Our Contributors

Christine Watkins, MTS, LCSW, is a popular Catholic speaker and author, living in California with her husband and three sons. Formerly an anti-Christian atheist living a life of sin, she began a life of service to the Catholic Church after a miraculous healing from Jesus through Mary, which saved her from death. Before her conversion, she danced professionally with the San Francisco Ballet Company. Today, she has twenty years of experience as a Catholic speaker, retreat and parish mission leader, spiritual director, and counselor, with ten years as a hospice grief counselor and ten as a post-abortion healing director. Watkins received her Masters degree in Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley, and her Masters in Theological Studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Watkins co-hosts the show “Find Something More, Find Your Way Home,” on Radio Maria, and produced and hosted her own show on Shalom World Television. She is the CEO and founder of www.QueenofPeaceMedia.com and the author of the Amazon #1 best-seller: THE WARNING: Testimonies and Prophecies of the Illumination of Conscience (in Spanish, EL AVISO), and the best-sellers, OF MEN AND MARY; How Six Men Won the Greatest Battle of Their Lives, (in Spanish, HOMBRES JUNTO A MARÍA), TRANSFIGURED: Patricia Sandoval’s Escape from Drugs, Homelessness, and the Back Doors of Planned Parenthood (in Spanish, TRANSFIGURADA), FULL OF GRACE: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary’s Intercession, MARY’S MANTLE CONSECRATION: A Spiritual Retreat for Heaven’s Help with the accompanying MARY’S MANTLE CONSECRATION: Prayer Journal, and IN LOVE WITH TRUE LOVE: The Unforgettable Story of Sister Nicolina, SHE WHO SHOWS THE WAY: Heaven’s Messages for Our Turbulent Times, and WINNING THE BATTLE FOR YOUR SOUL: Jesus’ Teachings through Marino Restrepo. See www.ChristineWatkins.com, and for more information on Christine’s books below, click here or on the book covers below.

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Mark Mallett is a cradle-Catholic and former award winning television journalist. In 1993, he was invited to a Baptist service by their close friend, a fallen-away Catholic. When Mark and his wife Lea arrived, they were immediately struck by all the young couples and their kindness. In the service, the music was beautiful and polished; the sermon, anointed, relevant, and deeply rooted in God’s Word. After the service, they were approached again by several couples. “We want to invite you to our Bible study tomorrow night… on Tuesday, we have couples night… on Wednesday, we’re having a family basketball game in the gym… On Thursday is our praise and worship evening… On Friday is our….” As he listened, Mark realized that this truly was a Christian community, not just in name—not just for one hour on Sunday.

After returning to their car, Mark sat there in stunned silence. “We need this,” he said to his wife. "The first thing the early Church did was form community but our parish is anything but. And yes, we have the Eucharist... but we are not just spiritual but also social beings. We need the Body of Christ in community as well! After all, didn’t Jesus say, 'Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in their midst?' And 'This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another?'" Seized with deep pain and confusion, Mark added: "Maybe we should start coming here… and go to Mass on another day.”

That night as he was brushing his teeth, sifting through his mind the earlier events of the day, Mark suddenly heard a distinct voice within his heart:

Stay, and be light to your brothers…

He stopped, stared, and listened. The Voice repeated:

Stay, and be light to your brothers…

Two weeks later, Mark was sitting in a chair watching Rome Sweet Home—Dr. Scott Hahn's testimony of how he set out to destroy Catholic teaching... but ended up becoming a Catholic. By the end of the video, tears streamed down Mark's face and he knew that, he too, was home. Over the course of the next several years, Mark immersed himself in Catholic apologetics, falling in love all over again with Christ's Bride, while obeying another word that came a year later: "Music is a doorway to evangelize." With that began Mark's music ministry.

While at World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada in 2002, where Mark was singing, Pope St. John Paul II called the youth to a prophetic ministry:

Dear young people, it is up to you to be the watchmen of the morning who announce the coming of the sun who is the Risen Christ! —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Message of the Holy Father to the Youth of the World, XVII World Youth Day, n. 3; (cf. Is 21:11-12)

About four years later, Mark had a deep yearning to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. There, he had a profound experience where the Lord personally invited him to take up this call to be a "watchman" (see Called to the Wall). Under the care of a spiritual director, Mark wrote THE FINAL CONFRONTATION and launched his blog, The Now Word, which continues to this day to "be a light" to the nations in these dark times. Mark is also a songwriter with seven albums to his name, as well as the tribute to St. John Paul II, “Song for Karol.” Mark and his wife have eight children and reside in Canada. See markmallett.com.

The young have shown themselves to be for Rome and for the Church a special gift of the Spirit of God… I did not hesitate to ask them to make a radical choice of faith and life and present them with a stupendous task: to become “morning watchmen” at the dawn of the new millennium. —POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II, Novo Millennio Inuente, n.9

(with Nihil Obstat)

Daniel O’Connor is a professor of philosophy and religion for a State University of New York (SUNY) Community College. Originally an engineer, Daniel changed careers and went on to receive his Master’s degree in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT. While Daniel is first and foremost Catholic, he feels his particular mission in life is to promote certain private revelations: especially the Divine Mercy as revealed by Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska, and the Divine Will as revealed by Jesus to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta. Daniel lives in New York with his wife and four children. His personal website can be found at www.DSDOConnor.com. He is the author of THE CROWN OF SANCTITY: On the Revelations of Jesus to Luisa Piccarreta and THE CROWN OF HISTORY: The Imminent Glorious Era of Universal Peace.

Born in London but living in France since 1994, Peter Bannister is a researcher in the area of science and religion, a professional musician, which includes his position as organist for Taizé, and a husband and father. He holds masters' degrees from the University of Cambridge (musicology) and University of Wales (Systematic and Philosophical Theology) and has been the recipient of several national and international awards for musical performance and composition. For several years, he was a member of the research team of the Science & Religion Department of Lyon Catholic University and editor of the French-language educational site, www.sciencesetreligions.com, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. His scholarly work on theology, philosophy, and music has been published by Cambridge University Press, Ashgate and Routledge; he is the author of NO FALSE PROPHET: Pope Francis and His Not-So-Cultured Despisers.