WARS and rumors of wars… And yet, Jesus said these would only be “the beginning of the birth-pangs.” [1]cf. Matt 24:8 What, then, could possibly be the hard labor? Jesus answers: Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my […]
Among the reasons why one would have a “heart of stone,” [is that someone] has gone through a “painful experience.” The heart, when it is hardened, is not free and if it is not free it is because it does not love…—POPE FRANCIS, Homily, Jan. 9th, 2015, Zenit WHEN I produced my last […]
First published January 8th, 2015… 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….’ […]
Gethsemane THERE is no question that one of the aspects of this writing apostolate is to warn and prepare the reader for the colossal changes coming, and already begun in the world—what I sensed the Lord several years ago call a Great Storm. But the warning has less to do with the physical world—which […]
NINE years ago today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wrote Persecution… and the Moral Tsunami. Today, during the Rosary, I sensed Our Lady once again moving me to write, but this time about the coming Spiritual Tsunami, which has been prepared by the former. I think it is no coincidence […]
WHEN you walk into a room with fresh flowers, they are essentially just sitting there. Yet, their fragrance reaches you and fills your senses with delight. So too, a holy man or woman may not need to say or do much in another’s presence, for the aroma of their holiness is enough to touch […]
I believe that the vast majority of the Book of Revelation refers, not to the end of the world, but to the end of this era. Only the last few chapters really look at the very end of the world while everything else before mostly describes a “final confrontation” between the “woman” and the “dragon”, and all the terrible […]
HAVE you ever met someone who is passionate about their subject? A skydiver, horse-back rider, a sports fan, or an anthropologist, scientist, or antique restorer who lives and breathes their hobby or career? While they can inspire us, and even spark an interest in us toward their subject, Christianity is different. For it is […]
THE call of the Holy Father for the Church to become more of a “field hospital” to “heal the wounded” is a very beautiful, timely, and perceptive pastoral vision. But what exactly needs healing? What are the wounds? What does it mean to “welcome” sinners aboard the Barque of Peter? Essentially, what is “Church” […]
PART III — FEARS REVEALED SHE fed and clothed the poor with love; she nurtured minds and hearts with the Word. Catherine Doherty, foundress of the Madonna House apostolate, was a woman who took on the “smell of the sheep” without taking on the “stench of sin.” She constantly walked the thin line between […]
PART II — Reaching the Wounded WE have watched a rapid cultural and sexual revolution that in five short decades has decimated the family as divorce, abortion, redefinition of marriage, euthanasia, pornography, adultery, and many other ills have become not only acceptable, but deemed a social “good” or “right.” However, an epidemic of […]
IN all the controversies that unfolded in the wake of the recent Synod in Rome, the reason for the gathering seemed to have been lost altogether. It was convened under the theme: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” How do we evangelize families given the pastoral challenges we face due […]
SO much has been said this past week on the spirit of fear that has been flooding many souls. I have been blessed that so many of you have entrusted your own vulnerability to me as you have been trying to sift through the confusion that has become a staple of the times. But […]
Getty Images ONCE again, the Mass readings today are blowing over my soul like a trumpet blast. In the Gospel, Jesus warns His listeners to pay attention to the signs of the times.
If you had problems subscribing, that has now been resolved. Thanks! WHEN I changed the format of my writings last week, there was no intention on my part to cease commenting on the Mass readings. In fact, as I told subscribers to the Now Word, I believe the Lord asked me to begin […]
I have spent the day mostly in prayer, listening, speaking with my spiritual director, praying, going to Mass, listening some more… and these are the thoughts and words which have been coming to me since I wrote The Synod and the Spirit.
AS I wrote in my daily Mass meditation today (see here), there is a certain panic in some quarters of the Church on the heels of the Synod’s somewhat abstract post discussion report (relatio post disceptationem). People are asking, “What are the bishops doing in Rome? What is the Pope doing?” But the […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor October 10th, 2014 Liturgical texts here “EVERY kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.” These are Christ’s words in today’s Gospel that must surely reverberate among the Synod of Bishops gathered in Rome. As we listen to the presentations coming […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor October 7th, 2014Our Lady of the Rosary Liturgical texts here Jesus with Martha and Mary from Anton Laurids Johannes Dorph (1831-1914) THERE is no such thing as a Christian without the Church. But there is no Church without authentic Christians… Today, St. Paul continues to give his […]
WHEN I wrote this last week, I decided to sit on it and pray some more because of the very serious nature of this writing. But nearly every day since, I have been getting clear confirmations that this is a word of warning to all of us. There are many new readers coming […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for September 24th, 2014 Liturgical texts here IT is called the “Guiding Star” because it appears to be fixed in the night sky as an infallible point of reference. Polaris, as it’s called, is nothing less than a parable of the Church, which has its visible sign […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor September 18th, 2014 Liturgical texts here THE very heart of Catholicism is not Mary; it is not the Pope nor even the Sacraments. It is not even Jesus, per se. Rather it is what Jesus has done for us. Because John writes that “In the beginning was […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor September 10th, 2014 Liturgical texts here THERE was an expectation in the early Church that Jesus was going to return soon. Thus Paul says to the Corinthians in today’s first reading that “time is running out.” Because of “the present distress”, he offers advice on marriage, suggesting that […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor September 1st – September 6th, 2014Ordinary Time Liturgical texts here THE first evangelists—it might surprise you to know—were not the Apostles. They were demons.
