Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard; obey it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Revelation 3:2-3
I have been pondering of late what it means to be awake and asleep as so often is referred to in scripture. Being awake is being aware of the Spiritual realm and reality that exists beyond what we can see. Being asleep is being taken in by the things of the world.
In the Gospel of Matthew we see the story of Jesus being asleep on the ship when a storm arises.
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”Matthew 8:23-27
In this story the paradox is that Jesus, though He is physically sleeping, is the only one who is really awake (of course He is God!). The storm, be it a literal storm, or any other kind of storm life throws at us, distracts us making us look at the world and the things in it. It steals the peace of God, whose face we should be adoring.
We all can relate to the Apostles in this episode, but really, all they had to do was look at His sleeping face and trust that if He is able to sleep through this, they would be fine. And not just fine but glorified. But they didn’t see the spiritual reality. They only saw the material reality of the world swirling around them. He is the keeper of these storms. After all the healings and all the good news they have witnessed prior to this boat trip, they still believed He would let them perish. Did they not know God’s goodness? They were the ones who were asleep. They had not yet become temples of the living God.
Then we see later, while Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, that He is asking them to stay awake and pray. Yet they physically fall asleep.
Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Now the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. Look, my betrayer is at hand.” Matthew 26:40-46
This scripture speaks about their eyes being heavy. Heaviness comes from carrying a weight that isn’t necessary. Jesus is the Savior, praying to do the will of the Father, yet they still are not awake to the full reality of this. Why do you think he wants them to watch and pray? It is for their sakes. So they may not “come into the time of trial.” He wants them to spiritually see what is happening and pray – which unites them to the Father. It is for their sake He asks them to be awake. They are unable to. The result is that when the storm of the Passion comes, they run away. They deny and fight the Father’s will. They doubt what they have known.
The only one of the Apostles who stood and saw the offering on the cross was John, who many mystics tell us ran to get Mary. She was awake and praying uniting her will to the Father. Her intercession was for all of them, but in a particular way for John.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. John 19:26-27
When we look at the Blessed Virgin Mary we can see the dogma of indefectibility. That is, we see the church herself is indefectible remaining the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world – because she was already perfected in the Blessed Virgin Mary through whom the sanctifying grace of God pours upon us.
Mary is and always has been awake and she has appeared to us throughout the centuries to Mother the church back on the path of truth. She looks like we look in all the places she appears, showing us the image of God in our own faces. She warns us and calls us back.
It isn’t enough to pray a Rosary in fear of what is to come. We must pray in love and trust of the glory that God has promised; taking her as our Mother, so that we the church can be perfected without falling asleep.
You may right now be in a situation at your own church wondering if you should leave, seeing the weaknesses of your own Priests whose spirit may be willing but whose flesh is weak. It is here that Christ calls us to be awake, for our own sake. See the face of God instead of the storm. When we hide and run away from our crosses, it just changes the cross we carry. The reality is that no matter where we go, the storm is raging. We must pray like never before for our Priests and our families. We must be a lightning rod that grounds the lightning strikes in a posture of adoration that moves outward to those around us. We must trust that what comes our way is meant to bring glory, even when it feels like destruction. God only wants to destroy that which keeps us from Him. He makes it transparent first.
If we unite ourselves in prayer and trust and place ourselves under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin, we will see more clearly. We will be awake. This is not easy. It is a suffering. Nothing draws you closer to God faster than suffering and still believing. It is a call to abandonment to the Divine Will.
Lastly, we know they will be true disciples of Jesus Christ, imitating his poverty, his humility, his contempt of the world and his love. They will point out the narrow way to God in the pure truth of the holy Gospel and not according to the maxims of the world. Their hearts will not be troubled, nor will they show favor to anyone; they will not spare or heed or fear any man, however powerful he may be. They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the blood-stained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary in their heart. The simplicity and self-sacrifice of Jesus will be reflected in their whole behavior. Saint Louisde Monfort TD:#59
I was in prayer the other day speaking to Jesus about the state of the church. Seeing the trajectory we are on can be scary, and yet, our prayer matters. I thought of how during Covid we had no access to the Eucharist and how that is the devil’s ultimate plan, to bring that about permanently. I have seen Priest after Priest be brought down for various different reasons. I see good Priests exhausted and frustrated. I see the attack they’re undergoing. I see the fortification they need, for if we have no Priest, we have no Mass, no Eucharist. I spoke to the Lord about all of this. I prayed. I closed my eyes.
