THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Saturday after Ash Wednesday, February 21st, 2015
Liturgical texts here
IF you really stop to think about it, to really absorb what just happened in today’s Gospel, it should revolutionize your life.
Healing the Wound of Eden
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 20th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
THE animal kingdom is essentially content. Birds are content. Fish are content. But the human heart is not. We are restless and unsatisfied, constantly searching for fulfillment in myriad forms. We are in an endless pursuit of pleasure as the world spins its advertisements promising happiness, but delivering only pleasure—fleeting pleasure, as if that were an end in itself. Why then, after buying the lie, do we inevitably continue seeking, searching, hunting for meaning and worth?
Going Against the Current
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday after Ash Wednesday, February 19th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
IT is pretty clear, even by a mere cursory glance at the news headlines, that much of the first world is in a free-fall into unbridled hedonism while the rest of the world is increasingly threatened and scourged by regional violence. As I wrote a few years ago, the time of warning has virtually expired. [1]cf. The Last Hour If one cannot perceive the “signs of the times” by now, then the only word left is the “word” of suffering. [2]cf. The Watchman’s Song
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Last Hour |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | cf. The Watchman’s Song |
Forty Days with Mark
Still trying to decide
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Read today’s message for Ash Wednesday.
The Joy of Lent!
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Ash Wednesday, February 18th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
ASHES, sackcloth, fasting, penance, mortification, sacrifice… These are the common themes of Lent. So who would think of this penitential season as a time of joy? Easter Sunday? Yes, joy! But the forty days of penance?
The Gentle Coming of Jesus
A Light to the Gentiles by Greg Olsen
WHY did Jesus come to earth as He did—clothing His divine nature in the DNA, chromosomes, and genetic heritage of the woman, Mary? For Jesus could very well have simply materialized in the desert, entered immediately upon forty days of temptation, and then emerged in the Spirit for His three year ministry. But instead, He chose to walk in our footsteps from the very first instance of His human life. He chose to become little, helpless, and weak, for…
Returning to Our Center
WHEN a ship goes off course by only a degree or two, it is barely noticeable until several hundred nautical miles later. So too, the Barque of Peter has likewise veered somewhat off course over the centuries. In the words of Blessed Cardinal Newman:
The Jaws of the Red Dragon
The Supreme Court Justices of Canada
IT was a strange convergence this past weekend. All week long at my concerts, as a preamble to my song Call Your Name (listen below), I felt compelled to speak about how truth is being turned upside down in our day; how good is being called evil, and evil good. I noted how “judges are getting up in the morning, having their coffee and cereal like the rest of us, and then go into work—and completely overturn the Natural Moral Law that has existed since time memorial.” Little did I realize that the Supreme Court of Canada was planning to issue a ruling last Friday that opens the door for doctors to help kill someone with a ‘grievous and irremediable medical condition (including an illness, disease or disability)’.
My Young Priests, Be Not Afraid!
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
AFTER Mass today, the words came strongly to me:
My young priests, do not be afraid! I have put you in place, like seeds scattered among fertile soil. Do not be afraid to preach My Name! Do not be afraid to speak the truth in love. Do not be afraid if My Word, through you, causes a sifting of your flock…
As I shared these thoughts over coffee with a courageous African priest this morning, he nodded his head. “Yes, we priests often want to please everyone rather than preach the truth… we have let the lay faithful down.”
Jesus, the Goal
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
DISCIPLINE, mortification, fasting, sacrifice… these are words that tend to make us cringe because we associate them with pain. However, Jesus did not. As St. Paul wrote:
For the sake of the joy that lay before him, Jesus endured the cross… (Heb 12:2)
The difference between a Christian monk and a Buddhist monk is precisely this: the end for the Christian is not the mortification of his senses, or even peace and serenity; rather it is God himself. Anything less is falling short of fulfillment as much as throwing a rock in the sky falls short of hitting the moon. Fulfillment for the Christian is to allow God to possess him that he may possess God. It is this union of hearts that transforms and restores the soul into the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity. But even the most profound union with God can also be accompanied by a dense darkness, spiritual dryness, and sense of abandonment—just as Jesus, though in complete conformity to the Father’s will, experienced abandonment on the Cross.
