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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The Last Trumpet

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trumpet by Joel Bornzin3The Last Trumpet, photo by Joel Bornzin

 

I have been shaken today, literally, by the voice of the Lord speaking in the depths of my soul; shaken by His inexpressible grief; shaken by the deep concern He has for those in the Church who have utterly fallen asleep.

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Magnificat of the Woman

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 31st, 2016
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Liturgical texts here

magnif4Visitation, by Franz Anton Pmaulbertsch (1724-1796)

 

WHEN this present and coming Trial is over, a smaller but purified Church will emerge in a more purified world. There will rise from her soul a song of praise… the song of the Woman, who is a mirror and hope of the Church to come.

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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 Age of Ministries is Ending

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posttsunamiAP Photo

 

THE events unfolding around the globe tend to set off a flurry of speculation and even panic among some Christians that now is the time to buy supplies and head for the hills. Without a doubt, the string of natural disasters around the globe, the looming food crisis with drought and the collapse of bee colonies, and the impending collapse of the dollar can not help but give pause to the practical mind. But brothers and sisters in Christ, God is doing something new among us. He is preparing the world for a tsunami of Mercy. He must shake old structures down to the foundations and raise new ones. He must strip away that which is of the flesh and reclothe us in His power. And He must place within our souls a new heart, a new wineskin, prepared to receive the New Wine He is about to pour out.

In other words,

The Age of Ministries is ending.

 

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The Collapse of Civil Discourse

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collapsediscoursePhoto by Mike Christy/Arizona, Daily Star, AP

 

IF “the restrainer” is being lifted at this time, such that lawlessness is spreading throughout society, governments, and the courts, it is no surprise, then, to see what amounts to a collapse in civil discourse. For what is under attack at this hour is the very dignity of the human person, made in the image of God.

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The Death of Logic – Part II

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WE are witnessing one of the greatest collapses of logic in human history—in real time. Having watched for and warned about this coming Spiritual Tsunami for several years now, seeing it arrive on humanity’s shores does not diminish the stunning nature of this “eclipse of reason”, as Pope Benedict called it. [1]Address to the Roman Curia, December 20th, 2010; cf. On the Eve  In The Death of Logic – Part I, I examined some of the mind-bending actions of governments and courts that break away from logic and reason. The wave of delusion continues…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Address to the Roman Curia, December 20th, 2010; cf. On the Eve

More on Our Trials and Triumphs

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Two Deaths“Two Deaths”, by Michael D. O’Brien

 

IN a response to my article Fear, Fire, and a “Rescue”?, Charlie Johnston wrote At Sea with his perspective on future events, thereby sharing with readers more of the private dialogues we’ve had in the past. This provides, I think, a crucial opportunity to underscore some of the most important aspects of my own mission and calling that newer readers may not be aware of.

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The Coming Resurrection

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jesus-resurrection-life2

 

A question from a reader:

In Revelation 20, it says the beheaded, etc. will also come back to life and reign with Christ. What do you think that means? Or what might it look like? I believe it could be literal but wondered if you had more insight…

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Fear, Fire, and a “Rescue”?

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

wildfire2Wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta (photo CBC)

 

SEVERAL of you have written asking if our family is okay, given the huge wildfire in northern Canada in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta. The fire is about 800km away… but the smoke darkening our skies here and turning the sun into a reddish burning ember, is a reminder that our world is much smaller than we think it is. It’s also a reminder of a what a man from there said to us several years ago…

So I leave you this weekend with a few random thoughts on the fire, Charlie Johnston, and fear, closing with a reflection on today’s powerful Mass readings.