I found myself inside the tomb. The tomb of death. The tomb of all the things we fear. The fruition of all of our sin, of all of my sin, sitting before me in the darkness of the tomb. I felt so alone, so abandoned, so scared. And the Lord, who knows everything, spoke, “you’re in the darkness of the Valley of the shadow of death. The tomb. You cannot see. You feel alone. But what do you smell?” Startled by the question, I inhaled deeply. And I smelled roses. And then I was surrounded by Roses. I recorded in my journal what was said to me. As always, I state, I write in my journal as if the Lord were speaking to me. If what I have written the church says is wrong, then the church is correct and I am wrong.
January 14, 2024
Beloved Lily of the Father,
Enter into the tomb. No Priest. No Mass. Feel the suffocation of death, but for a moment, the wages of sin are felt. Rather now, notice and breathe in the sweet aroma of Roses. The smell of eternal life. Walk through Salvation History from where the heavens announced me all the way to the Glorification of My Mother. All of Creation bows down. Come with her. She walks you towards the beatific vision. Towards a light and a glory you cannot fathom. The world is passing away, keep your eyes on the eternal. Be not afraid of the road ahead. Hold the Hand of the August Queen of Heaven. Pray the Rosary and listen to the echo until the tomb is empty and glory rises.
John 3:5
Your Divine Spouse
August Queen of Heaven, Sovereign Mistress of the Angels, thou, who from the beginning hast received from God the power of the mission to crush the head of Satan, we humbly implore thee, to send thy holy legions so that under thy command and by thy power, they may drive the devils away, everywhere, fight them, subduing their boldness and thrust them down into the abyss.
Who is like unto God?
O good and tender Mother, thou willst always be our love and our hope.
O divine Mother, send Thy holy angels to defend me and drive far away from me the cruel enemy.
If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. James 1:5
Over the years I have had the privilege of reading the writings of my friend and fellow Catholic, Rob Marco. He is one of the few I read regularly for his deep insight and male perspective on the things of faith and reason. In the divisive times in our church I have found Rob one of the few voices that cuts through the rhetoric to what is good, true, and beautiful. He makes me think, “now there is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.” I am overjoyed that Rob has published his first book, Wisdom and Folly, Essays on Life, Faith and Everything In Between. I am honored to be able to interview him about his first book and to share his insights with you the reader.
Author, Rob Marco
Rob, I know you have led a very interesting life and are a convert to the Catholic Faith. For those reading this who don’t know you, can you give a brief background about yourself?
It’s funny…the other night we were at a party with a bunch of Catholic friends and the host of the party gave me a poster with a quote by Jack Kerouac, who she knew was a huge literary influence in my life when I started writing thirty years ago:
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or a saw a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”
Kerouac was a Catholic, but during the post-war fifties and sixties, it was a crazy time and like many writers and artists of that time, got really taken up with Buddhism and Eastern spirituality. Maybe some of that rubbed off on me, since I didn’t have an explicit Christian upbringing and only one of my parents (my dad) is Catholic, and my brothers and I were never raised in any kind of faith. I started reading the Dhammapada and other Buddhist texts and teachings in high school, and practiced meditation. But I also had a series of influences at that time that kind of rubbed off on me as well–my best friend was a Christian, I hiked the Appalachian Trail with a guy whose mother was a faithful Catholic (and who I am convinced prayed me into the Church), I went to a Christian hardcore show in high school where the pastor of the church got up on stage and prayed for the Holy Spirit to touch those in the crowd and convicted me, and I had a personal encounter with the Lord whose Name I didn’t know when I lost my map on a solo backpacking trip in the wilderness when I was 17. I was looking for Truth, had a feeling I was a sinner in need of a Savior as I was unable to save myself, and was touched by the Lord who took my hand and gently guided me to the doors of the Catholic Church at the age of 18. I detail all this in my written testimony for the Coming Home Network here for anyone who would want to read it. 25 years after my conversion and becoming Catholic, I can say the Lord was patient with me and never left my side, even though my walk of faith has never been a straight line. What I love about that Kerouac quote is that it still holds true for me today, but in a different light: the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved. These are the saints, the fools for Christ both living and those who have gone to their blessed repose. They are not looking for self-indulgent “kicks” but to give themselves fully to the work of discipleship, what I like to call “full-throated Catholicism.” I don’t have a lot of tolerance for lukewarm anything, but especially not lukewarm Catholicism. Nothing could be more offensive to the Lord, and so I try to live my life as a Catholic and a disciple of Jesus Christ in emulation of those holy fools, men and women of integrity, discipline, and hope mostly because anything else in the life of faith is just not worth living for.
