Thwarted!

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 16th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

IT looked like the perfect comeback. The Israelites had just been soundly defeated by the Philistines, and so the first reading says they came up with a brilliant idea:

Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies.

After all, with all that happened in Egypt and the plagues, and the reputation of the ark, the Philistines would be terrorized at the idea. And they were. So when the Israelites marched into battle, they thought they had that fight in the books. Instead…

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First Love Lost

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FRANCIS, AND THE COMING PASSION OF THE CHURCH
PART II


by Ron DiCianni

 

EIGHT years ago, I had a powerful experience before the Blessed Sacrament [1]cf. About Mark where I felt the Lord asked me to put my music ministry second and begin to “watch” and “speak” of the things He would show me. Under the spiritual direction of holy, faithful men, I gave my “fiat” to the Lord. It was clear to me from the very beginning that I was not to speak with my own voice, but the voice of Christ’s established authority on earth: the Magisterium of the Church. For to the twelve Apostles Jesus said,

Whoever listens to you listens to me. (Luke 10:16)

And the chief prophetic voice in the Church is that of the office of Peter, the Pope. [2]cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1581; cf. Matt 16:18; Jn 21:17

The reason I mention this is because, taking into consideration everything that I have been inspired to write, everything that is happening in the world, everything that is in my heart now (and all of it I submit to the Church’s discernment and judgment) I believe the pontificate of Pope Francis is a significant signpost at this juncture in time.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. About Mark
↑2 cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1581; cf. Matt 16:18; Jn 21:17

Speak Lord, I am Listening

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 15th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

EVERYTHING that happens in our world passes through the fingers of God’s permissive will. This does not mean that God wills evil—He doesn’t. But he permits it (the free will of both men and fallen angels to choose evil) in order to work toward the greater good, which is the salvation of mankind and the creation of a new heavens and new earth.

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Pour Out Your Heart

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 14th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

I REMEMBER driving through one of my father-in-law’s pastures, which was particularly bumpy. It had large mounds randomly placed throughout the field. “What are all these mounds?” I asked. He replied, “When we were cleaning out corrals one year, we dumped the manure in piles, but never got around to spreading it.” What I noticed is that, wherever the mounds were, that’s where the grass was greenest; that’s where the growth was most beautiful.

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The Emptying

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 13th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is no evangelization without the Holy Spirit. After spending three years listening to, walking, talking, fishing, eating with, sleeping beside, and even laying upon the breast of our Lord… the Apostles seemed incapable of penetrating the hearts of the nations without Pentecost. It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire that the mission of the Church was to begin.

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Loving the Unlovable

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 11th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

MOST of the time, when we witness for Christ, we are going to be confronted with having to love the unlovable. By this I mean that we all have our “moments,” occasions when we are not very lovable at all. That is the world in which our Lord entered and the one into which Jesus now sends us.

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Francis, and the Coming Passion of the Church

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IN February last year, shortly after Benedict XVI’s resignation, I wrote The Sixth Day, and how we appear to be approaching the “twelve o’clock hour,” the threshold of the Day of the Lord. I wrote then,

The next pope will guide us too… but he is ascending a throne that the world wishes to overturn. That is the threshold of which I am speaking.

As we look at the world’s reaction to the pontificate of Pope Francis, it would seem the opposite. Hardly a news day goes by that the secular media isn’t running some story, gushing over the new pope. But 2000 years ago, seven days before Jesus was crucified, they were gushing over Him too…

 

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Share What You Have Been Freely Given

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 10th, 2014

Liturgical texts here


Artist Unknown

 

 

THERE has been a lot of teaching on evangelization in this week’s reflections, but it all comes down to this: letting the message of Christ’s love penetrate, challenge, change, and transform you. Otherwise, the imperative of evangelizing will remain but a lovely theory, a distant stranger whose name you know, but whose hand you’ve never shaken. The problem with that is every Christian is called in obedience to be an emissary for Christ. [1]cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 5 How? By first of all moving “from a pastoral ministry of mere conversation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry.” [2]POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 15

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 5
↑2 POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, n. 15

Love Anchors Doctrine

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 9th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 

 

JUST when you would perhaps expect God to send prophets wielding thunderbolts warning that this generation will be destroyed unless we repent… He instead raises up a young Polish nun to deliver a message, timed for this very hour:

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Love Paves the Way

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 8th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


Christ Walking on Water, Julius von Klever

 

PART of a reader’s response to yesterday’s Now Word, Love Beyond the Surface:

What you said is very true… But I think the sole focus of the Church since Vatican II has been love, love, love, love—with zero focus on the consequences of sinful actions… I think the most loving thing a person can do for an AIDS patient ( or adulterer, porn viewer, liar etc.) is tell them that they will spend eternity in the darkest abyss of hell if they do not repent. They won’t like hearing that, but it is the Word of God, and the Word of God has power to set the captive free… Sinners are pleased to hear consoling fleshy words, not realizing that soft, smooth words, tender embraces, and pleasant conversation without the hard truth is deceptive and powerless, a counterfeit Christianity, lacking power. —N.C.

