Mary of the Shroud, by Julian Lasbliez
EVERY morning with the sunrise, I sense the presence and love of God for this poor world. I relive the words of Lamentations:Continue reading
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That Pope Francis! Part III
By
Mark Mallett
FR. GABRIEL was unvesting after Mass when a familiar voice interrupted the silence.Continue reading
Only Jesus Walks On Water
Be Not Afraid, Liz Lemon Swindle
…has it not been thus throughout the history of the Church that the Pope,
the successor of Peter, has been at once
Petra and Skandalon—
both the rock of God and a stumbling block?
—POPE BENEDICT XIV, from Das neue Volk Gottes, p. 80ff
IN Last Call: Prophets Arise!, I said that the role of all of us at this hour is simply to speak the truth in love, in season or out, without attachment to the results. That is a call to boldness, a new boldness… Continue reading
Last Call: Prophets Arise!
AS the weekend Mass readings rolled by, I sensed the Lord saying once again: it is time for the prophets to arise! Let me repeat that:
It is time for the prophets to arise!
But don’t start Googling to find out who they are… just look in the mirror.Continue reading
On Weaponizing the Mass
THERE are serious seismic changes occurring in the world and our culture almost on an hourly basis. It doesn’t take a keen eye to recognize that the prophetic warnings foretold over many centuries are unfolding now in real time. So why have I focused on the radical conservatism in the Church this week (not to mention radical liberalism through abortion)? Because one of the foretold events is a coming schism. “A house divided against itself will fall,” Jesus warned.Continue reading
The Bloody Red Herring
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
THERE is a collective gasp rising from America, and rightly so. Politicians have begun to move in several States to repeal restrictions on abortion that would then allow the procedure up until the moment of birth. But more than that. Today, the Governor of Virginia defended a proposed bill that would let mothers and their abortion provider decide whether a baby whose mother is in labor, or a baby born alive through a botched abortion, can still be killed.
This is a debate on legalizing infanticide.Continue reading
A Kingdom Divided
TWENTY years ago or so, I was given a glimpse of something coming that sent chills down my spine.Continue reading
On Love
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
FAITH is the key, which unlocks the door of hope, that opens to love.
Continue reading
The Now Word in 2019
AS we begin this new year together, the “air” is pregnant with expectation. I confess that, by Christmas, I wondered if the Lord was going to be speaking less through this apostolate in the coming year. It has been the opposite. I sense the Lord almost eager to speak to His beloved ones… And so, day by day, I will continue to strive to let His words be in mine, and mine in His, for your sake. As the Proverb goes:
Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint. (Prov 29:18)
On Hope
Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea,
but the encounter with an event, a person,
which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
—POPE BENEDICT XVI; Encyclical Letter: Deus Caritas Est, “God is Love”; 1
I AM a cradle Catholic. There have been many key moments that have deepened my faith over the past five decades. But the ones that produced hope were when I personally encountered the presence and power of Jesus. This, in turn, led me to love Him and others more. Most often, those encounters happened when I approached the Lord as a broken soul, for as the Psalmist says:Continue reading
On Faith
IT is no longer a fringe notion that the world is plunging into a deep crisis. All around us, the fruits of moral relativism abound as the “rule of law” that has more or less guided nations is being re-written: moral absolutes have been all but abolished; medical and scientific ethics are mostly ignored; economic and political norms that maintained civility and order are rapidly being abandoned (cf. The Hour of Lawlessness). The watchmen have cried that a Storm is coming… and now it’s here. We are heading into difficult times. But bound in this Storm is the seed of a coming new Era in which Christ will reign in His saints from coastland to coastland (see Rev 20:1-6; Matt 24:14). It will be a time of peace—the “period of peace” promised at Fatima:Continue reading
The Power of Jesus
Embracing Hope, by Léa Mallett
OVER Christmas, I took time away from this apostolate to make a necessary reset of my heart, scarred and exhausted from a pace of life that has hardly slowed since I began full-time ministry in 2000. But I soon learned that I was more powerless to change things than I’d realized. This led me to a place of near despair as I found myself staring into the abyss between Christ and I, between myself and the needed healing in my heart and family… and all I could do was weep and cry out.Continue reading
Not the Wind Nor the Waves
DEAR friends, my recent post Off Into the Night ignited a flurry of letters unlike anything in the past. I am so deeply grateful for the letters and notes of love, concern, and kindness that have been expressed from all over the world. You have reminded me that I am not speaking into a vacuum, that many of you have been and continue to be deeply affected by The Now Word. Thanks be to God who uses all of us, even in our brokenness.Continue reading
Off Into the Night
AS renovations and repairs have begun to wind up at our farm since the storm six months ago, I find myself in a place of utter brokenness. Eighteen years of full time ministry, at times living on the verge of bankruptcy, isolation and trying to answer God’s call to be a “watchman” whilst raising eight children, pretending to be a farmer, and keeping a straight face… have taken their toll. Years of wounds lie open, and I find myself breathless in my brokenness.Continue reading
When He Calms the Storm
IN previous ice ages, the effects of global cooling were devastating on many regions. Shorter growing seasons led to failed crops, famine and starvation, and as a result, disease, poverty, civil unrest, revolution, and even war. As you just read in The Winter of Our Chastisement, both scientists and Our Lord are predicting what seems to be the onset of another “little ice age.” If so, it may shed a new light on why Jesus spoke of these particular signs at the end of an age (and they are virtually a summary of the Seven Seals of Revolution also spoken of by St. John):Continue reading
The Winter of Our Chastisement
There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay….
