In a recent ruling, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said,
“It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.”
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 to bar New York Governor Mario Cuomo from enforcing his Oct. 6 “Cluster Initiative” against houses of worship that sued to challenge the restrictions. In 2018, Cuomo said, pro-life people were not welcome in New York. The ruling addresses two applicants, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish synagogues; both complained Cuomo’s restrictions violated constitutional protections of the free exercise of religion.
The order was also the first in which Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role. Barrett, who was President Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, joined the court on Oct. 27, after winning Senate confirmation following the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Gorsuch pointed out Cuomo’s brazen anti-religious restrictions. “So, at least according to the Governor, it may be unsafe to go to church, but it is always fine to pick up another bottle of wine, shop for a new bike… “Who knew public health would so perfectly align with secular convenience?”
A nine-year-old Christian Mississippi girl who wore a “Jesus Loves Me” mask to school was forced to remove it and replace it with one the school approved. Students, however, within the same school district have freely worn masks with the logos of local sports teams or even the words ‘Black Lives Matter.’ The girl’s parents have filed a federal lawsuit you can read more here
Today, children are increasingly being taught sex education in a graphic manner, and they are taught about the LGBTQ lifestyle under the umbrella of inclusion, all the while excluding Jesus. It appears you can proclaim your allegiance to just about anything except Jesus
As devout Christians and faithful citizens of the United States of America, you have intense and heartfelt concern for the fate of your beloved country while the final results of the Presidential election are still uncertain.
News of electoral fraud is multiplying, despite the shameful attempts of the mainstream media to censor the truth of the facts in order to give their candidate the advantage. There are states in which the number of votes is greater than the number of voters; others in which the mail-in vote seems to be exclusively in favor of Joe Biden; others in which the counting of ballots has been suspended for no reason or where sensational tampering has been discovered: always and only against President Donald J. Trump, always and only in favor of Biden.
In truth, for months now we have been witnessing a continuous trickle of staggered news, of manipulated or censored information, of crimes that have been silenced or covered up in the face of striking evidence and irrefutable testimony. We have seen the deep state organize itself, well in advance, to carry out the most colossal electoral fraud in history, in order to ensure the defeat of the man who has strenuously opposed the establishment of the New World Order that is wanted by the children of darkness. In this battle, you have not failed, as is your sacred duty, to make your own contribution by taking the side of the Good. Others, enslaved by vices or blinded by infernal hatred against Our Lord, have taken the side of Evil.
Do not think that the children of darkness act with honesty, and do not be scandalized if they operate with deception. Do you perhaps believe that Satan’s followers are honest, sincere, and loyal? The Lord has warned us against the Devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character because he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).
In these hours, while the gates of Hell seem to prevail, allow me to address myself to you with an appeal, which I trust that you will respond to promptly and with generosity. I ask you to make an act of trust in God, an act of humility and filial devotion to The Lord of Armies. I ask that all of you pray the Holy Rosary, if possible in your families or with your dear ones, your friends, your brothers and sisters, your colleagues, your fellow soldiers. Pray with the abandonment of children who know how to have recourse to their Most Holy Mother to ask her to intercede before the throne of the Divine Majesty. Pray with a sincere soul, with a pure heart, in the certainty of being heard and answered. Ask her – she who is the Help of Christians, Auxilium Christianorum – to defeat the forces of the Enemy; ask her – she who is terrible as an army set in battle array (Song 6:10) – to grant the victory to the forces of Good and to inflict a humiliating defeat on the forces of Evil.
Have your children pray, using the holy words that you have taught them: those confident prayers will rise to God and will not remain unheard. Have the elderly and sick pray, so that they may offer their sufferings in union with the sufferings that Our Lord suffered on the Cross when he shed His Precious Blood for Our Redemption. Have young ladies and women pray, so that they turn to her who is the model of purity and motherhood. And you, men, must also pray: your courage, your honor, and your boldness will be refreshed and strengthened. All of you, take up this spiritual weapon before which Satan and his minions retreat furiously because they fear the Most Holy Virgin, she who is Almighty by Grace, even more than Almighty God.
