely keep your eyes open; it is hard to stand straight and keep one’s balance, and there is fear of the unknown, of what the storm could bring next in all the chaos.
By
Mark Mallett
“THAT Pope Francis!”
Bill slammed his fist on the table, turning a few heads in the process. Fr. Gabriel smiled wryly. “What now Bill?”
“Splash! Did you hear that?” Kevin quipped, leaning across the table, his hand cupped over his ear. “Another Catholic jumping over the Barque of Peter!”
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 14th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
POPE Francis has thrown open wide the “doors” of the Church in this Jubilee of Mercy, which has passed the halfway mark as of last month. But we might be tempted to deep discouragement, if not fear, as we see not a repentance en masse, but the rapid degeneration of the nations into extreme violence, immorality, and really, a whole-hearted embrace of an anti-gospel.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 6th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
TO the point: we are entering a period where the earth is plunging into a great darkness, where the light of truth is being eclipsed by the moon of moral relativism. In case one thinks such a statement is fantasy, I defer once again to our papal prophets:
AP Photo
THE events unfolding around the globe tend to set off a flurry of speculation and even panic among some Christians that now is the time to buy supplies and head for the hills. Without a doubt, the string of natural disasters around the globe, the looming food crisis with drought and the collapse of bee colonies, and the impending collapse of the dollar can not help but give pause to the practical mind. But brothers and sisters in Christ, God is doing something new among us. He is preparing the world for a tsunami of Mercy. He must shake old structures down to the foundations and raise new ones. He must strip away that which is of the flesh and reclothe us in His power. And He must place within our souls a new heart, a new wineskin, prepared to receive the New Wine He is about to pour out.
In other words,
The Age of Ministries is ending.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 4th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
First, I want to tell you, my dear family of readers, that my wife and I are grateful for the hundreds of notes and letters we’ve received in support of this ministry. I made a brief appeal a few weeks ago that our ministry was in dire need of support to continue (as this is my full-time work), and your response has moved us to tears many times. Many of those “widow’s mites” have come our way; many sacrifices have been made to communicate your support, gratitude, and love. In a word, you have given me a resounding “yes” to continue on this path. It is a leap of faith for us. We have no savings, no retirement funds, no certainty (as do any of us) about tomorrow. But we accept that this is where Jesus wants us. In fact, He wants all of us to be in a place of utter and total abandonment. We are in the process still of writing emails and thank you’s to all of you. But let me say now… thank you for your filial love and support, which has strengthened and moved me deeply. And I am grateful for this encouragement, because I have many serious things to write you in the days ahead, beginning now….
Revolution: “Love” backwards
SINCE Christianity’s beginnings, whenever revolution has broken out against her, it has most often come like a thief in the night.
In recent days, Canada has been moving toward some of the most extreme euthanasia laws in the world to not only permit “patients” of most ages to commit suicide, but force doctors and Catholic hospitals to assist them. One young doctor sent me a text saying,
I had a dream once. In it, I became a physician because I thought they wanted to help people.
And so today, I am republishing this writing from four years ago. For too long, many in the Church have set these realities aside, passing them off as “doom and gloom.” But suddenly, they are now on our doorstep with a battering ram. The Judas Prophecy is coming to pass as we enter the most painful part of the “final confrontation” of this age…
St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow
IT came to me last summer like lightning, a bolt out of the blue.
Russia will be a refuge for God’s people.
This was at a time when tensions between Russia and the Ukraine were heightening. And so, I decided to simply sit on this “word” and “watch and pray.” As the days and weeks and now months have rolled by, it seems more and more that this may be a word from beneath la sacré bleu—the sacred blue mantle of Our Lady… that mantle of protection.
For where else in the world, at this time, is Christianity being protected as it is in Russia?
THERE once was a Great Ship that sat in the spiritual harbour of Jerusalem. Its Captain was Peter with eleven Lieutenants at his side. They had been given a Great Commission by their Admiral:
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 9th, 2015
Opt. Memorial of St. Juan Diego
Liturgical texts here
Elijah Fed by an Angel, by Ferdinand Bol (c. 1660 – 1663)
IN prayer this morning, a gentle Voice spoke to my heart:
Just enough to keep you going. Just enough to strengthen your heart. Just enough to pick you up. Just enough to keep you from falling… Just enough to keep you dependent on Me.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 9th-21st, 2015
Liturgical texts here
Dear brothers and sisters, this and the next writing deal with the Revolution spreading globally in our world. They are knowledge, important knowledge to understand what is taking place around us. As Jesus once said, “I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”[1]John 16:4 However, knowledge does not replace obedience; it does not substitute relationship with the Lord. So may these writings inspire you to more prayer, to more contact with the Sacraments, to a greater love for our families and neighbours, and to living more authentically in the present moment. You are loved.
THERE is a Great Revolution underway in our world. But many do not realize it. It is like an enormous oak tree. You don’t know how it was planted, how it grew, nor its stages as a sapling. Neither do you really see it continuing to grow, unless you stop and examine its branches and compare them to the year before. Nonetheless, it makes its presence known as it towers above, its branches blocking out the sun, its leaves obscuring the light.
So it is with this present Revolution. How it came to be, and where it is going, has been prophetically unfolded for us these past two weeks in the Mass readings.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | John 16:4 |
|---|