I’d like to share some brief updates to my last post (Sudden Destruction, from November 9th).
First: Divine Justice & 100 Years of Legal Abortion
As I mentioned in my webcast with Mark Mallett in August (31 minute mark), and which Fr. Heilman noted last month, legal abortion began exactly 100 years ago in the USSR. If you are inclined to suppose that God will tolerate much more than a century of the gravest institutionalized evil in history, think again. Ponder how God has dealt with evil societies in the past and remember that Marcionism (which supposes that the God “of the Old Testament” is different than the God “of the New Testament”) is a formally condemned heresy. Remember as well, in accordance with Leo XIII’s famous vision, that Satan was given 100 years to roam the earth with greater power than ever before. Many theories have been given as to when that 100 year reign began; the moment abortion was first legalized seems now to perhaps be the strongest contender.
But as I also mentioned in my last post, I found conflicting information when I was doing my research back in August; some sources indicating that abortion was first legalized in October 1920, others November 1920, and neither giving an exact date. Well, it turns out abortion was actually first legalized on November 18, 1920. So we are now exactly one week away from the exact 100 year anniversary of legal abortion, which, in turn, has since slaughtered over a billion children. No other genocide comes even close. Let us beg God’s Mercy — especially through praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Hours of the Passion— upon this world, particularly in these days leading up to to November 18th; for that day will be the most tragic 100th anniversary in world history.
Second: The “Katechon,” which restrains the power of the Antichrist
In my post, I brought up how Vigano also recently referred to Trump as this very Katechon restraining the “mystery of iniquity” that St. Paul warned us of in II Thessalonians. But I should have pointed out that it may well be that the Katechon being referred to in Luz’s message is not Trump at all. I do not know what exactly Luz is referring to, but we should consider the possibility that it is actually some other secular force (perhaps in Europe) who is active in holding back the power of the Antichrist, preventing him from instituting his plans. We should also consider that it may be Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. I am sure that the Antichrist, whoever he is (but I’ll again assure you it’s not Pope Francis!), is terrified of Benedict and knows that if he tries to formally and explicitly institute the Great Apostasy in all its hideousness right now, Benedict will oppose it too strongly. We should be especially on guard for the imminent arrival of the Antichrist, therefore, when Benedict dies.
Third: Gisella Cardia’s last message
Gisella’s message from yesterday sounds to me like one last cry from Our Lord, begging us to listen to Him, begging us to see the Signs of the Times (so as to spiritually prepare and engage in the Great Battle for souls that He is enlisting us for) before these signs themselves become so extreme that those who have hitherto preferred scoffing will find breathing itself difficult. But those who have listened and responded have nothing to fear. So choose wisely while one can still choose.
My brothers and sisters, thank you for being here with joy in your heart: how much faith I see in your hearts. Please, why are you not listening to the most important messenger in the universe, My Mother, She who with Her love does everything to protect her children in this world of confusion? Please be in silence, prayer and contemplation: do not talk. Did you want to see the signs of the end times? The signs have arrived and you still do not believe; you have been told that apostasy would enter the Church because of proud, selfish theologians, and this has happened, overturning the words of my Gospel. I told you about famines, plague and diseases that would come, and you still do not believe. I told you that the noise of war would be heard: here it is, everything has already been revealed in the Bible— state against state, governments against governments, men against men, you are afraid of each other, they have taken away your freedom and still you do not believe. Oh, how much faith will I find on My return? And yet, how many trials can be overcome by you with faith and by praying the Holy Rosary. My children, trust and entrust yourselves [to Me] and I will always be beside you; follow in My footsteps and take My hand and I will be with you every day until the end. Now I bless you one by one, in the name of the Father, in My name and in the Holy Spirit, Amen.
***
And here I am, finding myself pressing the “publish” button for this post on the 11th minute, of the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.
Indeed we now stand at the 11th hour.
