Photo courtesy The Globe and Mail
IN light of recent historic events in the papacy, and this, the last working day of Benedict XVI, two current prophecies in particular are gaining traction among believers regarding the next pope. I am asked about them constantly in person as well as by email. So, I am compelled to finally give a timely response.
The problem is that the following prophecies are diametrically opposed to one another. One or both of them, therefore, cannot be true….
World Youth Day
WE are entering a most profound period of purification of the Church and the planet. The signs of the times are all around us as the upheaval in nature, the economy, and social and political stability speaks of a world on the verge of a Global Revolution. Thus, I believe we are also approaching the hour of God’s “last effort” before the “day of justice” arrives (see The Last Effort), as St. Faustina recorded in her diary. Not the end of the world, but the end of an era:
Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 848
Blood and Water is pouring forth this moment from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is this mercy gushing forth from the Heart of the Savior that is the final effort to…
…withdraw [mankind] from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.—St. Margaret Mary (1647-1690), sacredheartdevotion.com
It is for this that I believe we have been called into The Bastion—a time of intense prayer, focus, and preparation as the Winds of Change gather strength. For the heavens and earth are going to shake, and God is going to concentrate His love into one last moment of grace before the world is purified. [1]see The Eye of the Storm and The Great Earthquake It is for this time that God has prepared a little army, primarily of the laity.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | see The Eye of the Storm and The Great Earthquake |
|---|
SINCE Pope Benedict XVI renounced his office, I have received several emails asking about papal prophecies, from St. Malachi to contemporary private revelation. Most notable are modern prophecies that are completely opposed to one another. One “seer” claims that Benedict XVI will be the last true pope and that any future popes will not be from God, while another speaks of a chosen soul prepared to lead the Church through tribulations. I can tell you now that at least one of the above “prophecies” directly contradicts Sacred Scripture and Tradition.
Given the rampant speculation and real confusion spreading throughout many quarters, it is good to revisit this writing on what Jesus and His Church have consistently taught and understood for 2000 years. Let me just add this brief prologue: if I were the devil—at this moment in the Church and the world—I would do my best to discredit the priesthood, undermine the Holy Father’s authority, sow doubt in the Magisterium, and attempt to make the faithful believe that they can only rely now upon their own inner instincts and private revelation.
That, simply, is a recipe for deception.
Photo by EPA, at 6pm in Rome, February 11th, 2013
FOR some reason, a deep sorrow came over me in April of 2012, which was immediately after the Pope’s trip to Cuba. That sorrow culminated in a writing three weeks later called Removing the Restrainer. It speaks in part about how the Pope and the Church are a force restraining the “lawless one,” the Antichrist. Little did I or hardly anyone know that the Holy Father decided then, after that trip, to renounce his office, which he did this past February 11th of 2013.
This resignation has brought us closer to the threshold of the Day of the Lord…
As I asked Our Blessed Mother to guide my writing this morning, immediately this meditation from March 25th, 2009 came to mind:
HAVING traveled and preached in over 40 American states and nearly all of Canada’s provinces, I have been afforded a wide-ranging glimpse of the Church on this continent. I have met many wonderful lay people, deeply committed priests, and devoted and reverent religious. But they have become so few in number that I am beginning to hear the words of Jesus in a new and startling way:
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?(Luke 18:8)
It is said that if you throw a frog into boiling water, it will jump out. But if you slowly heat the water, it will remain in the pot and boil to death. The Church in many parts of the world is beginning to reach the boiling point. If you want to know how hot the water is, watch the attack upon Peter.
Audience with Pope Benedict XVI — Presenting the Pope my music
Eight years ago in 2005, my wife came bounding into the room with some shocking news: “Cardinal Ratzinger has just been elected Pope!” Today, the news is no less shocking that, after several centuries, our times will see the first pope to resign his office. My mailbox this morning has questions from ‘what does this mean in the scope of the “end times”?’, to ‘will there now be a “black pope“?’, etc. Rather than elaborate or speculate at this time, the first thought that comes to mind is the unexpected meeting I had with Pope Benedict in October of 2006, and the way it all unfolded…. From a letter to my readers on October 24th, 2006:
DEAR friends,
I write you this evening from my hotel just a stone’s throw from St. Peter’s Square. These have been grace-filled days. Of course, many of you are wondering if I met the Pope…
The reason for my trip here was to sing at a concert October 22nd to honor the 25th anniversary of the John Paul II Foundation, as well as the 28th anniversary of the late pontiff’s installation as pope on October 22nd, 1978.
