The Blackest Minutes of the Hour of Darkness

Posted on by charliej373

By Charlie Johnston

On Easter of 2008, I saw the Lord at the Vigil. He said to me, “Now the hour of darkness comes upon the world, but be not afraid: the darkness will not prevail.”

Whew, this has been one LONG hour!

All who value the culture of life were deeply disheartened at Ireland’s vote to legalize abortion on demand. As I noted in my little poem, though, it was the last wall to fall – not the first. What is especially disheartening is that in both the case of gay “marriage” and abortion, the Irish people voted in favor of it rather than had it imposed on them by a distant elite class. The left celebrates it as an expansion of “women’s rights.” It is no more an expansion of women’s rights than the institution of death camps in the 1940’s was an expansion of Germans’ rights.

The modern axis of evil is centered around: 1) leftist neo-fascism, 2) the violently aggressive Jihadist minority in the Middle East which has infiltrated much of the rest of the world and, 3) the government of China.

Leftism has reached its (hopefully terminal) White Queen stage. When its fascist leaders are not busy screeching “Off with their heads” about any who annoy them, they busy themselves insisting on impossible things. The White Queen told Alice (in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass) that she often believed “six impossible things before breakfast.” Modern leftists have her beat; they believe nothing but impossible things all day long. There are 20, or 30 or God knows how many genders, none having any relation to actual biology whatsoever. Arguments involving actual facts, evidence and logic are actually just expressions of white patriarchy. Oh, and white patriarchy has little to do with actual Caucasians – it applies to any of any race who do not second the impossible things the left insists on. People can be any race they imagine themselves to be, for race itself has no relation to actual biology or genetics in the leftist formulation. In more genteel times this was understood for precisely what it actually is: angry, barking insanity.

Ah, but education has entered its Wizard of Oz stage. Like the wizard with the scarecrow near the end, educators can’t actually teach anything (how could the blind safely lead the blind?) BUT they can give them a diploma. Thus, our universities are become indoctrination centers and credentials mills, the support system for the cult of impossible things. Since they can’t actually win an argument, they simply shut down, censor, vilify and attack (often violently – just like the fascists of yore) any who can. So our modern elite consists of experts without expertise, sophisticates without sophistication, and moralists without virtue.

Invincible ignorance has consequences. The learning curve of the modern left is a flat line. Nowhere is that more apparent than in their inability to grasp the iron rule of economics and human behavior: what you reward you get more of and what you punish you get less of. This manifested itself in foreign affairs by the “sophisticated” determination that smart diplomacy consists of bullying your friends and the vulnerable while appeasing enemies and the violently evil. The elite were shocked when Ronald Reagan confronted the Soviet Union, Libya, and other aggressors. They were convinced he was going to get us all killed. They were even more shocked when he toppled the Soviet Union and defanged Libya. After he left the scene, they went back to their preferred “smart” diplomacy, which gave us a nuclear and threatening North Korea, the same in Iran, and an ascendant and violent Jihadist terror movement. Once again, they are shocked when Donald Trump confronts these evils directly – and more shocked that it has been working. They do not learn. They think they can make dumb diplomacy smart by simply calling it so and appealing to their own empty expertise.

You know what really connects almost all episodes of mass shootings in America? It is not that guns are usually used: guns are used far more frequently in self-defense. Rather, it is that in the great majority of such instances, the perpetrator had previously (and often frequently) been brought to the attention of law enforcement authorities – who either did nothing or thought they could solve the problem by enhancing the future perpetrators’ self-esteem. The leftist neo-fascist thinks the law is only properly used to punish wrongthink. On crime, he attacks the tools used to perpetrate it while coddling and enabling the criminals who abuse those tools. And so we have prominent leftist officials yammering on about the “spark of divinity” in the ultra-violent MS-13 gang.

In economics, across my lifetime the cycle has become predictable. The left stifles the economy by piling on regulations and taxes to facilitate their own spending sprees – until people get fed up and elect conservatives who start rolling regulations and taxes back, reviving the economy. It always shocks the elites. Then people get complacent, the left starts reviving its absurd economic schemes until they are once more shocked by a populist revolt. The predictable rinse and repeat cycle has gotten terribly wearisome to this old fellow. But the leftist neo-fascists never learn.

I no longer believe leftist professions of compassion and caring. If they meant it, they would show some concern to make sure their programs actually work to better the lives of those they say they care for. What is common among all their policy initiatives is that they shift power away from ordinary people and to the state, the bureaucracy of which the left  runs regardless of who is president. Once the power shift is accomplished, they remain utterly unconcerned about the effectiveness of the policy initiative. In the last few days the left was in an uproar about pictures of illegal alien children separated from their parents and behind cages. This proved Donald Trump was a heartless brute and we needed action to stop him now. Until they found out that the pictures were from 2014 and were from Obama’s tenure – and then it was no big deal to them. They didn’t care about the issue, only its potential to regain them power. When Trump made an extraordinary offer to regularize 1.8 million DACA recipients in exchange for shutting off the spigot of illegal immigration through shutting down chain migration and the lottery, the left would have nothing to do with it. Their compassion did NOT extend to folks already living in the shadows here if it meant shutting off the source of new dependent voters. Look hard – every proposal the left makes enhances their own power. Once they gain that power, the objects of their compassion are quickly forgotten. The poor and the downtrodden are merely collateral damage in the left’s quest for power.

If a great battle is being fought in America over whether people will retain the right to govern themselves or submit to being ruled by an incompetent and arrogant elite, that battle seems to be already lost in Western Europe. England has come to resemble 1984’s Oceania, rather than the land of Churchill and Thatcher. British police can’t – or won’t protect adolescent girls from rape and murder at the hands of Islamic grooming gangs. But they monitor social media postings relentlessly – and are quick to arrest anyone who complains of it. British police are soft on crime, but brutally hard on wrongthink. It is no longer a free country. Europe is overrun by unvetted immigrants from Islamic countries. In Germany, they struggle with Islamic “rape gangs.” Western Europe is no longer capable of or concerned with defending itself. If ISIS regroups from the Trump administration’s obliteration of them in the Middle East, it will regroup in Europe. Unelected bureaucrats at the European Union ironically accuse any country which dissents from their rule as being “undemocratic.” Democracy does NOT mean, “Submit to your incompetent superiors!” In 1986, Alexander Natta, the head of the Italian Communist Party, complained to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev that they had defended indefensible abuses and, in the process, created “…a bureaucratic apparatus, which serves itself,” and had swelled uncontrollably. Gorbachev agreed with the point. Now, in America at least, we are engaged in a great battle between a leviathan bureaucracy that serves itself and the very principle of self-government.

There are only two fundamental ways of determining who will wield power: through persuasion or through coercive force. The American founders chose the route of persuasion. The pre-requisites for making this possible were an absolute commitment to free political speech, extending the franchise to all who were stakeholders (those who accepted the responsibilities of citizenship as well as enjoying its benefits) in the society (though this was imperfectly expressed until after the Civil War and, then, the extension of suffrage to women), and the rigorous defense of actual individual rights as understood in natural law against any predations by a mendacious majority. Over time, each of these principles has been badly perverted – some beyond recognition.

The American founders set that principle in a framework of minimalist government. Government was NOT to be defined by what it did for you, but how effectively it got out of your way. The founders knew that when government was defined by what it does for you, it would soon be overtaken by a self-serving bureaucratic apparatus that would focus on what it could do TO you and what it could force you to do. The commitment was that if government confined itself to minimal, enumerated authority on things such as war and peace, genuine interstate commerce, a people unfettered by government constraints would reveal their genius, producing prosperity and happiness – and would deal with common problems through the spontaneous formation of voluntary associations which would accomplish social justice more effectively and frugally than any government could. As a hedge against that, the states were given far more extensive power to experiment with government entitlements and authority denied the federal government, only constrained against violating actual rights under natural law. We are far, far from the vision that initially sparked such innovation, creativity and prosperity under liberty that drove this country to become a great power. Even most conservatives now define government by what it can do for you.

All political theory is composed of competing doctrines of power. It posits who should be the winners, who should be the losers, and how to make your faction into the winner dominating – or even oppressing – the losing faction. Even the deist and agnostic founders emphasized the importance of religion in maintaining the stability of the system they created. Christianity is not a doctrine of power, but a religion of love. It particularly refines the doctrine of persuasion, as it posits that all men are created in the very image of God, sharing by adoption and inheritance in His divine dignity. Men are not to be coerced except for real offenses against the community (and wrongthink is NOT a real offense). Christianity maintains that, building each other up through love, everyone can win and live in dignity and autonomy, that life is not merely a grubby scrabble for power and dominance.

This is largely why leftist neo-fascists so loathe Christianity. While it maintains they, too, should be free to live as they choose under their own free will with dignity, it demolishes their conceit that they are superior beings who ought to decide what everyone else should do and how they should live. It destroys their claims to supreme power. This, at bottom, is what we are at battle with – and these are dark times, indeed.

In the midst of this, most of our institutional churches are paralyzed, riven between prelates who live and preach fidelity to the plain words of Christ and His apostles – and other prelates who think their job is to assure us we are all okay just as we are and to explain why Christ did not actually mean what He plainly says. If we are to prevail, if we are going to be on God’s side this time, the leadership will come from the ordinary men and women around us who are committed to faith, family and freedom. As leftist neo-fascists seek to marginalize – and even outlaw – Christian expression, it is good to remember St. John Paul’s words from Redemptor Hominis, largely directed at another authoritarian movement then beginning its death throes: “It is therefore difficult…to accept a position that gives only atheism the right of citizenship in public and social life while believers are barely tolerated…or are even entirely deprived of the rights of citizenship.”

