The Future of the United States of America.

Egon von Greyerz runs Gold Switzerland (whose clientèle is large investors), so obviously he is advocating precious metals as a safe haven, at least as part of a strategy of portfolio diversification. The essence of what he is saying is that we are on the threshold of a systemic change, not merely a recession followed by a reversion to business as usual. Naturally he has a business interest in this, but that doesn't mean that his advice is worthless as a result. If you are looking to safeguard savings, inasmuch as this is possible at all, the essential point is to get out of paper money (and debt) as far as is feasible, only maintaining as much as is necessary in order to pay bills and ongoing basic expenses.

 

I feel one must prepare with prayer through our Blessed Mother first. She will do all she can to keep us in the Divine Will. Aside from this, I think it is prudent to have minimum 6 months supply of household essentials: food, cleaning supplies, laundry soaps, etc.., because the initial shock on 'day 1' will bring chaos that you will not want to leave your home. If you are fortunate to live by others living in the Divine Will then you will have comfort knowing that they may be able to provide what you cannot and share in ones goods. At some point those who are living in the Divine Will will be shown refuge. God will not leave us orphaned. Yes, we will be emptied of all that we cling to of this world, but if we stay in his grace we will be protected (see my last post on God Speaks). I have been told to prepare my place for Refuge for those that are sent, if man does not repent.

 

When I think of mammon, I think of the solid, worldly mammon leaders, and try to avoid anyone on the fringe, because it's too easy for me to hear the fringe.

I am influenced by the ex-head of PIMCO when he said he has moved largely to cash in his own portfolio:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pimco-656718-erian-people.html

Q. Where is your money? Stocks? Treasuries? Bonds?

A. It is mostly concentrated in cash. That’s not great, given that it gets eaten up by inflation. But I think most asset prices have been pushed by central banks to very elevated levels.

Whether by Providence or not, I'm at a place in my life where I'm able to move into cash, in large part, in my portfolio. But that is also, for me, the economics of my personal situation. I was an investor through the 2000 and 2007/8 corrections. Again, by luck or by providence, I moved out of the market in early 2000 right before the dot-com bust and purchased a house. It was incredibly fortuitous, as the technology mutual funds I used to purchase it collapsed shortly after I sold them. But I have a career in software technology so I was aware of the insane P/E's back then. I felt no urgent need to get out in '07, and remained fully invested, and made many stock purchases at the massive correction. Since then, those purchases have fueled massive gains for me. My diocese has benefited mightily by those investment gains. So I believe it was Providence.

I have friends who have embraced every conceivable central bank conspiracy theory out there for 20 years. I have watched in sadness as their predictions of catastrophe have not materialized, and their life savings eroded away because disaster was always right around the corner. The decline in their portfolio was matched by a decline in their financial morale. There was an inverse reaction with their foreboding. As they lost more they become ever more convinced that *this* year was the year they would be right, and their fear would finally be justified.

I think there's a difference between sound prudence and - whatever you want to call whatever goes far beyond prudence.

* * *

John Bogle has said that, after inflation, at best we're looking at 2% future returns for a long time. Valuations have cemented future growth into them to that degree.

I have been moving into online savings accounts, spreading across banks, keeping below the FDIC insurance limit. I'm not at the point where I'm stuffing gold coins into my mattress. I just can't get myself to that.

A correction, perhaps a severe one, is most certainly in the works. But that's just economics 101. When it comes, I'll be watching closely and listening to my heart. I may very well open up new investment positions if valuations again become attractive. I see it as a responsibility to God, and part of the talent for which I must answer.

Moderation has been the council for 2,000 years. I don't think now is any different. Only prayer can guide each person into the direction they must take. In writing this I have to say that the friends I mentioned earlier may also have been guided by prayer. Maybe if they invested against what their conscience was telling them it would have turned out much worse for them than it did me. So maybe it was the right course for them, even if they didn't gain financially.