A CONCERT FOR POPE JOHN PAUL II
As we rehearsed several times over the course of two days for the event which will be televised nationally in Poland next week, I began to feel out of place. I was surrounded by some of the greatest talents in Poland, incredible singers and musicians. At one point, I went outside to get some fresh air and walk along an ancient Roman wall. I began to pine, “Why am I here, Lord? I don’t fit in amongst these giants!” I cannot tell you how I know, but I sensed John Paul II reply in my heart, “That is why you are here, because you are so small.”
THERE is a simple but beautiful prayer called “The Act of Contrition” prayed by the penitent at the end of Confession:
O my God, I am sorry with all my heart for having sinned against You. I detest all of my sins because of Your just punishment, but most of all because they offend You my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.
The “near occasion of sin.” Those four words can save you.
IT seemed like a benign philosophy—deism. That the world was indeed created by God… but then left for man to sort it out himself and determine his own destiny. It was a little lie, born in the 16th century, that was a catalyst in part for the “Enlightenment” period, which gave birth to atheistic materialism, which was embodied by Communism, which has prepared the soil for where we are today: on the threshold of a Global Revolution.
The Global Revolution taking place today is unlike anything seen before. It certainly has political-economic dimensions like past revolutions. In fact, the very conditions that led to the French Revolution (and its violent persecution of the Church) are among us today in several parts of the world: high unemployment, food shortages, and anger fomenting against the authority of both Church and State. In fact, the conditions today are ripe for upheaval (read The Seven Seals of Revolution).
Jesus Meets Veronica, by Michael D. O’Brien
IT was a noisy hotel. I was eating some lousy take-out, watching some lousy television. So, I turned it off, set the food outside my door, and sat on my bed. I began thinking about a broken-hearted mother I prayed with after my concert the night before…
Hope of the Drowning, by Michael D. O’Brien
AFTER a talk I gave to a group of university students on what the popes have been saying about the “end times”, a young man pulled me aside with a question. “So, if we are living in the “end times,” what are we supposed to do about it?” It’s an excellent question, which I went on to answer in my next talk with them.
These webpages exist for a reason: to propel us toward God! But I know it provokes other questions: “What am I to do?” “How does this change my current situation?” “Should I be doing more to prepare?”
I’ll let Paul VI answer the question, and then expand on it:
There is a great uneasiness at this time in the world and in the Church, and that which is in question is the faith. It so happens now that I repeat to myself the obscure phrase of Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke: ‘When the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on the earth?’…I sometimes read the Gospel passage of the end times and I attest that, at this time, some signs of this end are emerging. Are we close to the end? This we will never know. We must always hold ourselves in readiness, but everything could last a very long time yet. —POPE PAUL VI, The Secret Paul VI, Jean Guitton, p. 152-153, Reference (7), p. ix.
Auschwitz “Death Camp”
AS my readers know, at the beginning of 2008, I received in prayer that it would be “the Year of the Unfolding.” That we would begin to see the collapse of the economic, then social, then political order. Clearly, everything is on schedule for those with eyes to see.
But last year, my meditation on “Mystery Babylon” put a new perspective on everything. It places the United States of America at a very central role in the rise of a New World Order. The late Venezuelan mystic, Servant of God Maria Esperanza, perceived on some level the importance of America—that her rise or fall would determine the fate of the world:
I feel the United States has to save the world… —The Bridge to Heaven: Interviews with Maria Esperanza of Betania, by Michael H. Brown, p. 43
But clearly the corruption that laid waste to the Roman Empire is dissolving the foundations of America—and rising in their place is something strangely familiar. Quite frighteningly familiar. Please take the time to read this post below from my archives of November 2008, at the time of the American election. This is a spiritual, not a political reflection. It will challenge many, anger others, and hopefully awaken many more. We always face the danger of evil overcoming us if we do not remain vigilant. Hence, this writing is not an accusation, but a warning… a warning from the past.
I have more to write on this subject and how, what is happening in America and the world at large, was actually foretold by Our Lady of Fatima. However, in prayer today, I sensed the Lord telling me to focus in the next few weeks solely on getting my albums done. That they, somehow, have a part to play in the prophetic aspect of my ministry (see Ezekiel 33, particularly verses 32-33). His will be done!