When he was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, St. John Paul rarely directly challenged the oppressive Communist regime on political grounds, but consistently outmaneuvered it on cultural grounds. The state would acknowledge only secular marriages. So people all went through the motions – but unless you could say which Church you were later married in, people did not consider you actually married. In Nowa Huta, the Polish government revoked the building permit for a church. So Cardinal Wojtyla erected a steel cross at the site they sought to build on and began celebrating open air Masses every Christmas Eve, regardless of weather. The Communists frequently took down the steel crosses. Rather than registering a complaint, the good Catholics just put up a new one every time an old one was taken down. Authorities finally decided it would be less of a spectacle just to give the permit. When permits were not issued in other areas, Cardinal Wojtyla instituted the concept of parishes without churches. Priests would go door-to-door, ministering to people in an area, then petitioning for a building permit. When it was not given, they would just hold Mass outdoors anyway. Officials often sought to weaponize the law against Priests. When a bothersome Priest was hit with a ridiculous and onerous tax bill, Cardinal Wojtyla told him to present himself for arrest. Wojtyla went with him and told authorities that, until the matter was resolved, he would personally take over the pastoral responsibilities for the man’s Parish. Authorities decided they were better off leaving the Priest alone rather than having the Cardinal rousing the faithful right in their midst.

I don’t know how, exactly, to apply this to the dark situation surrounding us, but it is worthy of deep contemplation. What I do know is that we have a lot of darkness yet to get through before this hour is up. May we resolve to simply speak the truth, with courage and grace, that we may be lights leading the way to the other side of darkness. Think on these things. However black things seem, I have it on good authority that the darkness will not prevail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

226 thoughts on “The Blackest Minutes of the Hour of Darkness”

    1. Thanks ingeniero! While Beckita is traveling, I am editing my own stuff – and when you edit your own stuff, despite your best efforts, you sometimes see what you intended rather than what you actually wrote. Thanks for helping me with my editing today. It has been corrected.

      Liked by 7 people

  3. Drats, Beckita.. you always beat me to liking Charlie’s new piece!!!! lol Now I’m going to go and read it for it sounds really juicy…and the darkness is horrible all around and I need a ray of hope today! 😉 xoxo TNRS

    Liked by 7 people

  4. Way to go Charlie!!! You are spot on with all that you have said in this fantastic write up!!! The words of advice that I keep in my heart are “… that when finally all hope is lost and darkness has surrounded you, close your eyes, and count to three (slowly)! When you open your eyes again, there will be LIGHT!!!” Deus vult! God bless and stay safe!!!

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    1. oh goodness!!!! I missed that part and I will re-read it again!!! Thank you for pointing it out SHJIHMHS boy your name is hard to type!!! You should use it for a password! lol

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  5. Let’s do some math. If 1 Day = 1,000 years, then 1 Hour = 41.667 years. 2008 + 41.667 years = 2050. I’m glad it’s just 1 Hour! Fanciful though my math may be and regardless of when the end to that Hour may actually occur, there *is* an end to it, everyone. 🙂

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    1. Yikes…I don’t like your interpretation, Steve. I’m not going to retire anytime soon…but if we have 31 years left, I will be 93 years old then. Don’t think I have the stamina.

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      3. Charlie, I figured that would get to you, but my major point simply is that there is an end to this. Sometimes we can forget that whatever it is that is happening will not last forever or even a long time, especially when it’s hitting us hard. I find that thought consoling and thought I would have a little fun while passing that along. 🙂

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            1. A third “yikes” from me…I’m getting circulation problems at 55…lol..purple toes, feet n lips. . But like a dummy, I’ve smoked cigs since 12 (quit 5 yrs ago) so all this & stresses of life won’t see me here 50 more years….lol…I always say..whatever you want Lord. ..it’s all good…😄win/win situition whatever side we get to witness Triumph💖💖💖

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      4. Music to my ears that you will not retire Charlie! Something will give at some point and it will be an encouragement to all of us to be around!

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      5. Charlie in the early days when the prophetic was spoken here I think you were going to retire in July 2018, I suppose you have no timetable for your leaving the scene yet?? That said I do enjoy your commentary in things political and spiritual and societal.

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        1. I have mentioned in the comments before that that changed a little over a year ago. I was chatting with a friend who is a theologian and he asked me how I knew I could retire this year. I explained to him that at first I had planned to do it immediately after the Rescue, but that my angel had rebuked me for it. So I changed it to July 5, 2018 and got no rebuke. Then he pointedly asked, “But did he specifically say you could retire or just keep silent.” It startled me and I hemmed and hawed, but he was right. I came to suspect maybe that silence was to get me through the last period of discouragement that would come. So I concluded that after that conversation, I will either retire when I die or when my angel tells me, specifically, “You can go now.”

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    2. @SteveBC, lol. Does that take into account daylight savings time? Since I’m on Eastern time in Indiana, if I’d I cross the border into Illinois would I have to wait another 41 2/3 years?

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      2. Jayman, this is hysterically funny. “There’s always someone …” 😀

        Actually, the answer is “Nope.” We are all equal before God, just as Nature’s God provides for us all to be equal before the Law. No matter where you are, whether you cross a time zone or the international dateline, you’re stuck with 2050 and 41.667. You are not different when east of the Indiana/Illinois border from who you are to the left of that border, despite the fact that you’ll pay more tax. (The taxman does *not* agree that we are each equal before *him*, and his remit extends to Doomsday, well past 2050, more’s the pity.) I trust this answers more than you asked.

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    3. St. Theresa of Avila said something like, “This Too Shall Pass.” My daughter once likened that passing though, to a kidney stone, lol.

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  6. Oh that is good good news, Charlie, that “the darkness will not prevail.” I wish it would end soon, but then I wonder if it ended, would His Mercy end then too, so maybe it is a good thing that we all battle forward and simply endure with the Grace of God. Lately, I personally have had to just trust in God that He knows what is best for me and my fellows with whom I am in contact with which is getting smaller all the time.

    Anyways, thank you so much for the great piece and insight. I can’t imagine actually seeing Jesus like you did. You are so blessed Charlie. Please tell Him for me that I love Him and that I am trying to do better, though I fall often. Although…if He appears to you, I would think the last thing on your mind would be relating this message to Him. LOL It must be quite surreal. I have seen the one seer in Medjugorji after Our Lady appears to her and it seems to totally wipe her out! So happy Papa Francis has sent a second envoy there…sounds hopeful for humanity too.

    My head is still reeling from last nights Cavs game. Boy did JR mess up! lol I won’t be watching any more games into the midnight hour of the finals! It is an occasion of sin for me and not worth the lack of sleep!!!!

    xoxo TNRS

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    1. Linda, here is a story you might like. While attending a Holy Hour of Reparation for Our Lord, I met a woman who I knew had received messages from Him. Upon meeting her, I said it was a thrill to have only one degree of separation between Jesus and me. She came up to me after the Holy Hour and told me that during the Hour, Jesus gave her a message for me. Yes, me…the lowliest of the low. He told her to tell me, “there is NO degree of separation between us.” I share this because you asked Charlie to send a message to our Lord for you just as I did. It is amazing to think there is no degree of separation between any of us and Our Lord. So He knows you love Him, He knows you fall (as do we all), and yet despite that, He loves you and all of us more than any dream of love we could ever dream.

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      1. Thank you, Cindy. I have been trying for years, ever since I went public, to get people to know that is close at hand to them. He is no closer to me than to you. He gives each of us what we need for the work He has laid out for us. But He is close at hand for each of us.

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        1. My mother just passed away, and I felt that he did indeed give my mother and each of her 8 children just exactly what we needed for the work that each of us had ahead of us, to see her through this 3 month long journey withmy mother’s illness and death, and then getting her burial accomplished. we are almost to the end of this journey with her to lay her asleep in the Lord. we have each had to walk blindfolded step by step part of the way. We have each had our moments of meltdown and moments of stark truth, yet honoring her by forgiving and choosing to love and support each other has kept us all taking the next right step with the Lord gently turning us back to His path. My mother gave us the gift of loving God and each other. How in the world did 8 children make decisions and come to agreements is just a testament to how close at hand the Lord was. There have been some close calls and tense, even anguishing moments. But there has also been joy, peace. My mother was content, at peace, and smiling, and in no pain. We were all so grateful and in awe at God’s goodness and His providence. We could all agree that we saw the Lord’s hand in this. “Yea, even though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”. I pray that whenit comes my time to maybe lose all hope, I will remember this my Mother’s dying and death, and how close at hand He was to her.

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          1. How beautiful, breadoflife. Praying for the repose of your mother’s soul. Praying, too, for you and all who love her as you make your way on the mourning journey.

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            1. thank you for prayers, Beckita, Mick, and all. and thank you all for letting me ramble, I know i am not the only one who thinks of this family as part of our smaller family and no matter how far we have to stay gone or however long, I smile to think of home. Keith Urban’s song “Coming Home” always makes me happy and dance around the room. :]

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          5. BreadofLife, I am sorry to read about your mother’s passing. Such loving thoughts you shared. I will pray for the repose of her soul and for you, your siblings and families. God bless you all.

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      2. I love that CindyJ. I recently heard for the first time that God loves us so much, He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Your message just made me remember that. Blessings to you and to all here. ❤

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      3. Oh my gosh CINDYJ that gave me goosebumps😄 Thank you for sharing that story with me…so beautiful. ..I do believe that. Sometimes I think I hear Him in my soul…little things…like do this nice thing for your husband, or pray for this person, or open the bible, I have a word for you….I guess in the spiritual life, we all get these “still, small voices.” And yet….to actually “SEE” Him or Our Mother or ANY of the Saints or Angels…wow…that is A VERY BLESSED & SPECIAL friend of God. We can only imagine. I think too that it must be a very hard cross at times for those that do see…..wow

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  8. Charlie, excellent piece. Thank you.

    Regarding the points you made in your “White Queen” paragraph: According to the “logic” of the loony left, my dad, my brothers, and I are simultaneously white nationalists and UncleToms/self-hating-race-traitors. Go figure.

