No Man Can Serve Two Masters.
Matthew 6:24
For Either He Will Hate The One, And Love The Other:
Or He Will Sustain The One, And Despise The Other.
The above quotation from St Matthew’s Gospel, pertains to more than just money. In many situations throughout our lives, we are called to choose between God and other things or people that we may love. A baptised Catholic relative decides to get married outside of the Church in a registry office. Family members must choose between God, who is master of the sacrament of matrimony, and between the secular State, which seeks to usurp God’s role in marriage and proclaim itself the master of marriage. For a Catholic to attend such a civil marriage ceremony is to deny God’s authority over marriage. A Catholic who attends such an event whilst proclaiming their loyalty to the Catholic Faith, is trying to serve two masters, and it cannot be done.
Similarly, the Catechism teaches us that there are three Sacraments of Christian initiation.
“The sacraments of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundations of every Christian life. “The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, they thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.”(CCC 1212)
The Catechism also teaches us that the sacrament of confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.
“Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the “sacraments of Christian initiation,” whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For “by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.” (CCC 1285)
It is therefore very sad to see Catholic Bishops in Ireland postponing the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation for Catholic children, at the behest of the secular government. The Bishops cannot serve two masters and, in delaying and preventing children from coming to the fullness of Christian initiation through reception of the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation, these bishops are denying grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the children who are due to receive these sacraments. They are keeping some of the “treasures of the divine life” from children and slowing down these children’s “advance toward the perfection of charity” by delaying and denying them these sacraments.
This is done in the name of health, but the data on Covid-19 clearly shows that children are not at any great risk from Covid-19 and if they were at risk, it would make it all the more urgent to complete their initiation into the Catholic Church.
Once again, we can see the need to pray urgently for our Bishops that they will put the commands of God before the commands of men. So, let us pray an Ave for our bishops.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
We must also commend Bishop Kevin Doran, of the Elphin Diocese, who recently responded to a comment by Minister Josepha Madigan by saying, with regard to the sacraments of baptism, first Holy Communion and Confrmation in the Elphin Diocese, – “…we will celebrate our Sacraments in our Churches and we will do it as safely and carefully as we celebrate our Sunday Masses.”
Please God, Bishop Doran is waking up to the tyranny and persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland and that he will continue to resist and push back against corrupt government restrictions on religious practice and worship.
The bishops who have again postponed the sacraments in their dioceses, show a lack of awareness of the supernatural character of the Catholic Church. The Catechism teaches us, “The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments.” (CCC 1113), and yet our bishops are denying and restricting access to the very lifeblood of every Catholic.
“In the liturgy of the New Covenant every liturgical action, especially the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, is an encounter between Christ and the Church.” (CCC 1097)
When the Irish bishops postpone sacraments or restrict access to the Sacraments they are denying faithful Catholics access to Jesus Christ Himself. They are blocking Catholics from the source of supernatural life.
In Knock, Ireland’s National Catholic Shrine, Catholics are being denied access to the Sacrament of Confession if they do not wear a facemask because they are legally exempt from wearing one. The security staff in Knock, with the support of Archbishop Michael Neary, and the parish priest, Fr Richard Gibbons, are acting contrary, both to the law of the Catholic Church and to the laws of Ireland in blocking access to the sacrament of confession.
They are putting souls in danger and they are free to act with impunity in this matter because the only way to stop them from committing these abuses is to take them to the secular courts and no Catholic wants to do this. However, they will answer for their negligence before the Supreme Judge at their particular judgements.
Catholics must realise that there is a war going on for the souls of men. It is interesting to look at the lyrics of America’s National Anthem – ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. The song is all about a flag – the symbol of the American nation, and whether or not it continues to fly in the midst of a war.
Symbolism always has a place wherever there is war going on. The army seeks to place their flag on enemy territory to show that they have conquered that area or battle ground. They may seek to get the enemy to wear a badge to show his submission and so that he can be easily identified. In today’s world, the covid-19 face masks represent a symbol of submission. They are like a flag of conquest of a population.
The gay pride flag is another flag of conquest to show that the enemies of the dangerous and false LGBT ideology have been conquered. That is why the pride flags are flown on government buildings, on Catholic schools, in Catholic children’s hospitals, and outside of Catholic Churches. It is to show that the false LGBT ideology and its practitioners have conquered these places.
Recently a pride weekend was held in County Mayo and there was an event called, ‘The Big Gay Hike’, where LGBT supporters climbed St Patrick’s Holy Mountain bringing their gay pride flags with them. This was an attempt at conquest, to claim the mountain from the Catholic Church for the LGBT brigade.
In one of the local Mayo villages, a hotel, which is owned by a Catholic family, and where a prominent member of the family is on the local parish council, they flew the gay pride flags outside.
I am told that in June, many shops in this village had small decorated altars and statues erected outside or in their windows to honour Jesus Christ in the Corpus Christi procession. Yet a month later, some of these same shops were displaying the flag of the enemies of Christ, the gay pride flag.
