THIS afternoon, I ventured out for the first time after a two week quarantine to go to confession. I entered the church following behind the young priest, a faithful, dedicated servant. Unable to enter the confessional, I knelt at a make-shift podium, set at the “social-distancing” requirement. Father and I looked at each with quiet disbelief, and then I glanced at the Tabernacle… and burst into tears. During my confession, I could not stop weeping. Orphaned from Jesus; orphaned from the priests in persona Christi… but more than that, I could sense Our Lady’s deep love and concern for her priests and the Pope.
After the Sacrament, the ethereal words of absolution returned my soul to a pristine state, but my heart remained in sorrow. He then told me how many priests are struggling right now with depression, grappling with what has taken place so quickly.
Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. —POPE FRANCIS, Urbi et Orbi Blessing, St. Peter’s Square, Rome; March 27th. 2020; ncregister.com
The State (and thus, the bishops who have little choice—see footnote)[1]As I was writing this tonight, I received a text from a friend. A priest he knows said that, “as an organization, if the Church didn’t follow Covid-19 protocols, they could be fined $500,000. Instant bankruptcy. And people in the community,” he said, “are taking pictures & watching.” have prevented them from feeding and being present to their congregations. I could tell that this young priest was willing to die for his flock, or at least, was dying to feed and be with them. We recalled the heroism of Saints Damian and Charles Borromeo who died serving their flocks during plague. But now, even the safe distribution of the Eucharist and barring of the faithful from praying in churches in some places, has left him and his brother priests feeling more like hired hands than shepherds.
I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. (John 10:11-12)
Dispensing with the usual hug I give him, I gave a brief word of encouragement and thanks and turned to the Tabernacle and whispered, “Goodbye Jesus.” More tears.
When I returned to my vehicle, Our Lady began speaking to me about her beloved sons, which I will put into words here in the usual fashion, as well as a word for the laity in Part II. There is a powerful confirmation I received after beginning to write all this, another word for the priests, which I will put at the conclusion of Part II.
DO NOT DESPAIR, BUT PREPARE
The first thing I sensed Our Lady saying is that “it is what it is.” That what has happened, what is happening, and what is coming can no more be stopped than a mother in hard labour can stop the dramatic changes in her body leading to birth. The Great Storm that is now covering the earth will not end until it has accomplished its purpose: to bring about the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and an Era of Peace.
The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. —Our Lady of Fatima, The Message of Fatima, www.vatican.va
The other day, I looked out my front window and saw one son wistfully playing in the spring air and another shooting a puck on what’s left of our homemade ice rink. At first, I was filled with sadness: “Why do these boys have to go through these sorrows?” But then the answer came swiftly:
Because this is not the world I intended them to live in. They have been born for the next Era…
“Yes, Lord, you’re right.” I don’t want to send my sons into a world that no longer believes that God exists, where they will be hunted by pornography, flooded in consumerism, and lost in a sea of moral relativism; a world where innocence has been lost, war is always on the doorstep, and fear has put bars on our windows and locks on our doors (see Dear Sons and Daughters). Yes, the dragon has opened his mouth and spewed a tsunami of filth and deception…
The serpent… spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current… (Revelation 12:15)
This fight in which we find ourselves… [against] powers that destroy the world, are spoken of in Chapter 12 of Revelation… It is said that the dragon directs a great stream of water against the fleeing woman, to sweep her away… I think that it is easy to interpret what the river stands for: it is these currents that dominate everyone, and want to eliminate the faith of the Church, which seems to have nowhere to stand before the power of these currents that impose themselves as the only way of thinking, the only way of life. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, first session of the special synod on the Middle East, October 10th, 2010
And so, Our Lady says to her priests and to all of us today:
Don’t look back! Look forward!
