The Great Transition

 

THE world is in a period of great transition: the end of this present era and beginning of the next. This is no mere turning of the calendar. It is an epochal change of biblical proportions. Nearly everyone can sense it to one degree or another. The world is disturbed. The planet is groaning. Divisions are multiplying. The Barque of Peter is listing. The moral order is overturning. A great shaking of everything has begun. In the words of Russian Patriarch Kirill:

…we are entering a critical period in the course of human civilization. This can already be seen with the naked eye. You have to be blind not to notice the approaching awe-inspiring moments in history that the apostle and evangelist John was talking about in the Book of Revelation. —Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow; November 20th, 2017; rt.com

It is, said Pope Leo XIII…

…the spirit of revolutionary change which has long been disturbing the nations of the world… The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable… The momentous gravity of the state of things now involved fills every mind with painful apprehension… —Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum, n. 1, May 15th, 1891

In our time humanity is experiencing a turning-point in its history… A number of diseases are spreading. The hearts of many people are gripped by fear and desperation, even in the so- called rich countries. The joy of living frequently fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident. It is a struggle to live and, often, to live with precious little dignity. This epochal change has been set in motion by the enormous qualitative, quantitative, rapid and cumulative advances occurring in the sciences and in technology, and by their instant application in different areas of nature and of life. We are in an age of knowledge and information, which has led to new and often anonymous kinds of power. —POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 52

There are many analogies one could draw upon for this present time: it is the twilight hour; the calm before the “eye of the Storm“; or as Gandalf from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings put it: 

It’s the deep breath before the plunge… This will be the end of Gondar as we know it… We come to it at last, the great battle of our time.

We are hearing similar things from seers all over the world:

Our Lady told me many things that I cannot yet reveal. For now, I can only hint at what our future holds, but I do see indications that the events are already in motion. Things are slowly starting to develop. As Our Lady says, look at the signs of the times, and pray. —Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, Medjugorje seer, My Heart Will Triumph, p. 369;  Catholic Shop Publishing, 2016

The Bible’s analogy is that of a transition into the hard labor pains…

 

THE HARD LABOR PAINS

In her blog about natural birthing and what is called the period of “transition” —when an expectant mother is about to start pushing her baby out— author Catherine Beier writes:

Transition, unlike active labor, is the storm before the calm that is the pushing stage. It is by far the hardest part of birthing, but also the shortest.  It is here that a mother’s focus might falter.  This is the stage where women may doubt their ability to birth the baby and request medications. They may worry about how long labor will last and how much more intense it will become.  Mothers become suggestible at this time and are the most vulnerable to accepting interventions they previously did not want.  It is at this stage that the birth companion must be vigilant to her emotional needs and be her voice of reason should a cascade of interventions be suggested. —givingbirthnaturally.com

Catherine unwittingly gave an analysis of all the challenges, fears, and realities that the Church now faces. For Jesus himself described what must come as “labor pains.” ^[1]Matt 24:8

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky… all this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs… And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (Luke 21:10-11, Matt 24:8, 10-11)

 To the naysayers, St. John Newman responds:

I know that all times are perilous, and that in every time serious and anxious minds, alive to the honor of God and the needs of man, are apt to consider no times so perilous as their own… still I think… ours has a darkness different in kind from any that has been before it. The special peril of the time before us is the spread of that plague of infidelity, that the Apostles and our Lord Himself have predicted as the worst calamity of the last times of the Church. And at least a shadow, a typical image of the last times is coming over the world. —St. John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890 A.D.), sermon at opening of St. Bernard’s Seminary, October 2, 1873, The Infidelity of the Future

Moreover, when have the nations of the world ever had weapons of mass destruction pointed at each other as they do now? When have we witnessed the explosion of mass genocides like we have in the past century? When have we seen earthquakes and volcanoes (which have always been with us) now capable of destroying so many people and lives? When we have seen so many millions around the globe starving and in poverty while Westerners grow fat? When has the world been poised, with international travel, for the possibility of not one but several pandemics (at the end of the antibiotic era)? When have we seen nearly the entire globe polarizing around politics and religion resulting in acrid divisions: neighbor against neighbor, family against family, brother against brother? When, since the birth of Christ, have we seen so many false prophets and agents of an anti-gospel multiplying exponentially on a worldwide platform? When have we seen so many Christians martyred as we have in the past century?^[2]“I will tell you something: today’s martyrs are greater in number than those of the first centuries… there is the same cruelty towards Christians today, and in greater number.” —POPE FRANCIS, December 26th, 2016; Zenit When have we ever had the technology to peer into the night sky and see signs and wonders, including recent strings of satellites now coursing across the horizon—something never before seen by anyone in human history?