Realizing that God’s timing is everything, what made you finally decide to finally write a book now?
Well, I’ve essentially been writing this book for the past ten years or so, but it was only by happenstance that I was approached by a publisher who was familiar with my blog and articles who asked if he could compile them in book form for publication. My wife has been gently nagging me to have a kind of legacy-project to pass on to our three kids that tangible and wasn’t online, though other friends and readers have been saying the same. I kept kicking the can down the road, not feeling for years like anything I had written was worthy of publication. So this was serendipitous, since I had almost eight hundred essays written to date. Now she can die happy, haha. I realized also, though, that this may be a timely contribution to other new or seasoned Catholics (and even non-believers or non-Catholic Christians) who may be trying to figure out how to live a Catholic life in the midst of all the chaos–both in the world and in the Church–when there doesn’t seem to be a blueprint for doing so. I don’t have it all figured out, nor do I have to, and I’m in good company I think. But I know where I’ve found bread in my poverty. Although the book is almost 400 pages, it is arranged topically by themes I think every Catholic can relate to: friendship, family, marriage, manhood, prayer, faith, discipleship, the Church, etc. So, there are ten or so short essays on each of these topics…you can pick it up and put it down and nibble away at it easily and non-sequentially. There’s a lot packed into each essay, good food for thought, and a lot of them are reflections from my own life but can easily apply to all of our lives. Not many of us can sit down and read War and Peace these days with our short attention spans hijacked by social media, podcasts, and smartphones. I’m no exception. So, I wrote this book in physical form to show the other beggars where the bread is in a way in a way that is accessible and easily digestible and tangible but pushes them to be one of those mad ones, a saint living outside the boxes prescribed for us that we are “supposed” to fit into–to be truly and authentically Catholic.
Do you have a favorite essay in the book?
I did three phases of edits of the final manuscript, which was about 1,200 pages or so in totality. Near the end I thought I would get physically ill, like a man who couldn’t eat one more sushi roll at a Chinese buffet, I was so tired of editing and tediously combing for typos. But it never crossed my mind that “this is crap, all of this is crap,” and I stand behind all of it, because I felt more like the reluctant Jonah or Jeremiah when it came to writing it. When I sit down to write, I just try to be a pencil in the hand of God to say what He wants said. What’s funny is some of my favorite essays (and the ones that got the most traction among readers) were the ones that I banged out in like half an hour before breakfast or late a night without thinking much of them. Essays like “The Church Will Hurt You,” “The Time for Teaching and Preaching Are Over,” “Getting On Base,” are challenging and unorthodox, and all the essays on Marriage and Family I like because they are more self-reflective. I love “It’s Been God All Along” about my high school friend K and her coming back to Confession after thirty years on account of reading some things from my blog (as well as other graces she experienced); it makes me teary-eyed every time I read it to be reminded how good God is. There is really something for everyone, which I think is what is so great about the book.
I noticed you opened with a prayer from Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, are there many particular Saints who you feel walk with you in life and in your writing?
