FROM MARK MALLETT: The consciences of this beloved people must be violently shaken so that they may "put their house in order"… A great moment is approaching, a great day of light… it is the hour of decision for mankind.

Wormwood

  

   

“the smoke of Satan is seeping into the Church of God through the cracks in the walls.” —POPE PAUL VI, first quote: Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, June 29, 1972

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THERE is an elephant in the living room. But few want to talk about it. Most choose to ignore it. The problem is that the elephant is trampling all of the furniture and soiling the carpet. And the elephant is this: the Church is polluted with apostasy—the falling away from the faith—and it has a name: "Wormwood".

This writing was first published March 24th, 2009. I have added a powerful quote at the end from a Canadian Archbishop…

"WORMWOOD"

Shortly before Christmas 2008, myself and visionary Mary Reilly—who lives 2000 miles away—received a strange word on the very same day:

Wormwood.

It is a word mentioned in the Bible. From Webster’s Online Dictionary:

In the symbolical language of the Apocalypse (Rev. 8:10, 11) a star is represented as falling on the waters of the earth, causing the third part of the water to turn wormwood. The name by which the Greeks designated it, absinthion, means "undrinkable."

Indeed, the Church is meant to be the source of living water, nurturing and nursing her children on the Truth, who is Christ. But these waters in many places have been poisoned by heresy—mass heresy. Many are those who claim to be Catholic ministers, but like wolves in sheep’s clothing, lead their flocks to errant pastures, groomed and tended by dissident theologians—the false prophets of our day. It goes to show that a theological degree is no guarantee of orthodoxy. Indeed, the ecclesiastical orders in North America have been routing the faith to such a degree that several theological seminaries and universities as well as hospitals and schools are now Catholic in name only. They are often the very source of the moral pollution in our culture.
Almost as damaging are those who simply remain silent out of fear:

Pastors who lack foresight hesitate to say openly what is right because they fear losing the favor of men. As the voice of truth tells us, such leaders are not zealous pastors who protect their flocks, rather they are like mercenaries who flee by taking refuge in silence when the wolf appears… When a pastor has been afraid to assert what is right, has he not turned his back and fled by remaining silent? —St. Gregory the Great, Liturgy of the Hours, Vol IV, p. 342-343

If we want to know where our culture of death—of abortion, euthanasia, and contraception—came from, look no further than the episcopate’s doors. Forty years ago, when the world’s predators stood ready to devour the faithful, many sheep (such as my parents) were told that "the pill" was acceptable and that they could follow their conscience. Alas, the wolves were already inside the sheep pen, already inside the Church! I was born in 1968—just five months before the release of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter reaffirming the Church’s teaching against contraception. It would be eight years later before my parents were taught the truth about birth control by two lay people (which resulted in the birth of my dear little brother.) How close I came to not existing due to false teaching! (Two years later, the minister who advised my parents, left the priesthood and got married.)
The flood of abortion, pornography, STD’s, and divorce entered Catholic homes and society at large when the moral dam of clergy collapsed. There is an elephant in the living room, and its name is Wormwood.

THE BITTER PLANT
"Wormwood" is also known as a bitter plant.

The tradition is that this plant sprang up in the track of the serpent as it writhed along the ground when driven out of Paradise. —Webster’s Online Dictionary

Yes, in the wake of the the ancient serpent’s tail:

The tail of the devil is functioning in the disintegration of the Catholic world. The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church. —POPE PAUL VI, Address on the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Fatima Apparitions, October 13, 1977

Contraception is the primary bitter agent of the "fallen star"—that is, the fallen clergy and theologians who have rejected the Church’s moral teachings. The Barque of Peter, the Church, is like…

…a boat about to sink, a boat taking in water on every side. —Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), March 24, 2005, Good Friday meditation on the Third Fall of Christ

I have met several priests from various regions of the United States who estimate that over 50 percent of their fellow seminarians are gay—many living active homosexual lifestyles. One priest recounted how he was forced to lock his door at night. Another told me how two men burst into his room to "have their way"—but turned white as ghosts as they looked upon his statue of Our Lady of Fatima. They left, and never bothered him again. Another was brought before his seminary’s disciplinary panel when he complained about being "hit on" by fellow seminarians. But they asked him why he was "homophobic." Other priests have told me that their faithfulness to the Magisterium was the reason they almost didn’t graduate, and that some of their colleagues did not survive because of their obedience to the Holy Father. How can this be?!

Her most crafty enemies have engulfed the Church, the Spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, with sorrows, they have drenched her with wormwood; on all Her desirable things they have laid their wicked hands. Where the See of Blessed Peter and the Chair of Truth have been set up for the light of the gentiles, there they have placed the throne of the abomination of their wickedness, so that the Pastor having been struck, they may also be able to scatter the flock. —POPE LEO XIII, Exorcism Prayer, 1888 A.D.; from the Roman Raccolta of July 23, 1889

There is an elephant in the living room, and its name is Wormwood… and Schism is her twin sister.

I had another vision of the great tribulation… It seems to me that a concession was demanded from the clergy that could not be granted. I saw many older priests, especially one, who wept bitterly. A few younger ones were also weeping… It was as if people were splitting into two camps. —Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824); The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich; message from April 12th, 1820.

