MASS READINGS

Finishing the Course

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 30th, 2017
Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

HERE was a man who hated Jesus Christ… until he encountered Him. Meeting Pure Love will do that to you. St. Paul went from taking the lives of Christians, to suddenly offering his life as one of them. In stark contrast to today’s “martyrs of Allah”, who cowardly hide their faces and strap bombs on themselves to kill innocent folks, St. Paul revealed true martyrdom: to give oneself for the other. He did not hide either himself or the Gospel, in imitation of his Savior.Continue reading →

True Evangelization

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 24th, 2017
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE has been much hullabaloo since Pope Francis’ comments a few years back denouncing proselytism—the attempt to convert someone to one’s own religious faith. For those who did not scrutinize his actual statement, it caused confusion because, bringing souls to Jesus Christ—that is, into Christianity—is precisely why the Church exists. So either Pope Francis was abandoning the Church’s Great Commission, or perhaps he meant something else.Continue reading →

Peace in Hardships

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 16th, 2017
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

SAINT Seraphim of Sarov once said, “Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you, thousands will be saved.” Maybe this is another reason why the world remains unmoved by Christians today: we too are restless, worldly, fearful, or unhappy. But in today’s Mass readings, Jesus and St. Paul provide the key to becoming truly peaceful men and women.Continue reading →

On False Humility

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 15th, 2017
Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Opt. Memorial of St. Isidore

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE was a moment while preaching at a conference recently that I felt a slight self-satisfaction in what I was doing “for the Lord.” That night, I reflected on my words and impulses. I felt shame and horror that I might have, in even a subtle way, attempted to steal a single ray of God’s glory—a worm trying to wear the King’s Crown. I thought about St. Pio’s sage advice as I repented of my ego:Continue reading →

A Crisis of Community

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 9th, 2017
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

ONE of the most fascinating aspects of the early Church is that, after Pentecost, they immediately, almost instinctively, formed community. They sold everything they had and held it in common so that everyone’s needs were cared for. And yet, no where do we see an explicit command from Jesus to do as such. It was so radical, so contrary to the thinking of the time, that these early communities transformed the world around them.Continue reading →

The Refuge Within

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 2nd, 2017
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Memorial of St. Athanasius

Liturgical texts here

 

THERE is a scene in one of Michael D. O’Brien’s novels that I have never forgotten—when a priest is being tortured for his faithfulness. [1]Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press In that moment, the clergyman seems to descend to a place where his captors cannot reach, a place deep within his heart where God resides. His heart was a refuge precisely because, there too, was God.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press

God First

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for April 27th, 2017
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

Liturgical texts here

 

I don’t think it’s just me. I hear it from both young and old: time seems to be speeding up. And with it, there is a sense some days as if one is hanging on by the fingernails to the edge of a whirling merry-go-round. In the words of Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe:

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The Great Unveiling

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for April 11th, 2017
Tuesday of Holy Week

Liturgical texts here

 

Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—
A violent whirlwind!
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until He has executed and performed
the thoughts of His heart.
In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
(Jeremiah 23:19-20)

 

JEREMIAH’s words are reminiscent of the prophet Daniel’s, who said something similar after he too received visions of the “latter days”:

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Turn On the Headlights

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 THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 16–17th, 2017
Thursday-Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

JADED. Disappointed. Betrayed… those are some of the feelings many have after watching one failed prediction after another in recent years. We were told the “millenium” computer bug, or Y2K, would bring the end of modern civilization as we know it when the clocks turned January 1st, 2000… but nothing happened beyond the echoes of Auld Lang Syne. Then there were the spiritual predictions of those, such as the late Fr. Stefano Gobbi, that foretold the climax of the Great Tribulation around the same period. This was followed by more failed predictions regarding the date of the so-called “Warning”, of an economic collapse, of no 2017 Presidential Inauguration in the U.S., etc..