Before we look at today’s Mass readings, why not look at how Jesus responded when He did “the most loving thing a person can do”:

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Love Beyond the Surface

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 7th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


Photo by Claudia Peri, EPA/Landov

 

RECENTLY, someone wrote asking advice for what to do in situations with people who reject the Faith:

I know we are to be ministering and helping our family in Christ, but when people tell me they don’t go to Mass anymore or hate the Church…I am so shocked, my mind goes blank! I beg the Holy Spirit to come upon me…but I don’t receive anything…I have no words of comfort or evangelization. —G.S.

How as Catholics are we to respond to unbelievers? To atheists? To fundamentalists? To those who disturb us? To people living in mortal sin, within and without our families? These are questions I get asked quite often. The answer to all these is to love beyond the surface.

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Fighting the Ghost

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for January 6th, 2014

Liturgical texts here

 


“The Running Nuns”, Daughters of Mary Mother of Healing Love

 

THERE is much talk among the “remnant” of refuges and safe havens—places where God will protect His people during coming persecutions. Such an idea is firmly rooted in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. I addressed this subject in The Coming Refuges and Solitudes, and as I reread it today, it strikes me as more prophetic and relevant than ever. For yes, there are times to hide. St. Joseph, Mary and the Christ child fled to Egypt while Herod hunted them; [1]cf. Matt 2;13 Jesus hid from the Jewish leaders who sought to stone Him; [2]cf. Jn 8:59 and St. Paul was concealed from his persecutors by his disciples, who lowered him to freedom in a basket through an opening in the city wall. [3]cf. Acts 9:25

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Matt 2;13
↑2 cf. Jn 8:59
↑3 cf. Acts 9:25

One Word

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WHEN you are overwhelmed with your sinfulness, there are only nine words you need to remember:

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:42)

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In Gratitude

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DEAR brothers, sisters, beloved priests, and friends in Christ. I want to take a moment at the beginning of this year to update you on this ministry and also take a moment to thank you.

I have spent time over the holidays reading as many letters as I can that have been sent by you, both in email and postal letters. I am so incredibly blessed by your kind words, prayers, encouragement, financial support, prayer requests, holy cards, photos, stories and love. What a beautiful family this little apostolate has become, stretching out across the world from the Philippines to Japan, Australia to Ireland, Germany to America, the United Kingdom to my homeland of Canada. We are connected by the “Word made flesh”, who comes to us in the little words that He inspires through this ministry.

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2014 and the Rising Beast

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THERE are many hopeful things developing in the Church, most of them quietly, still very much hidden from view. On the other hand, there are many troubling things on the horizon of humanity as we enter 2014. These too, though not as hidden, are lost on most people whose source of information remains the mainstream media; whose lives are caught in the treadmill of busyness; who have lost their internal connection to God’s voice through a lack of prayer and spiritual development. I am speaking of souls who do not “watch and pray” as Our Lord asked us.

I can’t help but call to mind what I published six years ago on this very eve of the Feast of the Holy Mother of God:

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Love Live in Me

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HE did not wait for a castle. He didn’t hold out for a perfected people. Rather, He came when we least expected Him… when all He could be offered was a humble greeting and abode.

And so, it is appropriate this night that we hear the angel’s greeting: “Do not be afraid.” [1]Luke 2:10 Do not be afraid that the abode of your heart is not a castle; that you are not a perfect person; that you are in fact a sinner most in need of mercy. You see, it is not a problem for Jesus to come and dwell among the poor, the sinful, the wretched. Why do we always think that we must be holy and perfect before He will even so much as glance our way? It is not true—Christmas Eve tells us differently.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Luke 2:10

Unhealthy Introspection

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 20th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

SAME angel. Same news: beyond all possible odds, a baby is going to be born. In yesterday’s Gospel, it would be John the Baptist; in today’s, it is Jesus Christ. But how Zechariah and the Virgin Mary responded to the news was completely different.

