Our Lady of the Cab Ride

 

HE was a Muslim, and he was angry. As my fifteen minute cab ride unfolded, the young, stocky Islamic man at the wheel did not mince words.

“What would you do if the Americans were bombing your wife and children? What would you do?!” He went on to justify the suicide bombers who were attacking American targets overseas. He was coming a bit unglued in his anger actually, and so I prayed for a moment, and then changed the subject.

“Is it true,” I asked, “that Muslims honor the Blessed Virgin Mary?”

All of sudden, the cabby’s face that had been twisted in anger in the rear view mirror began to unwind, along with his tone and demeanour.

“Oh yes…”, he sighed. “She is the most beautiful of all women, a virgin, pure and holy.” As he continued to speak of her, it was clear that this man had more devotion to Mary than many Catholics.

As we pulled up to my destination, I leaned forward, patted him on the shoulder and said, “My friend, I am a Catholic. And I pray that someday, we will be brothers—brothers of this same Mother.” He turned and looked at me and said, “We are already brothers.”

In that moment, I understood the hidden plan that God is unfolding, in time, for Muslim believers: that through Our Lady of Fatima (and Muhammad’s daugher was named Fatima), Muslims will come to embrace her Son, not as a prophet, but as He said He was: the Son of God. How this will be accomplished, we shall see…

I once asked an old Ukrainian priest if he was concerned about the spread of Islam throughout the world. He didn’t skip a beat. “No,” he shrugged. “They are one cross away on their domes from becoming Christians.”

 

THE HOUR OF THE SWORD

Of course, it is a simplistic answer, especially in light of all that is unfolding before us in this hour: the fatal decline in birthrates in the West versus the high birthrates of Muslims; the sudden huge “migrant” spread across Europe, North America, and other parts of the world of Muslim “refugees”; the rise of the Islamic caliphate (state) using terror and brutal violence in the Middle East and beyond; the steadfast rise of insanity in the West—that is, political correctness that is endangering the security of nations by ignoring the truth that some passages of the Koran and Hadith (sayings and teachings of Muhammad) sanction violence, rape, and plunder of so-called “infidels”.

Indeed, many owe Pope Benedict an apology for berating his speech at Regensburg in 2006 that called Muslims, and all religions, to faith and reason in order to avoid the kind of religious fanaticism that is beginning to tear the world apart. In that speech, Benedict quoted an emperor who stated that what Muhammad had brought was “evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” ^[1]Regensburg, Germany, Sept. 12, 2006; Zenit.org As I write this, the Islamic State (ISIS) is continuing to behead, maim, rape, torture, burn alive, and crucify whoever does not convert or pay a tax to the caliphate. Women, infants, men—it doesn’t matter. It is “nothing short of genocide,” decried Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.^[2] usccb.org

At the same time, however, there has been an exponential increase of lawlessness in the West through its rejection of the natural moral law and embrace of every possible perversion in the name of individual “rights”. Hedonism, birth control, sterilization, abortion, gay “marriage” and the like are being exported via the West’s political-military complex in what Pope Francis calls “ideological colonization” that is only fueling more hatred and extremism within Islam.

They introduce to the people an idea that has nothing to do with the nation. Yes, with groups of people, but not with the nation. And they colonize the people with an idea which changes, or wants to change, a mentality or a structure. —POPE FRANCIS, January 19th, 2015, Catholic News Agency

What Islam carries out through ad hoc terrorism and coercion, the West does through satellite guided missiles and bribery with “foreign aid.” The goal is the same—to force an ideology on the targeted populations.

 

THE SOLE THOUGHT

All of this can only be explained, not as a progression of mankind, but a regression of reason.^[3]cf. The Progression of Man Or what Benedict XVI called an “eclipse of reason” in a stunning speech in 2010, when he compared Western civilization to the collapse of the Roman Empire.^[4]cf. On the Eve In other words, there is a spiritual blindness that has descended upon the world such that evil is taken for good, and good for evil.

For example, Western leaders are opening the flood-gates to immigration precisely because they have presided over the decimation of their populations through birth control and abortion—and continue to do so. This is collective insanity, akin to trying to fill a bathtub while unplugging the drain. I am not against immigration; however, the culture and heritage of the host nation should also be preserved and protected as part of the treasury of human history, instead of being sacrificed at the altar of political correctness in the disguise of “multiculturalism.”

Namely that each people, every part, conserves its own identity without being ideologically colonized. —POPE FRANCIS, January 19th, 2015, Catholic News Agency

What ISIS is doing with explosives at world heritage sites, Western Leaders are doing with irresponsible immigration policies that are effectively undermining national sovereignty.

