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Planted by the Stream

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 20th, 2014
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

 

TWENTY years ago, my wife and I, both cradle-Catholics, were invited to a Baptist Sunday service by a friend of ours who was once a Catholic. We were amazed at all the young couples, the beautiful music, and the anointed sermon by the pastor. The outpouring of genuine kindness and welcoming touched something deep in our souls. [1]cf. My Personal Testimony

When we got into the car to leave, all I could think of was my own parish… weak music, weaker homilies, and even weaker participation by the congregation. Young couples our age? Practically extinct in the pews. Most painful was the sense of loneliness. I often left Mass feeling colder than when I walked in.

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Footnotes

Who Am I to Judge?

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Photo Reuters
 

 

THEY are words that, just a little under a year later, continue to echo throughout the Church and the world: “Who am I to judge?” They were Pope Francis’ response to a question posed to him regarding the “gay lobby” in the Church. Those words have become a battle cry: first, for those who wish to justify homosexual practice; second, for those wish to justify their moral relativism; and third, for those who wish to justify their assumption that Pope Francis is one notch short of the Antichrist.

This little quip of Pope Francis’ is actually a paraphrase of St. Paul’s words in the Letter of St. James, who wrote: “Who then are you to judge your neighbor?” [1]cf. Jam 4:12 The Pope’s words are now being splattered on t-shirts, fast becoming a motto gone viral…

 

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Jam 4:12

Authentic Holiness

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 10th, 2014
Monday of the First Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

 

I OFTEN hear people say, “Oh, he’s so holy,” or “She is such a holy person.” But what are we referring to? Their kindness? A quality of meekness, humility, silence? A sense of God’s presence? What is holiness?

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Global Revolution!

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…the order of the world is shaken. (Psalm 82:5)
 

WHEN I wrote about Revolution! a few years ago, it was not a word being used much in the mainstream. But today, it is being spoken everywhere… and now, the words “global revolution” are rippling throughout the world. From the uprisings in the Middle East, to Venezuela, Ukraine, etc. to the first murmurings in the “Tea Party” revolution and “Occupy Wall Street” in the U.S., unrest is spreading like “a virus.” There is indeed a global upheaval underway.

I will rouse Egypt against Egypt: brother will war against brother, neighbour against neighbour, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. (Isaiah 19:2)

But it is a Revolution that has been in the making for a very long time…

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The Coming Wave of Unity

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 ON THE FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER

 

FOR two weeks, I have sensed the Lord repeatedly encouraging me to write about ecumenism, the movement toward Christian unity. At one point, I felt the Spirit prompt me to go back and read the “The Petals”, those four foundational writings from which everything else here has sprung. One of them is on unity: Catholics, Protestants, and the Coming Wedding.

As I began yesterday with prayer, a few words came to me that, after having shared them with my spiritual director, I want to share with you. Now, before I do, I have to tell you that I think that all of what I’m about to write will take on new meaning when you watch the video below that was posted on Zenit News Agency’s website yesterday morning. I didn’t watch the video until after I received the following words in prayer, so to say the least, I have been utterly blown away by the wind of the Spirit (after eight years of these writings, I never get used to it!).

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The Consequences of Compromise

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for February 13th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

What’s left of Solomon’s Temple, destroyed 70 A.D.

 

 

THE beautiful story of Solomon’s achievements, when working in harmony with God’s grace, came to a halt.

When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods, and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God.

Solomon no longer followed God “unreservedly as his father David had done.” He began to compromise. In the end, the Temple he constructed, and all its beauty, was reduced to rubble by the Romans.

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When Legion Comes

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for February 3rd, 2014

Liturgical texts here


A “performance” at the 2014 Grammy Awards

 

 

ST. Basil wrote that,

Among the angels, some are set in charge of nations, others are companions of the faithful… —Adversus Eunomium, 3:1; The Angels and Their Missions, Jean Daniélou, S. J., p. 68

We see the principle of angels over nations in the Book of Daniel where it speaks of the “prince of Persia”, whom the archangel Michael comes to battle. [1]cf. Dan 10:20 In this case, the prince of Persia appears to be the satanic stronghold of a fallen angel.