And yet, what follows all of this, according to the popes, Our Lady, and mystics in the Church, is not the end of the world, but the birthing of a “period of peace” unlike anything the world has ever known. 

Yes, a miracle was promised at Fatima, the greatest miracle in the history of the world, second only to the Resurrection. And that miracle will be an era of peace, which has never really been granted before to the world. —Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, papal theologian for Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II, October 9th, 1994, The Apostolate’s Family Catechism, p. 35

That’s because it will also be concomitant with the coming of the Kingdom of the Divine Will so as to bring the Church into her final stage of purification and holiness, thereby fulfilling the words of the Our Father: “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Thus, for the purposes of encouragement and warning, Catherine’s blog is worth dissecting sentence by sentence. 

 

THE GREAT TRANSITION

I. “It is by far the hardest part of birthing, but also the shortest.”

 Indeed, relative to human history, the period humanity is entering is going to be short.

If the Lord had not shortened those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he did shorten the days. (Mark 13:20)

At the pinnacle of the hardest labor when the persecutions will be most painful, both the prophets Daniel and St. John indicate through symbolic (and possibly literal) language that the time will be short:

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months; it opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them… (Rev 13:5-7; cf. Daniel 7:25)

Moreover, just as the Antichrist’s reign is not indefinite, neither is it unlimited in power:

Even the demons are checked by good angels lest they harm as much as they would. In like manner, Antichrist will not do as much harm as he would wish. —St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I, Q.113, Art. 4

 

II. “It is here that a mother’s focus might falter. This is the stage where women may doubt their ability to birth the baby and request medications.”

The apostles struggled to be focused as the transition into the Passion began in Gethsemane. 

So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. (Matt 26:40)

Likewise, as we transition into the Church’s own Passion, many Christians are feeling overcome with anxiety by what is taking place in the Church and the world, if not their own families. As such, the temptation to medicate oneself with distractions, mindless entertainment or surfing the web; with food, alcohol or tobacco, is intensifying. But this is often because the soul has neither cultivated a prayer life or left it untended—it could not “keep watch.” Thus, in dissipation, the soul is gradually desensitized through sin. 

It’s our very sleepiness to the presence of God that renders us insensitive to evil: we don’t hear God because we don’t want to be disturbed, and so we remain indifferent to evil.”…such a disposition leads to “a certain callousness of the soul towards the power of evil”… ‘the sleepiness’ is ours, of those of us who do not want to see the full force of evil and do not want to enter into his Passion.” —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Catholic News Agency, Vatican City, Apr 20, 2011, General Audience

Through a return to daily prayer, regular Confession and frequent reception of the Eucharist, God will help us keep our eyes focused on Him. Here, consecration to Our Lady is utterly invaluable as she alone has been given the role to mother each of us, and as such, become a true refuge. 

My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. —Our Lady of Fatima, Second apparition, June 13, 1917, The Revelation of the Two Hearts in Modern Times, www.ewtn.com

My Mother is Noah’s Ark. —Jesus to Elizabeth Kindelmann, The Flame of Love, p. 109. Imprimatur Archbishop Charles Chaput

 

III. “They may worry about how long labor will last and how much more intense it will become.”  

Discouragement and anxiety are the evil twins who snatch away Christian peace. They are relentless adversaries, constantly knocking upon the Christian heart: “Let us in! Let us dwell with you, because obsessing over what you cannot control lets you at least control what you obsess!” Crazy but true, no? We do it all the time. Rather, one should remain constant in all one’s trials, trusting in faith that nothing happens that God does not permit—including what is coming upon the world. I know it’s hard… but the degree to which we react in our human will is the degree to which we have not yet abandoned to the Divine Will. 

