A Pivotal Year and the Interpretation of Prophecy

Posted on by charliej373

By Charlie Johnston

Back when I made my critical error in interpreting rescue as an event rather than a process, a fellow with some heft in the Church in America contacted me. While the man was very skeptical of all prophetic claims, he took the time to tell me not to be discouraged: that what I had accomplished was to shed myself of the prophecy chasers – and what would remain would be serious people ready for serious work.

When I began writing of these present times 10 years ago I was not so modest as to want to change people’s minds. I was intent on changing people’s mindsets. One of the things that most agitated me with the old site was that many people paid far too much attention to my frothy pronouncements while putting short shrift to the weightier matters. There was no independent need for me to speak of the storm that was coming on the world; that was coming whether I spoke about it or not. The primary – really the sole – reason I spoke about it at all was so that, once it had come, people who paid attention would believe me when I said it was not the end, but a renewal. My weighty stuff was how to deal with what was ahead for us – and setting this up was how I dealt with establishing credibility for when it would genuinely be needed.

Alas, many people took the frothier stuff I spoke of and kicked the rest to the curb, despite me repeatedly telling them not to and repeatedly telling them I would err on at least one thing. I constantly told people not to become hoarders, but to be prudent and trust in God to show them the way as events unfolded. My Archbishop generously acknowledged that I tried to steer people away from the frothy stuff in his letter barring me from speaking on Catholic property in Denver but mounting no other restrictions, but rightly noted that, even so, many readers came for the sizzle. After I made my interpretive error on the rescue, some people complained that they had spent their entire life savings on preparations because of me. I was both irritated and unconcerned: they ignored that I repeatedly warned them NOT to do that because they were trying to outwit God – and implicitly insisted they had a better human plan to prepare than anything God could come up with.

Of late, I have been inundated with notes from people helpfully explaining to me how I have gone off the rails because I do not interpret things – and particularly prophecy – precisely as they do. Some fault me for being insufficiently submissive to the Pope, even in areas where he has no authority. Others suggest I am an apologist for papal and clerical abuse. Some suggest that, though I am well-meaning, I am too caught up in the Novus Ordo to understand what is really going on. Almost all quote some snippet of prophecy – approved or unapproved – to justify their conflicting claims. Some even claim I have become a tool of the devil.

We have a very serious year ahead of us. If we are to weather it well it is time to put away childish things. I thought a way to help bring a sobering perspective would be to offer a very simplified primer on the interpretation of prophecy. I have mentioned before that I had seven years where I interpreted wrong every single time as I was being trained. People have accused me of many things, but few – even of my most committed opponents – have ever accused me of being dumb. One would think that, given that, when I recount that I got it wrong every time for some seven years, people might think, whoa, this stuff must be much trickier than it looks. But no, almost all continue along on their merry way making interpretations that are the equivalent of a child’s stick figure drawing that gets stuck on the refrigerator, convinced that they are the Rembrandt of prophetic interpretation. If you actually knew what you were doing, you would approach the subject with far more fear and trembling, knowing how fraught with peril even the simplest, seemingly most straight-forward approved prophecies are. Let’s go through a basic look at what you must assess before venturing any opinion.

First you must judge whether the prophecy is literal or metaphorical. Despite the reality that a good 85% of accomplished prophecies have been metaphorical, most amateur prophetic interpreters account everything to be literal. If our lifespans were 2,000 years, there would still be people waiting for the temple to be torn down and raised again in three days – refusing to accept that Jesus was speaking of His own death and resurrection in a way that could NOT be understood until He accomplished it.

In making this assessment you must then contemplate deeply the interplay between time and eternity. When did the fallen angels fall? Revelation 12 says it is after the appearance of the woman cloaked with the sun. Yet the devil tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden, so it must have been before creation itself. The dark angels fell before creation, are falling now, and will fall again. Eternity is always NOW. It is a great mystery – but it impacts our interpretations dramatically and makes our little timelines vapid. Many things that are perfectly literal in eternity seem metaphorical in time. I have no doubt that the disciples who stayed with Jesus after He proclaimed they must eat His body and drink His blood to have life within them thought surely He was speaking metaphorically in some way they could not yet understand. Those who left thought He was speaking literally – and that His teaching was cannibalism. Amazingly, He was speaking literally, but in a way no one could imagine at the time. It was fully literal in eternity but still seems metaphorical here in time.

Then you must take into account the layering effect. God loves to foreshadow His decrees – and to progressively unveil them to us. So they may well be both metaphorical and literal. The tearing down and raising of the temple was accomplished with Christ’s resurrection, but then was mirrored by the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. and the rise of Christianity.

Next you must look whether the prophecy is absolute or conditional. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah dealt primarily with absolute prophecies – but these were primarily proclamations of milestone events in salvation history, the virgin birth, the suffering servant. He is the only Old Testament prophet whose prophecies all proved out correct, surely the best prophetic interpreter ever. Even so, it took almost half a millennium for them all to prove out, so no one in his lifetime knew he batted 1.000. Many prophets made conditional prophecies – warnings of great chastisements unless the people repented. Perhaps the most famous of these was Jonah’s warning to the Ninevites: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” It didn’t sound conditional, but the people of Nineveh repented en masse – and were spared destruction. Poor Jonah, who was a reluctant prophet to begin with, sulked because the Ninevites’ repentance made him appear to be a false prophet. Yet it was Jonah’s prophecy which was the instrument that led to their repentance. Without it, they would have been destroyed. At the end of the short book of Jonah, God taught the prophet that mercy can and should be the fruit of prophecy – and he was unjust to sulk.

While some prophecies can be mitigated entirely, others that are true can only partially be mitigated. After assessing whether a prophecy is more likely absolute or conditional, one must assess whether it can fully be mitigated or only partially mitigated.

