The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter

A War in the Heaven

2009-05-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

The Apocalypse describes a "war in the heaven" between Michael and his angels and the Dragon and his. - Apoc. Chapter 12.

In this scene, the Dragon is "cast out" and Michael and his angels "go down" to the earth to continue the battle. In a spiritual sense, this means the Church is cleansed from within and now the battle becomes those outside the Church vs. those inside, at least in the spiritual sense.

We may just have seen a preview of this worldwide battle in the conflict at Notre Dame this past weekend. The liberals inside the Church have cast aside the teaching of the bishops and the pope, that life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death, that marriage is the lifelong bond between one man and one woman, and embraced a charismatic leader who stands for all the Church opposes.

Those who dared to speak out against the honor bestowed on President Obama were marginalized and even arrested leading to the ironic headline "...Catholics Arrested for Being Catholic at Catholic University."

Vision America President Pastor Rick Scarborough said he was sickened by
what he saw when those protesting Obama's speech at Notre Dame were arrested on the campus.

"I wept when I saw my friends arrested and taken to jail," Scarborough
disclosed. "They almost broke the arm of a priest who appeared to be in his 80s,
by dragging him on the ground."

Is this just a precursor of what we can expect in the near future? Has Satan become so strong as to control the Colleges and Universities inside the Church? Reading the articles at Cardinal Newman Society and IvoryTowerHeretics, one must wonder if the heads of these institutions have gone mad.

Even more disconcerting is the response from the shepherds, from the pope down to the bishops. While 70 American bishops and a few from the Vatican did speak out, there are over 300 bishops in America and most remained silent as did the pope himself. This passivity in the face of evil green-lighted Notre Dame President Father Jenkins and his supporters to do as they please. But this was all foretold long ago. That SATAN IS INSIDE THE CHURCH is obvious and serves as a temporal guidepost as to the exact time we are in.

In chapter 12, Satan is cast out. So up to that time, he is inside and gaining strength until the pope and the college of cardinals finally and decisively act. In the meantime, the faithful, those who truly believe the Gospel of Christ and work in the trenches to serve only Him, will have to suffer. It is necessary for justice. Just as the martyrs were a sign for their time so must the pro-lifers, and the defenders of natural marriage be a sign of Christ for these times.

Those who arrest, beat and otherwise persecute them do so at great peril to their own souls. The new martyrs must not lose heart, must not be discouraged. Their time will come as promised. But they must wait a little longer and persevere. The Apocalypse provides great encouragement for those who suffer with patient endurance.

The 5th Century Prophecy of St. Nilus about the End Times

2009-03-02T04:59:00.000-08:00

The Prophecy of St. Nilus

After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognizable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, people's minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonor and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognizable.

People's appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to their shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist. There will be no respect for parents and elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, Bishops and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right-hand way from the left.

At that time, the morals and traditions of Christians and of the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society.

Apostasy

At that future time, due to the power of such great crimes and licentiousness, people will be deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they received in Holy Baptism and equally of remorse.

The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors, and woe to the Christians remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all. Then they will separate themselves out of the world in holy refuges in search of lightening their spiritual sufferings, but everywhere they will meet obstacles and constraints. And all this will result from the fact that the Antichrist wants to be Lord over everything and become the ruler of the whole universe, and he will produce miracles and fantastic signs.

Telephones, airplanes, submarines

He will also give depraved wisdom to an unhappy man so that he will discover a way by which one man can carry on a conversation with another from one end of the earth to the other. At that time men will also fly through the air like birds and descend to the bottom of the sea like fish. And when they have achieved all this, these unhappy people will spend their lives in comfort without knowing, poor souls, that it is deceit of the Antichrist. And, the impious one! - he will so complete science with vanity that it will go off the right path and lead people to lose faith in the existence of God in three hypostases.

The coming chastisement

Then the All-good God will see the downfall of the human race and will shorten the days for the sake of those few who are being saved, because the enemy wants to lead even the chosen into temptation, if that is possible... then the sword of chastisement will suddenly appear and kill the Perverter and his servants.

'SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST' IS BEST DEFINED NOT AS SECULAR SPIRIT BUT ONE FULL OF HATRED

2008-12-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

'SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST' IS BEST DEFINED NOT AS SECULAR SPIRIT BUT ONE FULL OF HATRED

From SpiritDaily.com

We are out of balance when we focus too much on evil, at the same time that we are in peril when we ignore it.

There is but one recourse: the Holy Spirit.

At Christmastime, we think (or should think) of Christ; in our time we are also forced to ponder the opposite spirit (for the spirit of anti-christ is rising).

Just what is the "spirit of anti-christ"? How, in our special times, is it manifesting? How do we detect it?

More than anything, the spirit of anti-christ is in those who show direct vitriol toward religion and specifically Catholicism and Christianity. Simply put, it is truculence aimed directly at Jesus.

Day after day, this time of year -- as a new "tradition" -- there are stories about the Infant kidnapped from a Nativity here, or a Nativity disallowed there, or a statue of Jesus found hanging. There are the anti-Catholic jokes. There is the bias. There are universities where they won't even allow Santa! The spirit of anti-christ is the spirit of militant secular humanism, and finds its extreme in satanism.

Anti-christ is most manifest in atheism but is not confined to non-believers. Those of religious faith who bristle at the mention of Christ are obviously of this spirit -- or at least influenced by it. Direct animosity toward Christians (as seen currently and urgently in India) is what would balloon into a challenge unlike any seen since the early-century martyrs.

It is one thing to see the rise of homosexual rights; it is another to watch gay demonstrators with signs that display stark anti-Christian hatred.

That spirit extends across sexual, economic, and cultural boundaries.

In Mexico, Playboy magazine came out with a cover depicting a nude model but for a Virgin-like veil (on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which of course is centered in Mexico). That is the spirit of anti-christ because it went beyond the prurient and into the realm of the blasphemous, which spells hatred. Anti-christ is the spirit of lust where Christianity is the spirit of love. Catholics are disdained by certain writers in magazines like Time while a hard-core pornographer is exalted as a nice old man when he dies. The spirit of anti-christ reverses everything, so that good is evil and evil is good. It spells the word "live" backwards.

"Want proof that hate is driving this assault?" asks a group that fights Catholic bigotry. "The head of the ACLU in New Hampshire, Claire Ebel, advises that if crèches are allowed in parks, it is permissible 'for a display of satanic ritual.' And this hatred of Christmas is not exclusive to the U.S. In England, Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary called Christmas 'evil' in a recent sermon. No wonder they are banning words like 'bishop,' 'chapel,' 'monk' and 'nun' from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. And all of this is being endorsed, if not promoted, by self-hating Christians."

Scientists in America and politicians in the new, unified Europe, especially, are hankering for the day when they will be able to exert a coordinated purge of Jesus. They are refashioning nature. They are redefining spirit. The confessional has been replaced by the couch of the psychiatrist.
At the same time, there is an unprecedented eruption of those claiming to see peculiar images of Jesus.

Is Heaven countering the attempt to purge Him? Is it hinting at a coming large manifestation?
"An unusual phenomenon occurred at my kitchen sink," wrote Antoinette Santangelo of Cedar Knoll, New Jersey. "On this day, before I left my house at one o'clock in the afternoon, I filled my one-year-old grandson's bottle with milk at the sink. I rushed out without noticing that I had dropped a 'clump of milk' on the ledge of the front of the sink, discovering it only upon my return four hours later. Since I had left a pot in the sink, I set out to wash it; however, before I could do so, I felt a strong force pushing me back from the sink. I wondered why this was so strong. After the strong force subsided, I attempted to wash the pot.

"It was then that I noticed the small drop of milk on the front of the sink. Upon closer examination, I was filled with emotion to see the suffering Face of Jesus on this drop of milk. [The next morning] after Mass I showed my father the picture and he immediately saw the image of Jesus' Face clearly and asked if he could follow me home so he could see the sink and picture in the drop of milk. He found it incredible and believed when he saw was truly the face of Jesus."

It is difficult to discern: are these reports -- so numerous -- pareidolia (the imagining of images into natural, coincidental formations), some other type of deception, or signs from Heaven to offset the attempts at stripping Christian supernaturality from the public square? Why does it happen so often -- with the same frequency as statue beheadings, Nativity controversies, and satanic graffiti?

It is a question this hour -- this late hour, at this late time of the year. "Earlier today, a bus taking members of a heavy-metal band, the Red Shore, veered off the Pacific Highway north of Sydney," wrote a viewer at this time precisely a year ago. "The bus rolled several times and slammed into a tree, killing the lead vocalist and one of the road crew. They were on their way to a performance at Sydney University in a double-header with a U.S. 'death-metal' outfit call 'All Shall Perish.' They had called their tour, 'Christmas Carnage.'

