The First Shockwave

    I don't know about you, but I can hardly keep up with what is happening. It's all escalating at a rapid pace just as Our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. This past week three major shock waves hit the newswires and I'm not talking about the continuing terrorism shockwaves in Iraq and the Holy Land where the innocent are being sacrificed on the Islamic altar of a pagan jihad. The first shockwave that should shake every Christian the world over was Massachusetts' abominable 4-3 decision to recognize the incomprehensible: sodomites mocking the holy sacrament of matrimony. Who but satan would mock the sacred? I strongly recommend you read Catholic Apologist extraordinaire Bob Sungenis' excellent commentary The Massachusetts Decision on Gay Marriage and Its Connection to the American Catholic Church by scrolling down to "What's New?" midway on his frames page to the right. And you wonder why Ted Kennedy rules? You wonder what's going on in the Boston Archdiocese? This should answer some of your questions. His preceding commentary The Church's Apostasy in Light of Jesus' Promise that the Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail will also wake up many to what we have been saying for two years until we're blue in the face and why we're blue in the face.

    Another who has written about this is Bill Keller, a Protestant televangelist who marshals an impressive amount of readers with his daily devotionals from his www.liveprayer.com website as well as many viewers of his television shows. We have corresponded often about various issues. I have criticized him in brotherly love when he veers from the infrangible truths of Christian teaching, and I have applauded him often for telling it like it is. I disagree strongly with his thinking that all one needs to do to be saved is to accept Jesus into your life. No, in that we strongly disagree for, as Our Lord affirms, one needs to believe and be baptized and to keep the Baptismal vows as Christ commanded in Mark 16: 15-16. We all know Our Lord said very clearly, those who do not believe and are not baptized, "shall be condemned!"

    Virtually all in the Traditional Catholic movement, are sincere in speaking out forcefully to admonish our brothers that only through Baptism and living our faith and seeking to remain in the state of sanctifying grace are we eligible to partake in the benefits of Heavenly destination through the merits of Jesus Christ. That means Jews, Moslems, Buddhist, Hindu and the like cannot be saved without Christ, without baptism. That can only be accomplished through conversion, not compromise. It's as simple as that. We must never veer from that in standing strong to do our part in stopping the abuses and returning morality and virtue to society. In this, I daresay, Bill Keller is more Catholic in missionary zeal than any neo-Catholic bishop I know of. Bill wrote yesterday,

"God-vs-satan. God versus satan is like the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing against the best high school football team in the nation. As good as that high school team may be, they are over-matched in every area and have NO CHANCE to win. There is one scenario however, in which the high school team is able to win. That is if the Bucs don't show up for the game and lose by a forfeit. If you read the last chapters of the Bible, you know that in the end God will defeat satan and send him into the Lake of Fire for eternity (Rev. 20:10). Until that time, satan is a very real enemy that can only win when God is not present...

    The reason satan has won this battle is simple, THERE NEVER WAS A BATTLE! Instead of going head to head with satan, Christians decided to not fight. What Christians have done in the last 40 years is like Moses not trying to cross the Read Sea. What Christians have done in the last 40 years is like David running from Goliath. What Christians have done in the last 40 years is like Stephen keeping his mouth shut. What Christians have done in the last 40 years is RUN FROM satan. We set up our own TV stations and networks, set up our own radio stations and networks, wrote our own books and magazines, made movies and music for ourselves.

    We decided to NOT FIGHT for the mainstream vehicles that the people of the world are plugged into every day. Instead, we set up our own vehicles that are geared to only reach those who are already in the church. If people outside the church were "accidentally" reached that was fine, but these are vehicles clearly designed to take the message of Christ to the people of Christ and NOT to the world at large in which we live.

    Being a huge sports fan, I have always loved I Kings chapter 18. There are lots of rich battles in the OT, like David and Goliath, the children of Israel against those people who denied the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the account in 1 Kings chapter 18 of God versus the prophets of Baal is THE BEST! This was bigger than the Super Bowl. It was literally God -vs- satan. If it was a football game, it would have been 77-0! God wiped satan out. The great lesson here is two-fold. First, the people of God must be bold enough to pit God against satan like Elijah was, and second, God will NEVER lose!

    I love you and care about you so much. As you can tell even from these written words, this is something that I have great passion about. We as the people of God have got to become more bold and not be afraid to take God outside the four walls of the church and into this lost and sinful world. Head to head with satan, God will win EVERY TIME!"

    Interesting, isn't it? Note his reference to the "last 40 years"? And he is making no reference whatsoever to Vatican II and yet we all know that it was Vatican II which opened Pandora's Box to the terrible situation we have today. Yes, the Church, long the guardian of morals and virtue, is the main culprit responsible for the three shocking scandals listed here.

The Second Shockwave

    The second shockwave was, of course the one which Catholics everywhere are perplexed and rightly indignant about: that the venerated Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal will undergo an extreme make-over and become an interfaith shrine with a "stadium-like seating 'basilica'" that best resembles either a griddle or a fiddle. Either way, an abomination! Poor Pope Pius IX would shudder in horror. So should we.

    If Fatima is going to be an 'interfaith' shrine, what better ecumenical gesture than to choose a Greek Orthodox architect with a warped sense of reverence to build a stadium-like monstrosity that defies imagination? Isn't ecumania amazing?! The name of the architect is A. N. Tombazis who heads A. N. Tombazis and Associates Architects at Polydroso in Athens, Greece. The plans have been on the board for well over a year! We're just hearing about it now! Tombazis was chosen the 'first place' winner in an international competition in Septemer 2002. What warped minds at Fatima were sitting on the panel of decision makers? Did you know it also will cost at least $45 million? Who would be stupid enough to contribute to this aberration? Apparently the neo-Catholics. Why? Because they'll buy anything!

