GOD is infinite. He is ever-present. He is all-knowing…. and He is stoppable.
A word came to me in prayer this morning that I feel compelled to share with you:
SPIRITUALITY
Like a Thief
THE past 24 hours since writing After the Illumination, the words have been echoing in my heart: Like a thief in the night…
Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:2-3)
Many have applied these words to the Second Coming of Jesus. Indeed, the Lord will come at an hour that no one but the Father knows. But if we read the above text carefully, St. Paul is speaking about the coming of the “day of the Lord,” and what comes suddenly are like “labor pains.” In my last writing, I explained how the “day of the Lord” is not a single day or event, but a period of time, according to Sacred Tradition. Thus, that which leads up to and ushers in the Day of the Lord are precisely those labor pains that Jesus spoke of [1]Matt 24: 6-8; Luke 21:9-11 and St. John saw in the vision of The Seven Seals of Revolution.
They too, for many, will come like a thief in the night.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Matt 24: 6-8; Luke 21:9-11 |
|---|
An Ox and an Ass
“The Nativity”, Lorenzo Monaco; 1409
First published December 27th, 2006
Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding? —What Child Is This?, Christmas Carol
NO retinue of guards. No legion of angels. Not even the welcome mat of the High Priests. God, incarnate in the flesh, is greeted into the world by an ox and ass.
While the early Fathers interpreted these two creatures as symbolic of the Jews and pagans, and thus all of humanity, a further interpretation came to mind at Midnight Mass.
Christmas Myrrh
IMAGINE it’s Christmas morning, your spouse leans over with a smile and says, “Here. This is for you.” You unwrap the gift and find a small wooden box. You open it and a waft of perfume rises from little resin chunks.
“What is it?” you ask.
“It’s myrrh. It was used in ancient times for embalming a corpse and burning as an incense at funerals. I thought it would be great at your wake someday.”
“Uh… thanks… thanks, dear.”
Christ in You
First Published December 22nd, 2005
I HAD many little things to do today in preparation for Christmas. As I passed people—the cashier at the till, the guy filling up with gas, the courier at the bus stop—I felt drawn to their presence. I smiled, I said hello, I chatted with strangers. As I did, something marvelous began to happen.
Christ was looking back at me.
Clothed in Christ
ONE could summarize the recent five writings, from The Tiger in the Cage to The Rocky Heart, in the simple phrase: clothe yourself in Christ. Or as St. Paul put it:
…put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. (Rom 13:14)
I want to wrap those writings together, to give you a simple image and vision of what Jesus asks of you and me. For many are the letters I receive that echo what I’ve written in The Rocky Heart… that we want to be holy, but grieve that we fall so short of holiness. It’s often because we strive to be a butterfly before entering the cocoon…
The Rocky Heart
FOR several years, I have asked Jesus why it is that I am so weak, so impatient in trial, so seemingly devoid of virtue. “Lord,” I have said a hundred times, “I pray every day, I go to Confession every week, I say the Rosary, I pray the Office, I’ve gone to daily Mass for years… why, then, am I so unholy? Why do I buckle under the smallest trials? Why am I so quick-tempered?” I could very well repeat the words of St. Gregory the Great as I try to respond to the Holy Father’s call to be a “watchman” for our times.
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Note that a man whom the Lords sends forth as a preacher is called a watchman. A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.
How hard it is for me to say this, for by these very words I denounce myself. I cannot preach with any competence, and yet insofar as I do succeed, still I myself do not live my life according to my own preaching.
I do not deny my responsibility; I recognize that I am slothful and negligent, but perhaps the acknowledgment of my fault will win me pardon from my just judge. —St. Gregory the Great, homily, Liturgy of the Hours, Vol. IV, p. 1365-66
As I prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, begging the Lord to help me understand why I am so sinful after so many efforts, I looked up at the Crucifix and heard the Lord finally answer this painful and pervasive question…
Recollection
IF you read Custody of the Heart, then you know by now how often we fail to keep it! How easily we are distracted by the smallest thing, pulled away from peace, and derailed from our holy desires. Again, with St. Paul we cry out:
I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate…! (Rom 7:14)
But we need to hear again the words of St. James:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)
Grace is not cheap, handed over like fast-food or at the click of a mouse. We have to fight for it! Recollection, which is taking custody again of the heart, is often a struggle between the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit. And so, we have to learn to follow the ways of the Spirit…
Custody of the Heart
Times Square Parade, by Alexander Chen
WE are living in dangerous times. But few are those who realize it. What I’m speaking of is not the threat of terrorism, climate change, or nuclear war, but something more subtle and insidious. It is the advance of an enemy that has already gained ground in many homes and hearts and is managing to wreak ominous destruction as it spreads throughout the world:
Noise.