Do not allow yourselves to be discouraged by the deceptions of the Enemy, even more so in this terrible hour in which the impudence of lying and fraud dares to challenge Heaven. Our adversaries’ hours are numbered if you will pray, if we will all pray with Faith and with the true ardor of Charity. May the Lord grant that one single devout and faithful voice rise from your homes, your churches, and your streets! This voice will not remain unheard, because it will be the voice of a people that cries out, in the moment when the storm rages most fiercely, “Save us, Lord, we are perishing!” (Mt 8:25).
The days that await us are a precious occasion for all of you, and for those who unite themselves spiritually to you from every part of the world. You have the honor and privilege of being able to participate in the victory of this spiritual battle, to wield the powerful weapon of the Holy Rosary as our fathers did at Lepanto to repel the enemy armies.
Pray with the certainty of Our Lord’s promise: “Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you” (Lk 11:9). The King of Kings, from whom you ask the salvation of your Nation, will reward your Faith. Your testimony, remember this, will touch the heart of Our Lord, multiplying the heavenly Graces which are, more than ever, indispensable in order to achieve victory.
May my appeal, which I address to you and to all people who recognize the Lordship of God, find you to be generous apostles and courageous witnesses of the spiritual rebirth of your beloved country, and with it the entire world. Non praevalebunt.
God bless and protect the United States of America!
Despite the Democrats’ anger, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court on October 26, 2020. Barrett, a 48-year-old U.S. Court of Appeals judge nominated by President Donald Trump, fills the seat left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a staunch liberal and feminist icon who died Sept. 18. At age 48, Amy Coney Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court justice confirmed since 43-year-old Clarence Thomas in 1991. She is just the fifth woman ever to be named to theSupreme Court of The United States.
One might think everyone would be celebrating her appointment. Regretfully, many editorial comment sections were filled with angry and vile comments like this one.
Another religious tyrant wannabe traitor. You are filth Barrett, and so are your boy-fckjer buddies in the Catholic church.
The problem many have with her appointment is, first, she is Catholic and takes her faith seriously. Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden also a Catholic, supports abortion. You won’t find similar disparaging comments lodged at him. The leftist Democrats are the party of darkness and death, not light and life, as Archbishop Vigano recently wrote. They worship at the altar of abortion.
It was fitting that Justice Clarence Thomas, a Catholic and daily communicant performed the swearing-in of Mrs. Barrett, another faithful Catholic. Justice Thomas was brutally attacked during his confirmation process for being a Catholic, conservative, and pro-life, an attack led by Senator Joe Biden. The Democrats now have a history of attacking pro-life Catholic nominees.
The second problem the left has with the new Justice is that she blows a big gaping hole in their whole —women need abortions to get ahead —narrative. She has 7 children, 2 of who are adopted, and one with down syndrome. Many on the left think it’s OK to kill children with Down syndrome. I can tell you first hand all children are a gift from God whether you expect them or not. I have had the pleasure of being close friends with several families who have a child with down syndrome and have witnessed the great joy they bring to their families.
Barrett will be the first female Justice to have school-aged children while serving on the bench.
Contrast Barrett with Rock legend Stevie Nicks, who recently said that without her abortion, “we would not have Fleetwood Mac.” I love Fleetwood Mac, but I would rather live in a world without Fleetwood Mac than a world without a woman like Amy Coney Barrett. Barretts accomplished career as a law professor, federal court judge, and now Supreme Court Justice shows that you do not need to kill your children to have a successful career.
When Marxist theory was proven wrong after WWI, and the working class did not revolt and launch a communist revolution, Marxist theorists decided that for a communist revolution to succeed, the structure of Western democracy and capitalism must be destroyed. Communist party activists set their sights on creating a culture war that would rip apart society from within.