For a constant soul everything is peace; mere constancy itself already keeps everything in its place; passions already feel they are dying, and who is the one who, nearing death, thinks about waging war against anyone? Constancy is the sword that puts everything to flight, it is the chain that binds all virtues, in such a way as to feel caressed by them continuously; and the fire of Purgatory will have no work to do, because constancy has ordered everything and has made the ways of the soul similar to those of the Creator. —Book of Heaven by Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, Volume 7, January 30, 1906 

I once again wholeheartedly recommend the Novena of Abandonment for those of you going through particular trials right now. It is a beautiful, consoling way to surrender your life to God and let Jesus take care of everything.  

 

IV. “Mothers become suggestible at this time and are the most vulnerable to accepting interventions they previously did not want.”

This is a warning. Because as these labor pains become more intense, people will become more vulnerable and their faith sorely tested. As civil order breaks down, chaos will ensue (even now, the economic effects of the Coronavirus spreading from China could arrive like a tsunami to our shores in just a matter of weeks). As international and familial relations disintegrate, division and suspicion will prevail. As people close their hearts more and more to God and fall into mortal sin, evil will gain new strongholds and manifestations of the demonic will exponentially increase. What do you think these weekly mass shootings and terrorists attacks are? And, as persecution increases, more and more Christians will become “suggestible” to false prophets of compromise. Already, many are falling away from the faith, including bishops. 

Case in point are some of the German bishops who are openly dissenting from the faith. Or this high ranking Italian archbishop who indicated on Italian State television that ‘that the time has come for the Church to become more open to homosexuality and same-sex civil unions’:

I am convinced that it is time for Christians to open themselves to diversity… —Archbishop Benvenuto Castellani, RAI interview, March 13th, 2014, LifeSiteNews.com

We “cannot simply say that homosexuality is unnatural,” said Bishop Stephan Ackermanm of Trier, Germany, adding that it is not “tenable” to consider all kinds of pre-marital sex as seriously sinful:

We can not completely change the Catholic doctrine, but [we must] develop criteria by which we say: In this and this particular case it is conscionable. It’s not that there is only the ideal on the one hand and the condemnation on the other side. —LifeSiteNews.com, March 13th, 2014 

Uncatechized Christians or those fearful of not being accepted or persecuted become “suggestible” to such blatant casuistries and heretical “interventions”, which if accepted, lead to apostasy.

At that period when Antichrist shall be born, there will be many wars and right order shall be destroyed on earth. Heresy will be rampant and the heretics will preach their errors openly without restraint. Even among Christians doubt and skepticism will be entertained concerning the beliefs of Catholicism. —St. Hildegard, Details concering the Antichrist, According to Holy Scriptures, Tradition and Private Revelation, Prof. Franz Spirago

American Catholic seer, Jennifer (her last name is withheld to respect her family’s privacy), allegedly hears Jesus speak to her in an audible voice.^[3]Jennifer is a young American mother and housewife. Her messages allegedly come directly from Jesus, who began to speak to her audibly one day after she received the Holy Eucharist at Mass. The messages read almost as a continuation of the message of Divine Mercy, however with a marked emphasis on the “door of justice” as opposed to the “door of mercy”—a sign, perhaps, of the imminence of judgment. One day, the Lord instructed her to present her messages to the Holy Father, John Paul II. Fr. Seraphim Michaelenko, vice-postulator of St. Faustina’s canonization, translated her messages into Polish. She booked a ticket to Rome and, against all odds, found herself and her companions in the inner corridors of the Vatican. She met with Monsignor Pawel Ptasznik, a close friend and collaborator of the Pope and the Polish Secretariat of State for the Vatican. The messages were passed to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul II’s personal secretary. In a follow-up meeting, Msgr. Pawel said she was to “spread the messages to the world any way you can.” She is a simple, joyful but suffering soul whom I have spoken with on numerous occasions. In 2005, the month that Benedict XVI was elected, Jesus gave what, in hindsight, is a stunningly accurate prediction:

This is the hour of great transition. With the coming of the new leader of My Church will come forth great change, change that will weed out those who have chosen the path of darkness; those who choose to alter the true teachings of My Church. —April 22, 2005, wordsfromjesus.com

Indeed, with the papacy of Francis that followed, “change” has been rapidly coming forth that is exposing and sifting the weeds from the wheat in this present testing (see When the Weeds Begin to Head and The Agitators).