Touching Jesus
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015
Opt. Memorial St. Blaise
Liturgical texts here
MANY Catholics go to Mass every Sunday, join the Knights of Columbus or CWL, put a few bucks in the collection basket, etc. But their faith never really deepens; there is no real transformation of their hearts more and more into holiness, more and more into Our Lord himself, such that they can begin to say with St. Paul, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.” [1]cf. Gal 2:20
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Gal 2:20 |
|---|
The Summit
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Thursday, January 29th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
THE Old Testament is more than a book telling the story of salvation history, but a shadow of things to come. The temple of Solomon was but a type of the temple of Christ’s body, the means by which we could enter into the “Holy of holies”—the very presence of God. St. Paul’s explanation of the new Temple in today’s first reading is explosive:
Living in the Divine Will
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Monday, January 27th, 2015
Opt. Memorial for St. Angela Merici
Liturgical texts here
TODAY’s Gospel is often used to argue that Catholics have invented or exaggerated the significance of the motherhood of Mary.
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
But then who lived the will of God more completely, more perfectly, more obediently than Mary, after her Son? From the moment of the Annunciation [1]and since her birth, since Gabriel says she was “full of grace” until standing beneath the Cross (while others fled), no one quietly lived out the will of God more perfectly. That is to say that no one was more of a mother to Jesus, by His own definintion, than this Woman.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | and since her birth, since Gabriel says she was “full of grace” |
|---|
Fruits and Thoughts
ONE day to go before, what is now, a twenty-date concert tour begins. I am excited, because I sensed when my latest album was produced, that these songs would begin healing in many souls. Then along came Pope Francis calling the Church to become a “field hospital” for the wounded. [1]cf. The Field Hospital And so, on Tuesday my wife and I are setting up the first “field hospital” in our ministry as we begin a journey through the prairie province of Saskatchewan. Please pray for us and especially for all those that Jesus wants to heal and minister to.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Field Hospital |
|---|
The Black Ship – Part II
WARS and rumors of wars… And yet, Jesus said these would only be “the beginning of the birth-pangs.” [1]cf. Matt 24:8 What, then, could possibly be the hard labor? Jesus answers:
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (Matt 24:9-11)
Yes, the violent death of the body is a travesty, but the death of the soul is a tragedy. The hard labor is the great spiritual struggle that is here and coming…
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Matt 24:8 |
|---|
Mark Mallett in Concert, Winter 2015
Among the reasons why one would have a “heart of stone,” [is that someone] has gone through a “painful experience.” The heart, when it is hardened, is not free and if it is not free it is because it does not love…
—POPE FRANCIS, Homily, Jan. 9th, 2015, Zenit
WHEN I produced my last album, “Vulnerable”, I put together a collection of songs I’ve written that speak of the ‘painful experiences’ that many of us have gone through: death, family breakup, betrayal, loss… and then God’s response to it. It is, for me, one of the most moving albums I’ve created, not only for the content of the words, but also for the incredible emotion that the musicians, backup singers, and orchestra brought to the studio.
And now, I feel it is time to take this album on the road so that many, whose hearts have been hardened by their own painful experiences, can perhaps be softened by the love of Christ. This first tour is through Saskatchewan, Canada this Winter.
There are no tickets or fees, so everyone can come (a free-will offering will be taken up). I hope to meet many of you there…
Be Faithful
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for Friday, January 16th, 2015
Liturgical texts here
THERE is so much happening in our world, so quickly, that it can be overwhelming. There is so much suffering, adversity, and busyness in our lives that it can be discouraging. There is so much dysfunction, societal breakdown, and division that it can be numbing. In fact, the world’s rapid descent into darkness in these times has left many fearful, despairing, paranoid… paralyzed.
But the answer to all this, brothers and sisters, is to simply be faithful.
Do Not Be Shaken
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 13th, 2015
Opt. Memorial of St. Hilary
Liturgical texts here
WE have entered a period of time in the Church that will shake the faith of many. And that is because it is going to increasingly appear as though evil has won, as though the Church has become completely irrelevant, and in fact, an enemy of the State. Those who hold fast to the whole of the Catholic faith will be few in number and be universally considered antiquated, illogical, and an obstacle to be removed.
Losing Our Children
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 5th-10th, 2015
of the Epiphany
Liturgical texts here
I have had countless parents come up to me in person or write me saying, “I don’t understand. We took our children to Mass every Sunday. My kids would pray the Rosary with us. They would go to spiritual functions… but now, they’ve all left the Church.”