The guardian angel of the Lord “guards the soul like an army,” said St. Gregory of Nyssa, “provided we do not drive him out by sin.” [2]The Angels and Their Missions, Jean Daniélou, S. J., p. 69 That is, grave sin, idolatry, or deliberate occult involvement can leave one vulnerable to the demonic. Is it possible then that, what happens to an individual who opens himself up to evil spirits, can also happen on a national basis? Today’s Mass readings lend some insights.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Dan 10:20
↑2 The Angels and Their Missions, Jean Daniélou, S. J., p. 69

The Emptying

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 13th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is no evangelization without the Holy Spirit. After spending three years listening to, walking, talking, fishing, eating with, sleeping beside, and even laying upon the breast of our Lord… the Apostles seemed incapable of penetrating the hearts of the nations without Pentecost. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire that the mission of the Church was to begin.

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Francis, and the Coming Passion of the Church

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IN February last year, shortly after Benedict XVI’s resignation, I wrote The Sixth Day, and how we appear to be approaching the “twelve o’clock hour,” the threshold of the Day of the Lord. I wrote then,

The next pope will guide us too… but he is ascending a throne that the world wishes to overturn. That is the threshold of which I am speaking.

As we look at the world’s reaction to the pontificate of Pope Francis, it would seem the opposite. Hardly a news day goes by that the secular media isn’t running some story, gushing over the new pope. But 2000 years ago, seven days before Jesus was crucified, they were gushing over Him too…

 

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Fighting the Ghost

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 6th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


“The Running Nuns”, Daughters of Mary Mother of Healing Love

 

THERE is much talk among the “remnant” of refuges and safe havens—places where God will protect His people during coming persecutions. Such an idea is firmly rooted in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. I addressed this subject in The Coming Refuges and Solitudes, and as I reread it today, it strikes me as more prophetic and relevant than ever. For yes, there are times to hide. St. Joseph, Mary and the Christ child fled to Egypt while Herod hunted them; [1]cf. Matt 2;13 Jesus hid from the Jewish leaders who sought to stone Him; [2]cf. Jn 8:59 and St. Paul was concealed from his persecutors by his disciples, who lowered him to freedom in a basket through an opening in the city wall. [3]cf. Acts 9:25

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Matt 2;13
↑2 cf. Jn 8:59
↑3 cf. Acts 9:25

Vindication

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 13th, 2013
Memorial of St. Lucy

Liturgical texts here

 

 

SOMETIMES I find the comments beneath a news story as interesting as the story itself—they are a bit like a barometer indicating the advance of the Great Storm in our times (though weeding through the foul language, vile responses, and incivility is exhausting).

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The Blessed Prophecy

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 12th, 2013
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Liturgical texts here
(Selected: Rev 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; Judith 13; Luke 1:39-47)

Jump for Joy, by Corby Eisbacher

 

SOMETIMES when I’m speaking at conferences, I will look into the crowd and ask them, “Do you want to fulfill a 2000 year old prophecy, right here, right now?” The response is usually an excited yes! Then I’d say, “Pray with me the words”:

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The Rest of God

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 11th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

MANY people define personal happiness as being mortgage free, having plenty of money, vacation time, being esteemed and honored, or achieving big goals. But how many of us think of happiness as rest?

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The Surprise Arms

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 10th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

IT was a freak snowstorm in the middle of May, 1987. The trees bent so low to the ground under the weight of heavy wet snow that, to this day, some of them remain bowed as though permanently humbled under the hand of God. I was playing guitar in a friend’s basement when the phone call came.

Come home, son.

Why? I inquired.

Just come home…

As I pulled into our driveway, a strange feeling came over me. With every step I took to the back door, I felt my life was going to change. When I walked into the house, I was greeted by tear stained-parents and brothers.