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    1. Who woulda a thunk it? One of the most terrible things about this hold leftist stuff is how it imposes artificiality on everything. Everyone knows it is all poppycock, but they dare not say it lest they become the target of the purging mob. Welcome to the ranks of all us white nationalists! We are glad to have you, even if those who want to “protect” you aren’t. Isn’t that incredibly condescending and racist? Minorities are so feeble and unable to care for themselves in the leftists narrative – brutes really – that only the protection of white liberals can help them. Lord, I am so sick of it all.

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      2. I know, right? This past semester, Cyprian had to take his final liberal-arts course [he’s studying Computer Science, but he had to take 20 credits (almost 2 years’ worth) of brainwashing–I mean, liberal arts–courses]. He decided to take African-American English (“Ebonics”). He was hoping that it would be an actual study of the lniguistics, such as they may be, of black dialectical English. Instead, it was essentially a Black Lives Matters indoctrination course. After every class, he came home frustrated and angry over the lies that were being disseminated in the class. And he was about the only person in the class who was willing to speak up and call out (respectfully, of course) some of the nonsense. He was told by one of the white students that she was afraid to speak up because she didn’t want to risk a negative effect on her grade.

        On a funny but pathetic note, Cyprian’s one takeaway from this class was that, according to prevailing leftist thought, he is both a victim and a beneficiary of White Privilege. You simply can’t make this stuff up; the illogic of the left would be hilarious if it weren’t so all-fired dangerous.

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                1. Ha! Off hand, don’t know the breed. Very light brown. Lamnzie named the two Holy and Ivy. Had some fun chasing one around already when she escaped the pen.

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                    4. Hilarious Mick. That’s funny you raised goats. Love their names as well. Some how I don’t think I would have guessed their names in a million years. 🙂

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                    5. BD, we still do raise goats; it’s just that we usually sell the males rather than keeping them for meat (we raise sheep, too; and extra males from a dairy-goat breed simply don’t have as much meat on them as the sheep do).

                      As to the goats’ names: We generally only name any animals that we’re going to keep long term; animals that we’re going to sell or eat don’t get names UNLESS it’s a food-associated name (such as Hamburger, Lambchop #1, Lambchop #2, etc.).

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                    6. Good friends of ours raise organic pigs. Their son was taking Latin and named all the pigs with Latin names. Methodius is now in our freezer. Lambzie does not want to know the name. Hope she is not reading this.

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                    7. Ha Mick! Lambzie and I were wondering recently if anyone eats goat meat. We see a lot of goats by our daughters home in CA and it prompted us to ask the question.

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                    8. Hey Mick! We used to do the same thing, NOT! name only the ones we wouldnt eat, of our goats, sheep. Husband wanted me to stop naming every single one, but I just couldnt stop. It was too much fun! I was naming them all these old Cajun French names that I remembered hearing older family members talk about in my family tree. I was naming them after great great grandparents, etc. I kept quite an extensive log of the family tree of the goats and sheep too, lol. We had a huge boar named Hoss that we took to a Baptist church once. He was the most mild mannered content pig you ever met, and the youth pastors of this church had made a bet wioth each other: girls against boys, to see who could name the most scriptures. The loser had to kiss a pig, so they hired Hoss(we had a petting farm). We made an enclosure from the trailer to inside the church gym and had a big circular enclosure with both pastors, with the church congregation and all the kids standing outside our enclosure for Hoss. Well, the loser (dont remember if it was female or male youth pastor) kissed Hoss after he had his fun grunting and sniffing every where and everybody. the whole thing was so uproaresly funny, the other youth pastor decided to kiss Hoss too. We finally had to turn Hoss into bacon and we were so honored to eat him!!. Sometimes people would ask how we could eat or sell our “pets”, and my answer to them was usually along the lines of relating the part of one of my favorite movies”Phenomena” where John Travolta tells the two children about an apple, which could fall to the ground and become nourishment for the ground or be eaten and then be nourishment for a person. John Travolta’s charachter George Malley talks about the interconnectedness of everything. I loved his joy and exuberance, his awe and wonderment, like a little child. We loved Hoss, we didnt want to see him get old and die out. Now, we didnt eat ALL our animals, but God did say that man was to have dominion over the beasts, birds, and fish. Anyway, this has turned into a rambling. Sorry ;0.

                      Just wanted to say that we had Katahdin sheep and Boer goats for meat among other nanny goats(dont remember what they were). And just like Jesus said, the goats were so mean, selfish, and quarrelsome, while the sheep were a little more docile and MUCH easier to shepherd and corral than those ornery old goats!!! We even had a little orphan lamb white as snow at Christmas that we named Emmanuel.

                      My mom, who just passed away, always seemed to be with us when crazy stuff happened on the farm. In fact, she seemed to be with us when many momentous things happened, good, bad, funny, or sad. I am so glad I have those memories. Guys, thanks for letting me reminisce and ramble as I grieve my mother. I think I will just go and sit and hold those memories close to me for a little while.

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                  2. I have seen those chickens, Doug, and I live to tell it. With your permission, I can bring those beauties to our vision here and if you’d rather I didn’t do so, I’m AOK with that decision. 🙂

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                    7. Hey, Doug, your chickens look like Buff Orpingtons. That is one of our two favorite breeds (the other being Barred Rocks).

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                    11. Yes Mick, and if memory serves me right, they are very good laying hens. So Doug, you and Lambzie should have good paying renters for quite some time!

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      3. Well, on this point, Charlie, I must respectfully disagree. Most leftists do *not* know that what they believe is poppycock. In fact, it is so powerfully believed that it becomes a core part of who they are in their own eyes. Trying to break through such a powerful misconception is incredibly difficult. Some people will never manage it and will be lost to it.

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        1. Unfortunately, you are right, Steve. It becomes, to them, a core part of their identity like the color of their eyes or hair. That makes it hard to jar them from the errors, because it does not just require them to consider that they are wrong – but that they are not who they think they are. I’m reminded of a comedy sketch I once saw of a blind, black man who was a popular speaker at Klan rallies. He did not know he was black and always spoke in his hood. When he removed it once, it was a huge shock to the crowd – and later an even huger shock for him to realize he was what he reviled. There was a profundity at the heart of this that has always stuck with me.

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        2. That struck a cord Steve. While I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt sometimes there is no doubt from which a benefit can be extracted and given. Sometimes it is clear that people say exactly what they mean and mean exactly what they say.

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        3. Jesus is the best example of saying what he means and meaning what he says. In Mark 11. 22-26 he tells us that when we pray we should “Habete fidem Dei”. ‘Dei’ is the genitive case so can only mean ‘of God.’ Have the faith of God. Of course Jesus is God and in his prayer there is no doubt. It’s all Good. In Mark Jesus is telling us to pray with the same faith as he does – surrendered totally to Our Father’s will and in full confidence of the best response. Fully expectant – as also was Mary. This is on a par with his other instruction “Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect” and in Augustine’s teaching on communion “See what you believe – become what you see.” Amazing to think that all this is within our grasp with God’s grace.

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          1. On further reading I see the translation and meaning of Mark 11. 22-26 is fairly controversial even though the Greek original also uses the genitive ‘Theou’: of God. It seems in the minds of scholars translation must give way to meaning which thay say is found in context. And yet in the minds of many bible scholars the idea that we can pray as perfectly as Jesus did is tantamount to heresy. I think they are diluting the power of The Word. For the most part such academic points are beyond my brain but for me the context is a teaching one as in the apostles’ request to Jesus “Teach us to pray” resulting in the ‘Our Father’. We have the words and the way. Enough of my rambling thoughts.

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        4. I think the leftist core beliefs all boil down to atheism. If one is truly atheist, then all their logic makes sense because there is nothing beyond the here and now. So why not grab as much power to control as you can now and what does it matter about the other guy? Only true repentance and conversion of heart towards a proper understanding of God will change things.

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              1. Doug, May I inquire as to who or what factors brought you back to the faith-was it an intellectual conversion or…? However, if it’s too personal and you’d rather not divulge, I respect your privacy. Just have a couple close family members in your former shoes.
                (If anyone else feels compelled to share a conversion story also-would love to read it.)

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Hi Marie, I would love to tell it. I have summarized it and when I get a chance (not at my computer now; using my smart phone), I will add it. The Holy Spirit hit me in a powerful way that changed me. Kinda a Saul moment for me, but no flashy stuff. It was all interior as I experienced an amazing amount of freedom and love. I was not raised in any church. It changed the course of my life and I never looked back.

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                    1. Oh yes bread of life! No rules or laws in heaven because they will not be needed. We will all have intense respect and love for everyone. It is why we should amend our lives now as much as possible. We must repent and forgive otheres first and formost. Think about it. I cannot imagine having any unforgiveness towards anyone in heaven.

                      Liked by 2 people

          2. I’ve known countless agnostics, but rarely a true atheist. Maybe one or two fellas… but they were so clearly angry at God that their belief was evident in spite of their protestations.

            What we see as these untenable positions have always just looked to me like fearful attempts to make what is illicit in ones life appear as licit. Doing everything imaginable to shut up ones conscience, feel o.k., then maybe on to the next level of making oneself a god where, as you pointed out, everything takes on the illusion of seeming o.k.

            I often share tiny bits of God’s creation… beautiful, awe-inspiring wonders that say, “God is. God loves you.” Sometimes I even tremble at this evidence of His power in created works, but I’ll tell you what facet of His power really makes me tremble: free will. Oh, power beyond reckoning!

            I want to see a picture of the chickens.

            Liked by 6 people

            1. I should be more clear. I think the fact that God gives free will to each human bespeaks power beyond reckoning.

              The insanity of all this other nonsense with its noise, coercion, control, lies, etc. speaks for itself too, though in an obviously discordant, delirious sort of way. Sort of like that deathbed rant when a person is in the final pained, tormented struggle. Ah, but often the peace follows and those keeping the bedside vigil are awestruck by Mercy and Grace!