I am speaking of spiritual noise. A noise so loud to the soul, so deafening to the heart, that once it finds its way in, it obscures the voice of God, numbs the conscience, and blinds the eyes to seeing reality. It is one of the most dangerous enemies of our time because, while war and violence do harm to the body, noise is the killer of the soul. And a soul that has shut off the voice of God risks never hearing Him again in eternity.
The Mind of Christ
Finding in the Temple, by Michael D. O’Brien
DO you really want to see change in your life? Do you really want to experience the power of God that transforms and liberates one from the powers of sin? It doesn’t happen on its own. No more than a branch can grow unless it draws from the vine, or a newborn baby can live unless it suckles. New life in Christ through Baptism is not the end; it is the beginning. But how many souls think that that is enough!
Finding Peace
Photo by Carveli Studios
DO you long for peace? In my encounters with other Christians in the past few years, the most evident spiritual malady is that few are at peace. Almost as if there is a common belief growing among Catholics that a lack of peace and joy is simply part of the suffering and spiritual attacks upon the Body of Christ. It is “my cross,” we like to say. But that is a dangerous assumption bringing about an unfortunate consequence upon society as a whole. If the world is thirsting to see the Face of Love and to drink from the Living Well of peace and joy… but all they find are the brackish waters of anxiety and the mud of depression and anger in our souls… where will they turn?
God wants His people to live in interior peace at all times. And it is possible…Continue reading
The Face of Love
THE world is thirsting to experience God, to find the tangible presence of the One who created them. He is love, and therefore, it is the Presence of Love through His Body, His Church, that can bring salvation to a lonely and hurting humanity.
Charity alone will save the world. —St. Luigi Orione, L’Osservatore Romano, June 30th, 2010
God Speaks… to Me?
IF I may once again bare my soul to you, that somehow you may benefit from my weakness. As St. Paul said, "I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me." Indeed, may He dwell with you!
THE ROAD TO DESPAIR
Since my family moved to a small farm on the Canadian prairies, we have been met with one financial crisis after another through vehicle breakdowns, wind storms, and all kinds of unexpected costs. It has led me to great discouragement, and at times even despair, to the point where I began to feel abandoned. When I would go to pray, I would put in my time… but began to doubt that God was really paying much attention to me—a form of self-pity.
The Pearl of Great Price
Pearl of Great Price by Michael D. O’Brien
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. (Matt 13:44-46)
IN my last three writings, we have talked about finding peace in suffering and joy in the big picture and finding mercy when we least deserve it. But I could summarize it all in this: the kingdom of God is found in the will of God. That is to say, the will of God, His Word, unlocks for the believer every spiritual blessing from Heaven, including peace, joy, and mercy. The will of God is the pearl of great price. Understand this, seek this, find this, and you will have everything.
By the Rivers of Babylon
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt van Rijn,
Rijks Museum, Amsterdam, 1630
Rijks Museum, Amsterdam, 1630
FROM a reader:
In my prayer life and in praying for very specific things, particularly my husband’s abuse of pornography and all the things that result from this abuse, such as loneliness, dishonesty, mistrust, isolation, fear etc. Jesus tells me to be full of joy and gratitude. I get that God allows us so many burdens in life so that our souls may be purified and perfected. He wants us to learn to recognize our own sinfulness and self -love and realize we can’t do anything without Him, but He also tells me specifically to carry it with joy. This seems to elude me… I don’t know how to be joyful in the midst of my pain. I get that this pain is an opportunity from God but I don’t understand why God allows this kind of evil in my home and how am I expected to be joyful about it? He just keeps telling me to pray, give thanks and be joyful and laugh! Any thoughts?