Your sister Lori died in a car accident today.

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The Horizon of Hope

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 3rd, 2013
Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ISAIAH gives such a consoling vision of the future that one could be forgiven for suggesting it is a mere “pipe dream.” After the purification of the earth by “the rod of [the Lord’s] mouth, and the breath of his lips,” Isaiah writes:

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall down with the kid… There shall be no more harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. (Isaiah 11)

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The Survivors

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 2nd, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE are some texts in Scripture that, admittedly, are troubling to read. Today’s first reading contains one of them. It speaks of a coming time when the Lord will wash away “the filth of the daughters of Zion”, leaving behind a branch, a people, who are His “luster and glory.”

…the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. He who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:3)

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Don't Mean Nothin'

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THINK of your heart as a glass jar. Your heart is made to contain the pure liquid of love, of God, who is love. But over time, so many of us fill our hearts with the love of things—inaminate objects that are as cold as stone. They cannot do anything for our hearts except to fill up those places that are reserved for God. And thus, many of us Christians are actually quite miserable… loaded down in debt, inner conflict, sadness… we have little to give because we ourselves are no longer receiving.

So many of us have stone cold hearts because we have filled them with the love of worldly things. And when the world encounters us, longing (whether they know it or not) for the “living water” of the Spirit, instead, we pour on their heads the cold stones of our greed, selfishness, and self-centeredness mixed with a tad of liquid religion. They hear our arguments, but notice our hypocrisy; they appreciate our reasoning, but do not detect our “reason for being”, which is Jesus. This is why the Holy Father has called us Christians to, once again, renounce worldliness, which is…

…the leprosy, the cancer of society and the cancer of the revelation of God and the enemy of Jesus. —POPE FRANCIS, Vatican Radio, October 4th, 2013

 

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Misunderstanding Francis

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Former Archbishop Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergogli0 (Pope Francis) riding the bus
File source unknown

 

 

THE letters in response to Understanding Francis couldn’t be more diverse. From those who said it was one of the most helpful articles on the Pope that they’ve read, to others warning that I am deceived. Yes, this is precisely why I have said over and over again that we are living in “dangerous days.” It is because Catholics are becoming more and more divided among themselves. There is a cloud of confusion, mistrust, and suspicion that continues to seep into the walls of the Church. That said, it is hard not to be sympathetic with some readers, such as one priest who wrote:Continue reading →

Understanding Francis

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AFTER Pope Benedict XVI relinquished the seat of Peter, I sensed in prayer several times the words: You have entered into dangerous days. It was the sense that the Church is entering into a period of great confusion.

Enter: Pope Francis.

Not unlike Blessed John Paul II’s papacy, our new pope has also overturned the deeply rooted sod of the status quo. He has challenged everyone in the Church in one way or another. Several readers, however, have written me with concern that Pope Francis is departing from the Faith by his unorthodox actions, his blunt remarks, and seemingly contradictory statements. I have been listening for several months now, watching and praying, and feel compelled to respond to these questions regarding our Pope’s candid ways….

 

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Your Questions on the Era

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SOME questions and answers on the “era of peace,” from Vassula, to Fatima, to the Fathers.

 

Q. Didn’t the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith say that the “era of peace” is millenarianism when it posted its Notification on Vassula Ryden’s writings?

I have decided to answer this question here since some are using this Notification to draw flawed conclusions regarding the notion of an “era of peace.” The answer to this question is as interesting as it is convoluted.

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The Triumph – Part III

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NOT only can we hope for the fulfillment of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, the Church has the power to hasten its coming by our prayers and actions. Instead of despairing, we need to be preparing.

What can we do? What can I do?