When I was reviewing the final manuscript I asked my editor/publisher, “Where did this come from? Did I add this or did you?” I couldn’t remember, and neither could he. I mean I love St. Pio, but I can’t recall for the life of me if and when I added that quote at the beginning of the book. So maybe it was St. Pio himself or the Holy Spirit inserting something that I couldn’t explain otherwise. Kevin Wells in the foreword highlighted my affinity for St. Philip Neri, who I would consider a kind of patron and spiritual brother. He didn’t take himself too seriously and loved jokes and laughing, but also had a serious and fervent love of God so much that he felt his heart would explode at times. I think he’s a great saint for our age, and one I especially identify with. I’ve also grown to love St. Therese the Little Flower, though like many people I couldn’t stomach her initially. I talked about her in the essays “When You Can’t Take the Stairs” and “Trad Piety Vs. An Abasement of Trust.” As a more traditional-leaning Catholic, that danger of pride and neo-Jansenism is always kind of hiding around the corner so St. Therese is my bleed-valve when those things start crowding in my spiritual life. I really want to see a kind of “third-way” that synthesizes the best of Tradition and Charity, holy Fear of God and child-like Trust, love of the traditional liturgy and a love of the poor. I don’t think these things are at odds, but kind of a “complete protein” for living a fervent and balanced Catholic life that doesn’t degenerate into tribalism or ghettos. We can’t be strictly social workers and we can’t wall up in our parishes praying the rosary to protect ourselves from the world either. We need to radically live out the works of mercy in Matthew 25 while being stepped and fortified in personal and communal prayer. Call me crazy, but I have great hope for renewal with this vision of a “third way.”
You do not shy away from hard topics in this book, your section on the church hits on many of the wounds Catholics are struggling with currently. You even include a letter to your Bishop regarding politicians and communion. Do you find it difficult to write about such things and if so, how do you prepare interiorly to tackle these topics?
That’s a great question, and one I hadn’t really thought about much since writing for me is as much a compulsion for me as it is a craft and an art–try as I might to hang it up for good, I keep coming back to the keyboard. You know the way Samuel goes back to Eli three times saying “you called me?”. I feel like Eli a lot of times on that third visit, saying, “ah, maybe the Holy Spirit really does want this thing said after all.”
I am not a super disciplined or structured person by nature, so that’s a struggle and probably why I tend to write shorter pieces at all hours of the day and night that have some meat, rather than any kind of lengthy or heavily researched academic pieces. There’s enough of those out there, as well as fluffier feel-good devotional things. So, I try to work in various disciplines to keep pins in my faith life–11pm holy hour every Tuesday, First Friday and First Saturday devotions, daily rosary and mental prayer, short ejaculatory prayer throughout the day, and of course Sunday Mass and monthly Confession. But I’m also not wedded to the Church, in the sense that I have a normal secular day job, I don’t work for the diocese or Church, and I don’t pay my mortgage or bills with writing. I have never monetized my blog. I even donated the royalties for this book, because for me I never wrote for money but because I have a debt to pay–the debt of my ransoming from sin and death in Christ.
So, I feel a sense of freedom to write about things that maybe other Catholic writers, authors, and pundits won’t touch for fear of alienating their base or jeopardizing their careers, but that are also things that should or need to be said–because many people are thinking them. So, I think when the Spirit of God is with you, hopefully, you have the spirit of David before Goliath–a kind of holy and zealous naivety that lets those things happen because you are a “dodo” as Mother Angelica used to say. God needs more dodos who count the cost as it says in Scripture, but have the boldness to do (or write) the hard thing anyway. Business-as-usual or status quo thinking will not get us very far in the Church or in our lives of discipleship in these times–we need holy fools and radical disciples willing to do difficult things, because these are hard times. But as it says in scripture, “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom should I fear?”
What is your hope for people who will read this book?
I have said previously that if I can lead one person to Christ for the salvation of their souls, I can die happy. I don’t know if I’ve done that, but my hope is that the book will strengthen both lukewarm and seasoned Catholics and get them to grow in, live out, and take risks for their faith; that non-Catholics will find that their preconceptions of Catholics may be off-base; and that non-believers will after reading the book have a hound from heaven chasing them down until they arrive at the doors of the Church. There was a time earlier on when I was trying to make a name for myself, but fortunately that impetus withered on the vine with the praying of the Litany of Humility, and I think the motivations are more pure: to be all things to all men, so that by all possible means some may be saved (1 Cor 9:22).
Thanks Rob for such a great interview and congratulations on your first book.