REAPING WHAT HAS BEEN SOWN
It is this acceptance of contraception that has led to and continues to foster a literal "Wormwood" in our waters. Studies are beginning to reveal that hormones from contraception are making their way back into the water supply. The results are frightening. In some cases, such as in Canada’s Great lakes or Colorado’s Boulder Creek, male fish have begun to change sex and their populations have been greatly reduced. It has been traced to estrogen—the female hormone found in oral contraceptives or birth control patches.

It’s the first thing that I’ve seen as a scientist that really scared me. It’s one thing to kill a river. It’s another thing to kill nature. If you’re messing with the hormonal balance in your aquatic community, you’re going deep down. You’re twiddling with how life proceeds. —Biologist John Woodling, Catholic Online , August 29, 2007

Furthermore, as evangelical writer Julio Severo points out, contraception also results in "micro-abortions":

...rivers have become deposits of annihilated lives. Hundreds of millions of women use pills and other birth-control devices that provoke micro-abortions that end flushed in toilets, and then into rivers. —Julio Severo, article "Rivers of Blood", December 17, 2008, LifeSiteNews.com

The water we cook with, we bathe in, we drink, is tainted with the blood of these murdered individuals. There is an elephant in the living room, and its name is Wormwood.

Who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? —POPE PIUS X, Encyclical E Supremi, n. 2

THE TIMES OF SORROW

You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. (Numbers 35:33 ESV)

It is difficult for me to write these things. I’d much rather kick my feet up, read a novel, and pretend that everything in the world is going to go along as it always has. The problem is, there’s an elephant in the living room. I can’t in good conscience pretend that it doesn’t exist. The dung has piled up high, the smell of disobedience is everywhere, and the damage to our children’s future is irreparable, save for a direct intervention from on High.
The warning in my heart is clear of a coming instrument of purification:

War is coming to the shores of the Americas.

Keep your eyes on the unholy trinity forming with Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia:

Be careful, especially when all seems to be peaceful and calm. Russia may act in a surprise way, when you least expect it… [God’s] justice will begin in Venezuela. —The Bridge to Heaven: Interviews with Maria Esperanza of Betania, Michael H. Brown, p. 73, 171

Because God loves us, our consciences need to be violently shaken. Before there can be an Illumination of Conscience, before we are willing to look up, we have to be brought to our knees, just as the Prodigal Son would not think to return home until his pride was crushed.

And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible. —Sr. Lucia, one of the Fatima visionaries, in a letter to the Holy Father, May 12th, 1982.

MERCIFUL JUDGMENT
The bitterness of Wormwood has reached the Lord’s mouth:

Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (Rev 3:16)

If the Lord spits a portion of His Church out of His mouth—that is, removes His divine protection—it is not because He does not love us. It is precisely because He loves us:

If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards… whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. (Heb 12:6,8)

In chaos, Mercy will come…

Is Ephraim not my favored son, the child in whom I delight? Often as I threaten him, I still remember him with favor; My heart stirs for him, I must show him mercy, says the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:18-20)

…for the elephant in the living room needs to be exposed. Wormwood needs to be uprooted. Poison needs to be drawn out so that Living Waters can flow again.

What I want to say is: Enough is enough! How much more can all of us take? Like you, my heart is broken, my mind is confused, my body hurts and I have moved in and out of a variety of feelings especially shame and frustration, fear and disappointment, along with a sense of vulnerability, and a tremendous poverty of spirit. I have cried and I have silently screamed,and perhaps that was my prayer to God: Why Lord? What does all this mean? What are you asking of me and of my priests? What do you want to see happen among your people? Is this a time of purification or is it nothing more than devastation? Are people going to stop believing, will faithful people stop being people of faith? Lord, what are you asking of us and how can we make it happen? —Archbishop Anthony Mancini, Halifax, NS, in response to a fellow bishop’s arrest on possession of child pornography; Letter to the Roman Catholic Faithful of Nova Scotia, Oct 2nd, 2009

The consciences of this beloved people must be violently shaken so that they may "put their house in order"… A great moment is approaching, a great day of light… it is the hour of decision for mankind.—Catholic mystic Marie Esperanza (1928-2004), Antichrist and the End Times by Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi in P. 37

REFERENCE:

• Wormwood… a literal falling star? See The Seven Year Trial — Part VII and Part XI

• The unfolding levels of Scripture: A Circle and The Spiral of Time

• An Intimate Testimony

Published in: DAILY JOURNAL, SIGNS | on October 6th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

FROM MARK MALLETT: - SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT -

This is an interesting and timely post from my friend Mark Mallett, who believes strongly in the coming Divine Warning!

Deacon John

The Vindication of Wisdom

THE DAY OF THE LORD — PART III
 

Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, c. 1511

THE Day of the Lord is drawing nearer. It is a Day when the manifold Wisdom of God will be made known to the nations.

Wisdom… hastens to make herself known in anticipation of men’s desire; he who watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate. (Wis 6:12-14)

The question may be asked, "Why would the Lord purify the earth for a ‘thousand year’ period of peace? Why wouldn’t He just return and usher in the New Heavens and New Earth for eternity?"
The answer I hear is,

The vindication of Wisdom.