God uses the ruts our minds so easily fall into to lead us into deceiving ourselves. Often a prophet will speak of an invasion – and amateurs always interpret that negatively. But an invasion can be one of conquest and oppression or of liberation. Existing conceptual predispositions will lead you into error every time.

I believe the Lord and His heralds speak to me directly – and I believe He did me a great favor by letting me fall into errant interpretation for seven years straight. It led me to discover my predispositions and assumptions and burn them out, so that I might hear with open ears. On actual prophecies, both those approved and those un-condemned, I put them through rigorous examination with the above being the beginning of the process. By the time I am done, I have at least six or seven potential interpretations – sometimes as many as a dozen – and then make a judgment on what is most likely. Even with this rigorous process, at least 30% of the time (probably more like 40%), a true prophecy is fulfilled in a way I still did not anticipate.

In this life each of us has a different capacity for knowledge. Some have the capacity of a shot glass while others have the capacity of a large fish tank. Yet the wisdom of God is greater than all the oceans. What hubris to think we can begin to contain that in the little vessels of our intellect! If, then, it is so overwhelming whether we are shot glass or fish tank, what good is human knowledge at all? St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor, proclaimed everything he had written as so much straw after being drawn into the mystical presence of Christ near the end of his life. It is a rare time when I disagreed with him. If he had previously believed his insights were worthy of heaven, he was guilty of a hubris that this mystical vision rescued him from. But his insights were profoundly useful in helping us, his fellows, to approach the throne of heaven more surely. That, in fact, is the sole purpose of human wisdom. If we direct it to that end we are useful servants in Our Lord’s hands. If we use it to try to dominate our fellows, we abuse and squander it – and are in deadly danger of forfeiting our salvation in the process.

At the end of my seven years of interpretive futility, my angel (so I believe) explained to me that the purpose of prophecy is NOT so that we know the mind of God. That is not possible. Rather, it is to give us markers, so that when certain temporal events happen we will look deeper into the spiritual reality behind them. If we use it in that light it is a profoundly useful guide for us along our way. Ah, but a great sorrow is that so many people, erecting an expected spectacle in their own minds, are so busy looking for that spectacle of their own interpretation that they completely miss the fulfillment of a prophecy.

The pious friends of Job thought they were defending God. Yet in the end. God was so angry with their false portrait of Him that He would not even accept their prayers – and demanded that they ask Job to pray for them, instead, for Job had spoken rightly of God. He would accept Job’s prayers for the forgiveness of these friends who thought they were pious, but were downright slanderous in their false image of God. Do not make the mistake of Job’s friends.

Let us apply these criteria to my interpretation of the Third Secret of Fatima, which I wrote and sent to my Priests two days after the secret was released. This interpretation was NOT given to me. It is entirely mine, knitted from the entirety of my peculiar life experiences. Yet after it was done, my angel told me that, in future ages, this would become one of the Church’s most cherished historical documents. In the interactions I believe I have with heavenly beings, I usually get correction. It is generally kind, but always reminds me of how painfully slow I am. It was nice to get outright validation on this occasion.

I identified Pope John Paul II as the Pope in the secret. It is literal from the eternal standpoint. A soul lost to heaven is a terrible tragedy in eternity, much greater than a life lost in this temporal plane. The attacks against this Pope are figurative here, but entirely literal there. St. John Paul retrofitted the Barque of Peter to encounter and endure the storm. That his work should come under siege is a great offense. One must look now to where the assault is coming from. Much of it is coming from within the Church. These are among the soldiers firing at this sainted Pope. Some think we must never criticize a sitting Pope lest, in this secular and pagan age, we trigger the mere physical attack that pure literalists think the secret speaks of. But if my interpretation is correct – and I stand by it – then to remain silent amidst internal offenses and abuse is to empower the very soldiers attacking the faith.

What, then, if the abuses and the general pagan mentality of the age sparks a physical attack against the Vatican? That is, what if the layering effect comes into play? Well, would that destroy the Church? It is a failure of faith to believe such a thing possible, for Christ said the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church. Could it be that such an attack might serve to wipe away those who assault the faith from the inside? It would not be the first time God has used outside unbelievers to visit His chastisement on His own. Could it cause an open schism? Very possibly – but we have been in implicit schism for almost a century. Could a schism be God’s winnowing fan – separating the wheat from the chaff? Might there be controversy as to who is Pope for a time? There already has been such controversy – and it is by no means the first time that such a controversy has roiled the Church. Has God not used such previous controversies as a winnowing fan? Of course He has!

Ours is to come to knowledge of what is legitimate authority – and then obey it. But it is also our duty to understand what is retained as the legitimate prudential responsibility of the laity – and then exercise it. There are those who want a formulaic submission to everything a Bishop or Priest says, down to his March Madness picks. Then there are those who, because of real abuses, would overthrow everything and make their own way. We are called to walk a knife’s edge, to follow what Christ directed, to obey legitimate authority legitimately exercised that we may hearten and fortify the hierarchy that is committed to Christ, while exercising our prudential responsibility with full fidelity to Scripture and the Magisterium.

My friends, it is going to be a tough year, more brutally tough than you can imagine yet. But it is also going to be an incredibly joyful year when the first signs of the Lord’s plan of renewal will visibly take shape. I call on you to cast away childish things and all vanity. They will lead you to perdition. The Next Right Step is the only way forward in these times, trusting that God will illuminate your way with each step.

If you only have one potential interpretation of an approved prophecy, even if it proves correct it would be because of the ‘blind hog’ rule, not because of your interpretive prowess. If you were wise, you would approach all prophecy with humility, fear and trembling, knowing how little of the great ocean of God’s knowledge you can contain in your little vessel at your best.