              What brings peace is to stay constant in prayer as if nothing is lost. Keeping the bedside vigil… bending over the wounded on the field of battle.

              Maybe that one little last look of peace we offer (by His Grace) is the thing.

              Maybe it’s just my thinking, but all this seems to be leading up to that sort of latter moment. That last effort. Tired as we all are, are we firm in anticipating Victory?

              The darker it gets, the more I catch it on the air. Little whiffs, breezes here and there. Victory.

              Liked by 5 people

              2. Oh so true MP. It also bespeaks of love beyond measure because of the vulnuability one has to open up too be freely giving of oneself. Christ totally opened up and freely gave all he had. He made himself vulnerable and paid a steep price. The price, though, brought us freedom to live eternally. The risk of love is transparency and vulnerability. We may get some bruises, but love will win out and win others in the end because, inside, we all truly yearn for love.

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                2. I’m late here.
                  I also think the “results” of sin is evidence of its true nature and the “uncomfortable” feeling it illicits (guilt).
                  By “allowing” sin, God also allows us to experience how truly uncomfortable it is, even if we then use more cover up to hide the produced effects in and outside of our souls whether it be worldly wisdom, drugs, sex, power, hate, spiritualism, food, self esteem, pride, etc. we try to cover up our deep seated shame since we abandon our true nature to love and serve.
                  MP’s comment about death bed conversions is a critical part of God’s specific plan where upon at the end of the Hail Mary we solicit Her to pray for us “now and at the hour of our death…”
                  “God’s mercy sometimes touches the sinner at the last moment in a wondrous and mysterious way. “Outwardly, it seems as if everything were lost, but it is not so. The soul, illumined by a ray of God’s powerful final grace, turns to God in the last moment with such a power of love that, in an instant, it receives from God forgiveness of sin and punishment.” (St. Faustina)

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            2. Well stated MP. “What we see as these untenable positions have always just looked to me like fearful attempts to make what is illicit in ones life appear as licit.” That statement speaks to where I was at the time. It made it easy to justify the life style I was living at the time. As long as I do not hurt anyone, I can do what ever I want. Abortion was ok, but I don’t think I would want my girlfriend to have one.

              Liked by 3 people

            3. By the way, thanks be to God’s Mercy. He was patient with me as I believe he is patient with all of us. If not for his patience, I think we would have been vaporized long ago. Let’s see, in 2 Peter 3:9 it says “God is not slow in keeping his promise as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” This is why evil appears to be winning on many fronts. It is not that evil is stronger, but because God is patient with us. So it only looks like an apparent triumph. God wants all of us to be in his kingdom. He gives us almost unending chances while we are alive.

              Liked by 3 people

              1. Oh man, Doug. Does God ever want us all to be in His Kingdom! And, so, His Mother, and ours, has spent herself in our times – with her own patience born from being created “full of grace” – to call us back to her Son and infuse us with her desire to pray for the walking wounded, the lost who are actually *are* seeking the Lord but they, most often, do not know HE is the fulfillment of all their desires.

                Couldn’t agree more, Doug: It *does* looks like evil is winning but our faith tells us that could never be, for Jesus promised us: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

                Liked by 3 people

              1. She has held them already BOL. I was surprised at how much she fell in love with them so quickly. She has a gentle sensitive heart.

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      4. Except the ones truly unable to care for themselves, the unborn, are not worthy of their protection. (Still smarting here in Dublin)

        Liked by 5 people

      5. Mick- did Charlie ever tell you that I pictured you as a retired old white man whenever I’d read your comments on here? Charlie came here for a talk in 2016 and at dinner, he had a good laugh when I told him that! (Remember that, Charlie?! Ha!) Who knows why I thought that! Maybe i was subconsciously thinking mick jagger 😂 lol

        Liked by 4 people

        1. Audrey, hahahahaha! I CANNOT stop laughing! Being mistaken for a retired old white guy is certainly a first; the usual thing is for me to be mistaken for my kids’ older sister… or, even worse, for a teenaged boy (ouch!).

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          1. Mick: the boyishly young, attorney ssoccer mom, turned gentlwoman farmer, spritley spirited, jokster, teasing, prayer warrior, mohoganey- skinned sister in christ……..I am sure I could think of many adjectives but old retired white guy, I see as boring, which our Mick certainly is NOT, ha-ha!

            Liked by 5 people

  9. Loved your post, Charlie, especially the history of Pope Saint John Paul II’s dealings with the communists. To me, it lead up to his calling down the Holy Spirit on Poland in June, 1979, at Pentecost. The Poles responded, “We want God!” The world changed.
    In 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States, he also called down the Holy Spirit. Twice he prayed for the graces of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church in America (once in Washington Nationals Stadium and then in St Patrick’s Cathedral.) Changes take time, but we watch for the faint glimmer on the horizon.

    Liked by 13 people

    1. You are right on target, Nancy. Pope St. John Paul’s experience leading cultural resistance in Poland enabled his strategy for the same with world communism. Thanks be to God he was gifted with two able (and equally underestimated) partners in Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. The history of that period is astonishing at how things can turn around so suddenly.

      Liked by 13 people

      1. Yes but, if communism did not rule, would Poland have still had the conversion it has had and brought forth such a great saint? Please don’t get me wrong. Communism is evil at its core and should be stopped. This is a mystery how the faith can thrive in this environment. How far will God let things go before we wake up here? Do we need to experience persecution? I do not know what is in store, but it is difficult to see us go on as we are without some sort of implosion.

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        1. Doug, I am not sure I could give you any answers, but there is an excellent discussion by Pope John Paul II himself in the book called “Memory and Identity.” In the first section titled “The Limit imposed on Evil,” he discusses the limit imposed on evil in European history as well as the task given to man as a participant in this divine limit.
          All I can do is recommend John Paul’s own analysis and it is very thought provoking.
          One comment: “Man cannot get back onto his feet unaided: he needs the help of the Holy Spirit.”

          Liked by 4 people

      1. I agree Beckita.our constant prayer should be calling down the Holy Spirit. In the darkness it is only by his Light that we can see.I hope in an Illumination for all.

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        1. It would be such an Act of Mercy in such darkness.people are so confused,lost.By HisLught they could choose the path to take in knowledge of the Truth. The apostasy is the problem. All the rest is detail

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    3. Recently came across this short clip of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko; who also was instrumental in the Solidarity movement in Poland and paid with his life in 1984.

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Thank you Marie
        I see Fr Jerzy was beaten to death by government agents and his body – unrecognizable but for a birthmark – was dumped in a resevoir. Pray for us Fr Jerzy.

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  11. It seems once someone of virtue or virtuous intent opens the floodgates of grace, other powerful persons “get onboard”
    as the flow of grace sweeps them up in the torrent. Seems once the liety have had enough and the prayers come, these movers and shakers grow from the brambles and solidify into a definitive “tree” of grace who’s roots feed in this stream of prayers and stay green and effective, sometimes indefinitely.
    We who are aware of this spiritual effect need to stand firm in our prayerful support of our “trees” until the fields are taken back and “greened” up by these the Lord servants.

    Liked by 9 people

  12. A thought…….without The Holy Spirit,everyone is just going round in circles.The circles of the maze of the human will. Division. Confusion. No wonder the Divine Will is the Era of Peace.All of one mind in Trinitarian Love.

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  13. I have for a very long time concluded that leftists don’t give a hoot about the victims their policies create. Victims just get in the way of the policy. The evidence is everywhere. Sanctuary cities, gender neutral bathrooms and gym lockers, abortion, open borders, ANTIFA bullies, climate change, destruction of marriage, the selling of baby body parts. The alchemy of the left is to make truth into lies and lies into truth. Alchemy was never able to turn coal into gold or diamonds. Abortion is the perfect example. Babies are “just a clump of cells” even when they a fully formed and a day before birth. Yet in your secret of secret hearts, women know that it is simple not true. A recent study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry called Abortion Tie to Sharp Decline in Women’s Health examined 877,000 women 164,000 of whom had an abortion. The results were that women who had an abortion were 34% more likely to suffer anxiety, 37% more likely to suffer depression, 110% more likely to abuse alcohol, 155% more likely to commit suicide and 220% more likely to use marijuana. Here’s the link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-tied-to-sharp-decline-in-womens-mental-health/

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Good to see CBS acknowledge this. I imagine the left response is not to target the root cause i.e. abortion, but will recommend more counseling to get them through it.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. The report by the British Journal of Psychiatry confirms what the Catholic Church already knew. Rachel’s Vineyard was its response. PP’s response it to tell women abortion is not the act of terminating a living human being and yep more counseling to get them through it.

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  15. Charlie, your commentary is so true. I know you see the dangers with absolute clarity. In any case, I am sending you this link, http://www.desalesschool.net to cheer you up. Its a link to a small, Catholic grade school in Southwest Philadelphia which sits on the cusp of two major universities and some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. It was my husband’s grade school and we both support it. About 40 years ago Sisters Jeanette and Constance developed the idea of the Peace Room. Villanova University recently did a film on the school. DeSales continued serving the neighborhood but included non Catholics in its enrollment. As the school’s reputation grew, families clamored for their children to attend. The one rule was that the students were still taught Jesus and would attend Mass. You can actually google the sisters because they have been on news reports throughout the years and have been honored for the great works the school has accomplished in the neighborhood. It is just such a sweet story. And it is taking the next right step and being a sign of hope.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. That is cheering, indeed…but I am cheery already JoAnne. Though I have seen the darkness most of my life with clarity, I have also seen, with equal clarity, the light that follows it. My lifelong self-perception has been that I was called to give people hope, to be a light during the Storm, to show all the promise of light to come. How can you not be cheery when life gives you the chance to fully live your vocation? Never be fooled when I honestly acknowledge the darkness around us – for I know the light to come fully as well as I did the darkness I started describing to a select few a quarter century ago. We live in heroic times – and heroes must always journey through darkness for a time. What a joy to be able to call people to be heroes! And what a joy to receive stories like this of people who decided to be lights, however dark it might be for a time, people who chose to be heroes and then lived it. Thank you.