Lastly, please keep me in your prayers. Without explaining it, I think you can imagine the spiritual attack on this ministry, and my family. God bless you. You all remain in my daily petitions….
HAS your heart grown cold? There’s usually a good reason, and Mark gives you four possibilities in this inspiring webcast. Watch this all-new Embracing Hope webcast with author and host Mark Mallett:
Open Wide the Draft of Your Heart
Go to: www.embracinghope.tv to watch other webcasts by Mark.
HEAVEN’S treasuries are wide-open. God is pouring tremendous graces upon whomever will ask for them in these days of change. Regarding His mercy, Jesus once lamented to St. Faustina,
The flames of mercy are burning Me — clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 177
The question then, is how to receive these graces? While God may pour them out in very miraculous or supernatural ways, such as in the Sacraments, I believe they are constantly available to us through the ordinary course of our daily lives. To be more precise, they are to be found in the present moment.
“YES, we should love our enemies and pray for their conversions,” she agreed. “But I am angry over those who destroy innocence and goodness. This world has lost its appeal to me! Wouldn’t Christ come running to His Bride who is increasingly abused and crying out?”
These were the sentiments of a friend of mine whom I spoke with after one of my ministry events. I pondered her thoughts, emotional, yet reasonable. “What you’re asking,” I said, “is if God hears the cry of the poor?”
I’LL never forget that day. I was praying in my spiritual director’s chapel before the Blessed Sacrament when I heard in my heart the words:
Lay hands on the sick and I will heal them.
I trembled in my soul. I suddenly had images of devout little women with doilies on their heads clamoring around, crowds pushing in, people wanting to touch “the healer.” I shuddered again and began to weep as my soul recoiled. “Jesus, if you are really asking this, then I need you to confirm it.” Immediately, I heard:
Pick up your bible.
I grabbed my bible and it fell open to the last page of Mark where I read,
These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name… They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. (Mark 16:18-18)
In an instant, my body was inexplicably charged with “electricity” and my hands vibrated with a powerful anointing for about five minutes. It was an unmistakable physical sign what I was to do…
WE are approaching, not the end of the world, but the end of this age. How, then, will this present era end?
Many of the popes have written in prayerful anticipation of a coming age when the Church will establish her spiritual reign to the ends of the earth. But it is clear from Scripture, the early Church Fathers, and the revelations given to St. Faustina and other holy mystics, that the world must first be purified of all wickedness, beginning with Satan himself.
THESE past seven years, I have felt the Lord comparing what is here and coming upon the world to a hurricane. The closer one gets to the eye of the storm, the more intense the winds become. Likewise, the closer we get to the Eye of the Storm—what mystics and saints have referred to as a global “warning” or “illumination of conscience” (perhaps the “sixth seal” of Revelation)—the more intense world events will become.
We began to feel the first winds of this Great Storm in 2008 when the global economic collapse began to unfold [1]cf. The Year of the Unfolding, Landslide &, The Coming Counterfeit. What we will see in the days and months ahead will be events unfolding very rapidly, one upon the other, that will increase the intensity of this Great Storm. It is the convergence of chaos. [2]cf. Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos Already, there are significant events happening all over the world that, unless you are watching, as this ministry is, most will be oblivious to them.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Year of the Unfolding, Landslide &, The Coming Counterfeit |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | cf. Wisdom and the Convergence of Chaos |
FEAST OF ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE
Mark will be in Chicago this weekend. See details below!
Look to the East! The Sun of Justice is rising. He comes, the Rider Upon the White Horse!
THE call to the Bastion (see To the Bastion!) is a call to come to Jesus, the Rock, in the Blessed Sacrament, and there, to wait with Our Blessed Mother for the Battle orders. It is a time of intense preparation, not anxious, but intense—by fasting, frequent Confession, the Rosary, and attending Mass whenever one can, so as to be in a state of childlike attentiveness. And do not forget love, my friends, which without with all the others are empty. For I believe the Seals of Revelation are about to be broken by the “Lamb who seemed to have been slain”, as St. John foresaw it in chapters 5-6 in the Apocalypse.
