From Mark Mallett: The Hour of the Sword

The Hour of the Sword

 

IT has been a marvelous week so far here in California, preaching along side the man who helped bring the message of Divine Mercy to the world as well as promoted the cause of St. Faustina’s canonization: Fr. Seraphim Michalenko.

At the same time that we are preaching about Divine Mercy, we have not forgotten the context in which Jesus Himself revealed these messages to St. Faustina:

Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 848 

That is, the “time of mercy”¹ we are in has an end; it is not indefinite, and depends upon our response to Heaven. And we must readily admit that we have not responded to the warnings and messages of Our Blessed Mother as we should have. We have not listened to nor recognized divine warnings, whether from the popes or the prophets, to bring the world back from the brink. And therefore, like the Prodigal Son, we must begin to reap what we have sown, now that the world is collectively broke—financially and most significantly, spiritually. But like the Prodigal Son, it will be precisely in chastisement that the world’s eyes will be opened, and we will be granted one last opportunity to either return home to the Father… or remain separated from Him for eternity.

…before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy… before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…—Divine Mercy in My Soul, Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary, n. 83, 1146

In this context then, we must understand that what God is about to permit on earth is rooted in His love and mercy:

…whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. (Heb 12:6)

What must take place now is not so much from the hand of God, but from man’s own hand. We must taste the bitterness of our own devices in order to see clearly that a world without God will necessarily become one with disorder, death, and chaos.

God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions, and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. —Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Catholic Prophecy, P. 76

THE DEFINITIVE BREAKING OF THE SEALS

Since Easter Vigil, I have strongly sensed in prayer that we are toprepare now for the imminent and definitive breaking of the “seals” spoken of in Revelation—most especially the second:

When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.” Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword. (Rev 6:3-4)

As we look at the global signs of the times around us: the threat of war fomenting on the horizon, the imminent collapse of economies, the emergence of dangerous viruses and superbugs, and the persecution of the Church emerging from beneath the surface… we see a clear picture unfolding of a Great Storm:The Seven Seals of Revolution.

The last two nights here (I’m just an hour out of San Francisco), I have been praying about what the Lord may want me to write today. I felt led to go back and read The Seven Seals of Revolution. I had forgotten a word on my heart that I shared with you then while in Los Angeles, California:

There is no man, no principality, no power that will stand in the way as an obstacle to My divine plan. All is prepared. The sword is about to fall. Do not be afraid, for I will keep My people safe in the trials which are about to afflict the earth (see Rev 3:10).

I have in mind the salvation of souls, the good and evil. From this place, California—”the heart of the Beast”—you are to announce My judgments…

As I sit here in California now two years later, I sense that time isnow.

THE SCALES HAVE TIPPED

We know that, over the course of the past century, chastisement has been avoided. At Fatima, the children saw an angel with a “flaming sword” about to strike the earth… but then our Blessed Mother appeared, and the light emanating from her (that is, her intercession) stopped the angel, who then cried out “Penance, penance, penance!”

The angel with the flaming sword on the left of the Mother of God recalls similar images in the Book of Revelation. This represents the threat of judgment which looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword. —The Message of Fatima, from the Vatican’s website

See, I have created the smith who blows on the burning coals and forges weapons as his work; it is I also who have created the destroyer to work havoc. (Isaiah 54:16)

Several years later, St. Faustina had a vision of Jesus appearing in a white garment holding a “terrible sword” in His hand during her order’s renewal of vows.

Then I saw a resplendence beyond compare and, in front of this brilliance, a white cloud in the shape of a scale. Then Jesus approached and put the sword on one side of the scale, and it fell heavily towards the ground until it was about to touch it. Just then, the sisters finished renewing their vows. Then I saw Angels who took something from each of the sisters and placed it in a golden vessel somewhat in the shape of a thurible. When they had collected it from all the sisters and placed the vessel on the other side of the scale, it immediately outweighed and raised up the side on which the sword had been laid. At that moment, a flame issued forth from the thurible, and it reached all the way to the brilliance. Then I heard a voice coming from the brilliance: Put the sword back in its place; the sacrifice is greater. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary, n. 394

So why now? Why are we seemingly on the verge of the great tribulations that Scripture and Our Lady have foretold? Becausethe sacrifice is no longer greater than the sin. We are not observers in the Kingdom of God: we are participants. And with St. Paul, we have a role in holding back the tides of evil through our prayers, suffering, and sacrifices.² Jesus once told Faustina:

I also withhold My punishments only because of you. You restrain Me, and I cannot vindicate the claims of My justice. You bind My hands with your love. —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary, n. 1193

God’s mercy is fluid; it has forestalled, through the sacrifice and prayers of chosen souls for nearly a century, the complete fulfillment of Our Lady’s words at Fatima:

[Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. —from the Third Secret of Fatima published on the Vatican website, The Message of Fatima, www.vatican.va

But now, through the Global Revolution that seeks to imposeglobal Communism,³ these words must come to pass so that the latter part of her prophecy may be realized:

In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.—Message of Fatima, www.vatican.va

THE FLAMING SWORD — UNSHEATHED

Now, the labour pains must give way to the birth. And oh! how our Holy Father had been warning us of this moment within his short pontificate!

