catholic

The Popes, and the Dawning Era

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Photo, Max Rossi/Reuters

 

THERE can be no doubt that the pontiffs of the last century have been exercising their prophetic office so as to awaken believers to the drama unfolding in our day (see Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting?). It is a decisive battle between the culture of life and the culture of death… the woman clothed with the sun—in labor to give birth to a new era—versus the dragon who seeks to destroy it, if not attempt to establish his own kingdom and “new age” (see Rev 12:1-4; 13:2). But while we know Satan will fail, Christ will not. The great Marian saint, Louis de Montfort, frames it well:

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A Catholic Answer to the Refugee Crisis

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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 at Morong, Philippines, Feb. 21st, 1981 For some, the answer is simple: take them in, whenever, however many they are, and whomever they may be. For others, it is more complex, thereby demanding a more measured and restrained response; at stake, they say, is not only the safety and wellbeing of individuals fleeing violence and persecution, but the safety and stability of nations. If that is the case, what is the middle road, one that safeguards the dignity and lives of genuine refugees while at the same time safeguarding the common good? What is our response as Catholics to be?

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Address to Refugees in Exile at Morong, Philippines, Feb. 21st, 1981

The Great Ark

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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, here is the Ark Jesus is providing for us at this hour. I will also address “what to do” in the Ark in the days ahead. First published May 11th, 2011. 

 

JESUS said that the period before His eventual return would be “as it was in the days of Noah…” That is, many would be oblivious to the Storm gathering around them: “They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.” [1]Matt 24:37-29 St. Paul indicated that the coming of the “Day of the Lord” would be “like a thief in the night.” [2]1 These 5:2 This Storm, as the Church teaches, contains the Passion of the Church, who will follow her Head in her own passage through a corporate “death” and resurrection. [3]Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675 Just as many of the “leaders” of the temple and even the Apostles themselves seemed unaware, even to the last moment, that Jesus had to truly suffer and die, so too many in the Church seem oblivious to the consistent prophetic warnings of the popes and the Blessed Mother—warnings that announce and signal a…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Matt 24:37-29
↑2 1 These 5:2
↑3 Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675

On the Eve

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One of the central functions of this writing apostolate is to show how Our Lady and the Church are truly mirrors of one another—that is, how authentic so-called “private revelation” mirrors the prophetic voice of the Church, most especially that of the popes. In fact, it has been a great eye-opener for me to see how the pontiffs, for over a century, have been paralleling the Blessed Mother’s message such that her more personalized warnings are essentially the “other side of the coin” of the institutional warnings of the Church. This is most evident in my writing Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting?

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The Coming New and Divine Holiness

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spring-blossom_Fotor_Fotor

 

GOD wishes to do something in mankind that He has never done before, save for a few individuals, and that is to give the gift of Himself so completely to His Bride, that she begins to live and move and have her being in a completely new mode.

He wishes to give the Church the “sanctity of sanctities.”

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Key to the Woman

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Knowledge of the true Catholic doctrine regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary will always be a key to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church. —POPE PAUL VI, Discourse, November 21st, 1964

 

THERE is a profound key that unlocks why and how the Blessed Mother has such a sublime and powerful role in the lives of mankind, but particularly believers. Once one grasps this, not only does Mary’s role make more sense in salvation history and her presence more understood, but I believe, it will leave you wanting to reach for her hand more than ever.

The key is this: Mary is a prototype of the Church.

 

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The Judas Prophecy

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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…

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Personal Relationship With Jesus

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PersonalRelationship
Photographer Unknown

 

 

First published October 5th, 2006. 

 

WITH my writings of late on the Pope, the Catholic Church, the Blessed Mother, and the understanding of how divine truth flows, not through personal interpretation, but through the teaching authority of Jesus, I received the expected emails and criticisms from non-Catholics (or rather, ex-Catholics). They have interpreted my defence of the hierarchy, established by Christ Himself, to mean that I do not have a personal relationship with Jesus; that somehow I believe I am saved, not by Jesus, but by the Pope or a bishop; that I am not filled with the Spirit, but an institutional “spirit” that has left me blind and bereft of salvation.

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St. Raphael's Little Healing

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, June 5th, 2015
Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Liturgical texts here

St. Raphael, “Medicine of God”

 

IT was late dusk, and a blood moon was rising. I was entranced by its deep color as I wandered through the horses. I had just layed out their hay and they were quietly munching. The full moon, the fresh snow, the peaceful murmur of satisfied animals … it was a tranquil moment.

Until what felt like a bolt of lightning shot through my knee.

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Will You Leave Them for Dead?

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Monday of the Ninth Week of Ordinary Time, June 1st, 2015
Memorial of St. Justin

Liturgical texts here

 

FEAR, brothers and sisters, is silencing the Church in many places and thus imprisoning truth. The cost of our trepidation can be counted in souls: men and women left to suffer and die in their sin. Do we even think in this way anymore, think of the spiritual health of one another? No, in many parishes we do not because we are more concerned with the status quo than quoting the state of our souls.

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