My people, this will be a time of much transition. It will be a time you will see great division of those who are walking in My light and those who are not. —Jesus to Jennifer, August 31st, 2004

This “falling away” and those “leading astray” the flock are what Jesus and St. Paul predicted:

Let no one deceive you in any way; for [the Day of the Lord] will not come, unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition… (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is—apostasy from God… When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the “Son of Perdition” of whom the Apostle speaks. —POPE ST. PIUS X, E Supremi, Encyclical On the Restoration of All Things in Christ, n. 3, 5; October 4th, 1903

The greatest apostasy since the birth of the Church is clearly far advanced all around us. —Dr. Ralph Martin, Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization; The Catholic Church at the End of Age: What is the Spirit Saying? p. 292

Read The Great Antidote. 

 

V. “It is at this stage that the birth companion must be vigilant to her emotional needs and be her voice of reason should a cascade of interventions be suggested.”

It is also during this stage of transition that souls must be most vigilant to the Holy Spirit and Our Lady, given to be our help and companions. We must “watch and pray.” In this way, the “voice of reason,” that is, divine Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding will be given to us. In fact, when I pray the Rosary these days, I change the intentions of the first three beads from praying for “faith, hope and love” to asking for “Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding.”

…the future of the world stands in peril unless wiser people are forthcoming. —POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II, Familiaris Consortio, n. 8

Moreover, through prayer, fasting and vigilance against temptation, God will protect us from the false voices that present themselves as “reason” including the false prophets of “tolerance” who preach love without truth; from the false prophets of Socialism/Communism who promise “equality” without authentic freedom; from the false prophets of “environmentalism” who inspire love for creation but deny the Creator. Reject them! Be courageous! Resist the “cascade of interventions” that the spirit of antichrist has already begun to impose upon unsuspecting souls in order to create an earthly utopia and false sense of “peace and security.”

When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape… Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:3, 6)

 

A NEW DAY IS COMING

In closing, my dear brothers and sisters, the exhortation in today’s “now word” is to not only be faithful, but to be not afraid. Just as the time of birth of a child is ultimately a joyful one, despite the real and painful moments to come, so too, the new birth that is coming in the Church is a cause for hope, not despair. Remember our dear St. John Paul II’s words that we are “crossing the threshold of hope.”

God loves all men and women on earth and gives them the hope of a new era, an era of peace. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Message of Pope John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2000

It is telling, for instance, that the seers of Medjugorje—who have been given painful “secrets” that are coming to humanity—repeatedly say: “If you listen to Our Lady and do what she says, you have nothing to fear.” Jesus has said the same:

Now is the time, for mankind has come into a period of much transition, and for some it will bring peace in their hearts and for others it will be a time of doubt and confusion. My people, this is a time you will need to place your full trust in Me. Do not fear this time for if you are walking in My light you have nothing to fear. Now go forth and be at peace for I am Jesus who was and is and is to come. —Jesus to Jennifer, August 26th, 2004

Because you have kept my message of endurance, I will keep you safe in the time of trial that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take your crown. (Rev 3:10-11)

As Our Lady’s Little Rabble, then, this is also a time of intense preparation for you who have joined her cohort:

Everything I have said about my Will is nothing other than preparing the way, forming the army, gathering the chosen people, preparing the royal palace, disposing the ground on which the Kingdom of my Will must be formed, and so rule and dominate. Therefore, the task I am entrusting to you is great. I will guide you. I will be near you, so that everything may be done according to my Will. —Jesus to Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, August 18, 1926, Vol. 19

With God’s grace, I hope to continue writing to encourage and strengthen you in the days ahead. Thank you to those who, thus far, have clicked that donation button at the bottom as we continue our appeal for this new year. I have to be able to support my family and this ministry to continue devoting the hours, prayer, research and expenses that go into The Now Word and the rest of my ministry. Thank you for your generosity, and God bless you…

 

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again,
and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take
your joy away from you.
(John 16:21-22)

 

 

Your financial support and prayers are why
you are reading this today.
 Bless you and thank you. 

To journey with Mark in The Now Word,
click on the banner below to subscribe.
Your email will not be shared with anyone.