"Sadly, this title has turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Coincidence speaks to us. It heralds. It tries to warn. In the quiet of night, in the silence, we take it to the Infant.

Pope's Christmas Greeting Says We Must "Protect the Human Being against Self-Destruction" of Sexual Aberration

2008-12-23T06:39:00.000-08:00

Pope's Christmas Greeting Says We Must "Protect the Human Being against Self-Destruction" of Sexual Aberration

By John-Henry Westen

VATICAN CITY, December 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During his exchange of Christmas greetings with the Roman Curia this morning, Pope Benedict XVI noted that the Church "cannot and should not limit herself to transmitting just the message of salvation to her faithful." It must also he said "protect the human being against self-destruction" - a destruction which comes from a warped understanding of marriage and human sexuality.

"It is necessary to have something like an ecology of the human being, understood in the proper manner," said the Pope. "It is not a surpassed metaphysics when Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and demands that this order of creation be respected."

Unless we "listen to the language of creation" he said, we end up with "destruction of the work of God." The Pope suggested that the gender ideology which seeks to redefine the sexes to allow for homosexuality, transgenderism and such things are examples of mankind separating himself "from creation and the Creator." With such attempts to decide for himself, mankind "lives against the truth and the Spirit of the Creator."

Appealing to concern for the environment to heighten awareness of the gravity of the matter, Pope Benedict said, "Yes, the tropical rainforests deserve our protection, but man, as a creature is no less deserving" of protection. Rather than a limit of our freedom, the Pope emphasized that it was a condition of that freedom.

Quoting great theologians of the past, the Pope called marriage "between one man and one woman for life" the "sacrament of creation" and urged his listeners to reread the Encyclical Humanae Vitae. It was the intention of its author Pope Paul VI, he said, to defend against treating sexual love as a commodity.

At the conclusion of his address, the Pope returned to the theme of being in harmony with creation and the Creator. "The Holy Spirit grants us joy," he said, "This joy is the expression of happiness, of being in harmony with oneself, which is only possible if one is in harmony with God and His creation".

Bishops Laud Gay Movie - Agian!

2008-12-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

Note: There aren't words suitable for the disgust and disappointment that this continues year after year. One has to wonder if the movie reviews are written on behalf of the bishops or for their entertainment. If homosexuality is of no moral concern to the bishops, we probably need new bishops to shepherd the Catholic flock.

Movie Reviewer for Catholic Bishops' Conference Praises Homosexualist Film - Again
Despite movie's scenes of males kissing each other, nudity, and promotion of gay "lifestyle", movie not rated "Morally Offensive"

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Harry Forbes, the head movie and television reviewer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued a review praising the movie "Milk." (See text of the review at http://www.usccb.org/movies/m/milk.shtml)

The movie, which exalts the first openly homosexual man elected to public office in U.S. history, Harvey Milk, contains scenes of "male kissing and nongraphic encounters, rear male nudity, murder, suicide, and some rough language, crude expressions and profanity" by Forbes' own admission.

Despite such material, and despite the movie's blatant glorification of the homosexual rights agenda, it is not rated "Morally Offensive" (O), but only receives a rating of "L", for "Limited Adult Audience." Furthermore, in his review Forbes in no way objects to or cautions viewers about the content of the film, instead offering nothing but words of praise.

Harvey Milk, a homosexual rights activist who ran a camera shop with his male lover in San Francisco's Castro District, was elected to San Francisco's city council as a supervisor in 1977. He was assassinated shortly thereafter, along with the city's mayor, by another supervisor who was enraged that several supervisors were blocking his reappointment by the mayor. The murders had no apparent relationship with Milk's homosexual proclivities.

Milk soon became a folk hero among the Castro District's growing population of sodomites and a symbol of San Francisco’s successful homosexualist movement. A little over thirty years later, San Francisco is the scene of public nudity and sex acts in the open air during its annual "gay pride" parade, one of the largest such parades in the world.

Forbes, who heads the USCCB's Office for Film and Broadcasting, calls the movie "a solid biographical drama about San Francisco supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk."

He also speaks approvingly of the movie's strong emphasis on the Catholic faith of Milk's assassin, Dan White. "Penn is especially fine, and Brolin is scarily intense as the Catholic White. (We're shown a lengthy baptism of White's baby, with Milk ironically the only invited outsider.)," writes Forbes.

Forbes has written other reviews praising films that promote and glorify homosexual behavior and attack the Catholic faith, including "Brokeback Mountain," which is about a sodomite relationship between two cowboys, and "The Golden Compass," which is atheistic and vilifies Christianity.

The official website of the USCCB Office of Film and Broadcasting (http://www.usccb.org/movies/current.shtml) contains numerous reviews praising movies that portray sexual immorality, nudity, and dirty jokes, and rarely deems such films "Morally Offensive" or cautions viewers about the content.

Despite repeated protests from Catholic laity, the USCCB continues to allow Forbes to write reviews on the organization's behalf.

In a written statement to LifeSiteNews, Human Life International President Fr. Thomas Euteneuer angrily denounced Forbes' latest pro-homosexualist review.

"Moral outrage is the only response to someone like Harry Forbes who consistently trashes Catholic values in his movie reviews and gets away with it," wrote Euteneuer. "We are accustomed to pagans celebrating their values and letting lots of immorality slide with a wink and a nod, but when the official movie reviewer for the US Catholic Bishops Conference does it time and time again with no consequences, we have no credible moral compass with which to evaluate the content of movies any more."

"In his recent review of the homosexual promo flick, Milk, Forbes seems to think that 'male kissing…rear male nudity, murder, suicide, some rough language, crude expressions and profanity' merit something less than total condemnation from our Catholic point of view. Let’s face it: Forbes is simply an icon of the false Catholics in America who are accelerating the degradation of our civilization because they refuse to be 'salt and light' to preserve us from this very same darkness."

Contact Information:

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E.
Washington DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-3000

Cardinal Francis George, President of the USCCB
Archdiocese of Chicago
155 East Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois, 60611
312-751-5382
Fax: 312-751-5381

USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting
1011 First Avenue, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212) 644-1880

God is Pro-Choice Says Nun

2008-12-02T06:39:00.000-08:00

Commentary by Judie Brown

December 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I couldn't believe the e-mail that I recently received from a pro-life friend living in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She told me about a letter written by a nun to the archdiocese.

My friend told me she was "disturbed" to read this letter. She said, "I cannot fathom how a religious sister could not only advocate abortion, but also place her pathetic, misguided ideas into print! What a disgrace! And why would our archdiocesan newspaper even print such garbage?"

The Milwaukee archdiocese published this letter in its newspaper, The Catholic Herald http://www.chnonline.org/:

"GOD IS PRO-CHOICE

"Even though Catholic bishops are already pressing President-elect
Barack Obama on the issue of abortion, it is time they begin to realize that 54%
of Catholics who voted for him do not agree with the bishops telling people how
to vote.

"Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God. God gave everyone a free will
and he does not pressure people into using that free will to do what is right.
Obama promised to do what he can to prevent abortion. What more need he do when
so many other pressures to make changes are upon him?

"Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent life. So is war and
violent killing on the street. I have often seen many starving babies in
hospitals in Honduras and witnessed their pain. In these cases, abortion might
have been the lesser of two evils, and even the most merciful alternative.

"I challenge our bishops to dwell more on unjust economic issues that
both create and perpetuate the need for children to die of starvation, and for
women to choose abortion. It would be better to aim at eliminating poverty
rather than focus only on abortion. Poverty in our country and the world at
large is a disgrace that cries to heaven for vengeance.

"Sr. Arlene Welding, SSSF; Campellsport, WI"

Well, I am as upset by this as anyone who reads it should be, and, on several levels, it contributes to the ongoing confusion that reigns within Catholic circles across this nation. The first and perhaps most obvious problem with this nun's letter is that she is clearly not only pro-abortion but feels fine attributing her views to God, the Author of Life!

To suggest to the readers of a Catholic newspaper that the Catholic bishops are out of line for standing up for the innocent preborn child is ludicrous. But it certainly is not as ludicrous as her comments about the number of Catholics who voted for Barack Obama, as opposed to the opinions bishops might have on the direct murder of preborn children by abortion!

To equate the direct murder of a preborn baby with the "lesser of two evils," thus suggesting that some preborn children would be better off dead than to have to be born into poverty, is about as misguided and ill-conceived a notion as I have ever seen in print. It tops many of the comments I have seen from pro-abortion leaders.