Dear reader. Jesus is truth. He would never, therefore, ask us to dwell in falsehood. He would never demand us to "give thanks and be joyful and laugh" about something as grievous as your husband’s addiction. Nor does He expect someone to chuckle when a loved one dies, or loses his house in a fire, or is laid off from a job. The Gospels do not speak of the Lord laughing or smiling during His Passion. Rather, they recount how the Son of God endured a rare medical condition called hoematidrosis in which, due to severe mental anguish, blood capillaries burst, and the ensuing blood clots are then carried away from the skin surface by sweat, appearing as drops of blood (Luke 22:44).
So, then, what do these Scripture passages mean:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Phil 4:4)
In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:18)
Broken
FROM a reader:
So what do I do when I forget that sufferings are His blessings to bring me closer to Him, when I am in the middle of them and get impatient and angry and rude and short tempered… when He’s not always at the forefront of my mind and I get caught up in emotions and feelings and the world and then the opportunity to do the right thing is lost? How do I ALWAYS keep Him in the forefront of my heart and mind and not (re)act like the rest of the world that doesn’t believe?
This precious letter summarizes the wound in my own heart, the fierce struggle and literal war that has broken out in my soul. There is so much in this letter that opens the door for light, beginning with its raw honesty…
Peace In Presence, Not Absence
HIDDEN it seems from the ears of the world is the collective cry I hear from the Body of Christ, a cry that is reaching the Heavens: “Father, if it is possible take this cup away from me!” Letters I receive speak of tremendous family and financial strain, lost security, and growing concern over The Perfect Storm that has emerged on the horizon. But as my spiritual director often says, we are in “boot camp,” training for this present and coming “final confrontation” that the Church is facing, as John Paul II put it. What appears to be contradictions, endless difficulties, and even a sense of abandonment is the Spirit of Jesus working through the firm hand of the Mother of God, forming her troops and preparing them for the battle of the ages. As it says in that precious book of Sirach:
My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity. Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great. Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient; for in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation. (Sirach 2:1-5)
Why Does the River Turn?
Photographers in Staffordshire
WHY is God letting me suffer in this way? Why are there so many obstacles to happiness and growing in holiness? Why does life have to be so painful? It feels as though I go from valley to valley (even though I know there are peaks in between). Why, God?
Begin Again
WE live in an extraordinary time where there are answers to everything. There is not a question on the face of the earth that one, with access to a computer or someone who has one, cannot find an answer. But the one answer that still lingers, that is waiting to be heard by the multitudes, is to the question of mankind’s deep hunger. The hunger for purpose, for meaning, for love. Love above everything else. For when we are loved, somehow all other questions seem to diminish the way stars fade away at daybreak. I am not speaking about romantic love, but acceptance, unconditional acceptance and concern of another.Continue reading
A Miracle of Mercy
Rembrandt van Rijn, “The return of the prodigal son”; c.1662
MY time in Rome at the Vatican in October, 2006 was an occasion of great graces. But it was also a time of great trials.
I came as a pilgrim. It was my intention to immerse myself in prayer through the surrounding spiritual and historical edifice of the Vatican. But by the time my 45 minute cab ride from the Airport to St. Peter’s Square was over, I was exhausted. The traffic was unbelievable—the way people drove even more startling; every man for himself!
Some Questions and Answers
OVER the past month, there have been several questions which I feel inspired to respond to here… everything from fears over Latin, to storing up food, to financial preparations, to spiritual direction, to questions on visionaries and seers. With God’s help, I will try to answer them.
Silence
Photo by Martin Bremmer Walkway
SILENCE. It is the mother of peace.
When we allow our flesh to become “noisy,” giving in to all its demands, we lose that “peace which surpasses all understanding.” But silence of the tongue, silence of the appetites, and silence of the eyes is like a chisel, carving away the passions of the flesh, until the soul is open and empty like a bowl. But empty, only so as to be filled with God.
Empty-Handed
FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
First published January 7th, 2007.
Magi from the east arrived… They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matt 2:1, 11)
OH my Jesus.