So you might find it odd for me to say that, at this hour in the world, we need prophecy more than ever. Why? In the Book of Revelation, an angel says to St. John:

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Hymn to the Divine Will

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 11th, 2017
Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Liturgical texts here

 

WHENEVER I have debated with atheists, I find that there is almost always an underlying judgment: Christians are judgmental prigs. Actually, it was a concern that Pope Benedict once expressed—that we might be putting the wrong foot foward:

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The Authentic Mercy

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IT was the most cunning of lies in the Garden of Eden…

You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of [the fruit of the tree of knowledge] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil. (Sunday’s first reading)

Satan lured Adam and Eve with the sophistry that there was no law greater than themselves. That their conscience was the law; that “good and evil” was relative, and thus “pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.” But as I explained last time, this lie has become an Anti-Mercy in our times that once again seeks to console the sinner by stroking his ego rather than healing him with the balm of mercy… authentic mercy.

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Jesus

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Saturday, December 31st, 2016
The Seventh Day of the Nativity of Our Lord and
Vigil of the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God

Liturgical texts here


Embracing Hope, by Léa Mallett

 

THERE is one word on my heart on this eve of the Solemnity of the Mother of God:

Jesus.

This is the “now word” on the threshold of 2017, the “now word” I hear Our Lady prophesying over the nations and the Church, over families and souls:

JESUS.

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The Sifted

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 26th, 2016
Feast of St. Stephen the Martyr

Liturgical texts here

St. Stephen the Martyr, Bernardo Cavallino (d. 1656)

 

To be a martyr is to feel the storm coming and willingly to endure it at the call of duty, for Christ’s sake, and for the good of the brethren. —Blessed John Henry Newman, from Magnificat, Dec. 26th, 2016

 

IT may seem odd that, the very next day after the joyful feast of Christmas Day, we commemorate the martyrdom of the first professed Christian. And yet, it is most fitting, because this Babe whom we adore is also a Babe whom we must follow—from the crib to the Cross. While the world races to the nearest stores for “Boxing Day” sales, Christians are called on this day to flee from the world and refocus their eyes and hearts upon eternity. And that requires a renewed renunciation of self—most especially, the renunciation of being liked, accepted, and blended into the landscape of the world. And this all the more as those who hold fast to moral absolutes and Sacred Tradition today are being labeled as “haters”, “rigid”, “intolerant”, “dangerous”, and “terrorists” of the common good.

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Our Compass

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, December 21st, 2016

Liturgical texts here

 

IN the Spring of 2014, I went through a terrible darkness. I felt tremendous doubts, surges of fear, despair, terror, and abandonment. I began one day with prayer as usual, and then… she came.

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The Kingdom Will Never End

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

Liturgical texts here

The Annunciation; Sandro Botticelli; 1485

 

AMONG the most powerful and prophetic words spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel was the promise that her Son’s Kingdom would never end. This is good news for those who fear that the Catholic Church is in its death throws…

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Vindication and Glory

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. John of the Cross

Liturgical texts here


From the Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1511

 

“OH well, I tried.”

Somehow, after thousands of years of salvation history, the suffering, death and Resurrection of the Son of God, the arduous journey of the Church and her saints through the centuries… I doubt those will be the Lord’s words in the end. Scripture tells us otherwise:

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The Great Deliverance

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 13th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Lucy

Liturgical texts here

 

AMONG the Old Testament prophets who foretell a great purification of the world followed by an era of peace is Zephaniah. He echoes what Isaiah, Ezekiel and others foresee: that a Messiah will come and judge the nations and establish His reign on earth. What they did not realize is that His reign would be spiritual in nature in order to fulfil the words that the Messiah would one day teach God’s people to pray: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

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Comfort in His Coming

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, December 6th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Nicholas

Liturgical texts here

jesusspirit

 

IS it possible that, this Advent, we are truly preparing for the coming of Jesus? If we listen to what the popes have been saying (The Popes, and the Dawning Era), to what Our Lady is saying (Is Jesus Really Coming?), to what the Church Fathers are saying (The Middle Coming), and put all the pieces together (Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!), the answer is an emphatic “yes!” Not that Jesus is coming this December 25th. And nor is He coming in a way that evangelical movie flicks have been suggesting, preceded by a rapture, etc. It is a coming of Christ within the hearts of the faithful to bring to fulfillment all the promises of Scripture that we are reading this month in the book of Isaiah.