Consider the current signs of the times as 2012 enter its final seasons: as war brews in the Middle East, the second seal seems to speak of global war; as the United Nations warns of a global food crisis in 2013, the third seal speaks of food rationing; as mysterious diseases and outbreaks are popping up all over the world, the fourth seal speaks of plagues and further famine and chaos; as the United States, Canada, and many other countries begin to move to curtail freedom of speech and thought, the fifth seal speaks of persecution. All of this leads to the sixth seal, which as I’ve written before, appears very much to be some kind of “illumination of conscience” of the entire world (cf. Revelation Illumination)—a great gift to humanity before the door of Mercy closes, and the door of Justice opens wide (cf. The Doors of Faustina).
As I consider that the words below were first written in October of 2007, one can’t help but thank God that we have had these past five years to further prepare our hearts for the Great Storm that is now unfolding in our time…
On the first Friday of this month, also the Feast day of St. Faustina, my wife’s mother, Margaret, passed away. We are preparing for the funeral now. Thanks to all for your prayers for Margaret and the family.
As we watch the explosion of evil all over the world, from the most shocking blasphemies against God in theaters, to the imminent collapse of economies, to the specter of nuclear war, the words of this writing below are rarely far from my heart. They were confirmed again today by my spiritual director. Another priest I know, a very prayerful and attentive soul, said just today that the Father is telling him, “Few know how very little time there really is.”
Our response? Do not delay your conversion. Do not delay going to Confession to begin again. Do not put off reconciling with God until tomorrow, for as St. Paul wrote, “Today is the day of salvation.“
First published November 13th, 2010
LATE this past summer of 2010, the Lord began to speak a word in my heart that carries a new urgency. It is has been steadily burning in my heart until I woke up this morning weeping, unable to contain it any longer. I spoke with my spiritual director who confirmed what has been weighing on my heart.
As my readers and viewers know, I have striven to speak to you through the words of the Magisterium. But underlying everything I’ve written and spoken of here, in my book, and in my webcasts, are the personal directions that I hear in prayer—that many of you are also hearing in prayer. I will not deviate from the course, except to underscore what has already been said with ‘urgency’ by the Holy Fathers, by sharing with you the private words I have been given. For they are really not meant, at this point, to be kept hidden.
Here is the “message” as it has been given since August in passages from my diary…
Warning: contains graphic image
IT’S called partial birth abortion. Unborn babies, usually over 20 weeks gestation, are pulled alive from the womb with forceps until only the head remains in the cervix. After puncturing the base of the skull, the brain is suctioned out, the skull collapses, and the dead child is delivered. The procedure is legal in Canada for two reasons: one is that there are no laws restricting abortion here, thus, a nine month pregnancy can be terminated, even up to the due date; the second is because Canada’s Criminal Code states that, until a baby is born, it is not recognized as a “human.” [1]cf. Section 223 of the Criminal Code Thus, even if a baby is fully grown and the head remains in the birth canal, it is still not considered “human” until it is fully delivered.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Section 223 of the Criminal Code |
|---|
Unborn baby at 20 weeks
In the course of my travels, I lost track of local news and did not learn until recently that back home, in Canada, the government is going to vote on Motion 312 this week. It proposes to re-examine section 223 of Canada’s Criminal Code, which stipulates that a child only becomes a human being once he or she has fully proceeded from the womb. This is on the heels of a ruling by the Canadian Medical Association in August 2012 affirming the Criminal Code in this regard. I confess, I almost swallowed my tongue when I read that! Educated doctors who actually believe a baby is not human until it’s born? I glanced at my calendar. “No, it’s 2012, not 212.” Yet, it would seem that many Canadian doctors, and apparently most politicians, actually believe that a fetus is not a person until it is born. Then what is it? What is this kicking, thumb-sucking, smiling “thing” five minutes before it is born? The following was first written on July 12th, 2008 in attempt to answer this most pressing question of our times…
IN response to The Hard Truth – Part V, a Canadian journalist from a national newspaper responded with this question:
If I understand you correctly, you place a great deal of moral emphasis on the capacity of the fetus to feel pain. My question to you is, does this mean abortion is entirely permissible if the fetus is anesthetized? It seems to me that either way you answer, it’s the ethical “personhood” of the fetus that is truly relevant, and its ability to feel pain tells us little if anything about it.
“Flight Into Egypt”, Michael D. O’Brien
Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child camp in the desert at night as they flee to Egypt.
The stark surroundings accentuate their plight,
the danger they are in, the darkness of the world.
As the mother nurses her child, the father stands watch and plays gently on a flute,
the music soothing the Child to sleep.
