THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for September 7th, 2017 Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Liturgical texts here WHEN Jesus speaks to the crowds, he does so in the shallows of the lake. There, He speaks to them at their level, in parables, in simplicity. For He knows that many are only curious, […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for September 5th, 2017 Sunday & Tuesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Liturgical texts here ST. Augustine once said, “Lord, make me pure, but not yet!” He betrayed a common fear among believers and unbelievers alike: that being a follower of Jesus means having to forego earthly joys; […]
THE world seems to be hanging by a thread. The threat of nuclear war, rampant moral degradation, division within the Church, the attack on the family, and the assault on human sexuality has frayed the world’s peace and stability to a dangerous point. People are coming apart. Relationships are unraveling. Families are fracturing. Nations […]
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 […]
MEMORIAL OF THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Mark is coming to Philadelphia in September, 2017. Details at the end of this writing… In today’s first Mass reading on this memorial of the Queenship of Mary, we read about the call of Gideon. Our Lady is the New Gideon of our times… […]
Vandalized Statue of St. Junípero Serra, Courtesy KCAL9.com SEVERAL years ago when I wrote about a coming Global Revolution, particularly in America, one man scoffed: “There is no revolution in America, and there won’t be!” But as violence, anarchy and hatred are beginning to reach a feverish pitch in the United States and elsewhere in […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for July 6th, 2017 Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Opt. Memorial of St. Maria Goretti Liturgical texts here THERE are many things in life that can cause us to despair, but none, perhaps, as much as our own faults.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for June 29th, 2017 Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul Liturgical texts here TWO years ago, I wrote The Growing Mob. I said then that ‘the zeitgeist has shifted; there is a growing boldness and intolerance sweeping through the courts, […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for June 7th, 2017 Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Liturgical texts here SOMETHING remarkable happens when we give praise to God: His ministering angels are released in our midst.
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 […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 30th, 2017 Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Liturgical texts here HERE was a man who hated Jesus Christ… until he encountered Him. Meeting Pure Love will do that to you. St. Paul went from taking the lives of Christians, to suddenly offering his life as […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 16th, 2017 Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter Liturgical texts here SAINT Seraphim of Sarov once said, “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you, thousands will be saved.” Maybe this is another reason why the world remains unmoved by Christians today: we too are restless, […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 15th, 2017 Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter Opt. Memorial of St. Isidore Liturgical texts here THERE was a moment while preaching at a conference recently that I felt a slight self-satisfaction in what I was doing “for the Lord.” That night, I reflected on […]
…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 […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for May 2nd, 2017 Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Memorial of St. Athanasius Liturgical texts here THERE is a scene in one of Michael D. O’Brien’s novels that I have never forgotten—when a priest is being tortured for his faithfulness. [1]Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for April 29th, 2017 Saturday of the Second Week of Easter Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena Liturgical texts here IF time feels as if it is speeding up, prayer is what will “slow” it down.
Mark in concert with wife Lea WARM Easter greetings! I wanted to take a moment during these celebrations of Christ’s Resurrection to update you on some important changes here and upcoming events.
Jesus Walking on Water by Michael D. O’Brien THERE is an underlying theme I try to weave throughout all the aspects of my ministry: Be not afraid! For it carries within it the seeds of both reality and hope:
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY To repent is not just to acknowledge that I have done wrong; it is to turn my back on the wrong and start incarnating the Gospel. On this hinges the future of Christianity in the world today. The world does not believe […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for March 16–17th, 2017 Thursday-Friday of the Second Week of Lent Liturgical texts here JADED. Disappointed. Betrayed… those are some of the feelings many have after watching one failed prediction after another in recent years. We were told the “millenium” computer bug, or Y2K, would bring the end […]
A FEW days ago, an American wrote me in the wake of their Supreme Court’s decision to invent the right to same-sex “marriage”: I have been weeping on and off a good part of this day… as I attempt to go to sleep I am wondering if you could help me understand just where […]
The Heart of Jesus Christ, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta; R. Mulata (20th century) WHAT you are about to read has the potential to not only set women, but in particular, men free from undue burden, and radically change the course of your life. That’s the power of God’s Word…
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. […]
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 […]
THE “culture of death”, that Great Culling and The Great Poisoning, are not the final word. The havoc wreaked upon the planet by man is not the final say on human affairs. For neither the New nor the Old Testament speak of the end of the world after the influence and reign of the “beast.” Rather, they speak of […]
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 […]
Refugees, courtesy Associated Press IT is one of the most volatile topics in the world right now—and one of the least balanced discussions at that: refugees, and what do with the overwhelming exodus. St. John Paul II called the issue “perhaps the greatest tragedy of all the human tragedies of our time.” [1]Address to Refugees in Exile […]
While writing about the Storm of Fear, Temptation, Division, and Confusion recently, the writing below was lingering in the back of my mind. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the Apostles, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” [1]Mark 6:31 There is so much happening, so fast in our world as we approach the Eye of the Storm, that […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 Liturgical texts here Peter’s Denial, by Michael D. O’Brien IT’s a bit surprising, really. After speaking with astounding wisdom and performing mighty deeds, onlookers could only sneer and say, “Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary?”