…the threat of judgment also concerns us, the Church in Europe, Europe and the West in general… Light can also be taken away from us and we do well to let this warning ring out with its full seriousness in our hearts… —Pope Benedict XVI, Opening Homily, Synod of Bishops,October 2nd, 2005, Rome.

Mankind has succeeded in unleashing a cycle of death and terror, but failed in bringing it to an end… —POPE BENEDICT XVI,Homily Esplanade of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13th, 2010

The darkness enshrouding God and obscuring values is the real threat to our existence and to the world in general. If God and moral values, the difference between good and evil, remain in darkness, then all other “lights”, that put such incredible technical feats within our reach, are not only progress but also dangers that put us and the world at risk. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Easter Vigil Homily, April 7th, 2012

Humanity today is unfortunately experiencing great division and sharp conflicts which cast dark shadows on its future… the danger of an increase in the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons causes well-founded apprehension in every responsible person. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, December 11th, 2007; USA Today

The very future of the world is at stake. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, December 20th, 2010

On Easter Vigil, the words were impressed on my heart:

There is so little time left now before the explosions.

How strange it was, then, to read a few days later in the news:

North Korea dramatically escalated its warlike rhetoric on Thursday, warning that it had authorized plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States. “The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out “today or tomorrow”. —April 3rd, 2013, AFP

We must really understand what lies behind such rhetoric, whether it is that of Iran, North Korea, China, etc. Many countries are threatened by a new and reckless concept that has emerged since the events of “911″: the theory of “pre-emptive strike” or “just war.” That is, if a country feels its interests are threatened, it can launch a pre-emptive strike. It would be akin to saying that you can shoot at your next door neighbour if you think he might someday shoot you.⁴

Pope Benedict warned:

There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a “just war.” —Cardinal Jospeh Ratzinger, ZENIT, May 2, 2003

Furthermore, war itself is never a solution:

Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of man. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Houston Catholic Worker, July – August 4th, 2003

There will be no peace on earth while the oppression of peoples, injustices, and economic imbalances, which still exist, endure. —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Ash Wednesday Mass, 2003

And hence, we can better understand now why we must pass through these trials: in order to recognize that the law of love, the message of the Gospel, is the only sure norm by which mankind can possibly exist. And yet, it is precisely this which we have lost sight of with incalculable consequences for the world:

In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognize in a love which presses “to the end” (cf. Jn 13:1)—in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The real problem at this moment of our history is that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God, humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects.—Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to All the Bishops of the World, March 10, 2009; Catholic Online

Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.—Divine Mercy in My Soul, Jesus to St. Faustina,Diary, n. 300

PREPARING

I know the words above will be alarming and even frightening to some readers. And so, by God’s grace in the days to come, I wish to write you more frequently, as my spiritual director has asked me to do. I will try, then, to keep my writings shorter. In them, with God’s help, I hope to ground your heart—not in fear—but inauthentic hope that grants us a divine perspective of all things.

You are precious to me, reader… so precious to Jesus. I thank Godthat I have been able to share in the kind of love that St. Paul had for his readers. We will not be abandoned in these times! There is a great grace coming to the Church that will change everything. And so, turn your hearts toward Jesus, fix your eyes upon Him, join the hand of your Mother, and pray, pray, pray. For in prayer, God unites us to Himself, clothes us in armour, and grants us all the graces we need to remain faithful participants in the Kingdom.

Lastly, it is no coincidence that the words I am writing here fall two days before the Feast of Mercy this coming Sunday. On this day, God has promised through St. Faustina to remove all sin and punishments for those who meet the following conditions:

I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners.  On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.—Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary of St. Faustina, n. 699

…a plenary indulgence [will be] granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic
communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”) —Apostolic Penitentiary Decree, Indulgences attached to devotions in honour of Divine Mercy; Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, Tit. Archbishop of Nova Major Pro-Penitentiary;

This is a wonderful opportunity for us to be immersed in the ocean of God’s mercy… and to be prepared to meet Him face to face when He calls us home.