To all my readers out there, I really do hope you take time to purchase Rob’s book, here.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
I was listening to a video of Voddie Baucham that is well worth the watch. While I wholeheartedly am a daughter of the Church, I rejoice when a Protestant speaks truth with clarity, even while our own leaders confuse. I have, of late, felt like a battered spouse as my friend so adeptly wrote about, so when something cuts through with clarity, it is worth sharing to help us focus and navigate these tumultuous times. If you haven’t time to watch the video, I will share briefly in my own words some of its insight here but I will use a Catholic bible translation (NCB) and add a lot of my own commentary.
So often we hear that “love is love”, and if any correction is offered a person can get labeled as “hateful.” But the truth is, true love is not hateful and there are things that the bible does tell us not to love.
Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15
So we ask ourselves, what “world” is being talked about that we are not to love? The verse goes on to say;
For everything that is in the world— the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world with all its enticements is passing away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:16-17
This verse spells out the “world” we are not to love. While most bible translations state, “desires” of the flesh, “lust” of the eyes and the “pride” of life, I love that this NCB translation uses the word “concupiscence.” I am not here to go into which translation is right. The Pastor in the video does not use concupiscence and still gets the point across clearly. I am here just to expound on what he was saying, and the word concupiscence reminds us of our Catholic roots and the fact that we are fallen and desire to do wrong things. We became disordered when we fell from grace, and we all have concupiscence. When we start to call our concupiscence and our sin “irregular” we do a disservice to the gravity of the fall from grace against an infinitely good God and we do a disservice to the immensity of God’s saving grace that wants to elevate and divinize us.
His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:3-4
Something “irregular” invokes imagery of being able to be made regular by man. While something sinful can only be made whole and healed and better than regular through surrender to the Divine Will. The latter takes repentance and reliance on God, not man. In our efforts to be empathetic I think we have become cruel. We steal from people the knowledge and understanding of the love of God by watering down truth in luke warm language.
When our source becomes anything other than God alone (Mark 10:18), then the source of our love is not of God. Thus, when the love comes from wrong desire or from pride, we can know that this love is not of God and we are told, do not love it. Our society seems unaware of this. Many of our church leaders do too. If I desire to fornicate outside of marriage, that is a disordered desire and must come to God and beg his mercy upon me. How do I know? Because scripture tells us;
Are you not aware that wrongdoers will never inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, extortioners, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. Some of you were once such as these. However, now you have been washed clean, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
We can know these things are wrong through natural law and because of the harm that comes to others and ourselves when we do these things. We may think there’s no harm, but there is, and it is why we are told not to do them. It isn’t because God wants to restrict us, but because God wants us to be glorified in Him, not of ourselves.
It isn’t just the source of love that must be from God, but the object of our love must also be Godly. If we love the object so much so that it becomes our identity – I AM statements of anything other than being a child of God, then it is ungodly. It is actually idolatry. We all sin but when we identify as our sin or we identify others by their sin it is not of God.
We can clearly see that loving the world has a twofold problem, a bad source (concupiscence) and a bad object (sin). The fruit of all this can also clearly be seen. The fruit is division, violence, depression, rage, anxiety, death and war. Love is not love. A bad source and a bad object can send you to a place where there is no love if you don’t choose to change. True love is a person and Jesus really is the answer.
Ask yourself what is it that you love? If it isn’t God alone then bring your desires and attachments before God and surrender them. The Holy Spirit is just waiting to dwell within you, so you bear good fruit.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:22-23
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say…. Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman (the church);
Serpent: Did God really say you can’t bless same sex attracted persons?
Woman (the Church): God said that we can’t bless sinful unions. God desires recognition of sin and repentance. Individual people have always been able to be blessed, the Mass closes daily with blessing. Spontaneous blessings are almost always granted to individuals who ask.
Serpent: Surely they have legitimate relationships, God must not be merciful. He must not really love. Everyone makes mistakes. Don’t you think they need their own blessing together for the relationship?
Woman (the Church): what you say sounds true, we will consume this message and write a document on how God wants to bless all good in these unions. It will not speak of repentance of sin in the confessional nor will it point our the disordered nature of these unions because that would be seen as unmerciful.
Serpent: Let the little children come to me and watch your blessings. I can’t wait to make them part of my kingdom. My legion will make them to understand that marriage isn’t necessary.