Their entire life is founded on mutual trust, love, sacrifice,
and abandonment to divine providence. —Artist’s notes
WE can now see it coming into view: the edge of the Great Storm. Over the past seven years, the image of a hurricane is what the Lord has used to teach me about what is coming upon the world. The first half of the Storm are the “labor pains” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew and what St. John describes in more detail in Revelation 6:3-17:
You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. All these are the beginning of the labor pains… (Matt 24:6-8)
I have just returned from Louisiana and Mississippi where, indeed, the grace of Christ was made manifest among us. I will never forget the picture I saw when I opened my eyes on the last evening during our closing time of Adoration. Dozens of people from the nearly packed church surrounded the altar, many weeping, as they gazed at the Eucharistic face of Christ in the monstrance. They gathered around Jesus like sheep longing for a shepherd to make them safe and secure in His presence.
For my part, I feel the Lord has given me a different kind of boldness in these days. It is the fruit, in many ways, of our times simply coming into more focus. A spiritual milestone was reached with the writing of The Great Culling. With it, we are able to read in precise terms what the “end times” looks like: it is the “culture of life” versus the “culture of death”.
This struggle parallels the apocalyptic combat described in [Rev 11:19-12:1-6, 10 on the battle between” the woman clothed with the sun” and the “dragon”]. Death battles against Life: a “culture of death” seeks to impose itself on our desire to live, and live to the full… Vast sectors of society are confused about what is right and what is wrong, and are at the mercy of those with the power to “create” opinion and impose it on others. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Cherry Creek State Park Homily, Denver, Colorado,
That’s why, when I am preaching in the various churches and I quote John Paul II’s words that we are “facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, the Gospel and the anti-Gospel…”, I always add the words, “…the woman clothed with the sun versus the dragon, the culture of life versus the culture of death, Christ versus the Antichrist.” That, and there is a certain boldness borne in the urgency of our times. Who, that is not prayerfully “watching and praying,” cannot see that the stability of the world hangs now by a thread?Continue reading
SINCE writing Mystery Babylon, I have been watching and praying, waiting and listening for weeks in preparation for this writing.
I will stand at my guard post, and station myself upon the rampart, and keep watch to see what he will say to me… Then the LORD answered me and said: write down the vision clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily.(Habb 2:1-2)
Once again, if we want to understand what is here and coming upon the world, we need only listen to the Popes..
Christ Grieving Over the World, by Michael D. O’Brien
I feel strongly compelled to re-post this writing here tonight. We are living in a precarious moment, the calm before the Storm, when many are tempted to fall asleep. But we must remain vigilant, that is, our eyes focused on building the Kingdom of Christ in our hearts and then in the world around us. In this way, we will be living in the Father’s constant care and grace, His protection and anointing. We will be living in the Ark, and we must be there now, for soon it will begin to rain justice upon a world that is cracked and dry and thirsting for God. First published April 30th, 2011.
CHRIST IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!
INDEED He is risen, alleluia! I am writing you today from San Francisco, USA on the eve and Vigil of Divine Mercy, and Beatification of John Paul II. In the home where I am staying, the sounds of the prayer service taking place in Rome, where the Luminous mysteries are being prayed, are flowing into the room with the gentleness of a trickling spring and the force of a waterfall. One cannot help but be overwhelmed with the fruits of the Resurrection so evident as the Universal Church prays in one voice before the beatification of St. Peter’s successor. The power of the Church—the power of Jesus—is present, both in the visible witness of this event, and in the presence of the communion of Saints. The Holy Spirit is hovering…
Where I am staying, the front room has a wall lined with icons and statues: St. Pio, the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Fatima and Guadalupe, St. Therese de Liseux…. all of them are stained with either tears of oil or blood that have fallen from their eyes in past months. The spiritual director of the couple who lives here is Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, the vice-postulator of St. Faustina’s canonization process. A picture of him meeting John Paul II sits at the feet of one of the statues. A tangible peace and presence of the Blessed Mother seems to pervade the room…
And so, it is in the midst of these two worlds that I write you. On the one hand, I see tears of joy falling from the faces of those praying in Rome; on the other, tears of sorrow falling from the eyes of Our Lord and Lady in this home. And so I ask once again, “Jesus, what do you want me to say to your people?” And I sense in my heart the words,
Tell my children that I love them. That I am Mercy itself. And Mercy calls My children to wake up.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Ludolf Backhuysen, 1695
IT felt like the last straw. Our vehicles have been breaking down costing a small fortune, the farm animals have been getting sick and mysteriously injured, the machinery has been failing, the garden isn’t growing, windstorms have ravaged the fruit trees, and our apostolate has run out of money. As I raced last week to catch my flight to California for a Marian conference, I cried out in distress to my wife standing in the driveway: Doesn’t the Lord see we are in a free-fall?