 

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The Triumph

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AS Pope Francis prepares to consecrate his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima on May 13th, 2013 through Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, Archbishop of Lisbon, [1]Correction: The consecration is to happen through the Cardinal, not the Pope in person himself at Fatima, as I mistakenly reported. it is timely to reflect on the Blessed Mother’s promise made there in 1917, what it means, and how it will unfold… something that seems more and more likely to be in our times. I believe his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, has shed some valuable light on what is coming upon the Church and the world in this regard…

In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. —www.vatican.va

 

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Correction: The consecration is to happen through the Cardinal, not the Pope in person himself at Fatima, as I mistakenly reported.

Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!

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TO His Holiness, Pope Francis:

 

Dear Holy Father,

Throughout the pontificate of your predecessor, St. John Paul II, he continually invoked us, the youth of the Church, to become “morning watchmen at the dawn of the new millennium.” [1]POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9; (cf. Is 21:11-12)

…watchmen who proclaim to the world a new dawn of hope, brotherhood and peace. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Address to the Guanelli Youth Movement, April 20th, 2002, www.vatican.va

From Ukraine to Madrid, Peru to Canada, he beckoned us to become “protagonists of the new times” [2]POPE JOHN PAUL II, Welcome Ceremony, International Airport of Madrid-Baraja, May 3rd, 2003; www.fjp2.com that lay directly ahead of the Church and the world:

Dear young people, it is up to you to be the watchmen of the morning who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ! —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World, XVII World Youth Day, n. 3; (cf. Is 21:11-12)

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 POPE JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9; (cf. Is 21:11-12)
↑2 POPE JOHN PAUL II, Welcome Ceremony, International Airport of Madrid-Baraja, May 3rd, 2003; www.fjp2.com

Prophecy, Popes, and Piccarreta

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Prayer, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

SINCE the abdication of Peter’s seat by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, there have been many questions surrounding private revelation, some prophecies, and certain prophets. I will attempt to answer those questions here…

I. You occasionally refer to “prophets.” But didn’t prophecy and the line of prophets end with John the Baptist?

II. We don’t have to believe in any private revelation though, do we?

III. You wrote recently that Pope Francis is not an “anti-pope”, as a current prophecy alleges. But wasn’t Pope Honorius a heretic, and therefore, couldn’t the current pope be the “False Prophet”?

IV. But how can a prophecy or prophet be false if their messages ask us to pray the Rosary, Chaplet, and partake in the Sacraments?

V. Can we trust the prophetic writings of the Saints?

VI. How come you do not write more about Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta?

 

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Two Pillars & The New Helmsman

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Photo by Gregorio Borgia, AP

 

 

I say to you, you are Peter, and
upon
this
rock
I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld
shall not prevail against it.
(Matt 16:18)

 

WE were driving over the frozen ice road on Lake Winnipeg yesterday when I glanced at my cellphone. The last message I received before our signal faded was “Habemus Papam!”

This morning, I have been able to find a local here on this remote Indian reserve who has a satellite connection—and with that, our first images of The New Helmsman. A faithful, humble, solid Argentinian.

A rock.

A few days ago, I was inspired to reflect on the dream of St. John Bosco in Living the Dream? sensing the anticipation that Heaven would grant the Church a helmsman who would continue to steer the Barque of Peter between the Two Pillars of Bosco’s dream.

The new Pope, putting the enemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host; and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.—https://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/01/pope-benedict-and-the-two-columns/

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Living the Dream?

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AS I mentioned recently, the word remains strong on my heart, “You are entering dangerous days.” Yesterday, with an “intensity” and “eyes which seemed filled with shadows and concern,” a Cardinal turned to a Vatican blogger and said, “It is a dangerous time. Pray for us.” [1]March 11th, 2013, www.themoynihanletters.com

Yes, there is a sense that the Church is entering unchartered waters. She has faced many trials, some very grave, in her two thousand years of history. But our times are different…

…ours has a darkness different in kind from any that has been before it. The special peril of the time before us is the spread of that plague of infidelity, that the Apostles and our Lord Himself have predicted as the worst calamity of the last times of the Church. And at least a shadow, a typical image of the last times is coming over the world. —Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), sermon at opening of St. Bernard’s Seminary, October 2, 1873, The Infidelity of the Future

And yet, there is an excitement rising up in my soul, a sense of the anticipation of Our Lady and Our Lord. For we are on the cusp of the greatest trials and the greatest victories of the Church.