Are you among those observing from the sidelines — perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps out of fear — wondering what to do with yourself? Thinking, perhaps, that it is too late in the game to make a life change? Think again. You can still come to the Vineyard of the Lord and He will welcome you with open arms. Perhaps you will even far outshine those who have long labored in the vineyard. But truly, this admonition applies to us all; observers and laborers alike — for each of us no doubt has some level of holiness, higher still than the one we now occupy, which we have neglected to rise to. Rise to it now, dear Christian. It is not too late!
“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?‘ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Long have I observed the signs of the times, ever mindful that immediately before the Chastisements arrive, we would need to see the Scriptural prophecy in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 fulfilled. Only this week have I felt the fulfillment might truly be at hand, for it appears we may this very moment be seeing precisely that:
“When people say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. “
I will not here comment on the news of election fraud or the possibility that Trump could still win, for regardless of what transpires there, my present purpose is only to draw a simple conclusion from the fact that we are indeed seeing the world rejoice right now to a superlative degree. Or, rather, we are seeing about half of the population rejoice, and almost all of the nefarious elite throughout the globe in ecstasy because that one who (though no saint) largely stood in the way of their agenda seems to be on his way out. Lest anyone doubt that this is what we are observing, consider just a few snippets from the news of recent days:
Compare this perverse worldwide party to the prevailing mood of the entire year 2020 up to this point, and you have a contrast so stark that it is difficult to imagine a more precise fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 5:3 quoted above.
This contrast is not lost on the very ones now rejoicing. A recent headline on “Slate” put it this way:
Thus they juxtapose the “doomscrolling” (i.e. the jaded perusal of an endless stream of bad news that dominated 2020) with the “gleefreshing” they are now doing: repeatedly checking — by merely refreshing the page — the news to wallow in their giddiness at Trump apparently being defeated. The politicians on the left are no less giddy. Nancy Pelosi has proclaimed “the dawning of a new day of hope for America.” Hillary Clinton said “It’s a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.”
Amidst all this celebration, America and along with it almost the entire world continues unabated the greatest genocide in history through abortion. As I pointed out in my webcast with Mark Mallett in August (beginning at the 31 minute mark), and which Fr. Heilman noted last month, legal abortion began exactly 100 years ago in the USSR. (I should note, however, that in my research I found conflicted sources: some said it was October 1920, others November 1920; perhaps we are actually mere days away from the exact 100 year anniversary). And we can rest assured that God will not tolerate much more than a century of legal abortion — the gravest institutionalized evil in history — before commencing a historically unprecedented Divine Intervention.
Combine this already stark prophetic fulfillment with today’s release of the news [of course, we all long knew that “great news” relevant to Covid would be released immediately after the election] that the forthcoming Covid vaccine is allegedly “90% effective,” with major voices now saying that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” and that “by the spring we’ll be back to normal,” and you have right now a more resounding cry of “peace and security” than one can ever remember hearing coming forth from the mainstream.
The metrics themselves that measure this mood tell the same story. The stock market means very little in and of itself — it stands so many degrees removed from reality, being as it is a mere measure of a measure of a measure, as to be almost comical — but one thing it is useful for is gauging what the super rich elites think about reality, for it measures the degree to which they are confident that the diabolical status quo will continue on, endlessly inflating without effort or genuine value added their already immense riches. I have long felt that the Chastisements will hit immediately after the Dow Jones Industrial Average attains the long sought after 30,000 mark. As I write this post, it is almost there. Perhaps you will even be able to hold your breath and watch the collapse unfold before you after it reaches that mark.
Now, I hope I’m wrong.