In 1918, Georg Lukács became minister of culture in Bolshevik Hungary. During this time, Lukács realized that if the family unit and sexual morals were eroded, society could be broken down. Lukács implemented a policy he titled “cultural terrorism,” which focused on these two objectives. A major part of the policy was to target children’s minds through lectures that encouraged them to deride and reject Christian ethics.
In 1934 the Frankfurt school, as it became known, came to Columbia University in America and began publishing material that criticized the foundations of Western culture, including family, democracy, freedom of speech, and many others. The writings focused on challenging Americans’ views on gender and sexual ethics and called them prejudiced. Cultural Marxism was born.
In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM). The World Health Organization (WHO) did not remove homosexuality from its ICD classification until 1992. Today, the standard of psychotherapy in the U.S. and Europe is gay affirmative psychotherapy, which encourages gay people to accept their sexual orientation.
In 1978 the North American Man/Boy Love Association was formed. According to their website:
NAMBLA’s goal is to end the extreme oppression of men and boys in mutually consensual relationships by:
building understanding and support for such relationships;
educating the general public on the benevolent nature of man/boy love;
cooperating with lesbian, gay, feminist, and other liberation movements;
supporting the liberation of persons of all ages from sexual prejudice and oppression.
Today many colleges and Universities teach that gender is a social construct and not inherently biological or God-given. Children experiencing gender dysphoria are being given hormones and other chemical therapies to help them transition by pausing puberty.
University of Texas at Austin professor Thomas Hubbard writes that that “contemporary American legislation premised on children’s incapacity to ‘consent’ to sexual relations stems from outmoded gender constructions and ideological preoccupations of the late Victorian and Progressive Era.” Hubbard argues that it should be legal for grown men to have sex with children. He is not alone, a 2014 editorial in the New York Times suggested that pedophilia is not a crime but rather a disorder.
The sexualization of children has been a steady and incremental over these past decades since the advent of Cultural Marxism. Recently Netflix premiered a new series called “Cuties” which blatantly sexualizes young girls.
While many have predicted the decline, they are primarily told that they are neurotic and overly puritanical. When same-sex marriage became legal, advocates claimed it is all about love and that no one was trying to take anyone’s rights away. That turned out to not be true
It has become painfully obvious where we are headed as a society, and this NetFlix premiere showed us the next level of conquest the cultural Marists have in mind. Christians have always understood that sex is a sacred gift and about much more than love. Christian doctrine, based on the creator’s natural law teaches that every genital act must be within the framework of marriage. Those who violate His laws not only offend the divine Majesty but degrade themselves and humanity.
Fifty years ago Pope Paul VI wrote an encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae. The Pope’s writing warned against the consequences of artificial contraception. Predicting that it would lead to the objectification of women unfaithfulness in marriage and overall disrespect for human life.
As recently as 1930, every mainline Protestant church vigorously condemned those sexual behaviors that they considered to be damaging to society and a danger to the souls of individuals. These acts included divorce, artificial contraception, abortion, euthanasia, fornication, adultery, the use of pornography, and homosexual behavior. The Roman Catholic Church is the only remaining major religious entity that holds fast to its prohibitions on these behaviors.
Communism theory has captivated many young people but the real life of those who live it tells a different story than the theory. After her conversion to Catholicism, journalist Dorothy Day (1897-1980) became involved in social justice campaigns and founded the Catholic Worker movement.
Just before launching the movement, Day wrote an article that painted a sympathetic and yet critical view of communists she had met personally.
Her personal encounters with communists helped her to see that good can be found in people both inside and outside the Church. Though the intentions of some espousing communist doctrine may be well-intended, Day was left to conclude as the Catholic Church has taught that Christianity and communism were not only incompatible but mutual threats.
