The forces of darkness in this world have declared war—a war that attempts to extinguish the light of faith within the Roman Catholic Church.
This is not a war of our choosing. Nevertheless, it is a war in which the Church must rally every facet and weapon at her disposal. It may be the start of the famed battle foretold in Revelations, or it may be another attack from the forces of evil in the world designed to wound the faith. But it is a war. And it must be fought, and it will be won.
Commentators throughout the blogosphere have been crying out a warning since the creation of the virtual world—but it has been a warning that has been too long ignored. Most decision and opinion makers within the Church have thought these cries to be the clucking of nothing more than modern manifestation of Chicken Little. Sadly, just as the forces of liberty and faith were taken by surprise by at Pearl Harbor and in Jerusalem in 1967, so too have the leaders of the Church failed to heed the warnings of those who have been arguing that the Church was in peril. Now the evidence should seem clear to all that it is time to awake and rouse ourselves to the ramparts as we begin to engage in the battle for our souls.
Such militaristic and violent language is offensive to many, both within and outside the Church. Faith instinctively guides us to follow Christ, the Prince of Peace. The voice that calls for 'proposition not imposition' seems to be incompatible with this call to arms, but it is not. Remember too that Christ said that he did not come to bring peace, but division—that two will be divided against three and three against two, father against son and mother against daughter. It is true that Christ’s victory over death—his passion and resurrection—assures us the ultimate victory of Good over Evil, but never did he promise smooth sailing for the Barque of Peter.
Evil still roams and menaces the faith in this life. Trial and tribulation marked not only the Church's birth but also are to arise prior to the Messiah's return. With the passing of legislation in the USA that will result in federal funding for elective abortions, the forces of death have won a considerable victory. In the face of this victory by the forces of death, the scandals which have erupted within and around the Church have discouraged and disorganized her exactly when her forces need to be marshaled to face the coming persecution and opposition on a global scale as has not been experienced since the days of the earliest Church martyrs at the hands of the Roman Empire.
It is a great irony that this grievous wound has been struck against the Catholic faith from within a nation that saved Christianity after the dark ages. The sinful witness of a few Irish priests and bishops stands in putrid contrast to the heroic witness of Saints Bridget, Brendan, and Patrick. It brings into disrepute the tireless efforts and sacrifices of pious Irish women and men who were among the first to bring the Catholic Church to America—sacrifices now viscerally polluted in the public eye by the infidelity and sinfulness of their spiritual and ethnic progeny. These criminal and sinful acts served to vitiate the voice of the Bishops and fracture of the Catholic community in that crucial American debate which will result in the wholesale slaughter—by the state—of millions of unborn souls. A 'fifth column' of predator priests, compromised religious, and weak-kneed bishops, (concerned more with their reputation and influence than with ensuring fidelity and justice) have effected a body-blow to the faith, unparalleled in modern history, striking at the Chair of Peter and into the center of the Christian world's preeminent political and military power in Washington, DC.
C.S. Lewis could not have scripted a storyline more chilling than is being experienced within the Catholic community today.
The Irish do not stand alone in suffering this fate, but it has been the tinder that has lit the fires which burn now across the entirety of Christendom. Media outlets are replete with the disclosures of utter evil with every day that passes. This does seem to justify a certain sense of indignation as antagonists for simply being the vehicles of bad news 'from the front'. Alas, the Church has been shot by a weapon of its own making, fired from within its own ranks. To quote an old pastor, "an enemy has done this, even if the wound was self-inflicted." Blaming the media will not be a successful strategy in winning back the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens of both the earthly and heavenly kingdoms.
Mind you, there are numerous examples where the media use this shot to the Body of Christ to great malicious advantage. While pro-life, Christian politicians argued during Sunday’s health-care debate on CNN, allegations challenging the Church's sanctity and truthfulness crawled unceasingly across the news-ticker at the bottom of the screen—an omnipresent challenge to the voices of the US Bishops and the political coalition of the forces of life. The Times of London even published an article declaring the pontiff's Pastoral Letter to the people of Ireland an abject failure, rejected across the land, eight hours in advance of the letter's release. The condemnatory comments it contained from some involved in the 'victims rights' movement clearly demonstrate that they were not open to any initiative of the Church. Reconciliation and healing is not their agenda. Their true goal is the utter destruction of the Petrine Office and the Body of Christ gathered in communion with him. In this spiritual and cultural conflict, we neglect this truth at our own peril.
Pope Benedict has recognized the danger. He has called the Irish to lead the universal Church in rediscovering the use of such spiritual weapons as prayer, fasting, and penance to strengthen the forces of faith, hope and charity—practices foreign to those malformed by the catechetical failures that followed in the immediate wake of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul the Great understood this urgent need for penance—a responsibility he literally took upon his back with the practice of self-flagellation. Now is the time for all Catholics, inspired by their examples, to defend the faith in every way possible.