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The Coming Judgment

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for May 4th, 2016
Liturgical texts here

judgment

 

First, I want to tell you, my dear family of readers, that my wife and I are grateful for the hundreds of notes and letters we’ve received in support of this ministry. I made a brief appeal a few weeks ago that our ministry was in dire need of support to continue (as this is my full-time work), and your response has moved us to tears many times. Many of those “widow’s mites” have come our way; many sacrifices have been made to communicate your support, gratitude, and love. In a word, you have given me a resounding “yes” to continue on this path. It is a leap of faith for us. We have no savings, no retirement funds, no certainty (as do any of us) about tomorrow. But we accept that this is where Jesus wants us. In fact, He wants all of us to be in a place of utter and total abandonment. We are in the process still of writing emails and thank you’s to all of you. But let me say now… thank you for your filial love and support, which has strengthened and moved me deeply. And I am grateful for this encouragement, because I have many serious things to write you in the days ahead, beginning now….

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The Center of Truth

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I have received many letters asking me to comment on Amoris Laetitia, the Pope’s recent Apostolic Exhortation. I have done so in a new section in the greater context of this writing from July 29th, 2015. If I had a trumpet, I would blare this writing through it… 

 

I often hear both Catholics and Protestants say that our differences really don’t matter; that we believe in Jesus Christ, and that is all that matters. Certainly, we must recognize in this statement the authentic ground of true ecumenism, [1]cf. Authentic Ecumenism which is indeed the confession and commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. As St. John says:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Authentic Ecumenism

More on the Gift of Tongues

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from Pentecost by El Greco (1596)

 

OF course, a reflection on the “gift of tongues” is going to stir controversy. And this doesn’t surprise me since it is probably the most misunderstood of all charisms. And so, I hope to answer some of the questions and comments I’ve received over the past few days on this subject, particularly as the popes continue to pray for a “new Pentecost”…[1]cf. Charismatic? – Part VI

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Footnotes

The Gift of Tongues

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for April 25th, 2016
Feast of St. Mark
Liturgical texts here

 

AT a Steubenville conference several years ago, Papal household preacher, Fr. Raneiro Cantalamessa, recounted the story of how St. John Paul II emerged one day from his chapel at the Vatican, excitedly exclaiming that he had received the “gift of tongues.” [1]Correction: I had initially thought it was Dr. Ralph Martin who told this story. Fr. Bob Bedard, the late founder of the Companions of the Cross, was one of the priests present to hear this testimony from Fr. Raneiro. Here we have a pope, one of the greatest theologians of our times, witnessing to the reality of a charism rarely seen or heard in the Church today that Jesus and St. Paul spoke of.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Correction: I had initially thought it was Dr. Ralph Martin who told this story. Fr. Bob Bedard, the late founder of the Companions of the Cross, was one of the priests present to hear this testimony from Fr. Raneiro.

Words and Warnings

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Many new readers have come on board in the past few months. It is on my heart to republish this today. As I go back and read this, I am continually startled and even moved as I see that many of these “words”—often received in tears and many doubts—are coming to pass before our eyes…

 

IT has been on my heart for several months now to summarize for my readers the personal “words” and “warnings” I feel the Lord has communicated to me in the past decade, and that have shaped and inspired these writings. Everyday, there are several new subscribers coming on board who have no history with the over one thousand writings here. Before I summarize these “inspirations”, it is helpful to repeat what the Church says about “private” revelation:

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True Mercy

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jesusthiefChrist and the Good Thief, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), c. 1566

 

THERE is so much confusion today as to what “love” and “mercy” and “compassion” mean. So much so that even the Church in many places has lost her clarity, the force of truth that at once beckons sinners and repels them. This is no more evident than at that moment on Calvary when God shares the shame of two thieves…

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Preparing for Reign

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rstorm3b

 

THERE is a far greater plan behind the Lenten Retreat which so many of you just participated in. The call at this hour to intense prayer, the renewal of the mind, and faithfulness to the Word of God is actually a preparation for Reign—the reign of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

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Thoughts from the Charcoal Fire

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ontheshore3

 

BASKING in the warmth of the charcoal fire Jesus has lit through our Lenten Retreat; sitting in the glow of His nearness and Presence; listening to the ripples of His ineffable Mercy gently caressing the shore of my heart… I have a few random thoughts left over from our forty days of reflection.

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Let Him Rise in You!