In the face of such a threat, the Catholic Church could not and does not remain silent. This Apostolic See, above all, has not refrained from raising its voice, for it knows that its proper and social mission is to defend truth, justice and all those eternal values which Communism ignores or attacks. Ever since the days when groups of “intellectuals” were formed in an arrogant attempt to free civilization from the bonds of morality and religion, Our Predecessors overtly and explicitly drew the attention of the world to the consequences of the dechristianization of human society. With reference to Communism, Our Venerable Predecessor, Pius IX, of holy memory, as early as 1846 pronounced a solemn condemnation, which he confirmed in the words of the Syllabus directed against “that infamous doctrine of so-called Communism which is absolutely contrary to the natural law itself, and if once adopted would utterly destroy the rights, property and possessions of all men, and even society itself.” — Divini Redemptoris
Despite such an unequivocal admonishment, and the millions of lives lost in the pursuit of utopia, many Christian and non-Christian intellectuals alike continue to believe that Communism is the answer to what plagues human society. Here is a recent dialogue I came upon between a Christian friend of mine who grew up in communist Romania and an American intellectual. It is worth reading
D. I tell her all the time about life in former communist Romania, the country I was born and raised in. How much do you know about socialism, communism, fascism, and nazism? Are you European? More importantly, are you Eastern European? For us, the memories of communism are still fresh on our minds. Have you experienced and lived through any of the 1989 and early 1990 revolutions? I was born in Timisoara, Romania. I have experienced both communism and the free world, I also used to live for 5 years in Germany before moving to the U.S. so I can easily navigate this topic.
R. I have a MA in political theory. Communism is a name the Soviet Union used. It never reflected any real tenets of Marxism. It was, and Russia is today an authoritarian government, something Marx was against. Anyone, any entity, any government can call itself whatever it wants…it doesn’t mean it is that thing it calls itself. Do you think “Communist” China is anything other than a dictatorship…do you think it actually represents communist ideology in any way?
D. I asked you if you are Eastern European, lived in communism, or partook in any of the late 80’s or early 90′ revolution! You need to meet me at the same level of life experiences and not what you study in your books! You need to meet me at the same level of suffering that should be your heart for the people that died for freedom. Nonetheless, congratulations on your degree but that means nothing to a person like me that comes from a communist background and stands against it. Because in Romania the head of any institution that spoke in the radio, television, books published by scientists and teachers started with the preface: “As comrade Nicolae Ceausescu has taught us” Another secular slogan was “Let us think, let us work, let us live as the Party teaches us, as its General Secretary, comrade Nicolae Ceausescu teaches us!”
You are coming back at me with your degree when my Romanian people and Christian leaders fought for my rights in the court and in the streets? When Christian leaders were summoned at the Town Hall to an inquisition by the Secretary of the County Council, the Chief Police, the Inspector of Religious Denominations, the Inspector of Teaching and Education, Deputy Mayor and the Secretary of the Town Council!?
It was reminded to these people by the clergy that on the basis of Article 30 of the Romanian Constitution, guarantees religious liberty and liberty of conscience, and on the basis of Helsinki Final Act, which guarantees the right of parents to give children an education which conforms their own convictions.
You are coming back at me with your degree when MY ROMANIAN PEOPLE suffered surveillance, threats, torture, and death because they refuse to say what the Communist Party wanted them to say!? My people were humiliated in courts, threatened to remove their license, and thrown out of the city!!!
The indoctrination started gradually and it started within the education system. We didn’t just woke-up one day and our freedoms were taken away.
So with all my respect, I say to you: Your degree means nothing to me and is not a good place to start a conversation in our differences in views when we are a world apart. You never lived in my world, I do in yours!
Were you by my side when I had to wake up early in the morning for food rations!? Were you by my side when we rush to the train station to escape the big city during the revolution? Did you hide with me when my mom sheltered me from the bullets that penetrate our building? Were you lacking access to basics necessities?
Do you understand what communism is from life experience and not educational experience?