(Luke 21:25)
I heard a startling claim from a scientist nearly a decade ago. The world is not warming—it is about to enter a cooling period, even a “little ice age.” He based his theory on examining past ice ages, solar activity, and the natural cycles of the earth. Since then, he has been echoed by dozens of environmental scientists from around the world who posit the same conclusion based on one or more of the same factors. Surprised? Don’t be. It’s another “sign of the times” of the approaching multi-faceted winter of chastisement…Continue reading
Was Pope Francis’ Election Invalid?
A group of cardinals known as “St. Gallen’s mafia” apparently wanted Jorge Bergoglio elected to advance their modernist agenda. News of this group emerged a few years ago and has led some to continue to allege that the election of Pope Francis is, therefore, invalid. Continue reading
Silence or the Sword?
The Capture of Christ, artist unknown (c. 1520, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon)
SEVERAL readers have been taken aback by the recent alleged messages of Our Lady around the world to “Pray more… speak less” [1]cf. Pray More… Speak Less or this:Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Pray More… Speak Less |
|---|
The Five Corrections
Jesus condemned by Michael D. O’Brien
THIS week, the Mass readings begin to focus on the Book of Revelation. I am reminded of a stunning turn of events for me personally back in 2014.Continue reading
Final Thoughts from Rome
The Vatican across the Tiber
A significant element of the ecumenical conference here was the tours we took as a group throughout Rome. It became immediately apparent in the buildings, architecture and sacred art that the roots of Christianity cannot be separated from the Catholic Church. From St. Paul’s journey here to the early martyrs to the likes of St. Jerome, the great translator of the Scriptures who was summoned to the Church of St. Laurence by Pope Damasus… the budding of the early Church clearly sprung from the tree of Catholicism. The idea that the Catholic Faith was invented centuries later is as fictitious as the Easter Bunny.Continue reading
Day 4 – Random Thoughts from Rome
WE opened up this morning’s ecumenical sessions with a song. It reminded me of an event several decades ago…Continue reading
Day 3 – Random Thoughts from Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica, the view from EWTN’s Rome studios
AS various speakers addressed ecumenism at today’s opening session, I sensed Jesus say interiorly at one point, “My people have divided Me.”
••••••
Continue reading
Day 2 – Random Thoughts from Rome
St. John Lateran Basilica of Rome
DAY TWO
AFTER writing you last night, I managed only three hours of rest. Even the dark Roman night couldn’t fool my body. Jet lag wins again.Continue reading
Random Thoughts from Rome
I arrived in Rome today for the ecumenical conference this weekend. With all of you, my readers, on my heart, I took a walk into the evening. Some random thoughts as I sat on the cobblestone in St. Peter’s Square…
STRANGE feeling, looking down on Italy as we descended from our landing. A land of ancient history where Roman armies marched, saints walked, and the blood of countless many more was shed. Now, highways, infrastructure, and humans bustling about like ants without the fear of invaders gives the semblance of peace. But is true peace merely the absence of war?Continue reading
The New Beast Rising…
I am travelling to Rome this week to attend an ecumenical conference with Cardinal Francis Arinze. Please pray for all of us there that we may move toward that authentic unity of the Church that Christ desires and the world needs. The truth will set us free…
TRUTH is never inconsequential. It can never be optional. And therefore, it can never be subjective. When it is, the result is almost always tragic.Continue reading
The Great Chaos
When natural law and the responsibility it entails are denied,
this dramatically paves the way
to ethical relativism at the individual level
and to totalitarianism of the State
at the political level.