    Despite Fitzgerald's obvious and surface denial, it is true and was confirmed by John Vennari (see his first-hand account at Fatima to Become Interfaith Shrine? An Account From One Who Was There). This, by the way was on the drawing table well over a year ago, but few paid heed. Vennari was there this year and heard it from the horses' - or in this case: jackasses' - mouths.

    Now, I shouldn't use such an offensive word to describe a stubborn mule, but that is nothing compared to the third shockwave that, for some reason, has flown beneath the radar of the national media and most Catholic publications. It is one that should have every child of God outraged to the max. Folks, there is no longer anything sacred. The profane has taken over. Witness what Bill Keller also said in that same Daily Devotional from November 19th:

   "Sadly, this world that we live in, our culture, is NOT going to ever get better. The social issues that we fight like divorce, abortion, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, declining morals and ethics, drugs and alcohol, are never going to get better...only worse as time goes on. What has helped to feed this steady decline in our culture is the media. Radio, television, the Internet, movies, music, and publications. What fuels the media is advertising.

    Satan is the 'prince of the power of the air,' and has slowly but surely WON the battle for the media which he uses to feed his lies to the masses worldwide 24/7. Satan has WON the battle in the advertising world which is the fuel the media machine runs on. As each day, each week, each month, each year passes, satan becomes more bold in using the media to fulfill his mission which is to kill, steal, and destroy the lives of people!"

The Third Shockwave

    Bill Keller has nailed it and for proof of what he says, consider what was sent to us from the American Family Association, on November 15th. It is this shocking, and I mean 'shocking!' revelation of what the FCC has approved.

"The Federal Communications Commission has approved the use of the 'F' word for use on any TV show or radio program, ANYTIME DAY OR NIGHT!

The FCC said the word can be used whenever desired except in sexual situations!

That means that real soon you will be watching a sit-com on TV, or news, or any drama or movie - ANY PROGRAM - and it's ok! Hollywood is rejoicing!

Soon, when you are driving your kids to school you will be listening to a song which makes extensive use of the word.

Shock jocks such as Howard Stern are now free to use any language, no matter how vile and repugnant, on their radio shows. And use it they will.

No longer will movies shown on TV have to be edited because of language."

    Just what we all wanted to hear, right? No more bleeps, no more censors, no more safeguards. Anything goes. If that particular 'F***' word and all its crude, obscene, disgusting and ignorant extensions that make it a noun, adjective, verb, adverb, exclamation, etc. just cuts to your craw and wounds the heart like it does me, then you should be outraged beyond description right now. This is the final straw. Indeed, nothing is sacred.

    AFA is advocating writing your congressman, but that will bring about the same results as writing the Vatican: nothing! No, folks, we're well past protesting and hoping man has the answer. Prayer is the only answer. That and ramping up the shock of showing those who persist in wallowing in this godless culture the state of their soul. Hopefully that will shock them into doing something before it's too late.

    How many realize what will happen to those young minds being fashioned, those young 'uns still breast-feeding? Our Lord foretold of all this very clearly in Matthew 24: 16-35. He prefaced it all with his statement in verse 15, "When therefore, you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place; he that readeth let him understand."

    What other signs do we need to realize we are in those times? How do we protect the spiritual welfare of those we are commissioned to watch over? We are 34 years and counting into the time of the "abomination of desolation" - id est, the man-made sacrilegious Novus Ordo. Is it not time to flee to the mountains, to not take anything out of your homes - especially your TV sets or radios? Is it not time to stand up for the Lord regardless of the consequences? Is it not time to divest yourself of worldly trappings and conserve your spiritual treasures? Forget your coat, stay out of the field. Find refuge in the mountains. Be practical and prepare. That's what Christ tells us.

    He also has warned us to discern carefully the great signs and wonders produced by the false Christs and false prophets. So impressive would they be that they would "deceive (if it were possible) even the elect." Don't you wonder about that passage? Christ didn't say "if it were possible"; that was added by St. Matthew because he himself couldn't believe such a thing plausible. But indeed, in our day and time it is very plausible for the elect - the hierarchy (either knowingly or unknowingly) have been deceived and because of it, they have deceived others, countless others. Those perpetrators will have to account for this. Their sentence will be determined by their degree of knowledge, involvement and the severity of their actions. Yes, there are consequences. They will have to answer for them.

    And so will we if we sit idly by and do nothing as Bill Keller and Bob Sungenis reference in their commentaries, and as the Apostle St. John confirms in Apocalypse 3: 14-22 what the Spirit says to the Angel of the church of Laodicia:

"I know thy works: that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot; but because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor not, I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest: 'I am rich, and made wealthy, and I have need of nothing; and thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be made rich, and mayest be clothed in white garments, and the shame of thy nakedness may not appear; and anoint thy eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Those whom I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous, therefore, and do penance. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man shall hear My voice, and open to Me the gate, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and be with Me. To him that shall overcome, I will give to sit with Me on My throne: as I also have overcome, and have sat with My Father on His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches."

    Those words say it all. Only by being clothed in the white garment of sanctifying grace are we worthy of Christ and only by hiding our faults, sins and vices through sacrifice of the flesh and guarding the eyes from temptation with the eyesalve of virtue can we stay in the state of sanctifying grace. That is why Our Lord rebukes and chastises us to make sure we stay on the straight and narrow. He provides the vehicle for this in the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist for that is the only way we can sup with Christ: by being in the state of sanctifying grace.