I felt abandoned, and let the Lord know it. Two hours later, I arrived at the airport, passed through the gates, and settled down into my seat in the aircraft. I looked out my window as the earth and the chaos of the last month fell away beneath the clouds. “Lord,” I whispered, “to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life…”
Our Lady of Sorrows, ©Tianna Mallett
There have been many requests for the original artwork produced here by my wife and daughter. You can now own them in our unique high quality magnet-prints. They come in 8″x10″ and, because they are magnetic, can be placed in the center of your home on the fridge, your school locker, a toolbox, or another metal surface.
Or, frame these beautiful prints and display them wherever you like in your home or office.Continue reading
Tornado Touchdown, June 15th, 2012, near Tramping Lake, SK; photo by Tianna Mallett
IT was a restless night—and a familiar dream. My family and I were escaping persecution… and then, like before, the dream would turn into us fleeing tornadoes. When I awoke yesterday morning, the dream “stuck” in my mind as my wife and I drove into a nearby town to pick up our family van at the repair shop.
In the distance, dark clouds were looming. Thunderstorms were in the forecast. We heard on the radio that there might even be tornadoes. “It seems too cool for that,” we agreed. But soon we would change our minds.Continue reading
FAITH is the oil which fills our lamps and prepares us for Christ’s coming (Matt 25). But how do we attain this faith, or rather, fill our lamps? The answer is through prayer.
Prayer attends to the grace we need… —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), n.2010
Many people begin the new year making a “New Year’s Resolution” — a promise to change a certain behavior or accomplish some goal. Then brothers and sisters, be resolved to pray. So few Catholics see the importance of God today because they no longer pray. If they prayed consistently, their hearts would be filled more and more with the oil of faith. They would encounter Jesus in a very personal way, and be convinced within themselves that He exists and is who He says He is. They would be given a divine wisdom by which to discern these days we live in, and more of a heavenly perspective of all things. They would encounter Him when they seek Him with a childlike trust…
…seek him in integrity of heart; because he is found by those who do not test him, and manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him. (Wisdom 1:1-2)
From the XIII Station of the Cross, by Fr Pfettisheim Chemin
“WOULD you pray over me?” she asked, as I was about to leave their home where she and her husband took care of me during my mission there in California several weeks ago. “Of course,” I said.
She sat down in a chair in the living room facing a wall of icons of Jesus, Mary and the saints. As I placed my hands on her shoulders and began to pray, I was struck by a clear image in my heart of Our Blessed Mother standing beside this woman to her left. She was wearing a crown, like the statue of Fatima; it was strapped with gold with white velvet in between. Our Lady’s hands were outstretched, and her sleeves were rolled up like she was going to work!
At that moment, the woman I was praying over began to weep. Continue reading
IF you’re in the area, I hope to see you at the following events!
I think we’re all in the same boat when it comes to time: there doesn’t ever seem to be enough. Such has been the case the past few months. In between traveling and recording my next album, it has been difficult and at times impossible to write you. That said, there are some important things I’ve been working on related to The Last Hour, and I can only seem to find a minute here and there to work on them. And it’s been six months since my last webcast, I know! This apostolate now reaches tens of thousands each month, and so I thank all of you for your patience. Of course, there are many writings here that I hope you will take the time to read as the Spirit leads you, especially the ones that I make footnotes to. They are as relevant as the “newest word” here.
LAST summer, I was asked to produce a video promo for Arcātheos, a Catholic boys summer camp based at the foot of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. After much blood, sweat, and tears, this is the final product… In some ways, it is a camp that portends the great battle and triumph to come in these times.
