Missing the Message… of a Papal Prophet

 

THE Holy Father has been greatly misunderstood not only by the secular press, but by some of the flock as well. [1]cf. Benedict and the New World Order Some have written me suggesting that perhaps this pontiff is an “anti-pope” in kahootz with the Antichrist! [2]cf. A Black Pope? How quickly some run from the Garden!

Pope Benedict XVI is not calling for a central all-powerful “global government”—something he and popes before him have outright condemned (ie. Socialism) [3]For other quotes from popes on Socialism, cf. www.tfp.org and www.americaneedsfatima.org —but a global family that places the human person and their inviolable rights and dignity at the center of all human development in society. Let us be absolutely clear on this:

The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. … In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live ‘by bread alone’ (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3) – a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, n. 28, December 2005

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. Benedict and the New World Order
2 cf. A Black Pope?
3 For other quotes from popes on Socialism, cf. www.tfp.org and www.americaneedsfatima.org

Benedict and The New World Order

 

SINCE the world economy began to sway like a drunken sailor on the high seas, there have been calls from several world leaders for a “new world order” (see The Writing on The Wall). It has led to many Christians becoming suspicious, perhaps rightly so, of ripening conditions for a global totalitarian power, what some might even identify as the “beast” of Revelation 13.

Which is why some Catholics were horrified when Pope Benedict XVI released his new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, that not only seemed to concede to a new world order, but even encourage it. It led to a flurry of articles from fundamentalist groups, waving “the smoking gun,” suggesting that Benedict is in collusion with the Antichrist. Likewise, even some Catholics appeared poised to abandon ship with a possible “apostate” pope at the helm.

And so, finally, I have taken a few weeks to carefully read the Encyclical—not just a few headlines or quotes taken out of context—in attempt to understand what is being said by the Holy Father.

 

Mark in Massachusetts & Rhode Island this Week!


 

 COME AND ENCOUNTER JESUS!

 

Mark Mallett will be singing and speaking

at the following parishes this week:

 

Sunday, OCTOBER 23rd (7 – 9 pm)
Encounter With Jesus
National Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette
(in the church)
947 Park Street
Attleboro, MA

ph) 508-222-5410

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Monday, OCTOBER 24th (7 – 9 pm)
Encounter With Jesus
Corpus Christi Parish
324 Quaker Meeting House Road
East Sandwich, MA

ph) 508-888-0209

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Tuesday, October 25th (7 – 9 pm)
Encounter With Jesus
St. Pius X Parish
44 Elm Street
Westerly, RI

ph) 401-596-2535

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Wednesday, October 26th (7 – 9 pm)
Encounter With Jesus
St. Christopher Parish
1660 Main Road
Tiverton RI

ph) 401-624-6644

 

The Great Revolution

 

AS promised, I want to share more words and thoughts that came to me during my time in Paray-le-Monial, France.

 

ON THE THRESHOLD… A GLOBAL REVOLUTION

I strongly sensed the Lord saying that we are upon the “threshold” of immense changes, changes that are both painful and good. The biblical imagery used over and over again is that of labor pains. As any mother knows, labor is a very turbulent time—contractions followed by rest followed by more intense contractions until finally the baby is born… and the pain quickly becomes a memory.

The labor pains of the Church have been occurring over centuries. Two large contractions occurred in the schism between Orthodox (East) and Catholics (West) at the turn of the first millennium, and then again in the Protestant Reformation 500 years later. These revolutions shook the foundations of the Church, cracking her very walls such that the “smoke of Satan” was able to slowly seep in.

…the smoke of Satan is seeping into the Church of God through the cracks in the walls. —POPE PAUL VI, first Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, June 29, 1972

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Surprised by Love


The Prodigal Son, the Return
by Tissot Jacques Joseph, 1862

 

THE Lord has been speaking non-stop since I arrived here in Paray-le-Monial. So much so, that he has been waking me up to converse in the night! Yes, I would think I was crazy too if it were not for my spiritual director ordering me to listen!

As we watch the world descend into unprecedented paganism, the gap between rich and poor continue to grow, and the innocence of children increasingly endangered by hedonistic ideologies, there is a cry rising from the Body of Christ for God to intervene. I hear more frequently these days Christians calling out for the fire of God to fall and purify this earth.

But God has always surprised His people with mercy when justice was deserving, both in the New and Old Testaments. I believe the Lord is preparing to surprise us again in a most unprecedented way. I hope to share more of these thoughts with you over the next few days as the World Congress of the Sacred Heart begins this evening here in this little French town where the Sacred Heart was revealed to St. Marguerite-Mary.

 

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The Song of God

 

 

I think we’ve got the whole "saint thing" wrong in our generation. Many think that becoming a Saint is this extraordinary ideal that only a handful of souls will ever be capable of achieving. That sanctity is a pious thought far out of reach. That as long as one avoids mortal sin and keeps his nose clean, he’ll still "make it" to Heaven—and that is good enough.

But in truth, friends, that is a terrible lie that keeps the children of God in bondage, that keeps souls in a state of unhappiness and dysfunction. It’s as big a lie as telling a goose that it cannot migrate.

 

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