I should come to you today with many gifts, like the magi. Instead, my hands are empty. I wish I could offer you the gold of good works, but I bear only the sorrow of sin. I try to burn the frankincense of prayer, but I have only distraction. I want to show you the myrrh of virtue, but I am clothed by vice.
Become the Face of Christ
A voice did not boom from the sky…. it was not a flash of lightning, an earthquake, or a vision of the heavens opening with a revelation that God loves man. Rather, God descended into the womb of a woman, and Love itself became incarnate. Love became flesh. The message of God became living, breathing, visible.Continue reading
Goodness Has a Name
Homecoming, by Michael D. O’Brien
Written on the journey home…
AS our plane rises with the cumulous clouds into the atmosphere where angels and freedom dwell, my mind begins to drift back over my time in Europe…
———-
It wasn’t that long an evening, maybe an hour and a half. I sang a few songs, and spoke the message that was on my heart for the people of Killarney, Ireland. Afterwards, I prayed over the individuals who came forward, asking Jesus to pour out His Spirit again upon the mostly middle-aged and senior adults who came forward. They came, like little children, hearts open, ready to receive. As I prayed, an older man began to lead the small group in songs of praise. When it was all over, we sat looking at one another, our souls filled with the Spirt and joy. They didn’t want to leave. I didn’t either. But necessity carried me out the front doors with my hungry entourage.
Deliberate Sin
IS the battle in your spiritual life intensifying? As I receive letters and speak with souls throughout the world, there are two themes which are consistent:
- Personal spiritual battles are getting very intense.
- There is a sense of imminence that serious events are about to take place, changing the world as we know it.
Yesterday, as I walked into the church to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, I heard two words:
Deliberate sin.
Beginning Again
Photo by Eve Anderson
First publish January 1st, 2007.
IT’S the same thing every year. We look back over the Advent and Christmas season and feel the pangs of regret: “I didn’t pray like I was going to… I ate too much… I wanted this year to be special…I have missed another opportunity.”
Persevere!
I have often written over the past few years of the necessity to stay awake, to persevere in these days of change. I believe there is a temptation, however, to read the prophetic warnings and words that God is speaking through various souls these days… and then dismiss or forget them because they have not yet been fulfilled after a few or even several years. Hence, the image I see in my heart is of a Church fallen asleep… "will the son of man find faith on earth when he returns?"
The root of this complacency is often a misunderstanding of how God works through His prophets. It takes time not only for such messages to be disseminated, but for hearts to be converted. God, in His infinite Mercy, gives us that time. I believe the prophetic word is often urgent so as to move our hearts to conversion, though the fulfillment of such words may be—in human perception—some time off. But when they do come to fulfillment (at least those messages which cannot be mitigated), how many souls will wish they had another ten years! For many events will come "like a thief in the night."
Accept the Crown
Dear friends,
My family has spent the last week moving to a new location. I have had little internet access, and even less time! But I am praying for all of you, and as always, I am counting on your prayers for grace, strength, and perseverance. We are beginning construction of a new webcast studio tomorrow. Due to the workload ahead of us, my contact with you will likely be sparse.
Here is a meditation which has continually ministered to me. It was first published July 31st, 2006. God bless you all.
THREE weeks of holidays… three weeks of one minor crisis after another. From leaking rafts, to overheating engines, to bickering children, to just about anything breaking that could… I found myself exasperated. (In fact, while writing this, my wife called me to the front of the tour bus–just as my son spilled a can of juice all over the couch… oy.)
A couple nights ago, feeling as though a black cloud were crushing me, I spouted off to my wife in vitriol and anger. It was not a godly response. It was not an imitation of Christ. Not what you’d expect from a missionary.
