"...The Church suffers greatly, but alone...we slumber..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our Parish is beginning another 6 week series for “Returning Catholics” on Apr. 25, 2015. Please pray with and for us that many will come “home” to Our Father’s House. I read an article this morning which addresses this issue, here is an excerpt:

…How Many Souls Will Lose Their Faith?
Certain truths about God and our supernatural end we can learn by using the reason He has given us. Because our reason has been clouded by sin, however, we can know other truths only because God has taught us. In His infinite goodness, He has revealed them to us in the Old and New Testaments.

Our belief in Revelation is grounded in the virtue of faith. Without faith there is no salvation, but no one can make an act of faith without the supernatural help of God’s grace. God offers this grace to all men, but He showers it in torrential abundance on the members of His Mystical Body, the Church. Through faith, the Holy Ghost dwells within us, sanctifying our bodies as His holy temple (cf. 1 Cor. 6:19). To abandon the Faith is to reject the Holy Ghost, to expel Jesus Christ from our souls.

Yet, around us we see many Catholics who have rejected the Faith. They were baptized, but in the course of time they lost their faith. Alas, they suffered this loss through their own fault, for howsoever enticed by others, no one loses his faith without mortal fault. Behold them, indifferent and hostile, thinking, feeling, and living like pagans. They may be our relatives, our neighbors, perhaps even our friends. Their disgrace is immense. The mark of their baptism is indelible.

Marked for heaven, they are bound for hell. The blood of Christ has been sprinkled on their souls, and no one can efface it, yet they defile it by adopting principles and norms that violate the doctrines of Christ’s Church.

And we? Are we troubled? Are we concerned? Does this pain us? Do we pray for their conversion? Make reparation? Are we apostolic? Where is our counseling? Our argumentation? Our charity? Where is our fearless and energetic defense of the truths that they deny or insult?

The Sacred Heart of Jesus bleeds because of this. It bleeds for the apostasies of these souls and for our indifference, an indifference that is twice guilty because it is indifferent to our neighbor and, first and foremost, to God.

How many souls around the world are losing their faith? Consider the endless numbers of impious newspapers and magazines, broadcasts and films, that flood the world daily. Consider the innumerable workers of Satan who, in academia, in the bosom of the family, in meeting rooms, in places of entertainment, propagate impious ideas. The consequences are before us. Institutions, customs, and art are becoming ever more de-Christianized, an undeniable indication that the entire world is losing God.

Is there not some great scheme in all of this? Can so many articulate and uniform methods, united in their objectives and development, be merely coincidental? Since when have spontaneous motions concertedly produced the most complete, organized, extensive, ingenious, and formidable ideological offensive in history, fully consistent in its essence, its goals, and its development?

We don’t think about it. We don’t even perceive it. We sleep the heavy sleep of our daily lives. Why are we not more vigilant? The Church suffers greatly, but alone. Far from Her, very far from Her, we slumber. The scene in the Garden of Olives is repeated…

The author died in 1995, but we see the tragic continuance of the continuing “slumber of the Church” today 2015. Lord have Mercy on us. Mary, Mother of the Church pray for us.

 

[DesertSister62]

The post referenced above is by Plinio Correa de Oliveira from the article, “Embracing Christ and the Cross” at The American Society for the Defense of TRADITION, FAMILY AND PROPERTY, only the original article is quite a bit longer. You can find it here;

tfp.org/tfp-home/plinio-correa-de-oliveira/embracing-christ-and-the-cross.html

The author passed away in 1995 but the information above remains very timely and provides us with some very important insights in our troubled and dangerous time. For those who are interested, there are many other articles by this same author on this website.

*** “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15)***

Thank you for sharing this information, “MariaChristi!”

DesertSister62

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear DesertSister62,

Thanks for your reply. I didn’t include the full reference for a couple of reasons, but God seems to have allowed it for His Purpose which is always best. Thanks for adding the link for anyone desiring to read the whole article.

May this Easter Season be filled with new graces for all.