RELATED READING:

• The Prodigal Hour

• Entering the Prodigal Hour

• Warnings in the Wind

• So Little Time Left

• The Flaming Sword

• The Fullness of Sin

• In the Days of Lot

• Of China

• China Rising

 

Thank you! You remain in my heart and prayers. 

www.markmallett.com

——————–

Click below to translate this page into a different language:

FOOTNOTES:

1. “I have eternity for punishing [these], and so I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation.” —Divine Mercy in My Soul, Blessed Mother to St. Faustina, Diary, n. 1160 [↩]
2. cf. Col 1:24 [↩]
3. cf. Involuntary Dispossession [↩]
4. However, as I explained in Mystery Babylon, there is another agenda afoot that is becoming more apparent by the hour: the concept of “regime change” to spread “democracy” is really preparing the way for the loss of sovereignty in a “new world order.” [↩]

PUBLISHED IN: | ON APRIL 5TH, 2013 |

"Honor crimes" caused the death of about a thousand women in 2012

ASIA/PAKISTAN -

Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - Terrorist attacks, acts of violence against the different sectors of Pakistani society, violation of human rights, particularly of women and children, continue to increase the violence in the Asian country. A recent report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) shows that in 2012 almost a thousand women died, including children, because of the so-called "honor crimes", almost always committed by family members. It is suspected that the number of victims could be higher. More than 600 women were executed on charges, without any evidence, of adultery, and nearly 200 were killed for marrying without family approval. The document examines in depth the situation of human rights in the country and violations as forced disappearances of people at the hands of security agencies or violence against religious minorities. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/04/2013)

Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/5/2013

Jesus, Divine Mercy, I trust in you! 

(Picture thanks to C. Rowe) 

        

J.M.J.   
April 5, 2013

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! I call you to prayer. By means of prayer, little children, you obtain joy and peace. Through prayer you are richer in the mercy of God. Therefore, little children, let prayer be the life of each one of you. Especially I call you to pray so that all those who are far away from God may be converted. Then our hearts shall be richer because God will rule in the hearts of all men. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray! Let prayers begin to rule in the whole world. Thank you for having responded to my call." (August 25, 1989)

This beautiful message from Our Lady speaks of the mercy of God. She says that those who pray become rich in that mercy. And so she asks us to pray, pray, pray, so that the world will be ruled by prayer and thus become rich in mercy.

St. Faustina received much instruction on prayer and mercy from Jesus. This little section from her diary is a good example of how Jesus was leading her to pray and be immersed in His mercy:

1074 ...Tell the world about My mercy and My love. The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace. Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.

1075 Souls who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.

1076 Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother's womb. How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound Me most painfully.(St, Faustina's Diary, 1074-76) 

The merciful Jesus is like a tender mother who shields her child, yes, even a mother who carries her child in her womb. Jesus declares that his love and mercy are so tender that they take care of everything for us, as a mother does for her little baby. We have only to ask for His mercy, to trust in His mercy, and He will do everything for us. How can we refuse? If we pray, pray, pray, and in trust, give ourselves over to Jesus, mercy will reign in our lives and radiate to the whole world.

May this Divine Mercy Sunday be a moment of great grace for all of us as we call upon our loving Jesus to enfold us in His mercy as a mother does her little tiny child.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013

 

Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros: I will go to Rome to meet Pope Francis

AFRICA/EGYPT -

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Tawadros II, has expressed his desire to go to Rome to meet Pope Francis. According to Egyptian media sources - such as the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm - the intention was expressed by the head of the largest Christian Church in the Arab world on Wednesday evening, when Pope Tawadros received the visit at the Cathedral of St. Mark of His Exc. Mgr. Jean-Paul Gobel, appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt last January 5. During the meeting between Nuncio Gobel and Pope Tawadros, the intention to make the fraternal cooperation between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church more and more intense was confirmed. The visit of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of the Apostolic See of Rome and its Bishop represent a very important event from an ecumenical point of view. Tawadros's predecessor, Pope Shenouda III, had met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican forty years ago, in May 1973. On that occasion, the Pope and th e Coptic Orthodox Patriarch had signed an important common Christological declaration, and had started the bilateral ecumenical dialogue between the two Churches. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 04/04/2013)

Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/4/2013

 

Being united with Jesus

(c)Mary Matasso 2012   

      

J.M.J.   
April 4, 2013
Easter Thursday

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother, I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbor to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." (April 2, 2013 Mirjana)

Our Lady speaks to us of unity with her Son, Jesus, so that we can become like Him. She wants us to be like Jesus in that we seek God's will and not our own. This is the great mystery of our human history - that we were created free, and in that freedom invited to live the plan of the Creator, but we failed. And so Jesus came to lead us back to that creative will of the Father. It is a mystery that we face every day, every minute of every day, how to be united to Jesus, and hence to the Father through the living out of His will for us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has a beautiful passage about the Lord's Prayer, specifically, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." A careful reading of this passage shows parallels with Our Lady's message! I offer it to you below:

III. "Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven"

2822  Our Father "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. He "is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish." His commandment is "that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." This commandment summarizes all the others and expresses his entire will.  