There is a time to heed the call of the Spirit and progress in theology and our understanding of the divine will. Now is not that time. Not when the enemy is inside the walls of the Church. Not when the 'Barque of Peter' has been holed below the waterline. Now is the time for Catholic leaders to sound the ‘klaxons’ and call all hands to 'battle stations'. Now is the time to deploy every spiritual weapon at our disposal to fight the righteous fight for the faith.
Now is the time to stand with Peter.
It is time to take up arms and stand with Christ—to take up both the cross and sword to defend the faith.
It is time for the Church to declare war.
This is not a war of our choosing. Nevertheless, it is a war in which the Church must rally every facet and weapon at her disposal. It may be the start of the famed battle foretold in Revelations, or it may be another attack from the forces of evil in the world designed to wound the faith. But it is a war. And it must be fought, and it will be won.
Commentators throughout the blogosphere have been crying out a warning since the creation of the virtual world—but it has been a warning that has been too long ignored. Most decision and opinion makers within the Church have thought these cries to be the clucking of nothing more than modern manifestation of Chicken Little. Sadly, just as the forces of liberty and faith were taken by surprise by at Pearl Harbor and in Jerusalem in 1967, so too have the leaders of the Church failed to heed the warnings of those who have been arguing that the Church was in peril. Now the evidence should seem clear to all that it is time to awake and rouse ourselves to the ramparts as we begin to engage in the battle for our souls.
Such militaristic and violent language is offensive to many, both within and outside the Church. Faith instinctively guides us to follow Christ, the Prince of Peace. The voice that calls for 'proposition not imposition' seems to be incompatible with this call to arms, but it is not. Remember too that Christ said that he did not come to bring peace, but division—that two will be divided against three and three against two, father against son and mother against daughter. It is true that Christ’s victory over death—his passion and resurrection—assures us the ultimate victory of Good over Evil, but never did he promise smooth sailing for the Barque of Peter.
Evil still roams and menaces the faith in this life. Trial and tribulation marked not only the Church's birth but also are to arise prior to the Messiah's return. With the passing of legislation in the USA that will result in federal funding for elective abortions, the forces of death have won a considerable victory. In the face of this victory by the forces of death, the scandals which have erupted within and around the Church have discouraged and disorganized her exactly when her forces need to be marshaled to face the coming persecution and opposition on a global scale as has not been experienced since the days of the earliest Church martyrs at the hands of the Roman Empire.
It is a great irony that this grievous wound has been struck against the Catholic faith from within a nation that saved Christianity after the dark ages. The sinful witness of a few Irish priests and bishops stands in putrid contrast to the heroic witness of Saints Bridget, Brendan, and Patrick. It brings into disrepute the tireless efforts and sacrifices of pious Irish women and men who were among the first to bring the Catholic Church to America—sacrifices now viscerally polluted in the public eye by the infidelity and sinfulness of their spiritual and ethnic progeny. These criminal and sinful acts served to vitiate the voice of the Bishops and fracture of the Catholic community in that crucial American debate which will result in the wholesale slaughter—by the state—of millions of unborn souls. A 'fifth column' of predator priests, compromised religious, and weak-kneed bishops, (concerned more with their reputation and influence than with ensuring fidelity and justice) have effected a body-blow to the faith, unparalleled in modern history, striking at the Chair of Peter and into the center of the Christian world's preeminent political and military power in Washington, DC.
C.S. Lewis could not have scripted a storyline more chilling than is being experienced within the Catholic community today.
The Irish do not stand alone in suffering this fate, but it has been the tinder that has lit the fires which burn now across the entirety of Christendom. Media outlets are replete with the disclosures of utter evil with every day that passes. This does seem to justify a certain sense of indignation as antagonists for simply being the vehicles of bad news 'from the front'. Alas, the Church has been shot by a weapon of its own making, fired from within its own ranks. To quote an old pastor, "an enemy has done this, even if the wound was self-inflicted." Blaming the media will not be a successful strategy in winning back the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens of both the earthly and heavenly kingdoms.
Mind you, there are numerous examples where the media use this shot to the Body of Christ to great malicious advantage. While pro-life, Christian politicians argued during Sunday’s health-care debate on CNN, allegations challenging the Church's sanctity and truthfulness crawled unceasingly across the news-ticker at the bottom of the screen—an omnipresent challenge to the voices of the US Bishops and the political coalition of the forces of life. The Times of London even published an article declaring the pontiff's Pastoral Letter to the people of Ireland an abject failure, rejected across the land, eight hours in advance of the letter's release. The condemnatory comments it contained from some involved in the 'victims rights' movement clearly demonstrate that they were not open to any initiative of the Church. Reconciliation and healing is not their agenda. Their true goal is the utter destruction of the Petrine Office and the Body of Christ gathered in communion with him. In this spiritual and cultural conflict, we neglect this truth at our own peril.