The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, but it will bear fruit a hundredfold. It’s time to let go of this era; to let go of what we have been clinging to, the phantoms of empty pleasure and fading neon glory. While standing alone in St. Peter’s Square, a sight that alone was shocking, Pope Francis read the eulogy of our times heralded by the Great Storm:
The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly “save” us, but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity. In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters. —Urbi et Orbi Blessing, St. Peter’s Square, Rome; March 27th. 2020; ncregister.com
I sense at this moment that Momma wants us to hear again with fresh ears that prophecy given in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of Pope Paul VI forty-five years ago. For we are living it now…
Because I love you, I want to show you what I am doing in the world today. I want to prepare you for what is to come. Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation… Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for My people now will not be there. I want you to be prepared, My people, to know only Me and to cleave to Me and to have Me in a way deeper than ever before. I will lead you into the desert… I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on Me. A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for My Church, a time of glory is coming for My people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of My Spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat; I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen…. And when you have nothing but Me, you will have everything: land, fields, homes, and brothers and sisters and love and joy and peace more than ever before. Be ready, My people, I want to prepare you…—Dr. Ralph Martin, Pentecost Monday of May, 1975; St. Peter’s Square, Rome, Italy
“Let go!” Our Lady is saying: “Do whatever He tells you”:
No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
PREPARING FOR PENTECOST
What Our Lady is preparing us for is the coming of the Kingdom of God—the Kingdom of the Divine Will that we have been invoking at Mass and in our personal prayer for 2000 years: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” This is not an invocation for the end of the world but for Jesus to come and reign in the whole world so as to prepare us for the end. And…
…the Kingdom of God means Christ himself, whom we daily desire to come, and whose coming we wish to be manifested quickly to us. For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign.—Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2816
Thus, Our Lady is telling us, especially her priests: Do not despair, but prepare. Prepare for a new Pentecost.
As you will see in the new Timeline we created at CountdowntotheKingdom.com, this “Pentecost moment” comes in what is called in Catholic mysticism the “Illumination of Conscience” or “Warning”: when all will see their souls as if they were experiencing a judgment-in-miniature.
The consciences of this beloved people must be violently shaken so that they may “put their house in order”… A great moment is approaching, a great day of light… it is the hour of decision for mankind. —Servant of God Maria Esperanza, Antichrist and the End Times, Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi, P. 37
But this “light” will also serve another purpose for those who have been preparing for it:
The Holy Spirit will come to establish the glorious reign of Christ and it will be a reign of grace, of holiness, of love, of justice and of peace. With His divine love, He will open the doors of hearts and illuminate all consciences. Every person will see himself in the burning fire of divine truth. It will be like a judgment in miniature. And then Jesus Christ will bring His glorious reign in the world. —Fr. Stefano Gobbi, To the Priests, Our Lady’s Beloved Sons, May 22nd, 1988 (with Imprimatur)
It is the “conception” of Christ within the Church in an all new manner, which will produce what St. John Paul II calls a “new and divine holiness” to prepare the Bride for her Wedding Day. What happened at the Annunciation? The Holy Spirit overshadowed Our Lady and she conceived a Son. So too, the Holy Spirit is going to come in this worldwide event to bring a “Gift”: it is the Flame of Love of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, that is, Jesus:
…the Spirit of Pentecost will flood the earth with his power and a great miracle will gain the attention of all humanity. This will be the effect of grace of the Flame of Love… which is Jesus Christ himself… something like this has not happened since the Word became flesh. —Jesus to Elizabeth Kindelmann, The Flame of Love, p. 61, 38, 61; 233; from Elizabeth Kindelmann’s diary; 1962; Imprimatur Archbishop Charles Chaput
That is the way Jesus is always conceived. That is the way He is reproduced in souls. He is always the fruit of heaven and earth. Two artisans must concur in the work that is at once God’s masterpiece and humanity’s supreme product: the Holy Spirit and the most holy Virgin Mary… for they are the only ones who can reproduce Christ. —Arch. Luis M. Martinez, The Sanctifier, p. 6
THE PRIESTS AND THE TRIUMPH
This is the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart! It is to establish her Son’s reign in the hearts of as many souls as possible, before the chastisements, which will prepare the soil for a “period of peace.” When Pope Benedict prayed in 2010 for the hastening of “the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” he later said:
This is equivalent in meaning to our praying for the coming of God’s Kingdom… So you could say the triumph of God, the triumph of Mary, are quiet, they are real nonetheless.—Light of the World, p. 166, A Conversation With Peter Seewald (Ignatius Press)
Yes, even now, a remnant is beginning to establish within themselves this Flame of Love, this Kingdom of the Divine Will (which is why seers say that, for those prepared, the Warning will be a great grace). This is why Our Lady has been appearing all over the world calling us to pray, fast, and prepare so that a small group (Our Lady’s Little Rabble) can lead the charge when the Illumination occurs (see The New Gideon).