Yes, on the surface, the communist party allowed us freedom of religion because the United States was pressuring them, but behind closed doors, only God and those who lived through it know how life went.
I am not Chinese, I am Romanian & American, but I do have Chinese friends, and let me tell you this: they wouldn’t be living here in the U.S. if the Chinese Communist Party wasn’t actually representing the communist ideology. And what a nightmare for my friends and me, thinking we escape communism only to be faced with it once again here in America.
Many of my interview questions throughout the years while applying for green cards, and finally citizenship were about communism and my position regarding this ideology. How many years have passed since the Cold War!? Yet it appears that even nowadays, this ideology is still a concern when applying for green card/ citizenship when you come from a communist country.
You have a 99% chance to be asked when interviewed about what Abraham Lincoln is known for, but there are no further questions regarding your attitude towards slavery if you are against it or not…
Communism is not a thing of the past is alive and well, and God willing, America will always fight against it. I know I will!
My loyalty is to Jesus; the only name I represent is Christian! I don’t fall prey to any “isms”…including Capitalism…everything in this world has its flaws. Eternal living is what matters to me and is my hope and prayer that you will give thought to Him who shed His blood for you.
While the debate rages on as to whether or not schools should reopen, parents might want to ask themselves what exactly are they waiting to send their children back to. For example, in California, education officials have agreed on a comprehensive new framework for sex education in the classroom.
Since the 1970s, sex education has been widely supported in schools. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 24 states — including California — and the District of Columbia mandate sex education in classrooms. California also requires that sex and HIV education be “age-appropriate.” In addition, according to the California Healthy Youth Act, Californias schools must provide LGBTQ-inclusive comprehensive sexual health education. While parents are, for the time being, allowed to opt their children out of all or part of the comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention instruction schools may not allow the selective opting out of lessons that are focused on LGBTQ content.
Columnist Katie Hopkins posted an excerpt from one approved book in California on Twitter just before the social media company permanently suspended her account.
This book called ‘SEX’ was originally on the California schools suggested reading list for kids 9-12th grade. After a massive public outcry, the book was removed. The fact that it was even deemed acceptable by those in charge of creating the reading list for California’s school children is what is most shocking and unacceptable.
This is just one book that became known how many others are being used to ver sexualize children who are much too young. Moreover, it is not the place of the public education system to educate children on sexuality.
One commenter on the site Reddit said:
This is no big thing in the west, Americans think this shit is normal, and in fact healthy. Their society is so perverted that they make academics about sex as well.
It is hard to argue with that sentiment as it seems each year we push the boundaries of decency further and further. Now we are reaching into our children’s learning space.
It appears to be a similar situation in Arizona. Writing for the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins article Parents Fight Back: Sex and Kindergarten in America notes that Arizona State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman (D) “Comprehensive Sex Education” curriculum includes teaching children about masturbation.
Hoffman took her oath, placing her hand a children’s book titled “Too Many Moose”. When asked about the unusual decision to be sworn on a children’s book she said “it had a lot of sentimental value”
This is one reason why many parents are deciding not to send their children back to the public when they do open and opting out of the public education system altogether. It is a tremendous burden for many, and some, it is impossible as they rely on the public school to be a safe place for their children during the day when they are at work.
Both Arizona and California, sex education programs focus on LGBTQ issues. Critics have argued that the curriculum goes beyond the stated purpose of teaching tolerance, and many believe it is indoctrination. When parents decide to be proactive and learn what is being taught, they find themselves in a living nightmare. There is little doubt that whatever the intended purpose of this new model of “Comprehensive Sex Education is, it is being delivered to children who are far too young.
Meanwhile, A Texas judge overruled a prior court decision that granted both James Younger’s parent’s equal say in deciding if the 8-year-old boy should transition to a girl. The judge’s ruling forces Jame’s father, who does not believe James wants to transition and is happy as a boy when he is with him to pay thousands of dollars in therapy fees without any say in who the therapist is. Read more here
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) singled out a statue of Father Damien, a Catholic priest who ministered to a Hawaiian leper colony, as an example of “white supremacist culture.”