It is astounding to me that a Catholic newspaper would print such garbage and expect silence from all those in the Catholic community who know the truth, defend the truth, and expect to read the truth in a newspaper labeled Catholic! So here is an assignment for you.

First: contact Sister Arlene Welding's religious congregation and demand an apology from them for her public dissent from the truth of Catholic magisterial teaching.

School Sisters of St. Francis
http://www.sssf.org/
Central Offices of the U.S. Province
1501 S. Layton Boulevard
Milwaukee, WI 53215

You can also e-mail, though I think letters are best.

The e-mail address is generalate@sssf.org.
The phone number is (414) 384-4105

Second, please contact the Executive Editor/General Manager of the archdiocesan newspaper and let him know how shocked you were to read this screed in his newspaper.

Brian T. Olszewski
The Catholic Herald
3501 S. Lake Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53235-0913
The phone number is (414) 769-3466
Mr. Olszewski's e-mail address is olszewskib@archmil.org.

Finally, it would be a very good idea to send copies of your e-mails and/or your letters to the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, whom I honestly believe would be as shocked as you and I about what was published in his newspaper.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
3501 S. Lake Dr.
P.O. Box 070912
Milwaukee, WI 53207-0912
Phone: (414) 769-3497
Email: archbishopdolan@archmil.org

May you find peace of mind and joy of soul by writing your messages, and feel comfort in knowing that no matter how clearly wrong some things are, even when labeled Catholic, they are all a part of living in a world steeped in the culture of death. Be of good heart, for we are assured of God's love, regardless of the muck in our midst.

Be careful not to offend gay worshippers, Catholic priests warned

2008-11-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

Note: If true, this is indeed an ominous sign. What "hateful" language has a Roman Catholic Priest ever used against homosexuality? By hateful is the article referring to the teaching of the Holy Roman Catholic Church? And what exactly are these English bishops up to? Have they succumbed to the neo-pagan culture around them or are they so far gone they are referring to themselves? The Church in the U.K. is in worse shape than most elsewhere from recent accounts. It's about time for Rome to step in. We are not a Church of political correcttness. The Bride of Christ speaks the truth at all times. She is not homophobic or in fear of anything. And she will not be bullied by modernist fads like homosexuality.

Be careful not to offend gay worshippers, Catholic priests warned

Roman Catholic priests have been banned from using 'heterosexist' language in their churches in case they offend gay worshippers.

They have been told by their bishops not to assume that every churchgoer is a heterosexual and to reflect this 'in language and conversation'.

'Remember that homophobic jokes and asides can be cruel and hurtful - a careless word can mean another experience of rejection and pain,' say the bishops in a leaflet advising priests and worshippers how to be more welcoming to gay people.

Activists say any moves by the Catholic Church to be more tolerant of homosexuality are undermined by Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay marriage

Priests are also encouraged to put up posters advertising 'support services' for homosexuals, a move bound to infuriate many Catholics who believe gay sexual activity to be sinful.

The advice was welcomed by gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell as a 'positive initiative which will bring great comfort to gay Catholics and their families'.

He said: 'Its sympathetic, understanding message is a big improvement on the past homophobia of some Catholic pronouncements on homosexuality.'

However, he said the 'laudable change of tone' was undermined by the 'homophobic content of the Catholic Catechism' and by Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay marriage.

The advice was criticised by Lynette Burrows, a Catholic commentator, as 'pitiful'.

She said it was ridiculous that Church leaders appeared to be ' grovelling' to a secular agenda.
'It is things like this that are enfeebling the Church at the moment - the concentration on things that don't matter and missing the things that do,' she said.

'What is pitiful as well as demeaning is that the Church is running after homosexual opinion but nothing is going to make homosexuals like the Catholic Church.

'This is because the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is a disorder

20,000 Muslims Attack a Church in Cairo

2008-11-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

Note: The "Mountain Burning with Fire" is stirring. Also known as the Religion of Peace and Tolerance.

20,000 Muslims Attack a Church in Cairo

Posted GMT 11-26-2008 9:57:4

One thousand Christians were today trapped inside the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in West Ain Shams,Cairo, after more than twenty thousand Muslims attacked them with stones and butane gas cylinders. The Church's priest Father Antonious said that the situation is extremely dangerous.

The Muslim mob that attacked the church blocked both sides of the street and encircled the church building, broke its doors and demolished its entire first floor. The mob were chanting Jihad verses as well as slogans saying "we will demolish the church" and "We sacrifice our blood and souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, Islam", while the entrapped Christians chanted "Lord have mercy".

The incident started on the occasion of the inauguration of the Church today, when the Muslims hastily established a Mosque in the early hours of this morning, by taking over the first floor of a newly-built building facing the Church and started praying there.

When the security forces tried to disperse the mob, they went to nearby homes and shops owned by Christians, and were armed with sticks, butane, knives and other sharp objects.

Witnesses said the mob included children from as young as 8-years old to men of over 50-years old, in addition to women.

The Church building was originally a factory that was adapted into its present state, the matter which took over five years to complete and to get the necessary permissions from the authorities to have a Church established.

Human rights organizations and lawyers were refused entry into the besieged Church.

www.voiceofthecopts.org

200 million Horsemen

2008-11-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

From Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of The Book of Revelation

In 9:13-16, John begins informing the reader that the objective of the second major phase is indeed the whole world. Then, there can be only one reason why the faithful of the religious orders tell unanimously and universally the "sixth angel" to loose the "four angels" bound at the Euphrates: not that the Church is making very slow progress; not that the Church is temporarily making no progress at all, either merely in a particular region or in the entire world; but that the Church is losing ground everywhere, that evil has grown so great as to have become alarmingly advanced, even in the Church, in its highest ranks.

The faithful of the religious orders will not meet and vote on the matter, obviously; rather, they will desire in their hearts and think in their minds, that God should begin the painful process of removing the many evils on earth and in "heaven," the Church. Even the faithful among the laity will sincerely pray: "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." When the salt is no longer preserving, when corruption is consuming so many, then, it will be time.

God knows all, and He has marked the exact hour and day and month and year for the "four angels" bound at the Euphrates to be loosed upon mankind. No one is more exact than God is. No one. Watch the religious orders: they will be the signal. Already their ranks are thin.

So amazed at the number of "cavalry" was John, that he did not put the connective "kai" after it, but only a comma. To make it clear to the reader that the number is to be understood as literal [but approximate, of course], John added: "I heard the number of them."

In John's day, the population of the entire Roman Empire was about 125 million; and one out of every ten could be trained and maintained in the military. The 200 Million Horsemen, therefore, according to the ancient ratio, which has changed little in modern times, suggest a population of TWO BILLION.

John, by human sagacity alone, would have known that the vision was about an event very far in the future. Those who confine the Apocalypse to the Roman Empire are quite in egregious error.

Bishop Hermann explains his willingness to die to end abortion

2008-11-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

Note: So few are willing to speak the truth as this man. He may well get his chance to die for his Lord the way things are going. Sadly, if the bishops simply had put their words into action a long time ago and taught the true faith and enforced their own canons, there would be no abortion in America.

Bishop Hermann explains his willingness to die to end abortion

"Behind Planned Parenthood, behind the abortion issue, is the evil one..."

St. Louis, Nov 25, 2008 / 04:16 am (CNA).- At the recent fall assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Robert J. Hermann, the administrator for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, declared that for any bishop it would be a "privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion." He has further explained that Catholics' response to abortion in our country should be proportionate to the scale of the tragedy.

At the bishops' meeting in Baltimore, Bishop Hermann had said:

"We have lost 50 times as many children in the last 35 years as we have lost soldiers in all the wars since the Revolution. "I think any bishop here would consider it a privilege to die tomorrow to bring about an end to abortion." "If we are willing to die tomorrow, then we should be willing to, until the end of our lives, to take all kinds of criticism for opposing this horrible infanticide."

Speaking with the archdiocesan newspaper the St. Louis Review, the bishop commented:

"I think that the way abortion has been presented over the past 35 years so often is that this is something that's horrible, and we need to stop it. But it seems to me that people do not realize that it is 50 million children that we have killed. We have campaigned to save the baby whales, and yet we vote in pro-abortion politicians -- which doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

Bishop Hermann also described how bishops can look to the example of soldiers.

"If American youth are willing to go to war and lay their life down to defend our freedoms, then every bishop should be willing to give up his life, if it meant putting an end to abortion. And if we're willing to do that, then we should be totally fearless of promoting this cause without being concerned about political correctness, without trying to build coalitions with pro-choice people," the bishop said in an apparent reference to those Catholics who have recently begun to give up the fight to outlaw abortion.