All are invited to join my special fighting force. The coming of my Kingdom must be your only purpose in life… Do not be cowards. Do not wait. Confront the Storm to save souls. —Jesus to Elizabeth Kindelmann, The Flame of Love, pg. 34, published by Children of the Father Foundation; Imprimatur Archbishop Charles Chaput
The laity who are prepared will be like the five wise virgins who had enough oil in their lamps to go out and meet the Bridegroom (Matt 25:1-13). Those who aren’t prepared, like the five unwise virgins, will wonder how to find the Bridegroom because they have been found without the oil of grace. The laity will be able to tell them where to go, but they will not be able to give them the oil of grace, that is, the Sacraments of salvation.
And that is why you, dear priests, are being called by Our Lady to prepare! This is why she has been forming a cohort of priests, faithful to her Son and the true teachings of His Church! For you must be ready to receive souls who will come to you by the hundreds, lining up for confession and asking for Baptism. You must be ready to explain what just happened to them, how the Father loves them, and how, through Jesus, it’s not too late to return to the Father’s House. You must be in a “state of grace” yourselves in order to discern and resist the false prophets who will rise to interpret the Warning in New Age terms. And ready to receive new gifts and charisms to heal and deliver souls. Yes, Our Lady is telling you, her beloved priests, to get ready for the Great Harvest! Get ready! Our Lady and the Holy Spirit will help you (see Priests, and the Coming Triumph). You are the key, because only you can administer the oil that is missing from their lamps. Only you can absolve the prodigal sons. Only you can nourish, through your hands, the prodigal daughters. This is why the wise virgins cannot share their oil—they are not priests! And you will only have a short window to do this before the Door of Mercy closes and the Door of Justice opens.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matt 25:11-13)
Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1448
This is why Our Lady began The Marian Movement of Priests; to prepare her chosen sons for this special task to help spread the Flame of Love. Pope Francis’ call for the Church to become a “field hospital” was prophetic, as was his first Apostolic Exhortation on Evangelization for the Church to “accompany” the lost. How many prodigals are there in need of authentic mercy!
Moreover, in this time of waiting, we can hasten the coming of the Kingdom through our prayers and fasting. Priests, by your private Masses, you can pray for the unrepentant that they will be docile to the grace of the Illumination.
When God touches man’s heart through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself is not inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he could reject it; and yet, without God’s grace, he cannot by his own free will move himself toward justice in God’s sight. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1993
The soft light of my Flame of Love will light up spreading fire over the entire surface of the earth, humiliating Satan rendering him powerless, completely disabled. Do not contribute to prolong the pains of childbirth. —Our Lady to Elizabeth Kindelmann, Ibid., p. 177
Hence, this is the Hour of the Upper Room. Families all over the world right now are gathered together in their homes because of the coronavirus. It is the Hour of the family cenacle. Priests are alone in their rectories. It is the Hour of vigil. While Satan wants us to be worried and terrified, Momma is saying, “Do not be afraid. Don’t look back. Look forward, to a new Era. You, my priests, will form the Bridge over the flood of Satan’s deception.”
On March 18th, 2020, after 33 years total (Christ’s age when He entered His Passion), the monthly messages on the second of every month in Medjugorje ended.[2]There were some years in between when Our Lady did not appear regularly on the 2nd. It has been 39 years since the apparitions first began to all the seers. The time of the secrets, and thus the Triumph, draws nearer:
I wish I could divulge more about what will happen in the future, but I can say one thing about how the priesthood relates to the secrets. We have this time that we are living in now, and we have the time of the Triumph of Our Lady’s heart. Between these two times we have a bridge, and that bridge is our priests. Our Lady continually asks us to pray for our shepherds, as she calls them, because the bridge needs to be strong enough for all of us to cross it to the time of the Triumph. In her message of October 2, 2010, she said, “Only alongside your shepherds will my heart triumph.” —Mirjana Soldo, Medjugorje seer; from My Heart Will Triumph, p. 325
I explain in Priests, and the Coming Triumph how this “Bridge” is modeled in the Old Testament. I believe that article will edify, encourage, and strengthen many of you, especially the dear priests who read The Now Word.
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Footnotes
↑1 | As I was writing this tonight, I received a text from a friend. A priest he knows said that, “as an organization, if the Church didn’t follow Covid-19 protocols, they could be fined $500,000. Instant bankruptcy. And people in the community,” he said, “are taking pictures & watching.” |
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↑2 | There were some years in between when Our Lady did not appear regularly on the 2nd. It has been 39 years since the apparitions first began to all the seers. |