With my wife Léa outside the “Door of Mercy” at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Basilica in San Jose, CA, October 2016, on our 25th Wedding Anniversary
THERE’s been a whole lot of thinkin’, a whole lot of prayin’ goin’ on these past couple of months. I have had a sense of anticipation followed by a curious “unknowing” as to what my role will be in these times. I have really been living day to day not knowing what God wants of me as we enter into winter. But the past couple of days, I sensed Our Lord simply saying, “Stay where you are and be My voice crying out in the wilderness…”
My spiritual director has always told me: go where the people are. Right now, at least, that is here, on the internet. When I travel, I usually speak to a few hundred people or less. But when I write a single meditation here, it is read by tens of thousands of people around the world. The math is pretty straightforward: my time is best spent here. At least today.
But as usual around this time of year, Lea and I begin to wonder if we will make it through Christmas. This is a full-time apostolate for me. I have no other “job” other than what I do here: research, prayer, and writing. It is more than a full-time job some days, which has produced the equivalent, I’m guessing, of 30-40 books. I don’t charge for any of this. In fact, I delight in giving everything away, including recently, the music from my albums (an equivalent of a quarter million worth of music production). Freely God has given, and freely I want to give to you. As Jesus said,
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. (Matt 10:8)
We try to live by that as prudently and generously as we can. But St. Paul also said,
…the Lord ordered that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. (1 Cor 9:14)
I’ve got bills to pay, kids to wed, and food to put in the stomachs of the five of my eight children who are still at home (and just had to replace a ministry computer unexpectedly—$2400). I simply can’t do this ministry without you—those who are able to contribute to our needs.
I listened to a radiocast the other day of an Evangelical Christian who does similar work to me. He said that someone from Hong Kong had wired them $150, 000 to continue their work. I am often in awe of how Evangelicals are so easily able to raise funds. The problem is that few Catholics have any concept of ministry outside of the Mass, outside that little collection basket that winds its way around the congregation each Sunday. But we’re here! Lea and I are among many men and women in the Catholic Church who have dedicated our lives to the Gospel. But we need your help since we work with the tools society provides: cars that need gas, communication that needs a connection, lights that need power, etc.. As I wrote several months ago, our ministry has been swimming in debt for as long as I can remember for the simple fact that I have had to personally finance many steps along the way to simply keep this apostolate afloat. This year, we are reaching more people than ever before, especially in the past few months. But ironically, donations have never been so slow. Maybe it’s all the stress of our times…
If this ministry is feeding your soul, take a moment, if you are able, to click the little button below and help us in any way you can. Trust that God will return your gift a hundred fold in His own way, as He so often does with those who give in faith. I try not to worry about making ends meet, but when I have a family in tow, it’s hard not to. For those of you who are truly suffering financially, please, pray for me and take care of your own needs. I am here, by God’s grace, to help you, not burden you.
Long-time readers know how I hate these letters where I have to wear my beggar’s hat. But when I read the daily letters I receive that speak of how this ministry—and sometimes this ministry alone—is getting people through these times, then it’s worth it to be humiliated once more.
Lea and I and my children continue to pray for all of you. Remember us too. And so, for now, I will continue to write as we journey toward the Triumph and the coming of the Kingdom.
As a GIFT to all our readers,
we want you to have at no cost the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet that I produced, which include a dozen songs that I have written to Our Lord and Lady.
You can download them for free:
Click the album cover for your complimentary copies, and follow the instructions!
