The Unfailing Kingdom

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 31st, 201
Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest

Liturgical texts here


Rusty Crucifix, by Jeffrey Knight

 

 

“WHEN the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

It’s a rather haunting question. What could possibly bring about such a condition whereby the greater part of humanity will have lost its faith in God? The answer is, they will have lost faith in His Church.

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Find a Home for the Lord

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 30th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

Darknessroad

 

 

SOMETIMES I look down the narrow, darkening road of the future, and I find myself crying out, “Jesus! Give me the courage to go down this path.” In times like these, I am tempted to tone down my message, taper my zeal, and measure my words. But then I catch myself and say, “Mark, Mark… What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

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Seeds of Hope… and Warning

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 29th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

I find this one of the most challenging of all the Gospel parables, for I see myself in one soil or the other. How often does the Lord speak a word in my heart… and then I soon forget it! How often does the mercy and consolation of the Spirit bring me joy, and then the slightest trial throws me into confusion again. How often do worries and concerns of this world carry me away from the reality that God always carries me in the palm of His hand… Ah, cursed forgetfulness!

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The Ark and the Son

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 28th, 2014
Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE are some interesting parallels in today’s Scriptures between the Virgin Mary and the Ark of the Covenant, which is an Old Testament type of Our Lady.

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Driving Life Away

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 27th, 2014
Opt. Memorial St. Angela Merici

Liturgical texts here

 

 

WHEN David marched on Jerusalem, the inhabitants at that time shouted:

You cannot enter here: the blind and the lame will drive you away!

David, of course, is an Old Testament type of Christ. And indeed, it was the spiritually blind and lame, “the scribes who had come from Jerusalem…”, who tried to drive Jesus out by casting shadows on His reputation and twisting His good works into appearing as something evil.

Today, there are also those who wish to twist what is truth, beauty, and goodness into something intolerant, oppressive, and wrong. Take for instance the pro-life movement:

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When The Light Comes

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 25th, 2014
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is believed by many saints and mystics in the Church to be an event coming known as the “Illumination”: a moment when God will reveal to everyone in the world at once the condition of their souls. [1]cf. The Eye of the Storm

I pronounced a great day… wherein the terrible Judge should reveal all men’s consciences and try every man of each kind of religion. This is the day of change, this is the Great Day which I threatened, comfortable to the well-being, and terrible to all heretics. —St. Edmund Campion, Cobett’s Complete Collection of State Trials…, Vol. I,  p. 1063.

Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769-1837), known and praised by popes for her astoundingly accurate visions, also spoke of such an event.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. The Eye of the Storm

Casualties of Confusion

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 24th, 2014
Memorial of St. Francis de Sales

Liturgical texts here

 

 

WHAT the Church needs most today, said Pope Francis, “is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful… I see the church as a field hospital after battle.” [1]cf. americamagazine.org, Sept. 30th, 2013 Ironically, some of the first wounded rolling in since his pontificate began are casualties of confusion, mostly “conservative” Catholics bewildered by statements and actions of the Holy Father himself. [2]cf. Misunderstanding Francis

The truth is that Pope Francis has done and said certain things that require clarification or has left the hearer wondering, “Who was he just referring to?” [3]cf. “Michael O’Brien on Pope Francis and the New Phariseeism” The important question is how can and should one respond to such concerns? The answer is twofold, revealed in today’s readings: first on the level of an emotional response, and second, on the level of a faith response.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. americamagazine.org, Sept. 30th, 2013
2 cf. Misunderstanding Francis
3 cf. “Michael O’Brien on Pope Francis and the New Phariseeism”

iWorship

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 23rd, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ONE of the giants of our time whose head has grown extraordinarily large is narcissism. In a word, it is self-absorption. One could even argue that this has now become self-worship, or what I call “iWorship.”

St. Paul gives a long list of what souls will look like in the “last days.” Guess what is at the top?

There will be terrifying times in the last days. People will be self-centered and lovers of money, proud, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful… (2 Tim 3:1-2)

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Five Smooth Stones

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 22th, 2014
Memorial of St. Vincent

Liturgical texts here

 

 

HOW do we slay the giants in our day of atheism, individualism, narcissism, utilitarianism, Marxism and all the other “isms” that have brought humanity to the point of self-destructing? David answers in today’s first reading:

It is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves. For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.

