AGAINST all arguments that God is a wrathful, cruel, tyrant; an unjust, distant and disinterested cosmic force; an unforgiving and harsh egoist… enters the God-man, Jesus Christ. He comes, not with a retinue of guards nor a legion of angels; not with power and might nor with a sword—but with the poverty and helplessness of a newborn infant.Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 23rd, 2017
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Liturgical texts here
Moscow at dawn…
Now more than ever it is crucial that you be “watchers of the dawn”, the lookouts who announce the light of dawn and the new springtime of the Gospel
of which the buds can already be seen.
—POPE JOHN PAUL II, 18th World Youth Day, April 13th, 2003; vatican.va
FOR a couple of weeks, I have sensed that I should share with my readers a parable of sorts that has been unfolding recently in my family. I do so with my son’s permission. When we both read yesterday’s and today’s Mass readings, we knew it was time to share this story based on the following two passages:Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 20th, 2017
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Liturgical texts here
IN the remarkable approved revelations to Elizabeth Kindelmann, a Hungarian woman who was widowed at the age of thirty-two with six children, Our Lord reveals an aspect of the “Triumph of the Immaculate Heart” that is coming.Continue reading
Justin Trudeau at Gay Pride Parade, Vancouver, 2016; Ben Nelms/Reuters
HISTORY shows that when men or women aspire to the leadership of a country, they almost always come with an ideology—and aspire to leave with a legacy. Few are just mere managers. Whether they are Vladimir Lenin, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Donald Trump, Kim Yong-un, or Angela Merkel; whether they are on the left or the right, an atheist or a Christian, brutal or passive—they intend to leave their mark in the history books, for better or worse (always thinking it is “for the better”, of course). Ambition can be a blessing or a curse.Continue reading
WHY, does the world remain in pain? Because we have muzzled God. We have rejected His prophets and ignored His mother. In our pride, we have succumbed to Rationalism, and the Death of Mystery. And thus, today’s first reading cries out to a tone-deaf generation:Continue reading
A month ago, for no particular reason, I felt a deep urgency to write a series of articles on Medjugorje to counter long-standing falsehoods, distortions, and outright lies (see Related Reading below). The response has been remarkable, including hostility and derision from “good Catholics” who continue to call anyone who follows Medjugorje deceived, naive, unstable, and my favourite: “apparition chasers.”Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 7th, 2017
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
Memorial of St. Ambrose
Liturgical texts here
WITH the controversial events of this week that unfolded in Rome (see The Papacy is Not One Pope), the words have been lingering in my mind once again that all of this is a testing of the faithful. I wrote about this in October 2014 shortly after the tendentious Synod on the family (see The Testing). Most important in that writing is the part about Gideon….
I also wrote then as I do now: “what happened in Rome was not a test to see how loyal you are to the Pope, but how much faith you have in Jesus Christ who promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church.” I also said, “if you think that there is confusion now, wait till you see what’s coming…”Continue reading
The Chair of Peter, St. Peter’s, Rome; Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)
OVER the weekend, Pope Francis added to the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (the record of the papacy’s official acts) a letter he sent to the Bishops of Buenos Aires last year, approving their guidelines for discerning Communion for the divorced and remarried based on their interpretation of the post-synodal document, Amoris Laetitia. But this has served to only further stir muddy waters over the question of whether or not Pope Francis is opening the door for Communion to Catholics who are in an objectively adulterous situation.Continue reading
HE looked at me intensely and said, “Mark, you have a lot of readers. If Pope Francis teaches error, you must break away and lead your flock in truth.”