To all the Priests out there speak God’s authority into this lightning storm, this is an opportunity to break unholy soul ties and bring deliverance. This is the only appropriate blessing, one of deliverance from sin and breaking unholy soul ties. Expect miracles because God brings his glory in the middle of raging storms.
The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism – Gustave Doré.
If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea. Isaiah 48:18
I am taking a refresher course in Discipleship Deliverance from Jansen Bagwell because it is always good to be reminded of the things that set us free. In last night’s class Jansen said that there is only one verse in Scripture where the Holy Spirit speaks. While there are many where the Spirit acts or falls upon someone, the only one that specifically refers to the Spirit speaking says,
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…. 1 Timothy 4:1
We ask ourselves why is this the only reference to the Spirit speaking? It is because the way the Spirit speaks is by unveiling Christ to us. He does not speak on His own. In fact, even in this passage He is speaking through Saint Paul, who has the Spirit dwelling within. The catechism actually says of the Spirit – He is divine effacement (ccc 687) Effacement literally means, to remove the face. Isn’t that interesting? The Holy Spirit wants the glory of God in you, made in the image and likeness of God. He is teaching us that when we look at ourselves and at others, we should see God’s face.
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.Matthew 25:40
So then, in these latter times, we must ask ourselves do we have the Spirit dwelling within? Or are we listening to deceitful Spirits and doctrines of demons?
We can know that the larger church is listening to doctrines of demons when we see thousands of years of moral doctrine cast aside, we get told tradition will die a slow and bloody death (sounds like Christ’s death the church is going through), and we see science proclaimed as Gospel and savior. God is making transparent the corrupt and demonic things. But we must ask ourselves if we too are listening wrongly? Are you being barraged with doctrines of demons and deceitful spirits? Are they telling you a myriad of things like, “you’re stupid, you’re crazy, you should just quit! The church is dying, science is god and has won, you’re never going to be vindicated. God has not heard all your prayers. You pray in vain. You should hate and belittle and dehumanize those who have done this. Leave the church and find somewhere else! Speak damnation on those souls and curse them!”
This twofold attack is one that tries to wear you out and also tries to get you to hate so you either quit in weariness or you spiral into rage.
But neither of these is the answer. We must be open to the Spirit of God dwelling within us. All these years of confession and receiving the Eucharist we were and are being transformed. Believe and ask God to make it so in you. Set your mind on the Spirit!
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:6-8
We must ourselves personally be subject to the law of God, otherwise we cannot please God. We know these laws because we have been taught, and all of it is based on love. All things fall under the two greatest commandments.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus also made clear in the parable of the good Samaritan that our neighbor encompasses all. He even commanded us to love our enemies.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:43-48
So, when we have these fiery darts flung at us all day, we must ask the Lord to teach us how to think as He thinks and not how demons think. We must be open to the Holy Spirit who teaches what to pray when we are left without words in the darkness we seem to be in.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27
Praying and living in the Spirit brings forth fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24
When we live and pray in the Spirit, there is no need for law because we become love which houses law. We can also see this because we see the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy acted upon. We will,
Instruct the ignorant (in charity and not condescension)
Counsel the doubtful
Admonish the sinner (without labeling the sinner as their sin, thereby making it their identity)
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive offenses willingly (Mercy is a choice and it looks like Christ crucified)
Comfort the afflicted
Pray for the living and the dead (praying in the Spirit as we ought)
We will also;
Feed the hungry (without telling everyone we did so we look good)
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the Homeless
Visit the Sick
Visit the Imprisoned
Bury the Dead (with due respect for God’s creation – without sprinkling our loved ones all over or putting them in jewelry. Their bodies belong to God and should be buried in consecrated ground).
We may be called more to one of these things than others in these lists – as the Spirit gifts us – but we are called to do these things. The person in the Spirit wants all to be saved and bears no ill will in their heart. They do what God asks joyfully, fully and immediately. They make their life a Liturgy.
Notice too, none of these things are weak. They are meek and humble of heart. Meekness is submissive to the Will of God, which makes it powerful, not weak.