2823  "He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ... to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will." We ask insistently for this loving plan to be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven.  

2824  In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." Only Jesus can say: "I always do what is pleasing to him." In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: "not my will, but yours be done." For this reason Jesus "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

2825  "Although he was a Son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered." How much more reason have we sinful creatures to learn obedience-we who in him have become children of adoption. We ask our Father to unite our will to his Son's, in order to fulfill his will, his plan of salvation for the life of the world. We are radically incapable of this, but united with Jesus and with the power of his Holy Spirit, we can surrender our will to him and decide to choose what his Son has always chosen: to do what is pleasing to the Father.

In committing ourselves to [Christ], we can become one spirit with him, and thereby accomplish his will, in such wise that it will be perfect on earth as it is in heaven.  

Consider how [Jesus Christ] teaches us to be humble, by making us see that our virtue does not depend on our work alone but on grace from on high. He commands each of the faithful who prays to do so universally, for the whole world. For he did not say "thy will be done in me or in us," but "on earth," the whole earth, so that error may be banished from it, truth take root in it, all vice be destroyed on it, virtue flourish on it, and earth no longer differ from heaven.  (CCC. P. 2822-2825)

The Father wants us to be like Jesus, submitted to His most loving will for us, out of love and trust, and in true freedom. We can learn obedience from Jesus, by contemplating His life on earth, and learning how to trust the Father, and say "yes" to His beautiful plan. Jesus came to draw us into that beautiful plan of love. Jesus actually did it all for us. We have only to unite ourselves to Him, and we will become part of that plan even now!  Jesus is the "Way".

May Our Lady's desire for us become a reality. May we be one with her Son in spirit and thus become one in the Father's will for us!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013

 

From The Friars eLetter 4/4/2013

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Letters of hope and consolation #22 Scripture gives us many interesting images of what union with God looks like. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the water that stretches out its roots to the stream” (Jeremiah 17:7-8, emphasis added). In a very similar fashion the Psalmist writes that blessed are those for whom “the law of the Lord is their joy; God’s law they study day and night. They are like a tree planted near streams of water that yields its fruit in season” (Psalm 1:2-3, emphasis added).  In both passages the biblical authors use water as an image that surrounds the soul that is united to God. Water is the source of life, wherever there is water there is life. What leads a soul to water is trust in the Lord and pondering his word. You can apply this to your spiritual life as well by saying that whenever you are trusting in the Lord and pondering his word you are surrounded by water, i.e. a place where life, in particular your life, can flourish and grow. Unfortunately the opposite is true. Wherever there is a lack of trust in God and an inordinate trust in oneself or other people and wherever there is a lack of reflection of God’s word a soul moves into a dry and barren desert. It is a land filled with doubt, insecurity and most importantly, no water. Hence, the command of the Lord is clear, stay near the water! Trust in God and ponder his word daily and your soul will never be thirsty. God bless you, Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR Sacred Heart of Jesus Friary Fort Worth, TX -------------------------------------------------------------------- We need your help! Make a donation here

In the Company of Saints and Villains: The Work of Divine Mercy BY FR. GORDON J. MACRAE

“Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy . . . To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in my unfathomable and inscrutable mercy.” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1146)

Over the last two weeks, our good friends Father George David Byers and Pornchai Moontri have conspired about the latter writing a guest post for Holy Souls Hermitage. I was a little surprised when Pornchai told me about the invitation. He and Father Byers decided that the post would appear at HSH between Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday to mark the third anniversary of Pornchai’s conversion.

To work on his guest post, Pornchai had to wait for me to finish my Holy Week post for TSW so he could use my typewriter, the only one available. This old electronic Smith Corona has a built-in spell checker that beeps whenever we misspell a word. Since English is not Pornchai’s first language, it helps him to write when he doesn’t have to also thumb through a dictionary to correct his spelling. I have to admit, though, that my typewriter doesn’t beep any more often for Pornchai than it does for me. Nonetheless, I can’t be in this cell when he types. It’s maddening. He hunts and pecks at the pace of plate tectonics! He wrote out his HSH guest post twice, then spent six hours typing it.

I finally finished my Holy Week post on March 20, so the next day, in the afternoon of March 21, Pornchai sat down to begin. He was completely unaware at the time of the huge significance of that particular date and time for what he was writing. This became an important part of his post. Pornchai took a story that many of you are already familiar with, and reframed it in the light of Divine Mercy. I wonder if he even knows it, but the result just screams out the “unfathomable mercy” mentioned in the above quote from the Diary of Saint Faustina. I urge you to go visit Holy Souls Hermitage without delay and read Pornchai’s guest post, “Divine Mercy and the Doors of My Prisons.”