I’d be the first to rejoice at any genuinely good news, and I sure don’t want Fr. Michel to be right about the purification beginning this Fall — I’d much rather we receive yet another extension of the Time of Mercy, as there is so much more I’d like to do to proclaim His Mercy before these Great Events arrive. But what I want does not matter. God’s Will — whether in accord with His wanted Will or His permissive Will — is what matters. And while it’s still very possible that Fr. Michel is wrong and while I’ll continue to hope and pray that he is wrong (I definitely am not cheering on the Chastisements, that is for sure!), it’s looking increasingly like he’s not wrong. But to demonstrate this, let me not bore you any longer with my own analysis; let me, instead, turn to what the prophecies are now saying:
“Hold to the true Magisterium of the Church of Our King and Lord Jesus Christ; do not go astray—evil is wearing sheep’s clothing in order to confuse you...
People of God, pray: the events will not delay, the mystery of iniquity will appear in the absence of the Katechon (cf. II Thess 2,3-4).” — St. Michael the Archangel to Luz de Maria. November 4, 2020
This message from Luz de Maria comes a mere few days after Archbishop Vigano’s famous letter to President Trump, in which he refers to the latter as this very Katechon who holds back the Antichrist: “In Sacred Scripture, Saint Paul speaks to us of “the one who opposes” the [Antichrist, the] manifestation of the mystery of iniquity, the kathèkon (2 Thess 2:6-7). In the religious sphere, this obstacle to evil is the Church, and in particular the papacy; in the political sphere, it is those who impede the establishment of the New World Order.“
Let me reiterate that Trump is obviously no saint. For whatever reason, however, the powers that be — with their malicious plans laying the Infrastructure of the Antichrist — could neither predict nor control Trump. Therefore his presidency managed to be the present time’s Katechon — the primary secular dimension of the force that “restrained” their dark agenda which had hitherto seen only success after success. With Trump out of the way, and a more “cooperative” politician in place as the (nominally, at least) most powerful individual in the world, it is unlikely that their plans will be delayed any further.
[Side note: Be careful. Archbishop Vigano is a mixed bag. For example, he goes too far in what he says about Pope Francis and he goes too far in opposing Vatican II itself (instead of rightly opposing the false spirit of Vatican II that has caused so much damage the last several decades). Stick with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Cardinal Burke, Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Mueller, Archbishop Chaput, Bishop Schneider, Bishop Strickland, and other shepherds like them — none of whom agree with Vigano when it comes to these delicate issues. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, either: Vigano clearly has some downright prophetic truths to share, and it appears this was one of them.]
So already we see two fulfillments that must occur before the Chastisements hit: the world proclaiming “peace and security,” and the removal of the Katechon that restrains the power of the Antichrist from assuming worldwide control.
But there is another Scriptural prophecy that must be fulfilled upon the initiation of the Chastisements — what Mark Mallett and I discussed in our last webcast: Judgment beginning with the household of God.
“For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” – 1 Peter 4:17
This also happened to be the topic of my last post (“Rome Will be Destroyed”). After writing it, I had been hopeful — but not optimistic — that a retraction would be quickly issued wherein Pope Francis would apologize for and correct his error (that is, his error of endorsing homosexual civil unions — in blatant contradiction to clear Magisterial teaching, which remains binding on all Catholics):
Instead, more than a week after the scandal, the Vatican issued a “clarification” (a rather strange thing to call it, since what is already clear cannot be clarified) which contained no retraction or correction. That “clarification” came only a few days after the following message:
“…My daughter, many are wondering what else will happen, and they do not realize that everything will collapse: they have no longer respected the first commandment, they have not believed in the power of prayer and love, and they are confused and lost. … Shortly I will intervene; the great Thunder is about to arrive. … The sacraments will no longer be given and everything will change; the lies will be well orchestrated and will convince you to sin more and more. … do not be blind: only with the prayer coming out of your hearts will you be able to see the deception. …Pray for the Church, where the apostasy is to become official…” – Our Lord to Gisella Cardia. October 27th, 2020