When we read the headlines about this person or that person “destroying” another person, though we might get a happy emotion seeing our side win an argument, however, we should never delight in someone’s destruction. Destruction is of the devil. You don’t build up by tearing down. Enmity is for the devil because we are fighting powers and principalities. If we go down in the destruction and darkness where everyone else is, then no one is looking up and we have listened to doctrines of demons. The path of the Way is towards total union with God’s will which is a path of purity of heart, looking up and believing God is bigger.
May your face look like the Face of God to the world. May His light shine upon you and in you. May we be trained to think only by God and not by the demonic. And may the peace of Christ be with you always, especially in the middle of the storm.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
“The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. Our Lady of Akita to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa October 13, 1973
The following is my recollection of what I experienced in prayer on November 10 and November 12, 2023. I post it here for your discernment. My only intention in posting this is to help people grow closer to God.
I went to Mass in the morning and during the Consecration I closed my eyes to pray. I saw in my head Our Lady of Sorrows. Her eyes with tears and dark circles, she looked like this;
Her face came so close to mine. And then she seemed to enter into my forehead. Suddenly I was viewing her from the top down. She bent over and I saw a fountain adorned with angels.
She was drinking from the fountain. I heard her say, “drink from the fountain of life,” but I also knew she was relaying to me that this fountain of life had to be dwelling inside of me in order to face the sorrows to come. As if she knew I understood, the image then changed, she was now Our Lady of Grace;
She was beautiful and was inside of a church looking out upon the people. There were hundreds of flowers like white daises hanging from the ceiling. Her hands were outstretched. The people had what looked like clouds of black spores over top their heads. But light emanated down from the daises and the black spores dispersed into nothingness and people’s heads became clear.
The last thing I saw was a top down view of a spiral wooden staircase. It reminded me of the miraculous staircase of Saint Joseph.
Then everything stopped and it was time for communion. All I knew was that whatever was coming would be a sorrow, and that we as a people need to be interiorly prepared, and that God and His Mother are working all things for the good of those who love them.
The next day Bishop Strickland was forcibly removed from His office.
Feeling disheartened I went on November 12, 2023 to our old chapel to pray. I laid prostrate on the floor and poured my heart out to God. I told Him that I understand the church teachings and I want to live them completely in my heart, not just know them in my head, and that I wanted to live them even if no one else did.
I closed my eyes and saw rows and rows of daises. These daises were living and breathing beautiful in a way I had never seen before. This was the 2nd time in 3 days I saw daises. I asked the Lord, “what’s with the daises?”
I got an immediate answer. “Daises bring comfort to a Mother who has lost a child.” And I again saw Our Lady of Sorrows, holding the Body of Jesus, but I knew that Mary was mourning for the church, to whom she is Mother. She was holding the Mystical Body. I burst into tears.
Then I realized though that the daises were alive in a way that only God could portray them, beautiful life of His creation, different than what we have corrupted. And I thought of how what’s impure and unholy needs to actually die, so a new Pentecost can be ushered in; one where the Gifts of the Spirit are poured out and we know that God alone is good.
We are being purged of our attachments to particular goods, so that, we will be attached to God alone, who is good.
Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Mark 10:18
Now is the time for praying without ceasing. Do not tire of praying for transforming union with God. Try not to be discouraged in your suffering and ask God to help you be thankful. It isn’t wise to focus too much on the sin of others that we cannot control and it definitely isn’t wise to want their eternal damnation. Want what God wants. Prepare yourself, purge your sin, and pray like never before and most of all Trust God.
“and let the one who believes in me drink.” As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
The Meeting Between Melchizedek and Abraham – Peter Paul Rubens 1617
Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When the heart is pure and united with God it is consoled and filled with sweetness; it is dazzled by a marvelous light. – St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
At my parish we rolled out Family Catechesis from Sophia Institute Press as part of our religious education program. We’re teaching parents to teach their children the faith. The following is a talk I gave to the parents on prayer.
Lord, I give you permission to use me in any way You desire. I ask you to give me the grace to see Your hand in action, so I can give you all the glory. Amen. – Father Tom DiLorenzo
We were privileged to have our Diocesan exorcist, Father Dan Reehil, come speak to us about Spiritual Warfare and give great insight into the Children of Fatima.
Veil of Veronica 