Father Damien, born Jozef de Veuster in Belgium, arrived in Hawaii in 1864 when the islands were an independent kingdom. The priest conducted missionary work on the islands and for the last 16 years of his life ministered to a leper colony, until he died after contracting leprosy himself. A statue of Father Damien stands in the U.S. Capitol.
Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles responds to this ridiculous accusation
Each state gets two statues. Hawaii’s other statue is Kamehameha. Hawaiians obviously don’t get white supremacy right. Natives makeup 6% of the population (21% if you count mixed-race) and get 50% of the statues.
Of course, the real sin of white supremacy was the “colonialist” mindset embodied in Fr. Damien’s missionary zeal. He had the effrontery to proselytize a faith which valued the intrinsic worth of every human being and the gall to live a life which proclaimed that faith through his actions. He colonized souls by convincing native people that he wanted to share an eternity in heaven with them. It is hard to understand the mindset that regards such saintly actions with horror.
This statue is a monument to a selfless, amazing human being who dedicated his life to others regardless of race or creed. It is being condemned by a selfish, ignorant human being for a Marxist political agenda.
People often ask the question, “how did our society get so bad?” and “Why the mob rules?” While we usually prefer simple answers to even complex questions, substantive explanations are typically multifactorial. It is the same with our physical health, as we have seen with COVID-19. Most people exposed to the virus survive, yet some die. What ultimately killed the person can be complicated to determine. Was it the virus itself, or did the virus wreak more havoc on an already susceptible body? Obesity, diabetes, weakened immune systems are just a few contributing factors to human beings’ overall health. We prefer simple answers, so we blame it on COVID; the more in-depth explanation, however, is often far more complex.
So it is with our society. In Genesis right from the beginning, we can see that man is fallen and prone to sin. The fall of man explains why sin and misery exist in the world today. You need not be a religious person to recognize that man is inherently prone to various types of bad behaviors, stealing, lying, adultery, etc. The Christian believer knows their fallen nature and attempts, with the Grace of God, to move away from darkness, and towards the light. One Archbishop has been willing to speak about the great evil that has engulfed our Nation. In his letter to President Trump, Archbishop Vigano notes that “the children of light constitute the most conspicuous part of humanity, while the children of darkness represent an absolute minority.”
Why has a minority been able to inflict such destruction, with violent protests, the burning down of buildings, the tearing down of statues, and death? The simple answer many believe is the killing of George Floyd, a black man at the hands of white police officers. His death was captured on video that shocked the world and was the impetus for protests. Protests quickly turned to riots, looting, and complete mayhem. At the time of this writing, a portion of a Seattle city is under siege. Mayor Jenny Durkan called the confiscation of property the “Summer of Love.” She refused help from President Trump to thwart the violence and instead criticized the President saying, “One of the things this President will never understand is that listening to the community is not a weakness. It’s a strength”. She has since walked back her “Summer of Love” comments and with mounting carnage now wants to shut down the love fest.
In city after city throughout large parts of the United States, similar destruction has become a daily event. The carnage is so common that one becomes anesthetized to the news hearing of yet another statue torn down, building burned to the ground, and even death. In the Twitter video below, a homeless person in New York City is blown up and set on fire while no one did anything about it except to video it. Probably hoping it would go viral and get them more followers. No one had the courage to help.
X (formerly Twitter)
By now, it should be abundantly clear to anyone paying attention that these violent uprisings have little to nothing to do with racism. Black Lives Matter, perhaps the lead but not the only agitator behind this mayhem, is unabashedly a Marxist organization that seeks to disrupt the normative Western Patriarchal (traditional) family. The organization also supports the advancement of LGBTQ causes and abortion. Marxism, abortion, and homosexuality are all considered intrinsically evil by the Church. Many Christians seem unaware of this, or they lack the courage to speak and stand up against this evil ideology.