But fear not. God reads hearts. If you are of genuine humility and good will, you will still make plenty of mistakes, but God will lead you, correct you, and justify you provided you take full responsibility for your errors. If, instead, you seek to prove you are a giant among men and that your mighty prowess gives you leave to rule them, God will run you aground on the shoals of your hubris.

We have entered what I believe will be one of the most pivotal years in salvation history. It grieved me for a time to lose the prophecy chasers. But oh, what a blessing it has been to work with the very serious people who remain! We are going to be confounded, puzzled, and frightened many times this year at the violent roar of the wind and waves around us. We will be tempted to retreat into some formulaic means of protecting ourselves. But all those winds and waves are just the devil’s froth. Keep your eyes on Jesus, take the next right step, and He will use you to transform the world – in His way, not yours.

A beautiful panel on semi-rustic wood from the Chalsen home in New Hampshire. I fell in love with it from when I first saw it. I think of it as “Epiphany” – where heaven meets earth. One of my favorite pieces of art ever.

If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.

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114 thoughts on “A Pivotal Year and the Interpretation of Prophecy”

  1. ♥️♥️♥️ it!! All of it, Charlie. The review in discussing various dimensions of prophecy is excellent. I even love that this will be a year of suffering ONLY because the sure way out of this mess is through it. Praying and doing, day by day, step by step. Blessed be God forever!! Ave Maria eternally!!

    Liked by 8 people

    2. New Year blessings to all.

      Yes, I think it will be a “tough” year, although I can only speak for my own cabbage-patch, this increasingly demented little isle off the end of Europe whose deranged ruling class think it’s actually of some significance. Wrong, puppets (as so often): this dump ceased to be of significance once it ceased to believe in God and practice the Faith, which meant actually standing up for it, as in supporting Life. And we did, for a long time. That, of course, angered the Powers and Steps Had To Be Taken.

      Now, since we’ve become rotten and surrendered, it’s just a laughable little cat’s-paw, another tool of Global Inc. as epitomised by the empty souls in Brussels to whom our leadership have sold their wretched little selves, and fawn on their every utterance (and euro €€€). Our Prime Minister recently mouthed-off the company-speak about right-wing infiltration, while the Minister for Education opined about the desirability of concentrating more on languages in schools, and less on religious study (pleasant news to me they actually still did that, but obviously an irritant to her – assuming I haven’t misgengered her/zir/ze/zing/ bing/ring-a-ding/whatever 🙄).

      So, yes, a tough year as they’re now blatantly using any crisis to ratchet-up the Agenda another notch, or more, and of course the C-19 trick is still around to pull out whenever, as actual news of the damage and the death rates is ignored and the sheeple are largely still believers in the covid-cult. Which is not surprising, as they’ve given up genuine Belief. But it’s sad, and dangerous.

      Meanwhile, we’re preparing for our annual Chartres Pilgrimage which will be poignant this year with the death of our beloved Benedict XVI. But it should be huge, yet again, as last year. A genuine sign amid all the gloom. And if it’s cancelled, for whatever reason – well, we’ll do our own at home, as we did in 2021. And if we can’t even do that, as in 2020 – well, we’ll do it internally.

      Once again, very best wishes and blessings to all, J.

      Liked by 15 people

      1. Jaykay, my heart bleeds for you and Ireland! I have so much Irish blood in my veins and the passing of my beautiful Catholic faith from my ancestors makes me wonder if they, too, weep for Ireland. God bless you for staying strong and fighting for life!! Many prayers for a successful pilgrimage!

        Liked by 8 people

      2. We – on this side of the pond – share, in many ways albeit some details are similar and some are different, the disgusting reality you have presented, J… as does nearly every country in this worldwide civil war being fought on cultural lines. Together, in solidarity, we face the intensifying Storm. (Already looking forward to the video of your magnificent pilgrimage.)

        Liked by 7 people

        1. Beckita and Jewel: we are in hard times as regards the Faith, with no vocations to the Priesthood in the Archdiocese of Dublin. And likely similar for the other Dioceses. I’m in the historic one of Armagh, See of St. Patrick himself, and I’m not sure there are any there either.

          But… we were warned this would come, from a long time back. And the Traditional Orders are thriving. ICKSP, FSSP, and the Irish Dominicans. Our local Dominicans, all young, are wonderful. There is a lesson there.

          As we say: spera in Domino.

          Blessings, J.

          Liked by 9 people

      3. God bless you, Jaykay; and God bless Ireland.

        Incidentally, I recently learned that one of my ancestors was born in County Donegal. Where is that in relation to where you live?

        Liked by 5 people

        1. Mick: nowhere in Ireland is very far away from anywhere, being a small island but, in context, Donegal is about 75-100 miles away, depending on where in that very beautiful county (which I love). The very northern tip would be about about, ooooh, maybe 90 at most (?) as the crow flies. But overland… well, that’s the difference 😎 And I’ve cycled a lot of it.

          It’s not like the States, motorways, even dual-carriage roads, are quite few. As for rail – well, the railways were all over but since the 40s/50s… not so much. The transport revolution, don’cha’know. Except it never really happened, and the great and hard work of our ancestors was just ripped up and scrapped and nothing really replaced it, despite the promises. Familiar story, all over. My family were “old railway”, back to the 1860s but… yeah.

          Lovely to know you have the Donegal connection. A great county – tough, independent-minded people. Lord, we need them in the current travesty of what passes for an “independent” country, won at the cost of so much bloodshed. But the main thing was the Faith, now cast aside in the rush to Babylon.

          We had it, we deliberately abandoned it. Miserere, Domine. Miserere nobis.

