maria

Can the Pope Betray Us?

Posted on by

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

Liturgical texts here

 

The subject matter of this meditation is so important, that I am sending this to both my daily readers of the Now Word, and those who are on the Spiritual Food for Thought mailing list. If you receive duplicates, that’s why. Because of today’s subject, this writing is a bit longer than usual for my daily readers… but I believe necessary.

 

I couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up in what the Romans would call the “fourth watch”, that period of time before dawn. I began to think about all the emails I’m receiving, the rumors I’m hearing, the doubts and confusion that are creeping in… like wolves on the edge of the forest. Yes, I heard the warnings clearly in my heart shortly after Pope Benedict resigned, that we were going to enter into times of great confusion. And now, I feel a bit like a shepherd, tension in my back and arms, my staff raised as shadows move about this precious flock that God has entrusted me to feed with “spiritual food.” I feel protective today.

The wolves are here.

Continue reading →

Prophecy Properly Understood

Posted on by

 

WE are living in a time when prophecy has perhaps never been so important, and yet, so misunderstood by the vast majority of Catholics. There are three harmful positions being taken today regarding prophetic or “private” revelations that, I believe, are doing at times great damage in many quarters of the Church. One is that “private revelations” never have to be heeded since all we are obligated to believe is the definitive Revelation of Christ in the “deposit of faith.” Another harm being done is by those who tend to not only put prophecy above the Magisterium, but give it the same authority as Sacred Scripture. And last, there is the position that most prophecy, unless uttered by saints or found without error, should be mostly shunned. Again, all these positions above carry unfortunate and even dangerous pitfalls.

 

Continue reading →

Esperanza

Posted on by


Maria Esperanza, 1928 – 2004

 

The cause for canonization of Maria Esperanza was opened January 31, 2010. This writing was first published on September 15th, 2008, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. As with the writing Trajectory, which I recommend you read, this writing also contains many “now words” that we need to hear again.

And again.

 

THIS past year, when I would pray in the Spirit, a word would often and suddenly rise to my lips: “esperanza.” I just learned that this is a Hispanic word meaning “hope.”

Continue reading →

Like a Thief

Posted on by

 

THE past 24 hours since writing After the Illumination, the words have been echoing in my heart: Like a thief in the night…

Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,and they will not escape. (1 Thess 5:2-3)

Many have applied these words to the Second Coming of Jesus. Indeed, the Lord will come at an hour that no one but the Father knows. But if we read the above text carefully, St. Paul is speaking about the coming of the “day of the Lord,” and what comes suddenly are like “labor pains.” In my last writing, I explained how the “day of the Lord” is not a single day or event, but a period of time, according to Sacred Tradition. Thus, that which leads up to and ushers in the Day of the Lord are precisely those labor pains that Jesus spoke of [1]Matt 24: 6-8; Luke 21:9-11 and St. John saw in the vision of The Seven Seals of Revolution.

They too, for many, will come like a thief in the night.

Continue reading →

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Matt 24: 6-8; Luke 21:9-11