      Liked by 17 people

  16. And when we live full of the HolySpirit,we will see……act,think,everything….
    With the eyes of Love…
    Divine Love!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Charlie, I have been following your for years, but I am uncomfortable putting my thoughts into writing so this is a first. Your post, however, prompted me to respond. I firmly believe God is in charge and I know he’s “got this,” but like most of us, I do not know how long “the hour” will last and uncertainly is uncomfortable for many of us. Sometimes I feel the darkness and evil is going to swallow me whole, but then I remind myself He will prevail. I know that. He said so and I trust him completely. It is wonderful to hear from people who are not afraid to speak the truth and you nailed it. Your confidence is inspiring and I pray for the same.

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  19. During my novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, among many other things, I am praying specifically for the veil to be stripped from the monster of injustice in our country; that judges be truly just, that tongues be civil and speech measured, that good men continue to do good despite evidence that it makes no real difference, that children be protected from evil, that the peace that we pursue be as Jesus gives and not as the world gives, that those of us who serve in the Master’s fields not grow weary and that the forces who seek to harm our LEOs be stopped and St. Michael directly intervenes to protect them.

    If you have a specific intention, reply below and I will check back here daily to add yours to my list. It never hurts to ask our good Abba for good things. May His Sacred Heart be better known, loved, served and adored in all the tabernacles of the world until the end of time. Peace and blessings to all here.

    Liked by 15 people

  20. Steve and Charlie,
    2050? Yikes.
    How about this: We hoped we would see the triumph of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart last October, the 100th anniversary of Fatima. Could it be that the alignment of the stars last September was a sign to us that the triumph would start with the 100th anniversary in October and would take place primarily this year, the 101st year of Fatima because 101 is Our Lady? Just a thought.

    Liked by 10 people

    1. Hi Patricia, hope you are well! I think you and I likely will be around for the triumph of the immaculate heart of Mary.

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  22. Well gang, I read this 5 hours ago and it’s still got me thinking.
    It made me think of a movie about St.J-P II, “Karol a man who became pope”.(You can watch the full movie on Youtube b-t-w) I really loved this movie. It covers alot of the darkest periods of his life and the influence St-John of the Cross had on him. It also shows how he dealt with the communist government. He never spoke against them in any way that they could charge him, but always spoke about life, hope and joy.
    This in turn got me contemplating St.John of the Cross’ “where there is no love, put love and then there will be love”.
    I don’t know where this is going but I can’t help thinking was there ever a more lifeless, hopeless and joyless bunch than the liberal anti-God left. Can we dialogue with them, about life, hope and joy (which is actually talking about God) without actually mentioning God lest they run at His mere mention ?

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  23. {I added spacing for easier readability}

    Latest Medjugorje Message, June 2, 2018 [O] – Apparitions to Mirjana
    http://www.medjugorje.ws
    Mirjana during an apparition

    “Dear children,
    I am calling you to accept my words which I am speaking to you as a mother, with a simplicity of heart, so that you may set out on the way of complete light and purity, of the singular love of my Son, man and God. A joy—a light indescribable in human words—will penetrate your soul and the peace and love of my Son will take hold of you. I desire this for all of my children. Therefore, you, apostles of my love, you who know how to love and forgive, you who do not judge, you whom I encourage, you be an example to all those who are not going on the way of light and love or who have diverted from it.

    By your life show them the truth. Show them love because love overcomes all difficulties, and all of my children thirst for love. Your unity in love is a gift to my Son and me. But, my children, remember that to love also means to desire the good for your neighbor and to desire conversion of your neighbor’s soul.

    As I am looking at you gathered around me, my heart is sad, because I see so little brotherly love, merciful love. My children, the Eucharist—my Son alive among you—

    His words will help you comprehend,
    because His word is life,
    His word makes the soul breathe,
    His word brings about cognition of love.

    Dear children, anew, I am imploring you as a mother who desires the good for her children: love your shepherds, pray for them. Thank you. ”

    Liked by 8 people

  24. Thanks for this inspiring piece, Charlie. I’ve been feeling a little discouraged, but to think about the light to follow is the path to hope. May it fully dawn soon!

    Liked by 5 people

  25. Charlie your example of JP2 dealing with the Polish communists has impressed me over the years.May God show us ways to deal with this leftist tyranny in ways which will get their attention, force them to stop and perhaps think for at least a second or two, instead of instantly fomenting their usual mob reaction in the media, academia and elsewhere. Perhaps we can share some examples of how some have been able to do this here.

    Liked by 6 people

  26. This article illustrates why we need to pray for the entire country, not just California. As stated in the article, “as CA goes, so goes the nation”. Charlie says these people really believe what they say, but how can they not see the truth?! I pray for another “surprise” such as the one we had when Trump was elected. The left thinks they have it made.

    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/06/02/steve-hilton-is-loony-left-gov-jerry-brown-killing-california-what-does-that-mean-for-america.html

    Liked by 4 people

  27. When we eat our meals they become part of us. When receive communion we become part of Him.
    This was a quote from our Bishop in today’s homily.
    God stays the same. We change.

    Liked by 6 people

  28. Charlie I have been thinking hard about your post. You have a way of making us think. It’s a gift.

    …..I don’t know how, exactly, to apply this to the dark situation surrounding us, but it is worthy of deep contemplation. What I do know is that we have a lot of darkness yet to get through before this hour is up. May we resolve to simply speak the truth, with courage and grace, that we may be lights leading the way to the other side of darkness. Think on these things. However black things seem, I have it on good authority that the darkness will not prevail…..

    Darkness. A gathering gloom. A pall descending over all the Earth. You describe its contours and shape and malignancy quite well.

    I was trying to think where I have heard this description of a state of Darkness prevailing in the world before. And lights.

    Here it is for what it may be worth to you for contemplation.

    It comes from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land last February. Our local tour guide on the bus recommended as followup reading two books by a German Benedictine priest named Bargil Pixner. He was an archeologist who lived and worked in the Holy Land and spent much time in Galilee as well as in Jerusalem as Abbot of the Benedictine community and monastery at the Dormition Abbey on Mt Zion. He was JPII’s personal tour guide when he visited the Holy Land.

    The two books are: “With Jesus Through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel” and “With Jesus in Jerusalem — His First and Last days in Judea”. Expensive but oh so worth the read. Beautifully illustrated including hard to find maps of the geography of the Holy Land and the paths that Jesus trod.

    Re: Darkness. Pixner, looking to the origins and conditions preceding Christ’s birth examines the archeology and the history of Galilee and its development leading up to the Year of Our Lord.

    The short version of the history:

    BC 1225 — Tribe of Zebulon in the Mountains — (Nazareth) Tribe of Naphtali at the Sea of Galilee.
    BC 873-853 — King Ahab in Samaria. Prophets Elijah and Elisha
    BC 733 — Conquest of Northern Kingdom including Zebulon and Naphtali by Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria.
    Exile of the population to Assyria. Galilee incorporated into Assyrian Empire as the
    Province of Meggido. Beginning of 600 years as THE GALILEE OF THE GENTILES.
    BC 742-701 — Ministry of Prophet Isaiah. Beginning at the Temple in Jerusalem.
    BC 163 — Campaign of Simeon the Maccabee in Galilee, to rescue the Jewish population from
    annihilation. Transfer of the rescued to the Jewish heartland to the South in Judea around
    Jerusalem.
    BC 104 — Incorporation of Galilee into the Hasmoneam Kingdom by conquest of Hasmoneam kings.
    Compulsory Judaizing of the Gentile Population and a marked return of Jews from
    Babylon and Persia.
    BC 100 — Return of the Davidic clan of Natzoreans from exile. Initial settlement in Kochaba and
    shortly thereafter in Nazareth.
    BC 63 — Pompey founds Hellenistic (Pagan/Gentile) union of cities of the Decapolis in the land
    bordering the Sea of Galilee on the Eastern side of the lake.
    BC 47 — Herod becomes territorial ruler of Galilee.
    BC 40 — Herod the Great becomes King of all Judea, including Galilee, Batanea and the Decapolis
    BC 25 — Birth of Mary in Jerusalem
    BC 18 — Herod begins to enlarge the Temple
    BC 8 — Betrothal of Mary to to the Davidic Joseph from Nazareth
    BC 6 — Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
    BC 4 — Death of Herod the Great and partition of the Kingdom into the Tetrarchy among his 3 sons.
    Archelaus — Judea Herod Antipas — Galilee and Perea Philip — Batanea
    AD 1 — Joseph and Mary go with Jesus to Nazareth.

    Where does the Darkness come in? From the years 733 BC to 6 BC. Including the 600 or so years of the Galilee of the Gentiles. A time when Galilee was virtually a no man’s land. With few surviving Jewish families amid bands of Pagan worshipers. The Land of Zebulun and Naphtali. The idol worshippers included the Canaanites who worshipped the god Baal. FYI, the Canannites practiced child sacrifice to Baal.

    The Natzoreans, the Davidic Clan, of which Jesus was a member through Joseph and Mary, held the prophecies of Isaiah in special esteem. Isaiah spoke of the land of Zebulon and Naphtali — where these Natzoreans landed around the year 100 BC — as a Land of Darkness. Into which a Great Light would appear. The Messiah of the Davidic line. Their line. Their clan.

    Bargil Pixner: “The prophet Isaiah lamented this paganizing of the old tribal territories: “In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Napthali” (Is 9:1), but looking into the future, he sees that the people will “have seen a great light” (Is 9:2; cf. Mt 4:12-16).

