I was reading an article about AL on One Peter Five website by Steve Skojec - well written but I continued to follow the discussion underneath and I was struck by a post that Steve made (below) that sums up so well the crisis the Church is in. Does Paragraph 298 of Amoris Laetitia Promote Adultery? https://onepeterfive.com/paragraph-298-amoris-laetitia-promote-adultery/ Steve Skojec The Devil has always gone after the family. Since Adam and Eve. Since Cain and Abel. A Christian marriage is a mirror of the Holy Trinity. It is the domestic church. It is the means by which most men and women are perfected (if they remain open to God’s grace) and by which new souls are brought into the world to know, love, and serve God in this life and to be happy with him in the next. It is also the standard by which all other sexual propriety finds its context. To destroy it or diminish it is to allow all manner of perversity into the world. The push for gay everything is a direct consequence of the push for contraception. The final blows being struck against the institution of marriage are a direct consequence of those already accomplished through the same. A Church in crisis cannot resist the example of holy families who keep the faith. It is they who will influence pastors, it is they who will provide vocations, it is they who will nourish virtue in the most formative years of the lives they bring forth. The liturgy was struck first, because to destroy the way we worship God is to forever change our perception of our place before God. The fecundity of marriage came next, because an intentionally sterile marriage is no different, in principle, from a homosexual “marriage.” Contraception also ripped open the gateway to abortion, which, while it always existed, is now more of a mop-up operation for failed contraceptive sex than an outlier for the truly desperate. Now the indissolubility of marriage is being hammered, and for the most part, it will fall. There’s nothing left propping it up. With the institutional Church decimated and the domestic church breathing its last, those other issues you mentioned — which were always important, but ancillary to the main agenda — will come to to the fore. Ecumenism has no barriers if the liturgy is Protestant and divorce and remarriage and contraception are possible. Religious liberty is less about freedom and more about making sure the Catholic Church’s supremacy is suppressed. The sterility of Catholic marriage has created a vacuum that Islam has been only too happy to fill, hence, Europe. And all of this — all of it — is aimed at the toppling of Holy Mother Church and all that she believes and teaches. We are witnessing nothing less than the triumph of a savage demonic attack, sustained for decades, unfolding over centuries, in the hope of ultimately defeating Christ’s plan for our salvation. It will fail. We have been assured. But what will be left at the end remains uncertain.
One Peter five’s constant requests for donations under his leadership (nearly daily, from what I’ve heard) were indicative of something wrong there for a very long time.
Perhaps it is a lesson that we are indeed in the greatest spiritual battle in History and that the evil one can use discouragement, doubt and confusion even to deceive the elect. It seems those who are deep in battle whether in pro-life or restoration of Catholic culture are at the fore-front of attack and vulnerable because if one puts all energy into the fight then spiritual exhaustion sets in. Because it really is a David vs Goliath battle and sometimes the enormity of the battle can shock the system. The key is prayer and if this gets neglected we are most vulnerable. We also need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and not on the battle. We must grow in love with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Pure Heart of St Josph - as adopted sons and daughters of the Trinitatian Holy family. Stay close to the Holy Family is key where we can find comfort and solace in this valley of tears. My heart goes out to Steve Skojec. I think he deserves our prayers - here but for the grace of God go I -- let us pray him back into the Kingdom.
The link you posted is along these lines. I read it with trepidation. It was like taking medicine. That’s why much daily prayer is so necessary. I also try not to engage in much that is written. God is in control and all of the hairs on my head are numbered. The lilies of the field neither toil nor spin.
Agree Bobby. This is just the sort of scenario the enemy uses on faithful Catholics. Poor Steve. The more I listen to Fr Ripperger (two new wonderful talks up on you tube) the more I realize how important it is to trust that God is working through all this for a glorious renewal. We must put on the armor of God and stand fast in the evil day. And cling to Our Lady and the Rosary. This is her battle and her weapon. We need to keep reminding each other. Proverbs says "do not give way to wrath. It will only harm you."
The original quoted article, particularly its penultimate paragraph is quite accurate. As Chesterton pointed out in his later essays, the whole history of the last two millenia is best interpreted as a confrontation between the devil and Christ's Church, most especially since the Reformation. Nobody can expect to win any major battles in these wars; we talk of principalities and powers and to sometimes win a tiny domestic skirmish is a major achievement. Best leave it to God if one feels overwhelmed.
I would have preferred Steve to have tried a "temporary shelter" in the orthodox church after all at some point they will join us again as predicted by sister sister Lucia and the timing may not go beyond the end of the next decade.
I will pray for Steve; your suggestion of seeking out the Holy Family is superb. Also, I followed a link proposed in the 16th comment posted by MSDOTT: https://ariseletusbegoing.com/2016/...endment-instead-i-think-therefore-i-am-saved/ It eventually underlines a prominent problem that I struggle with myself: failing to have a firm purpose of amendment so as to avoid the confessed sin in the future. I'm reading a superb book by Dietrich Von Hildebrand which also addresses this issue in Chapter 2: Transformation in Christ [heavy duty but very thorough]. Lord, where would I be without your Mercy? Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Prayers for Steve. Will remember him at Mass morning. It always strengthens me to recall that it is Christ I follow and He has never ever let me down.
By chance there I was following a video by Fr Chad Ripperger there now and he happened to mention that one of the greatest protections for families was having structure. So things like saying the rosary at the same time every day. Time for homework and so on. He said this structure would have been so helpful during things like the Lockdowns.
I find gratitude is a great source of joy and peace and hope too. Every morning I wake up and walk out and see the moon and stars I feel so, so grateful. I read the prayer requests on the forum, the suffering folks are going through and I feel so grateful. Some knowledge of the History of the Church and the Popes may be very helpful too. It gives a sense of perspective on things. That we've been there done that, kind of thing. Also you know God is never going to send us to Hell for what other people do. They do what they do and we do what we do. So there should be a Spirit of Detachment it that. I believe in Scripture Jesus did talk about not letting ourselves be scandalised.
I find too not getting involved to much in chitter , chatter and goings on too much. Inner silence and the eyes of the heart fully focused on Christ. Too much talk pulls us down. Inner silence raises us up . Getting angry all the time and upset about things is a bad sign. Time to throw the off switch on the computer if this is so. That is what off switches are for.
But things are very,very, very difficult indeed at the moment. A Huge Trial. There is no denying it. But it a huge, huge honour to have born in these dark days. It is not an accident. God trusts us to be handle it all by relying on His guiding grace.