He proposed an "awareness- raising campaign" to help people realize "the destruction that we've brought about" and "the atrocities that we're committing."

"There should be 50 more million Americans in our midst, and anyone under 35 can look around and say, 'Where are they?' And, 'I'm very lucky to be alive.'"

Bishop Hermann reported that after he made his comments one or two bishops started clapping, but the meeting then moved on to other business. Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, and Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, along with other bishops, personally thanked him afterwards.

He reported that about 95 percent of the popular responses to his remarks have been positive, with some people consulting him about how they ought to deal with past voting habits. Bishop Hermann said many people have been conditioned to act as if God does not exist.

"I have great empathy and great compassion for people who are influenced by society and are taken in by the big lie that God does not exist. My job is to raise their awareness to, yes He does (exist), and it does make a difference what you believe. It makes a big difference in what you do. "We also have to be aware that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers and the spirits of this world of darkness, as Paul tells us in Ephesians."

"Therefore, behind Planned Parenthood, behind the abortion issue, is the evil one," Bishop Hermann stated. "I often see human beings caught up in this as victims of the evil one who need my prayers and who need my compassion and who need my love. We don't only want to save our children from destruction; we also want to save our adult brothers and sisters from eternal destruction."

The bishop expressed concern about President-elect Barack Obama's support for Planned Parenthood, which he claimed targets blacks with abortion information and facilities in their neighborhoods.

Turning to possible problems under a pro-abortion rights Obama presidency, he called the proposed Freedom of Choice Act "dangerous" because "it would be undermining all the efforts for the past 35 years of trying to limit the destructive effects of abortion." He also noted the possibility Obama could appoint two more Supreme Court justices, which he claimed could secure the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision "for many, many years."

Responding to a common criticism that bishops and priests place such importance on abortion, he noted that other rights and political issues "mean nothing if the fundamental right to life is not guaranteed."

"When someone is denied life, then all the other rights don't mean anything. That's the reason the Church places such a high priority on that. "For an individual to have a proportionate reason to vote for a candidate who supports abortion would be very hard to come by. The only way I could see that happening is if we had one candidate who supports abortion and another one who may mandate abortion... as they do in China."

Bishop Hermann closed his interview with the St. Louis Review by encouraging Catholics to study Church documents such as Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium Vitae and Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, "so they can clearly understand the nature of man and woman and the sacredness of God's calling for man and woman."

"The more they study that and begin to live those teachings, the more they're going to come into freedom to promote the Gospel of Life," he concluded.

Vatican Cardinal: "A New World Order is Gaining Ground"

2008-11-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

Note: While there is truth in what the Cardinal says, asking the laity to lead seems a reversal of responsibility in the hierarchical Church. But he means lead in daily worldly affairs, not ecclesial ones. The problem is that the grossly inadequate and ineffective teaching of the faithful for the past 40 years has left a laity that is illiterate in what the Church stands for. A serious reform of the type St. Francis initiated, or more starkly St. Vincent Ferrer warned of is needed.

Vatican Cardinal: "A New World Order is Gaining Ground"

By John-Henry Westen

ROME, November 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Speaking at the opening of the 23rd plenary assembly for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the president of the Council, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, warned, "The idea of creating a 'new man' completely detached from the Judeo-Christian tradition, a new 'world order,' a new 'global ethic,' is gaining ground."

According to the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, the cardinal denounced the "dictatorship of relativism," rampant in Western societies, in which there is a growing "anti-Christian attitude" that makes "attacks on Christians, and particular on Catholics, pass off as politically correct."

Speaking of Christians today he said, "Our true problem is not being a minority, but rather having voluntarily become marginal, irrelevant, because of our lack of courage, so that we will be left alone, because of our mediocrity." "For Christians," Cardinal Rylko added, "the moment has arrived to free themselves from a false inferiority complex ... to be valiant witnesses of Christ."

This is, he said, the "hour of the laity," to take on their "responsibility in the diverse fields of public life, from politics to the promotion of life and family, from work to the economy, from education to the formation of youth."

He warned, however, that such faithfulness would come at a personal cost. "Whoever wants to live and act according to the Gospel of Christ has to pay a price, even in the highly liberal societies of the West," he said.

A War in the Heaven

2008-11-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days. 7 And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: 8 And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [Apoc. 12:6-9]

According to Steven Paul in his book, The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, the above passage from Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation describes a conflict in the Church between those on the side of Christ and those who have apostatized and follow the False Prophet, and by extension Satan, the dragon.

While Michael and his angels may well be real angels, the term "angel" is used throughout the Apocalypse to indicate bishops. This passage tells of a battle inside the Church that results in those bishops who follow Satan finally being cast out "unto the earth". That is to say they no longer have the grace of being members in the visible organization.

In today's news, linked above, the Vatican has warned that passage of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, removing all laws protecting the unborn, is a direct attack on the Church, an act of war. As is often the case in today's Church, such pronouncements are made by high Vatican officials, bishops, and usually contradicted, modified or ignored by many other bishops. The lines for the battle inside the Church are being drawn.

If FOCA is passed, what will the response of the US bishops be? They have made their warning but what is their history of backing up warnings in the past? In each of the last several election cycles, the prospect of excommunication for pro-abortion Catholic politicians has come up and in each cycle, prominent Catholic politicians have continued to receive communion even from prominent bishops. Now, a pro-abortion Catholic is Vice President and another is HHS Secretary. What will the hierarchy do? It depends on what time we're in in regard to the Apocalypse.

All the New Testament writings on the end times agree, before the cumulative battle between good and evil, the apostasy must come first. In the past election cycle a higher percentage of Catholics voted for the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual candidate than the population at large. This is a reflection on the efficacy of the teaching of the catechism by the current crop of US bishops, many of whom will be swept up in the war and "fall to earth" which means lose their spiritual position in the Church.

That time can't be too far off.

Monsignor Repudiates Priest Who Stands up to Abortion

2008-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Msgr.:

Rather than scold a good parish priest for his standing up for life, you should examine your own conscience and ask yourself if you've done enough to stop the slaughter of the unborn or if you've become the typical pragmatic administrator caught up in his own position and privilege. He said nothing wrong, only what the Vatican itself has stated. It's only the cowards in the U.S. hierarchy that fail time and again to put teeth into their lofty pronouncements. You could have showed some guts and stood up for this man but you chose to sell out. Sad...

In Christ,

Steve

P.S. I invite you to view this video and refelct on how strongly this evil needs to be opposed:

http://www.massmediamail.com/durarealidad/

Drugs and Sorcery

2008-11-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

After the event of the 200 million horsemen and just preceding the second woe we have this verse in the Book of Revelation:

"And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornications nor of their thefts." Apoc. 9:21

Pharmakeia is a Greek word found in the New Testament that means medication, pharmacy, magic, sorcery and witchcraft. The verse seems to point to an increase of the use of drugs (as well as astrology and witchcraft perhaps) in the time leading up to the second woe.

Fornications can mean sexual licentiousness but can also refer to apostasy from the true faith. When the Bible speaks of adultery and fornication it often refers to a communal act of falling away from God's law.

In the article above, Mexico City, one of the largest Roman Catholic cities in the world, even in world history, has decided to give pharmaceuticals, Viagra, to older men to "make them feel better". In schools throughout the western world, the percentage of children on psychological medications is exploding. Pills are prescribed for depression, fat reduction, sexual deficiencies, and every real or imagined malady one can come up with. And of course there is "the pill" for preventing procreation, one of the greatest insults to one's Creator that man could devise.

As for murder, the slaughter of the unborn across the globe is unprecedented in human history. Not only does man not repent of this murderous plague, they exalt it as a right and as health care and force it even upon the faithful. The recent election of Barack Obama is a case in point as a key part of his platform is the abolition of any restriction on abortion on demand and the sexualization of public school children.

Lastly, it says men did not repent of their thefts. What is the greatest theft in history if not the recent transfer of trillions of dollars of retirees and working people's savings and investments to international bankers? Is there any repentance for the mismanagement of loans that led to this thievery? By all appearances, the announcement of the financial "crisis" was timed to elect Obama to the presidency, once his platform of ending the Iraq war fell flat due to recent successes in reducing the violence there undercut him.

All this evidence has to lead one to the conclusion that the time mentioned in the Apocalypse verse above has come. We are about to be plunged into the greatest crisis of faith in human history and how it comes out has already been written.

US Bishops Issue Stark Warning to Obama over Abortion

2008-11-13T15:46:00.000-08:00

Note: This statement is unusual for this group of pragmatists and compromisers. They bypassed their usual bureaucratic process for producing a statement and all signed onto it. It is the closest to speaking 'in one voice" that I've seen. Let's see if they ever add some bark to their bite...

