catholic

There is Only One Barque

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…as the Church’s one and only indivisible magisterium,
the pope and the bishops in union with him,
carry the gravest responsibility that no ambiguous sign
or unclear teaching comes from them,
confusing the faithful or lulling them
into a false sense of security. 
—Cardinal Gerhard Müller,
former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
First Things, April 20th, 2018

It is not a question of being ‘pro-’ Pope Francis or ‘contra-’ Pope Francis.
It is a question of defending the Catholic faith,
and that means defending the Office of Peter
to which the Pope has succeeded. 
—Cardinal Raymond Burke, The Catholic World Report,
January 22, 2018

 

BEFORE he passed away, almost a year ago to the day at the very start of the pandemic, the great preacher Rev. John Hampsch, C.M.F. (c. 1925-2020) wrote me a letter of encouragement. In it, he included an urgent message for all my readers:Continue reading →

The Mystery of the Kingdom of God

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What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took
and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.
(Today’s Gospel)

 

EVERY day, we pray the words: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus would not have taught us to pray as such unless we were to expect the Kingdom yet to come. At the same time, the first words of Our Lord in His ministry were:Continue reading →

Francis and The Great Shipwreck

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…the true friends are not those who flatter the Pope,
but those who help him with the truth
and with theological and human competence. 
—Cardinal Müller, Corriere della Sera, Nov. 26, 2017;
from the Moynihan Letters, #64, Nov. 27th, 2017

Dear children, the Great Vessel and a Great Shipwreck;
this is the [cause of] suffering for men and women of faith. 
—Our Lady to Pedro Regis, October 20th, 2020;
countdowntothekingdom.com

 

WITHIN the culture of Catholicism has been an unspoken “rule” that one must never criticize the Pope. Generally speaking, it is wise to refrain from criticizing our spiritual fathers. However, those who turn this into an absolute expose a grossly exaggerated understanding of papal infallibility and come dangerously close to a form of idolatry — papalotry — that elevates a pope to an emperor-like status where everything he utters is infallibly divine. But even a novice historian of Catholicism will know that popes are very human and prone to mistakes — a reality that began with Peter himself:Continue reading →

You Have the Wrong Enemy

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ARE you sure your neighbours and family are the actual enemy? Mark Mallett and Christine Watkins open up with a raw two-part webcast on the past year and a half — the emotions, sadness, new data, and imminent dangers facing the world being torn apart by fear…Continue reading →

The Enemy is Within the Gates

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THERE is a scene in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings where Helms Deep is under attack. It was supposed to be an impenetrable stronghold, surrounded by the massive Deeping Wall. But a vulnerable spot is discovered, which the forces of darkness exploit by causing all kinds of distraction and then planting and igniting an explosive. Moments before a torch runner reaches the wall to light the bomb, he is spotted by one of the heroes, Aragorn. He yells to the archer Legolas to take him down… but it’s too late. The wall explodes and is breached. The enemy is now within the gates. Continue reading →

For the Love of Neighbour

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“SO, what just happened?”

As I floated in silence on a Canadian lake, staring up into the deep blue past the morphing faces in the clouds, that was the question rolling through my mind recently. Over a year ago, my ministry suddenly took a seemingly unexpected turn into examining the “science” behind the sudden global lockdowns, church closures, mask mandates, and coming vaccine passports. This took some readers by surprise. Remember this letter?Continue reading →

The Coming Counterfeit

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The Mask, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

First published, April, 8th 2010.

 

THE warning in my heart continues to grow about a coming deception, which may in fact be the one described in 2 Thess 2:11-13. What follows after the so-called “illumination” or “warning” is not only a brief but powerful period of evangelization, but a dark counter-evangelization that will, in many ways, be just as convincing. Part of the preparation for that deception is knowing beforehand that it is coming:

Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets… I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. (Amos 3:7; John 16:1-4)

Satan not only knows what is coming, but has been planning for it for a long time. It is exposed in the language being used…Continue reading →

The Great Division

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And then many will fall away,
and betray one another, and hate one another.
And many false prophets will arise
and lead many astray.
And because wickedness is multiplied,
most men’s love will grow cold.
(Matt 24:10-12)

 

LAST week, an interior vision that came to me before the Blessed Sacrament some sixteen years ago was burning on my heart again. And then, as I entered the weekend and read the latest headlines, I felt I should share it again as it may be more relevant than ever. First, a look at those remarkable headlines…  

Continue reading →