Pope Benedict has recognized the danger. He has called the Irish to lead the universal Church in rediscovering the use of such spiritual weapons as prayer, fasting, and penance to strengthen the forces of faith, hope and charity—practices foreign to those malformed by the catechetical failures that followed in the immediate wake of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul the Great understood this urgent need for penance—a responsibility he literally took upon his back with the practice of self-flagellation. Now is the time for all Catholics, inspired by their examples, to defend the faith in every way possible.
There is a time to heed the call of the Spirit and progress in theology and our understanding of the divine will. Now is not that time. Not when the enemy is inside the walls of the Church. Not when the 'Barque of Peter' has been holed below the waterline. Now is the time for Catholic leaders to sound the ‘klaxons’ and call all hands to 'battle stations'. Now is the time to deploy every spiritual weapon at our disposal to fight the righteous fight for the faith.
Now is the time to stand with Peter.
It is time to take up arms and stand with Christ—to take up both the cross and sword to defend the faith.
It is time for the Church to declare war.
Amen Father Tim.
ReplyDeleteThis is a spiritual war that we know the end result of. What we do not know is the details, but Our Lord will provide us with all the ammunition and information we require to stand up for Him. We must stand firm in our faith, and not wither against persecution and ridicule.
http://freethroughtruth.blogspot.com/2010/03/call-to-arms-war-must-be-engaged-with.html
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteA very well written and passionate argument, however, I am reminded by an interesting tidbit that I came upon recently:
A man told his grandson: "A terrible fight is going on inside me -- a fight between two wolves. One is evil, and represents hate, anger, arrogance, intolerance, and superiority . The other is good, and represents joy, peace, love, tolerance, understanding, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, and compassion. This same fight is going on inside you, inside every other person too."
The grandson then asked: "Which wolf will win?" The old man replied simply: "The one you feed."
Cheers...Martin
If you fight those outside the Church, you lose Tim, because they are not your enemy. If you fight those "liberal Catholics", presently being driven from the Church because their faith is not "real", you lose, because they are not your enemy. Of those left within the Church, who do you see as your enemies? How are you fighting them?
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to decide which wolf to feed, you first have to learn to tell them apart. The fact that you're having some difficulty with it, tells me you've been listening to the Prince of Lies.
I read a lot of gut level fear in that diatribe, Tim; but other than that, I'm afraid you've lost me.
ReplyDeleteWhat, exactly, has you so upset?
It is obvious Fr.Tim you are very passionate in all what you think, believe and hope for from what I read in your above post.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion, the Roman Catholic Church has done this to itself. Sure, they are numerous good men and women that work hard and even gave their lives for the faith. Many a positive stuff has been done and still being done for the good of all humanity. That does not erase the wrongs that have been done to victims all over the world. Countless victims were used for the good of progression of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Acts that is still so down to earth evil and criminal.
Fr. Tim do you want a quick solution to this present day problems? No matter what, it will not be according to your timetable. Maybe those victims should forgive and forget and move on but that is not the reality is it Father? Maybe, these victims should learn to be more pious? (grin).
What has been sown by numerous mortal people in the church for decades and decades, now we are seeing the rippling effect around the world! It has taken on a life of its own.
Your statements of fear(Lady Janus stated, I read a lot of gut level fear in that diatribe. ), anxiety(deflection to the unborn etc..), anger(something should be done and will be done, etc..), This post of yours seems to fall on the borderline for a revival of an Inquisition era revisited from the Middle Ages.
The Vatican, the Pontiff(even with a suppose God given right) and his all male mortal men included, still want the power to control people by sticking their noses in folks personal daily lives and affairs(Rules, Catechism...etc..) especially people who are not even Roman Catholic.
Plain folks will not stand for that type of meddling. People are thinking and making up their own minds what they see fit that is correct for them in their own situation. In other words they are using their own common sense in their own lives. They will make mistakes but hopefully they learn from those mistakes. The Roman Catholic Church should not be threatened by this but they are! Reasons are numerous. Power, image, greed...Etc.
You simply cannot idiot proof everything Father.
P.S....by the way Fr. Tim, I would go easy on promoting that self-flagellation stuff (admiring Pope John Paul the Great for doing it). It is not physically or mentality healthy, in my humble opinion.
Good night!
Lina
Father Tim, this is an excellent and well thought out discourse. The call for reform is certainly the most pressing need in the church today. The voice of Martin Luther, basically ignored for 500 years must be heeded.