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Waging War

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 19th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

Screen_Shot_2013-12-09_at_8.13.19_PM-541x376
The attack on a group of men praying outside a Cathedral, St. Juan Argentina

 

 

I recently watched the film Prisoners, a story about the abduction of two children and the attempts of the fathers and police to find them. As it says in the movie’s release notes, one father takes matters into his own hands in what becomes a very intense moral struggle. [1]The film is very violent and contains many expletives, earning it an R rating. It also, curiously, contains many blatant Masonic symbols.

I won’t say any more about the film. But there is one line that stood out like a beacon:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 The film is very violent and contains many expletives, earning it an R rating. It also, curiously, contains many blatant Masonic symbols.

Welcome Mary

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 18th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

WHEN Joseph learned that Mary was “found with child”, today’s Gospel says he set about to “divorce her quietly.”

How many today quietly “divorce” themselves from the Mother of God! How many say, “I can go to straight to Jesus. Why do I need her?” Or they say, “The Rosary is too long and boring,” or, “Devotion to Mary was a pre-Vatican II thing that we no longer need to do…”, and so forth. I too pondered the question of Mary many years ago. With a sweat on my brow, I poured over the Scriptures asking “Why do we Catholics make such a big deal of Mary?”

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The Lion of Judah

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 17th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE is a powerful moment of drama in one of St. John’s visions in the Book of Revelation. After hearing the Lord chastise the seven churches, warning, exhorting, and preparing them for His coming, [1]cf. Rev 1:7 St. John is shown a scroll with writing on both sides that is sealed with seven seals. When he realizes that “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth” is able to open and examine it, he begins to weep profusely. But why is St. John weeping over something he hasn’t read yet?

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Rev 1:7

Unbelievable Odds

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 16th, 2013

Liturgical texts here


Christ in the Temple, by Heinrich Hoffman

 

 

WHAT would you think if I could tell you who the President of the United States will be five hundred years from now, including what signs will precede his birth, where he will be born, what his name will be, what family line he will descend from, how he will be betrayed by a member of his cabinet, for what price, how he will be tortured, the method of execution, what those around him will say, and even with whom he will be buried. The odds of getting every single one of these projections right are astronomical.

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"Prepare you… as no other work I've read"

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What’s in the book?

  • Understand how the Woman and dragon of Revelation appeared in the 16th century, beginning “the greatest historical confrontation” mankind has gone through.
  • Learn how the stars on Our Lady of Guadalupe’s tilma match the morning sky on December 12th, 1531 when she appeared to St. TheFinalConfrontationBook-1Juan Diego, and how they carry a “prophetic word” for our times.
  • Other miracles of the tilma that science cannot explain.
  • What the early Church Fathers have to say about the Antichrist and the so-called “era of peace”.
  • What the Fathers say about the timing  of the Antichrist.
  • Learn why the “day of the Lord” is not a 24 hour period, but symbolic of what Tradition refers to as the “thousand year” reign.
  • Learn how the “era of peace” is not the heresy of millenarianism.
  • How we are not coming to the end of the world, but the end of our era according to the popes and Fathers.
  • Read Mark’s powerful encounter with the Lord while singing the Sanctus, and how it launched this writing ministry.
  • Discover the hope that lies on the horizon after the coming judgment.

 

Buy two, get one book free!
Go to markmallett.com

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Receive FREE SHIPPING on Mark’s music, book,
and family original art on all orders over $75.
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Parenting the Prodigal

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 14th, 2013
Memorial of St. John of the Cross

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THE most difficult and painful thing any parent can face, aside from losing their child, is their child losing their faith. I have prayed with thousands of people over the years, and the most common request, the most frequent source of tears and anguish, are for the children who have wandered away. I look into these parents’ eyes, and I can see that many of them are holy. And they feel absolutely helpless.

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Snow In Cairo?

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First snow in Cairo, Egypt in 100 years, AFP-Getty Images

 

 

SNOW in Cairo? Ice in Israel? Sleet in Syria?

For several years now, the world has watched as natural earth events ravage various regions from place to place. But is there a link to what is also happening in society en masse: the ravaging of the natural and moral law?

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Vindication

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 13th, 2013
Memorial of St. Lucy

Liturgical texts here

 

 

SOMETIMES I find the comments beneath a news story as interesting as the story itself—they are a bit like a barometer indicating the advance of the Great Storm in our times (though weeding through the foul language, vile responses, and incivility is exhausting).