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The Great Dance

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, November 18th, 2016
Memorial of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

Liturgical texts here

ballet

 

I want to tell you a secret. But it’s really not a secret at all because it’s in the wide open. And it is this: the source and wellspring of your happiness is the will of God. Would you agree that, if God’s Kingdom reigned in your home and your heart, you would be happy, that there would be peace and harmony? The coming of God’s Kingdom, dear reader, is synonymous with the welcoming of His will. In truth, we pray for it every day:

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Come Down Quickly!

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, November 15th, 2016
Memorial of St. Albert the Great

Liturgical texts here

 

WHEN Jesus passes by Zacchaeus, He not only tells him to come down from his tree, but Jesus says: Come down quickly! Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, one that few of us exercise perfectly. But when it comes to pursuing God, we should be impatient! We should never hesitate to follow Him, to run toward Him, to assail Him with a thousand tears and prayers. After all, this is what lovers do…

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Unless the Lord Build It

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fallingdown

 

I received a number of letters and comments over the weekend from my American friends, nearly all of them cordial and hopeful. I get the sense that some feel I am a bit of a “wet rag” in suggesting that the revolutionary spirit afoot in our world today has not nearly run its course, and that America is still facing a great upheaval, as is every nation in the world. This, at least, is the “prophetic consensus” spanning centuries, and frankly, a simple viewing of the “signs of the times”, if not the headlines. But I will also say that, beyond the hard labor pains, a new era of true justice and peace awaits us. There is always hope… but God help me should I offer you a false hope.

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With All Prayer

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, October 27th, 2016

Liturgical texts here

arturo-mariSt. John Paul II on a prayer walk near Edmonton, Alberta
(Arturo Mari; The Canadian Press)

 

IT came to me a few years ago, as clear as a flash of lightning: it will only be by God’s grace that His children will pass through this valley of the shadow of death. It is only through prayer, which draws down these graces, that the Church will safely navigate the treacherous seas that are swelling all around her. That is to say that all our own scheming, survivalist instincts, ingenuity and preparations—if undertaken without the guidance of divine wisdom—will fall tragically short in the days to come. For God is stripping His Church at this hour, stripping her of her self-assurance and those pillars of complacency and false security upon which she has been leaning.

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Schism? Not On My Watch

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, September 1st – 2nd, 2016

Liturgical texts here


Associated Press

I have returned from Mexico, and am eager to share with you the powerful experience and words that came to me in prayer. But first, to address the concerns noted in a few letters this past month…

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Pray for Your Shepherds

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, August 17th, 2016

Liturgical texts here

mother-of-priestsOur Lady of Grace and the Masters of the Order of Montesa
Spanish School (15th century)


I AM so blessed, in many ways, by the present mission Jesus has given me in writing you. One day, over tens years ago, the Lord nudged my heart saying, “Put your thoughts from your journal online.” And so I did… and now there are tens of thousands of you reading these words from all over the world. How mysterious are God’s ways! But not only that… as a result, I have been able to read your words in countless letters, emails, and notes. I hold every letter I get as precious, and feel very sad that I haven’t been able to respond to all of you. But every letter is read; every word is noted; every intention is lifted up daily in prayer.

