Blog

Andrew Comiskey

May 31, 2012
2 min

Pentecost: Power to Live the Truth

Woodcut, published ca. 1880. I just read in the New York Times that Dr. Robert Spitzer, the man who documented the transformation of 200 former homosexuals like me, now claims (for no apparent reason) that we must have been lying. Who knew? Not my wife and kids… Bowing to the irrational drive of gay activists who insist that no homosexual can change (in spite of pretty good evidence to the contrary), Spitzer capitulated. Gratefully, God helps those who aspire to live the trut

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Andrew Comiskey

Apr 8, 2012
4 min

Intimate Authority: Easter’s Enlistment

This is the seventh and concluding post of my Holy Week Meditations for 2012. Please click here for the archive list of posts. Annette and I, as well as the staff here at Desert Stream Ministries, wish you a deeply blessed Easter. He is Risen! — Why was Mary Magdalene the first disciple Jesus entrusted with His resurrection? According to John’s Gospel, Peter and John raced to the empty tomb but could not comprehend Christ resurrected. Both John the Beloved and Peter the Rock

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Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 6

Andrew Comiskey

Apr 7, 2012
2 min

Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 6

— Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 6 Mary Magdalene wept and lingered at the Cross. The Man who had become her life died. His death rocked the earth, split the temple, and broke her heart. The tears of repentance and gratitude with which she had washed His feet became a flood of grief. She watered His nail-split feet. Apart from Him, she could do nothing. She had nothing; His life was hers. She filled the void with tears. He had founded a new life in her. Now grief

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Intimate Authority Holy Week Meditations, 4

Andrew Comiskey

Apr 5, 2012
3 min

Intimate Authority Holy Week Meditations, 4

Mary Magdalene anoints the feet of Jesus Christ, watched by the apostles. Original Artwork: Engraving by W Greatbach after the painting by Rubens. (Photo by Spencer Arnold/Getty Images) This is the fourth post of my Holy Week Meditations for 2012. Please click here for the archive list of posts as they become available. — Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 4 Mary Magdalene, in her recognition and reliance upon her Merciful Deliverer, became authoritative in holy love.

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Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 3

Andrew Comiskey

Apr 4, 2012
4 min

Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 3

— Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 3 Intimacy with Jesus made an ex-prostitute the bearer of the most important event in human history. God entrusted a woman, not one of the 12, with Christ’s resurrection. That’s why the Roman Catholic Church names Mary Magdalene the ‘Apostle of Apostles.’ Mary’s surrender to Christ was marked by weeping and lingering, two earmarks of loving another with all one’s heart. Such sustained intimacy gave Mary authority. Such reliance on

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Merciful Discipline 6: Humbled, We Shine

Andrew Comiskey

Apr 3, 2012
5 min

Merciful Discipline 6: Humbled, We Shine

Merciful Discipline 6: Humbled, We Shine ‘When You disciplined us, we could barely whisper a prayer.’ (IS 26:16) ‘Christ’s abiding presence in the midst of our suffering is gradually transforming our darkness into light.’ Pope Benedict The sexual abuse crisis in the Church brings us to our knees. We do not kneel politely but painfully, a sprawl rather than a pose. On behalf of those felled by the weight of a priest’s perversion, we too stumble and fall. Behold the scandal we

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Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 2

Andrew Comiskey

Apr 3, 2012
3 min

Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditations, 2

— Intimate Authority: Holy Week Meditation, 2 Luke 7: 36-50 introduces us to Mary Magdalene. Mercy drew her out of fear and shame, and compelled her to offer herself to Him. Jesus embodied that Mercy for a prostitute. Imagine that: a kind, strong, handsome man who only wanted her good, nothing from her but her dignity. And a holy man who did not fear her and the entanglement of desires she lay at His feet. She wept and lingered there. His Mercy was magnetic, a good match for

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Andrew Comiskey

Apr 1, 2012
2 min

Perseverance and Mercy

— Perseverance and Mercy 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 40 O great day, in which divine love will be confirmed in me. On that day, for the first time, I shall sing before heaven and earth the song of the Lord’s fathomless Mercy. This is my work and my mission, which the Lord has destined for me from the beginning of the world. (825) Come close to My wounds and draw from the Fountain of Life…Drink copiously from this Fountain of Life and you will not weary on y

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 29, 2012
1 min

Mercy for a Broken Church

— Mercy for the Broken Church 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 37 Observing myself and those who are close to me, I have come to understand how great an influence I have on other souls, not by heroic deeds, but by small actions like the movement of a hand, a look, and many other things too numerous to mention, which effect and reflect in the souls of others. (1475) I find pleasure, not in large buildings and magnificent structures, but in a pure and humble heart