It also comes two and a half years the following prophecy of Our Lady to Pedro Regis, which was given on the Feast of St. Peterin 2018:
“Dear children, love and defend the truth. You are the Lord’s, and He expects much from you. Bend your knees in prayer for the Church of My Jesus. The evil action of wicked men will bring great spiritual harm to My poor children.The realization of the Second Plan will be more painful.Stay with Jesus. He loves you and waits for you with Open Arms. Defend the Gospel of My Jesus without fear. Tell everyone that in God there is no half-truth. Remain faithful to the true Magisterium of the Church of My Jesus.” -Our Lady to Pedro Regis. June 29, 2018
As I was discussing this prophecy with some confidants when it was published, I wrote the following. I am including it as a direct screenshot from my inbox (with the only edit being personal emails redacted) so that you know I am not making this up:
Direct screenshot from my inbox in 2018
The “shadow Magisterium” I mentioned in that email is the heresy taught by many Catholics, many priests, many Bishops, many conferences of Bishops — heresy permitted to run wild by Pope Francis; who himself occasionally even lends it direct help with errors like the one presently being considered. Thus, the popularity of the shadow Maigsterium serves, in the permissive Will of God, to enable the Great Sifting that we are now experiencing: the wheat (the remnant Faithful) staying with the true Magisterium; the chaff welcoming the shadow Magisterium.
Contrary to the so-called “rad trads” who accuse the “Vatican II Church” of heresy, this shadow Magisterium is not found within the actual text of any actual Magisterial documents (we can rest assured of the orthodoxy of these), but it’s nevertheless what undiscerning souls throughout the world are following — supposing that in so following, they may even be in line with Christ and His Church — as they tread the path to perdition in ever increasing numbers.
At this point I can only stand by this speculation above which I offered in 2018.
That message to Pedro Regis, quoted above, also was given the same week (June 26, 2018) the following message was given by Our Lady of Zaro to Angela:
“My children, I am here again today to ask for prayer for my beloved Church. … the Church runs grave dangers; the prince of this world is about to carry out the last of his most ignoble gestures – he wants to distance God’s people from truth and faith and wants to meddle with minds in order to usurp them and take them away.” At this point I had a vision. I saw the crown of Our Lady rolling down the steps and with it Pope Francis was also falling, as if pushed from behind. The steps were filled with blood and everything became dark. Outside on the dome there were large black birds beating against the windows of St. Peter’s. Then Mother started speaking again. “Dearly beloved children, his plan is about to be realized, but do not fear. Pray with the rosary in your hands and kneel before the tabernacle, there Jesus my son is alive and true, it is there that Jesus gives the graces for which you have sighed, it is there that Jesus awaits you….” – Our Lady of Zaro
We must face the fact that the Great Apostasy that we have always known would come will indeed happen with Pope Francis at the helm of the Church. But, my usual word of caution: do not succumb to schismatic attitudes regarding our holy father, Pope Francis. He is our Pope. His actual Magisterium remains trustworthy (not to mention, binding!) I am still convinced he is a good man who is not out to deliberately undermine the Faith; it seems, rather, that he has let emotion get the best of him and has publicly voiced a folly which will, in turn, cause the destruction of many souls — a result which is certainly not his intention.
But we all know already that Popes can be wrong (and often are wrong) when they voice their own personal opinions non-Magisterially. The fact that “doctrine has not changed” in such cases does not mean that error has somehow magically been absolved of its soul-destroying qualities. We cannot just glibly assert, “Don’t worry! Doctrine hasn’t changed, marriage is still only between one man and one woman, as Pope Francis himself even says, so all is well!” Such dismissals of the present crisis are non-sequiturs. For this isn’t about the fact that we’re still safe and sound, cozy within our invincible Doctrine. We already know that Doctrine will never change. This is about the fact that a public statement from the highest moral authority on earth is gravely erroneous and soul-destroying. If that isn’t a crisis of eschatological proportions, then nothing is.
Indeed, Judgment has now begun with the household of God.