The following video portrays some of the events that occur at Arcātheos. It’s but a sampling of the excitement, solid teaching, and pure fun that happens there each year. Further information on the specific formation goals of the camp can be found throughout the Arcātheos website: www.arcatheos.com
The theatrics and battle scenes herein are intended to inspire fortitude and courage in all areas of life. The boys at the camp quickly realize that the heart and soul of Arcātheos is love for Christ, and charity towards our brothers…
Watch: Arcātheos at www.embracinghope.tv
DO you feel as though you are an insignificant part of God’s plan? That you have little purpose or usefulness to Him or others? Then I hope you have read The Useless Temptation. However, I sense Jesus wanting to encourage you even more. In fact, it is crucial that you who are reading this understand: you were born for these times. Every single soul in the Kingdom of God is here by design, here with a specific purpose and role that is invaluable. That is because you make up part of “the light of the world,” and without you, the world loses a little color…. let me explain.
THERE is much on my heart to write and speak about in the days ahead that is serious and important in the big scheme of things. In the meantime, Pope Benedict continues to speak lucidly and candidly about the future the world faces. It is no surprise that he is echoing the warnings of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, in her person, is a prototype and mirror of the Church. That is, there should be a consistency between her and Sacred Tradition, between the prophetic word of the body of Christ and her authentic apparitions. The central and synchronous message is one of both warning and hope: warning that the world is on the very precipice of disaster due to its present course; and hope that, if we turn back to God, He can heal our nations. I want to write more about Pope Benedict’s powerful homily given this past Easter Vigil. But for now, we cannot underestimate the seriousness of his warning:
The darkness that poses a real threat to mankind, after all, is the fact that he can see and investigate tangible material things, but cannot see where the world is going or whence it comes, where our own life is going, what is good and what is evil. The darkness enshrouding God and obscuring values is the real threat to our existence and to the world in general. If God and moral values, the difference between good and evil, remain in darkness, then all other “lights”, that put such incredible technical feats within our reach, are not only progress but also dangers that put us and the world at risk. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Easter Vigil Homily, April 7th, 2012 (emphasis mine)
And thus, the world has arrived at The Prodigal Hour: a period of both hope and warning…
THIS morning, on the first leg of my flight to California where I’ll be speaking this week (see Mark in California), I peered out the window of our jet at the ground far below. I was just finishing the first decade of the Sorrowful Mysteries when an overwhelming sense of futility came over me. “I am just a mere speck of dust on the face of the earth… one of 6 billion people. What difference could I possibly make??….”
Then I suddenly realized: Jesus also became one of us “specks.” He too became just one of the millions who lived on earth at that time. He was unknown to most of the population of the world, and even in His own country, many did not see or hear Him preach. But Jesus accomplished the Father’s will according to the Father’s designs, and in so doing, the impact of Jesus’ life and death has an eternal consequence that extends to the very ends of the cosmos.
The Rescuer, by Michael D. O’Brien
THERE are many kinds of “love” in our world, but not all triumph. It is only that love which gives of itself, or rather, dies to itself that carries the seed of redemption.
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. (John 12:24-26)
What I am saying here is not easy—dying to our own will is not easy. Letting go in a certain situation is hard. Seeing our loved ones go down destructive paths is painful. Having to let a situation turn in the opposite direction we think it should go, is a death in itself. It is only through Jesus that we are able to find the power to bear these sufferings, to find the power to give and the power to forgive.
To love with a love that triumphs.
A vacuum has been created in the souls of the youth generation—whether in China or America—by an onslaught of propaganda which centers on self-fulfillment, rather than on God. Our hearts are made for Him, and when we do not have God—or we refuse Him entry—something else takes His place. This is why the Church must never cease to evangelize, to proclaim the Good News that the Lord wishes to enter our hearts, with all His Heart, to fill the vacuum.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. (John 14:23)
But this Gospel, if it is to have any credibility, must be preached with our lives.