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Embracing Hope by Lea MallettEmbracing Hope, by Lea Mallett

 

JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE TOMB!

…now let Him rise in you,

that again, He may walk among us,

that again, He may heal our wounds

that again, He may dry our tears

and that again, we may look into His eyes of love.

May the Risen Jesus rise in you. 

 

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Our Lady, Co-Pilot

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 39

mothercrucified3

 

IT’s certainly possible to purchase a hot air balloon, set it all up, turn on the propane, and begin to inflate it, doing it all on one’s own. But with the help of another experienced aviator, it would become so much easier, quicker and safer to get into the skies.

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Untethering the Heart

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LENTEN RETREAT
 Day 36

tethered3

 

THE “hot air balloon” represents one’s heart; the “gondola basket” is the will of God; the “propane” is the Holy Spirit; and the two “burners” of love of God and neighbour, when lit by the “pilot light” of our desire, fill our hearts with the Flame of Love, enabling us to soar toward union with God. Or so it would seem. What is it that is still holding me back…?

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On Time and Distractions

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 35

distractions5a

 

OF course, one of the great obstacles and seeming tensions between one’s interior life and the exterior demands of one’s vocation, is time. “I don’t have time to pray! I’m a mother! I don’t have time! I work all day! I’m a student! I travel! I run a company! I’m a priest with a big parish… I don’t have time!“

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The Second Burner

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 34

double-burner2

 

NOW here is the thing, my dear brothers and sisters: the interior life, like a hot air balloon, has not one, but two burners. Our Lord was very clear about this when He said:

You shall love the Lord your God…[and]  You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:33)

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Soaring in the Spirit

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 33

albuquerque-hot-air-balloon-ride-at-sunset-in-albuquerque-167423

 

THOMAS Merton once said, “There are a thousand ways to the Way.” But there are some foundational principles when it comes to the structure of our prayer-time that can help us advance more quickly toward communion with God, especially in our weakness and struggles with distraction.

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Praying Heavenward

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 32

Sunset Hot Air Balloon2

 

THE beginning of prayer is desire, desire to love God, who has loved us first. Desire is the “pilot light” which keeps the burner of prayer lit, always ready to mingle with the “propane” of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who then ignites, animates, and fills our hearts with grace, enabling us to begin the ascent, along the Way of Jesus, to union with the Father. (And by the way, when I say “union with God”, what I mean is a real and actual union of wills, desires, and love such that God lives totally and freely in you, and you in Him). And so, if you have stayed with me this long in this Lenten Retreat, I have no doubt that the pilot light of your heart is lit and ready to burst into flame!

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The Goal of Prayer

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 31

balloon2a

 

I have to laugh, because I am the last person I would have ever imagined to be speaking about prayer. Growing up, I was hyper, constantly moving, always ready to play. I had a hard time sitting still at Mass. And books, to me, were a waste of good playtime. So, by the time I graduated from high school, I had probably read less than ten books in my whole life. And while I did read my Bible, the prospect of sitting down and praying for any length of time was challenging, to say the least.

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The Precedence of Prayer

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 29

balloonready

 

EVERYTHING we’ve discussed so far in this Lenten Retreat is equipping you and me to soar toward the heights of sanctity and union with God (and remember, with Him, all things are possible). And yet—and this is of utmost importance—without prayer, it would be like someone who has laid out a hot air balloon upon the ground and set up all their equipment. The pilot tries to climb into the gondola, which is the will of God. He is familiar with his flying manuals, which are the Scriptures and the Catechism. His basket is tethered to the balloon by the ropes of the Sacraments. And last, he has stretched out his balloon along the ground—that is, he has conceded a certain willingness, abandonment, and desire to fly toward Heaven…. But so long as the burner of prayer remains unlit, the balloon—which is his heart—will never expand, and his spiritual life will remain grounded.