Month in and month out; year in and year out; in cities like Chicago and Baltimore, adults and children are shot and killed regularly, and no one seems to care. In New York City, more black children are aborted than born alive. This has gone on for decades with no protests, rioting, or looting. Since the 1960s, politicians, psychologists, and celebrities, black and white, have been warning about the dangers of the destruction of the nuclear family and the havoc this phenomenon is having on children and society as a whole. No one is listening. The children of darkness are happy to have our silence.
Mobs rule when the opposition is afraid.
So how did we get here? In short, we stopped believing in God. At least in any real sense of the word “belief.” Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson himself, on a spiritual journey, offers a profound answer to what it means to believe. Author and radio talk show host Dennis Prager, a conservative Jew, asked Peterson if he believed in God. The entire conversation is well worth listening to. This clip is Peterson’s response to Prager’s question. It should cause some consternation for all religious people.
As Peterson notes, today, many religious people profess a belief in God, but their actions reflect an apathy towards any real sense of what true faith might mean. They often embrace a pseudo-Christianity, such as the Prosperity Gospel, which proclaims that with the right prayer and offering God will bring earthly riches. Or a relativistic version of the Gospel with catchphrases such as “I am a good person.” Individuals twist the Gospel to mean whatever they want it to say, often resulting in a “feel good” theology. They profess a belief in Christ but live their lives autonomously; their “faith does not affect how they live their life. In short, they make the Gospel comport to their life. In 2 Timothy, we read:
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. —2 Timothy 3:1-5
This passage sums up what the Christian Apologist C.S. Lewis called the greatest sin of all “Pride or Self-Conceit.” According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
Pride, faith in yourself ahead of faith in God, is what causes us to become fearful. We fear losing friends, losing a career, losing social status, or being mocked and ridiculed, so we become silent. Silence is like an incubator for evil. We did not get here overnight; our silence over many years has allowed this cancer to metastasize to the point it is now. This may leave one to ask, “Is it too late?” Are we witnessing the end times as many Christian preachers have been predicting? Only Christ knows that answer.
For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night —1 Thessalonians 5-1
It is, however, never too late to move towards the light. In the meantime we need to:
Therefore put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. —Ephesians 6:13-15
Why do mobs rule? The simple answer is we have turned on back on God, both as a Nation and individually. This is how the children of darkness, the minority has overwhelmed the majority. The majority, without any real belief, lack courage. Since its earliest days, the Church has taught seven virtues that serve to animate the Christian life. Faith, hope, and love are the three theological virtues and prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude are the four moral virtues. A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.
While pseudo-Christianity ignores most of these virtues, in his book titled “Men of a Brave Heart: The Virtue of Courage in the Priestly Life,” Archbishop Jose Gomez’s writing is a powerful recall to these fundamental virtues. His reminder seeks to encourage priests to have the fortitude to persevere and have the courage to carry on the mission that God has bestowed upon them.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes fortitude as the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes of one even renouncing and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.” In the world, you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
Since, in a sense, we all share in a spiritual priesthood, the Archbishops call back to virtue, in particular fortitude, during this time is vital for all Christians, not just priests.
Archbishop Gomez describing the influence Pope John Paul II had on his life, profoundly reminds us that the central underlying theme of Pope John Paul II’s entire pontificate was one of fearlessness and courage. Perhaps his most famous phrase to the world was “Be Not Afraid.”
During his inaugural homily, the Pope said:
“Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization, and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows ‘what is in man’. He alone knows it.”
The Pope’s message was a call to each of us individually that together with Christ, we can overcome this evil. No one person can do it alone. You have a part “Be Not Afraid.”
In 1979 the Pope took a pilgrimage to his native Poland. Speaking to the Polish people who were oppressed by the evils of communism, the Pope said,
“Let the Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth. This earth.”