St. Paul put David’s words into the contemporary light of the new covenant:

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Cor 4:20)

It is the power of the Holy Spirit that converts hearts, peoples, and nations. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that illuminates minds to the truth. It is the power of the Holy Spirit so desperately needed in our times. Why do you think Jesus is sending His Mother among us? It is to form that cenacle of the Upper Room once again that a “new Pentecost” may descend upon the Church, setting her and the world aflame! [1]cf. Charismatic?  Part VI

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Footnotes

Little Things That Matter

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 21th, 2014
Memorial of St. Agnes

Liturgical texts here


The mustard seed grows into the largest of trees

 

 

THE Pharisees had it all wrong. They were obsessed with details, watching like hawks to find fault with this or that person, with any little thing that wasn’t according to “standard.”

The Lord is also concerned with the little things… but in a much different way.

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The New Wineskin Today

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 20th, 2014
Memorial of St. Sebastian

Liturgical texts here

 

 

GOD is doing something new. And we have to pay attention to this, to what the Holy Spirit is doing. It is time to let go of our expectations, understanding, and security. The winds of change are blowing and in order to fly with them, we have to be stripped of all the heavy weights and chains that keep us tied down. We have to learn to listen intently, as it says in the first reading today, to “the voice of the Lord.[1]translation in the Jerusalem Bible

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 translation in the Jerusalem Bible

Looking in All the Wrong Places

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 18th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

WE are often unhappy because we are looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. St. Justin searched in the philosophies, Augustine in materialism, Teresa of Avila in fictional books, Faustina in dancing, Bartolo Longo in satanism, Adam and Eve in power…. Where are you searching?

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Stubborn

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 17th, 2014
Memorial of Abbot St. Anthony

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THROUGHOUT salvation history, what draws the disciplinary intervention of the Father is not sin, but a refusal to turn from it.

So the idea that—if you step out of line, stumble and sin—it will draw down the wrath of God… well, that’s the devil’s idea. It’s his primary and most effective tool in accusing and trampling on the joy of Christians, in keeping one depressed, self-loathing, and afraid of God.

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Thwarted!

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 16th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

IT looked like the perfect comeback. The Israelites had just been soundly defeated by the Philistines, and so the first reading says they came up with a brilliant idea:

Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies.

After all, with all that happened in Egypt and the plagues, and the reputation of the ark, the Philistines would be terrorized at the idea. And they were. So when the Israelites marched into battle, they thought they had that fight in the books. Instead…

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First Love Lost

FRANCIS, AND THE COMING PASSION OF THE CHURCH
PART II


by Ron DiCianni

 

EIGHT years ago, I had a powerful experience before the Blessed Sacrament [1]cf. About Mark where I felt the Lord asked me to put my music ministry second and begin to “watch” and “speak” of the things He would show me. Under the spiritual direction of holy, faithful men, I gave my “fiat” to the Lord. It was clear to me from the very beginning that I was not to speak with my own voice, but the voice of Christ’s established authority on earth: the Magisterium of the Church. For to the twelve Apostles Jesus said,

Whoever listens to you listens to me. (Luke 10:16)

And the chief prophetic voice in the Church is that of the office of Peter, the Pope. [2]cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1581; cf. Matt 16:18; Jn 21:17

The reason I mention this is because, taking into consideration everything that I have been inspired to write, everything that is happening in the world, everything that is in my heart now (and all of it I submit to the Church’s discernment and judgment) I believe the pontificate of Pope Francis is a significant signpost at this juncture in time.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. About Mark
2 cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1581; cf. Matt 16:18; Jn 21:17

Speak Lord, I am Listening

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 15th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

EVERYTHING that happens in our world passes through the fingers of God’s permissive will. This does not mean that God wills evil—He doesn’t. But he permits it (the free will of both men and fallen angels to choose evil) in order to work toward the greater good, which is the salvation of mankind and the creation of a new heavens and new earth.

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Pour Out Your Heart

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 14th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

I REMEMBER driving through one of my father-in-law’s pastures, which was particularly bumpy. It had large mounds randomly placed throughout the field. “What are all these mounds?” I asked. He replied, “When we were cleaning out corrals one year, we dumped the manure in piles, but never got around to spreading it.” What I noticed is that, wherever the mounds were, that’s where the grass was greenest; that’s where the growth was most beautiful.

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The Emptying

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 13th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is no evangelization without the Holy Spirit. After spending three years listening to, walking, talking, fishing, eating with, sleeping beside, and even laying upon the breast of our Lord… the Apostles seemed incapable of penetrating the hearts of the nations without Pentecost. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire that the mission of the Church was to begin.

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Loving the Unlovable

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 11th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

MOST of the time, when we witness for Christ, we are going to be confronted with having to love the unlovable. By this I mean that we all have our “moments,” occasions when we are not very lovable at all. That is the world in which our Lord entered and the one into which Jesus now sends us.