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Merciful Discipline 5: Hopeful, We Fight for the Dignity and Integrity of Our Priests

Andrew Comiskey

Mar 28, 2012
4 min

Merciful Discipline 5: Hopeful, We Fight for the Dignity and Integrity of Our Priests

Merciful Discipline 5: Hopeful, We Fight for the Dignity and Integrity of Our Priests The fine work and selfless dedication of the great majority of priests should not be obscured by the transgressions of some. – Pope Benedict I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do what is in My heart and mind, and his house will be firmly established. (1 Samuel 2:15) As a new Catholic, I have a fresh appreciation for the honorable, difficult office of the priest. I rely upo

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 28, 2012
2 min

Mercy for the Truthful Church

— Mercy for the Truthful Church 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 36 I will allow convents and churches to be destroyed…Souls without love and devotion, souls full of egoism and self-love, souls full of pride and arrogance, souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls with just enough warmth to keep them alive. My Heart cannot bear this…I cannot stand them because they are neither good or bad…If they do not repent and become enkindled by their first love, I

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 27, 2012
2 min

Mercy for the Worldly Church

— Mercy for the Worldly Church 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 35 O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of the whole Church, give us holy priests. You Yourself, maintain them in holiness. O Divine and Great High Priest, may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares which are continually set for the souls of priests. May the power of Your Mercy, O Lord, shatter and bring to naught all that might tarnish the sa

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 26, 2012
2 min

Mercy for the Church

— Mercy for the Church 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 34 What a joy it is to be a faithful child of the Church! O how much I love Holy Church and all those who live in it! I look upon them as living members of Christ, who is their Head. I burn with love with those You love; I suffer with those who suffer. I am consumed with sorrow with those who are cold and ungrateful. (511) Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to those through whom they

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 25, 2012
1 min

Mercy for Minors

— Mercy for Minors 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 33 Truth wears a crown of thorns. (1103) Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you. (Pr. 23:10,11) We fight for the integrity of marriage in order to vie for the virtue of children. Father, we acknowledge You as the Defender of children against every kind of evil. Forgive our pursuit of false liberty;

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 24, 2012
1 min

Mercy for Marriage

— Mercy for Marriage 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 32 O Jesus, You do not give a reward for the successful performance of a work, but for the good will and the labor undertaken. Therefore, I am completely at peace, even if all my efforts and undertakings shall be thwarted or even come to naught. (952) Life is a continuous dying, and at the same time, it is the depth of inconceivable happiness and the strength of the soul; because of this, the soul is capable

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 23, 2012
2 min

Urgency and Mercy

— Urgency and Mercy 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 31 I have eternity for punishing sinners, and so I am prolonging the time of Mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them who do not recognize this time of My visitation! (1160) A strange power has been pushing me into action, not giving me a moment’s peace. A strange ardor has been lit in my heart, urging me to action and I cannot stop it. (569) What business is it of mine to judge those outside of the Chur

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 22, 2012
2 min

Boldness and Mercy

— Boldness and Mercy 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 30 If the Lord demands something of a soul, He gives it the means to carry it out; through grace, He makes it capable. At the Lord’s command, the soul can undertake things beyond its expectation if God’s power and strength, which makes the soul courageous and valiant, are manifest within it. (1090) Your assignment on earth is to beg Mercy for the whole world. (570) O Father, make Your Church glorious, rich in

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Merciful Discipline 4: Hopeful, We Rebuild Trust

Andrew Comiskey

Mar 21, 2012
4 min

Merciful Discipline 4: Hopeful, We Rebuild Trust

Merciful Discipline 4: Hopeful, We Rebuild Trust We do not want you to grieve…as those who have no hope. (1Thes. 4:13) Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. (1Cor. 4:2) Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord…He will dwell in the parched places of the earth. (Jer. 17: 5, 6) One struggles to consider a more profound violation of trust than priestly abuse of chil

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 21, 2012
1 min

Patience and Mercy

— Patience and Mercy 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 29 The greatest power is hidden in patience. I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately; but that victory will become manifest after many years. (1514) I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word, I put my hope. (Ps. 130:5) I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and take heart, and wait for t

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Andrew Comiskey

Mar 20, 2012
2 min

Mercy for Beloved Enemies

— Mercy for Beloved Enemies 40 Days of Mercy Devotional – Lent 2012 – Day 28 Be always merciful, as I am merciful. Love everyone out of love for Me, even your greatest enemies, so that My Mercy may be fully reflected in Your heart. (1695) Merciful surrender to Jesus in the face of beloved enemies accomplishes holy ends. ‘The greater the suffering, the purer the love. (57) At my first defense, no-one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them

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