In yesterday’s meditation we highlighted the obedience of St. Joseph, who promptly complied with God’s Will, as soon as he had recognised it. His attitude invites us to reflect more generally on the virtue of obedience, which is a great good when properly understood and practised.
Obedience is related to listening, paying attention, hearing, heeding…. Read More
On the occasion of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we will reflect today, in context with our Lenten journey, a little on the one whom God chose to be the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mt 1:16,18-21,24ª
Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Read More
With today’s reflection, I would like to add a sad and topical chapter of an aberration so that the faithful are not confused by official Church documents that are in stark contradiction to what the Holy Scriptures teach and what the Church has always authoritatively handed down.
This is the document “Fiducia supplicans”, which was issued by the Vatican on 18 December 2023. Read More
We have already travelled a long way on our Lenten itinerary and now we are almost at the gates of Holy Week.
During the last five days we have been dealing with the serious subject of the Antichrist, who is to come at the End of Time, but whose spirit is already manifesting itself beforehand in various guises. Here we are confronted with the abyss of iniquity, a dark personification of the alienation from the living God. But in the end, as St. John’s Revelation describes, the Beast (often interpreted as an image of the Antichrist) and the False Prophet will be cast into the lake of fire (cf. Rev 20:9-10). Read More
Spiritual resistance to the anti-Christian threat
In our journey towards the great Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, we have dealt with the grave threat of the anti-Christian powers. These have even penetrated our Church, seeking to disintegrate and weaken her from within, so that she loses her clear and unequivocal witness and is no longer able to give true guidance to men. The more the Church adopts the “smell of this world”, the less she reflects the face of her Divine Bridegroom.
The crisis in the Church
If we take a critical look at the current situation in the Church, we can quickly focus on Germany, where a “different Church” is already manifesting itself in certain aspects. Those who follow more closely what is happening on the so-called “synodal way” can see that here a process of adaptation of the Church to the world is taking place. The Catholic identity is increasingly being renounced in order to adopt the moral standards of the world. If the course taken by the majority of the Church hierarchy and lay bodies in this country is based more on the mentality of the world than on Holy Scripture and Church teaching, then the anti-Christian influence is evident.
The attack on the Church
All that we have heard in the previous meditations on the Antichrist clearly shows us the great danger that the antichristian spirit poses to humanity. It is the most tenacious and perhaps also the last attempt of the Devil to expand his dominion over the whole orb of the earth, to subjugate it and, if possible, to induce mankind to worship him.
Since Christ is present in His Church and is the true Lord, the attack of the Antichrist and his minions will be directed particularly against this Church, as it stands in the way of the realisation of their plans.
The spirit of discernment and the Antichrist.
Let us return today to the theme of the Antichrist, to whom we will dedicate several meditations. We will continue with this theme, giving also some concrete guidelines for dealing with the threat emanating from the Antichrist and his henchmen.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s meditation, there are strong passages in Scripture that speak of the Antichrist. Thus St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians:
It is also part of our Lenten itinerary to take a careful look at the difficult times in which we find ourselves, which – as I have repeatedly said – I consider to be apocalyptic in character. While we should not be intimidated by its threat, neither can we close our eyes to the events that are happening around us.
Before the Return of Christ, we have to reckon with the coming of the Antichrist, who, perverting the kingship of the Lord, will want to establish global dominion.
We return today to the theme of prayer; this time from another perspective. Undoubtedly, prayer serves first and foremost to glorify the Lord and to bring the soul into and remain in the “great dialogue” with Him.
In liturgical prayer, we take part together with all the faithful in the prayer of the Bride (the Church) to her Bridegroom. In Holy Mass, as the culmination of liturgical prayer, we unite ourselves to the sacrifice of Our Lord on the Cross. This hierarchy in prayer life should always be preserved and cultivated. Read More
