“Pagan” Catholics?
By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
Our church buildings that haven’t yet been closed as a result of Catholics embracing contraception and abortion with gusto in the 60s, along with the enemies of Christ, are increasingly under pressure from a growing pagan lobby, swelling like a cancer threatening the lifeblood of the Body of Christ.
Many of those who weekly come forward to receive Communion at Sunday (or Saturday evening) Masses rejected the Catholic Faith long ago. The abortion and LGBTQ lobbies have grown stronger like a “woke mind virus” among many of the baptized who have retained only a Catholic muscle memory. They show up habitually for Mass and receive Communion like they’re sleepwalking through the Catholic Faith while they vote pro-abortion and LGBTQ, show up for the pro-abort “Woman’s March” and sport rainbow flags on their bodies every June.
A parish vocal minority in Michigan rose up and engineered the expulsion of their pastor for supporting parents who reached out to him with concerns about a man invited to read a book to children in the parish school. They were alarmed that his civil union with another man might cause confusion among members of the community. To oppose the concerns of Catholic parents in regard to the purity of their children in support of an adult who has chosen the unforced error of a sinful “lifestyle” should be easily recognized for the inversion which it is. Alas, for some that was not so.
When remaining silent might be construed as approval someone must speak out. Here we have a case of a priest with the courage to do his job, as the only one charged with the responsibility of speaking out. When he did so there were cries of “off with his head!” Such is not unusual and not to be unexpected. Priests doing their job indeed say things that meet with disapproval. What has changed is the seemingly sincere shock and indignation on the part of those who attack the priest for preaching against sin and damnation.
To leave such apparent approval unaddressed risks confusing the young and impressionable. How to do so while respecting and loving the sinner is indeed a sensitive matter. Fr. Tom Held, the pastor, issued a statement via the parish Facebook page that addressed only the relevant issue involved, as brought to his attention by parents of schoolchildren, and which did not impugn the author involved nor mention his name. The statement in fact exonerated the author of any suspicions of inappropriate behavior.
But even this was considered too much for the militants clustering around the school and parish. How many they number and whether any of those involved in digitally attacking Fr. Held attend Mass at the parish will never be known. The existence, and abuse of, social networks will forever obscure the facts with regard to whether those who represent themselves as Catholics online indeed practice the Faith and subscribe to the teachings of the Church.
In my experience, as one stalked digitally by a local woman who has for years falsely presented herself as an authority on all things Catholic, the opposite is often the case. I have never known the woman to once darken the door of the church in over thirteen years as pastor.
A Facebook group named “Remove Fr. Held” was mustered to oppose him. This points to an abuse of social media, a growing source of mental illness and social unrest. Bishop Gruss visited and preached at a recent Sunday Mass at the parish after the damage was done. A video of Bishop Gruss’ homily is posted on YouTube. In his remarks he did not completely exonerate the element opposing the priest and mentioned he might encounter a difficulty in finding a priest
willing to accept an assignment at the parish. I doubt the heretics involved would have a problem with that. Elsewhere some have abandoned parish life in favor of “Communion services” at their homes in an effort to hermetically seal themselves off from any authentic Catholic doctrine or
influence.
The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw released this statement: “St. Joseph the Worker School recently had a guest visit a classroom to read to children during March Reading Month. The guest was warmly welcomed and treated with respect. Several days after the visit, the pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish was contacted by school parents and parishioners who expressed concerns about the guest’s civil union, which is contrary to the Catholic Church’s teaching on human sexuality and marriage. The pastor appropriately responded to those concerns within the parish community in a way that recognized the guest’s privacy.
“Our Catholic Faith respects the dignity of every person. The Church teaches we are all created in the image and likeness of God and called to love one another. With that love comes our obligation to uphold and live the teachings of the Catholic Faith, individually and within our institutions.”
I can say from benefit of experience, with over 30 years as a priest, that in many parishes an anti-Catholic and anti-Christian spirit has grown among those who, among other abuses, habitually clericalize the laity through the superfluous use of “extraordinary ministers” of Holy Communion, which dispense with the reality that the hands of the priest were consecrated at Ordination for the purpose of consecrating and handling the Eucharist. This amounts to a denial of the reality of the Sacrament of Ordination. So-called lay “active participation” has become in some locations in importance so exaggerated that lectors only show up for Sunday Mass on the day when they are scheduled to proclaim the Scriptures. And they, of course, on the occasion also receive Communion. This is not faith. This is profanation of the Holy Eucharist and falsification and undermining of true worship and authentic love of God.
When people leave a parish because they would “never go to Mass again if it was in Latin” or because having women or girls dressed as priests in the sanctuary during Mass is more important than receiving Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist, we’ve got a major problem. And the problem in this case isn’t solved by changing the Church; it’s solved only by changing minds in the grip of a heretic mind virus.
The Church’s way of calling this matter to the attention of the heretic is called excommunication. But, while our bishops remained convinced that in a more kind and gentle Church we rule out recourse to such time-tested measures, wolves through scandal continue to ravage the flock. The incident in Beal City with heretics muscling a pastor out of the parish is not an isolated event.
How does any parish priest have a leg to stand on when it comes to Eucharistic devotion and reverence while the cowards in miters refuse to excommunicate Joe Biden? The scandal of his continued audacious sacrilege of receiving Communion while marshaling all the forces of the presidency to promote legal child murder is a massive defeat. The bishops’ continued silence is sending the wrong message.
The only solution for heresy is Catholic doctrine and the only way to fight lies with truth is to keep speaking the truth. Surrender isn’t an option. Revival of Eucharistic devotion is a dead letter as long as souls have no worth. The souls of the heretics in Beal City and in Washington, D.C., are calling out to all of our bishops for the kindness and gentleness of real love: that which defends their eternal salvation; that for which Our Lord in the Eucharist is truly present.
Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
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