Will you, dear member of the household with God, side with the true Magisterium, which teaches unambiguously “all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions,” or will you side with the shadow Magisterium that says such unions should be endorsed? In truth, we should attenuate our complaints about “confusion.” There really isn’t any. The Bible is completely clear on this matter and on all the related matters that are bound up in the present strife between the Shadow and the True. The Catechism is completely clear on these matters. The difficulty lies not in knowing what is the right thing to do. The difficulty lies in willing it; in choosing it even when it makes you an outcast within the circles you hold most dear.
But, as usual, my aim is not presenting commentary, but rather providing exhortation to the Faithful to fulfill their calling to rise up and be the great saints prophesied for this age. Whether or not any of my eschatological speculations regarding present matters now in the news prove true is not particularly important — I offer all such speculation only because I think they are helpful in encouraging the Faithful to be more zealous in doing what they ought to be doing anyway. So let us return our attention to the same Scriptural passage with which this post began; or, rather, the very next verses:
“But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. “ 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5
So let us not sleep; let us rather be Sons of Light. Be Sons of Light by remaining in a state of grace, loving and forgiving all, believing everything that the Church teaches, going to confession, praying the Rosary, going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist as often as possible — every day if you can, praying and evangelizing like never before, striving to Live in the Divine Will and working to zealouslyproclaim the Kingdom.
Do these things and you needn’t have even the slightest fear about what is coming upon the world.Be completely and utterly at peace. Even more: be filled with such joy that you are so blessed to be alive right now, during the most exciting time in history, wherein God is preparing to fulfill the promise He made 2,000 years ago: that His Kingdom would come and His Will would be done on earth as It is in Heaven!
You, dear Sons and Daughters of Light, have indeed been chosen to help hasten the Coming of Christ’s Kingdom. So remember to be Sons of Light by opposing the Devil’s plans actively. Being a member of the Church Militant is not a matter of being on the defensive against the devil; it is about being on the offensive against him; destroying his works by God’s grace.
In May of this year, I wrote about how everything we are witnessing regarding the world’s response to Coronavirus is a point-by-point Devil’s Dress Rehearsal and laying out of the Infrastructure of the Antichrist. I just discovered that a renowned exorcist made exactly the same point in September. Therefore, while the devil is laying his diabolical infrastructure, let us lay an infinitely more powerful one: The Infrastructure of Christ’s Kingdom. Thankfully, this holy infrastructure is not only much stronger, but also much easier to lay down. Something so simple as a little holy card with the Divine Mercy image can do the trick and can snatch a soul out of the clutches of the devil.
To this end, we’ve finally finished mailing out the first round of requests of Evangelization Cards. Special thanks to my wife, Regina, who did almost all of the work involved in this. (Okay, she had TONS of help from the 6, 4, 2, and 0 year olds :-) ). Here is a shot of them hard at work getting ready a small fraction of the overall amount of card shipments we’ve sent out so far (I believe we’ve so far mailed out about 30,000-40,000 cards in the last 2 months — thanks again to C for her generosity in making this possible!)
Unfortunately I didn’t calculate the required postage correctly for all of them, and a number of packages were returned and I’m sure others still got lost in the mail, so feel free to place another request if, after this week, you still haven’t received your batch (or if you’ve already gone through them and need more!). We’re just about ready to start sending out more cards, soif you’d like a batch of these cards, feel free to fill out this form to place a request, and we’ll fulfill as many requests as we can. Here, again, is what the cards look like, front and back (they are the size of business cards):
I was deeply moved by the testimonies that so many of you included with your request. Know that you have inspired me greatly! Soon I hope to go through them and post some excerpts (anonymously) here, to likewise inspire others to proclaim Christ’s infinite Mercy.
Remember that the closer we come to the close of the Time of Mercy, the more superabundantly God will bless our efforts to proclaim His Name. So get to work! Let Our Lady be your Queen and Commander in this most noble conquest, and God will work marvels through you — marvels that will change the course of history.
