Anne spoke to us this May about Mercy and Kindness… Listen to her First Thursday talk here…

In this month’s message, the Lord states, “If you are not merciful and kind, it will not matter what you say, souls will be repelled.”

What is this lay apostolate? Why have we been assembled by God as a movement to greater holiness? Well, the truth is that as human beings, we crave love from one another. We crave connection. We crave emotional safety. And we are involved in connection all day through even the smallest interactions with others. We may not think that we leave an impression on the cashier we encounter at the supermarket, but we do.

We need to be oh so careful about what we say to ourselves and others. We need to do the hard work in our heads to remain positive about ourselves and others and about God’s plan for humanity. We are preaching a gospel of good news in this year 2013. And just as we are born into time, we will depart from time and enter timeliness. We are only here a short time. Death is a happy reality that should be viewed as naturally as birth. Indeed, we should view our whole lives as preparation for eternity.

About that, how does a Christian show others how to love as we will love in heaven? How does it look to be a Christian in the world, serving alongside people of all faiths and none? I’ll tell you a story.

There is a hospital. They were experiencing great changes and moving whole departments into other buildings. Now for some of us, change is taken in stride. For others, change is terrifying. In one department, let’s call it ultra sound, there was a man who had been there for years. He moved slowly and steadily and did not hurry about his work. He was dependable in the extreme and had a soothing and reassuring impact on suffering patients. This man had a lot of gifts, but he wasn’t a man who could change easily and when the move came, he struggled. Others adapted readily, within a couple weeks, but he just couldn’t find his rhythm. There was a newish person on the team. And she was frustrated with him. He was slowing her down, she said. This staff person verbalised her frustration to others, gradually making a case against the older man. She did this subtly at first, through a lot of eye rolling and innuendo. Then she began to make sarcastic comments, leaving sly, negative, impressions. She began to pounce on his mistakes, talking about them to everyone. Indeed, a case was being made.

Now there was a lay apostle on the staff as well. And initially, she said she accepted the criticisms about the man. He WAS slower in the new place. He WAS making the odd mistake. But in prayer she contemplated him, as well as the new staff person. And she thought, this is what they did to Christ. They ganged up on him. She realised that the younger staff person, by inflating his every mistake, was trying to get him fired.

Now to be clear, there are troublesome staff people who have to go but this man was not one of them. The lay apostle considered her day one morning in prayer. And she began to pray about work and as she contemplated the man, she realised that he was probably the kindest one on the team, the most gentle with everyone else and as stated, the most soothing when a patient was in distress. And the staff person, being very honest with herself, considered that she often made the same mistakes that the man was being accused of making. She realised something very simple. They were all imperfect.

She made a decision with Christ and went into work on a mission. She honestly praised the man to the heavens. Just as the new staff person had dismantled his reputation, she reconstructed it. She pointed out his every triumph and wondered aloud at the lunch table if he could teach the rest of them the skills he used to secure x-rays when a patient was uncooperative. She pushed back, my friends. She took a stand, she fought injustice, she protected a man who had no idea what was brewing against him. And he was safe. And with the support and praise, he not only adapted, he flourished. And his persecutor learned a lesson that Christ would like us to learn. People should not be viewed as disposable.

To zoom in, let’s look at what helped the apostle to do the right thing. Well, she, through prayer, was willing to admit that she was as imperfect as the one being targeted. Her honesty forced her to be humble about the situation. I often think that we should all be carrying signs around which say, I AM IMPERFECT. Think about it. It’s true. None of us is perfect. God is perfect but He created us to struggle with imperfection and to serve each other even in that imperfection or let’s say FROM that imperfection. If we remained aware, all day, that we were imperfect, we would treat people differently. We could love more freely, more humbly. And this is God’s dream for us, that we relax into our imperfection enough to love freely. Jesus Christ, our Returning King, got his way, not because the lay apostle was the perfect apostle. Quite the opposite. Jesus got his way because the lay apostle was willing to admit that she was as imperfect as the one they were ganging up on.

