I'm still here.

"To this day God's smile will appear on my face. I have this very real sense that we share my body. After all of these years, I still occasionally think that maybe I really have imagined it all and my right eyebrow cocks! He is there every second. He is never distracted from me. I turn my mind to Him to check if He is paying attention and, without fail, I feel the familiar pressure at the back of my head, as if to say, "I'm here. I haven't gone anywhere." Each one of us shares our body with God. Every one of us is a dual personality. God's mission that He set for Himself was to have each one of us fit Him like a glove; so much like Him did He want us to be. God desired to feel at home with every one of us."

Let Us Build a City of God...

And in one awful moment Katrina crashed onto our shore,
amidst so many moments of madness and metaphor.
Revealing exploitation, corruption, and neglect,
illuminating, for all to see, the depth of disrespect.

Our abandonment of children with seeming disregard,
our brothers and our sisters, completely caught off guard.
Inconsolable with grief, they cling to shattered lives,
to children, friends, and strangers, to husbands and to wives.

To memories of their city, destroyed and so it seems,
one built upon false promises, neglected hopes and dreams.
Upon the backs, blood, sweat, and tears of those we left behind,
upon those missing from our midst, who we have yet to find.

And long before the storm did surge, heartbreak beyond compare,
a flood of devastation, of poverty...despair...
Reflecting our true nature, one nation under God,
illuminating, for all to see, an insincere façade.

And with the levee finally broken
God help us say what must be spoken.
We were neglectful and indifferent, distracted by our greed.
We should have been attentive and not blind to those in need.

From this time forth no more excuses
for our neglect and gross abuses.
This tragedy, our legacy, is our collective shame.
We are forever, utterly, inexcusably to blame.

So to the victims of our ignorance,
of our apathy and indifference,
to whom we gave no bright tomorrow,
mere words cannot express our sorrow.

Yet unforgiven we remain and will forever be,
without amends and heartfelt, sincere apology
of words and deeds that, as a nation, we must now relay.
For only through forgiveness, can we together say…

"Let us build the city of God.
May our tears be turned in to dancing!
For the Lord, our Light and our Love,
has turned the night in to day!"

Magen David Adom Palestine Red Crescent Society American Red Cross

Peace and Unity

My grandfather, Antonino Castiglione, was a member of the Franciscan Order in the town of Bronte, Sicily.  He died in 1966 when I was four years old and is buried there in the tomb of the Order.  In the name of his patron Saint, Anthony, to whom my grandmother, Fortunata Castiglione, prayed every day of her life, I pray that people of faith will respond to my questions with sensitivity, care, and thought.

His Holiness John Paul II, His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan of the New York Archdiocese, and high-ranking Catholic Church leaders (356 in all) were informed in October of 2002 that God had been communicating with one of their own since December 1996. The entire contents of this communication can be viewed at:

    www.MomentsofMadnessandMetaphor.com

For those who choose to navigate to the manuscript site, I hope that you will read the beginning of the manuscript through the “Prologue.”  If, through God’s grace, you are moved to read the remainder of the manuscript, it should be read as it was meant to be, in its entirety from beginning to end.  Only in this way can its contents and purpose be completely and accurately assessed.

The link located at the top right corner of the manuscript site will allow viewers to read letters that the Catholic leadership has received as well as replies sent by various Bishops and Church leaders from across the country.  They have steadfastedly pointed back to Cardinal Egan, who has, I believe with absolute faith, remained silent in accordance with God's will.

People of faith believe that God will return uniting all of his children in peace and brotherhood.  How will He achieve this?
What will be the first sign of our Lord's impending return?  Will it be as Father John Echert of EWTN wrote:

"...based upon a text of Saint Paul, that prior to the coming of Christ, there will be significant conversions from among the Jews.  I believe that this will be occasioned by an outpouring of grace..."

Father Echert further proposed that:

"We must pray for the conversion of the entire world to Christ, to include the Jews.  Saint Paul himself teaches us that prior to the return of Christ, many Jews will be brought to the Faith.  If the Catholic Church were to abandon evangelization to this particular group, it would be counter to the apostolic practice of the early Church and their hope for the future."

While we loudly debate God's thoughts and intentions in this tumultuous time, are we missing His persistent knocking on our door?

I pray for a world united in peace and brotherhood and in adoring devotion to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Carmela Castiglione

To my community and friends

First, remember always that I am exactly the same person that you have known. Those who have known me my entire life must recognize that I remain absolutely unchanged.

I did not seek God . . . He placed His hand on my shoulder and my life became His.

I have absolute faith that God is at the helm of this ship and that His-story will unfold exactly as He has planned. As regards the manuscript I have written, it may come to be that people within the community who know me are moved, by God’s grace, to begin a grassroots effort to have my claims investigated. The idea that my children and I will be thrown into the public view scares me to death, but God is adamant that I must bring myself to the attention of His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan and His Holiness Benedict XVI, and I must do all that I can to carry out His request--even at the risk of public humiliation, ridicule, and failure.

Father Peter Kihm of Mount Carmel Church in Poughkeepsie, New York, had no idea who I was and ignored my request in September of 2002 to inform the Catholic leadership in New York State of my claims in order that Cardinal Egan might initiate an investigation. The many people who know me in the Hudson Valley community might appeal to Father Kihm and attest to my sincerity, my character, and my integrity. This is not something that either my family or I can initiate—I cannot “blow my own horn.”

It is my hope and prayer that we, as a global community, have neared the end of this long and difficult road to peace and unity at last—a journey that has become my life and mission. The years since December 1996 have weighed heavily on me, and I am indescribably saddened when I imagine that I will continue, for many more years, trying to bring myself to the attention of the New York Archdiocese and the Vatican in order that they might launch an investigation into my claims and the contents of the compiled writings of Moment’s of Madness and Metaphor — God’s Plan Revealed.

I pray that those who know me, regardless of whether or not they believe my claims and the contents of my writings, will attest to the person that they have always known me to be—hardworking, honest, and forthright.

With love to my friends and community,

Carmela