THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 30th, 2013
Feast of St. Andrew
Liturgical texts here
Crucifixion of St. Andrew (1607), Caravaggio
GROWING up at a time when Pentecostalism was strong in Christian communities and on television, it was common to hear evangelical Christians quote from today’s first reading from Romans:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 29th, 2013
Liturgical texts here.
THE prophet Daniel is given a powerful and frightening vision of four empires that would dominate for a time—the fourth being a world-wide tyranny from which the Antichrist would come forth, according to Tradition. Both Daniel and Christ describe what the times of this “beast” will look like, albeit from different perspectives.Continue reading
BACK in June of 2013, I wrote to you of changes that I have been discerning regarding my ministry, how it is presented, what is presented etc. in the writing called The Watchman’s Song. After several months now of reflection, I would like to share with you my observations from what is happening in our world, things I have discussed with my spiritual director, and where I feel I am being led now. I also want to invite your direct input with a quick survey below.
FROM time to time, I receive letters from readers asking where is the hope?… please give us a word of hope! While it’s true that words can sometimes bring a certain hope, the Christian understanding of hope goes far, far deeper than the “assurance of a positive outcome.”
It is true that several of my writings here are sounding a trumpet of warning of things that are now here and coming. These writings have served to wake many souls up, to call them back to Jesus, to bring about, I have learned, many dramatic conversions. And yet, it is not enough to know what is coming; what is essential is that we know what is already here, or rather, Who is already here. In this lies the source of authentic hope.
DO not waste time thinking about the heroics of the saints, their miracles, extraordinary penances, or ecstasies if it only brings you discouragement in your present state (“I’ll never be one of them,” we mumble, and then promptly return to the status quo beneath the heel of Satan). Rather, then, occupy yourself with simply walking on the The Little Path, which leads no less, to the beatitude of the saints.
Young Woman Sweeping, Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916)
I AM guessing that most of my readers feel that they are not holy. That holiness, saintliness, is in fact an impossibility in this life. We say, “I am too weak, too sinful, too frail to ever rise to the ranks of the righteous.” We read Scriptures like the following, and feel they were written on a different planet:
…as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:15-16)
Or a different universe:
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48)
Impossible? Would God ask us—no, command us—to be something that we cannot? Oh yes, it is true, we cannot be holy without Him, He who is the source of all holiness. Jesus was blunt:
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
The truth is—and Satan wishes to keep it far from you—holiness is not only possible, but it is possible right now.