It was three years ago next week that Pornchai was Baptized a Catholic, and a year ago next week that he wrote a guest post for These Stone Wallsentitled, “The Duty of a Knight: To Dream the Impossible Dream.” In that post, he wrote of the great abyss that seemed to separate him from trust and hope. As Pornchai begins his 22nd year in prison, nearing the halfway point of his sentence, he knows that his years behind these stone walls will be immediately followed by deportation to a country and world he was torn from at age 11. With only vague memories of life there, scant contacts, and no place as yet to go, he has no frame of reference at all for what that life might be like on the horizon beyond prison.

Over this last year, Pornchai and I have talked much about Divine Mercy and the necessity of trust that the devotion requires. The famous image with the pale and crimson rays of light emanating from the Heart of the Risen Lord painted from Saint Faustina’s vision bears the words, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Trust has been the challenge of a lifetime for Pornchai. As he wrote in his amazing post over at Holy Souls Hermitage, trust “was the first thing taken from me, and the most painful to restore.”

In this past year, however, Divine Mercy has shown its graces to him in the most subtle, but profound ways, and the ongoing restoration of trust has made leaps and bounds in him. Over the last year, some remarkable people have come together to help find and open doors for Pornchai that a year ago were completely closed and beyond his reach. From Ostend, Belgium; Perth, Australia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Indianapolis, Indiana, doors and windows have opened to show Pornchai reasons to hope for a future of freedom, something he has never in his life really known. As Pornchai himself put it, “It is to me a miracle story.”

A part of that miracle is described in a new book just published this week by Marian Press. Loved, Lost, FOUND: 17 Divine Mercy Conversions by Felix Carroll has an extended chapter about Pornchai’s life and his encounter with Divine Mercy. These Stone Walls is also in the story, as am I, and it is truly an inspired and inspiring work. It is the third Catholic book published in the last year citing These Stone Walls, and we are adding it to the short list of books we recommend on the TSW Home Page. In his chapter on Pornchai’s life, Felix Carroll masterfully placed Divine Mercy on center stage, and that is just as it should be. The book is a work of art.

MY OWN DIVINE MERCY STORY

Exactly twenty years ago, in the first week of April 1993, my friend and spiritual director, Father Richard Drabik, M.I.C. was preparing to go to Rome to concelebrate with Pope John Paul II the Mass of Beatification of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska, now known as Saint Faustina. Her Beatification took place on the Sunday after Easter that year, and Pope John Paul II decreed that henceforth that Sunday would be universally known in the Roman Calendar as Divine Mercy Sunday.

Father Richard Drabik was formerly Provincial Superior of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. He wrote the Preface to the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska that has become globally famous. Just before leaving for her Beatification in Rome twenty years ago this month, Father Drabik asked me if I would like to write a brief prayer for (then) Blessed Faustina’s intercession. I did not know what to write, so on the day of my friend’s departure I handed him a small scrap of paper to place with his intentions for the Mass. I folded it and sealed it in a small envelope that would fit easily in his pocket.

No one ever knew what I wrote. Except for a brief note sent to Felix Carroll a few weeks ago, I have never before spoken of this. The note with my petition was simple: “I ask the intercession of Blessed Faustina that I may have the courage to be the priest God calls me to be.” It was an odd petition, and today I have no idea what I was thinking about when I wrote it and handed it to Father Drabik on his way out the door.

Exactly two weeks after the Beatification of Sister Faustina, on May 3, 1993, police showed up at my door. They carried with them a secret indictment and a warrant for my arrest for claims alleged to have occurred sometime between 1978 and 1983, ten to fifteen years earlier. They were the claims for which I faced trial and was summarily sent to prison as Ryan MacDonald wrote in “Judge Arthur Brennan Sentenced Father Gordon MacRae to Die in Prison.”

Those claims of abuse never took place at all, but I will always remember the words of a police detective as the officers took me away despite my denials: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re guilty. Your Church is!” It was a scene reminiscent of another era I wrote of in “Catholic Scandal and the Third Reich: The Rise and Fall of a Moral Panic.” The detective’s words could just as easily have been heard in Sister Faustina’s own World War II era Poland as Father Maximilian Kolbe and many other priests were led off to prison on trumped up charges.

DIVINE MERCY BEHIND THESE STONE WALLS

On April 9, I will turn 60 years old in prison. I was 41 years old when I was sent to prison, and was between 25 and 30 when my “crimes”- which never actually occurred at all – were claimed to have taken place. The process of reopening a case alleged to have occurred over 30 years ago, and which never contained any evidence to debunk or attack, is a grueling uphill battle. If there is any hope at all for freedom and justice, it is vague hope. It is a hope that exists, like the challenge of trust for Pornchai, on the other side of an abyss.