It is not a coincidence that the LGBT ideologists have corrupted and co-opted the symbol of God’s covenant with Noah, the rainbow. They are using a very definite symbolism to show that they seek to conquer Catholicism and to subject it to their false, soul destroying, immoral lifestyles.
Sad to say, they have been very successful in their hostile take-over operations and many Catholics, of all ranks, have caved to the social pressure to salute the gay pride flag.
The ideology has also found its way into Catholic schools and the Irish National Teachers Organisation actively promotes the false and dangerous LGBT ideology to primary school children. As we have noted before, this is a form of child abuse and our bishops are not publicly opposing this corruption of the minds of children.
For example, in a resource available on the INTO website called ‘We All Belong’, they recommend several LGBT themed books. One of these books is called ‘A Tale of Two Mammies’.
In a section titled ‘LGBT Families – Junior and Senior Infants’ – they tell us why a teacher might like to use this book with the 4 – 6 year old children who are in Junior and Senior infants.
“Why use this resource sheet and book?
Using this book will stimulate discussion around different family types. It will allow children to develop their own understanding by asking questions and challenging their own concepts and ideas around family types. It can be used to introduce the concept of families with two mums, two dads, single parent families and so on. It shows how families act in similar ways.
*Also available: A Tale of Two Daddies” (source – https://www.into.ie/app/uploads/2019/10/We-All-Belong-Picture-Books-Resource.pdf)
Any Catholic parent will immediately realise that the purpose of these lessons is not to, “allow children to develop their own understanding by asking questions and challenging their own concepts and ideas around family types”. Rather, these lessons are designed to indoctrinate 4 – 6 year old children into acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle and this is child abuse, plain and simple. This child abuse is being promoted by the largest primary teachers union in Ireland with virtually no opposition from our Irish Catholic bishops.
As I pointed our in our July – August ‘Christ is King’ newsletter:
“Secular western governments, including Ireland’s, have a false understanding of human sexuality which directly contradicts Catholic teaching. Therefore, conflict between the Catholic Church and the secular state is inevitable. It is imperative that our bishops not only fully engage in this conflict, but that they win this conflict over what is taught in Catholic schools because the future salvation of Catholic children is what is at stake. Our Lord’s words about those who scandalise children will await those bishops who fail to protect children from the false and dangerous LGBT ideology”
This is a war and our children are now the prizes to be won on the battlefield. Our enemies seek to destroy the innocence of our Catholic children and our Irish bishops are making no attempt to defend the city from this form of child abuse whose promoters are very well organised and have access to millions of euros in government and other funds.
Given that the National Centre for Curriculum Assessment, NCCA, is currently working behind the scenes and in league with many of the LGBT ideologists in order to produce a mandatory curriculum to force this corrupt ideology onto Irish Catholic school children, a group has come together to protest this abuse of children. They are calling themselves ‘Parent’s Rights Alliance’ and they seek to lobby against the NCCA’s approach to Relationships and Sexuality Education.
It is imperative for Catholic parents to protect their children from these abusers. As Father Seán Cunningham O.P. used to tell myself and my wife, the parent’s job is to place themselves between their child and any harm that threatens them and to protect their children with their lives if necessary. This is part of our job, which is to get ourselves and our children to Heaven.
The story is told of Saint Constantine’s vision whilst preparing for the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Saint Constantine looked up at the sun and saw a cross of light above it with the words ‘in hoc signo vinces’ – in this sign you will conquer. The cross was emblazoned on the military standards used by his army and on the shields of his soldiers and they went on to win the war.
We too will win the war for our children provided we march under the banner of the cross, boldly proclaiming the full teachings of the Catholic Church, especially with regard to marriage and family life, and provided we are prepared to fight valiantly and without ceasing to protect our children from this latest form of institutionalised child abuse that is engulfing our society.
We must also constantly bear in mind, that our real enemy is the devil and his minions, and we must earnestly seek and pray for the salvation of those who have become caught up in the false and dangerous LGBT ideology.
That these people see children as targets was confirmed in a recent video made by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus who sang:
“You think that we’ll corrupt your kids if our agenda goes unchecked. Just this once … you’re correct. We’ll convert your children, happens bit by bit, quietly and subtly. We’ll convert your children, reaching one and all. There’s really no escaping it. We’re coming for your children! We’re coming for your children! We’re coming for your children!”
Milo Yiannopoulos commenting about these people said.
“Years ago, overbearing mothers, absent or abusive fathers, and paedophile priests snatched the joy these men were born to experience — the joy of God’s love for them. All that’s left now is sullen, sodden, sick-making grotesque. Pity them. Pray for them. And — whatever you do, please — keep your children away from them.”
Catholic fathers must unite to form a Holy army of valiant Catholic warriors who are willing to stand up to protect women and children from this dangerous ideology.