I was stunned by the clergyman’s words. For one, “my flock” of readers do not belong to me. They (you) are Christ’s possession. And of you, He says:
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 24th, 2017
Friday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Andrew Dũng-Lac and Companions
Liturgical texts here
PRAYING
IT takes two legs to stand firm. So too in the spiritual life, we have two legs to stand on: obedience and prayer. For the art of beginning again consists in making sure that we have the right footing in place from the very start… or we’ll stumble before we even take a few steps. In summary thus far, the art of beginning again consists in the five steps of humbling, confessing, trusting, obeying, and now, we focus on praying.Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 23rd, 2017
Thursday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial of St. Columban
Liturgical texts here
OBEYING
JESUS looked down upon Jerusalem and wept as He cried out:
If this day you only knew what makes for peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. (Today’s Gospel)
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 22nd, 2017
Wednesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Cecilia, Martyr
Liturgical texts here
TRUSTING
THE first sin of Adam and Eve was not eating the “forbidden fruit.” Rather, it was that they broke trust with the Creator—trust that He had their best interests, their happiness, and their future in His hands. This broken trust is, to this very hour, the Great Wound in the heart of each of us. It is a wound in our inherited nature that leads us to doubt God’s goodness, His forgiveness, providence, designs, and above all, His love. If you want to know how serious, how intrinsic this existential wound is to the human condition, then look at the Cross. There you see what was necessary to begin the healing of this wound: that God himself would have to die in order to mend what man himself had destroyed.[1]cf. Why Faith?Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Why Faith? |
|---|
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 21st, 2017
Tuesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Liturgical texts here
CONFESSING
THE art of beginning again always consists in remembering, believing, and trusting that it is really God who is initiating a new start. That if you are even feeling sorrow for your sins or thinking of repenting, that this is already a sign of His grace and love at work in your life.Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 15th, 2017
Wednesday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial St. Albert the Great
Liturgical texts here
“FAITHFUL AND TRUE”
EVERY day, the sun rises, the seasons advance, babies are born, and others pass away. It is easy to forget that we are living in a dramatic, dynamic story, an epic true tale that is unfolding moment by moment. The world is racing toward its climax: the judgment of the nations. To God and the angels and saints, this story is ever-present; it occupies their love and heightens holy anticipation toward the Day when the work of Jesus Christ will be brought to completion.Continue reading
Sunset in the eye of a hurricane
SEVERAL years ago, I sensed the Lord say that there was a Great Storm coming upon the earth, like a hurricane. But this Storm would not be one of mother nature, but one created by man himself: an economic, social, and political storm that would change the face of the earth. I felt the Lord ask me to write about this Storm, to prepare souls for what is coming—not only the Convergence of events, but now, a coming Blessing. This writing, so as not to be too lengthy, will footnote key themes that I’ve already expanded elsewhere…
The following is written by Mark Mallett, a former television journalist in Canada and award-winning documentarian.
THE Ruini Commission, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to study the apparitions of Medjugorje, has ruled overwhelmingly that the first seven apparitions were “supernatural”, according to the leaked findings reported in Vatican Insider. Pope Francis called the Commission’s report “very, very good.” While expressing his personal skepticism of the idea of daily apparitions (I’ll address this below), he openly praised the conversions and fruits that continue to flow from Medjugorje as being an undeniable work of God—not a “magic wand.” [1]cf. usnews.com Indeed, I’ve been getting letters from all over the world this week from people telling me about the most dramatic conversions they experienced when they visited Medjugorje, or how it is simply an “oasis of peace.” Just this past week, someone wrote to say that a priest who accompanied her group was instantly healed of alcoholism while there. There are literally thousands upon thousands of stories like this. [2]see cf. Medjugorje, Triumph of the Heart! Revised Edition, Sr. Emmanuel; the book reads like the Acts of the Apostle on steroids I continue to defend Medjugorje for this very reason: it is achieving the purposes of Christ’s mission, and in spades. Really, who cares if the apparitions are ever approved so long as these fruits blossom?
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. usnews.com |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | see cf. Medjugorje, Triumph of the Heart! Revised Edition, Sr. Emmanuel; the book reads like the Acts of the Apostle on steroids |
AFTER writing Medjugorje… Truth You May Not Know, a priest alerted me to a new documentary with an explosive alleged revelation regarding Bishop Pavao Zanic, the first Ordinary to oversee the apparitions in Medjugorje. While I had already suggested in my article that there was Communist interference, the documentary From Fatima to Medjugorje expands on this. I have updated my article to reflect this new information, as well as a link to the diocese’s response, under the section “Strange Twists….” Just click: Read More. It’s well worth reading this brief update as well as seeing the documentary, as it is perhaps the most important revelation to date regarding the intense politics, and thus, ecclesial decisions that were made. Here, the words of Pope Benedict take on particular relevance:
…today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, interview on flight to Lisbon, Portugal; LifeSiteNews, May 12th, 2010
Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana Soldo, Photo courtesy LaPresse
“WHY did you quote that unapproved private revelation?”