The readers of These Stone Walls have helped in so many ways to show us the face of Divine Mercy. Your reading TSW has given me a voice, something usually denied to priests who are accused in our Church. Your comments have comforted us and given us courage. Your sending links to others has spread the truth. Your gifts have given us hope for justice, have fed us when we were hungry, have paid necessary telephone bills to edit these posts, and have even kept me in postage and typewriter ribbons. You have brought the Corporal Works of Mercy to our cell door.

In his guest post at Holy Souls Hermitage this week, Pornchai Moontri wrote with great candor and openness about how our respective Crosses were laid on us in two adjacent states at the very same time, and of how these two very different, very painful stories one day converged. I am in awe of what he has written, and I am intentionally keeping this post short so you will find time to go there. Bring some tissue. You might need it.

Please don’t let Divine Mercy Sunday go by without reading and sharing “Divine Mercy and the Doors of My Prisons” by Pornchai Moontri at Holy Souls Hermitage.

“At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy because justice will have no hold on it.” (Diary of Saint Faustina, 1075)

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via thesestonewalls.com

A POPE WHO NEVER SINGS

Few Surprises. Francis Is Just That Way

The first actions of the new pope reviewed in the light of his autobiography. The reasons for his silence on issues that most set the Church against worldly powers: birth, death, family, religious freedom

by Sandro Magister

ROME, April 3, 2013 – Outside of Argentina, very little had been published about Jorge Mario Bergoglio before his election as pope.

But now the translations of his writings, speeches, interviews are multiplying rapidly. And they are helping to make less surprising the actions of Pope Francis.

The following are some of these “surprises" small and large, which however no longer appear as such in the light of his autobiography, published in 2010 in Argentina in the book-length interview by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti, entitled "El Jesuita," now on sale in other countries as well, including Italy.

Continue reading: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350492?eng=y

[ Video ] POPE FRANCIS: WOMEN ARE THE FIRST COMMUNICATORS OF THE RESURRECTION

Pope Francis highlights role of women, youth as messengers of faith and hope by romereports http://en.romereports.com FRANCIS: WOMEN ARE THE FIRST COMMUNICATORS OF THE RESURRECTION Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS) – The Resurrection, the heart of the Christian message, and the two ways it is announced—profession of faith and narration—were the themes with which Pope Francis returned to the catechesis for the Year of Faith in this morning's general audience. As is becoming his custom, the Holy Father travelled around St. Peter's Square in the white, open-top Jeep to greet the dozens of thousands of people who want to meet him, many of whom put their babies forward so he can take them in his arms. After his warm greeting of the faithful, the Pope prayed with those present and, after giving them a “good morning!”, he began his catechesis with the quote of the celebrated passage of St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians: “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain”. “Unfortunately,” he said, “there have often been attempts to obscure the faith in Jesus' Resurrection and doubts have crept in even among believers themselves. Our faith is 'watered down', we might say; not strong faith. Sometimes this has been because of superficiality, sometimes because of indifference, because we are busy with thousands of other things that seem more important than our faith, or even because we have a limited view of life. But it is precisely the Resurrection that offers us the greatest hope because it opens our lives and the life of the world to God's eternal future, to complete happiness, to the certainty that evil, sin, and death can be conquered. This leads us to living our everyday lives more confidently, to facing them courageously and committedly. Christ's Resurrection shines new light on our everyday realities. Christ's Resurrection is our strength!” Moving on to explain the two ways that the truth of the Resurrection is shared in the New Testament, Francis spoke first of professions of faith, that is, of the concise formulas expressing the core of the faith. Such examples can be found in the Letter to the Corinthians or the Letter to the Romans in which St. Paul writes: “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). From the Church's first steps, her faith in the Mystery of Jesus' Death and Resurrection has been steadfast and clear.” However, the Pope preferred to emphasize the witness that takes the form of a story, recalling above all that, in these types of testimonials, women are the first witnesses. They are the ones who, at dawn, go to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body and find the first sign: the empty tomb. They then encounter the divine messenger who tells them: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, is not here. He is risen. “The women,” he attested, “are compelled by love and know how to welcome this announcement with faith. They believe and immediately they share [the announcement]. They don't keep it for themselves but convey it. They can't contain the joy of knowing that Jesus is alive, the hope that fills their hearts. This should also happen in our lives. We should feel the joy of being Christians! We believe in the Risen One who has conquered evil and death! We must have the courage to 'go out' to bring this joy and this light to all the areas of our lives. Christ's Resurrection is our greatest certainty. It is our most precious treasure! How can we not share this treasure, this certainty, with others? It is not just for us: it is to be proclaimed; to be given to others; to be shared with others. This is precisely our witness.” Francis noted another element of the profession of faith in the New Testament: that only men are recorded as witnesses of the Resurrection, the Apostles but no women. “This is because,” he explained, “according to Jewish law of the time, women and children couldn't give reliable, credible witness. In the Gospels, however, women have a primary, fundamental role. We can see here an argument in favour of the historical actuality of the Resurrection. If it had been made up, in the context of the time, it would not have been connected to the testimonials of women. The evangelists instead simply narrate what had happened: the women were the first witnesses. This says that God's choices are not made in accordance with human criteria. The first witnesses of Jesus' birth are the shepherds, simple and humble people. The first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful. And this is a bit the mission of women, of mothers and women: witnessing to their children and their grandchildren that Jesus is alive. He is the Living One. He is the Risen One. Mothers and women, go forward with this witness! For God, what counts is our hearts.” “This also leads us to reflect on how women, in the Church and in the journey of faith, have had and still today have a unique role in opening doors to the Lord, in following him and conveying his face, because seeing with faith always takes love's gaze, which is simple and profound. It is more difficult for the Apostles and disciples to believe: not for the women. Peter runs to the tomb, but stops before the empty tomb. Thomas has to touch the wounds on Jesus' body with his own hands. Even in our faith journeys it is important to know and to feel that God loves us; not to be afraid to love him: faith is professed with the mouth and with the heart, with words and with love.” The Holy Father recalled that, after the apparitions to the women, there were others in which Jesus made himself present in a new way. “He is the Crucified One but his body is glorious. He did not return to his earthly life, but rather in a new condition. At first they don't recognize him and only through his words and his deeds are their eyes opened. Encountering the Risen One transforms them, gives new strength to their faith, an unshakeable foundation. For us too, there are many signs by which the Risen One makes himself known: Sacred Scripture, the Eucharist, the other Sacraments, charity, these gestures of love bring a ray of the Risen One. Let us be enlightened by Christ's Resurrection and transformed by its power so that, through us too, the signs of death might give way to signs of life in the world.” At the end, seeing that there were many young persons in the square, the Pope addressed them: “Take this certainty to all, the Lord is alive and walks beside us in our lives. This is your mission. Take this hope forward with you. Be anchored to this hope, this anchor that is heaven. Hold tight to the lifeline. Be anchored and carry this hope forward. You, witnesses of Jesus, carry forward the testimony that Jesus is alive and that this will give us hope; it will bring hope to this world that has grown a bit old because of wars, evil, and sin. Young people, go forward!