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Francis, and the Coming Passion of the Church

 

 

IN February last year, shortly after Benedict XVI’s resignation, I wrote The Sixth Day, and how we appear to be approaching the “twelve o’clock hour,” the threshold of the Day of the Lord. I wrote then,

The next pope will guide us too… but he is ascending a throne that the world wishes to overturn. That is the threshold of which I am speaking.

As we look at the world’s reaction to the pontificate of Pope Francis, it would seem the opposite. Hardly a news day goes by that the secular media isn’t running some story, gushing over the new pope. But 2000 years ago, seven days before Jesus was crucified, they were gushing over Him too…

 

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Share What You Have Been Freely Given

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 10th, 2014

Liturgical texts here


Artist Unknown

 

 

THERE has been a lot of teaching on evangelization in this week’s reflections, but it all comes down to this: letting the message of Christ’s love penetrate, challenge, change, and transform you. Otherwise, the imperative of evangelizing will remain but a lovely theory, a distant stranger whose name you know, but whose hand you’ve never shaken. The problem with that is every Christian is called in obedience to be an emissary for Christ. [1]cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 5 How? By first of all moving “from a pastoral ministry of mere conversation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.” [2]POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 15

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 5
2 POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 15

Love Anchors Doctrine

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 9th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

JUST when you would perhaps expect God to send prophets wielding thunderbolts warning that this generation will be destroyed unless we repent… He instead raises up a young Polish nun to deliver a message, timed for this very hour:

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Love Paves the Way

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 8th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


Christ Walking on Water, Julius von Klever

 

PART of a reader’s response to yesterday’s Now Word, Love Beyond the Surface:

What you said is very true… But I think the sole focus of the Church since Vatican II has been love, love, love, love—with zero focus on the consequences of sinful actions… I think the most loving thing a person can do for an AIDS patient ( or adulterer, porn viewer, liar etc.) is tell them that they will spend eternity in the darkest abyss of hell if they do not repent. They won’t like hearing that, but it is the Word of God, and the Word of God has power to set the captive free… Sinners are pleased to hear consoling fleshy words, not realizing that soft, smooth words, tender embraces, and pleasant conversation without the hard truth is deceptive and powerless, a counterfeit Christianity, lacking power. —N.C.

Before we look at today’s Mass readings, why not look at how Jesus responded when He did “the most loving thing a person can do”:

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Love Beyond the Surface

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 7th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


Photo by Claudia Peri, EPA/Landov

 

RECENTLY, someone wrote asking advice for what to do in situations with people who reject the Faith:

I know we are to be ministering and helping our family in Christ, but when people tell me they don’t go to Mass anymore or hate the Church…I am so shocked, my mind goes blank! I beg the Holy Spirit to come upon me…but I don’t receive anything…I have no words of comfort or evangelization. —G.S.

How as Catholics are we to respond to unbelievers? To atheists? To fundamentalists? To those who disturb us? To people living in mortal sin, within and without our families? These are questions I get asked quite often. The answer to all these is to love beyond the surface.

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Fighting the Ghost

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 6th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


“The Running Nuns”, Daughters of Mary Mother of Healing Love

 

THERE is much talk among the “remnant” of refuges and safe havens—places where God will protect His people during coming persecutions. Such an idea is firmly rooted in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. I addressed this subject in The Coming Refuges and Solitudes, and as I reread it today, it strikes me as more prophetic and relevant than ever. For yes, there are times to hide. St. Joseph, Mary and the Christ child fled to Egypt while Herod hunted them; [1]cf. Matt 2;13 Jesus hid from the Jewish leaders who sought to stone Him; [2]cf. Jn 8:59 and St. Paul was concealed from his persecutors by his disciples, who lowered him to freedom in a basket through an opening in the city wall. [3]cf. Acts 9:25

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 cf. Matt 2;13
2 cf. Jn 8:59
3 cf. Acts 9:25

One Word


 

 

 

WHEN you are overwhelmed with your sinfulness, there are only nine words you need to remember:

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:42)

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In Gratitude

 

 

DEAR brothers, sisters, beloved priests, and friends in Christ. I want to take a moment at the beginning of this year to update you on this ministry and also take a moment to thank you.

I have spent time over the holidays reading as many letters as I can that have been sent by you, both in email and postal letters. I am so incredibly blessed by your kind words, prayers, encouragement, financial support, prayer requests, holy cards, photos, stories and love. What a beautiful family this little apostolate has become, stretching out across the world from the Philippines to Japan, Australia to Ireland, Germany to America, the United Kingdom to my homeland of Canada. We are connected by the “Word made flesh”, who comes to us in the little words that He inspires through this ministry.

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