My friends, I’ve heard stories like this again and again from lay apostles. And while there is a lot of negative thinking in the world, I am telling you that God’s kingdom came in the x-ray department of that hospital because one person kept to her prayer commitment. Because it was only in prayer that she contemplated her day with Jesus Christ and saw the situation as Christ did. Christ wanted safety for this man and He, Jesus, directed the apostle to HIS path and thus, a good man kept his job. And do not let anyone tell you that the one whispering against him was acting righteously. And do not let anyone tell you that any one of us hasn’t made the mistake of talking about someone negatively behind their back. We are all prone to making that mistake. Why do we do that?

Well…let’s consider that the new staff person’s negative thinking was the result of a wound, maybe her own terrible insecurity. And if she was insecure, maybe she coped by looking for flaws in others. As the Catechism tells us, we cannot judge her. We do not know her or her full story. But we can judge that the actions she took against this man were wrong. And we can say with certainty that the lay apostle in this story lived her Christianity with courage.

Yes, lay apostles, we are called to be different. And we are called to live our Catholic faith with as much fidelity to detail as we can muster on each day. And while we may not always get the details exactly right, it’s good if we can grab on to the spirit of Christ and His truth.

I want to point something out that I’m afraid can be distracting for some of us. Not everyone agrees with us about the details of our teaching, our Way.

Do we expect everyone to agree with us? Is that realistic? Or would that be something that we can look forward to only in the next life, unity with all of mankind? I worry that we develop a type of dualistic thinking which limits Christ. We can be tempted to think people are either all good or all bad, depending on whether or not they agree with us. That doesn’t sound very Christian…because it’s not.

My friends, people are on different places and on different journeys. They may see certain actions as permissible or natural that we reject. We, given our commitment to the truth, believe some actions to be wrong. Our fidelity to the magisterium and her teaching directs us to a standard which we believe leads to the highest expression of dignity for God’s children on earth. But…not everyone agrees with us.

Can we live with that? Well, I think we are going to have to and I think having an expectation that everyone should think like we think is not only unrealistic but immature and dangerous. It leads to superiority which is ugly and repellent. And that can lead to us looking like Pharisees.

For perspective, did the early apostles live in a time where the laws represented their Christian faith perfectly? Clearly, not. Christ came to be a contrast, a model. He offered a different way. Clearly there was a need for His example and when he instructed them to give to Ceasar what was Ceasar’s, he acknowledged that Christianity could and did live alongside something different. We, too, must be prepared to live in peace with people of different beliefs and thinking.

That stated, there are times when some beliefs must be objected to as inconsistent, not only with our Way, but with any civilised way. I’m thinking of the right to be born, of course, and we must join with all members of society to protect mothers, fathers and their babies from abortion.

As apostles, let’s try to be sure our thinking reflects Christ and let’s be sure that our words leave marks of love on others rather than marks of hurt and cruelty. Speaking for myself, I believe fully in our Catechism. I’m passionate about the beauty I see reflected in our teachings. But I do not expect everyone to think like me. And I pray that I can love everyone around me, regardless of what they believe and how they choose to live their lives. I think this is what God is calling me to do, as a lay apostle, as a Christian and as a Catholic woman in 2013.

More information about the woman who styles herself as "Anne the Apostle" - readers can make their own decision about her as a Catholic. My only point in posting is that she claims an office never given to anyone who was not personally with Christ and never given to a woman in the Church.

