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Thank
you for this website. You’ve saved my life, I think. But none of the priests
in my Church preaches these things. None of the parishioners that I know lives
this way, and none of my family and friends lives this way. What am I supposed
to do now?
 elcome to the true Catholic
Church. This is the pain of it all. Once you have
had your eyes opened to the truth, then you will see clearly that
hardly anyone else understands—or even desires to
understand—the truth.
Snatched by Demons
The truth is, the Christian faith is simplicity
itself. It doesn’t require a philosopher to understand it. It simply requires a
chaste and pure life dedicated to holy love. But, as one of my
clients told me, “Yes, it’s all so simple. But until the mind has been cleansed
of all the filth of its anger and hostility and resentment, it can’t see how simple
everything is.”
Yes, if you are carrying resentment, you
can’t carry the cross.
Judas Iscariot carried his own resentment
and ran from the cross, and individuals like him will continue in the Church to the
end. It’s a bit like that science-fiction movie from the 1950s, The Invasion
of the Body Snatchers, such that we always have to wonder about how others may be
hiding their emotional wounds behind an outward appearance of being
“devout.”
That seemingly
nice usher back there—is he a genuine example
of community service, or, in his anger at his parents’ arbitrary use of
authority, has he been snatched by liberal humanism?
That seemingly devout woman praying the Rosary over
there—is she a genuine example of piety, or, in her humiliation by childhood
abuse, has she been snatched by a drive to feel socially important? The priest at the
altar—is he a genuine model of surrender and courage, or, in his resentment at
his parents’ lack of love, has he been snatched by a subversive plan to undermine
Church tradition? The bishop himself—does he
genuinely want to feed the sheep, or, in his fear of his alcoholic father, has he
been snatched by an administrative pragmatism that would feed the sheep to the
wolves in order to keep the wolves quiet? So, yes, let us wonder how many seemingly
devout Catholics have actually been snatched by demons and
don’t even
know it.
Getting It Wrong
After the decline and fall of the Roman
Empire, when illiteracy became the norm of the general population, the average
Christian depended on icons and preaching for guidance in the faith. And
for centuries thereafter, even with the Renaissance in the West, lay Catholics
depended on educated clerics for religious instruction.
Now that’s all well and
good, except for the fact that when the clerics get it wrong, everybody suffers.
And that is precisely the case in the modern world. Most priests today feed
their flocks little of any holy substance but offer them, day after day,
the spiritual equivalent of potato chips and soda pop—or, as it is in many
parishes, coffee and donuts. Instead of teaching the people to seek the bread of
angels, parishes feed them the junk food of demons. Furthermore, religious education
has, more often than not, fallen into the hands of those who dissent from
the true faith. Religious educators, seduced by the
social world around them, like the ancient Hebrews
embracing the idols and abominations of the heathen lands around them, now
place their “faith” in the diversity
of secular values derived from humanistic
psychology. And all the while the bishops, like shepherds terrified of
the wolves, run from the cross like dogs with their tails between their
legs.
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Do you know how
people often snicker when they hear the words “military intelligence,”
thinking it to be an oxymoron? Well, true Catholics feel the same way when
they hear a reference to “Catholic education.” And, even more sadly,
the same is true of the words, “holy bishop.” |
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So I will say it plainly, and
yet with tears and sadness: if we can think that being a good Christian means
no more than going to church on Sunday, praying the Rosary, and then enjoying
ourselves the rest of the time, and if we’re not willing to spend serious
time in prayer of the heart and seeking spiritual growth,
and if we’re not willing to give up social media, TV, movies, video games, and
constant texting on our mobile devices, then we’re in serious trouble.
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“What’s wrong with these
things?”
“They corrupt your mind and lead
it astray by opening it to demonic influence—and
you won’t even be aware that it’s occurring.”
“That’s ridiculous. I use Facebook
and Twitter and watch TV and movies all the time, and I don’t see anything
wrong with them!”