The question is why? As a parent of eight children myself, the tears of these parents has sometimes haunted me. Then why not my kids? In truth, every one of us has free will. There is no forumla, per se, that if you do this, or say that prayer, that the outcome is sainthood. No, sometimes the outcome is atheism, as I’ve seen in my own extended family.
Antichrist in Our Times
First published January 8th, 2015…
SEVERAL weeks ago, I wrote that it is time for me ‘to speak directly, boldly, and without apology to the “remnant” who are listening. It is only a remnant of readers now, not because they are special, but chosen; it is a remnant, not because all are not invited, but few respond….’ [1]cf. The Convergence and the Blessing That is, I have spent ten years writing about the times we live in, constantly referencing Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium so as to bring balance to a discussion that perhaps too frequently relies only on private revelation. Nonetheless, there are some who simply feel any discussion of the “end times” or the crises we face is too gloomy, negative, or fanatical—and so they simply delete and unsubscribe. So be it. Pope Benedict was pretty straightforward about such souls:
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Convergence and the Blessing |
|---|
The Smoldering Candle
The truth appeared like a great candle
lighting the whole world with its brilliant flame.
—St. Bernadine of Siena
A POWERFUL image came to me… an image that carries both encouragement and warning.
Those who have been following these writings know that their purpose has been specifically to prepare us for the times which lay directly ahead of the Church and world. They are not so much about catechesis as calling us into a safe Refuge.
The Incomparable Beauty
Milan Cathedral in Lombardy, Milan, Italy; photo by Prak Vanny
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
SINCE the last week of Advent, I have been in a perpetual state of contemplation of the incomparable beauty of the Catholic Church. On this solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God, I find my voice joining in with hers:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior… (Luke 1:46-47)
Earlier this week, I wrote about the stark contrast between the Christian martyrs and those extremists who are destroying families, towns, and lives in the name of “religion.” [1]cf. The Christian-Martyr Witness Once again, Christianity’s beauty is often most evident when the darkness increases, when the shadows of the day’s evil reveal the beauty of light. The lamentation that rose up in me during Lent in 2013 has been ringing in my ears at the same time (read Weep, O Children of Men). It is the dirge of a sun setting upon a world bewitched into believing that beauty lies solely within technology and science, reason and logic, rather than the life of faith that comes from believing in and following Jesus Christ.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. The Christian-Martyr Witness |
|---|
Joyful Greetings!
Mallett Family, Christmas 2014
THANK you for every prayer, every letter,
every kind word, every gift this past year.
I am filled with a deep joy and sense of wonder
at the great gift of not only our Savior
but of His Church, which has spread to every nation.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
Love and blessings from the Mallett clan
with gratitude and prayers for your joy, peace, and refuge in
Jesus Christ Our Savior.
The Nigerian Gift
IT was the last leg of my flight home from a speaking tour in the United States a few years ago. I was still lingering in the graces of Divine Mercy Sunday as I arrived at the Denver airport. I had some time to spare before my final flight, and so I walked around the concourse for awhile.
I noticed a shoe shine station along the wall. I looked down at my fading black footwear and thought to myself, “Nah, I’ll do it myself when I get home.” But when I returned past the shoe-shiners several minutes later, something inside was prodding me to go have my shoes done. And so, I finally stopped after passing them for a third time, and mounted one of the chairs.
The Immaculata
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 19th-20th, 2014
of the Third Week of Advent
Liturgical texts here
THE Immaculate Conception of Mary is one of the most beautiful miracles in salvation history after the Incarnation—so much so, that the Fathers of the Eastern tradition celebrate her as “the All-Holy” (Panagia) who was…
…free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 493
But if Mary is a “type” of the Church, then it means that we too are called to become the Immaculate Conception as well.
I Am Coming Soon
Gethsemane
THERE is no question that one of the aspects of this writing apostolate is to warn and prepare the reader for the colossal changes coming, and already begun in the world—what I sensed the Lord several years ago call a Great Storm. But the warning has less to do with the physical world—which is already changing dramatically—and more to do with the spiritual dangers that are beginning to sweep through humanity like a Spiritual Tsunami.