US Bishops Issue Stark Warning to Obama over Abortion

By John-Henry Westen BALTIMORE, November 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a stark warning to President-Elect Barack Obama, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), today warned the Obama administration, on behalf of all the US bishops, that "aggressive pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion."

The statement, which was "written at the request and direction of all the Bishops," was released today at the end of the annual fall assembly of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

While the message begins on a conciliatory note, the vast majority is directed at the issue of the rights of the unborn. "The bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all," begins the statement. From there, however, it notes that the 1973 Roe v Wade decision was "bad law" and that the Freedom of Choice Act which Obama has promised to sign is even "more radical."

Cardinal George writes that "the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve," if the administration's policies increase abortions.

The full statement follows:

STATEMENT of the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops "

If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil." (Psalm 127, vs. 1)

The Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States welcome this moment of historic transition and look forward to working with President-elect Obama and the members of the new Congress for the common good of all. Because of the Church's history and the scope of her ministries in this country, we want to continue our work for economic justice and opportunity for all; our efforts to reform laws around immigration and the situation of the undocumented; our provision of better education and adequate health care for all, especially for women and children; our desire to safeguard religious freedom and foster peace at home and abroad. The Church is intent on doing good and will continue to cooperate gladly with the government and all others working for these goods.

The fundamental good is life itself, a gift from God and our parents. A good state protects the lives of all. Legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed when the Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This was bad law. The danger the Bishops see at this moment is that a bad court decision will be enshrined in bad legislation that is more radical than the 1973 Supreme Court decision itself.

In the last Congress, a Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) was introduced that would, if brought forward in the same form today, outlaw any "interference" in providing abortion at will. It would deprive the American people in all fifty states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. It would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government and others of good will to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

Parental notification and informed consent precautions would be outlawed, as would be laws banning procedures such as partial-birth abortion and protecting infants born alive after a failed abortion. Abortion clinics would be deregulated. The Hyde Amendment restricting the federal funding of abortions would be abrogated.

FOCA would have lethal consequences for prenatal human life. FOCA would have an equally destructive effect on the freedom of conscience of doctors, nurses and health care workers whose personal convictions do not permit them to cooperate in the private killing of unborn children. It would threaten Catholic health care institutions and Catholic Charities. It would be an evil law that would further divide our country, and the Church should be intent on opposing evil.

On this issue, the legal protection of the unborn, the bishops are of one mind with Catholics and others of good will. They are also pastors who have listened to women whose lives have been diminished because they believed they had no choice but to abort a baby. Abortion is a medical procedure that kills, and the psychological and spiritual consequences are written in the sorrow and depression of many women and men. The bishops are single-minded because they are, first of all, single-hearted.

The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world. If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve. Abortion kills not only unborn children; it destroys constitutional order and the common good, which is assured only when the life of every human being is legally protected. Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.

This statement is written at the request and direction of all the Bishops, who also want to thank all those in politics who work with good will to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us. Those in public life do so, sometimes, at the cost of great sacrifice to themselves and their families; and we are grateful. We express again our great desire to work with all those who cherish the common good of our nation. The common good is not the sum total of individual desires and interests; it is achieved in the working out of a common life based upon good reason and good will for all.

Our prayers accompany President-elect Obama and his family and those who are cooperating with him to assure a smooth transition in government. Many issues demand immediate attention on the part of our elected "watchman." (Psalm 127) May God bless him and our country.

You Missed the Warning

2008-11-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

**Warning** If you watch the video linked to the title of this entry, you will be shocked. it contains graphic images of what goes on hundreds of times across this country. It also shows what a majority of Americans voted to expand in this last election.

You Missed the Warning

It was reported shortly after the election in the U.S. that the biggest issue that caused voters to vote the way they did was economic issues. Though some economic issues deal with feeding and sheltering a family, the trend in the western world is towards a rampant consumerism devoid of family, morals or spirituality. The materialism that has gripped modern man means that even the so-called poor have cell phones, x-Box and a laptop computer hooked to an Internet service. In the rush to acquire goods, no one better stand in the way, especially the children. They have been sacrificed to the altar of greed. There is even a movement to tax families over a certain size.

God has warned us but most missed the warning. I wrote about it before. The tallest building in the western world was the World Trade Center. Anyone approaching New York City by air, water or road saw it long before the rest of the skyline was visible. It was a monument to money. It's very name announced its purpose. Man marveled at it. Yet objectively speaking it was a ghastly thing. Two rectangles sticking far above the rest of the surrounding area.

In the Christian era, prior to current modernism, zoning laws forbid any structure to surpass the church in height. But that was long ago set aside as money needed an even larger temple. Symbols to it are everywhere from the large insurance company buildings to the giant calf outside the New York Stock Exchange. Money has become man's god and nothing will stand in the way as he seeks to acquire more.

In the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, the twin towers came crashing down at the hands of a hand full of thugs with box cutters. On top of the pile was a cross fashioned from broken beams, a fitting grave marker for the greed the building represented. It was a sign that God is in control. People streamed into churches to pray about what had happened. But few got the message.

Both presidential candidates promised to help people increase their wealth. Neither spoke about the spiritual well-being of the citizens or what was good for the soul. Neither spoke loudly about the daily holocaust of the unborn, the ripping to shreds of tiny babies in their first homes, their mothers own wombs.

One promised to remove what few impediments there are to abortion on demand through all phases of pregnancy. After all he pronounced, "no one should be punished with a baby." And you elected him. Maybe you didn't vote for him but by your actions, you look the other way while this massacre continues. I feel I didn't do enough. No one could until this is ended.

But God is surely in control and the chastisement He is placing upon us all will be severe. We'll all have to answer for the images in the video that is linked above.

Is Obama the Anti-Christ?

2008-11-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Michael O'Brien Newsletter Regarding Barack Obama and the Question of the Anti-Christ

All Saints Day, 1 November 2008

Dear Friends, From just north of the border, we Canadians, like other people throughout the world, are observing and praying for the coming federal election in the United States of America. I would prefer to keep private my counsel about political choices, because it is not my country. However, I am receiving letters from American subscribers and visitors to my studio website asking me some rather surprising questions about Barack Obama, related to one of my novels.

During the past year I have read a number of his pronouncements, and saw the smoke and mirrors beneath the rhetoric, but couldn't understand why everyone south of the border (the other south of the border, the 49th parallel) was getting so excited about him, both pro and con. Then a few weeks ago a German friend called me immediately after Obama's speech in Berlin, to say that the presidential candidate had mesmerized the crowds, and that a commentator on German television had said: "We have just heard the next President of the United States...and the future President of the World." My friend felt that Obama bore an uncanny resemblance to the fictional character of the President in my novel Father Elijah. I have received several other letters saying the same thing and asking what I thought about it.

From my own reading of Obama's declarations and stated positions, I knew he was an ultra-liberal, a social revolutionary with visionary pretensions. But the Antichrist? No, not possible, I thought. I felt that he was too shallow a man to be the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, the Beast of the Book of Revelation. And I still think so. Obama is a crowd-pleaser with just the right ethos of idealistic crusader. That the crusade and the banners under which it marches are evil does not automatically prove that he is the Antichrist.

But now that I have seen the video of the Berlin speech I think there is more here than meets the eye. He is indeed a powerful manipulator of crowds, even as he appears ever so humble and wholesomely charming. I doubt that he is the long-prophesied ruler of the world, but I also believe that he is a carrier of a deadly moral virus, indeed a kind of anti-apostle spreading concepts and agendas that are not only anti-Christ but anti-human as well. In this sense he is of the spirit of Antichrist (perhaps without knowing it), and probably is one of several key figures in the world who (knowingly or unknowingly) will be instrumental in ushering in the time of great trial for the Church under its last and worst persecution, amidst the numerous other tribulations prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation, and letters of St Paul, St. John, and St. Peter.

Of course the mystique that has grown up around him is endlessly reinforced by the liberal media, which presents him to us as a high-minded humanist, a kind of secular messiah (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675). Yet when all the rhetoric is boiled down to its substance, the man is advocating unlimited state-sanctioned murder, and compounds it by indulging in habitual falsehood. He is well accustomed to playing loose with the truth whenever it is expedient for him to do so; or else he is the victim of the largest memory lapses in recorded history; or perhaps he is just not careful about how he expresses things——a blurring or selectivity regarding facts for the purpose of aggrandizing his public image. There is a controversy currently raging in the (admittedly unreliable) forum of the internet, prompted by an African-American talk show host in Los Angeles who listed 39 significant details that Barack Obama claimed were facts about himself, but on further investigation were proved to be simply untrue. There has been some wild-fire debunking of the debunking, and then more counter-debunking, but it remains obvious that forthrightness and clarity are not major concerns in the Obama camp.

