peace

When Face to Face With Evil

Posted on by

 

ONE of my translators forwarded this letter to me:

For too long the Church has been destroying itself by refusing messages from heaven and not helping those who call heaven for help. God has been silent too long, he proves that he is weak because he allows evil to act. I don’t understand his will, nor his love, nor the fact that he lets evil spread. Yet he created SATAN and did not destroy him when he revolted, reducing him to ashes. I do not have more confidence in Jesus who supposedly is stronger than the Devil. It could just take one word and one gesture and the world would be saved! I had dreams, hopes, projects, but now I only have one desire when comes the end of the day: to close my eyes definitively!

Where is this God? is he deaf? is he blind? Does he care about people who are suffering?…. 

You ask God for Health, he gives you sickness, suffering and death.
You ask for a job you have unemployment and suicide
You ask for children you have infertility.
You ask for holy priests, you have freemasons.

You ask for joy and happiness, you have pain, sorrow, persecution, misfortune.
You ask for Heaven you have Hell.

He has always had his preferences — like Abel to Cain, Isaac to Ishmael, Jacob to Esau, the wicked to the righteous. It’s sad, but we have to face the facts SATAN IS STRONGER THAN ALL THE SAINTS AND ANGELS COMBINED! So if God exists, let him prove it to me, I am looking forward to converse with him if that can convert me. I didn’t ask to be born.

Continue reading →

The Coming Sabbath Rest

Posted on by

 

FOR 2000 years, the Church has laboured to draw souls into her bosom. She has endured persecutions and betrayals, heretics and schismatics. She has gone through seasons of glory and growth, decline and division, power and poverty whilst tirelessly proclaiming the Gospel — if only at times through a remnant. But someday, said the Church Fathers, she will enjoy a “Sabbath Rest” — an Era of Peace on earth before the end of the world. But what exactly is this rest, and what brings it about?Continue reading →

The Coming Age of Love

Posted on by

 

First published on October 4th, 2010. 

 

Dear young friends, the Lord is asking you to be prophets of this new age… —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Homily, World Youth Day, Sydney, Australia, July 20th, 2008

Continue reading →

The Great Liberation

Posted on by

 

MANY feel that Pope Francis’ announcement declaring a “Jubilee of Mercy” from Dec. 8th, 2015 to Nov. 20th, 2016 bore greater significance than may first have appeared. The reason being is that it is one of numerous signs converging all at once. That hit home for me also as I reflected on the Jubilee and a prophetic word I received at the end of 2008… [1]cf. The Year of the Unfolding

First published March 24th, 2015.

Footnotes

The Tiger in the Cage

Posted on by

 

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 of my prison and set me free… and yet, I find myself pacing back and forth in the same rut of sin. The door is open, but I do not run headlong into the Wilderness of Freedom… the plains of joy, the mountains of wisdom, the waters of refreshment… I can see them in the distance, and yet I remain a prisoner of my own accord. Why? Why don’t I run? Why am I hesitating? Why do I stay in this shallow rut of sin, of dirt, bones, and waste, pacing back and forth, back and forth?

Why?

Continue reading →

When Wisdom Comes

Posted on by

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, March 26th, 2015

Liturgical texts here

Woman-praying_Fotor

 

THE words came to me recently:

Whatever happens, happens. Knowing about the future does not prepare you for it; knowing Jesus does.

There is a gigantic gulf between knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge tells you what is. Wisdom tells you what to do with it. The former without the latter can be catastrophic on many levels. For example:

Continue reading →

Living in the Divine Will

Posted on by

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Monday, January 27th, 2015
Opt. Memorial for St. Angela Merici

Liturgical texts here

 

TODAY’s Gospel is often used to argue that Catholics have invented or exaggerated the significance of the motherhood of Mary.

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

But then who lived the will of God more completely, more perfectly, more obediently than Mary, after her Son? From the moment of the Annunciation [1]and since her birth, since Gabriel says she was “full of grace” until standing beneath the Cross (while others fled), no one quietly lived out the will of God more perfectly. That is to say that no one was more of a mother to Jesus, by His own definintion, than this Woman.

Continue reading →

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 and since her birth, since Gabriel says she was “full of grace”

The Lion of Judah

Posted on by

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 17th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is a powerful moment of drama in one of St. John’s visions in the Book of Revelation. After hearing the Lord chastise the seven churches, warning, exhorting, and preparing them for His coming, [1]cf. Rev 1:7 St. John is shown a scroll with writing on both sides that is sealed with seven seals. When he realizes that “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth” is able to open and examine it, he begins to weep profusely. But why is St. John weeping over something he hasn’t read yet?

Continue reading →

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Rev 1:7

The Rest of God

Posted on by

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?

Continue reading →

The City of Joy

Posted on by

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 5th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ISAIAH writes:

A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you. (Isaiah 26)

So many Christians today have lost their peace! So many, indeed, have lost their joy! And thus, the world finds Christianity to appear somewhat unattractive.

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 →

Finding Peace

Posted on by


Photo by Carveli Studios

 

DO you long for peace? In my encounters with other Christians in the past few years, the most evident spiritual malady is that few are at peace. Almost as if there is a common belief growing among Catholics that a lack of peace and joy is simply part of the suffering and spiritual attacks upon the Body of Christ. It is “my cross,” we like to say. But that is a dangerous assumption bringing about an unfortunate consequence upon society as a whole. If the world is thirsting to see the Face of Love and to drink from the Living Well of peace and joy… but all they find are the brackish waters of anxiety and the mud of depression and anger in our souls… where will they turn?

God wants His people to live in interior peace at all times. And it is possible…Continue reading →

Peace In Presence, Not Absence

Posted on by

 

HIDDEN it seems from the ears of the world is the collective cry I hear from the Body of Christ, a cry that is reaching the Heavens: “Father, if it is possible take this cup away from me!” Letters I receive speak of tremendous family and financial strain, lost security, and growing concern over The Perfect Storm that has emerged on the horizon. But as my spiritual director often says, we are in “boot camp,” training for this present and coming “final confrontation” that the Church is facing, as John Paul II put it. What appears to be contradictions, endless difficulties, and even a sense of abandonment is the Spirit of Jesus working through the firm hand of the Mother of God, forming her troops and preparing them for the battle of the ages. As it says in that precious book of Sirach:

My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.  Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. (Sirach 2:1-5)

 

Continue reading →