THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Saturday, December 31st, 2016
The Seventh Day of the Nativity of Our Lord and
Vigil of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God
Liturgical texts here
Embracing Hope, by Léa Mallett
THERE is one word on my heart on this eve of the Solemnity of the Mother of God:
Jesus.
This is the “now word” on the threshold of 2017, the “now word” I hear Our Lady prophesying over the nations and the Church, over families and souls:
JESUS.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 26th, 2016
Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr
Liturgical texts here
St. Stephen the Martyr, Bernardo Cavallino (d. 1656)
To be a martyr is to feel the storm coming and willingly to endure it at the call of duty, for Christ’s sake, and for the good of the brethren. —Blessed John Henry Newman, from Magnificat, Dec. 26th, 2016
IT may seem odd that, the very next day after the joyful feast of Christmas Day, we commemorate the martyrdom of the first professed Christian. And yet, it is most fitting, because this Babe whom we adore is also a Babe whom we must follow—from the crib to the Cross. While the world races to the nearest stores for “Boxing Day” sales, Christians are called on this day to flee from the world and refocus their eyes and hearts upon eternity. And that requires a renewed renunciation of self—most especially, the renunciation of being liked, accepted, and blended into the landscape of the world. And this all the more as those who hold fast to moral absolutes and Sacred Tradition today are being labeled as “haters”, “rigid”, “intolerant”, “dangerous”, and “terrorists” of the common good.
“Baby Jesus” by Deborah Woodall
HE comes to us as a baby… gently, quietly, helplessly. He does not arrive with a retinue of guards or with an overwhelming apparition. He comes as an infant, his hands and feet powerless to hurt anyone. He comes as if to say,
I have not come to condemn you, but to give you life.
A baby. A prisoner of love.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 21st, 2016
Liturgical texts here
IN the Spring of 2014, I went through a terrible darkness. I felt tremendous doubts, surges of fear, despair, terror, and abandonment. I began one day with prayer as usual, and then… she came.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 20th, 2016
Liturgical texts here
The Annunciation; Sandro Botticelli; 1485
AMONG the most powerful and prophetic words spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel was the promise that her Son’s Kingdom would never end. This is good news for those who fear that the Catholic Church is in its death throws…
YES, God’s Word will be vindicated… but standing in the way, or at least trying to, will be what St. John calls a “beast.” It is a false kingdom offering to the world a false hope and false security through technology, transhumanism, and a generic spirituality that makes “a pretense of religion but denies its power.” [1]2 Tim 3:5 That is, it will be Satan’s version of the kingdom of God—without God. It will be so convincing, so seemingly reasonable, so irresistible, that the world in general will “worship” it. [2]Rev 13:12 The word for worship here in the Latin is adorare: people will “adore” the Beast.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. John of the Cross
Liturgical texts here
From the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1511
“OH well, I tried.”
Somehow, after thousands of years of salvation history, the suffering, death and Resurrection of the Son of God, the arduous journey of the Church and her saints through the centuries… I doubt those will be the Lord’s words in the end. Scripture tells us otherwise:
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Lucy
Liturgical texts here
AMONG the Old Testament prophets who foretell a great purification of the world followed by an era of peace is Zephaniah. He echoes what Isaiah, Ezekiel and others foresee: that a Messiah will come and judge the nations and establish His reign on earth. What they did not realize is that His reign would be spiritual in nature in order to fulfil the words that the Messiah would one day teach God’s people to pray: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
The Woman Clothed with the Sun, by John Collier
ON THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
This writing is an important backdrop to what I want to write next on the “beast”. The last three popes (and Benedict XVI and John Paul II in particular) have indicated rather explicitly that we are living the Book of Revelation. But first, a letter I received from a beautiful young priest:
I rarely miss a Now Word post. I’ve found your writing to be very balanced, well researched, and pointing each reader toward something very important: faithfulness to Christ and His Church. Over the course of this past year I’ve been experiencing (I can’t really explain it) a sense that we are living in the end times (I know you’ve been writing about this for awhile but it’s really only been the last year and half that it’s been hitting me). There are too many signs that seem to indicate that something is about to happen. Lot’s to pray about that’s for sure! But a deep sense above all to trust and to draw close to the Lord and our Blessed Mother.
The following was first published November 24th, 2010…
As I continue to study the “beast” of Revelation 13, some fascinating things are emerging which I wish to pray and reflect on further before writing them. In the meantime, I am receiving letters of concern again about the growing division in the Church over Amoris Laetitia, the Pope’s recent Apostolic Exhortation. For the moment, I want to republish these important points, lest we forget…
SAINT John Paul II once wrote:
…the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming. —Familiaris Consortio, n. 8
We need to pray for wisdom in these times, especially when the Church is under attack from all sides. In my lifetime, I have never seen such doubt, fears, and reservations from Catholics regarding the future of the Church, and in particular, the Holy Father. Not in little part due to some heretical private revelation, but also at times to some incomplete or abstruse statements from the Pope himself. As such, not a few persist in the belief that Pope Francis is going to “destroy” the Church—and the rhetoric against him is becoming increasingly acrimonious. And so once again, without turning a blind eye to the growing divisions in the Church, my top seven reasons why many of these fears are baseless…
NOT long after we were married, my wife planted our first garden. She took me for a tour pointing out the potatoes, beans, cucumbers, lettuce, corn, etc. After she finished showing me the rows, I turned to her and said, “But where’s the pickles?” She looked at me, pointed to a row and said, “The cucumbers are there.”
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 6th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Nicholas
Liturgical texts here
IS it possible that, this Advent, we are truly preparing for the coming of Jesus? If we listen to what the popes have been saying (The Popes, and the Dawning Era), to what Our Lady is saying (Is Jesus Really Coming?), to what the Church Fathers are saying (The Middle Coming), and put all the pieces together (Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!), the answer is an emphatic “yes!” Not that Jesus is coming this December 25th. And nor is He coming in a way that evangelical movie flicks have been suggesting, preceded by a rapture, etc. It is a coming of Christ within the hearts of the faithful to bring to fulfillment all the promises of Scripture that we are reading this month in the book of Isaiah.
SEVERAL weeks ago, I wrote that it is time for me ‘to speak directly, boldly, and without apology to the “remnant” who are listening. It is only a remnant of readers now, not because they are special, but chosen; it is a remnant, not because all are not invited, but few respond.’ [1]cf. The Convergence and the Blessing That is, I have spent ten years writing about the times we live in, constantly referencing Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium so as to bring balance to a discussion that perhaps too frequently relies only on private revelation. Nonetheless, there are some who simply feel any discussion of the “end times” or the crises we face is too gloomy, negative, or fanatical—and so they simply delete and unsubscribe. So be it. Pope Benedict was pretty straightforward about such souls:
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Convergence and the Blessing |
|---|
THERE is the equivalent of a socio-political earthquake underway, a Global Revolution that is disturbing the nations and polarizing peoples. To see it unfolding in real-time now speaks of how close the world is to great upheaval.