What are we to make of a man who has appeared out of semi-obscurity and become, nearly overnight, so very much an idol of the popular imagination? That he intends to become the most effective advocate of murder of the unborn ever seen in America should give us pause. Murder and lies are as old as the lands east of Eden, of course, but when they are charmingly packaged, proposed as reasonable and just policies (with a smile, a resonant voice, and an appealing flash of the eyes), one begins to wonder just what is afoot in the modern age. It brings to mind a passage from the first Act of Shakespeare's Hamlet:

"That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain..."

The line is from a scene where prince Hamlet has just encountered the ghost of his father, who informs his son that he was poisoned by his own brother Claudius (the "smiling, damned villain"), who after murdering him, seized the king's crown and his queen.

Barack Obama is an image-maker, creating his own myth as he goes along. This would be a sad defect in any human being, but it takes on ominous proportions in a person who may become, after November 4th, one of the most powerful figures in the world. How is it possible that such a tragic turn of events may come about, if indeed a majority of Americans choose to believe the smile and the myth? Why is it that so many people have come to believe that a mirage is reality, even destiny? Do pro-Obama voters hanker for a world figure who would heal old divisions between races and religions, thus heralding a new age for mankind? During this time of near intolerable tensions, does he appear to be the one who can reconcile Islam and Christianity, Africa and America, occident and orient, black and white, rich and poor? Do they see his racial origins as a symbolic victory over the history of racial oppression? Do they see in him the good-hearted "under-dog", the gutsy street fighter who agitates for the rights of the "little guy," whose meteoric rise to a position of maximum influence represents themselves enthroned at last in the high seat of power? Is this why they ignore his every grave fault and hungrily consume his vague idealist platitudes as if these were a kind of new gospel for the third millennium? Our hero. Our visionary. Our Great Friend and spokesman in the forum of the world?

Clearly, contemporary man needs heroes. But why not choose a genuine one, why not look a little deeper and work a little harder to find a man of courage and principle, and if it helps in the historical healing process, why not a very different kind of black man, say a person like Alan Keyes, a scholar, former ambassador, experienced in different levels of government, and (it might be added) an African-American married to a woman from India. Moreover, he is a devout Catholic who believes in moral absolutes and has amply proved that he will stand firm to defend them regardless of the cost to his own career. He knows that kings and presidents cannot usurp the natural law, the moral order of the universe, without bringing down judgment upon their nations. But it need not be Keyes. It might be any number of other men and women of clear thought and clear principle. Surely there are "Ten Just Men" still out there somewhere in America. So why Obama? And why does he rise and rise as his mouth smiles and smiles, exuding sincerity as he speaks lies and death?

And why, most horribly, most shamefully, are so many Christians of malformed or unformed conscience supporting him? Is it because they have never been clearly instructed in the truth, never understood the foundation upon which the moral cosmos is built? Is morality for them merely another system of abstract "values" in a crowded playing field of such systems, from which one may pick and choose? In the case of Catholics, for example, have they been blinded by a diet of theological nuances and deadly little loopholes offered to them by the committees of national episcopal conferences — committees that have absolutely no authority over Catholics, yet which are widely revered as a kind of alternative Magisterium? Have they been deadened by a habitual dismissing or dissembling of the solid teaching given to them by the universal Church under Peter? Have they grown accustomed to listening to opinion shapers who tell them that certain excellent apostolic Bishops in America who teach the truth without compromise are merely hidebound reactionaries, moralistic extremists, contemporary manifestations of those old boogymen who still haunt the American psyche — the Chillingworths and Dimmesdales and the judges in The Scarlet Letter? And so it goes, this over-reaction to Puritanism played out over centuries, an over-reaction that breeds tragedies a thousand times worse than Salem's. Lies compounding on lies, and it all floats on an ocean of spilled innocent blood. And who can gaze at that ocean (or be splashed by it) without coming to a radical choice: One either turns away into a deeper state of denial, or one turns heart and mind toward the splendor of Truth, and changes one's life accordingly.

Is this why many of our Catholic people have become impulse-driven impressionists? Of course, the blindness is not due to the failure of pastors alone. The Ministry of Disinformation (by which I mean most modern media) has played a major role. There is also the erosion of truth in the education systems, combined with the gradual confusion and weakening of conscience through our addiction to the "soma" drugs supplied by the entertainment industry. Other factors may be the war in Iraq, or Republican economics, or the Bush administration, or the structure of Capitalism itself, or any number of prudential questions in the sociopolitical order, all of which are presently tangled nests of moral dilemma. But why do they not see that these questions are secondary to the fundamental issue of life itself? Why would they replace one reigning oligarchy with another kind of oligarchy — moreover, one that would kill vast numbers of its own citizens?

"I call on heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live...." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

May God bless and guide you, in Jesus our Saviour,
with prayers and fasting,

Michael O'Brien

Irresistible Force

2008-10-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

Irresistible Force

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. [Apoc. 12:4]

It is explained in The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter by Steven Paul that this scene depicts the apostasy of one third of the college of cardinals. They are drawn to the False Prophet by his irresistible force. He has a charism that they are unable to resist and are willing to turn their backs on the Holy Pontiff, The Pope, in order to follow him.

In our own times, we see how easily the faithful are willing to cast aside the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ in order to follow their own desires. In the linked article, it says there is a new way of looking at the abortion issue in light of the overall Catholic teaching that allows Catholics to vote for a candidate who is "pro-choice".

This story is false on many levels, not the least of which is that the theory is not new at all. The idea of the "seamless garment" was used by Catholics 30 years ago for the same reason - they wanted to vote pro-abortion because the pro-abortion candidate reflected their ideals more closely.

The second big lie in this article is the idea that the pro-abortion candidate's policies would actually reduce the number of abortions. Can he defy gravity as well? In fact, his policies include support for the Freedom of Choice Act, which rescinds all restrictions on abortion-on-demand including parental notification, late term abortion, born alive act, and interstate restrictions.

The third big lie is that all pro-life Catholics want to is outlaw abortion but won't help young women with prevention of unwanted pregnancies or with prenatal and post natal care. In fact traditional, church-going Catholics have been feeding the poor, placing children for adoption, opening crisis pregnancy centers like Spring House, Visitation House and Birthright for years. While primary political emphasis is placed on voting pro-life, it is wholly consistent with everything the Church teaches that to care for the poor and to work against violence and social justice starts with the right to life.

Catholic teaching and pronouncements from the leadership also condemn the death penalty and war so long as there is a just alternative. No political party perfectly embodies Catholic moral teaching but certainly there is open hostility to the unborn, traditional marriage, abstinence programs, adoption with traditional families, and conscience protection for Catholic physicians and businesses in one party.

Catholics are free to vote for whomever they choose. But to claim that the pro-abortion candidate better fits Catholic moral teaching is just plain false. Since the people making this claim seem sincere, there is a possible reason for this. They have been pulled away from the Church by an irresistible force, a charism so strong they could not do otherwise. They were too weak to overcome it. This charism comes from a fresh, well spoken politician who has learned the power of his trade. Some have even asked if he is the Antichrist himself. That is not likely, but the ease with which he has swept Catholics away from their Church should be a dire warning.

Antichrist Rising in US?

2008-10-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

The question has come up regarding the appearance of THE Antichrist as it relates to the current financial chaos and the presidential election in the US. This is probably more a reflection of insecurity and panic than theological discourse but can be addressed nonetheless.

First of all, I'll address the idea that Antichrist, the person, could be a US president. Many practical and political reasons point to this being extremely unlikely. US presidents do not make laws. They are one of three co-equal branches of government and are mostly responsible for law enforcement and national defense as well as running the social service bureaucracy. Antichrist will almost certainly rule by decree. The other branches of government present a restraint on US presidents though at times it seems they quickly abdicate that responsibility. Still, many other countries do not present such obstacles and are better candidates for a swift ascension to power.

Secondly, the Apocalypse gives clues as to the national and geographical origin of the "beast". He comes from an area outside the nominally Catholic area of the former Roman Empire (the 'sea') but within the empire's outermost reach at its height. The US does not qualify. Regions that are dominated by Orthodox Christianity and Islam are the most likely places.

More curious is the analysis done by Steven Paul that the US will have a special role in the ultimate defeat of the beast and his empire. The US with its powerful armed forces and its Christian character will be the world's last hope. Despite her flaws, the "Great Eagle" is the most Christ-like nation in her works of charity, her rule of law, and her spirituality.

