A dark pall shrouds the earth these days. People can feel and hear the ice of harmony cracking beneath their feet. All are tottering precariously at the rim of raw panic. Every one of the institutions we used to rely on has turned traitor. All shiver in anticipatory fear. What rough beast has been unleashed against us? When will it strike? Who shall be able to stand?
My dear friends, bad things are happening throughout the world and worse things are coming. It is with no little bemusement that I have watched what I say characterized as fearmongering eight or nine years ago now characterized as a lack of awareness of how bad things are – and I have been consistent in what I have said all along. When I spoke of the great storm coming suddenly upon us, did some of you think I was offering a remedy to make it pass over? When I repeatedly told you to gird your loins did you think I was preparing you for a gentle rest? I was trying to prepare you for a monumentally great crisis, a crisis that is now upon us. Our global civil war fought on cultural lines is here. Will we turn to God and truth or slouch on into bloody pagan darkness?
I spoke of something far more than the storm, though. I spoke of the rescue, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. The only reason I spoke at all was to assure you that this was not the end and that God was calling you to be His hands and feet on earth in this great confrontation between good and evil. Heaven knows, I made enough errors, both of interpretation and timing. But on the greater sweep of things, I have told you true with consistent fidelity and fortitude. I erred grievously in interpreting the rescue as an event rather than a process, but can you not see that the rescue in progress right now, just waiting for you to take up your apportionment in it?
Perhaps you fear that I was right about the storm and my deadly accurate description of it but am wrong about this not being the end. What good does that do? If there is no God or if He has abandoned us, we are done whatever we do, killed or consigned to a new and dark pagan tyranny. But God IS. I believe He has been preparing me since age seven and sent me to tell you what He wants of you in this storm, which is actually His renewing of the faith and face of the earth. If you cower in fear, you will die trembling on your knees as a victim. If you make your stand, you may die, but it will be in service to the Lord of Hosts in His great renewal of the earth. Thus, you will take your place among the white-robed army of martyrs – and then intercede on behalf of those of us left behind to finish the great battle of renewal. And your children and grandchildren will live in peace and brotherhood because of your sacrifice – and call you blessed down to the last generation.
I know that, on the eve of battle, soldiers are anxious and wired up for the trial ahead. It grieves me that some people I respect, who should be fortifying you for the confrontation, have let their own fears get the best of them and, so, are inflaming yours. I was deeply disheartened that when Fr. Leon, Chaplain for English Speaking People in Medjugorje, gently reported a call for a Novena for Peace, it became a cause for panicked urgency among many who should be the sober soldiers of God. Pray for them and us all, that we find courage to take our place in God’s ranks against the powers and principalities which have infected the world’s “leaders.” I know that some are obsessively telling you ‘words of knowledge’ and speaking of ersatz apparitions to explain how God is going to exempt you from the vicissitudes of the storm. I know that every time I drive off that the fullness of the storm may break and I may not get back as I planned. But I also know that God knows where I am at all times – and wherever I am when the fullness breaks, it will be where God intends me to be. And then I will be called NOT to wring my hands and cry, “Oh woe is me,” but to ask God what He intends for me from where I am at – and then endeavor to live His charge as best I can. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I trust He is with me – and whatever befalls me is for the good of His Kingdom and His people.
I tell you there is no exemption for anyone from this great storm. We have brought it upon ourselves by our faithlessness and complacency. If it were not for God, it would be the end of all our hopes and our children’s futures. But God is merciful and loves us. He will not spare us the consequences of our actions now as He has for at least over a century. It has only caused us to become more arrogant in our certainty that we are the titans and captains of our fate. What He is doing for us is giving us the chance to work in His service in this great confrontation, both as penance for our complacency and an opportunity for renewed and joyful fidelity. We are made for eternity. Our life on this earth is a mere breath compared to our life in eternity – and yet it is this life which will determine whether we will joyfully spend eternity with Him or agonizingly spend it separated from Him. Now, a great wind is gathering force across the globe. It is the wind of the Holy Spirit, which goes where He will. He is sent to purify and renew the face of the earth.
Those who tell you how this storm will pass over or how God will exempt you are deceiving you, perhaps because they have deceived themselves. God is inviting you to participate with Him in the second greatest story ever told. Without the comfort of false illusions, take up your cross, gird up your loins, and fall into rank. His truth is marching on.
If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.
Find me on Twitter at @JohnstonPilgrim
The Corps of Renewal and Charity (CORAC)
18208 Preston Rd., Ste. D9-552
Dallas, Texas 75252
0 Comments