“She will act as Queen amid Her children on earth; She will place at their disposal Her seas of graces, of sanctity, of power; She will put to flight all the enemies. She will raise Her children on Her lap, She will hide them within Her light, covering them with Her love, nourishing them with Her own hands, with the food of the Divine Will. What will this Mother and Queen not do in the midst of this Kingdom – Her children and Her people? She will give unheard-of graces, surprises never before seen, miracles that will shake Heaven and earth. We will give Her all the free field, that She may form for Us the Kingdom of Our Will upon earth. She will be the guide, the true model, and It will also be the Kingdom of the Celestial Sovereign Queen. Therefore, you too, pray together with Her, and in due time you will obtain the intent.”
-Jesus to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta. July 14, 1935
If we ever needed a reminder that the prophecies here quoted will indeed be fulfilled, we were given that reminder today; the very day after Pedro Regis’ message above. Pope Francis just endorsed legal same-sex unions (i.e. “gay civil unions”).
Pope Francis is not the Antichrist, nor is he the False Prophet. But boy is the confusion that he has long been allowing to run rampant laying the groundwork for the imminent public entrance of both.
In this particular case, however, Pope Francis is not merely allowing confusion or speaking ambiguously. No, here he is directly promoting grave error from his own lips. (In, I should add, a completely non-Magisterial context that is in no way binding on any Catholic).
I am not joining certain Pope-rejectors with this post, and I am not advocating that any of my readers do so. Falling from grace on the Right (by, for example, succumbing to schism) is just as real a possibility as falling from grace on the Left (though the latter is admittedly an exponentially more common fate). I am not accusing the Pope of teaching heresy, nor am I rebelling against his authority. I am a Catholic, which means the Pope is my spiritual father. I obey the 4th Commandment, therefore I continue to honor the Pope and submit to his Magisterium. I always will render the Vicar of Christ this honor. But sometimes charity itself demands that even the Pope be called out, and this is such a time. (For me to fail to do so would be to dishonor Pope Francis’s own words when, as Pope, he admonished Catholics to criticize him publicly if that was needed. Well, now it is needed.)
In a talk I gave this past weekend, I strongly stressed my usual exhortation that I have been emphasizing for the last 5 years especially: in these perilous times, the straight and narrow way of Our Lord has become razor thin, but it is urgent that we remain on it. Are you confused as to what it is? Then ignore the news, ignore the social media, ignore the various Bishop’s opinions, and yes, even at times ignore Pope Francis’ personal opinions and various non-Magisterial teachings… and open up the Catechism and the Bible, read what they say, then submit. Period. There is no ambiguity at all in Church Teaching or Scriptural Teaching on homosexuality or any of the other “hot button” issues today. Do not, dear reader, think that you will be excused by God for succumbing to error on these serious matters under the charade of appealing to what this or that priest, Bishop, or even Pope is saying. You know better, and you know that you know better.
What we are seeing being fulfilled before our very eyes is exactly what we should have been expecting if the prophetic consensus of the last few decades is authentic — and I assure you that it is: a Great Apostasy wherein grave error reaches the very highest heights that Divine Providence could possibly allow it to reach (i.e. just shy of heresy being Magisterially taught), wherein the vast majority of the Faithful succumb… with Great Chastisements coinciding with this and immediately following this, and the Era of Peace to, in turn, follow them.
Today (October 21, 2020, ironically enough the vigil of the Feast of Pope St. John Paul II, that heroic defender of orthodoxy) the razor-thin straight and narrow just became microscopic, and the ones who should be helping the faithful stay on it are the very ones prodding the Faithful along the path to perdition.
“How many executioners of souls there are in my Church! There are executioners attached to interests, who make a slaughter of souls, and who, with their example, instead of rendering souls detached from all that is earth, engulf them even more…These are all slaughters of souls. How much pain does my Heart not feel, in seeing that the very ones who were to help and sanctify souls, are the cause of their ruin.”