Bangalore, seminary rector murdered on Easter

The attackers killed Fr. K.J. Thomas hitting him in the face and head with a brick. Motive and identity of the killers still unknown. Archbishop of Bangalore "brutal and senseless murder, this is a great loss for us all." The funeral will be held in Ootacamund, his native diocese.


Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Dozens of priests, seminarians and lay Catholics celebrated a mass in memory of Fr. K.J. Thomas this morning, the rector of the seminary in Bangalore (Karnataka) murdered yesterday morning at dawn. Meanwhile, the police continue to investigate a murder described as "brutal, terrible and senseless" by Msgr. Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore, speaking toAsiaNews. In the coming hours the priest's body will be transported in Ootacamund, his native diocese, where the funeral will take place. The local bishop will communicate the date as soon as it has been decided.

Read more here: http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Bangalore,-seminary-rector-murdered-on-Easter-27537.html

From Mary TV: April 2, 2013 Medjugorje Message

  

      

J.M.J.   
April 2, 2013
Easter Tuesday

Dear Family of Mary!

The April 2, 2013 Message through Mirjana: 

"Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother, I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbor to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." (April 2, 2013 Mirjana)

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV 2013
(The next reflection will be for April 4, 2013)

Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/2/2013

       

  

  (c)Josip Zubac 2013  

Apparition Hill  

    

J.M.J.   
April 2, 2013
Easter Tuesday

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call." (March 25, 2013)

"Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts." Our Lenten journey has led us to this time of rejoicing! Jesus, crucified for us, is now risen from the dead! He has conquered death, and therefore He has conquered fear. We live in a new reality. Death cannot frighten us anymore. Jesus is our Lord. Now we can open ourselves to peace and love! Our reality is different, changed, full of hope and joy!

Our Lady wants us to continue in this new reality, this Easter joy, through prayer."Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts." In Medjugorje, Our Lady helps us to pray until that reign begins. Through her presence in Medjugorje, Mary can increase the graces of our prayer so that we experience God in a strong way. She "magnifies" our prayer, if you get my pun. As Mary magnifies the Lord, we are drawn into her praise and adoration, and our prayer is strengthened!! Many people have witnessed to the deep prayer experienced in Medjugorje.