Like many of you, I sometimes want to run from these realities; I want to pretend that life will go on as normal, and I am sometimes tempted to believe it will. Who wouldn’t want it to? I often think of St. Paul’s words calling us to pray…
The Reign of the Lion
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 17th, 2014
of the Third Week of Advent
Liturgical texts here
HOW are we to understand the prophetic texts of Scripture which imply that, with the coming of the Messiah, justice and peace would reign, and He would crush His enemies beneath His feet? For would it not appear that 2000 years later, these prophecies have utterly failed?
The Spiritual Tsunami
NINE years ago today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wrote Persecution… and the Moral Tsunami. Today, during the Rosary, I sensed Our Lady once again moving me to write, but this time about the coming Spiritual Tsunami, which has been prepared by the former. I think it is no coincidence that this writing falls again on this feast… for what is coming has very much to do with the decisive battle between the Woman and the dragon.
Caution: the following contains mature themes that may not be suitable for younger readers.
Comfort My People
THE words have been on my heart for some time,
Comfort My People.
They are drawn from Isaiah 40—those prophetic words from which the people of Israel drew their comfort knowing that, indeed, a Savior would come. It was to them, “a people in darkness”, [1]cf. Isa 9:2 that the Messiah would visit from on high.
Are we any different today? In fact, this generation is arguably in more darkness that any before it for the fact that we have already seen the Messiah.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Isa 9:2 |
|---|
Strayed
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 9th, 2014
Memorial of St. Juan Diego
Liturgical texts here
IT was almost midnight when I arrived at our farm after a trip to the city a few weeks ago.
“The calf is out,” my wife said. “The boys and I went out and looked, but couldn’t find her. I could hear her bawling towards the north, but the sound was getting further away.”
So I got in my truck and started to drive through the pastures, which had nearly a foot of snow in places. Any more snow, and this would be pushing it, I thought to myself. I put the truck in 4×4 and started driving around tree groves, bushes, and along fencelines. But there was no calf. Even more puzzling, there were no tracks. After a half hour, I resigned myself to waiting till morning.
So Why are You Afraid?
Becoming God's Fragrance
WHEN you walk into a room with fresh flowers, they are essentially just sitting there. Yet, their fragrance reaches you and fills your senses with delight. So too, a holy man or woman may not need to say or do much in another’s presence, for the aroma of their holiness is enough to touch one’s spirit.
The Last Judgments
I believe that the vast majority of the Book of Revelation refers, not to the end of the world, but to the end of this era. Only the last few chapters really look at the very end of the world while everything else before mostly describes a “final confrontation” between the “woman” and the “dragon”, and all the terrible effects in nature and society of a general rebellion that accompanies it. What divides that final confrontation from the end of the world is a judgment of the nations—what we are primarily hearing in this week’s Mass readings as we approach the first week of Advent, the preparation for Christ’s coming.
For the past two weeks I keep hearing the words in my heart, “Like a thief in the night.” It is the sense that events are coming upon the world that are going to take many of us by surprise, if not many of us home. We need to be in a “state of grace,” but not a state of fear, for anyone of us could be called home at any moment. With that, I feel compelled to republish this timely writing from December 7th, 2010…
Knowing Jesus
HAVE you ever met someone who is passionate about their subject? A skydiver, horse-back rider, a sports fan, or an anthropologist, scientist, or antique restorer who lives and breathes their hobby or career? While they can inspire us, and even spark an interest in us toward their subject, Christianity is different. For it is not about the passion of yet another lifestyle, philosophy, or even religious ideal.
The essence of Christianity is not an idea but a Person. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, spontaneous speech to the clergy of Rome; Zenit, May 20th, 2005
Halifax Advent Mission and More…
Advent Mission with Mark Mallett
Join Mark Mallett in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
for an Advent Mission on
Rediscovering Our First Love
December 1st — 3rd, 2014
Hell is for Real
“THERE is one terrible truth in Christianity that in our times, even more than in previous centuries, arouses implacable horror in the heart of man. That truth is of the eternal pains of hell. At the mere allusion to this dogma, minds become troubled, hearts tighten up and tremble, passions become rigid and inflamed against the doctrine and the unwelcome voices that proclaim it.” [1]The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life, by Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 173; Sophia Institute Press
Footnotes
| ↑1 | The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life, by Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 173; Sophia Institute Press |
|---|
What it Means to Welcome Sinners
THE call of the Holy Father for the Church to become more of a “field hospital” to “heal the wounded” is a very beautiful, timely, and perceptive pastoral vision. But what exactly needs healing? What are the wounds? What does it mean to “welcome” sinners aboard the Barque of Peter?