 

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 March 11th, 2013, www.themoynihanletters.com

The Question on Questioning Prophecy

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The “empty” Chair of Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Italy

 

THE past two weeks, the words keep rising in my heart, “You have entered dangerous days…” And for good reason.

The enemies of the Church are many from both within and without. Of course, this is nothing new. But what is new is the current zeitgeist, the prevailing winds of intolerance toward Catholicism on a near global scale. While atheism and moral relativism continue to strike at the hull of the Barque of Peter, the Church is not without her internal divisions.

For one, there is building steam in some quarters of the Church that the next Vicar of Christ will be an anti-pope. I wrote about this in Possible… or Not? In response, the bulk of letters I’ve received are grateful for clearing the air on what the Church teaches and for putting an end to tremendous confusion. At the same time, one writer accused me of blasphemy and putting my soul at risk; another of overstepping my bounds; and yet another saying that my writing on this was more of a danger to the Church than the actual prophecy itself. While this was going on, I had evangelical Christians reminding me that the Catholic Church is Satanic, and traditionalist Catholics saying I was damned for following any pope after Pius X.

No, it is not surprising that a pope has resigned. What is surprising is that it took 600 years since the last one.

I am reminded again of Blessed Cardinal Newman’s words that are now blasting like a trumpet above the earth:

Satan may adopt the more alarming weapons of deceit—he may hide himself—he may attempt to seduce us in little things, and so to move the Church, not all at once, but by little and little from her true position… It is his policy to split us up and divide us, to dislodge us gradually from our rock of strength. And if there is to be a persecution, perhaps it will be then; then, perhaps, when we are all of us in all parts of Christendom so divided, and so reduced, so full of schism, so close upon heresy… and Antichrist appear as a persecutor, and the barbarous nations around break in. —Venerable John Henry Newman, Sermon IV: The Persecution of Antichrist

 

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Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos

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Photo by Oli Kekäläinen

 

 

First published on April 17th, 2011, I woke up this morning sensing the Lord wanted me to republish this. The main point is at the end, and the need for wisdom. For new readers, the rest of this meditation can also serve as a wake-up call to the seriousness of our times….

 

SOME time ago, I listened on the radio to a news story about a serial killer somewhere on the loose in New York, and all the horrified responses. My first reaction was anger at the stupidity of this generation. Do we seriously believe that constantly glorifying psychopathic killers, mass murderers, vile rapists, and war in our “entertainment” has no effect on our emotional and spiritual well-being? A quick glance at the shelves of a movie rental store reveals a culture so dumbed down, so oblivious, so blinded to the reality of our internal sickness that we actually believe our obsession with sexual idolatry, horror, and violence is normal.

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The Fundamental Problem

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St. Peter who was given “the keys of the kingdom “
 

 

I HAVE received a number of emails, some from Catholics who aren’t sure how to answer their “evangelical” family members, and others from fundamentalists who are certain the Catholic Church is neither biblical nor Christian. Several letters contained long explanations why they feel this Scripture means this and why they think this quote means that. After reading these letters, and considering the hours it would take to respond to them, I thought I would address instead the fundamental problem: just who exactly has the authority to interpret Scripture?

 

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Possible… or Not?

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APTOPIX VATICAN PALM SUNDAYPhoto courtesy The Globe and Mail
 
 

IN light of recent historic events in the papacy, and this, the last working day of Benedict XVI, two current prophecies in particular are gaining traction among believers regarding the next pope. I am asked about them constantly in person as well as by email. So, I am compelled to finally give a timely response.

The problem is that the following prophecies are diametrically opposed to one another. One or both of them, therefore, cannot be true….