Today we need the spirit to descend upon this earth.
Silence in the face of evil allows evil to grow. Evil is a lie— the antidote is truth. Be not afraid to speak the truth.
“Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power, Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil” -Ephesians 6:10-11
Pope John Paul II stood on the balcony of St. Peter’s, he said, “Be not afraid,” and in closing prayed, “Let the Spirit descend. Let the Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, the face of this land.” While this prayer and exhortation were said to the world, the Polish people, especially, knew he was addressing them. Lech Walesa said that these words energized the Solidarity movement in Poland. At the same time, Yuri Andropov, then head of the KGB, commenced a study of the implications of a Polish pope, concluding that this papacy would destabilize Poland and undermine Soviet authority in the communist block.
That is precisely what happened. Despite attempts by the Soviets to squelch the Pope and false media reports, the Pope drew massive crowds where ever he went. “You are not who they say you are, so let me remind you who you are.” He emphasized the need for spiritual and cultural renewal, preserving Poland’s strong faith, and the transforming power of Christ’s love. In response, the people chanted,
“We want God, we want God, we want God in the family, we want God in the schools, we want God in books.” In 1980, the government recognized Solidarity as the first independent trade union in the communist bloc.
President Reagan said to a friend, “I have had a feeling, particularly in the Pope’s visit to Poland, that religion may turn out to be the Soviets’ Achilles’ heel.” Faith in Christ is, in fact, the Achilles heel of all evil. Satan shutters even at hearing the word Jesus. A proclamation of the faith, however, is not enough. Real faith is needed that engages the believer to stand up to the devil and to proclaim the truth, proclaim the Gospel. It is a difficult battle, but as Christians, we already know who wins the war, it is not Satan. We must reclaim the virtue of courage and develop the fortitude to fight and “Be Not Afraid.”
“Christ cannot be kept out of the history of man in any part of the globe,” the Pope said in his homily, at Mass, this touched off applause and chants from the worshipers shouting —”We Want God.”
Hundreds of thousands crowd into Warsaw’s Victory Square for the Pope’s open-air Mass.
There is little doubt that today we are living in a world where many have become afraid, afraid to be a witness to Christ. Inch by inch, Western civilization’s values are being torn down by a minority who have beaten the majority into submission too afraid to speak the truth. Even many of our Catholic schools have become Catholic in name only and surrendered to the minority. Regretfully, many people have become afraid. We fear to lose a friend or a job, or not being liked. Speaking the truth will undoubtedly cost you some friendships, but it will gain new ones, closer ones, because they are based on truth and respect. There is a price to pay for speaking out, and there is also a price for lying or remaining silent.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Oxford in 1941. At the time, Britain badly needed the inspiration to fight on in a war for freedom. Borrowing from Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican revolutionary, Franklin said in his speech at Oxford:
“We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.”
As George Weigel observed in his second biography of the pontiff, “The End and the Beginning,” Pope John Paul “did not live without fear; still, less did he deny fear. Rather, he lived beyond fear, and his courage was an expression … of his faith.” In his book titled “Men of a Brave Heart: The Virtue of Courage in the Priestly Life, Archbishop Gomez describes the influence Pope John Paul II had on his life. He reminds us that the central underlying theme of Pope John Paul II’s entire pontificate was one of fearlessness and courage.
Nine Days That Changed The World is a powerful documentary that chronicles the courageous Popes visit to Poland as he stood up to the evil communist regime.
In a recent ruling, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said,
Despite the Democrats’ anger, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court on October 26, 2020. Barrett, a 48-year-old U.S. Court of Appeals judge nominated by President Donald Trump, fills the seat left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a staunch liberal and feminist icon who died Sept. 18. At age 48, Amy Coney Barrett is the youngest Supreme Court justice confirmed since 43-year-old Clarence Thomas in 1991. She is just the fifth woman ever to be named to theSupreme Court of The United States.
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