Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West, (1800)
AT the birth of every new era in salvation history, an ark has led the way for the People of God.
True Woman, True Man
ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
DURING the scene of “Our Lady” at Arcātheos, it seemed as if the Blessed Mother really was present, and sending us a message at that. One of those messages had to do with what it means to be a true woman, and thus, a true man. It ties into Our Lady’s overall message to humanity at this time, that a period of peace is coming, and thus, renewal…Continue reading
The Plan of the Ages
Our Lady of Light, from a scene at Arcātheos, 2017
OUR Lady is so much more than merely a disciple of Jesus or a good example. She is a Mother “full of grace”, and this bears a cosmic significance:Continue reading
Our Lady of Light Comes…
From the Final Battle Scene at Arcātheos, 2017
OVER twenty years ago, myself and my brother in Christ and dear friend, Dr. Brian Doran, dreamed about the possibility of a camp experience for boys that not only formed their hearts, but answered their natural desire for adventure. God called me, for a time, on a different path. But Brian would soon birth what is today called Arcātheos, which means “Stronghold of God”. It is a father/son camp, perhaps unlike any in the world, where the Gospel meets imagination, and Catholicism embraces adventure. After all, Our Lord Himself taught us in parables…
But this week, a scene unfolded that some men are saying was the “most powerful” they’ve witnessed since the camp’s inception. In truth, I found it overwhelming…Continue reading
The Ocean of Mercy
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for August 7th, 2017
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial of St. Sixtus II and Companions
Liturgical texts here
Photo taken on October 30th, 2011 in Casa San Pablo, Sto. Dgo. Dominican Republic
I JUST returned from Arcātheos, back to the mortal realm. It was an incredible and powerful week for all of us at this father/son camp situated at the base of the Canadian Rockies. In the days ahead, I will share with you the thoughts and words which came to me there, as well as an incredible encounter all of us had with “Our Lady”.Continue reading
Summoned to the Gates
My character “Brother Tarsus” from Arcātheos
THIS week, I am rejoining my companions in the realm of Lumenorus at Arcātheos as “Brother Tarsus”. It is a Catholic boys camp situated at the base of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and is unlike any boys camp I’ve ever seen.Continue reading
Seeking the Beloved
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for July 22nd, 2017
Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene
Liturgical texts here
IT is always beneath the surface, calling, beckoning, stirring, and leaving me utterly restless. It is the invitation to union with God. It leaves me restless because I know that I have not yet taken the plunge “into the deep”. I love God, but not yet with my whole heart, soul, and strength. And yet, this is what I am made for, and so… I am restless, until I rest in Him.Continue reading
When the Weeds Begin to Head
Foxtail in my pasture
I received an email from a distraught reader over an article that appeared recently in Teen Vogue magazine titled: “Anal Sex: What You Need to Know”. The article went on to encourage young people to explore sodomy as if it were as physically harmless and morally benign as clipping one’s toenails. As I pondered that article—and the thousands of headlines I’ve read over the past decade or so since this writing apostolate began, articles which essentially narrate the collapse of Western civilization—a parable came to mind. The parable of my pastures…Continue reading
Divine Encounters
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for July 19th, 2017
Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
THERE are times during the Christian journey, like Moses in today’s first reading, that you will walk through a spiritual desert, when everything seems dry, the surroundings desolate, and the soul almost dead. It is a time of testing of one’s faith and trust in God. St. Teresa of Calcutta knew it well. Continue reading
The Scandal
First published March 25th, 2010.
FOR decades now, as I noted in When the State Sanctions Child Abuse, Catholics have had to endure a never-ending stream of news headlines announcing scandal after scandal in the priesthood. “Priest Accused of…”, “Cover Up”, “Abuser Moved From Parish to Parish…” and on and on. It is heartbreaking, not only to the lay faithful, but to fellow-priests. It is such a profound abuse of power from the man in persona Christi—in the person of Christ—that one is often left in stunned silence, trying to comprehend how this is not just a rare case here and there, but of a much greater frequency than first imagined.