Many of my investments were becoming a distraction. Not because of Cahn's prophecies or anything else, but simply because it seems to me that a top is in place and asset bubbles are too, and despite the serious tax hit I will be taking, it's time to lock in the remarkable profits since 2008. Moving into cash has taken them off my mind, and having them off my mind has helped my prayer life. I still own many stocks, and hope to leave them to charity when I die. I have plenty of cash to live off of for many years, but I live alone and live light. My expenses are extremely low, and I am very happy and grateful to have a diet of rice and beans, quinoa and sardines, nuts and carrots. My grocery bill is very low, and with my savings I can purchase more Bible translations and patristics works. For me, *that* is living!

I tend to be a contrarian. I will never be at the forefront of the group at the bleeding edge, with the signs saying "the end is nigh!" Nor will I be in the heart of the group back in the castle, burying themselves in dissipation and entertainment, gluttony and slumber. I am simply walking along the road out to meet the bride, daypack slung over my shoulder, prepared for the long haul, supply of oil in my pack. I try to avoid the clamor at both extremes. When I am in the midst of the worldly I become fidgety, and want to try to tell them to prepare their hearts. When I am in the midst of those who believe the end is nigh I want to talk about orthodox Catholic eschatology, which suggests things may have quite a time yet to unwind.

Don't get me wrong. I long for his coming. I "rise at midnight" to look for him (often literally). I look up at the sky during our recent weather and watch the clouds roll by, and dream that I will see him riding on those clouds, coming in triumph. I dream of running out into my yard to meet him, yelling to my neighbors "the Messiah is here!" I pray to Mary on this Solemnity of the Assumption for the grace to persevere in such an attitude every day for the rest of my life.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Amen! Alleluia!

Isn't that what Jesus wants? Isn't that the joy of His own Sacred Heart, that we burn with longing for His coming, in all its many ways each day, that we become profoundly detached from all that is not Him?

May the Holy Spirit prepare our hearts ever more; pure, empty vessels waiting to be occupied only by Him.

In Christ's peace,
Mark

 

Miker, we

We were led last year to divest from all market positions and this year we were led to an established mountain property rich in resources. We had it consecrated and are now preparing it with other families. We have a good 6 months of supplies and are prepared to grow on the land, fish, and hunt.

The more we pray, the more rosaries, renewed our consecration again, and each of these solidifies in us the knowledge we are following God's will and the doors keep opening up including a new parish priest who just came and wants to be a part of our community and he also thinks time is short. Many more priests are speaking out. Mostly young ones who are on fire. We are very blessed with the current crop of priests.

 

Point taken about conspiracy theories, but all the technical data seems to indicate that there really is a difference between the situation in 2008 and what we are currently facing, because of the sheer amount of quantitative easing (read: money printing) that has gone on internationally over the last seven years in order to keep the international monetary system afloat. The increase in the money supply, and therefore global indebtedness, has been just phenomenal, and it is now fairly clear to a whole host of economists that the structural problems are intractable. In addition, that the banks have been involved in serious manipulations of the markets on a massive scale (not least by the sophisticated technological instruments of high-frequency algorithmic trading, as is obvious to those who follow the commodities graphs on an intraday basis) is no secret to anyone. As any number of court cases involving the 'too big to fail' financial institutions have shown, we are now not talking about conspiracy theory but long-overdue conspiracy investigation on the part of the authorities.

This having been said, the demise of an international financial system need not in itself have any eschatological dimension to it. Financial systems come and go, after all. The specificity of the present situation lies (as folks such as John Paul Jackson and Mark Mallett saw some years ago) in the conjunction of global economic crisis with simultaneous crises in the political, military, geo-physical and religious arenas. This is what makes things qualitatively different this time around.

 

I completely agree, Peter. The signs of course are clearly there in the Spirit but also secular people see the economics here. The entire world is so over leveraged and will unravel.

 

Thank you for posting the prayer to Our Ladyof America - I pray a prayer of Sister 's every day. If all Catholics would pray to Her along with Rosaries, fasting, make their First Saturdays and First Fridays and consecrate themselves and their families to Her immaculate Heart, (also the prayers of the Hours of the Passion) I am sure that Our Blessed Mother would intervene for our country. But......are we doing what She has asked?