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Monday, January 30th, 2017 Liturgical texts here A monk praying; photo by Tony O’Brien, Christ in the Desert Monastery THE Lord has put many things on my heart to write you in just the past few days. Again, there is a certain sense that time is of the […]
Look Up by Michael D. O’Brien If there is a Storm in our times, will God provide an “ark”? The answer is “Yes!” But perhaps never before have Christians doubted this provision so much as in our times as controversy over Pope Francis rages, and the rational minds of our post-modern era must grapple with the mystical. Nonetheless, […]
“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 […]
Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images TEMPTATION is as old as human history. But what is new about temptation in our times is that sin has never been so accessible, so pervasive, and so acceptable. It could rightly be said that there is a veritable deluge of impurity sweeping through the world. And this has […]
CHRISTMAS is over? You’d think so by the world’s standards. The “top forty” has replaced Christmas music; sales signs have replaced ornaments; lights have been dimmed and Christmas trees kicked to the curb. But for us as Catholic Christians, we are still in the midst of a contemplative gaze at the Word who has become flesh—God become […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Saturday, December 31st, 2016 The Seventh Day of the Nativity of Our Lord and Vigil of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God Liturgical texts here Embracing Hope, by Léa Mallett THERE is one word on my heart on this eve of the Solemnity of the […]
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 […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Wednesday, December 21st, 2016 Liturgical texts here IN the Spring of 2014, I went through a terrible darkness. I felt tremendous doubts, surges of fear, despair, terror, and abandonment. I began one day with prayer as usual, and then… she came.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 Liturgical texts here The Annunciation; Sandro Botticelli; 1485 AMONG the most powerful and prophetic words spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel was the promise that her Son’s Kingdom would never end. This is good news for those who fear that the Catholic Church is in […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016 Opt. Memorial of St. John of the Cross Liturgical texts here From the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1511 “OH well, I tried.” Somehow, after thousands of years of salvation history, the suffering, death and Resurrection of the Son of God, the arduous […]
As I continue to study the “beast” of Revelation 13, some fascinating things are emerging which I wish to pray and reflect on further before writing them. In the meantime, I am receiving letters of concern again about the growing division in the Church over Amoris Laetitia, the Pope’s recent Apostolic Exhortation. For the moment, I want […]
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 […]
The following meditation is based on today’s second Mass reading of the first day of Advent 2016. In order to be an effective player in the Counter-Revolution, we must first have a real revolution of the heart… I am like a tiger in a cage. Through Baptism, Jesus has thrown open the door […]
Pope Francis Closes the “Door of Mercy”, Rome, Nov. 20th, 2016, Photo by Tiziana Fabi/ AFP POOL / AFP THE “Door of Mercy” has closed. All across the world, the special plenary indulgence offered at cathedrals, basilicas and other designated places, has expired. But what about the mercy of God in this “time of mercy” in which […]
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS for Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 Memorial of St. Albert the Great Liturgical texts here WHEN Jesus passes by Zacchaeus, He not only tells him to come down from his tree, but Jesus says: Come down quickly! Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, one that few of us […]
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, […]