    IS 9

    The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
    Upon those who lived in a land of gloom
    a light has shone.

    2
    You have brought them abundant joy
    and great rejoicing;
    They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest,
    as they exult when dividing the spoils.

    3
    For the yoke that burdened them,
    the pole on their shoulder,
    The rod of their taskmaster,
    you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.

    4
    For every boot that tramped in battle,
    every cloak rolled in blood,
    will be burned as fuel for fire.

    5
    For a child* is born to us, a son is given to us;
    upon his shoulder dominion rests.
    They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
    Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.

    6
    His dominion is vast
    and forever peaceful,
    Upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
    which he confirms and sustains
    By judgment and justice,
    both now and forever.
    The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

    That’s Isaiah somewhere around the year 733 BC. Kind of gives you the chills. It sustained the Jews, especially the Davidic Natzoreans, in exile. Gave them hope. In a land of Darkness and Gloom. A tremendous word of the Lord and promise to a people living through darkness, gloom and despair.

    The Natzoreans held on to this prophecy of Isaiah 11 as well. It is from this reading of Isaiah 11:1 that the Natzoreans derived their name. The root of the word in Hebrew is Netzer. Meaning Shoot or Branch. From the shoot of Jesse who was the father of Kind David the Messiah will come from the Davidic Line. From the Natzoreans.

    THE IDEAL DAVIDIC KING*
    1
    But a shoot shall sprout from the stump* of Jesse,
    and from his roots a bud shall blossom.a

    2
    * The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:b
    a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    A spirit of counsel and of strength,
    a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,

    3
    and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
    Not by appearance shall he judge,
    or by hearsay shall he decide,

    4
    But he shall judge the poor with justice,
    and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.cHe shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

    5
    Justice shall be the band around his waist,
    and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

    6
    * Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
    The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
    with a little child to guide them.

    This is the Messiah that the family of Jesus and his extended community of Natzoreans in the little hamlet of Nazareth were waiting for and expecting. A Light in the Darkness. A Light in their Land of Zebulun and Napthali.

    Knowing this great hope and expectation of his family and his community and their focus on Isaiah, Jesus in his early days of public ministry came back to Nazareth and went into the synagogue where he was handed the scroll to read. He read Isaiah. This episode in Jesus’ life is recorded in Luke 4. Worth a re-read.

    Bargil Pixner surmises that Jesus probably read a lengthier account from Isaiah than the one brief piece cited in Luke 4. From Isaiah Chapters 60 -61.

    THE DAWNING OF DIVINE GLORY FOR ZION
    1
    * Arise! Shine, for your light has come,
    the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you.

    2
    Though darkness covers the earth,
    and thick clouds, the peoples,
    Upon you the LORD will dawn,
    and over you his glory will be seen.

    3
    Nations shall walk by your light,
    kings by the radiance of your dawning.

    …..19

    ETERNAL LIGHT FOR ZION
    19
    * No longer shall the sun
    be your light by day,
    Nor shall the brightness of the moon
    give you light by night;
    Rather, the LORD will be your light forever,
    your God will be your glory.i

    20
    No longer will your sun set,
    or your moon wane;
    For the LORD will be your light forever,
    and the days of your grieving will be over.

    21
    Your people will all be just;
    for all time they will possess the land;
    They are the shoot that I planted,
    the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.j

    22
    The least one shall become a clan,
    the smallest, a mighty nation;
    I, the LORD, will swiftly accomplish
    these things when the time comes.

    Chapter 61

    THE ANOINTED BEARER OF GLAD TIDINGS
    1
    * The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
    because the LORD has anointed me;

    He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
    To proclaim liberty to the captives,
    release to the prisoners,a

    2
    To announce a year of favor from the LORD
    and a day of vindication by our God;
    To comfort all who mourn;b

    3
    to place on those who mourn in Zion
    a diadem instead of ashes,
    To give them oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    a glorious mantle instead of a faint spirit.
    They will be called oaks of justice,
    the planting of the LORD to show his glory.

    Luke then summed up what Jesus said to his assembled kinsmen in Nazareth.

    Luke 4 20-21

    20
    Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
    21
    He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”*

    A Great Light had dawned on Galilee and the Land of Zebulun and Naphtali and Nazareth. To dispel the gloom and darkness. * Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you.”

    Charlie, I think what you are describing in your post is very near the kind of Darkness and Gloom that descended upon the Land of Zebulun and Naphtali in Galilee for roughly 700 years before the hour of Christ’s appearance.

    Now that’s a LONG HOUR of Darkness and Gloom.

    The Galilee of the Gentiles. By which the prophet meant paganism and violence and even child sacrifice. A profound Darkness. A Darkness of the Spirit. A terrible loneliness. Call it a place of Evil. A place and a land of profound gloom and despair. Only lifted by the light which Jesus brought to that part of the world at that time.

    Today the whole world is descending into the state of Darkness and Gloom that once prevailed in Galilee. Even here in America. Where child sacrifice seemingly has returned to vogue and active practice. Violence abounds. And myriad false gods are worshipped. You describe the alarming details with chilling specificity in our own case here in America. Our own version of the Galilee of the Gentiles.

    We are in the middle of The Storm. You call it the darkest minutes. A reprise of the time BEFORE Jesus. Kinda scary. Especially for those who are distant from Jesus and his Gospel of Good News which remains the same today. We who love the Lord are not blinded. We have a Great Light today as those Natzoreans first beheld some 2,000 years ago.

    That is our Hope to sustain us through our own time of Darkness and Gloom.

    No longer will your sun set,
    or your moon wane;
    For the LORD will be your light forever,
    and the days of your grieving will be over.

    I, the LORD, will swiftly accomplish
    these things when the time comes.

    Come swiftly Lord Jesus, save your people!

    Charlie you do have a way of making people think. You, sir, are a Light in the Darkness in your own inimitable way. I think all here would agree. Have courage and lead on friend.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. Absolutely beautiful, Ed. Indeed, Charlie is a light in the darkness, both precious and formidable. I constantly thank God for calling him and for Charlie’s fiat response. The good news is that each one of us, too, is a called to be light shining in the darkness.

      I think what Joecro wrote is not so tangential as it is essential to this piece of Charlie’s, for in tandem with your thoughts and quotes, Ed, we are reminded of who each of us is called to be.

      Smiling with holy shivers as Fr. W and I await our departure flight from the city of the conference we just attended, a conference based exactly on the theme of Charlie’s piece, your comment and Joecro’s: at least for me, it’s the ultimate goal in the Storm, how to become what we receive at every Mass, to look and act more and more like the One Whom we adore each time we spend time before Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence. Living this extraordinary mystery so readily provides that Holy Spirit Power, to which Anne continually refers, and is our ordinary way through the current the darkness.

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Here are two photos taken as we spent a day basking in Christ’s Light radiating in every darkness.

        This is a side altar in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, NE where we adored and attended Mass:

        When I took this shot of the same scene, this time w/o zooming, I saw the brilliant light radiating beyond the frame of my iPhone that I was using.

        I like to refer to the graces flowing from Jesus in His Eucharistic Presence as nuclear therapy for our souls. The priest during his homily at the Vigil Mass for Corpus Christi urged us all to spend time adoring and absorbing the “nuclear spiritual power” emanating from the Blessed Sacrament. More than a few times Jesus has impressed upon me that He has SOOO much to give us. He y-e-a-r-n-s to do so but it is we who must show up to receive.

        Liked by 7 people

        1. And what you say about tangential sharing shows how astute you are Becks. Of course it’s all about longing for God, longing for change, longing for the new dawn to take us from darkness into light. The change within and the change without. The change that facilitates and accomodates life in The Spirit and conforms us to the Perfection destined for us from the beginning of time. It’s what this forum is about. Padre Pio said we need The Holy Mass more than the sun in order to survive. He was right “Unless you eat My body and drink My blood you cannot have life eternal in you.” This is the change for which we were born, the change that takes us from death to life. “Ad Majora Natus Sum.” “ I was born to greater things.” No government can transport us on this journey – only the Catholic Church outside of which there is no salvation. Keep your eyes on the road (The Way), keep your hands on the wheel (The Rosary) …
          How blessed we are : How Great Thou Art. Amen

          Liked by 4 people

          1. In the above video the light in the original photo was so strong that the face of Mary on the Flame of Love statue could not be seen. I decided to examine the photo more closely and after searching for a hidden face clicked on the part that seemed most close to her heart. Quite by accident I kept the mouse depressed and dragged the image to one side. A cross of light appeared which made me think of the prophesied sign of her Son. I tried it several more times – click and drag as shown on my video. Each time the cross appeared. Trick of the light? I prefer to see it as a sign of the times.

            Liked by 4 people

  29. In times past the governments were royal, in this day they are democratic. In our former age responsibility or fault rests in the royal court, in this day it rests in the people’s court. In every land that has chosen to be ruled by the people came streets full of blood & horror with the US as the only true exception. Satan knows how to play the people well as is evidently displayed on the evening news. Satan said to Eve you are gods do as thou wilt much as he had spoken to Cain & the other fathers of self rule throughout history. In times past the chastisements & responsibility fell to the king as the representative of God. This is both privilege & when things go wrong a personal chastisement to the king himself. Satan will always come bringing all the things you seemingly want & desire. It is far easier to replace a wayward king than it is a self imposed democratic bureaucracy. In times past the fault falls to me, in this age however the fault falls to thee. You can keep the rights of man, enlightment, your democracy, your fascism, your communism, your totalitarianism, & your neosovietism. We will keep our Catholicism, our royal place, & submit ourself to the holy will of God through our Church. Alas the age of republics with all of its atrocities is finally near over. It ends by no royal decree by the likes of me, rather to thunderous applause by the likes of thee. Beware of anyone who promises to lift you up from all misery & take you to the stars, he is an Antichrist freely chosen by the people who brings hell upon the earth. Under God & King you rule by assent whereas under Satan & dominion you rule by consent. We understand if any should vehemently disagree, but there will be no further consideration given or apology granted. Since 1789 we have accepted our responsibility & thus been silent, but now no more.