“That’s what I just told
you.” |
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Sadly, we’re all in
danger of having our minds snatched by evil, and most of us
don’t even realize it. All of the Luciferian liberals who believe they are
doing good things for humanity by rebelling against Church tradition are really on a
collision course with hell. If they don’t eventually change course, they will find,
when they get to hell, that the devil will laugh at them for being such fools as to
have believed his lies.
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But you, remain
faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom
you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. . . . For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound
doctrine but, following their own desires and
insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to
the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all
circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill
your ministry.
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— 2 Timothy 3:14–15;
4:3–5 |
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The Few—and
the Rest
Nevertheless, even though you
may not know of them, there are a few who seek Christ at all costs. They
are quiet and humble, and they bear their
suffering silently, so you may not notice them or
think much of them when you see them.
Aside from those few, the rest
don’t want to do anything it takes to live
holy lives; instead, they want to live in
comfort. They enjoy the satisfaction of thinking they lead holy lives,
and yet they balk at accepting the hardships
a holy life entails. They are all really just pagans in Catholic
clothing.
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In the old days,
martyrs allowed themselves to be cut to pieces
and burned without so much as a whimper. Today, most Catholics faint at the
thought of a pinprick and lack the courage to defend anything other than,
well, their own complacency. |
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A Few Good
Friends
So, when bishops and priests
offer a watered-down version of the faith, and when
the people around you act with ignorance and irreverence before the divine
mysteries, resolve that you will do anything it takes to be
a good friend to Christ. He wants a few good friends
right now.
As for the others,
pray for them
anyway, and let your life be a
humble example, for them and for all. That’s
what you’re supposed to do. Now, and always.
A Constant
Vow
Living the true faith is a lonely
place to be, and you won’t be able to survive unless you cling to
prayer. So keep in your heart the constant underlying
prayer, “O God, protect me from the darkness
and evil in the world around me!”
Moreover, cling to a constant
vow—your spiritual mission, as it were—that you will remain pure
no matter what occurs in the world around
you. Tell yourself that whether you are attacked or seduced you will not
succumb to sin.
In every difficult situation,
be aware of your feelings of hurt and resentment
and irritation and temptation; acknowledge the fantasies
that come to you; and then tell yourself, as an act of will—of
love—“No, for the love of God, I will not do these things.
I will remain true to my mission.”
Finally, pray, “Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. I’m so alone. Give me the courage
to remain pure no matter what occurs around me. Deliver me, O Lord, from all
attacks and seductions; deliver me from evil, and protect me in all these trials.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me. . . .”
With Trials as
a Teacher
You might wonder why some persons
grow to such great spiritual heights and why others make so little progress.
Well, Saint John of the Cross explains it.
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 And here it ought to be pointed
out why so few reach this high state of perfect union with God. It should
be known that the reason is not that God wishes only a few of these spirits
to be so elevated; He would rather want all to be perfect, but He finds few
vessels that will endure so lofty and sublime a work. . . .
There are many who desire to advance and persistently beseech God to bring
them to this state of perfection. Yet when God wills to conduct them through
the initial trials and mortifications, as is necessary, they are unwilling
to suffer them and they shun them, flee from the narrow road of life [Mt.
7:14] and seek the broad road of their own consolation, which is that of
their own perdition [Mt. 7:13]; thus they do not allow God to begin to grant
their petition. They are like useless containers, for although they desire
to reach the state of the perfect they do not want to be guided by the path
of trials that leads to it.” |
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—Saint John
of the Cross
The Living
Flame of Love,
Stanza 2.27 |
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The text of
this webpage, integrated with other material from my websites,
has been conveniently organized into a paperback book of 350 pages, including
a comprehensive index.
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Though Demons Gloat: They Shall Not Prevail
by Raymond Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D.
Though we are attacked by liberal activists from without and by apostasy
from within, the true Church—that is, the body of those who remain
faithful to Church tradition—weeps, and she prays, because she knows
the fate of those who oppose God.
Our enemies might fear love, and they can push love
away, but they can’t kill it. And so the battle against them cannot be
fought with politics; it requires a profound personal struggle against
the immorality of popular culture. The battle must be fought in the
service of God with pure and chaste lifestyles lived from the depths of
our hearts in every moment.
Ordering Information |
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