Fatima

Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!

Posted on by

 

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)

Continue reading →

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

Warning from the Past

Posted on by

Auschwitz “Death Camp”

 

AS my readers know, at the beginning of 2008, I received in prayer that it would be “the Year of the Unfolding.” That we would begin to see the collapse of the economic, then social, then political order. Clearly, everything is on schedule for those with eyes to see.

But last year, my meditation on “Mystery Babylon” put a new perspective on everything. It places the United States of America at a very central role in the rise of a New World Order. The late Venezuelan mystic, Servant of God Maria Esperanza, perceived on some level the importance of America—that her rise or fall would determine the fate of the world:

I feel the United States has to save the world… —The Bridge to Heaven: Interviews with Maria Esperanza of Betania, by Michael H. Brown, p. 43

But clearly the corruption that laid waste to the Roman Empire is dissolving the foundations of America—and rising in their place is something strangely familiar. Quite frighteningly familiar. Please take the time to read this post below from my archives of November 2008, at the time of the American election. This is a spiritual, not a political reflection. It will challenge many, anger others, and hopefully awaken many more. We always face the danger of evil overcoming us if we do not remain vigilant. Hence, this writing is not an accusation, but a warning… a warning from the past.

I have more to write on this subject and how, what is happening in America and the world at large, was actually foretold by Our Lady of Fatima. However, in prayer today, I sensed the Lord telling me to focus in the next few weeks solely on getting my albums done. That they, somehow, have a part to play in the prophetic aspect of my ministry (see Ezekiel 33, particularly verses 32-33). His will be done!

Lastly, please keep me in your prayers. Without explaining it, I think you can imagine the spiritual attack on this ministry, and my family. God bless you. You all remain in my daily petitions….

Continue reading →

How the Era was Lost

Posted on by

 

THE future hope of an “era of peace” based on the “thousand years” that follow the death of Antichrist, according to the the book of Revelation, may sound like a new concept to some readers. To others, it is considered a heresy. But it is neither. The fact is, the eschatological hope of a “period” of peace and justice, of a “Sabbath rest” for the Church before the end of time, does have its basis in Sacred Tradition. In reality, it has been somewhat buried in centuries of misinterpretation, unwarranted attacks, and speculative theology that continues to this day. In this writing, we look at the question of exactly how “the era was lost”—a bit of a soap opera in itself—and other questions such as whether it is literally a “thousand years,” whether Christ will be visibly present at that time, and what we can expect. Why is this important? Because it not only confirms a future hope that the Blessed Mother announced as imminent at Fatima, but of events that must take place at the end of this age that will change the world forever… events that appear to be on the very threshold of our times. 

 

Continue reading →

Charismatic! Part VII

Posted on by

 

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.”

 

Continue reading →

Charismatic? Part VI

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

 

 

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…

 

Continue reading →

Charismatic? Part IV

Posted on by
 

 

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)

Continue reading →

The Verdict

Posted on by

 

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….

 

Continue reading →

Ezekiel 12

Posted on by


Summer Landscape by George Inness, 1894

 

I have longed to give you the Gospel, and more than that, to give you my very life; you have become very dear to me. My little children, I am like a mother giving birth to you, until Christ is formed in you. (1 Thess 2:8; Gal 4:19)

 

IT has been nearly a year since my wife and I picked up our eight children and moved to a small parcel of land on the Canadian prairies in the middle of nowhere. It is probably the last place I would have chosen.. a wide open ocean of farm fields, few trees, and plenty of wind. But all other doors closed and this was the one that opened.

As I prayed this morning, pondering the rapid, almost overwhelming change in direction for our family, words came back to me that I had forgotten that I had read shortly before we felt called to move… Ezekiel, Chapter 12.

Continue reading →

Measuring God

Posted on by

 

IN a recent letter exchange, an atheist said to me,

If sufficient evidence was shown to me, I would start witnessing for Jesus tomorrow. I don’t know what that evidence would be, but I’m sure an all-powerful, all-knowing deity such as Yahweh would know what it would take to get me to believe. So that means Yahweh must not want me to believe (at least at this time), otherwise Yahweh could show me the evidence.

Is it that God does not want this atheist to believe at this time, or is it that this atheist is not prepared to believe in God? That is, is he applying the principles of the “scientific method” to the Creator Himself?Continue reading →