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The Blessed Prophecy

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 12th, 2013
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Liturgical texts here
(Selected: Rev 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; Judith 13; Luke 1:39-47)

Jump for Joy, by Corby Eisbacher

 

SOMETIMES when I’m speaking at conferences, I will look into the crowd and ask them, “Do you want to fulfill a 2000 year old prophecy, right here, right now?” The response is usually an excited yes! Then I’d say, “Pray with me the words”:

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The Rest of God

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 11th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

MANY people define personal happiness as being mortgage free, having plenty of money, vacation time, being esteemed and honored, or achieving big goals. But how many of us think of happiness as rest?

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The Surprise Arms

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 10th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

IT was a freak snowstorm in the middle of May, 1987. The trees bent so low to the ground under the weight of heavy wet snow that, to this day, some of them remain bowed as though permanently humbled under the hand of God. I was playing guitar in a friend’s basement when the phone call came.

Come home, son.

Why? I inquired.

Just come home…

As I pulled into our driveway, a strange feeling came over me. With every step I took to the back door, I felt my life was going to change. When I walked into the house, I was greeted by tear stained-parents and brothers.

Your sister Lori died in a car accident today.

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The Bridge

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 9th, 2013
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Liturgical texts here

 

 

IT would be easy to hear today’s Mass readings and, because it is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, apply them solely to Mary. But the Church has carefully chosen these readings because they are meant to apply to you and me. This is revealed in the second reading…

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The Coming Harvest

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 8th, 2013
Second Sunday of Advent

Liturgical texts here

 

 

“YES, we should love our enemies and pray for their conversions,” she agreed. “But I am angry over those who destroy innocence and goodness.” As I finished up a meal I was sharing with my hosts after a concert in the United States, she looked at me with sorrow in her eyes, “Wouldn’t Christ come running to His Bride who is increasingly abused and crying out?” [1]read: Does He Hear the Cry of the Poor

Perhaps we have the same reaction when we hear today’s Scriptures, which prophesy that when the Messiah comes, He shall “decide aright for the land’s afflicted” and “strike the ruthless” and that “Justice shall flower in his days.” John the Baptist even seems to announce that the “coming wrath” was near. But Jesus has come, and the world seems to go on like it always has with wars and poverty, crime and sin. And so we cry out, “Come Lord Jesus!” Yet, 2000 years have sailed by, and Jesus has not returned. And perhaps, our prayer begins to change to that of the Cross: My God, why have you forsaken us!

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Footnotes

Mark Mallett's Store: Free Shipping!

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Receive free shipping on Mark’s Music, Book,
and beautiful family original art
on all orders over $75.

at

markmallett.com

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The New Missions

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 7th, 2013
Memorial of St. Ambrose

Liturgical texts here

All the Lonely People, by Emmanuel Borja

 

IF there were ever a time when, as we read in the Gospel, people are “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd,” it is our time, on so many levels. There are many leaders today, but so few role models; many who govern, but so few who serve. Even in the Church, the sheep have wandered for decades since the confusion after Vatican II left a moral and leadership vacuum on the local level. And then there have been what Pope Francis calls “epochal” changes [1]cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 52 that have led to, among other things, a profound sense of loneliness. In the words of Benedict XVI:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 52

The Time of the Tomb

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 6th, 2013

Liturgical texts here


Artist Unknown

 

WHEN the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary to announce that she will conceive and bear a son to whom “the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,” [1]Luke 1:32 she responds to his annunciation with the words, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” [2]Luke 1:38 A heavenly counterpart to these words is later verbalized when Jesus is approached by two blind men in today’s Gospel:

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Luke 1:32
↑2 Luke 1:38

The City of Joy

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 5th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ISAIAH writes:

A strong city have we; he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us. Open up the gates to let in a nation that is just, one that keeps faith. A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace; in peace, for its trust in you. (Isaiah 26)

So many Christians today have lost their peace! So many, indeed, have lost their joy! And thus, the world finds Christianity to appear somewhat unattractive.

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Your Testimony

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 4th, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THE lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute… these are the ones who gathered around the feet of Jesus. And today’s Gospel says, “he cured them.” Minutes before, one could not walk, another could not see, one could not work, another could not speak… and all of sudden, they could. Perhaps a moment before, they were complaining, “Why has this happened to me? What did I ever do to you, God? Why have you abandoned me…?” Yet, moments later, it says “they glorified the God of Israel.” That is, suddenly these souls had a testimony.