—POPE BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, June 16th, 2010
L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, June 23, 2010Continue reading
Saint and Father
DEAR brothers and sisters, four months have now passed since the storm that wreaked havoc on our farm and our lives here. Today, I am doing the last repairs to our cattle corrals before we turn toward the massive amount of trees that still remain to be cut down on our property. This is all to say that the rhythm of my ministry that was disrupted in June remains the case, even now. I have surrendered to Christ the inability at this time to really give what I desire to give… and trust in His plan. One day at a time.Continue reading
Medjugorje… What You May Not Know
The six seers of Medjugorje when they were children
Award-winning television documentarian and Catholic author, Mark Mallett, takes a look at the progression of events to the present day…
AFTER having followed the Medjugorje apparitions for years and researched and studied the background story, one thing has become clear: there are a lot of people who reject the supernatural character of this apparition site based on the dubious words of a few. A perfect storm of politics, lies, sloppy journalism, manipulation, and a Catholic media mostly cynical of all-things-mystical has fueled, for years, a narrative that the six visionaries and a gang of Franciscan thugs have managed to dupe the world, including the canonized saint, John Paul II.Continue reading
Going to Extremes
AS division and toxicity increase in our times, it is driving people into corners. Populist movements are emerging. Far-left and far-right groups are taking their positions. Politicians are moving toward either full-on capitalism or a new Communism. Those in the broader culture who embrace moral absolutes are labeled intolerant while those who embrace anything are considered heroes. Even in the Church, extremes are taking shape. Disgruntled Catholics are either jumping from the Barque of Peter into ultra-traditionalism or simply abandoning the Faith altogether. And among those who are staying behind, there is a war over the papacy. There are those who suggest that, unless you publicly criticize the Pope, you are a sellout (and God forbid if you dare quote him!) and then those who suggest any criticism of the Pope is grounds for excommunication (both positions are wrong, by the way).Continue reading
Surviving Our Toxic Culture
SINCE the election of two men to the most influential offices on the planet—Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States and Pope Francis to the Chair of St. Peter—there has been a marked shift in public discourse within the culture and the Church itself. Whether they intended it or not, these men have become agitators of the status quo. All at once, the political and religious landscape has suddenly changed. What was hidden in the darkness is coming to light. What could have been predicted yesterday is no longer the case today. The old order is collapsing. It is the beginning of a Great Shaking that is sparking a worldwide fulfillment of Christ’s words:Continue reading
The Fall of Mystery Babylon
Since writing this follow-up to Mystery Babylon, I am stunned to see how America continues to fulfill this prophecy, even a few years later… First published August 11th, 2014.
WHEN I began to write Mystery Babylon in 2012, I was taken aback at the remarkable, mostly unknown history of America, where the forces of darkness and light had a hand in her birth and formation. The conclusion was stunning, that despite the forces of good in that beautiful nation, the mysterious foundations of the country and its present state seem to fulfill, in dramatic fashion, the role of “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.” [1]cf. Rev 17:5; for an explanation as to why, read Mystery Babylon Again, this present writing is not a judgment upon individual Americans, many whom I love and have developed deep friendships with. Rather, it is to shed light on the seemingly deliberate collapse of America that continues to fulfill the role of Mystery Babylon…Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Rev 17:5; for an explanation as to why, read Mystery Babylon |
|---|
The Power of Judgments
HUMAN relations—whether marital, familial, or international—have seemingly never been so strained. The rhetoric, anger, and division are moving communities and nations ever closer to violence. Why? One reason, for certain, is the power that lies in judgments. Continue reading
The Growing Mob
Ocean Avenue by phyzer
First published March 20th, 2015. The liturgical texts for the referenced readings that day are here.
THERE is a new sign of the times emerging. Like a wave reaching the shore that grows and grows until it becomes a huge tsunami, so too, there is a growing mob mentality toward the Church and freedom of speech. It was ten years ago that I wrote a warning of the coming persecution. [1]cf. Persecution! … and the Moral Tsunami And now it’s here, on Western shores.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Persecution! … and the Moral Tsunami |
|---|
Toward the Storm
ON THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
IT is time to share with you what happened to me this summer when a sudden storm assailed our farm. I feel certain that God allowed this “micro-storm,” in part, to prepare us for what is coming upon the whole world. Everything I experienced this summer is symbolic of what I have spent nearly 13 years writing about in order to prepare you for these times.Continue reading
Choosing Sides
Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another,
“I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely men?
(Today’s first Mass reading)
PRAY more… speak less. Those are the words Our Lady has allegedly addressed to the Church at this very hour. However, when I wrote a meditation on this last week,[1]cf. Pray More… Speak Less a handful of readers somewhat disagreed. Writes one:Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Pray More… Speak Less |
|---|
Hope and Healing Conference
ARE you worn out, tired, or joyless? Are you discouraged, depressed, or losing hope? Are you suffering from your own brokenness and that of those around you? Does your heart, mind, or body need healing? At a time when the Church and the world continue to descend into turmoil comes a much-needed two-day conference: Hope and Healing.Continue reading
Weep, O Children of Men!