          Liked by 6 people

          1. Yes.  I scratch my head about how quickly it changed there Jaykay.  Also, I looked it up before and Ireland is almost identical in square miles to the state of Maine in the U.S. to give perspective.  I have a sister who lives in Maine.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

            Liked by 6 people

            1. Doug and Jaykay: Doug, the square-mile comparison got me to check; and Ireland is only a little bit smaller than the lower peninsula (the “Mitten”) of Michigan, where I live. So that helps to give me some perspective. A few miles from my dad’s house (so, maybe 45 minutes from my house) is an area called Irish Hills. It is a rural area that was originally settled by Irish immigrants in the mid 19th century. The story is that they picked that area because the green, rolling hills and the lakes reminded them of Ireland. There is a beautiful little Catholic church there; it is built of stones that were hauled out of the farmers’ fields. Here is a little bit about its history (if you click on the pictures, you can blow them up; check out the high altar behind the freestanding altar):

              http://travelthemitten.com/history/saint-joseph-shrine-stop-at-this-beautiful-church-on-the-u-s-12-heritage-trail/

              🙂

              Liked by 7 people

              1. Neat Mick!  Judging by all the devotional stations, it must have been quite a faith filled parish.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

                Liked by 3 people

              2. Beautiful shrine, Mick! I’m quite sure you know that the story of immigrants choosing to settle on land in the US which reminded them of their homeland was repeated all over this country. I love how city names in America immediately reveal the heritage of the original immigrants who settled there.

                Liked by 4 people

                1. Me, too, Beckita. And I don’t know if this is true everywhere; but around here (especially in the rural areas), you can tell which groups of immigrants settled there by the road names. In certain rural areas, the road names are German surnames; in others, Irish surnames; in others, French surnames (more common in Detroit and its suburbs, which of course aren’t rural).

                  One thing I love about Michigan is that there is so much Catholic history here, and so many faithful Catholics. The governor, attorney general, and other politicians in this state would like to put and keep us on the road to perdition; but I’m hoping that the prayers and sacrifices of Catholics and other people of faith will save our state.

                  Liked by 4 people

                  1. Yes, Mick, on street names and I’ll add that the people in the neighborhood where the Germans lived built the St. Bonafice Church while the Lithuanian s built St. Casimir Church… but that was in Iowa. Montana not so much.

                    Liked by 2 people

              3. Beautiful, Mick! Yes, it really does look very like the simple, unpretentious Churches in rural Ireland which began to be built from the 1820s, after Catholic Emancipation.

                Liked by 4 people

          2. Ah, so you’re into cycling? I’m not (a ride of 5 miles is about my limit), but my husband and my 23-year-old daughter are ultramarathon cyclists. My 13-year-old son has also gotten serious about riding in the past year. Maybe I should follow their, and your, example and take up cycling. 🙂

            Liked by 6 people

              1. Nope, I got it straightaway, Mick👍

                In latter years, about the last 10 or so, I haven’t done much, if any, distance cycling, which I did for years, as the weekly commute of 100 mikes per day began to get to me with the years.

                Well, ok, there was laziness too…😔

                But now that I’ve retired, after 40 + years, and am still reasonably fit, I intend to get back to it. First up – I’ll have to pretty much rebuild my good touring bike which has been shamefully neglected of late.

                Liked by 4 people

                1. Ooh! What kind of touring bike do you have? And when you say “rebuild,” are you going to do the work yourself? I think you and my husband would get along fabulously; you certainly seem like kindred spirits. 🙂

                  Liked by 2 people

                  1. It’s a Dawes “Audax”, Mick. A light tourer (audax events are in that category”. I never did competitions. By “rebuild” I just mean I’ll disassemble it totally and clean/replace parts that are worn e.g. chain, tyres etc. The mech should be fine, Sminano’s best!!

                    Like

      4. Jaykay,
        I agree with all you said. It is so sad that those in power believe that anyone in Brussels cares what they think. Faith traded for subservience. We’ll be ground under their heel faster than you can shake a stick at them.
        However, here’s some hope for you. We were at two weddings over Christmas and New Year’s, my daughter a bridesmaid in one, which were packed with good, faithful Catholics, young and old. Two big churches in the Dublin diocese. Both homeschooling families. So many people said how different it was than other weddings because everyone attending were practicing, mostly families, lots of littlies, teens and young adults. We always talk about our little Catholic bubble here. It was so lovely to see it so clearly filling up the large churches and hear it so clearly with the whole congregation saying responses.
        Also, we love the Dominicans here. So, so good, as well as the Dominican nuns in Limerick.
        Happy New Year to you, and I pray it’s a lovely pilgrimage.

        Liked by 5 people

        1. Missy: I agree totally, and in fact am planning to travel to attend the 6 p.m. High Mass this Friday, Epiphany, in St. Kevin’s in Harrington St. Beautiful way to mark the occasion.

          Liked by 2 people

          2. Enjoy it, Jaykay!

            Have you seen this series by the Dominicans? Fr. Conor is so wonderful and is the brother of friends of ours – one of the families we saw at both weddings (10 kids).

            Liked by 4 people

  2. I am trying to be as small and faithful as St. Therese…one day at a time. I’m truly grateful for your guidance and encouragement, Charlie! As my 98-year-old Father-in-law (and former Merchant Marine in WWII) always says, “Carry on!”

    Liked by 7 people

  6. Charlie, you take my breath away.
    We are here, listening, learning, doing. Doing our best to take the next right step.
    My heart is fairly bruised from attending two funerals this weekend. My heart tells me this is only the beginning. Something (Someone?) tells me that this is how my faith will grow. “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief.” 😔 Amen 🙏🏽
    God bless us all in this year ahead.
    Katey in OR

    Liked by 10 people

    1. Katey, I can understand the feeling of a bruised heart. I have come to think of that heart pain as the strong hands of the Potter, remolding and reshaping my heart to be more like His Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of His Holy Mother. IMHO, that keeps our hearts from becoming hardened and misshapen. Only when we yield to the Creator’s original design and stop resisting him do we understand the JOY of surrender to His Holy Will. Your prayer is a beautiful echo of this. Here is called for the perseverance of the saints.