The Immaculate Conception, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1767) WHAT did you say? That Mary is the refuge that God is giving us in these times? [1]cf. The Rapture, the Ruse, and the Refuge It sounds like heresy, doesn’t it. After all, isn’t Jesus our refuge? Isn’t He the “mediator” between man and God? Isn’t […]
ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION August 15th, 2014 IT came to me as clear as a bell during Mass: there is one refuge that God is giving us in these times. Just as in the days of Noah there was only one ark, so too today, there is only one Ark being provided […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor July 28th – August 2nd, 2014Ordinary Time Liturgical texts here PAUSE, take a moment, and reset your soul. By this, I mean, remind yourself that this is all real. That God exists; that there are angels around you, saints praying for you, and a Mother who has […]
THERE is coming a time, and it is already here, when there is going to be great confusion in the world and in the Church. After Pope Benedict resigned, I sensed the Lord warning me about this over and over again. And now we see it unfolding rapidly around us—in the world and […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for June 2nd – June 7th, 2014 of the Seventh Week of Easter Liturgical texts here DO you only debate with others over morality, or do you also share with them your love for Jesus and what He is doing in your life? Many Catholics today are […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 22nd, 2014 Thursday of the Fifth Week of EasterOpt. Mem. St. Rita of Cascia Liturgical texts here LAST year in The Sixth Day, I wrote that, ‘Pope Benedict XVI in many ways is the last “gift” of a generation of giant theologians who have guided […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 16th, 2014Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter Liturgical texts here WHEN you look at skin up close, very close, suddenly it doesn’t look so nice! A beautiful face, under a microscope, can look quite unattractive. But take a step back, and all one sees […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 8th, 2014Thursday of the Third Week of Easter Liturgical texts here WHILE a forest fire can devastate the trees, it is precisely the heat of fire that opens up pine cones, thus, reseeding the woodland all over again. Persecution is a fire that, while consuming […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 6th, 2014Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Liturgical texts here IN every age, in every dictatorship, whether it is a totalitarian government or an abusive husband, there are those who seek to control not only what others say, but even what they think. Today, […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 5th, 2014Monday of the Third Week of Easter Liturgical texts here SAM Sotiropoulos was only asking the Toronto Police force a simple question: if Canada’s Criminal Code forbids public nudity, [1]Section 174 states that a person who is “so clad as to offend against public […]
WE are living in a time when prophecy has perhaps never been so important, and yet, so misunderstood by the vast majority of Catholics. There are three harmful positions being taken today regarding prophetic or “private” revelations that, I believe, are doing at times great damage in many quarters of the Church. One is […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 2nd, 2014 Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church Liturgical texts here LIKE the believers in the early Church, I know many today likewise feel a strong call toward Christian community. In fact, I have dialogued for years with brothers and sisters about this […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 1st, 2014Thursday of the Second Week of EasterSt. Joseph the Worker Liturgical texts here Christian Unity WHEN the Apostles are brought again before the Sanhedrin, they do not answer as individuals, but as a community. We must obey God rather than men. (First reading) This […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for April 30th, 2014Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter Liturgical texts hereThe Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) THE same Apostles who fled Gethsemane at the first rattle of chains now, not only defy the religious authorities, but go straight back into hostile territory to […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for April 29th, 2014 Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena Liturgical texts here Our Lady of Combermere gathering her children—Madonna House Community, Ont., Canada NOWHERE in the Gospels do we read Jesus instructing the Apostles that, once He departs, they are to form communities. Perhaps the closest […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor April 9th, 2014Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Liturgical texts here NOT negotiable. That was essentially the reply of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when King Nebuchadnezzar threatened them with death if they did not worship the state god. Our God “can save us”, they said, But […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor April 3rd, 2014Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent Liturgical texts here WE are are at the end of an era, and the beginning of the next: The Age of the Spirit. But before the next begins, the grain of wheat—this culture—must fall into the ground and […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor March 26th, 2014Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent Liturgical texts here The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner (1898) BRINGING the presence of Jesus into the world is not a complicated process requiring a Masters in Divinity. It is a matter of imitating Jesus: If you keep my […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor March 24th, 2014 Monday of the Third Week of Lent Liturgical texts here WE are called to give a prophetic witness to others. But then, you should not be surprised if you are treated as the prophets were.
Stand your ground… HAVE we entered into those times of lawlessness that will culminate in the “lawless one,” as St. Paul described in 2 Thessalonians 2? [1]Some Church Fathers saw the Antichrist appearing before the “era of peace” while others toward the end of the world. If one follows St. John’s vision in […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGSfor March 19th, 2014Wednesday of the Second Week of LentSolemnity of St. Joseph Liturgical texts here Ecce Homo, by Michael D. O’Brien ST. PAUL once said that “if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” [1]cf. 1 Cor 15:14 It […]