Throughout history, there have been many types of the Antichrist who have come close to world domination and extermination of God's people, the Church. Islam was barely defeated at Tours. Napoleon's empire stretched across the European continent and Nazi Germany similarly made its futile attempt. Charismatic leaders rise with great passion and the people are seemingly mesmerized by their smooth-talking even as their freedom is taken away.

Today we see little dictatorships in Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and some African nations. As well, China, with its Godless communism seems to rise in power before our eyes. In the US, a slick-talking unknown has the electorate transfixed. Yet none of these comes close to the cunning and skill described in the Apocalypse. They are just precursors or impostors.

Antichrist will capitalize on the kind of financial chaos and misery we have only seen a glimpse of recently. Such will be the malaise that people will gladly hand power over to him. The times we are in are precursor to but not the actuality of the kingdom of the beast. Current events are types or warnings of what is to come. One must keep their eyes on Rome and the Church to know the signs of the times. It is a spiritual war that is to come and the best preparation for it is the sacraments.

Does Wealth Transfer to State Portend Bigger Disaster?

2008-10-05T12:11:00.001-07:00

The recent "crisis" in the US financial markets, created by a state solution to home ownership for low or no income people, has led to the biggest transfer of wealth in history from private citizens to the state.

The average citizen only knew there was a crisis at all by watching television or reading the paper as the media trumpeted the government's warnings and extolled their remedy. It's been said before that in a crisis people will glady hand over civil liberties and wealth but never get it back when the crisis passes. Some have warned that such crises, created artificailly by large investment bankers, are designed to get the masses to conform to their designs.

But what exactly is afoot? It's hard to tell who's pulling the strings these days as one of the more inept presidencies in history has combined with the most corrupt Congress ever to transfer a trillion dollars to investment banks and insurance comapnies, using fear and bribes (known as pork barrel spending) to get their way.

In the meantime, for almost a year, stock prices have been in dramatic decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at over 14,000 in November of 2007. Yet despite it's steady 4,000+ point drop since that time, a comparably modest fall of 777 points was used to scare the politicians and the masses into accepting this theft of the treasury. Simultaneously, private property values have also fallen by >20% in many markets. Low income homeowners who saw their variable interest rate loans increase in cost while their property value was falling simply walked away from their mortgages back to their relatively stable expense rentals.

For those whose wealth is a combination of IRA's, 401K's, stocks and their residence, their net worth has fallen precipitously. And now with the national debt approaching 10 trillion dollars, inflation, unemployment and higher taxes are almost a sure bet.

It has been said that wealth never disappears. It is simply transferred. In the current case, the wealth is being transferred from the people to the treasury and then to investment banks. If the trend continues, there will be a depression. Amid such financial chaos, government will be able to convince people of almost any radical solution. More pressure will be put on forming larger trading blocks, economic unions of regional countries as with the EU. Civil liberties will need to be curtailed as the masses act out frustration with their diminishing resources. Pressure to limit family size through sterilization of the weak, forced contraception and abortion, and for euthanasia will increase. Gun registration and confiscation will be required.

To what end is this all going? Economic despair always paves the way for strong totalitarian leaders to emerge. They need not take power. People will gladly give it to them in exchange for better nliving standards now in the rearview mirror of memory.

Antichrist is described as the most cunning of all humans. His charisma will likewise be unsurpassed. His handler is already at work, preparing the battlefield. Look for religious and political upheavals to result from the current "crisis", ones that will amaze and cause great wonder.

Yes, something big is afoot.

Financial Collapse and Revelation

2008-09-30T05:08:00.000-07:00

Market Falls "777" Points

Once in a while, there are signs that God wants you to pay attention to secular affairs. I don't pretend to know the Divine Mind. But after reading The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation, I pay attention to numbers and symbols.

The terror attacks of 9/11/01 was one of those times. I saw it as an attack on financial and military superpower, a humbling of a great nation that has lost its way morally. When the towers came down, all that was left was a cross on top of the pile, much like a grave marker. But in the shadows of the rubble stood the little chapel of Saints Peter and Paul with nary a cracked window. I saw this as a sign that god is in control, not the terrorists and certainly not the government.

During the Middle Ages, it was customary that the tallest structure in a town was a church. As a sort of divine zoning plan, no other structure was permitted (or desired) to be taller. On 9/11/01, the tallest building in NYC was a financial building. Money had replaced God in order of importance. But God has a way of using secondary agents to accomplish His will in secular affairs. And 19 terrorists with box cutters brought the financial and military hyper-power to its knees.

But as it says in the Apocalypse, "they did not repent of the works of their hands". And so like ants, we rebuilt not the physical towers but the financial ones. We created towers of fraudulent paper built on the dreams of poor people yearning to own homes. The greedy power brokers saw a way to inflate balance sheets and investment portfolios. Corrupt politicians saw it as a way to appear beneficent while lining their own pockets with campaign contributions from massive financial institutions. Any attempt at reform was rebuffed with cries of 'discrimination".

But the Great Equalizer once again has brought the towers crashing down. His sign this time is a number and the number is 777, the number of points the stock index fell in one day. 7 is the biblical number for perfection and completion. Certainly the stock market drop was neither complete nor perfect. But God's plan for us is perfect and complete though only known to Him. Once again, we will fail to "repent of the works of our hands" and we will again build towers on the backs of the poor.

But do not despair. As always, God is truly in control. And that is the message of the number.

Wars, Storms, Sightings - Do They Point to the End?

2008-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

It seems a day doesn't go by that either someone sends me an article or I read on a Catholic site about a war, impending war, natural disaster, economic collapse or other man made calamity that the author claims foretells the end times.

To put stock in such things is to ignore the obvious and to ignore prophetic writings. In the Bible, the actions of God's people, in the Old Testament Israel, and in the Book of Revelation, the Church, indicate when events of significant change will occur.

In our time we have seen the influence of the Church in the western world slide precipitously towards irrelevance as a secular humanist wave has swept over mankind. Why? Look closely INSIDE the Church. We have witnessed the greatest apostasy in history as priests and religious threw of the bonds of authority after Vatican II, engaged in the most disgusting sexual abuse of their charges, enabled and covered up by their bishops.

To make it worse, the bishops continue to this day to deflect attention away from themselves and towards their own priests and the victims they were supposed to be dispensing the sacraments to. They were supposed to help us get to heaven!

No earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, stock market crash, apparition or war compares to the complete devastation wrought by faithless members of the episcopate on the Church. Indeed, all those other natural and unnatural disasters usually have the effect of driving the faithful to SEEK God, to return to piety. These bishops have driven the largest exodus out of the Church in history!

But when the teaching members of the Church say one thing and do another, proclaim justice but avoid blame, cover up and divert attention, condemn abortion but fail to enforce canon law against those who enable it, claim homosexuality is gravely immoral and disordered but refuse to remove homosexuals from their midst, proclaim the True Presence but give communion to public and obstinate sinners, who is left to believe?

Remember Excorde Ecclesae, the bishops statement on Catholic colleges and universities? The idea was that these institutions should reflect and teach the Catholic faith, a novel idea. Instead they have foisted the most anti-Catholic doctrines imaginable on young people. One such college, Holy Cross in Worcester, MA actually sponsored a family planning conference featuring Planned Parenthood! The bishop first warned the college president and then went back to his hole when he was ignored. Is this what Jesus meant by his admonition not to "separate the wheat from the weeds" or is this just institutional cowardice and accommodation?

1 Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Jer. 23

We have seen a priesthood devastated first by the sexual revolution that saw family sizes shrink and materialism grow and then by homosexuality that has gripped the seminaries and discouraged authentic vocations. Bishops have been compromised and blackmailed by their own failings, moving molesters from parish to parish to continue their reign of terror.

Now, as a political system veers out of control codifying sin as privilege, the bishops are too self-absorbed and lacking in credibility to speak out effectively and rally the faithful who are less educated in the faith and more confused than ever due to the infiltration of pagans and secularist authors in religious education programs.

At times like these, God has always acted. But He also promised that one day there would be a final battle, and that in that battle, the devastation of souls would be unprecedented. God's mercy is that He will spare some of the faithful. But His justice is that the day will come.

Don't look to the sky for signs, or to geopolitical events or Wall Street. One need look no further than the local parish, if it hasn't been sold off, to figure out that something cataclysmic is about to happen. The Church has become "like a scroll rolled up." The "sun is darkened and the moon will not give its light."

Catholic Boston College Sponsors Panel Focusing on Homosexual Couples

2008-06-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Note: For those who believe the scandal has passed and all is well in the Archdiocese of Boston, read this closely. A Catholic institution is promoting immoral counterfeit arrangements between homosexuals and the Church leaders are hiding and doing nothing.