 

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The Sixth Day

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Photo by EPA, at 6pm in Rome, February 11th, 2013

 

 

FOR some reason, a deep sorrow came over me in April of 2012, which was immediately after the Pope’s trip to Cuba. That sorrow culminated in a writing three weeks later called Removing the Restrainer. It speaks in part about how the Pope and the Church are a force restraining the “lawless one,” the Antichrist. Little did I or hardly anyone know that the Holy Father decided then, after that trip, to renounce his office, which he did this past February 11th of 2013.

This resignation has brought us closer to the threshold of the Day of the Lord…

 

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The Heart of the New Revolution

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IT seemed like a benign philosophy—deism. That the world was indeed created by God… but then left for man to sort it out himself and determine his own destiny. It was a little lie, born in the 16th century, that was a catalyst in part for the “Enlightenment” period, which gave birth to atheistic materialism, which was embodied by Communism, which has prepared the soil for where we are today: on the threshold of a Global Revolution.

The Global Revolution taking place today is unlike anything seen before. It certainly has political-economic dimensions like past revolutions. In fact, the very conditions that led to the French Revolution (and its violent persecution of the Church) are among us today in several parts of the world: high unemployment, food shortages, and anger fomenting against the authority of both Church and State. In fact, the conditions today are ripe for upheaval (read The Seven Seals of Revolution).

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So, What Do I Do?

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Hope of the Drowning, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

 

AFTER a talk I gave to a group of university students on what the popes have been saying about the “end times”, a young man pulled me aside with a question. “So, if we are living in the “end times,” what are we supposed to do about it?” It’s an excellent question, which I went on to answer in my next talk with them.

These webpages exist for a reason: to propel us toward God! But I know it provokes other questions: “What am I to do?” “How does this change my current situation?” “Should I be doing more to prepare?”

I’ll let Paul VI answer the question, and then expand on it:

There is a great uneasiness at this time in the world and in the Church, and that which is in question is the faith. It so happens now that I repeat to myself the obscure phrase of Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke: ‘When the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on the earth?’…I sometimes read the Gospel passage of the end times and I attest that, at this time, some signs of this end are emerging. Are we close to the end? This we will never know. We must always hold ourselves in readiness, but everything could last a very long time yet. —POPE PAUL VI, The Secret Paul VI, Jean Guitton, p. 152-153, Reference (7), p. ix.

 

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As We Get Closer

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THESE past seven years, I have felt the Lord comparing what is here and coming upon the world to a hurricane. The closer one gets to the eye of the storm, the more intense the winds become. Likewise, the closer we get to the Eye of the Storm—what mystics and saints have referred to as a global “warning” or “illumination of conscience” (perhaps the “sixth seal” of Revelation)—the more intense world events will become.

We began to feel the first winds of this Great Storm in 2008 when the global economic collapse began to unfold [1]cf. The Year of the Unfolding, Landslide &, The Coming Counterfeit. What we will see in the days and months ahead will be events unfolding very rapidly, one upon the other, that will increase the intensity of this Great Storm. It is the convergence of chaos. [2]cf. Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos Already, there are significant events happening all over the world that, unless you are watching, as this ministry is, most will be oblivious to them.

 

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Footnotes

So Little Time Left

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On the first Friday of this month, also the Feast day of St. Faustina, my wife’s mother, Margaret, passed away. We are preparing for the funeral now. Thanks to all for your prayers for Margaret and the family.

As we watch the explosion of evil all over the world, from the most shocking blasphemies against God in theaters, to the imminent collapse of economies, to the specter of nuclear war, the words of this writing below are rarely far from my heart. They were confirmed again today by my spiritual director. Another priest I know, a very prayerful and attentive soul, said just today that the Father is telling him, “Few know how very little time there really is.”