AM I NOT JUST?
Didn’t God promise that the meek would inherit the earth? Didn’t He promise that the Jewish people would return to their land to live in peace? Is there not the promise of a Sabbath rest for the People of God? Furthermore, should the cry of the poor go unheeded? Should Satan have the last say, that God could not bring peace and justice to the earth as the Angels announced to the Shepherds? Should the saints never reign, the Gospel fail to reach all nations, and the glory of God fall short of the ends of the earth?
No, God is not going to fold His hands and say, "Well, I tried." Rather, His Word promises that the Saints will triumph and that the Woman will crush the serpent beneath her heel. That within the period of time and history, before Satan’s last attempt to crush the seed of the Woman, God will vindicate His children.

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; You shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD… To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it. (Isaiah 62:1-2; Rev 2:17)

THE WISDOM OF WISDOM
In Prophetic Perspective, I explained that the promises of God are directed toward the Church as a whole, that is, the trunk and branches—not the leaves alone, that is, individuals. Thus, souls will come and go, but the Tree itself will continue to grow until God’s promises are fulfilled.

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children. (Luke 7:35)

The plan of God, unfolding in our time, is not divided from the Body of Christ already in Heaven, nor from the part of the Body being purified in Purgatory. They are mystically united to the Tree on earth, and as such, participate in the vindication of the plans of God through their prayers and communion with us through the Holy Eucharist. 

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. (Heb 12:1) 

So when we say that Mary will triumph through the little remnant being formed today, that is her heel, it is a vindication of all those before us who have chosen the path of repentance and spiritual childhood. This is why there is a "first resurrection"—so that the Saints, in supernatural ways, can participate in the "era of vindication" (see The Coming Resurrection).  Thus, Mary’s Magnificat becomes a word that is both fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled.

His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:50-55)

Within the Blessed Mother’s prayer lies the vindication which Christ has brought, and is yet to bring: the humbling of the mighty, the fall of Babylon and worldly powers, the answer to the cry of the poor, and the fulfillment of the covenant with the descendants of Abraham as Zechariah also prophesied (see Luke 1:68-73).

VINDICATION OF CREATION 
So too, says St. Paul, does all creation groan awaiting this vindication of the children of God. And thus it says in Matthew 11:19:

Wisdom is vindicated by her works. (Matt 11:19)

Nature is tied to the fate of man in so far as man responds to nature as either its steward or its oppressor. And thus, as the Day of the Lord nears, the very foundations of the earth will shake, the winds will speak, and the creatures of the sea, air, and land will rebel against the sins of man until Christ the King liberates creation too. His plan in nature will also be vindicated until at last He ushers in a New heavens and New earth at the end of time. For as St. Thomas Aquinas said, creation is the "first gospel"; God has made his power and divinity known through creation, and will speak through it again.
Until the end, we renew our hope in a Sabbath, a rest for God’s people, a Great Jubilee when Wisdom is vindicated. 

THE GREAT JUBILEE 
There is a Jubilee to be experienced by the People of God before the Final Coming of Christ.

…that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:7)

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Wherefore he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of reward. (Luke 4:18-19)

In the Latin Vulgate, it says et diem retributionis "a day of retribution". The literal meaning of "retribution" here is "giving back", that is justice, a just recompense for the good as well as for the bad, reward as well as punishment. Thus the Day of the Lord which is dawning is both terrible and good. It is terrible for those who do not repent, but good for those who trust in the mercy and promises of Jesus. And thus, Heaven calls us again through Mary to "prepare!"
The Jubilee which is coming is the one prophesied by Pope John Paul II—a "millennium" of peace when the Prince of Peace’s law of love will be established; when the Will of God will be men’s food; when God’s designs in creation will prove to be right (revealing the wrongness of man’s pride in taking power through genetic modifications); when the glory and purpose of human sexuality will renew the face of the earth; when the Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist will shine forth before the nations; when the prayer for unity Jesus offered comes into fruition, when Jews and Gentiles worship together the same Messiah… when the bride of Christ will be made beautiful and spotless, ready to be presented to Him for His final return in glory. 

THE FATHER’S PLAN 
Is not the Heavenly Father the grower of this Tree we call the Church? There is coming a day when the Father will prune the dead branches, and from the remnant, a purified trunk, will rise a humble people who will reign with His Eucharistic Son—a beautiful, productive vine, bearing fruit through the Holy Spirit. Jesus has already fulfilled this promise in His first coming, and will fulfill it again in history through the vindication of His Word—the Sword coming from the mouth of the Rider upon the white Horse—and then will fulfill it finally and for all eternity at the end of time, when He returns in glory.
COME LORD JESUS!

Through the tender mercy of our God… the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:78-79)

Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1040

First published December 18th, 2007.

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FURTHER READING:

• The Day of the Lord — Part I

• The Day of the Lord — Part II: "Two More Days"
  

• A concise summary of the latter days: The Return of Jesus in Glory

Published in: DAILY JOURNAL, THE ERA OF PEACE | on August 19th, 2009 |