      Liked by 7 people

      2. Thank You Marisa for beautifully summarizing in words what benefits us all, so that we all can become saints. Everyone can identify with bruised hearts and how God in His infinite Wisdom brings good out of it.

        Liked by 7 people

    2. Myownbackyard2017 I’m so very sorry for your loss and for two loved ones pass over!!!🥰🥰. I’ll say a heartfelt prayer for you and for your consolation 🥰🥰🙏🙏

      Liked by 5 people

  8. Thank you Charlie.
    Jesus I trust in you.
    I believe. Help my unbelief.
    I am willing and thankful.
    Have mercy on me, a sinner.
    TNRS
    Growing in holiness is my main goal this year.

    Liked by 4 people

  9. ” But all those winds and waves are just the devil’s froth. Keep your eyes on Jesus, take the next right step, and He will use you to transform the world – in His way, not yours.”
    WOW and AMEN!

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Thank you, Charlie, for this thoughtful, experience based explanation of what you’ve learned over the years. It will be very helpful as events unfold (or don’t) this year and beyond.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. It is called “Song of the Angels” by William-Adolph Bouguereau, a French artist who died in 1905. I find all of his artwork striking but especially those depicting our Holy Mother.

        Liked by 8 people

      2. I found my piece at the sorrowful Mother shrine in Bellevue Ohio! I ordered the twin to it with divine mercy on the Internet but I can’t remember where🤔

        Liked by 3 people

    3. Wow, Mick!! Good call. Here’s the original Bourguereau piece with the exact features of Our Lady, the Child Jesus and two of the angels portrayed and posed exactly as in the art piece you love, Charlie. However, as you can see, there is a third angel in Bourguereau’s work.

      Liked by 8 people

  12. Thank you so much, Charlie! There are so many prophets and prophecy interpretations out there that if one followed them all it would boggle the mind and block out the love and holiness of the Lord! I am grateful for you! Christ’s peace and Mary’s mantle of grace

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    1. Right you are, Jane. And to get obsessed with it is a tool of the devil to pull people away from what is important. Some folks have suggested I am a prophet who despises prophecy. I do not. But I do despise all the banal interpretations of it – and the fact that many people want to chase it all in hopes of getting some inside info so they can kick God to the curb and make their own plan. That is a formula for destruction.

      Liked by 8 people

      1. The acknowledgment of God, taking the next right step and be a sign of hope to those around us has long been an anchor to my soul especially since I goof things up all the time!!!😂😂😂. I personally am eternally grateful to you Charlie!!! Thank you and good job!

        Liked by 5 people

        1. Oh Linda, you make me smile! You’re such a character; I love you!
          Blessings to all, and may we continue to support each other! 😘

          Liked by 2 people

          1. Hi my sweetheart Annie w!!!! You’re such a character too 🥰🥰🥰 I love you more!!!! Ha! Lol amen we will always always always love and support each other!!!🥰

            Liked by 2 people

  13. I am so glad that this community has remained because I benefit so much from Charlie’s insights and all the comments I read here. May God continue to bless us all and bring us to eternal happiness. May the soul of our beloved Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, rest in peace.

    Liked by 8 people

  14. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … Merry 10th Day of Christmas 😉

    https://catholicexchange.com/spiritual-insights-from-new-years-resolutions/

    https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/through-controversy-and-friendship-pope-benedict-xvi-and-the-united-states/

    https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-scandals-7f5d403bcd28e4adba4ebf3459217a34

    https://catholicexchange.com/practical-ways-to-live-the-virtue-of-thrift/

    Too many DC RINOs, corrupt DC Swamp/Media & Rich/Powerful Global Re-Set Villains will insure that you may expect NO Justice on ANY of the Below
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/03/10-scandals-to-keep-your-eye-on-in-2023/

    It’s The New Normal! Move Along! …. or Else!!
    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/report-at-least-769-recently-vaxxed-athletes-collapsed-last-year-during-competition/
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-vaccines-fueling-new-covid-variants-xbb-northeast-antibodies-mutation-strain-immune-imprinting-11672483618
    https://gatesofvienna.net/2023/01/sudden-and-unexpected/
    …… Nothing to see in ChinaJoe’s Christmas Spot either …. See!!???
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11592377/US-Virgin-Islands-AG-fired-just-days-sued-JPMorgan-Chase.html

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/1/drag-queen-story-hours-children-grow-across-us-so-/

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/2/indoctrination-of-young-proselytizing-gender-fluid/

    https://warroom.org/2023/01/02/dni-and-uk-intel-leader-discuss-disinformation-efforts/

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/02/culture-wars-house-republicans-attack-pentagon-woke-policies/10890619002/

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-governments-woke-training-federal-employees-diversity-equity-inclusion-11672251764?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

    https://news.usni.org/2023/01/02/chinese-liaoning-carrier-strike-group-now-in-east-china-sea-pla-drones-operating-near-japan

    https://townhall.com/
    https://patriotpost.us/digests/93892-mid-day-digest-2023-01-03
    https://newsbusters.org/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 3 people

  15. Oh this was a great piece Charlie!!!! I’ve been wanting to really read it well all day but family came over to hang out with me for the day!!! So heartening is this piece!!! Thank you!!!

    Liked by 2 people

  17. I think it is all about trust. Lambzie and I were talking today and agree that we do not want to know all the answers. My take is it would be boring. There is a beauty in the mystery; kind of like wondering what is in an unwrapped gift.