It’s a question I get asked on occasion. Moreover, rarely do I see an adequate answer to it, even among the Church’s best apologists. The question itself betrays a serious deficit in catechesis among average Catholics when it comes to mysticism and private revelation. Why are we so afraid to even listen?Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 26th, 2017
Thursday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
IT seems to me that the world is moving faster and faster. Everything is like a whirlwind, spinning and whipping and tossing the soul about like a leaf in a hurricane. What is strange is to hear young people say they feel this too, that time is speeding up. Well, the worst danger in this present Storm is that we not only lose our peace, but let The Winds of Change blow out the flame of faith altogether. By this, I do not mean belief in God so much as one’s love and desire for Him. They are the engine and transmission that move the soul toward authentic joy. If we are not on fire for God, then where are we going?Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 21st, 2017
Saturday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
IT can be a terrifying thing to feel your faith in Christ waning. Perhaps you are one of those people.Continue reading
MANY feel that Pope Francis’ announcement declaring a “Jubilee of Mercy” from Dec. 8th, 2015 to Nov. 20th, 2016 bore greater significance than may first have appeared. The reason being is that it is one of numerous signs converging all at once. That hit home for me also as I reflected on the Jubilee and a prophetic word I received at the end of 2008… [1]cf. The Year of the Unfolding
First published March 24th, 2015.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Year of the Unfolding |
|---|
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 17th, 2017
Tuesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial St. Ignatius of Antioch
Liturgical texts here
AFTER a warm cordial greeting to the Romans, St. Paul turns on a cold shower to awaken his readers:Continue reading
The Mystical Rose, by Tianna (Mallett) Williams
IT was the last straw. When I read the details of a new cartoon series launched on Netflix that sexualizes children, I canceled my subscription. Yes, they have some good documentaries that we’ll miss… But part of Getting Out of Babylon means having to make choices that literally involve not participating in or supporting a system that is poisoning the culture. As it says in Psalm 1:Continue reading
Scene from The 13th Day
THE rain pelted the ground and drenched the crowds. It must have seemed like an exclamation point to the ridicule that filled the secular newspapers for months prior. Three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal claimed that a miracle would occur in the Cova da Ira fields at high noon that day. It was October 13, 1917. As many as 30, 000 to 100, 000 people had gathered to witness it.
Their ranks included believers and non-believers, pious old ladies and scoffing young men. —Fr. John De Marchi, Italian priest and researcher; The Immaculate Heart, 1952
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 11th, 2017
Wednesday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial POPE ST. JOHN XXIII
Liturgical texts here
BEFORE teaching the “Our Father”, Jesus says to the Apostles:
This is how you are to pray. (Matt 6:9)
Yes, how, not necessarily what. That is, Jesus was revealing not so much the content of what to pray, but the disposition of the heart; He was not giving a specific prayer so much as showing us how, as God’s children, to approach Him. For just a couple verses earlier, Jesus said, “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” [1]Matt 6:7 Rather…Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Matt 6:7 |
|---|
First published October 20th, 2009. I have added a recent message from Our Lady below…
THERE is a cup of suffering that is to be drunk from twice in the fullness of time. It has already been emptied by Our Lord Jesus Himself who, in the Garden of Gethsemane, placed it to His lips in His holy prayer of abandonment:
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will. (Matt 26:39)
The cup is to be filled again so that His Body, who, in following its Head, will enter into its own Passion in her participation in the redemption of souls:
Mass Shooting, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1, 2017; David Becker/Getty Images
My older daughter sees many beings good and bad [angels] in battle. She has spoken many times about how its an all out war and its only getting bigger and the different kinds of beings. Our Lady appeared to her in a dream last year as our Lady of Guadalupe. She told her that the demon coming is larger and fiercer than all the others. That she is not to engage this demon nor listen to it. It was going to try to take over the world. This is a demon of fear. It was a fear that my daughter said was going to envelop everyone and everything. Staying close to the Sacraments and Jesus and Mary are of the utmost importance. —A letter from a reader, September, 2013