Our response? Do not delay your conversion. Do not delay going to Confession to begin again. Do not put off reconciling with God until tomorrow, for as St. Paul wrote, “Today is the day of salvation.“

First published November 13th, 2010

 

LATE this past summer of 2010, the Lord began to speak a word in my heart that carries a new urgency. It is has been steadily burning in my heart until I woke up this morning weeping, unable to contain it any longer. I spoke with my spiritual director who confirmed what has been weighing on my heart.

As my readers and viewers know, I have striven to speak to you through the words of the Magisterium. But underlying everything I’ve written and spoken of here, in my book, and in my webcasts, are the personal directions that I hear in prayer—that many of you are also hearing in prayer. I will not deviate from the course, except to underscore what has already been said with ‘urgency’ by the Holy Fathers, by sharing with you the private words I have been given. For they are really not meant, at this point, to be kept hidden.

Here is the “message” as it has been given since August in passages from my diary…

 

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A Sliver of His Light

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DO you feel as though you are an insignificant part of God’s plan? That you have little purpose or usefulness to Him or others? Then I hope you have read The Useless Temptation. However, I sense Jesus wanting to encourage you even more. In fact, it is crucial that you who are reading this understand: you were born for these times. Every single soul in the Kingdom of God is here by design, here with a specific purpose and role that is invaluable. That is because you make up part of “the light of the world,” and without you, the world loses a little color…. let me explain.

 

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Persecution! …and the Moral Tsunami

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As more and more people are waking up to the growing persecution of the Church, this writing addresses why, and where it’s all heading. First published December 12th, 2005, I have updated the preamble below…

 

I will take my stand to watch, and station myself on the tower, and look forth to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:1-2)

 

THE past several weeks, I have been hearing with renewed force in my heart that there is a persecution coming—a “word” the Lord seemed to convey to a priest and I while on retreat in 2005.  As I prepared to write about this today, I received the following email from a reader:

I had a weird dream last night.  I awoke this morning with the words “Persecution is coming.” Wondering if others are getting this as well…

That is, at least, what Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York implied last week on the heels of gay marriage being accepted into law in New York. He wrote…

…we do worry indeed about this freedom of religion.  Editorials already call for the removal of guarantees of religious liberty, with crusaders calling for people of faith to be coerced to acceptance of this redefinition.  If the experience of those few other states and countries where this is already law is any indication, the churches, and believers, will soon be harassed, threatened, and hauled into court for their conviction that marriage is between one man, one woman, forever, bringing children into the world.—from Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s blog, “Some Afterthoughts”, July 7th, 2011; http://blog.archny.org/?p=1349

He is echoing Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, former President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who said five years ago:

“…speaking in defense of the life and the rights of the family is becoming, in some societies, a type of crime against the State, a form of disobedience to the Government…” —Vatican City, June 28, 2006

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Charismatic! Part VII

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THE point of this entire series on the charismatic gifts and movement is to encourage the reader to not be afraid of the extraordinary in God! To not be afraid to “open wide your hearts” to the gift of the Holy Spirit whom the Lord wishes to pour out in a special and powerful way in our times. As I read the letters sent to me, it is clear that the Charismatic Renewal has not been without its sorrows and failures, its human deficiencies and weaknesses. And yet, this is precisely what occurred in the early Church after Pentecost. Saints Peter and Paul devoted much space to correcting the various churches, moderating the charisms, and refocusing the budding communities over and over again upon the oral and written tradition that was being handed on to them. What the Apostles did not do is deny the often dramatic experiences of believers, try to stifle the charisms, or silence the zeal of thriving communities. Rather, they said:

Do not quench the Spirit… pursue love, but strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy… above all, let your love for one another be intense… (1 Thess 5:19; 1 Cor 14:1; 1 Pet 4:8)

I want to devote the last part of this series to sharing my own experiences and reflections since I first experienced the charismatic movement in 1975. Rather than give my entire testimony here, I will restrict it to those experiences one might call “charismatic.”