In another prophetic homily, Francis warned against this kind of indifferentism by comparing our times to the First Book of Maccabees:

Then the king recommended that his whole kingdom should be one people — the one thought; worldliness — and each abandoned their own customs. All peoples adapted themselves to the orders of the king; also many Jews accepted his worship: they sacrificed to idols and profaned the Sabbath. Apostasy. That is, worldliness that leads you to one unique thought, and to apostasy. No differences are permitted: all are equal. —POPE FRANCIS, Homily, November 16th, 2015; ZENIT.org

We met a couple recently who had immigrated to Canada from England. I joked with them that we hadn’t seen so many Brits coming here since the first wave on ships several hundred years ago. But they went on to say that they brought their young family here because they felt increasingly like aliens in their homeland. “There are entire neighbourhoods in London that are now Muslim,” the wife said. “And they don’t want us there. They won’t even allow the police and fire departments in. If there’s a fire, ‘We’ll handle it’, they say. We don’t recognize our country anymore. We just don’t feel safe….”

Is this chastisement in slow-motion? Don’t get me wrong—there are many good Muslims in the world. One of the most beautiful, gentle, and delightful souls I had the privilege of working with many years ago was a Muslim man. We had a great friendship. We talked about God and our faith, and his devotion was sincere. For as the Catechism states:

Muslims… profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day. —Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), n. 841

The word “profess” is important here, because it is Muslims who claim that Islam stems from the Abrahamic tradition. At the same time, however, how Muslims view God, the Trinity, and Jesus Christ are vastly different than what we as Christians believe. As the Catechism goes on to state:

In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them. —CCC, n. 844

All of us have a distorted view of God to one degree or another, and it is precisely this distortion that can affect not only our personal relationship with the Lord, but in the more spiritually blind, become the justification of violence “in the name of God.” Pope Francis rightly calls this “blasphemy”,^[5]POPE FRANCIS, Nov. 15th, 2015; ZENIT.org especially when such violence is being used to force others into the “sole thought” of the State—or caliphate.

That is the spirit of antichrist.

 

THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST IN OUR TIMES

Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the world, including in America.^[6]cf. CNN.com How can that be, especially after 911 and all the horrors of ISIS and other violent forms of Islam? Because it is filling in a Great Vacuum created by the Western World that has literally evicted God from the public sphere, and increasingly the private. For “man is by nature and vocation a religious being”;^[7]CCC, n. 44 he knows it at his very core. Which is why militant atheists are so militant: they must squeeze out every last drop of the light of faith from minds, neighbourhoods, and nations in order to justify their own anger, fallacious reasoning, or pride.

For from the greatness and the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen… For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world, how did they not more quickly find its Lord? Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools. (Wis 13:5,9; Rom 1:21-22)

Right alongside them are the agnostics—those who have likewise elevated human reason above God, divorcing faith from science and religion from the public sphere. The result has been catastrophic as moral relativism has only widened and intensified the Great Vaccum, which has seemingly sparked a race to see who can fill it first: radical Islam or the New Paganism.^[8]cf. The Progression of Totalitarianism Regardless, the end results are the same:

With tragic consequences, a long historical process is reaching a turning-point. The process which once led to discovering the idea of “human rights”—rights inherent in every person and prior to any Constitution and State legislation—is today marked by a surprising contradiction. Precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publicly affirmed, the very right to life is being denied or trampled upon, especially at the more significant moments of existence… This is the sinister result of a relativism which reigns unopposed: the “right” ceases to be such, because it is no longer firmly founded on the inviolable dignity of the person, but is made subject to the will of the stronger part. In this way democracy, contradicting its own principles, effectively moves towards a form of totalitarianism. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium Vitae, “The Gospel of Life”, n. 18, 20

When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth.” (Rev 6:9-10)

 

THE GREAT REVOLUTION

One of the great prophetic voices of our times is Canadian author Michael D. O’Brien whose seminal works remain largely unread. Speaking of the phenomenon of globalization and the New World Order, he wrote:

The new messianists, in seeking to transform mankind into a collective being disconnected from his Creator, will unknowingly bring about the destruction of the greater portion of mankind. They will unleash unprecedented horrors: famines, plagues, wars, and ultimately Divine Justice. In the beginning they will use coercion to further reduce population, and then if that fails they will use force. —Michael D. O’Brien, Globalization and the New World Order, March 17th, 2009