TERROR in Canada. Terror in France. Terror in the United States. That’s just the headlines of the past few days. Terror is the footprint of Satan, whose chief weapon in these times is fear. For fear keeps us from becoming vulnerable, from trusting, from entering into relationship… whether it is between spouses, family members, friends, neighbours, neighbouring nations, or God. Fear, then, leads us to control or give up control, to restrict, build walls, burn bridges, and repel. St. John wrote that “perfect love drives out all fear.” [1]1 John 4:18 As such, one could also say that perfect fear drives out all love.Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | 1 John 4:18 |
|---|
This meditation continues to build upon the previous writings: Understanding The Cross and Participating in Jesus…
WHILE polarization and divisions continue to widen in the world, and controversy and confusion billow through the Church (like the “smoke of satan”)… I hear two words from Jesus right now for my readers: “Be faithful.” Yes, try to live these words each moment today in the face of temptation, demands, opportunities for selflessness, obedience, persecution, etc. and one will quickly discover that just being faithful with what one has is enough of a daily challenge.
Indeed, it is the daily cross.Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 24th, 2017
Sunday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
I am on my way back from the “Flame of Love” conference in Philadelphia. It was beautiful. Around 500 people packed a hotel room that was filled with the Holy Spirit from the first minute. All of us are leaving with renewed hope and strength in the Lord. I have some long layovers in airports on my way back to Canada, and so am taking this time to reflect with you on today’s readings….Continue reading
Detail from the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1508–1512
ONCE one understands the Cross—that we are not mere observers but active participants in the salvation of the world—it changes everything. Because now, by uniting the whole of your activity to Jesus, you yourself become a “living sacrifice” who is “hidden” in Christ. You become a real instrument of grace through the merits of Christ’s Cross and a participant in His divine “office” through His Resurrection.Continue reading
MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS
“OFFER it up.” It’s the most common Catholic answer we give to others who are suffering. There is truth and reason as to why we say it, but do we really understand what we mean? Do we really know the power of suffering in Christ? Do we really “get” the Cross?Continue reading
People were screaming “Jesus, Jesus” and running in all directions. —an Earthquake victim in Haiti after a 7.0 quake, January 12th, 2010, Reuters News Agency
IN coming times, God’s mercy is going to be revealed in various ways—but not all of them easy. Again, I believe we may be on the verge of seeing the Seals of Revolution definitively opened… the hard labor pains at the end of this era. By this, I mean that war, economic collapse, famine, plagues, persecution, and a Great Shaking are imminent, though only God knows the times and seasons. [1]cf. The Seven Year Trial – Part II Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Seven Year Trial – Part II |
|---|
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 7th, 2017
Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
WHEN Jesus speaks to the crowds, he does so in the shallows of the lake. There, He speaks to them at their level, in parables, in simplicity. For He knows that many are only curious, seeking the sensational, following at a distance…. But when Jesus desires to call the Apostles to Himself, He asks them to put out “into the deep.”Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for September 5th, 2017
Sunday & Tuesday
of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
ST. Augustine once said, “Lord, make me pure, but not yet!”
He betrayed a common fear among believers and unbelievers alike: that being a follower of Jesus means having to forego earthly joys; that it is ultimately a call into suffering, deprivation, and pain on this earth; to mortification of the flesh, annihilation of the will, and rejection of pleasure. After all, in last Sunday’s readings, we heard St. Paul say, “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” [1]cf. Rom 12:1 and Jesus say:Continue reading
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Rom 12:1 |
|---|
IF the world is Hanging by a Thread, it is the strong thread of Divine Mercy—such is the love of God for this poor humanity.