As a result, the faith as such becomes unbelievable, and the Church can no longer present herself credibly as the herald of the Lord. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Light of the World, A Conversation with Peter Seewald, p. 25
The Paralysis of Despair
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for July 6th, 2017
Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Opt. Memorial of St. Maria Goretti
Liturgical texts here
THERE are many things in life that can cause us to despair, but none, perhaps, as much as our own faults.Continue reading
On Just Discrimination
DISCRIMINATION is evil, right? But, in truth, we discriminate against each other every day…Continue reading
Who Are You to Judge?
OPT. MEMORIAL OF
THE FIRST MARTYRS OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH
“WHO are you to judge?”
Sounds virtuous, doesn’t it? But when these words are used to deflect from taking a moral stand, to wash one’s hands of responsibility for others, to remain uncommitted in the face of injustice… then it is cowardice. Moral relativism is cowardice. And today, we are awash in cowards—and the consequences are no small thing. Pope Benedict calls it…Continue reading
Courage… to the End
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 29th, 2017
Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
Liturgical texts here
TWO years ago, I wrote The Growing Mob. I said then that ‘the zeitgeist has shifted; there is a growing boldness and intolerance sweeping through the courts, flooding the media, and spilling out onto the streets. Yes, the time is right to silence the Church. These sentiments have existed for some time now, decades even. But what is new is that they have gained the power of the mob, and when it reaches this stage, the anger and intolerance begin to move very fast.’Continue reading
When the State Sanctions Child Abuse
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Toronto Pride Parade, Andrew Chin/Getty Images
Open your mouth for the dumb,
and for the causes of all the children that pass.
(Proverbs 31:8)
First published June 27th, 2017.
FOR years, we as Catholics have endured one of the greatest scourges to ever grip the Church in her 2000 year history—the widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of some priests. The damage it did to these little ones, and then, to the faith of millions of Catholics, and then, to the credibility of the Church at large, is nearly inestimable.Continue reading
The Need for Jesus
SOMETIMES the discussion of God, religion, truth, freedom, divine laws, etc. can cause us to lose sight of the fundamental message of Christianity: not only do we need Jesus in order to be saved, but we need Him in order to be happy.Continue reading
The Blue Butterfly
A recent debate I had with a few atheists inspired this story… The Blue Butterfly symbolizes the presence of God.
HE sat at the edge of the circular cement pond in the middle of the park, a fountain trickling away at its center. His cupped hands were raised in front of his eyes. Peter gazed through a tiny crack as though he were looking into the face of his first love. Inside, he held a treasure: a blue butterfly.Continue reading
Making Way for Angels
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 7th, 2017
Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Liturgical texts here
SOMETHING remarkable happens when we give praise to God: His ministering angels are released in our midst.Continue reading
The Old Man
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 5th, 2017
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Boniface
Liturgical texts here
THE ancient Romans never lacked the most brutal of punishments for criminals. Flogging and crucifixion were among their more notorious cruelties. But there is another… that of binding a corpse to the back of a convicted murderer. Under penalty of death, no one was allowed to remove it. And thus, the condemned criminal would eventually become infected and die.Continue reading
The Unforeseeable Fruit of Abandonment
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for June 3rd, 2017
Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions
Liturgical texts here
IT rarely seems that any good can come of suffering, especially in the midst of it. Moreover, there are times when, according to our own reasoning, the path that we’ve set forward would bring about the most good. “If I get this job, then… if I am physically healed, then… if I go there, then….” Continue reading
Climate Change and The Great Delusion
First published December, 2015 on…
THE MEMORIAL OF ST. AMBROSE
and
VIGIL OF THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY
I received a letter this week (June 2017) from a man who worked for decades with large corporations as an agronomist and agricultural financial analyst. And then, he writes…
It was through that experience that I noticed that trends, policies, corporate training and management techniques were going in a curiously nonsensical direction. It was this movement away from common sense and reason that drove me to questioning and searching for truth, that led me much closer to God…
Finishing the Course
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
Rationalism, and the Death of Mystery
WHEN one approaches a haze in the distance, it may seem as though you’re going to enter a thick fog. But when you “get there,” and then look behind you, suddenly you realize you’ve been in it all along. The haze is everywhere.