    Liked by 4 people

  31. As I was reading, this experience came to mind. I used to work with a dear friend who is an amazing pro-life Catholic. She taught CCD for decades. She taught bible studies. She is a motivational speaker since becoming a paraplegic 44 years ago due to an auto accident. She was regional director for Catholic Daughters. She was head of her parish Right To Life group. She stood up against her very high ranking politician uncle who said he was “personally “ against abortion but wouldn’t interfere with a woman’s right to choose. She was featured in a diocesan film telling her story… and she was a Democrat. We would have many a conversation about that. I’d ask how she could reconcile her beliefs with the Democratic platform. She would explain how her father was a Democratic and his father before him, etc. She couldn’t hurt her father by leaving the party. Besides, when the party came to it’s senses, she would be there as one of the first. One day I heard about a “ Catholic” priest who was advocating marriage for priests, priesthood for women, etc. , etc. An inspiration came to me. The next day at work, I told her about this “ priest”.
    She responded in anger as I knew she would; “He’s not a Catholic Priest!” “Nor are you a Democratic!”, was my reply.
    She changed parties.

    Liked by 9 people

  32. All is not darkness. We have so much to anticipate. By bring clear about the details of the permanent sign to be left at Garabandal and much else besides those who have chosen to believe will have their faith confirmed. There will be no confusion, only choice and conversion.

    HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1963:
    “AN AMAZING “SENAL” (“SIGN”) WILL
    REMAIN AT THE SITE OF THE PINES,
    IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE GREAT
    EVENTS OF THE “D” DAY . . . UNTIL
    THE END OF TIMES”!
    On this Holy Thursday, Conchita learned about the future “Senal,” the Sign which, right after the events of the “D” day, “will stay at the site of the Pines until the end of times, in the form of a luminous column, a kind of cloud by day and fire by night.” This phenomenon will symbolize, through its obvious biblical, ecclesial and eschatological connotations, the presence of God in the midst of His people, so enlightened and guided in its worldly journey towards the “Promised Land.” Who then would not see also that such a Sign will doubtless represent for the Jews themselves, at the beginning of this 21st century, as it were, a powerful and astonishing reminder of the Sinai Covenant and of its profound exigences? For “they are beloved (of God), for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 1:28-29). Indeed, in this way, Garabandal will reveal, in a broader prophetic scope, the richness of what we call the “mystery of the Carmel” . . . of which we are still too unaware. That mystery, with its obvious link with the huge figure of the prophet Elijah, so dear to the Jews, obviously refers to the “mystery of the people of Israel” with whom Yahweh had concluded an alliance in the past, but also to the whole People of God, the eschatological Israel.”
    At the very spot where this prodigious “Senal” will emerge, a sanctuary will eventually be built in honor of the Archangel St. Michael, “Protector of the People of God.” We may also note that this great “Sign” will necessarily have a profound affinity with the very nature of the Miracle to come. It will not only be visible for everyone, but it will even be possible to photograph and televise, but not touch, such an extraordinary supernatural phenomenon.
    [From ‘Garabandal’ Book, page 172]

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you for this link JoeCro, I just forwarded it to Jerusalem. I sent it to a rabbi who I’m pretty sure will pass it along. The time for reconciliation is upon us! Thanks be to GodI!

      Liked by 2 people

  34. Just a thought. Pride blinds us and we …. Me especially….. Have to be brought out of pride into child-like humility. Yes, so dark that pride is a real problem if we wish to see by the Light of the Holy Spirit. …… Especially as darkness develops. Pride is part of our fallen human nature. Adam and Eve were not obedient and did not trust. We inherited !!
    Please Lord be merciful with us all in this journey. Focus on Light in front and follow.
    It reminds me of shepherds and magi. Jesus send Your angels to protect us all and gently allow us to see our sinfulness and seek Your forgiveness so we can see in humility in this darkness.
    Come Holy Spirit come by the powerful intercession of Our Lady Your Beloved Spouse.

    Liked by 9 people

  35. Some interesting storm is brewing between USA and China relations. I can see a definate deterioration because of trade, north korea influence and wanting to encroach and expand military bases in Asia and President Trump is not afraid to confront them.

    Yesterday night in a dream i saw Father Padre Pio saying Mass and then he held a picture of a fiery star indicating a warning. Now to be honest even though I’m skeptical I have indicated before my inclinations towards some cosmic influence (could be sun solar flares) causing earthly disturbances and I have seen that photo before so it’s very likely I subconsciously dreamed it. But from Bali we now have Hawaii and a new in Guatemala today.

    To be safe since i already saw 2 priest im going to interpret my dream as I need to go for confession and be right with God as he is calling me to be pure regardless if has to do with any warning.

    But it was amazing to have a dream of Padre Pio. I am just aware he was a stigmatist not sure whether he prophecied anything.

    Liked by 3 people

  36. Ok i now see that Padre Pio said something about 3 days of darkness as well as few others who prophecied the same event and I mistook and thought it was in scripture and referenced it back then and a fellow member mentioned about candles which actually is from Padre Pio. I need to read up him a bit more.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Sorry Josh but you have been misinformed.
      Padre Pio’s name was connected with this prophecy in the
      late 1940s by the Council of Heroldsbach, a group in Germany that was formed
      after some children claimed that the Blessed Mother had appeared to them. The Council composed a letter about the three days of darkness and forged Padre Pio’s name to it. The letter was declared a forgery in 1950 by Padre Pio’s superior in San Giovanni Rotondo. In 1951, the Vatican’s Holy Office, without mentioning Padre Pio by name, stated that the alleged appearances of the Blessed Virgin in Heroldsbach were not supernatural.
      “. . . There are printed materials containing prophecy of three days of
      darkness which attribute such a prophecy to Padre Pio. But the author [i.e. Birch] has in his possession sworn documents from the Capuchin Order stating that no such prophecy ever emanated [sic] from Padre Pio. All the author’s attempts to track down an authentic source from Padre Pio ,
      have led to the conclusion that; [sic] some person(s) either accidentally or
      willfully created these attributions of such a prophecy to Padre Pio”
      (Trial,Tribulation, & Triumph, p. 283).
      From The Padre Pio Center for North America:

      I applaud your diligence in seeking truth.The prophecy of the “Three Days of Darkness” is correctly attributed to the late mystic, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi.

      Back in 1960, was the first time that this rumor, associating the prophecy with Padre Pio began in which it was brought to the attention of Church authorities who turned it over to the Capuchin Order for reply.

      Father Clement Neubauer O.F.M. Cap., Superior General of the Capuchin Order, speaking on behalf of the Order and specifically for Padre Pio labeled the prophecies attributed to Padre Pio as forgeries.

      Later in 1977, Volume XII, number 2 of the Voice of Padre Pio magazine, the official publication of the Cause for Postulazaione (Beatification and Canonization) of Padre Pio, clearly printed that on several occasions Padre Pio answered with a resounding “NO” to those who questioned him about whether he made the prophecy of the Three Days of Darkness. Thank you for seeking the truth. Perhaps you may wish to learn more of the life of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi; very interesting life. Her incorrupt body is in the Church of San Crisogono in Trastevere Section of Rome, if ever you travel to Italy.
      From Catholic answers

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Hi Josh…I am part of a Facebook group on Garabandal and the leader of the site, Glen Hudson, is showing now how Padre Pio has been incorrectly affilliated with the message of the 3 days of darkness.

      Liked by 3 people

  37. Here’s a little light folks:

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/06/04/scotus-rules-7-2-christian-baker-wins-case-against-colorado-civil-rights-commission-full-ruling-pdf/#more-150103

    Woohoo!!! The worm may really be turning, although it never seems fast enough for us. BTW, the actually ruling can be found at the site referenced.

    It never seems fast enough for us….imagine being a Christian in North Africa, one of the most devout areas of the world 1500 years ago…the land of Sts Augustine, Anthony and so many others. They have been praying for deliverance for over A THOUSAND YEARS. And I know “a thousand years is but a day in the sight of the Lord,” but boy, it seems like FOREVER to us!! And yet, nothing is lost in God’s economy…and the Lord is merciful and understanding to us in our impatience. Thanks be to God for this small victory (and the decision was somewhat limited), but a small victory is still a victory!

    Liked by 3 people

  38. Hi Joe and Mimi,

    I quickly googled padre pio prophecies and read that yesterday and remembered some discussion about 3 days of darkness and the blessed candle so thanks for quickly pointing that out. So now I know it’s not in the Bible neither from St Padre Pio but just prophecy.

    I tried a bit to find more but didnt find much except that he was related to seeing the warning at Garabandal. Then back again i came across 3 days of darkness. This is how I saw him in the dream The Agony of Jesus https://g.co/kgs/b1si3o. I guess the other part of the picture is just my subconscious bias even though I’m a skeptic but usually i can interpret my dreams and all i can say is it had to do with a warning.

    For example when I saw an aborted fetus it was in Church signifying a holy place and that the aborted fetus is innocent and holy as well subject to the same injustice as our Lord.

    Sometimes we are quick to judge others but we also cave in to worldly pressures about contraception often ridiculed as being outdated but the dream showed me exactly how this is a dangerous assumption implying that the Catholic teaching is the only infallable teaching on this subject.

    God Bless.

    Liked by 2 people

  40. I do not know what to make of this…

    I wear a St. Benedict Crucifix with a Miraculous Medal, Spiritual Warfare medal and a second class relic of Blessed Miguel Pro. It is strung together on a metal break away necklace chain and upon entering my apartment, hang on the rear of the door. It is usually put on just prior to going out.