Essentially, what is “Church” for?
The Thin Line Between Mercy and Heresy – Part III
PART III — FEARS REVEALED
SHE fed and clothed the poor with love; she nurtured minds and hearts with the Word. Catherine Doherty, foundress of the Madonna House apostolate, was a woman who took on the “smell of the sheep” without taking on the “stench of sin.” She constantly walked the thin line between mercy and heresy by embracing the greatest of sinners while calling them to holiness. She used to say,
Go without fears into the depths of men’s hearts… the Lord shall be with you. —from The Little Mandate
This is one of those “words” from the Lord that is able to penetrate “between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” [1]cf. Heb 4:12 Catherine uncovers the very root of the problem with both so-called “conservatives” and “liberals” in the Church: it is our fear to enter men’s hearts as Christ did.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Heb 4:12 |
|---|
The Thin Line Between Mercy & Heresy – Part II
PART II — Reaching the Wounded
WE have watched a rapid cultural and sexual revolution that in five short decades has decimated the family as divorce, abortion, redefinition of marriage, euthanasia, pornography, adultery, and many other ills have become not only acceptable, but deemed a social “good” or “right.” However, an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, drug use, alcohol abuse, suicide, and ever multiplying psychoses tell a different story: we are a generation that is bleeding profusely from the effects of sin.
The Thin Line Between Mercy & Heresy – Part I
IN all the controversies that unfolded in the wake of the recent Synod in Rome, the reason for the gathering seemed to have been lost altogether. It was convened under the theme: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” How do we evangelize families given the pastoral challenges we face due to high divorce rates, single mothers, secularization, and so forth?
What we learned very quickly (as proposals of some Cardinals were made known to the public) is that there is a a thin line between mercy and heresy.
The following three part series is intended to not only get back to the heart of the matter—evangelizing families in our times—but to do so by bringing to the forefront the man who is really at the center of the controversies: Jesus Christ. Because no one walked that thin line more than Him—and Pope Francis seems to be pointing that path to us once again.
We need to blow away the “smoke of satan” so we can clearly identify this narrow red line, drawn in Christ’s blood… because we are called to walk it ourselves.
The Spirit of Trust
SO much has been said this past week on the spirit of fear that has been flooding many souls. I have been blessed that so many of you have entrusted your own vulnerability to me as you have been trying to sift through the confusion that has become a staple of the times. But to assume that what is called confusion is immediately, therefore, “from the evil one” would be incorrect. Because in the life of Jesus, we know that so often his followers, the teachers of the law, the Apostles, and even Mary were left confused as to the meaning and actions of the Lord.
And out of all of these followers, two responses stand out that are like two pillars rising on the sea of turmoil. If we begin to imitate these examples, we can affix ourselves to both of these pillars, and be drawn into the internal calm that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
It is my prayer that your faith in Jesus will be renewed in this meditation…
The Spirit of Suspicion
Getty Images
ONCE again, the Mass readings today are blowing over my soul like a trumpet blast. In the Gospel, Jesus warns His listeners to pay attention to the signs of the times.
The Persecution From Within
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WHEN I changed the format of my writings last week, there was no intention on my part to cease commenting on the Mass readings. In fact, as I told subscribers to the Now Word, I believe the Lord asked me to begin writing meditations on the Mass readings precisely because He is speaking to us through them, as prophecy now seems to be unfolding in real time. During the week of the Synod, it was incredible to read how, at the very same time that some Cardinals were proposing heresies as pastoral initiatives, St. Paul was affirming his absolute commitment to the Revelation of Christ in Tradition.
There are some who are disturbing you and wish to pervert the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be accursed! (Gal 1:7-8)
Can a Pope Become a Heretic?
by Rev. Joseph L. Iannuzzi, STD, Ph.D.
IN recent months the Roman Pontiff’s teaching authority has been openly challenged and his supreme, full and immediate authority questioned. Particular exception has been taken to his non ex cathedra pronouncements in light of modern “prophecies.” The following article by Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi asks the question increasingly being asked by others: Can a Pope Become a Heretic?
Steady as She Goes
I have spent the day mostly in prayer, listening, speaking with my spiritual director, praying, going to Mass, listening some more… and these are the thoughts and words which have been coming to me since I wrote The Synod and the Spirit.