The Battle has just begun...

When will we as Catholics wake-up? When will we pick up our flippin' swords and march into battle like the brave Ecclesia Militans that God has ordained us to be? When will we stop hiding behind social-justice causes and poor interpretations of the Eight Beatitudes? When will we stand up and be persecuted, killed, maimed, and burned at the stake for our Savior and for the Faith?

What was that? You didn't know that was part of the deal? Oh yeah, all that and MORE! Not only that, but you should embrace it. We should all have as our own personal mottos: "Ready my stake!" In other words, we should be ready to both die for the Faith, and accept that our persecution is coming... because it is! Unfortunately too many Catholics think that we are somehow all destined for heaven simply because we say we are Catholic and attempt to be good people. I don't know about you, but I am scared out of my mind at the judgment I have coming... I want to live to an old age simply so that I have as much time as possible to do penance for all the horrible things I have done in my short life up to this point.

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For those newer readers, you may not have read an old post of mine: "The World HATES you" In that post I explained that, point blank - we are told that the world will HATE us because of Jesus. 

If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
-John 15:19

Are you ready for this?

Yet, we walk around as if the world is just going to love us because we are so kind. Sure we should try and love one another, but it ain't gonna' happen folks, it just isn't. We are at war! But of course, due to the modernist infestation in our Church, folks run around hiding behind the Beatitudes as if they were somehow a declaration of what we are instead of what we are supposed to strive to be. They are aspirational  and not declarative - trust me, few of us are good enough to ever get there.  So why do we hide behind them, as if they are justification for us being feeble and weak? Meek doesn't mean "passive aggressive" does it?

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Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the problem is me. Maybe we are supposed to be complacent and accepting of whatever is shoved at us during Mass. Maybe the Pro-Life cause isn't that important because it is open to interpretation. Maybe the Saints lives are simply "fun Catholic fables." I don't know... maybe I am just the remnant of some outdate religion that no longer exists...

The hanging of St. John Ogilvie

...because the Catholicism I know is filled with people like Solanus Casey, Padre Pio, Joan of Arc, and John Ogilvie! I have blogged the last few months in this haze of complacency. I was worried about offending folks because there were those starting to pressure me to "calm my rhetoric." Well... it ain't gonna happen! I am not going to get to the gates of heaven and have St. Peter ask me why I didn't at least try and defend the faith... I'd rather seek forgiveness than wait for permission. We don't have parishes around here that are willing to support us in Catechesis so it is up to us!

Our priests have been neutered. In many places priests are second-class citizens behind the chancery and some aging parish administrator. Their powers are limited to administering the Sacraments at the behest of some lay administrator whose only goal is to ensure that every last bit of tradition is stamped out of the Faith. I am not sure if they are upset that they never understood the tradition, or if their lifestyle is just so contrary to the principles of the Faith that their only hope for Salvation is to hope that God accepts their version of Faith. Sometimes I wonder if they are trying harder to convince us or themselves that their version of Catholic is Truth...

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So don't relent folks. Don't believe the protestant-esque hype that we are "once saved, always saved." Conversion is the easy part... living it is the hard part. Authenticity is a pain in the rear... because it takes honesty, repentance, penance, and pain. Martyrs didn't die on the rack, burned at the stake, and have their last vision be their bowels as they were ripped from them while still breathing so that you and I could stand around after Mass drinking free trade coffee talking about our free pass to Heaven. No they sacrificed limb and life so that the message of truth and Kingdom of God would persevere on Earth for one more day, so that we might see it. Every time we deny the truth and tradition, we deny the works and sacrifice they endured. So pick up a Rosary, pray for the Church, and defend it in battle... cuz it has just begun!

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