    Last evening I hung it as usual aound 7 PM. I watched tv until 10 PM then went to bed. I awoke sometime in the wee hours of the morning with the Blessed Miguel Pro relic ‘stuck’ to my chest. In my sleep I felt it, thought ‘oh, the relic of Miguel Pro’ then placed it on my nightstand, went back to sleep. Upon awakening, it was as placed and was not a dream.

    Needless to say, I have prayed to Miguel Pro, asked his interssession for a few things…

    I don’t know what to make of this. After mass I told the celebrating Priest, who understandbly had little to say. I realize today is June 6th ‘D’ day anniversary. Dunno.

    Perhaps we may all pray for the intersession of Blessed Miguel Pro, particulary for conversion, our Countries conversions, notably United States of Mexico & the United States of America.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Pro

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Love Miguel Pro, Sean, and love your story. What an apt response from your part to suggest we ask for his help. Praying for Blessed Miguel’s intercession along with that of Our Lady of Tepeyac, Mother of Conversion… for conversion on this continent and all over the world, for conversion is the very mitigating factor which Our Lord and Our Lady seek.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Sean, that is so amazing. We are being called to increase our prayers. ❤

      Two nights ago I had wild dreams. Negative words that had opposite meanings were being replaced in my routine silent bedtime prayers. I did not consciously change the words, however I was extremely tired and just ended a difficult day filled with conflict and longing. In order for the intrusions to cease, I ended up having to rebuke the interruptions and set aside feelings of shame and guilt for what was popping into my head against my will. When I drifted off to sleep, I had what was clearly good versus evil vivid dreams. I did not remember details other than it seemed to be a battle to the death, which I fully sensed I was personally witnessing within another dimension.

      The last time I had dreamt in a similar manner I was weaning myself off of prescription pain meds over two years ago. I did not sleep until I laid down in a guest bedroom, and only then I was able to rest well. Supernatural things are happening in our midst, indeed.

      Liked by 7 people

      1. Keep up the good fight, JLB. I’ve gotten a ton of this too for a long stretch, as well as a rash of worldly judgments and strife from those around me… those dearest. Short term pain and longing for better things, hope and eternal Victory on the horizon.

        One thing I’ve come to realize in these attacks… how terribly repetitive the adversary is. Same old methods and attacks from the same old bag of filth. Old, old old.

        How heartening to know that Our Lord with us… nay, holding us tightly while the battle rages, yet so fresh and new! Always doing those unexpected and new things… an endless outpouring of Love Himself Who Is Always Fresh and New!

        Just added Miguel Pro to my intercessors. Hey, there’s something new too.

        Liked by 7 people

        1. Thank you sincerely Michael Patrick for your candor and kindness. I tend not to want to fuss, knowing that we are all being tested. I have to remind myself to be open to the prayers and gracious outpouring of others. Thank you for indirectly reminding me to stay humble.
          I will keep you and yours in my prayers too. Yes the tactics of the adversaries are old and tired. Pray, pray, pray, lift each other up, mind, body and spirit. Signs of hope! ❤

          Liked by 5 people

          1. Jlynn,
            St Augustine writes,
            “To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one’s heart, with all one’s soul and with all one’s efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence).”
            Mother Teresa said of love: “Love to be real, it must cost — it must hurt — it must empty us of self.”
            If we didn’t care, we wouldn’t hurt.
            I’m glad you are one who cares.

            Liked by 2 people

    3. Thank you for this Sean. I too shared my heart with Blessed Miguel in response. My family growing up always had a love for Mexico, it’s people, it’s art and culture. Just recently my siblings and all our children were together staring down at two tables of family heirlooms to be…re-homed. Stories of, about and in Mexico were the majority. We went as often as we could and have maintained multi-generational life-long friendships as a result. The corruption and injustice being revealed daily in the U.S. is not unlike what I remember hearing about as a child while visiting Mexico. Blessed Miguel Pro’s courageous example of cheerfulness and faith is beautiful and fortifying.

      Liked by 4 people

    4. For you discernment SS:
      As to the new offerings of PC in the world-
      “Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities — evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison”. (St Benedict Medal).
      As to the cross borne by those who refuse the “Mark” of PC in these times.
      “On the reverse of the Medal: the letter M surmounted by a cross with a bar at its base; below this monogram, the Sacred Heart of Jesus *crowned with thorns*, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary *pierced with a sword*.
      (The Miraculous Medal.)

      (The Miguel Pro Relic)
      “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”.(Matt 5:44).
      “Pro, declining a blindfold, faced his executioners with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other and held his arms out in imitation of the crucified Christ and shouted out, “May God have mercy on you! May God bless you! Lord, Thou knowest that I am innocent! With all my heart I forgive my enemies!” Before the firing squad were ordered to shoot, Pro raised his arms in imitation of Christ and shouted the cry of the Cristeros, “Viva Cristo Rey!” – “Long live Christ the King!”

      Liked by 8 people

  41. On 18 June 1965 Our Blessed Mother gave us the final message we would receive from her at Garabandal. It is said she was so saddened by its content that she asked St Michael to deliver it on her behalf. I wonder if 18 June 2018 will deliver anything notable or will it be just another day in which we do our best to live good lives according to her instruction.

    Liked by 6 people

  42. Sean, prayers going up for you and all here. Here’s a little shot I snapped today that I’m passing along:

    I’ve seen this sun halo phenomenon only twice in my life. The first time was on the day that St. John Paul II passed. Today, I happened to walk outside and look up. There it was again.

    On a smaller scale, I snapped the following shot later while sitting out back. A little yellow flower fell next to me and landed on the other flowery branches. It landed in such a way that it looked as if it had sprouted there, an actual part of the red plant. That’s the third “splash of yellow instance” lately for me, as a confirmation of sorts.

    Something to ponder…

    Liked by 11 people

  43. Another Sign of Hope if it is indeed correct – some US bishops are meeting tomorrow, Feast of the Saced Heart, to discuss Our Lady of America. It is said that more miracles will be wrought by Blessed Mother under this particular title than any other. Praying for a positive outcome and quick passage to Her Enthronement in the Washington Basilica! This news comes from a Fr Celso Divine Will broadcast on a June 4 broadcast.

    Liked by 3 people

  44. “Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

    I. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…… (here name your request)
    Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father….Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

    II. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of…….(here name your request) Our Father…Hail Mary….Glory Be To the Father….Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

    III. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of…..(here name your request) Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

    O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.
    Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add:
    St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
    — St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Pray for us.”

    Becks tells me there are lots of folks here already doing a Novena to The Sacred Heart. Of course there are. Just thought I would add this one said every day by Padre Pio for those who asked for his prayers.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you, Joe. Actually, I was referring to the fact that many, not necessarily on this site, had already begun a novena to the Sacred Heart in anticipation of the feast which is, for you down under folk, tomorrow and for us northern hemisphere peeps coming up in two days. That said, any day is a great day to begin a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

      Liked by 3 people

  45. Thank you for that clarification Becks.

    Looking at the number of times the name Michael/Miguel/Mick/Michael Patrick etc comes up in the last few comments it made me think again of St Michael the archangel and the central role he played in the visitations and the messages of Garabandal. Our Lady even linked the efficacy of prayer to her with prayer to St Michael “if you pray to us with sincere hearts we will grant your requests.” He was there at the start and will be there at the end. And of course Padre Pio is there in the comments too. His bronze stands near the trees where Mary and Michael appeared. His statue stands in the chapel near the rock above which St Michael appeared. On June 18th St Michael delivered Mary’s final exhortation at Garabandal.

    Its 6.40pm on the night of Thursday June 7 here in li’l’ ol’ Morrinsville New Zealand. We still have a couple of days to start another novena to end on June 18th to honor The Sacred Heart bearing also in mind His best soldier chosen to stand beside His mother during her second sojourn on earth and His appearance at Garabandal.

    http://whatisgarabandal.blogspot.com/2011/06/sacred-heart-at-garabandal_03.html

    The above link tells the story of the appearance of The Sacred Heart At Garabandal. I have no idea if anything auspicious will happen this June 18 but as Becks says “any day is a great day to begin a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

    PS My last patient of the day was Michelle – a member of our Catholic parish.

    Liked by 3 people

  46. “The November 7, 1968 bulletin of Peru’s Legion Blanca under the imprimatur of Mgr. Alfonso Zapana Belliza, Bishop of Tacna, Peru, quotes the late Pope Paul VI as having said at a private audience these inspiring words: “Garabandal the most beautiful story of humanity since the birth of Jesus Christ! It is also the second sojourn of the most Holy Virgin on this earth, and we have no adequate words to express our gratitude.”

    Liked by 4 people

  49. Thank God the prayers were heard, and it woke up enough people Ontario to remove the corrupt liberal government. We still have a lot brainwashed leftist zombies around here, but there’s been a awakening…

    This election had the signs of tampering from Soros. That guy has to be dealt with by any means necessary, we can’t afford to let him do as he pleases anymore, he’s been messing with elections around the world to install Liberals loyal only to him in his pursuit of a globalist government.

    If the globalists want to crash the world economy, they are going to have to do their own dirty work in person, so everyone sees them as the monsters that they are, and not pin the blame elsewhere…

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Yes Becks and my worry is that NZ will be next. The case against Cardinal Pell has been deliberately ordered and timed within the construct of this incipient persecution. Even if he is found not guilty the dingos will get their meat.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/frank-brennan-why-i-will-break-the-law-rather-than-the-seal-of-confession-20170815-gxw7it.html

      I wonder how many other priests will make such a statement in order to reassure the faithful. Once the seal has been forcibly broken with regard to child abuse – what next – drug abuse, tax evasion any criminal offense? God bless Fr Brennan and all priests willing to put their necks on the line to protect children and keep the faith.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Prayers for all the Fr. Brennans of this world, so willing to be true to their vocation while maintaining the integrity of the seal of confession.
        Come, and do not delay, Lord Jesus!

        Liked by 3 people

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Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.