{"id":33036,"date":"2018-02-09T16:58:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T22:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=33036"},"modified":"2018-02-10T13:13:09","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T19:13:09","slug":"called-to-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/called-to-the-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"Called to the Wall","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mark’s testimony concludes with Part V today. To read Parts I-IV, click on\u00a0<\/em>My Testimony<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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NOT<\/strong> only did the Lord want me to unequivocally know\u00a0the value of one soul<\/em><\/a>, but also how much I was going to need to trust in Him. For my ministry was about to be called in a direction I did not anticipate, though He had already “forwarned” me years before that\u00a0music is a doorway to evangelize… to the Now Word.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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THE DESERT TESTING<\/p>\n

Lea was a successful professional graphic designer, and I, a television reporter. But now we had to learn\u00a0to live on Divine Providence.\u00a0With our seventh child on the way, it would be quite a test!<\/p>\n

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In July of 2005, we launched a concert tour across the United States that started in central Canada, wound through southern California, crossed over to Florida, and then back home again. But even before our first concert began, we ran into trouble.<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever driven “The Grapevine” in California, then you’ll know why there are truck stops at the top and<\/em>\u00a0bottom of the mountain: to service the engines that overheat and the\u00a0brakes that burn out. We were the former. Our motorhome’s engine kept overheating, so we pulled into a\u00a0diesel shop\u2014not once\u2014but at least 3-4 more times<\/em>. Each time, after only barely making it to the next town, we had to stop at yet another repair shop. I estimated that we had spent roughly $6000 trying to solve the problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the time we set out across the blazing desert into Texas, I was grumbling once again\u2014like the Israelites of old. “Lord, I’m on your side! Are you not on mine?” But by the time we reached Louisiana, I realized my sin… my lack of trust.<\/p>\n

Before the concert that night, I went to confession with Fr. Kyle Dave,\u00a0a young, dynamic priest. For my penance, he opened a small baggie full of Scripture quotes, and told me to take one. This is what I pulled out:<\/p>\n

God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. (2 For 9:8)<\/span><\/p>\n

I shook my head and laughed. And then, with a sly grin on his face, Fr. Kyle said: “This place is going to be packed tonight.” I laughed again. “Don’t worry about that, Father. If we get fifty people, that’ll be a good crowd.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Oh. There’ll be more than that,” he said flashing his beautiful smile. “You’ll see.”<\/p>\n

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PROVIDENCE IN THE STORM<\/p>\n

The concert was at 7pm, but my sound check started around 5 O’clock. By 5:30, there were people standing in the lobby. So I poked my head in and said, “Hi folks. You know the concert is at seven tonight?”<\/p>\n

“Oh yes, Mr. Mark,” said one lady in that classic southern drawl. “We’re here to get a good seat.” I couldn’t help laughing.<\/p>\n

“Don’t worry,” I smiled, “You’ll have plenty of places to sit.” The images of nearly empty churches that I was so used to playing to by now, flickered through my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twenty minutes later, the lobby was so full, I had to wrap up my sound check. Weaving my way through the crowd, I headed toward the end of the parking lot where our “tour bus” was parked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Two police cars were parked in the intersection of the street with their lights on as Sheriffs directed traffic into the parking lot. “Oh my gosh,” I said to my wife, as we peered through the tiny kitchen window. “They must think Garth Brooks is coming!”<\/p>\n

That night, the Holy Spirit descended upon the 500 plus audience. At one point in the concert, a “word” came to me that I preached to the standing-room-only crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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There is a great tsunami<\/a> about to sweep over the world. It is going to pass through the Church and carry many people away. Brothers and sisters, you need to be prepared. You need to build your life, not on the shifting sands of moral\u00a0relativism, but on the rock of Christ’s Word.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Two weeks later, a 35 foot wall of water passed through the church taking the altar, books, pews\u2014everything\u2014except a statue of St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se de Lisieux that stood alone where the altar used to be. All the windows were blown out by the storm surge except<\/em> the stained glass window of the Eucharist. “Hurricane Katrina,” Fr. Kyle would later say, “was a microcosm<\/em> of what is coming upon the world.” It was as though the Lord was saying that, unless we have the childlike faith of\u00a0Th\u00e9r\u00e8se centered only on Jesus, we will not\u00a0survive the Great Storm that is coming like a hurricane upon the earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2026you are entering into the decisive times, times for which I have been preparing you for many years. How many will be swept away by the terrible hurricane which has already hurled itself upon humanity. This is the time of the great trial; this is my time, O children consecrated to my Immaculate Heart.<\/strong><\/em> \u2014Our Lady to Fr. Stefano Gobbi, Feb. 2nd, 1994; with\u00a0Imprimatur\u00a0<\/em>Bishop Donald Montrose<\/p>\n