    Liked by 8 people

  18. Beckita I liked how Charlie said we will see a beginning of change in people this year 🥰. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live in Mayberry 🥰🥰🥰

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Linda, we are living in Mayberry in this community. 🙂 Surely there are plenty of nautical miles up ahead which we must traverse with lots and lots of co-creating work to be done in the whole country and our entire world, yet, there ARE faith-filled and faithful people who repent in an ongoing way and rise again to serve God and His people. And, yes, it is so very hopeful to know that the crosses we shall embrace in the sorrows to come will bear the fruit of conversion for the many (and I continue to pray that it is MOST) who will choose God. 🙂

      Liked by 5 people

      1. I think I’m going to print that paragraph out and put it on my mirror so I remember it daily and feel hope and hopefully spread hope🥰

        “My friends, it is going to be a tough year, more brutally tough than you can imagine yet. But it is also going to be an incredibly joyful year when the first signs of the Lord’s plan of renewal will visibly take shape. I call on you to cast away childish things and all vanity. They will lead you to perdition. The Next Right Step is the only way forward in these times, trusting that God will illuminate your way with each step.”

        Liked by 4 people

  19. I really like this paragraph Charlie!!!

    “My friends, it is going to be a tough year, more brutally tough than you can imagine yet. But it is also going to be an incredibly joyful year when the first signs of the Lord’s plan of renewal will visibly take shape. I call on you to cast away childish things and all vanity. They will lead you to perdition. The Next Right Step is the only way forward in these times, trusting that God will illuminate your way with each step.”

    Liked by 4 people

  20. A little late but Happy New Year to everybody! New year and new avatar. A butterfly landed and posed for quite a while until I got the photo. 🥰 Isn’t God’s creation great?
    Thanks for everything, Charlie.

    Liked by 6 people

  21. Ps Charlie I have that very same artwork you like too in our 4 season room which I don’t think you ventured into when you were at our house for your talk!!! Ha!!! It hangs behind Michael’s recliner, and behind mine is the very same kind of artwork but with Our Lord, Divine Mercy image!!! We call that room, “the chapel!” 🥰. My two favorite pieces of art too!!! Grandson Jaxy likes the one you like too and often walks into the room, points to the artwork and exclaims, “Mary!” Baby Jesus in that artwork and the beautiful angels are just so calming 🤗

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Happy New Year to all!

    This rejection of Vat2 and Pope JP’s makes so much sense to me now that you have written this. I came into the church in 2012, I’m a Pope Benedict kid. I came for the unity spoken of and never could make heads or tails of those who so viciously attacked Vatican 2 or Pope John Paul. It’s been something that I found deeply disturbing, offensive and frankly disgusting. The fruit of that train of belief I find as horrible.

    I don’t know much about prophecy, I don’t put much into its interpretations because as a Protestant I saw so many people seem to lose the last braincell they had trying to figure it out and out run it. That mindset is no different than going to a palm reader to me.

    Mother Mary is my conundrum. I have mommy problems, and I have seen how they separate me from closeness to Mary. I am trying to work through them and God has been kind and merciful as I do the work of healing them. So I’m not as close to her as I would like to be, but I hope one day this side of heaven I will be closer to her than I currently am.

    In getting through this I’m trying to give wide berth to those who sow dissent with glee, and promote unity as much as I can. I am extremely sad at who I now see taking up the flag of dissent. It truly breaks my heart.

    Thank you for this, Charlie, and for the hope of this year.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Mary brought me into the church Briana.  It all made sense to me.  It was harder to grasp the Eucharist for me.—- Sent from Doug’s Back Pack

      Liked by 4 people

    2. Ah, Brianna, Our Lady can heal your mommy problems. Simply call on and acknowledge her and she will reveal herself to you – and in the process give you some healing for your earthly mommy problems. She did for me, anyway.

      Liked by 9 people

  23. True Doug.
    To “know” everything now would be fruitless since we are not ready to receive it yet and, as Charlie alludes, we would “get” it wrong anyway.
    St Thomas Aquinas realized this once he was shown just a glimmer behind the Veil and thought all he wrote was so much “straw”. He was right. But God knows we on this side need to take it still folded in mystery in order to digest and live it. We cannot recieve it in any other form for now. His grace helped Thomas write a theology men could use and understand in the here-and-now. So the Church in Her wisdom now uses his writings to teach the whole church. In kind, Charlie struggles because he has one foot on this side of the veil and one on the other side and this mystery is near impossible to describe.
    So be it.
    It is necessary, for his part, that he tells us true. We then, like all the faithful throughout history, with the help of the Holy Spirit, are given the portion required of us by His Will. The nice thing is we all have a part to play and, just like the body, every part, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, has a pivotal role.
    ‘For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
    And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.’ (1 Cor: 13).
    Faith and hope end once God is fully revealed.
    Then only Love remains.

