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
Photo by Oli Kekäläinen
First published on April 17th, 2011, I woke up this morning sensing the Lord wanted me to republish this. The main point is at the end, and the need for wisdom. For new readers, the rest of this meditation can also serve as a wake-up call to the seriousness of our times….
SOME time ago, I listened on the radio to a news story about a serial killer somewhere on the loose in New York, and all the horrified responses. My first reaction was anger at the stupidity of this generation. Do we seriously believe that constantly glorifying psychopathic killers, mass murderers, vile rapists, and war in our “entertainment” has no effect on our emotional and spiritual well-being? A quick glance at the shelves of a movie rental store reveals a culture so dumbed down, so oblivious, so blinded to the reality of our internal sickness that we actually believe our obsession with sexual idolatry, horror, and violence is normal.
FROM a reader:
I have been reading your “deluge of false prophets” series, and to tell you the truth, I am a little concerned. Let me explain… I am a recent convert to the Church. I was once a fundamentalist Protestant Pastor of the “meanest kind”—I was a bigot! Then someone gave me a book by Pope John Paul II— and I fell in love with this man’s writing. I resigned as Pastor in 1995 and in 2005 I came into the Church. I went to Franciscan University (Steubenville) and got a Masters in Theology.
But as I read your blog—I saw something I did not like—an image of myself 15 years ago. I am wondering, because I swore when I left Fundamentalist Protestantism that I would not substitute one fundamentalism for another. My thoughts: be careful you do not become so negative that you lose sight of the mission.
Is it possible that there is such an entity as “Fundamentalist Catholic?” I worry about the heteronomic element in your message.
IT was with a strange heaviness of heart that I boarded a jet to the United States yesterday, on my way to give a conference this weekend in North Dakota. At the same time our jet took off, Pope Benedict’s plane was landing in the United Kingdom. He has been much on my heart these days—and much in the headlines.
As I was leaving the airport, I was compelled to buy a news magazine, something I rarely do. I was caught by the title “Is American Going Third World?” It is a report about how American cities, some more than others, are beginning to decay, their infrastructures collapsing, their money virtually run out. America is ‘broke’, said a high-level politician in Washington. In one county in Ohio, the police force is so small due to cutbacks, that the county judge recommended that citizens ‘arm yourselves’ against criminals. In other States, street lights are being shut off, paved roads are being turned into gravel, and jobs into dust.
It was surreal for me to write about this coming collapse a few years ago before the economy began to tumble (see The Year of the Unfolding). It is even more surreal to see it happening now before our eyes.