I received an email from a good friend, in which she describes very much this quality of prayer experienced in Medjugorje:

Dear Cathy, Happy Easter!  I feel such joy... I want to thank you and Denis for streaming that hour on Apparition Hill last week.  I had mentioned to you the other day that I had such a yearning in my heart to go back to Medjugorje.  I spent that hour on Apparition Hill and my spirit was definitely there.  I entered into prayer and spoke out loud to Our Lady.  My heart was so full, I felt as if it expanded.  So through the live stream I encountered her in a special way, satisfying that yearning.  All that our Blessed Mother is giving us is so amazing.  I don't think I have the capacity to perceive it, but I keep asking for all she desires to give. God bless, M.

Of course you see that my friend was not "in" Medjugorje but she was present to Medjugorje through our live streaming of Apparition Hill. And she experienced the fruit of Our Lady's presence in that way! This is such a grace!

Our Lady wants us to experience the reign of love and peace. This reign will change the world, one person at a time. She is with us to help us! Through such events as the live streaming of Apparition Hill, we hope that many people will be able to "Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts."

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2013

PS. We will attempt to stream Mirjana's apparition this morning. By the time this email reaches some of you, it will have already happened. If it is raining and the streaming cannot take place, don't be discouraged. We will keep trying until we are able to stream the apparition. And we will have more "live" events at significant places in Medjugorje to help us "Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts."

Live streaming will begin at 8:00 am Medjugorje time, 2:00 EDT.  www.marytv.tv 

 

Vatican II and the “Bad News” of the Gospel | Catholic World Report -

Vatican II and the “Bad News” of the Gospel | Catholic World Report -

Ralph Martin’s new book clarifies what the Council actually taught about salvation outside the Church.

David Paul Deavel

Ruefully observing statistics showing that only 6 percent of American Catholic parishes considered evangelism a priority, the late Cardinal Avery Dulles once lamented, “The Council has often been interpreted as if it had discouraged evangelization.”  Ralph Martin’s new book, Will Many Be Saved?  What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization, aims to explain why this interpretation has taken root despite the fact that the Council documents, particularly the keystone documentLumen Gentium (LG), are brimming with talk about evangelization as the Church’s main job. In fact, Paul VI’s encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi stated that the objectives of the Council were summed up in one statement:  “to make the Church of the 20th century ever better fitted for proclaiming the Gospel.”  Yet the opposite happened. 

Read more here: http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2144/Vatican_II_and_the_Bad_News_of_the_Gospel.aspx

Mirjana: Pope needs prayers for hard road

Francis is the needed Pope for the present moment, and has immediately been taken to heart. But his road will be very hard with too much work to do, and so he is much in need of prayers, says visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo. She calls Benedict XVI great, his resignation a lesson.

Mirjana talking to pilgrims on a previous occasion. Photo: Daniel Miot, guardacon.me

Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo has high hopes for Pope Francis. Yet his task is also very difficult, and he needs people’s prayers to succeed, the seer tells pilgrims in a feature on Medjugorje aired by the Italian tv station TG1 on March 25.

“Our Pope Francis who has immediately entered into the heart of all of us is a Pope whom we have needed for the present moment. We must pray a lot for him, help him with our prayers because his road will be very hard, and there will be too much to do, and if we do not pray for him, who will help him?” Mirjana says.

Pope Francis with his predecessor, Benedict XVI

The visionary also comments on Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign, saying there is something to learn from Francis’ predecessor:

“He is a great man who has given a lesson to all of us. Since he is now old and sick, and cannot give everything to the Church, he has resigned as a great man” Mirjana says.

Mirjana about the Pope in feature aired on Italian TG1 on March 25.

Spirit Daily is circulating this article

via medjugorjetoday.tv

Monthly message from Anne, a lay apostle

We continue our cycle of monthly messages with April 2005 for our prayer groups and personal reflection. April 1, 2005  Jesus  My dear brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. I have prepared your souls for change. If a teacher prepares a student for an exam, the student should then anticipate the exam with peace, understanding that all that is necessary is steady labor. My brothers and sisters in the world are in a similar position. I have explained through many sources that there are changes coming in the world. I have made it clear that I am overseeing each detail. Each of you, My beloved ones, have a role to play in this time of transition. Look ahead with great peace and courage and you will serve honorably. If the world responds with excitement or distress, you respond with a calm that is noticeable. In everything, trust Me. Begin today. Regardless of what occurs in your life, respond peacefully, saying often, "Jesus, I trust in you." I have prepared an army of peaceful soldiers to respond to the changes in this troubled world. You will stand out, My friends. You will spread My peace to every corner. Be joyful as your Jesus is joyful, for truly the darkness is lifting. Direction For Our Times relies on donations to supplement the cost of publishing the messages. Currently, only 40% of the publishing cost is covered by the sale of the books. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.    Direction for Our Times (DFOT) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to spreading God's messages as revealed in the Volumes.