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All Things in Love

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 28

Crown of Thorns and the Holy Bible

 

FOR all the beautiful teachings Jesus gave—the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, the Last Supper discourse in John, or the many profound parables—Christ’s most eloquent and powerful sermon was the unspoken word of the Cross: His Passion and death. When Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father, it wasn’t a matter of faithfully checking off a Divine To Do list, a kind of scrupulous fulfilling of the letter of the law. Rather, Jesus went deeper, further, and more intensely in His obedience, for He did all things in love to the very end.

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The Grace Moment

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 27

dishes

 

WHEN God entered human history in the flesh through the person of Jesus, one could say that He baptized time itself. Suddenly, God—to whom all eternity is present—was walking through seconds, minutes, hours, and days. Jesus was revealing that time itself is an intersection between Heaven and earth. His communion with the Father, His solitude in prayer, and His whole ministry were all measured in time and eternity at once…. And then He turned to us and said…

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The Simple Way of Jesus

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 26

stepping-stones-God

 

EVERYTHING I have said up to this point in our retreat can be summed up in this way: life in Christ consists in doing the will of the Father with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is that simple! In order to grow in holiness, to reach even the very heights of sanctity and union with God, it isn’t necessary to become a theologian. In fact, that might even be a stumbling block for some.

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Of Temptation

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 25

temptation2The Temptation by Eric Armusik

 

I remember a scene from the film The Passion of the Christ when Jesus kisses the cross after they place it on His shoulders. That’s because He knew His suffering would redeem the world. Likewise, some of the saints in the early Church deliberately traveled to Rome so that they could be martyred, knowing that it would hasten their union with God.

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On Innocence

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 24

ontempt4a

 

WHAT a gift we have through the Sacrament of Baptism: the innocence of a soul is restored. And should we sin after that, the Sacrament of Penance restores that innocence again. God wants you and me to be innocent because He delights in the beauty of a pristine soul, re-made again in His image. Even the most hardened sinner, if they appeal to God’s mercy, are restored to a primordial beauty. One could say that in such a soul, God sees himself. Moreover, He delights in our innocence because He knows that is when we are most capable of joy.

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Mastery of Self

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 23

self-mastery_Fotor

 

LAST time, I spoke about remaining steadfast on the Narrow Pilgrim Road, “rejecting temptation to your right, and illusion to your left.” But before I speak further about the important subject of temptation, I think it will be helpful to know more of the nature of a Christian—of what happens to you and me in Baptism—and what doesn’t.

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The Judas Prophecy

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In recent days, Canada has been moving toward some of the most extreme euthanasia laws in the world to not only permit “patients” of most ages to commit suicide, but force doctors and Catholic hospitals to assist them. One young doctor sent me a text saying, 

I had a dream once. In it, I became a physician because I thought they wanted to help people.

And so today, I am republishing this writing from four years ago. For too long, many in the Church have set these realities aside, passing them off as “doom and gloom.” But suddenly, they are now on our doorstep with a battering ram. The Judas Prophecy is coming to pass as we enter the most painful part of the “final confrontation” of this age…

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A Revolution of the Mind

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 21

Mind of Christ g2

 

EVERY now again in my research, I’ll stumble across a website that takes exception to my own because they say, “Mark Mallett claims to hear from Heaven.” My first reaction is, “Gee, doesn’t every Christian hear the voice of the Lord?” No, I don’t hear an audible voice. But I certainly hear God speaking through the Mass Readings, morning prayer, the Rosary, the Magisterium, my bishop, my spiritual director, my wife, my readers—even a sunset. For God says in Jeremiah…

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On Christian Perfection

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 20

beauty-3

 

SOME might find this the most intimidating and discouraging Scripture in the Bible.

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48) 

Why would Jesus say such a thing to mere mortals like you and me who grapple daily with doing God’s will? Because to be holy as God is holy is when you and I will be happiest.

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Time is Love

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LENTEN RETREAT
Day 18

mindofchrist_FotorAs the deer longs for streams of water…

 

PERHAPS you feel as incapable of holiness as I do in continuing to write this Lenten Retreat. Good. Then we have both entered a critical point in self-knowledge—that apart from God’s grace, we can do nothing. But that does not mean that we should do nothing.

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