That is, I really don’t think Islam is the end game. One has to ask why our Western leaders have been so active in not only destroying Western civilization but now provoking and even abetting radical Islam, knowingly or not? That is, maybe it’s not a race at all. ^[9]cf. The Fall of Mystery Babylon As I and countless others have written before, some secret societies (who in reality govern through the world banking system) have a well-known motto: ordo ab chaos—“order out of chaos”. That is, for now, Islam is an effective tool in destabilizing the entire world. Indeed, as Global Research points out:

What has been omitted from mainstream circles though is the intimate relationship between US intelligence agencies and ISIS, as they have trained, armed and funded the group for years. —Steve MacMillan, August 19th, 2014; global research.ca

It is a strange irony that Islam also teaches that, out of chaos, will rise the 12th Iman, the Mahdi, who will transform the world into an Islamic caliphate. This is precisely why radical Muslim clerics are attempting to incite a Third World War.

But herein lies the diabolical beneath it all—a satanic plan that both St. John and Daniel foresaw: an attempt to restructure the world in such a way that it will appeal to not only Muslims, but to adherents of all religions, Christians included, and even to atheists, intellects, and the like. How?

Don’t forget that Satan knows an “illumination of conscience” is coming, and has been preparing for it for centuries. ^[10]cf. The Coming Counterfeit When the world is suddenly shaken by an event or series of events that awaken us to not only our spiritually impoverished state, but to the reality that human existence is hanging on a precipice by a fingernail… I believe that out of that moment will come exactly what Scripture says will come: false prophets working “signs and wonders” so as to deceive even the elect; counterfeits who cry out:

Is this the world we want? We must end the violence, end the economic disparity, end the famine, plagues, and environmental disasters that are tearing us apart. Above all, we must bring to an end the dominance of the ancient religions who are the real terrorists of peace, who fuel wars, who are truly intolerant, misogynistic, and fear-mongering men. Let their dominion now end and a new, peaceful, and just world arise!

It’s already begun:

“In light of the Paris attacks, is it time to eradicate religion?” —Miroslav Volf, Washington Post, Nov. 16th, 2015; washingtonpost.com

If you think this is conspiracy theory, then you’re right: it is conspiracy—but it is most certainly not theory.

At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association called the Freemasons. No longer making any secret of their purposes, they are now boldly rising up against God Himself …that which is their ultimate purpose forces itself into view—namely, the utter overthrow of that whole religious and political order of the world which the Christian teaching has produced, and the substitution of a new state of things in accordance with their ideas, of which the foundations and laws shall be drawn from mere naturalism. —POPE LEO XIII, Humanum Genus, Encyclical on Freemasonry, n.10, April 20th, 1884

 

THE TRIUMPH COMES

If we are tempted to believe that God is being forced into reacting to this diabolical Global Revolution, think again. It is the dragon who knows his time is short.

Our Lord has a plan, and it is through a “Woman clothed in the Sun” who, in the end, will gather all her children within the folds of her mantle and present them to her Son: Christian, Muslim, Orthodox, and Jew alike, one flock under one shepherd. Christ, then, will finish the beast who would dominate the whole world. ^[11]cf. The Last Judgments But first, the Church will seem all but lost‚ dead… before her resurrection.

Remember: you were born for these times. So we need to keep our wits about us. Psalm 91 is the “psalm of wits”, because it speaks of one whose faith is so deeply embedded in God, that whatever comes is now seen through a divine lens: God permits it for a greater good. This is why I think so many of us are going through the most difficult trials: to prepare us to be utterly dependent upon God when the entire world is rejecting us.

And so, let those who want to shrug off Our Lady as superstition go their own way. If this is the Hour of the Sword, then it is even more so the Hour of the Sword of the Spirit—a period in which the little remnant is being called to pierce the darkness with the light and weaponry of faith, hope, and love. And our Mother is the one given to prepare us for this Hour through consecration to her, the Rosary, the Scapular, etc. It is the hour to love your enemies as Christ loved them, and laid down His life for them. We may have to defend our families with our lives, as justice would require.^[12]see Catechism n. 2263-67 But love is our aim.

Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)

I am tired. This has been a long ten years preparing readers for this time. But now we must rouse ourselves again lest we too slumber in that grief of Gethsemane.^[13]cf. He Calls While We Slumber Let us rise with Christ, face our persecutors who are becoming a vast army on every side, and be prepared to shed our blood for the sake of souls. This is not humanly possible; but with God, all things are possible. And that is why, among other writings, I will continue with His help to direct you to the founts of grace in order to strengthen your faith.

…for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Our Lady of the Cab Ride, pray for us.

 

Thanks for your love, prayers, and support!