    Liked by 5 people

  24. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year! I’ve been following quietly for some time now keeping all in my prayers, especially Charlie. Your insights, no matter the topic, soothe and edify my soul.
    I’m often happily surprised by the people God places in my life to care for during this time of upheaval. It seems as though He knows my introverted self would prefer to tend to my little circle of family and friends humbly preparing by taking the next right step, when “knock, knock” here comes another 1, 2, 3… 10, people in need of mercy and love. Strangers at first, but my heart takes them in. And in the process, my faith grows in humanity through these new relationships.
    God knows best what my needs are. And it seems I’m to accept whomever He sends my way to help strengthen them for the times ahead.
    This may seem like a little thing to most people who have a huge circle of contacts, but to me it’s a stretch as I try not to be everything to everyone which in the long run helps no one. I prefer to keep my contacts manageable, so for God to show me I can expand and still be useful, is amazing to me. 🥰
    God bless all here as we continue to do what God intends for us to do. We were born for this particular time and even the small things we do have meaning in the plan of salvation. Be not afraid 🙏🏻

    Liked by 7 people

      1. Thanks Beckita! I’ve have commented before, but long ago.
        I do have to giggle to see you and Katey replying to me as Pann 🤣
        I suppose my first initial and middle name don’t make for a very good moniker 🤦🏻‍♀️
        Phyllis in Colorado 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  25. So doing a prophecy and interpretation of it is usually like trying to convey a 3 dimensional dynamic reality on a 2 dimensional static reality… So got to entrust ourselves to God because on our own we can figure out little or more likely err most of the time.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Ah, that is an excellent take, Pawel. Only I would liken it to trying to convey a four-dimensional reality that is whirling at light-speed onto a static, two-dimensional plane. It can be useful to the humble who are deliberate but is a terrible snare for many. It reveals vanity. This is part of the genesis of my next right step philosophy – which is dependent on taking full responsibility for everything we say and do. You obviously thought about this – and that gladdens my heart.

      Liked by 6 people

  26. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … Merry 11th Day of Christmas 😉

    https://catholicexchange.com/duties-of-our-guardian-angels/

    https://www.ccwatershed.org/2023/01/03/traditionis-custodes-broke-benedict-heart/

    https://catholicexchange.com/st-elizabeth-ann-seton-a-mother-for-our-times/

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-heroes-we-need/

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/united-methodist-split-grows-more-contentious-georgia-conference-blocks-conservative-churches-exiting

    https://www.glennbeck.com/glenn-tv/the-normalization-of-these-movements-prove-were-facing-evil

    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253239/trump-taken-to-task-by-pro-life-groups-for-blaming-midterm-losses-on-abortion-issue

    https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/01/the-baleful-cargo-of-woke-diversity-worship/

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/gun-control-groups-got-cdc-to-scrub-good-guys-with-guns-study-emails-show

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/report-fbi-still-hasnt-arrested-single-person-attacks-230-pro-life-churches-pregnancy-centers/
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11585719/DoJ-concealing-documents-lay-bare-Hunter-Jim-Bidens-payoffs-China-Russia.html

    https://reclaimthenet.org/world-economic-forum-misinformation-2023-annual-meeting/

    https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/us-inflation-how-much-have-prices-increased-2022

    How an Occupied Twitter Ruined Countless Lives
    https://reader.epoch.cloud/?publink=0cb16496f_134a9fb
    https://trendingpoliticsnews.com/breaking-elon-musk-exposes-adam-schiff-for-colluding-with-twitter/
    https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/twitter-files-musk-says-us-government-demanded-twitter-suspend-accounts-journalists

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/03/child-referrals-for-mental-health-care-in-england-up-39-in-a-year
    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/lets-discuss-real-covid-infection-fatality-rate

    https://www.lifenews.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 2 people

  27. PS:
    I was changing out EWTN calendars and really noticed the painting by Sandro Botticelli c. 1490.
    What caught my eye was the look on St Joseph’s face.
    It appears that he may be thinking: What have I got myself into!? 😉

    GOD SAVE ALL HERE!

    Liked by 7 people

  29. A metaphor & foreshadow of that which has yet to come. Still not all of the acteurs are on stage, the chorographie of God is perfectly arranged. Perhaps add a little Divine humour as well, to spice it up.

    Liked by 4 people

  30. Personally Charlie , I think you were right on the mark all along. Never doubted it. The rescue did come in the fall of 2017. The effects just take a bit of time to manifest. Perhaps a slight err on WHICH president may not finish his term but hey better late than never! Love you all.

    Liked by 2 people

  31. I love the lighthouse picture! A metaphor for Christ. You can smell the ocean.

    Reminds me of Maine’s rocky shores and islands. Such raw, wild beauty there yet the faithful lighthouses endure. God’s creation and majesty and the tempests He allows are reflected everywhere. Very powerful imagery that stirs one soul.

    Liked by 4 people

  32. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …;-) PM

    The Life of Benedict XVI
    https://www.chesterton.org/uncommonsense?mc_cid=c926bd64d7&mc_eid=3a331d9291

    https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/pope-benedict-xvi-and-the-ghouls

    https://www.city-journal.org/the-quiet-right-movement?wallit_nosession=1

    https://spectator.org/seven-new-years-resolutions-gop-2023/

    https://stream.org/a-liberal-professor-admits-to-the-leftist-takeover-of-america/

    https://www.floppingaces.net/2023/01/03/well-son-of-a-bh-biden-does-it-again/

    https://www.glennbeck.com/glenn-tv/the-normalization-of-these-movements-prove-were-facing-evil

    https://reclaimthenet.org/world-economic-forum-misinformation-2023-annual-meeting/

    https://texashillcountry.com/legend-ghost-riders/

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/
    https://www.wnd.com/category/front-page/
    https://links.glennbeck.com/view/55d278157d0973635efe6258hy8rq.1w2p/680bb510
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/
    https://patriotpost.us/digests/93928-mid-day-digest-2023-01-04

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 2 people

  33. “that what I had accomplished was to shed myself of the prophecy chasers – and what would remain would be serious people ready for serious work.”
    Well Charlie some thing good came out of it. But you really should not be silent on meeting Jesus and the Angles.