Catholic Boston College Sponsors Panel Focusing on Homosexual Couples

BOSTON, MA, June 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit administered Boston College for sponsoring and hosting Love Across Boundaries, which is being advertised as "a panel conversation with Boston couples who focus on their own interracial, interfaith and same-sex Love Across Boundaries". Featured participants will include Paul McLaughlin, Assistant Dean of Harvard College and his homosexual partner Jason Shumaker, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at MIT.

The event, sponsored by the New Center for Arts and Culture and Boston College's Office of the Provost, will be held this afternoon and this evening at BC's Bapst Library as part of Bloomsday Boston, the annual celebration of James Joyce and his novel Ulysses. Among those reading excerpts from the book will be former Lieutenant Governor Thomas P. O'Neill III, who is a longstanding supporter of legal abortion.

The Catholic Action League has called the event "another shameless betrayal of Catholic principles by the leadership of Boston College and its parent religious order, the Jesuits".

Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle stated: "No reasonable person could be expected to believe that the Catholic Church is serious in its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage as long as Catholic institutions publicly affirm homosexual relationships and prominently showcase pro-abortion political figures. Boston College, with the complicity of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, continues to flaunt its infidelity to Catholic moral teaching and callously compromise what is left of its Catholic identity, while the Archdiocese of Boston, through its silence and inaction, functions as its enabler".

"This disgraceful episode is one more example of the systemic collapse of Catholic loyalties in the very leadership of the Church in the United States"LifeSiteNews attempted to contact the Archdiocese of Boston, but they were not immediately available for comment.

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08061605.html

The Challenges Faced by Humanae Vitae Priests and the Resultant 'Clergy Problem'

2008-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Note: Contraception is the greatest evil of our time. It's acceptance by Catholics against Church teaching drives a wedge between the faithful and the clergy and causes the clergy to be in grave danger of apostasy. It naturally leads to all other evils of the flesh - abortion, adultery, pre- and extra- marital sex. And once the sex act is divorced from procreation, homosexuality and all other perversions quickly increase. This is nothing new. But it is on the rise and is insidious.

The Challenges Faced by Humanae Vitae Priests and the Resultant 'Clergy Problem'

5/18/2008 8:27:00 AM
By John Mallon -Human Life International e-Newsletter

When priests lose the nerve to preach over concern for money, are they following after Peter, or Judas?First of all, I want to thank all of you priests, deacons and seminarians who signed on to this mailing list. It is very encouraging to see the humility and willingness to gain knowledge that will help you in your service to God's people. If this seems a strange statement, let me tell you that in the first 48 hours that this site was up we received emails from about 130 priests demanding to be removed from the mailing list. Some were quite nasty. Some took offense that someone sent in their email as though it were a personal affront.

It is no secret that orthodox priests who think with the Church often receive cold shoulders and outright hostility from their brother priests. Those who don't go along with the "CYA club" or the clerical mafia and preach Christ instead of the status quo, thus rocking the boat, soon know they are persona non grata. All too often a faithful priest who makes a mistake is much more likely to be called on the carpet and chewed out much more severely by the bishop than a dissident cleric whose errors are deliberate and treated with kid gloves.

A priest friend of mine, ordained within the last 12 years or so, told me that during his first parish assignment he dutifully preached on contraception, but immediately afterwards was "spoken to" by the pastor. The pastor ordered him "not to do that again," and muttered, "just watch the collection receipts go down."

Huh?

If this is what we are about, then we are no better than a governmental bureaucracy that self-perpetuates after having lost its purpose for existing. I should add that the pastor was not a wild-eyed radical or dissenter, but one of the stalwarts of the diocese, the type to whom bishops like to send the newly ordained to learn the ropes. He was the type that another priest friend of mine referred to as "a company man." In frustration he cried out to me, "John, they're company men!" By the company, he was not referring to the Magisterium, but the local diocesan system. They knew how to play the game, advance their careers, manipulate or get around the bishop when necessary, and keep their own backsides covered.

The Gospel? What Gospel?

If they only knew the true danger their backsides were in.

Christ didn't land on the Cross by playing it safe with the high priests of His day.
In view of the corrupt system outlined above, when people ask about the sex abuse crisis, "How could this have happened?" the only answer is, "How could it not have happened?" when whistle-blowers were punished and abusers honored or at least coddled. The only response is "Thank God it happened!" Not thank God children were abused, but thank God the corrupt system that allowed it to continue was blown sky high. It is only the beginning, but it may well be the deliverance so many of us have been praying for. Recalling the famous vision of Pope Leo XIII where he saw God grant Satan's request of 100 years to destroy the Church, and chose the 20th century, was it an accident that this particular stronghold collapsed two years into the 21st century? Judgment begins with the House of God (1 Peter 4:17). Thank God.

What does this all have to do with contraception? Contraception was the epicenter of the "sexual revolution." Contraception was also the epicenter of the movement for dissent against Church teaching, Humanae Vitae in particular, and the center of most of the fiercest battles in the Church today.

Contraception, abortion and homosexuality are the three legs of the stool upon which the Culture of Death sits. (We will have more on the contraception/homosexuality link in a future column.)
Thank God for you priests in our midst who know the Gospel has always been preached at personal risk and that Humanae Vitae is part of that Gospel and an expression of God's love and protection for His people.

California Court Strips Children of Right to Mother and Father

2008-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Note: As in Massachusetts, this ruling could not have come about without the decline and weakening of the Catholic Church and its influence on society for good. A formed conscience simply could not force itself against its own will to remove having a father and a mother from the rights of children. As well, to give rights to associations based on an unnatural and immoral act, sodomy, is sick and perverted. It's one thing to pass anti discrimination laws that protect people who indeed are born with physiological differences and quite another to favor people who have given in to their inclinations.

California Court Strips Children of Right to Mother and Father

By Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief

May 16, 2008(CNSNews.com) - In Thursday's 4-3 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the California Supreme Court stripped children of the right to be raised by a mother and a father.

Most of the media coverage of the California Supreme Court's decision has focused on the court's declaration that there is a right to same-sex marriage. The ruling invalidated California's Proposition 22, a state ballot initiative that passed with 61 percent of the vote in 2000, and which banned same-sex marriage in the state.

But the California Supreme Court decision goes beyond simply giving same-sex couples the right to call their unions a "marriage." It also strips children of the right not to be artificially conceived or adopted by people other than a mother and a father.

Indeed, the court does not recognize that children have any right whatsoever to a mother and a father.

In the decision, the California court sees children primarily through the eyes of same-sex couples who want to secure custody and control of children. The court makes emphatically clear that it deems this to be a right of same-sex couples that is equal to--and identical to--the right of married mothers and fathers to adopt or conceive and raise their own children.

In making this argument, the court addresses biological parenthood as an accident of nature that can be swept aside by the court in its pursuit of what the court understands to be justice. To explain this vision of justice--and where children fit into this vision--the court equates same-sex couples to infertile heterosexual married couples.

"A person who is physically incapable of bearing children still has the potential to become a parent and raise a child through adoption or through means of assisted reproduction, and the constitutional right to marry ensures the individual the opportunity to raise children in an officially recognized family with the person with whom the individual has chosen to share his or her life," the court said.

Two homosexual men joining together and contracting to have a child artificially conceived, gestated and handed over to their custody, it concludes, is a question of the "liberty and personal autonomy" of the homosexual men, but not of the child who would be so conceived and raised.

"Finally, of course, the ability to have children and raise them with a loved one who can share the joys and challenges of that endeavor is without doubt a most valuable component of one's liberty and personal autonomy," said the court.

"Although persons can have children and raise them outside of marriage," the court said, "the institution of civil marriage affords official governmental sanction and sanctuary to the family unit, granting a parent the ability to afford his or her children the substantial benefits that flow from a stable two-parent family environment, a ready and public means of establishing to others the legal basis of one's parental relationship to one's children and the additional security that comes from the knowledge that his or her parental relationship with a child will be afforded protection by the government against the adverse actions or claims of others."

In constructing its vision for a new type of "family," the court rhetorically worked its way around the biological certainty (in a pre-human-cloning world) that all children have a mother and father (whether they are ever afforded the right to know them or not), by adopting a parental lexicon that features not moms and dads but "opposite-sex couples" and "same-sex couples."

"Extending access to the designation of marriage to same sex couples will not deprive any opposite-sex couple or their children of any of the rights and benefits conferred by the marriage statutes, but simply will make the benefit of the marriage designation available to same-sex couples and their children," said the court.

"While retention of the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples is not needed to preserve the rights and benefits of opposite-sex couples," said the court, "the exclusion of same-sex couples from the designation of marriage works a real and appreciable harm upon same-sex couples and their children."