"For those who are not aware of this alleged prophet, “Anne” is actually Kathryn Ann Clarke, a secular Franciscan and mother of six from Illinois who is currently residing in Ireland. She claims to be receiving messages from Our Lord and Our Lady in prayer. Kathryn, who was married, had a child and was divorced by the age of 20, remarried eleven years later and had three more children before moving to Ireland with her husband who owned two cattle farms. They had two more children in Ireland."
"The Filipino edition of her works has an imprimatur from Bishop Emeritus Federico Escaler, S.J., although he was retired at the time he gave it which calls it into question under Canon Law.
"In 2004, retired Archbishop Philip Hannan of New Orleans wrote a letter of endorsement of the messages, which is included in each volume, and decided to involve his FOCUS Worldwide Television Network in spreading them. However, when he died earlier this year, the letter was revoked.
"The controversy surrounding Anne seems to have started with a posting on an internet forum by someone who had an e-mail exchange with a representative of DFOT who refused to give out the name of Anne’s bishop in Ireland. Although the matter was later cleared up, the exchange caught the attention of Richard Salbato of Unity Publishing who posted the text of the E-mail conversation on his site. It was Salbato who revealed Anne’s real identity as Kathryn Ann Clarke, a woman who once served as a counselor for abused women. Salbato later posted another e-mail exchange, this one between Kathryn and the woman who would later become the CEO of DFOT, which was laced with vulgarities. Because Kathryn began writing the volumes of her messages shortly after this e-mail exchange took place, it raised quite a few eyebrows in Catholic circles.
"The deeper I delved, the more apparent it became that something is definitely amiss with this organization. For instance, in August of this year, Sr. Briege McKenna and Fr. Kevin Scallon publicly withdrew their support for DFOT. Fr. Scallon claims he did so because “recent information has caused me to question the authenticity of Direction for Our Times” and he can “no longer support or encourage involvement with this organization.” Unfortunately, neither Fr. Scallon or Sr. Briege disclosed any more details.

The following information about Kathryn Ann Clarke should tell any observer that they should question her as a Catholic, as a source of truth and certainly as an Apostle.

This information comes from http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/anna%27name.htm - and contains much more than I’ve posted here. It also contains other links about this woman.

........................................................

“Anne, the Lay Apostle” Is “Kathryn Ann Clarke”

Richard Salbato – March 05, 2007

Kathy Jennings attended Mother McAuley high school (Evergreen Park, Chicago area) and married shortly after. By the time she was 20 years of age she was already divorced with a daughter. We do not know the name of her first husband. She then went to St. Xavier University in Evergreen Park, Chicago and received a BA in Criminal Justice and Counseling. For the next 20 years she worked in the domestic violence field and at South Suburban Family Shelter, Illinois.

During this time she married again and became Kathryn Ann Clarke. She had five more children. She became a Certified Law Enforcement Instructor, specializing in law enforcement liability issues, and then started writing a book on the subject because, as she claims, she was an abused wife in her first marriage. During the writing of this book she continued to do counseling in person, by phone and by email with anyone who felt they had marriage problems.

One of the people she gave marital advice to was a practicing Catholic woman, married to a practicing Catholic man and with five children. She was suffering from depression but there was no existence of domestic violence - no physical abuse, no threats of physical abuse, no adultery and no substance abuse. Their marital issues were minor compared to what most marriages suffer through and yet survive and thrive. She made questionable claims of verbal abuse against her husband as the reason for separation and ultimately divorce. Any expression of anger or frustration by her husband was summarily characterized as “controlling and abusive”.

Throughout the entire time of separation Kathy Clarke’s confidant/friend/business partner was suffering depression and was taking Paxil as an anti-depressant. Because of “Catholic” Kathryn Ann Clarke’s advice, this woman had her tubes tied immediately after her fifth child, (which is against Catholic law - surgical sterilization) so that she would have no more children. Within 8 months of the operation, Clarke’s advise led to filing divorce and later moving 4 of the 5 children over 100 miles away from their home town, father and brother. She is now seeking an annulment again at the advice of Kathryn Clark leading on to suggest that she plans to re-marry. I wonder of Clark told her that even if she was able (after 5 children) to get an annulment, she would have to have another surgery to reverse her sterilization in order to get married in the Catholic Church.

This woman now works with Kathryn Ann Clarke marketing and selling books and helping create and run her (now) two organizations. She is listed on the website’s “About Us” as Chief Executive Officer She is paid a salary of $50,000 plus insurance and expenses. Kathy and this CEO travel extensively throughout the United States and overseas. Over the past 5 years each of them has chosen to leave their children repeatedly for extended periods of time away from home, usually hiring nannies to watch the children and most of the time without even calling during these extended trips. The children say that they will not hear from them sometimes for up to seven days. As an outward sign that things are not quite right with this CEO, her language has become more like a truck driver than a humble Catholic.