In my grief, I fell asleep on the couch. Later that night, I had a dream:
Knowing Christ
Veronica, by Michael D. O’Brien
SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART
WE often have it backwards. We want to know Christ’s victory, His consolations, the power of His Resurrection—before His Crucifixion. St. Paul said that he wants…
…to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3:10-11)
High Seas
O LORD, I want to sail in your presence… but when the seas become rough, when the Wind of the Holy Spirit begins to blow me into the tempest of a trial, I quickly lower the Sails of my faith, and protest! But when the waters are calm, I gladly hoist them. Now I see the problem more clearly—why I am not growing in holiness. Whether the sea is rough or whether it is calm, I am not moving forward in my spiritual life toward the Harbor of Holiness because I refuse to sail into trials; or when it is calm, I merely stand still. I see now that to become a Master Sailer (a saint), I must learn to sail the high seas of suffering, to navigate the storms, and patiently let your Spirit direct my life in all matters and circumstances, whether they are pleasant to me or not, because they are ordered toward my sanctification.
Do You Know His Voice?
DURING a speaking tour in the United States, a consistent warning kept rising to the forefront of my thoughts: do you know the voice of the Shepherd? Since then, the Lord has spoken in greater depth in my heart about this word, a crucial message for the present and coming times. At this time in the world when there is a concerted attack to undermine the credibility of the Holy Father, and thus shake the faith of believers, this writing becomes ever more timely.
The Hour of Temptation
Christ in Gethsemane, Michael D. O’Brien
THE Church, I believe, is in an hour of temptation.
Temptation to fall asleep in the Garden. Temptation to slumber as the stroke of midnight nears. Temptation to console ourselves in the pleasures and trappings of the world.
The Love that Triumphs
Crucifixion, by Michael D. O’Brien
SO many of you have written me, overwhelmed by the division in your marriages and families, by the pain and injustice of your present situation. Then you need to know the secret to conquering in these trials: it is with the love that triumphs. These words came to me before the Blessed Sacrament:
The Illuminating Fire
ASH WEDNESDAY
WHAT exactly will happen during the Illumination of Conscience? It is an event in which souls will encounter the living flame of Love who is Truth.
The School of Love
Sacred Heart, by Lea Mallett
BEFORE the Blessed Sacrament, I heard:
How I long to see your heart burst into flame! But your heart must be willing to love as I love. When you are petty, avoiding eye contact with this one, or an encounter with that one, your love becomes preferential. It is really not love at all, because your kindness to others has as its end self-love.
No, My child, love means to expend yourself, even for your enemies. Is this not the measure of love I demonstrated upon the Cross? Did I only take the scourge, or the thorns—or did Love completely exhaust itself? When your love for another is a crucifixion of self; when it bends you; when it burns like a scourge, when it pierces you like thorns, when it leaves you vulnerable—then, you have truly begun to love.
Do not ask me to take you out of your present situation. It is a school of love. Learn to love here, and you will be ready to graduate into the perfection of love. Let My pierced Sacred Heart be your guide, that you too may burst into a living flame of love. For self-love douses the Divine Love within you, and renders the heart cold.
Then I was led to this Scripture:
A Letter of Sorrow
TWO years ago, a young man sent me a letter of sorrow and despair to which I responded. Some of you have written asking “whatever happened to that young man?”
Since that day, the two of us have continued to correspond. His life has blossomed into a beautiful testimony. Below, I have reposted our initial correspondence, followed by a letter he recently sent me.
Dear Mark,
The reason I’m writing you is because I don’t know what to do.
[I’m a guy] in mortal sin I think, because I have a boyfriend. I knew I would never go into this lifestyle my entire life, but after many prayers and novenas, the attraction never went away. To make a really long story short, I felt I had nowhere to turn and started to meet guys. I know it’s wrong and it doesn’t even make much sense, but I feel it’s something I’ve gotten twisted into and don’t know what to do anymore. I just feel lost. I feel I’ve lost a battle. I really have a lot of inner disappointment and regret and feel I can’t forgive myself and that God won’t either. I’m even really upset with God at times and I feel I don’t know who He is. I feel He has had it out for me since I was young and that no matter what, there’s just no chance for me.
I don’t know what else to say right now, I guess I’m hoping you might be able to say a prayer. If anything, thanks for just reading this…
A Reader.
Living Wells
WHAT does it mean to become a living well?
TASTE AND SEE
What is it about souls who have achieved a degree of holiness? There is a quality there, a "substance" which one wants to linger in. Many have left changed people after encounters with Blessed Mother Teresa or John Paul II, even though at times little was spoken between them. The answer is that these extraordinary souls had become living wells.