    Liked by 2 people

  36. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … Merry 12th Day of Christmas 😉

    https://catholicexchange.com/saved-in-hope-a-reflection-on-benedict-xvis-encyclicals/

    https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/joseph-ratzinger-s-revealing-family-dynamic

    https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/the-real-ratzinger

    Happy Saint John Neumann Day
    https://mailchi.mp/jkmi/ieqqdb3iy6-1067961?e=b654649ef1

    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253243/anglican-ordinariate-converts-express-deep-gratitude-for-benedict-xvis-prophetic-vision-of-unity

    In Your Face, Pew Peon!! I’m betting that Rapist Rupnik has a Black Book filled with names/info on Pervert Prelates and Vatican Bigs?
    https://www.ncregister.com/blog/vatican-philatelic-book-father-rupnik

    Yep!… and some … maybe here even? …. may well have to resort to Arms to protect Families, Neighborhoods and Churches? Praise The Lord & Pass the Ammo!
    https://blog.adw.org/2023/01/hail-mary-full-of-grace-punch-the-devil-in-the-face-a-meditation-on-spiritual-warfare/
    …….. A response from an Ignorant of Faith & History LeftyType of which Msgr Pope speaks:
    https://www.patheos.com/blogs/publiccatholic/2022/08/so-are-bullet-rosaries-a-thing-or-not/
    …. I’m just wondering if Rebecca Hamilton…. after reading her Bio and article headlines in “Public Catholic” …… is she a Double Agent?

    https://www.catholicleague.org/nfl-epiphany-on-prayer/

    https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/04/the-coup-we-never-knew/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/biden-gets-testy-reporter-asking-isnt-attending-pope-benedict-xvis-funeral/
    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253242/catholic-president-joe-biden-will-not-attend-benedict-xvis-funeral

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/01/america_would_be_a_better_place_if_we_taught_the_truth_about_slavery.html

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/parent-washington-post-minimizing-pedophilia-book-depicting-sex-acts-minors

    https://links.glennbeck.com/view/55d278157d0973635efe6258hygrb.1zxl/ea2bf4b1

    https://brownstone.org/articles/cdc-in-charge-of-language/

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/
    https://dailycaller.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 2 people

  37. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! …;-) PM

    https://catholicexchange.com/humility-the-cornerstone-of-holiness/

    …… Get WOKE …. Go BROKE!
    https://www.catholicleague.org/disney-at-a-crossroad-in-2023/

    Evil and Evil’s useful idiots exist!
    https://thepostmillennial.com/the-guardian-embraces-satanic-temple-in-fight-for-abortion-rights

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/01/05/matt-gaetz-outlines-the-issues-underpinning-opposition-to-kevin-mccarthy-as-house-speaker/

    Yep! I dumped Sean 2/3 years ago.. He is a Broken Record and as they say in Texas: “All Hat and No Cattle”. I’ll tune in FOX with learned Guest Hosts.
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/01/04/video-the-ever-insufferable-sean-hannity-goes-bananas-because-lauren-boebert-will-not-vote-for-kevin-mccarthy/

    I’m sure the below is just disinformation from those awful Don’t trust “The Science” Red State Types, Right? …. ???? ….. Hello!???
    https://armedforces.press/2023/01/05/breaking-dod-controlled-covid-vaccines-from-the-start-under-national-security-program-lied-the-entire-time-were-never-safe-and-effective/
    https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/emails-show-washington-officials-discussed-covid-breakthrough-cases

    The sad truth …. $$$ Talks & BS Walks ;-(
    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/01/05/video-day-three-of-house-speaker-voting-two-lobbyist-groups-likely-to-determine-outcome/

    https://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/2023/01/05/did-someone-or-something-seize-control-of-the-united-states-n1658786

    Cyber War & Crime ;-(
    https://securityintelligence.com/articles/7-reasons-global-attacks-will-soar-2023/

    https://patriotpost.us/digests/93954-mid-day-digest-2023-01-05
    https://newsbusters.org/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Like

  38. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … Merry Epiphany (Old Calendar) 😉

    https://onepeterfive.com/christmas-continued/

    https://catholicexchange.com/st-andre-bessette-a-mountain-of-miracles/
    https://spiritdailyblog.com/commentary/the-importance-of-blessing-food

    https://catholicexchange.com/on-epiphany-remember-the-evangelization-mandate/

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/01/the-three-callings-of-benedict-xvi/

    https://www.catholicleague.org/biden-wants-reparations-for-africa/

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jan/5/pro-life-governors-won-in-2022/

    https://www.lifenews.com/2023/01/05/idaho-supreme-court-upholds-abortion-ban-will-save-babies-from-abortions/

    .. ’cause DC is a manifestly CORRUPT Swamp.. so .. Jesus, I Trust in You!
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/201-gop-reps-continue-vote-kevin-mccarthy-f-conservative-rating/

    I doubt that I will live to see the Genocidal Likes of WHO/CDC/NIH/WEF and Corrupt Politicians Worldwide brought to JUSTICE. I PRAY some here will!!
    https://summit.news/2023/01/06/who-anti-vaccine-activism-is-deadlier-than-global-terrorism/

    https://goldswitzerland.com/2023-the-abcs-of-cbdc-the-great-resets-more-centralized-control/

    https://americafirstreport.com/11-signs-that-the-economic-tipping-point-that-everyone-has-been-waiting-for-has-now-arrived/

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/racially-charged-attack-byron-donalds-continues-left-wing-pattern-against-minority-conservatives

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/05/merrick-garland-links-5-capitol-police-deaths-to-january-6-riot/

    Chinese Company Cleared to Own 370 Acres Near US Air Base
    https://reader.epoch.cloud/?publink=075e77eb3_134a9fd
    ….. Not to Worry! ChinaJoe’s Administration is In-Control ….. ;-(
    https://thediplomat.com/2023/01/spies-and-lies-peeling-back-the-curtain-on-chinas-covert-ops/

    https://townhall.com/
    https://links.glennbeck.com/view/55d278157d0973635efe6258hypio.1p4p/2b1b757f
    https://newstarget.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Like

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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.