As to Kathy Clarke’s advise to married women, her main message is that:

If the man has been verbally abusive [defined as the so-called victim sees fit], it is only so long before he becomes physically violent. So, you must leave him. This is the main message and teaching of Kathryn Ann Clarke.

THE BREAKABLE VOW

With the help of this sterilized and divorced Chief Executive Officer, Clarke published the book “THE BREAKABLE VOW” and started up an organization called, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION, INC. (DVP). The fictional character “Annie” in this book is the life story of Kathy Clarke’s first marriage but probably exaggerated to make the point of violence.

She then moved to County Cavan, Ireland, her second husband’s homeland, but kept DVP operating in the States. Mrs. Clarke currently resides in Ireland, with her husband and six children. The reason she and her family moved to another country and away from her DVP, Inc. company is not fully known. She continues to work with DVP in the United States, providing counseling, granting interviews and speaking at formal engagements. The main audience for DVP, Inc. is the public school systems of Chicago, Ohio and others. She started doing the same in Ireland.

Enter “Anne, the Lay Apostle”

However, on her 40th birthday something new happened that added a new dimension to her work. She went to Medjugorje with her oldest daughter for 5 days. In Medjugorje she got the idea or the spirit or whatever to expand her “counseling” with a much stronger tool, “God Said”. Using a secret name, “Anne”, she now claims to be having “messages from Heaven”.

Her new books are the same as DVP, Inc., giving advice on living the single or married life but now under a fictitious name, “Anne, the Lay Apostle” and with a more powerful selling tool, “words from Heaven”. She formed a new organization called “Direction For Our Times” and that is all that it is, an emotionally tainted woman’s views on living in our time, telling us how to live our lives in a modern society but pretending it comes directly from God. The office of “DIRECTION OF OUR TIMES? is not in Ireland but in the former home town of Kathy Clarke in Illinois and with the same staff of DVP Inc.

Both Kathy Clarke and her CEO are Medjugorje believers and devotees having gone there at least five times. Did they receive “the spirit” while on pilgrimages there? If so, it is the spirit of division, divorce, deception, disobedience and pride. This is not a Holy Spirit from God, His Son, the Blessed Virgin or Angels. If this is not fraud, as I believe, then it is a demonic spirit disguised as an angel of light to destroy families and cause division.

The picture above is Kathy Clarke on tour but when she goes out as the seer, Anne, the Lay Apostle, she pulls her hair back, takes off her makeup and dresses in conservative clothes. Study both as I have and you will see that it is one and the same person. I have also had other people who went to Anne talks and they say that it is Kathy Clarke. Strange that Clarke goes around publicly as herself and also goes around publicly as Anne, and until now no one noticed that she is one and the same person.

Since Kathy Clarke’s new bishop has always known who “Anne” is, we have to assume that he knows she wrote the book, THE BREAKABLE VOW, but he may not know that she advocates surgical birth control (sterilization) and divorce. If he does not know she is the author of a divorce book, then his investigation into her claims was deficient because he is required by Canon Law to look into the background of the claimant. The reason the bishop gives for keeping her name secret is to protect the family but she promotes openly breaking Sacraments and Church law. All he is doing is keeping the two names separate and not protecting her family at all. We must assume ignorance of her past but this is not an excuse for his approval of books claiming to be from God? I would like to know why he approved this and if he knows her background or even interviewed her ex-husband which I would like to do. If someone would like to ask the bishop these questions, write to him at bishop@kilmorediocese.ie and let me know what he says.

Study all her writings, both under Kathy Clarke and under Anne, and you will see that there is no real Catholic virtues like forgiveness, love, kindness, sacrifice, patience or any kind of love of the sinner. There is certainly no love of the Sacrament of Marriage or care and love of children, viewed as a burden rather than precious gifts from God. Don’t take my word for it, read her and her books. You will also see that it is the same writing style and writing personality but if it was “words from Heaven” the writing styles would be different. I have studied the style and personality of the True Virgin Mary and they are always simple, to the point and never cajoling.

When Pope Benedict XVI spoke of cleaning the filth from the Catholic Church, he was not only speaking of Clergy abuse but of laity abuse. This is psychological abuse in the name of God. Lord, clean our Church of these people.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20	teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."