The Great Hope
PRAYER is an invitation to a personal relationship with God. In fact,
…prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father… —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), n.2565
But here, we must be careful that we do not consciously or unconsciously begin to view our salvation as merely a personal matter. There is also the temptation to flee the world (contemptus mundi), hiding until the Storm passes, all the while others perish for lack of a light to guide them in their own darkness. It is precisely these individualistic views which dominate modern Christianity, even within fervent Catholic circles, and has led the Holy Father to address it in his latest encyclical:
How could the idea have developed that Jesus’s message is narrowly individualistic and aimed only at each person singly? How did we arrive at this interpretation of the “salvation of the soul” as a flight from responsibility for the whole, and how did we come to conceive the Christian project as a selfish search for salvation which rejects the idea of serving others? —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi (Saved In Hope), n. 16
I Am Not Worthy
Peter’s Denial, by Michael D. O’Brien
From a reader:
My concern and question is within myself. I have been raised Catholic and have also done the same with my daughters. I have tried to go to church practically every Sunday and have tried to be involved with activities at church and in my community too. I have tried to be "good." I go to Confession and Communion and pray the Rosary occasionally. My concern and sadness is that I find that I am so far from Christ according to everything I read. It’s so hard to live up to Christ’s expectations. I love Him so much, but I’m not even close to what He wants from me. I try to be like the saints, but it only seems to last a second or two, and I’m back to being my mediocre self. I can’t concentrate when I pray or when I’m at Mass. I do many things wrong. In your news letters you talk of the coming of [Christ’s merciful judgment], chastisements etc… You talk of how to be prepared. I’m trying but, I just can’t seem to get close. I feel like I’m going to be in Hell or at the bottom of Purgatory. What do I do? What does Christ think of someone like me who’s just a puddle of sin and keeps falling down?
The Value of One Soul
Christ raising Lazarus, Caravaggio
IT was the end of a string of six concerts in several small towns on the Canadian prairies. The turnouts were poor, usually less than fifty people. By the sixth concert, I was beginning to feel sorry for myself. As I began to sing that night several years ago, I looked out at the audience. I could’ve sworn that everyone there was over ninety! I thought to myself, "They probably can’t even hear my music! Moreover, are these really the people you want me to evangelize, Lord? What about the youth? And how am I going to feed my family….?" And on and on the whining went, as all the while I kept playing and smiling at the quiet audience.
How Can This Be?
St. Therese de Liseux, by Michael D. O’Brien; saint of the "Little Way"
PERHAPS you have been following these writings for some time. You have heard Our Lady’s call "to the Bastion " where she is preparing each of us for our mission in these times. You too sense that great changes are coming to the world. You have been awakened, and feel an interior preparation taking place. But you may look in the mirror and say, "What have I to offer? I am not a gifted speaker or theologian… I have so little to give." Or as Mary responded when the angel Gabriel said that she would be the instrument to bring the long awaiting Messiah into the world, "How can this be…?"
The Secret Joy
Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Artist Unknown
JESUS reveals the reason for telling His disciples of coming tribulations:
The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered… I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. (John 16:33)
However, one might legitimately ask, “How is knowing that a persecution may be coming supposed to bring me peace?” And Jesus answers:
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
I have updated this writing which was first published June 25th, 2007.
The Desert of Temptation
I KNOW many of you—according to your letters—are going through tremendous battles right now. This seems consistent with just about anyone I know who is striving for holiness. I think it is a good sign, a sign of the times… the dragon, thrashing his tail at the Woman-Church as the final confrontation enters its most pivotal moments. Although this was written for Lent, the meditation below is likely as pertinent now as it was then… if not more.
First published February 11th, 2008:
I want to share with you a portion of a letter I just received:
I’ve been feeling destroyed over recent weaknesses… Things have been going great and I was excited with joy in my heart for Lent. And then as soon as Lent began, I felt unworthy and undeserving to be in any relationship with Christ. I fell into sin and then self-hatred set in. I was feeling that I might as well do nothing for Lent because I am a hypocrite. I drove up our driveway and was feeling this emptiness…