BILLIONS of people have come and gone in the past two millennium. Those who were Christians awaited and hoped to see the Second Coming of Christ… but instead, passed through the doorway of death to see Him face to face.

It is estimated that some 155 000 people die each day, and slightly more than that are born. The world is a revolving door of souls.

Have you ever wondered why Christ’s promise of His return has been delayed? Why billions have come and gone in the period since His Incarnation, this 2000-year-long “final hour” of waiting? And what makes this generation any more likely to see His coming before it passes away?

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POPE BENEDICT XVI 

“If I get hold of the pope, I will hang him,” Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior MMA leader, told protesters in Islamabad, who carried placards reading “Terrorist, extremist Pope be hanged!” and “Down with Muslims’ enemies!”  —AP News, Sept 22, 2006

“The violent reactions in many parts of the Islamic world justified one of Pope Benedict’s main fears . . . They show the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats, and actual violence.”  —Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney; www.timesonline.co.uk, September 19, 2006

TODAY’S Sunday Mass readings remarkably call to mind Pope Benedict XVI and the events of this past week:

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There is not only a physical deafness … there is also a ‘hardness of hearing’ where God is concerned, and this is something from which we particularly suffer in our own time. Put simply, we are no longer able to hear God—there are too many different frequencies filling our ears.  —Pope Benedict XVI, Homily; Munich, Germany, September 10, 2006; Zenit

When this happens, there is nothing left for God to do, but speak louder than us! He is doing it now, through His Pope. 

The world needs God. We need God, but what God? The definitive explanation is to be found in the one who died on the Cross: in Jesus, the Son of God incarnate … love to the end. —Ibid.

If we fail to listen to "Peter", Christ’s vicar, what then? 

Our God comes, he keeps silence no longer… (Psalm 50:3)

LAST NIGHT, I had this tremendous urge to get in the car and drive. As I headed out of town, I saw a red harvest moon resurrecting over the hill.

I parked on a country road, and stood and watched the rising as a strong east wind blew across my face. And the following words dropped into my heart:

The winds of change have begun to blow again.

Last spring, as I traveled across North America in a concert tour in which I preached to thousands of souls to prepare for the times ahead, a strong wind literally followed us across the continent, from the day we left to the day we returned. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

As the summer began, I had the sense that this was going to be a time of peace, preparation, and blessing. The calm before the storm.  Indeed, the days have been hot, calm, and peaceful.

But a new harvest begins. 

The winds of change have begun to blow again.

Dead whales on New Zealand’s Opoutere Beach 
"It’s horrific that this is happening on such a large scale," —Mark Norman, Curator of the Museum of Victoria

IT is very possible that we are witnessing those eschatological  elements of the Old Testament prophets beginning to unfold. As both regional and international lawlessness continue to escalate, we are witnessing the earth, its climate, and its animal species go through "convulsions".

This passage from Hosea continues to jump off the page—one of dozens in which suddenly, there is a fire beneath the words:

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel, for the LORD has a grievance against the inhabitants of the land: There is no fidelity, no mercy, no knowledge of God in the land. False swearing, lying, murder, stealing and adultery! In their lawlessness, bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everything that dwells in it languishes: The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and even the fish of the sea perish. (Hosea 4:1-3; cf. Romans 8:19-23)

But let us not fail to heed the words of the prophets, that even then, flowed from the merciful heart of God, amidst the warnings:

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain salvation upon you. (Hosea 10:12) 

Jesus Calms the Storm—Artist Unknown 

FEAST OF THE BIRTH OF MARY

IT has been an overwhelming week of encouragement for many of you, as well as me. God has been banding us together, confirming our hearts, and healing them too—calming those storms which have been raging in our minds and spirits.

I have been so deeply moved by the many letters I’ve received. Among them, are many miracles… 

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THERE has been a shift in the spiritual realm this past week, and it has been felt in the souls of many people.

Last week, a strong word came to me: 

I am banding together my prophets.

I have had a remarkable inflow of letters from all quarters of the Church with a sense that, "Now is the time to speak!"

There seems to be a common thread of "heaviness" or "burden" being carried among God’s evangelists and prophets, and I assume many others. It is a sense of foreboding and grief, and yet, an inner strength to maintain hope in God.

Indeed! He is our strength, and his love and mercy endures forever! I wish to encourage you right now to not be afraid to raise your voice in a spirit of love and truth. Christ is with you, and the Spirit He has given you is not one of cowardice, but of power and love and self-control (2 Tim 1:6-7).

It’s time for all of us to rise up—and with our combined lungs, help blast the trumpets of warning.  —From a reader in central Canada