I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 1588
In those tender words, we hear the interweaving of God’s mercy with His justice. It is never one without the other. For justice is God’s love expressed in a divine order that holds the cosmos together by laws—whether they are laws of nature, or laws of “the heart”. So whether one sows seed into the ground, love into the heart, or sin into the soul, one will always reap what he sows. That is a perennial truth that transcends all religions and times… and is being played out dramatically on 24 hour cable news.Continue reading
THE world seems to be hanging by a thread. The threat of nuclear war, rampant moral degradation, division within the Church, the attack on the family, and the assault on human sexuality has frayed the world’s peace and stability to a dangerous point. People are coming apart. Relationships are unraveling. Families are fracturing. Nations are dividing…. That is the big picture—and one that Heaven seems to agree with:Continue reading
IN truth, I think most of us are very tired… tired of not only seeing the spirit of violence, impurity, and division sweeping over the world, but tired of having to hear about it—perhaps from people like me too. Yes, I know, I make some people very uncomfortable, even angry. Well, I can assure you that I have been tempted to flee to the “normal life” many times… but I realize that in the temptation to escape this strange writing apostolate is the seed of pride, a wounded pride that does not want to be “that prophet of doom and gloom.” But at the end of every day, I say “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. How can I say ‘no’ to You who did not say ‘no’ to me on the Cross?” The temptation is to simply close my eyes, fall asleep, and pretend that things are not what they really are. And then, Jesus comes with a tear in His eye and gently pokes me, saying:Continue reading
The elect souls will have to fight the Prince of Darkness.
It will be a frightening storm — no, not a storm,
but a hurricane devastating everything!
He even wants to destroy the faith and confidence of the elect.
I will always be beside you in the Storm that is now brewing.
I am your Mother.
I can help you and I want to!
You will see everywhere the light of my Flame of Love
sprouting out like a flash of lightning
illuminating Heaven and earth, and with which I will inflame
even the dark and languid souls!
But what sorrow it is for me to have to watch
so many of my children throw themselves in hell!
—Message from the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth Kindelmann (1913-1985);
approved by Cardinal Péter Erdö, primate of Hungary
MEMORIAL OF THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Mark is coming to Philadelphia in September, 2017. Details at the end of this writing… In today’s first Mass reading on this memorial of the Queenship of Mary, we read about the call of Gideon. Our Lady is the New Gideon of our times…
DAWN expels the night. Spring follows the Winter. Resurrection proceeds from the tomb. These are allegories for the Storm that has come to the Church and the world. For all will appear as though lost; the Church will seem utterly defeated; evil will exhaust itself in the darkness of sin. But it is precisely in this night that Our Lady, as the “Star of the New Evangelization”, is presently leading us toward the dawn when the Sun of Justice will rise upon a new Era. She is preparing us for the Flame of Love, the coming light of her Son…
Vandalized Statue of St. Junípero Serra, Courtesy KCAL9.com
SEVERAL years ago when I wrote about a coming Global Revolution, particularly in America, one man scoffed: “There is no revolution in America, and there won’t be!” But as violence, anarchy and hatred are beginning to reach a feverish pitch in the United States and elsewhere in the world, we are seeing the first signs of that violent persecution that has been brewing beneath the surface that Our Lady of Fatima predicted, and which will bring about the “passion” of the Church, but also her “resurrection.”Continue reading
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for August 18th, 2017
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
THE whole of the Old Testament is a kind of metaphor for the New Testament Church. What unfolded in the physical realm for the People of God is a “parable” of what God would do spiritually within them. Thus, in the drama, stories, triumphs, failures, and journeys of the Israelites, are hidden the shadows of what is, and is to come for Christ’s Church…Continue reading
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West, (1800)
AT the birth of every new era in salvation history, an ark has led the way for the People of God.
ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
DURING the scene of “Our Lady” at Arcātheos, it seemed as if the Blessed Mother really was present, and sending us a message at that. One of those messages had to do with what it means to be a true woman, and thus, a true man. It ties into Our Lady’s overall message to humanity at this time, that a period of peace is coming, and thus, renewal…Continue reading
Our Lady of Light, from a scene at Arcātheos, 2017
OUR Lady is so much more than merely a disciple of Jesus or a good example. She is a Mother “full of grace”, and this bears a cosmic significance:Continue reading