True Evangelization
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
If They Hated Me…
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 20th, 2017
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Liturgical texts here
Jesus Condemned by the Sanhedrin by Michael D. O’Brien
THERE is nothing more pitiable than a Christian trying to curry favour with the world—at the cost of his mission.Continue reading
Peace in Hardships
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
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
The Great Harvest
…behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat… (Luke 22:31)
EVERYWHERE I go, I see it; I am reading it in your letters; and I am living it in my own experiences: there is a spirit of division afoot in the world that is driving families and relationships apart like never before. On the national scale, the gulf between the so-called “left” and “right” has widened, and the animosities between them have a reached a hostile, nearly revolutionary pitch. Whether it is seemingly impassable differences between family members, or ideological divides growing within nations, something has shifted in the spiritual realm as if a great sifting is occurring. Servant of God Bishop Fulton Sheen seemed to think so, already, last century:Continue reading
A Crisis of Community
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
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.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Eclipse of the Sun, Ignatius Press |
|---|
Prayer Slows the World Down
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for April 29th, 2017
Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena
Liturgical texts here
IF time feels as if it is speeding up, prayer is what will “slow” it down.
God First
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:
The Blessed Peacemakers
As I prayed with today’s Mass readings, I thought about those words of Peter after he and John were warned not to speak of the name of Jesus:
Forward, in His Light
Mark in concert with wife Lea
WARM Easter greetings! I wanted to take a moment during these celebrations of Christ’s Resurrection to update you on some important changes here and upcoming events.
The Hour of Judas
THERE is a scene in the Wizard of Oz when the little mutt Toto pulls back the curtain and reveals the truth behind the “Wizard.” So too, in Christ’s Passion, the curtain is drawn back and Judas is revealed, setting in motion a chain of events that scatters and divides the flock of Christ…
The Great Unveiling
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”:
What If…?
What’s around the bend?
IN an open letter to the Pope, [1]cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming! I outlined to His Holiness the theological foundations for an “era of peace” as opposed to the heresy of millenarianism. [2]cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676 Indeed, Padre Martino Penasa posed the question on the scriptural foundation of an historic and universal era of peace versus millenarianism to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “È imminente una nuova era di vita cristiana?” (“Is a new era of Christian life imminent?”). The Prefect at that time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger replied, “La questione è ancora aperta alla libera discussione, giacchè la Santa Sede non si è ancora pronunciata in modo definitivo”:
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Dear Holy Father… He is Coming! |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | cf. Millenarianism: What it is and is Not and the Catechism [CCC} n.675-676 |
On Charlie Johnston
Jesus Walking on Water by Michael D. O’Brien
THERE is an underlying theme I try to weave throughout all the aspects of my ministry: Be not afraid! For it carries within it the seeds of both reality and hope:
Ministry Clan
The Mallett Clan
WRITING to you several thousand feet above the earth on my way to Missouri to give a “healing and strengthening” retreat with Annie Karto and Fr. Philip Scott, two wonderful servants of God’s love. This is the first time in a while that I’ve done any ministry outside my office. In the past few years, in discernment with my spiritual director, I feel that the Lord has asked me to leave behind most public events and focus on listening and writing to you, my dear readers. This year, I’m taking on a bit more outside ministry; it feels like a last “push” in some respects… I’ll have more announcements of upcoming dates shortly.
When the Stones Cry Out
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH,
SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
To repent is not just to acknowledge that I have done wrong; it is to turn my back on the wrong and start incarnating the Gospel. On this hinges the future of Christianity in the world today. The world does not believe what Christ taught because we do not incarnate it.
—Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Kiss of Christ
GOD sends His people prophets, not because the Word Made Flesh is not sufficient, but because our reason, darkened by sin, and our faith, wounded by doubt, at times need the special light that Heaven gives in order to exhort us to “repent and believe the Good News.” [1]Mark 1:15 As the Baroness said, the world does not believe because Christians do not seem to believe either.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Mark 1:15 |
|---|
Turn On the Headlights
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:
Hymn to the Divine Will
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:
The Heart of God
The Heart of Jesus Christ, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta; R. Mulata (20th century)
WHAT you are about to read has the potential to not only set women, but in particular, men free from undue burden, and radically change the course of your life. That’s the power of God’s Word…