First published March 29th, 2013.
WEEP, O children of men!
Weep for all that is good, and true, and beautiful.
Weep for all that must go down to the tomb
Your icons and chants, your walls and steeples.
Pray More… Speak Less
The Hour of Vigil; Oli Scarff, Getty Images
MEMORIAL OF THE PASSION OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
Dearest brothers and sisters… it’s been so long since I have had the opportunity to write a meditation—a “now word” for our times. As you know, we have been reeling here from that storm and all the other problems that cascaded during the past three months. It seems that these crises are not over, as we just learned that our roof has been rotting and needs to be replaced. Through it all, God has been crushing me in the crucible of my own brokenness, revealing the areas of my life that need to be purified. While it feels like punishment, it is actually preparation—for deeper union with Him. How exciting is that? Yet, it has been extremely painful to enter into the depths of self-knowledge… but I see the loving discipline of the Father through it all. In the weeks ahead, if God wills it, I will share what He is teaching me in hopes that some of you may also find encouragement and healing. With that, onward to today’s Now Word…
WHILE unable to write a meditation the past few months—until now—I have continued to follow the dramatic events unfolding throughout the world: the continued fracturing and polarization of families and nations; the rise of China; the beating of war drums between Russia, North Korea, and the United States; the move to unseat the American President and rise of socialism in the West; the growing censorship by social media and other institutions to silence moral truths; the rapid advance toward a cashless society and new economic order, and thus, central control of everyone and everything; and last, and most notably, the revelations of moral putrescence in the Catholic Church hierarchy that has led to a nearly shepherd-less flock at this hour.Continue reading
Wormwood and Loyalty
From the archives: written on February 22nd, 2013….
A LETTER from a reader:
I totally agree with you — we each need a personal relationship with Jesus. I was born and raised Roman Catholic but find myself now attending the Episcopal (High Episcopal) church on Sunday and becoming involved with the life of this community. I was a member of my church council, a choir member, a CCD teacher and a full-time teacher in a Catholic school. I personally knew four of the priests credibly accused and who confessed of sexually abusing minor children… Our cardinal and bishops and other priests covered up for these men. It strains belief that Rome didn’t know what was going on and, if it truly didn’t, shame on Rome and the Pope and the curia. They are simply horrid representatives of Our Lord…. So, I should remain a loyal member of the RC church? Why? I found Jesus many years ago and our relationship has not changed — in fact it is even stronger now. The RC church is not the beginning and the end of all truth. If anything, the Orthodox church has just as much if not more credibility than Rome. The word “catholic” in the Creed is spelled with a small “c” – meaning “universal” not meaning only and forever the Church of Rome. There is only one true path to the Trinity and that is following Jesus and coming into relationship with the Trinity by first coming into friendship with Him. None of that is dependent upon the Roman church. All of that can be nourished outside of Rome. None of this is your fault and I admire your ministry but I just needed to tell you my story.
Dear reader, thank you for sharing your story with me. I rejoice that, despite the scandals you have encountered, your faith in Jesus has remained. And this doesn’t surprise me. There have been times in history when Catholics in the midst of persecution no longer had access to their parishes, the priesthood, or the Sacraments. They survived within the walls of their inner temple where the Holy Trinity resides. The lived out of faith and trust in a relationship with God because, at its core, Christianity is about the love of a Father for his children, and the children loving Him in return.
Thus, it begs the question, which you have tried to answer: if one can remain a Christian as such: “Should I remain a loyal member of the Roman Catholic Church? Why?”
The answer is a resounding, unhesitating “yes.” And here is why: it’s a matter of staying loyal to Jesus.
Update from Up North
I snapped this photo of a field near our farm when my hay equipment broke down
and I was waiting for parts,
Tramping Lake, SK, Canada
DEAR family and friends,
It’s been awhile since I have had a moment to sit down and write you. Since the storm that struck our farm back in June, the whirlwind of ongoing crises and problems has kept me away from my desk literally ever day. You would not believe it if I told you all that continues to happen. It has been nothing short of a mind-numbing two months.Continue reading
On True Humility
A few days ago, another strong wind passed through our area blowing half of our hay crop away. Then the past two days, a deluge of rain pretty much destroyed the rest. The following writing from earlier this year came to mind…
My prayer today: “Lord, I am not humble. O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart unto Thine…”
THERE are three levels of humility, and few of us get beyond the first. Continue reading
Surpassing the Pharisees
WE hear these words from the Gospel several times a year, and yet, do we really let them sink in?Continue reading