As more and more people are waking up to the growing persecution of the Church, this writing addresses why, and where it’s all heading. First published December 12th, 2005, I have updated the preamble below…
I will take my stand to watch, and station myself on the tower, and look forth to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:1-2)
THE past several weeks, I have been hearing with renewed force in my heart that there is a persecution coming—a “word” the Lord seemed to convey to a priest and I while on retreat in 2005. As I prepared to write about this today, I received the following email from a reader:
I had a weird dream last night. I awoke this morning with the words “Persecution is coming.” Wondering if others are getting this as well…
That is, at least, what Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York implied last week on the heels of gay marriage being accepted into law in New York. He wrote…
…we do worry indeed about this freedom of religion. Editorials already call for the removal of guarantees of religious liberty, with crusaders calling for people of faith to be coerced to acceptance of this redefinition. If the experience of those few other states and countries where this is already law is any indication, the churches, and believers, will soon be harassed, threatened, and hauled into court for their conviction that marriage is between one man, one woman, forever, bringing children into the world.—from Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s blog, “Some Afterthoughts”, July 7th, 2011; http://blog.archny.org/?p=1349
He is echoing Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, former President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who said five years ago:
“…speaking in defense of the life and the rights of the family is becoming, in some societies, a type of crime against the State, a form of disobedience to the Government…” —Vatican City, June 28, 2006
IF the prayer and desire of Jesus is that “they may all be one” (John 17:21), then Satan too has a plan for unity—a false unity. And we see the signs of it emerging. What is written here relates to the coming “parallel communities” spoken of in The Coming Refuges and Solitudes.
THE future hope of an “era of peace” based on the “thousand years” that follow the death of Antichrist, according to the the book of Revelation, may sound like a new concept to some readers. To others, it is considered a heresy. But it is neither. The fact is, the eschatological hope of a “period” of peace and justice, of a “Sabbath rest” for the Church before the end of time, does have its basis in Sacred Tradition. In reality, it has been somewhat buried in centuries of misinterpretation, unwarranted attacks, and speculative theology that continues to this day. In this writing, we look at the question of exactly how “the era was lost”—a bit of a soap opera in itself—and other questions such as whether it is literally a “thousand years,” whether Christ will be visibly present at that time, and what we can expect. Why is this important? Because it not only confirms a future hope that the Blessed Mother announced as imminent at Fatima, but of events that must take place at the end of this age that will change the world forever… events that appear to be on the very threshold of our times.
IN early 2007, a powerful image came to me one day during prayer. I recount it again here (from The Smoldering Candle):
I saw the world gathered as though in a dark room. In the center is a burning candle. It is very short, the wax nearly all melted. The Flame represents the light of Christ: Truth.Continue reading
THE point of this entire series on the charismatic gifts and movement is to encourage the reader to not be afraid of the extraordinary in God! To not be afraid to “open wide your hearts” to the gift of the Holy Spirit whom the Lord wishes to pour out in a special and powerful way in our times. As I read the letters sent to me, it is clear that the Charismatic Renewal has not been without its sorrows and failures, its human deficiencies and weaknesses. And yet, this is precisely what occurred in the early Church after Pentecost. Saints Peter and Paul devoted much space to correcting the various churches, moderating the charisms, and refocusing the budding communities over and over again upon the oral and written tradition that was being handed on to them. What the Apostles did not do is deny the often dramatic experiences of believers, try to stifle the charisms, or silence the zeal of thriving communities. Rather, they said:
Do not quench the Spirit… pursue love, but strive eagerly for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy… above all, let your love for one another be intense… (1 Thess 5:19; 1 Cor 14:1; 1 Pet 4:8)
I want to devote the last part of this series to sharing my own experiences and reflections since I first experienced the charismatic movement in 1975. Rather than give my entire testimony here, I will restrict it to those experiences one might call “charismatic.”
Pentecost, Artist Unknown
PENTECOST is not only a single event, but a grace that the Church can experience again and again. However, in this past century, the popes have been praying not only for a renewal in the Holy Spirit, but for a “new Pentecost”. When one considers all the signs of the times that have accompanied this prayer—key among them the continued presence of the Blessed Mother gathering with her children on earth through ongoing apparitions, as though she were once again in the “upper room” with the Apostles… the words of the Catechism take on a new sense of immediacy:
…at the “end time” the Lord’s Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 715
This time when the Spirit comes to “renew the face of the earth” is the period, after the death of Antichrist, during what the Church Father’s pointed to in St. John’s Apocalypse as the “thousand year” era when Satan is chained in the abyss.Continue reading
AS we look at the Charismatic Renewal today, we see a great decline in its numbers, and those who remain are mostly grey and white-haired. What, then, was the Charismatic Renewal all about if it appears on the surface to be fizzling? As one reader wrote in response to this series:
At some point the Charismatic movement vanished like fireworks that light up the night sky and then fall back into the darkenss. I was somewhat puzzled that a move of Almighty God would wane and finally fade away.
The answer to this question is perhaps the most important aspect of this series, for it helps us to understand not only where we’ve come from, but what the future holds for the Church…