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The Sacredness of Marriage

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, August 12th, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Frances de Chantal

Liturgical texts here

 

SEVERAL years ago during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, Cardinal Carlo Caffara (Archbishop of Bologna) received a letter from Fatima visionary, Sr. Lucia. In it, she described what the “Final Confrontation” would be over:

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Keeping One's Eyes on the Kingdom

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, August 4th, 2016
Memorial of St. Jean Vianney, Priest

Liturgical texts here

 

EVERY day, I receive an email from someone who is upset by something Pope Francis has recently said. Every day. People aren’t sure how to cope with the constant flow of papal statements and perspectives that seem at odds with his predecessors, comments that are incomplete, or in need of greater qualification or context. [1]see That Pope Francis! Part II

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Footnotes

Love Waits

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Monday, July 25th, 2016
Feast of St. James

Liturgical texts here

magdalene tomb

 

Love waits. When we truly love someone, or some thing, we will wait for the object of our love. But when it comes to God, to waiting for His grace, His help, His peace… for Him… most of us do not wait. We take matters into our own hands, or we despair, or become angry and impatient, or we begin to medicate our internal pain and anxiety with busyness, noise, food, alcohol, shopping… and yet, it never lasts because there is only one medication for the human heart, and that is the Lord for whom we are made.

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Joy in God's Law

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, July 1st, 2016
Opt. Memorial of St. Junípero Serra

Liturgical texts here

bread1

 

MUCH has been said in this Jubilee Year of Mercy about the love and mercy of God toward all sinners. One could say that Pope Francis has really pushed the limits in “welcoming” sinners into the bosom of the Church. [1]cf. The Thin Line Between Mercy and Heresy-Part I-III As Jesus says in today’s Gospel:

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.

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Footnotes

The End of the Storm

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 28th, 2016
Memorial of St. Irenaeus
Liturgical texts here

stormend4

 

LOOKING over his shoulder at the past 2000 years, and then, the times directly ahead, John Paul II made a profound statement:

The world at the approach of a new millennium, for which the whole Church is preparing, is like a field ready for the harvest. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day, homily, August 15th, 1993

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Calling Down Mercy

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, June 14th, 2016
Liturgical texts here

islamscales2

 

POPE Francis has thrown open wide the “doors” of the Church in this Jubilee of Mercy, which has passed the halfway mark as of last month. But we might be tempted to deep discouragement, if not fear, as we see not a repentance en masse, but the rapid degeneration of the nations into extreme violence, immorality, and really, a whole-hearted embrace of an anti-gospel.

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Depending on Providence

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 7th, 2016
Liturgical texts here

Elijah SleepingElijah Sleeping, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

THESE are the days of Elijah, that is, the hour of a prophetic witness being called forth by the Holy Spirit. It is going to take on many facets—from the fulfillment of apparitions, to the prophetic witness of individuals who “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation… shine like lights in the world.” [1]Phil 2:15 Here I am not speaking only of the hour of “prophets, seers, and visionaries”—though that is part of it—but of every day people like you and me.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Phil 2:15

The Good Shepherd's Voice

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 6th, 2016
Liturgical texts here 

shepherd3.jpg

 

TO the point: we are entering a period where the earth is plunging into a great darkness, where the light of truth is being eclipsed by the moon of moral relativism. In case one thinks such a statement is fantasy, I defer once again to our papal prophets:

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Be Holy… in the Little Things

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 24th, 2016
Liturgical texts here

campfire2

 

THE most daunting words in Scripture might be those in today’s first reading:

Be holy because I am holy.

Most of us look into the mirror and turn away with sadness if not disgust: “I am anything but holy. Furthermore, I will NEVER be holy!”

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The Virtue of Persistence

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 11th – 16th, 2016
Liturgical texts here

desertpilgrim2

 

THIS call “out of Babylon” into the desert, into the wilderness, into asceticism is truly a call into battle. For to leave Babylon is to resist temptation and to break at last with sin. And this presents a direct threat to the enemy of our souls. Continue reading →

Going to the Extremes

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 11th, 2015
Friday of the Second Week of Advent

Liturgical texts here

extremes_Fotor

 

THE real danger at this hour in the world is not that there is so much confusion, but that we would get caught up in it ourselves. In fact, panic, fear, and compulsive reactions are part of the Great Deception. It removes the soul from its center, which is Christ. Peace leaves, and with it, wisdom and the ability to see clearly. This is the real danger.