 

If/when current prophecy bears out, it is providential that we will loose everything we depend on. All structures will collapse. Yes all our money will serve no purpose in the world for the faithful (Ralph Martin 1975 Prophecy at Rome and Verne Dagenais messages posted on the recent God Speaks thread on this MOG forum are two examples). In the initial moments of the storm it may provide essential comfort, but it won't last long. It will all become as worthless as the stock market as it all collapses. Only those living in the Divine Will shall have comfort/peace. The things of the world will fade away and those attached to any of it will melt with it.

 

Only in the Divine Will is our peace - nothing else will matter! God bless you.

 

I am a little surprised that there is not a load more devotion to this

 

It's been sort of "squashed" by our Bishops and Priests (such a lack of faith) - but Our Blessed Mother has a plan and She will win in the end! I just wonder what that "end" means???

 

That's right, you are no longer the only one. I was wondering if I was the only one from Arkansas on here.

 

Excellent point Lynn! Almost like the word "soon", did it already happen? Is that what Charlie Johnston is saying?

 

I went to college right where the Basilica is. I found out about the devotion while I was a student and was emphatic about it ever since. I know for a fact that Cardinal Wuerl does not approve of it, and is a big part of the lack of traction. They have a statute of Our Lady in the John Paul II Cultural Center waiting for installment, which is literally across the street from the Basilica. All they need is a yes and things would spring into action immediately.

 

Amen, Mark! I have a similar longing, but it is necessary for me to experience a tangible touch, too, lest I allow my imagination to get carried away and form a "holy" caricature. So tomorrow I'll go to Iroquois Nursing Home and sit by Mary Felice who has so waited for Jesus to take her home. She has been dying for a long time and is now well under 100 pounds and suffering through a puree diet, no longer able to receive Holy Communion. She is a bag of bones in great pain, a crucified Jesus whom I gaze upon. Yes, may He come and gently overwhelm Mary with His Love!

Safe in the Flames of the Sacred Heart!

 

Actually it's been tied up in court by some people who claimed they wanted to help the last remaining "sister" of the cloister of the seer who was personally handed the responsibility of the devotion at the seer's death via her will and her words. They were supposed to "assist" her to spread the devotion as was their stated original intention. After she did not like their controlling tactics and refused to further cooperate they took her (and those who had originally assisted her) to a civil/secular court and thus tied up the devotion now since prior to 2008 due to the ongoing court involvement. The only one with the recognized Church authority over the devotion is the local Bishop of Toledo who is recognized by the other Bishops in this. As far as I know, due to this interference and bitter division esp. with having a civil court attempt to decide how this devotion is to go forward, the Bishop hasn't even begun an official study. His judgement would have to come first as is the protocol of the Church. I would think that he is wary of pronouncing something that would cause him to become a victim as well if it is contrary to something the court has already ruled in favor of those who brought the court case. So rather than any "assistance" to help speed things along this involving of the courts has obviously delayed things from progressing for at least 7 years. I believe that it is now in an appeals court as a challenge to a district court ruling declining to accept the Vatican’s resolution of a question of Church protocol as determinative. A civil court had been asked to rule disregarding the Vatican on a question of Church protocol???

Diabolical interference maybe???

Ironic how the seer had been warned about possible future "powers" attempting to push things before people prepared their hearts first in purity as was the intention of our Lady! The necessity and reason for the devotion must be understood first in the hearts of her children or there can be no real conversion of America.

 

We vacationed in AR once, it was kinda strange, they're all GO HOGS, and in MO, we are really like, yea mizzou, no one really cares. But in AR, hogs EVERYWHERE.

 

I forgot about the lawsuit, that definitely has caused a mess of things. While it would be nice if there was more support for the devotion to show its fruits, things aren't going to happen anytime soon. I know that they tried to get the Bishops to do the procession last November, but too many were disinterested. Unfortunately Wuerl and a lot of others are going to be sticks in the mud until there's an official announcement. The fact that Cardinal Burke is a supporter brings comfort however.

 

Cardinal Burke did a procession when he was in St. Louis and there was a procession at Mother Angelica's Monastery. We need not be concerned about the lawsuit but only pray the prayers to Our Lady of America. She will see to it that the Bishops respond - but I feel this will happen only after things get so bad that they will turn to Her - when there is no where else to turn but to Heaven!