 

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Charismatic? Part VI

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pentecost3_FotorPentecost, Artist Unknown

  

PENTECOST is not only a single event, but a grace that the Church can experience again and again. However, in this past century, the popes have been praying not only for a renewal in the Holy Spirit, but for a “new Pentecost”. When one considers all the signs of the times that have accompanied this prayer—key among them the continued presence of the Blessed Mother gathering with her children on earth through ongoing apparitions, as though she were once again in the “upper room” with the Apostles… the words of the Catechism take on a new sense of immediacy:

…at the “end time” the Lord’s Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 715

This time when the Spirit comes to “renew the face of the earth” is the period, after the death of Antichrist, during what the Church Father’s pointed to in St. John’s Apocalypse as the “thousand year” era when Satan is chained in the abyss.Continue reading →

Charismatic? Part V

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AS we look at the Charismatic Renewal today, we see a great decline in its numbers, and those who remain are mostly grey and white-haired. What, then, was the Charismatic Renewal all about if it appears on the surface to be fizzling? As one reader wrote in response to this series:

At some point the Charismatic movement vanished like fireworks that light up the night sky and then fall back into the darkenss. I was somewhat puzzled that a move of Almighty God would wane and finally fade away.

The answer to this question is perhaps the most important aspect of this series, for it helps us to understand not only where we’ve come from, but what the future holds for the Church…

 

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Charismatic? Part IV

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I have been asked before if I am a “Charismatic.” And my answer is, “I am Catholic!” That is, I want to be fully Catholic, to live in the center of the deposit of faith, the heart of our mother, the Church. And so, I strive to be “charismatic”, “marian,” “contemplative,” “active,” “sacramental,” and “apostolic.” That is because all of the above belong not to this or that group, or this or that movement, but to the entire body of Christ. While apostolates may vary in the focus of their particular charism, in order to be fully alive, fully “healthy,” one’s heart, one’s apostolate, should be open to the entire treasury of grace that the Father has bestowed upon the Church.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens… (Eph 1:3)

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Charismatic? Part III

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Holy Spirit Window, St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City

 

FROM that letter in Part I:

I go out of my way to attend a church that is very traditional—where people dress properly, remain quiet in front of the Tabernacle, where we are catechized according to Tradition from the pulpit, etc.

I stay far away from charismatic churches. I just don’t see that as Catholicism. There is often a movie screen on the altar with parts of the Mass listed on it (“Liturgy,” etc.). Women are on the altar. Everyone is dressed very casually (jeans, sneakers, shorts, etc.) Everyone raises their hands, shouts, claps—no quiet. There is no kneeling or other reverent gestures. It seems to me that a lot of this was learned from the Pentecostal denomination. No one thinks the “details” of Tradition matter. I feel no peace there. What happened to Tradition? To silence (such as no clapping!) out of respect for the Tabernacle??? To modest dress?

 

I was seven years old when my parents attended a Charismatic prayer meeting in our parish. There, they had an encounter with Jesus that profoundly changed them. Our parish priest was a good shepherd of the movement who himself experienced the “baptism in the Spirit.” He permitted the prayer group to grow in its charisms, thereby bringing many more conversions and graces to the Catholic community. The group was ecumenical, and yet, faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church. My dad described it as a “truly beautiful experience.”

In hindsight, it was a model of sorts of what the popes, from the very beginning of the Renewal, wished to see: an integration of the movement with the whole Church, in fidelity to the Magisterium.

 

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The Verdict

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AS my recent ministry tour progressed, I felt a new weight in my soul, a heaviness of heart unlike previous missions the Lord has sent me on. After preaching about His love and mercy, I asked the Father one night why the world… why anyone would not want to open their hearts to Jesus who has given so much, who has never hurt a soul, and who has burst open the gates of Heaven and gained every spiritual blessing for us through His death upon the Cross?

The answer came swiftly, a word from the Scriptures themselves:

And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. (John 3:19)

The growing sense, as I’ve meditated on this word, is that it is a definitive word for our times, indeed a verdict for a world now upon the threshold of extraordinary change….

 

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