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The Horizon of Hope

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 3rd, 2013
Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

Liturgical texts here

 

 

ISAIAH gives such a consoling vision of the future that one could be forgiven for suggesting it is a mere “pipe dream.” After the purification of the earth by “the rod of [the Lord’s] mouth, and the breath of his lips,” Isaiah writes:

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall down with the kid… There shall be no more harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. (Isaiah 11)

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The Survivors

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 2nd, 2013

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THERE are some texts in Scripture that, admittedly, are troubling to read. Today’s first reading contains one of them. It speaks of a coming time when the Lord will wash away “the filth of the daughters of Zion”, leaving behind a branch, a people, who are His “luster and glory.”

…the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. He who remains in Zion and he who is left in Jerusalem will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:3)

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Compromise: The Great Apostasy

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for December 1st, 2013
First Sunday of Advent

Liturgical texts here

 

 

THE book of Isaiah—and this Advent—begins with a beautiful vision of a coming Day when “all nations” will stream to the Church to be fed from her hand the life-giving teachings of Jesus. According to the early Church Fathers, Our Lady of Fatima, and the prophetic words of 20th century popes, we may indeed expect a coming “era of peace” when they “shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (see Dear Holy Father… He is Coming!)

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Calling His Name

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 30th, 2013
Feast of St. Andrew

Liturgical texts here


Crucifixion of St. Andrew (1607), Caravaggio

 
 

GROWING up at a time when Pentecostalism was strong in Christian communities and on television, it was common to hear evangelical Christians quote from today’s first reading from Romans:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)

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The Rising Beast

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THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for November 29th, 2013

Liturgical texts here.

 

THE prophet Daniel is given a powerful and frightening vision of four empires that would dominate for a time—the fourth being a world-wide tyranny from which the Antichrist would come forth, according to Tradition. Both Daniel and Christ describe what the times of this “beast” will look like, albeit from different perspectives.Continue reading →

The Field Hospital

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BACK in June of 2013, I wrote to you of changes that I have been discerning regarding my ministry, how it is presented, what is presented etc. in the writing called The Watchman’s Song. After several months now of reflection, I would like to share with you my observations from what is happening in our world, things I have discussed with my spiritual director, and where I feel I am being led now. I also want to invite your direct input with a quick survey below.

 

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Give Me Hope!

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FROM time to time, I receive letters from readers asking where is the hope?… please give us a word of hope! While it’s true that words can sometimes bring a certain hope, the Christian understanding of hope goes far, far deeper than the “assurance of a positive outcome.” 

It is true that several of my writings here are sounding a trumpet of warning of things that are now here and coming. These writings have served to wake many souls up, to call them back to Jesus, to bring about, I have learned, many dramatic conversions. And yet, it is not enough to know what is coming; what is essential is that we know what is already here, or rather, Who is already here. In this lies the source of authentic hope.

 

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The Little Path

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DO not waste time thinking about the heroics of the saints, their miracles, extraordinary penances, or ecstasies if it only brings you discouragement in your present state (“I’ll never be one of them,” we mumble, and then promptly return to the status quo beneath the heel of Satan). Rather, then, occupy yourself with simply walking on the The Little Path, which leads no less, to the beatitude of the saints.

 

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On Becoming Holy

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Young Woman Sweeping, Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916)

 

 

I AM guessing that most of my readers feel that they are not holy. That holiness, saintliness, is in fact an impossibility in this life. We say, “I am too weak, too sinful, too frail to ever rise to the ranks of the righteous.” We read Scriptures like the following, and feel they were written on a different planet:

…as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, “Be holy because I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:15-16)

Or a different universe:

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48)

Impossible? Would God ask us—no, command us—to be something that we cannot? Oh yes, it is true, we cannot be holy without Him, He who is the source of all holiness. Jesus was blunt:

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

The truth is—and Satan wishes to keep it far from you—holiness is not only possible, but it is possible right now.

 

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Just Another Holy Eve?

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WHEN I awoke this morning, an unexpected and bizarre cloud hung over my soul. I sensed a strong spirit of violence and death in the air all around me. As I drove into town, I took my Rosary out, and invoking the name of Jesus, prayed for God’s protection. It took me about three hours and four cups of coffee to finally figure out what I was experiencing, and why: it’s Halloween today.

No, I’m not going to delve into the the history of this strange American “holiday” or wade into the debate on whether to participate in it or not. A quick search of these topics on the Internet will provide ample reading in between ghouls arriving at your door, threatening tricks in lieu of treats.

Rather, I want to look at what Halloween has become, and how it is a harbinger, another “sign of the times.”

 

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