ReplyDeleteInternal reform must take place; we need "flesh on them dry bones" (Ezk 38)
Arise O' Church from your slumber, and return to faithful orthodox catholic fundamental principles. Purge us from all dross O Lord.
Cliff
Thank you all for the comments! I'll try to address your excellent posts.
ReplyDeleteMartin: ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON! It's just that I believe that I am arguing that it is the evil wolf that is now winning.
reddog: My assessment is not as bleak as yours. What I am proposing that it the church now needs to realize that it is IN FACT in a war situation right now! Yes, it is important to make certain that our aim is true and that we are focused on the right target. This does not negate the fact that the war has indeed begun in earnest. I do not see how this can be argued given the plethora of tattered and ruined faith lives that are dropping like flies all around the world in horrifying numbers.
Lady Janus: Yes, there is a fear that has grasped by soul. It is a fear not that the church will ultimately fail, but that legions of souls are being lost to the forces of faith. From your perspective, this might not seem a problem. It is not the same view from inside the church.
Cliff: You are expressing more than a grain of truth in your post - not that I believe the the Reformation was a good thing (it weakened the faith by dividing our forces), but the evil that fired the hearts and souls of the reformers is rearing its head again.
Michael: Thank you.
Fr. Tim
Fr. Tim you are starting to worry me. If it is all possible can you arrange to take a little time off and get some well deserve rest and take your dog with you.
ReplyDeleteI am not joking here. I sincerely do not want to see you heading for some kind of breakdown. You may need to take better care of yourself.
Maybe it is the mother in me. All you priests are under a lot of stress. Especially about an important Monsignor R. B. case coming up soon in April. Many of you priests are taken for granted daily. I am truly sorry about that.
I have a brother that knows a priest that took some kind of breakdown when he was up north. He is in the Pembroke Diocese now and he is better, thank God. So I know a priest can burn out if they over do it. The work they do is so stressing at times and overwhelming. Even though it is their vocation and they do everything for the sake of the call!
Here is what was said and sent to me from one of your brother priest in the Pembroke Diocese. It helped me to realize that no matter how dismal and bad things are, God is still in controlled. Well, that is what I got from the quote anyway.
Fr. Steven B. said: "Be at peace and continue to trust in Christ. He will not let you(us)down. We are living in strange times, but not the first time this has happened in the Church's history!"
You are in my prayers Fr. Tim.
Lina
Lina: Thank you for your kind thoughts. I don't think that I am having a breakdown - but I am quite concerned about the what is happening all around the globe vis a vis the church. I agree with Steve (no surprise there, we are classmates and studied together in the same seminary/university for 5 years) that ultimately the battle has been won by Christ. But something now is different than in the past. The intensity of the attacks, the breadth of the corruption and evil within the church's walls, and the wholesale slaughter of the faithful seems to be worse than I have ever experienced it before.
ReplyDeleteYes I am tired. Yes I am stressed, Yes there is too much work and not enough time, resources or manpower to get everything done.
Sadly too... yes,I believe that we are now at war with evil over the very soul of the church... and I fear that too many people are afraid to admit to what is happening.
THANKS, especially for the prayers.
Fr. Tim
P.S. Looking forward to Easter when you'll rejoin us here again on a more regular basis.
"It is a fear not that the church will ultimately fail, but that legions of souls are being lost to the forces of faith. From your perspective, this might not seem a problem. It is not the same view from inside the church."
ReplyDeleteIt's not that I don't see it as a problem, Tim -- it's that I don't understand how your church think you can "lose" what you don't own.
For the sake of argument, let's say that a soul does exist and that it has currency of a sort. Whose is it? Does it not belong to the person in whose body it resides? And does the proper owner of said soul not have the final say in what it does and with whom?
And given some of the "revelations" that have been brought into the light recently, can you actually blame anyone for backing away when a representative of this organization offers them "candy" and says, "Trust me."?
Fr Tim,
ReplyDeleteA very insightful post indeed, and I must add, prophetic. But was this not to be expected?
As Martin pointed out, the battle is first and foremost inside each one of us. Yes, the Church is being attacked in a violent way (from within), the faith is being shaken from many souls.
There is no doubt in my mind that the devil is at work, trying to destroy the Church so as to collect souls for himself. And he knows that the best way to destroy the Church is to destroy the Eucharist (Christ truly with us) and that the only way to destroy the Eucharist is to destroy the priesthood. So yes, in this sense, I think the turmoil we are seeing today is quite different from previous eras. Could this be the end of an era? I think perhaps it will be. Only time will tell.
The arms we must take up are our prayer, our mortification, and our love.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteYes, the church is being severely criticized, but has it not brought much of this upon itself? Could part of the problem also be the church has elevated itself (church officials) to a position far above what Scripture ordains, so that people expect far more, in fact perfection.