<\/span>You know, my little one, the elect will have to fight against the Prince of Darkness. It will be a terrible storm. Rather, it will be a\u00a0hurricane which will want to destroy the faith and confidence of even the elect. In this terrible turmoil currently brewing up, you will see the brightness of my Flame of Love illuminating Heaven and earth by the effusion of its effect of grace I am passing on to souls in this dark night.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2014Our Lady to Elizabeth Kindelmann,\u00a0The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary: The Spiritual Diary<\/em> (Kindle Locations 2994-2997);\u00a0Imprimatur\u00a0<\/em>by Cardinal P\u00e9ter Erd\u00f6<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Two nights later, we had a concert in Pensacola, Florida. After the venue had emptied out, a little lady walked up to me and said, “Here you go. I sold my house and want to help you out.” I thanked her, stuffed her cheque into my pocket without looking at it, and finished loading our sound gear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As we drove to sleep overnight in a Wal-Mart parking lot, I remembered our exchange, dug into my pocket, and handed the cheque to my wife. She unfolded it and let out a gasp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Mark. It’s a cheque for $6000!”<\/p>\n

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THE PROPHETIC MOUNTAIN<\/p>\n

Fr. Kyle lost pretty much everything but the collar around his neck. With nowhere to go, we invited him to stay with us in Canada. “Yes, go”, his bishop said. A couple of weeks later, Fr. Kyle and I were traveling through the Canadian prairies where he would tell his story, I would sing, and we would beg for donations to help rebuild his parish. The generosity was astounding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then Fr. Kyle and I journeyed to the foot of the Canadian Rockies. Our plan was to go site-seeing. But the Lord had something else in mind. We got as far as\u00a0The Way of Holiness<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>retreat centre. Over the course of the next few days, the Lord began to reveal through the Mass readings, Liturgy of the Hours<\/em>, and “words” of knowledge… the “big picture” of this Great Storm. What the Lord revealed on that mountain would later form the foundation, The Petals<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0for the over 1300 writings that are now on this website.<\/p>\n

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BE NOT AFRAID<\/p>\n

I knew at that point that God was asking something of me beyond the ordinary, for His prophetic words were now burning in my heart. Months earlier, the Lord had already urged me to begin putting on the Internet the thoughts that came to me in prayer. But after my experience with Fr. Kyle, which left both of us breathless at times, I was terrified. Prophecy is like walking blind-folded over jagged rocks on the edge of a cliff. How many well-meaning souls have toppled over having stumbled on the stones of pride and presumption! I was so afraid to lead a single soul into any kind of falsehood. I could hardly trust a word I wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“But I simply can’t read everything,” said my spiritual director, Fr. Robert “Bob” Johnson of Madonna House.“Well,” I replied, “how about assigning Michael D. O’Brien to direct my writings?” Michael was and is, in my opinion, one of the most reliable prophets in the Catholic Church today. Through his paintings and fictional works like\u00a0Fr. Elijah<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Eclipse of the Sun, <\/em>Michael\u00a0foretold the rise of totalitarianism and the moral collapse that we are now seeing unfold daily before our eyes. His lectures and essays have been published in major Catholic publications and his wisdom has been sought around the world. But in person, Michael is an extraordinarily humble man who asks your opinion before he’ll ever offer his own.<\/p>\n

In the months and roughly five years that followed, Michael mentored me, not so much in my writing, but more so in navigating the treacherous terrain of my own wounded heart. He gently guided me over the jagged rocks of private revelation, avoiding the pitfalls of “divinized fortune telling” or pointless speculation, and reminded me time and again to stay close to the Church Fathers, popes, and teachings of the Catechism. These\u2014not necessarily the “lights” which would begin coming to me in prayer\u2014would become my true teachers. Humility, prayer and the sacraments would become my food. And Our Lady would be my companion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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CALLED TO THE WALL<\/p>\n

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The faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ.<\/strong> <\/span>\u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>, 897<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the assurances in spiritual direction, the worldwide messages of Our Lady<\/a>, or even the clear words of the popes<\/a> regarding our times, was I\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>called to exercise the “prophetic” office of Christ? Was the Father really<\/em> calling me to this, or was I deceived?\u00a0<\/p>\n

One day I was playing the piano singing the\u00a0Sanctus <\/i>or\u00a0“Holy, Holy, Holy”\u00a0that I had written for the Liturgy.\u00a0<\/p>\n