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Just Enough

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 9th, 2015
Opt. Memorial of St. Juan Diego

Liturgical texts here

Elijah Fed by an Angel, by Ferdinand Bol (c. 1660 – 1663)

 

IN prayer this morning, a gentle Voice spoke to my heart:

Just enough to keep you going. Just enough to strengthen your heart. Just enough to pick you up. Just enough to keep you from falling… Just enough to keep you dependent on Me.

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Decompressing From Evil

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 8th, 2015
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY

Liturgical texts here

 

AS I collapsed into my wife’s arms this morning, I said, “I just need to rest for a moment. Too much evil…” It’s the first day of the Jubilee Year of Mercy—but I’m admittedly feeling a little physically drained and spiritually enervated. A lot’s happening in the world, one event upon the other, just as the Lord explained it would be (see The Seven Seals of Revolution). Still, keeping up to the demands of this writing apostolate means looking down the gaping mouth of darkness more than I desire. And I worry too much. Worry about my children; worry that I’m not doing God’s will; worry that I’m not giving my readers the right spiritual food, in the right doses, or the right content. I know I shouldn’t worry, I tell you not to, but I sometimes do. Just ask my spiritual director. Or my wife.

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Something Beautiful

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 29th-30th, 2015
Feast of Saint Andrew

Liturgical texts here

 

AS we begin this Advent, my heart is filled with wonder of the Lord’s desire to restore all things in Himself, to make the world beautiful again.

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The Beast Beyond Compare

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 23rd-28th, 2015

Liturgical texts here

 

THE Mass readings this week that address the signs of the “end times” will no doubt evoke the familiar, if not easy dismissal that “everyone thinks their times are the end times.” Right? We’ve all heard that repeated again and again. That was certainly true of the early Church, until Sts. Peter and Paul began to temper expectations:

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The Seedbed of This Revolution

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 9th-21st, 2015

Liturgical texts here

 

Dear brothers and sisters, this and the next writing deal with the Revolution spreading globally in our world. They are knowledge, important knowledge to understand what is taking place around us. As Jesus once said, “I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.”[1]John 16:4 However, knowledge does not replace obedience; it does not substitute relationship with the Lord. So may these writings inspire you to more prayer, to more contact with the Sacraments, to a greater love for our families and neighbours, and to living more authentically in the present moment. You are loved.

 

THERE is a Great Revolution underway in our world. But many do not realize it. It is like an enormous oak tree. You don’t know how it was planted, how it grew, nor its stages as a sapling. Neither do you really see it continuing to grow, unless you stop and examine its branches and compare them to the year before. Nonetheless, it makes its presence known as it towers above, its branches blocking out the sun, its leaves obscuring the light.

So it is with this present Revolution. How it came to be, and where it is going, has been prophetically unfolded for us these past two weeks in the Mass readings.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 John 16:4

The Torrent of Grace

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, October 22nd, 2015
Opt. Memorial of St. John Paul II

Liturgical texts here

 

THE temptation many of us face today is to discouragement and despair: discouragement that evil seems to be winning; despair that there seems to be no humanly possibly way for the rapid decline in morals to be stopped nor the subsequent rising persecution against the faithful. Perhaps you can identify with St. Louis de Montfort’s cry…

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All is Grace

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, October 21st, 2015

Liturgical texts here

 

WHILE many Catholics are caving in to a certain panic as the Synod on the Family in Rome continues to swirl in controversy, I pray that others will see something else: God is revealing our sickness through it all. He is revealing to His Church our pride, our presumption, our rebellion, and perhaps above all, our lack of faith.

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Our Passion

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Sunday, October 18th, 2015
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Liturgical texts here

 

WE are not facing the end of the world. In fact, we are not even facing the last tribulations of the Church. What we are facing is the final confrontation in a long history of confrontations between Satan and Christ’s Church: a battle for one or the other to establish their kingdom on earth. St. John Paul II summed it up this way:

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