Jesus to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta. May 18, 1923
There is nothing new about the fact that a number of Pope Francis’ personal opinions, which he has not Magisterially taught, are in error. For example, he is dead wrong on Our Lady. He says it is “foolishness” to refer to her as Co-Redemptrix… when, in fact, she is Co-Redemptrix (I solemnly assure you of that), and it is utterly urgent that the Church dogmatically recognize her as such. He often takes a dismissive attitude to private revelation. He clearly holds erroneous opinions on his own Magisterium, siding with the heretical interpretation of Amoris Laetitia promoted by (for example) the Bishops of Argentina, which allows for unrepentant adulterers to be validly absolved and licitly receive Communion. This list could be continued for some time.
But what is new is the fact that the present error being promoted by Pope Francis isgravely contrary to the most fundamental tenets of the natural law. No one — not even a non-Catholic, not even a non-Christian — can be excused from such an error, since the natural law is written by God on each of our hearts.
And if the natural law teaches anything at all, then it surely teaches — universally, clearly, and absolutely — that God made us male and female, and that sexual relationships are only ever licit between members of the opposite sex. It is no use protesting “but Pope Francis is not directly approving of homosexual acts here; he’s simply saying that these homosexual relationships must be legally protected and helped.” That is nonsense.
Formal cooperation with evil is itself always likewise evil (whereas material cooperation — e.g. paying your taxes even though your government does evil things — can sometimes be justified).
Explicitly endorsing an act always constitutes formal cooperation with that act.
Granting an act legal blessings is itself an endorsement of that act.
It is one thing for a government to allow these grave contradictions of the natural law (as the U.S. did federally with Lawrence vs. Texas), it is infinitely more grave and inexcusable to endorse them.
It is said that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” and indeed it would. Likewise, a pile of manure by any other name would smell as vile. How exactly does a homosexual “civil union” that is — in the substance of its civil benefits, by virtue of which its essence is defined and understood — identical to a legal marriage become any more worthy of our approval simply by giving it another name? Please tell me, Pope Francis: if homosexual civil unions are not approving of homosexuality, then what is?
If we need legal homosexual unions under the pretense of treating homosexual persons with dignity, justice, and charity (and of course we must indeed treat them with dignity), then we likewise should give vouchers to alcoholics so they can purchase more Vodka (without which they will suffer), legalize all drugs so that addicts can more safely acquire the objects of their addiction, allow duels to be contractually regulated to keep them a bit less messy, legalize and regulate prostitution so that it can be amicably undertaken, and on the list goes. And let’s not forget that we must, then, also have civil unions for polygamists, pedophiles, incestuous couples, and those who prefer bestiality. We must ensure that “sex change operations” are covered by medical insurance. We must, in a word, ensure that every perversion under the sun is amiably regulated and blessed by a government institution dedicated to its service.
Of course, that is all patently ridiculous. Insert any other sin, evil, or vice into the blank other than ones that are politically correct to endorse (i.e. homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion), and any sane person immediately realizes that legally endorsing them is itself an evil.
But I do not want to drone on about this any longer; the coming days will doubtless provide endless commentary from every corner of the Catholic blogosphere.
My aim here, as always, is not to present commentary. My aim is practical: to do my part to help my readers remain in God’s Grace — to help them remain on that razor thin straight and narrow; to help them prepare their souls for the unprecedented times about to break upon the Church and the world. You will be ready if you persevere to the end, come what may, in the Faith. If you succumb to the ways of the world — which will only be foisted upon you with ever greater aggression in the coming days — then your immortal soul is in grave danger.
The fence is now being violently shaken, and very soon no one will remain sitting on it any longer. The wheat and the chaff will be separated, and if you do not choose your side with your whole heart right now, there is no knowing which side you will actually wind up on once this shaking becomes more violent still.
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