Special times, special measures.

In those days Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the family of Joarib, a left Jerusalem and settled in Modein. He had five sons: John, who was called Gaddi; Simon, who was called Thassi; Judas, who was called Maccabeus; Eleazar, who was called Avaran; and Jonathan, who was called Apphus. When he saw the sacrileges that were being committed in Judah and in Jerusalem, he said: “Woe is me! Why was I born to see the ruin of my people, the ruin of the holy city—To dwell there as it was given into the hands of enemies, the sanctuary into the hands of strangers? Her temple has become like a man disgraced, her glorious vessels carried off as spoils, her infants murdered in her streets, her youths by the sword of the enemy. (1 Maccabees 2;1-9)

If we look around, we will see that our current situation does not differ much from the days when the Hellenistic king Antiochus IV ruled the world (175-164 BC).

The recent COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest have revealed the sad truth about the state of our country. Evil forces through pagan politicians, bureaucrats and others holding influential positions were able to shut down the entire country, steal people’s livelihoods and close their Churches. They deprived Christians of Holy Week and Easter. They have taken our Holy Mass and limited our access to the sacraments.

Why is this happening? Today there are 2.3 billion Christians in the world, and among them are 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Around 70 million Catholics in the United States alone. These numbers show the great potential and power of the Catholic Church. Then why is the Christian world shrinking while the pagan world is growing? The answer is simple, Catholics have allowed the “children of the Devil” to gain too much power and hold influential positions in countries built by Christians.

If Catholics would follow the teachings of the Catholic Church in choosing their representatives to govern the country, the situation would be considerably better, but today many Catholics are abandoning the holy covenant, are becoming lukewarm and align themselves with the Gentiles by adopting their lifestyle. Pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, displayed in almost every Catholic home not long ago, are gone; even a crucifix is seldom on display in a prominent place.

There are many reasons for this decline, but the main reason is a misunderstanding of two important aspects of Christian life.

First is charity. The word charity originated in late Old English to mean a “Christian love” borrowed from the Old French word “charité,” which was derived from the Latin “caritas”, a word commonly used in the Vulgate New Testament to translate the Greek word “agape” a distinct form of “love.” Over time, the meaning of charity has shifted from one of “Christian love” to that of “providing for those in need, generosity and giving.” The words of St. Paul from the second letter to the Thessalonians 3:10, shows how charity should work: “if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.” This idea is far removed from the minds of most Catholics. In today’s society and among many Catholics too, the good person is the giver. A good politician is the one charitable with other people’s money, a modern Robin Hood taking from the rich and those who have and giving it away in order to build a voting bloc. Nobody thinks about the consequences of free handouts, which eliminate the motivation to work, to do better, while also lowering expectations, spoiling recipients, creating an entitlement mentality, and finally turning them into slaves of the government which holds them in urban ghettos.

The real act of love is to help each other find their place in society, to be productive and to serve others. Mutual service ignites mutual love. A parent’s job is not to take care of children for their entire lifetime but to prepare them for adulthood. Similarly, the government’s role is not to supply citizens with free housing, food or healthcare and redistribute wealth equally but to protect them and their property from foreign and domestic enemies while giving them the chance to develop and use their God given talents.

Second is a misunderstanding of the words “meekness of heart.” We often pray “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thy Heart,” but being apathetic is not meekness of heart. Jesus in His three years of public life was consistently exposing the hypocrisy among clergy and scholars, and on many occasions used strong words like these: “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” (Matthew 21:31) Beginning from the temptation in the desert and ending with His dreadful death on the cross He was challenged on many occasions but never caved or compromised with evil. His meekness and humility of heart was in fulfilling the will of God the Father. “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” (John 8; 28-19) True meekness of heart is the humble acceptance of the will of God and carrying the crosses He has prepared for us.

With the rapid expansion of Paganism shouldn’t we ask ourselves the same question Mattathias deliberated, “Why was I born?” If we are expecting a happy life with God in heaven shouldn’t we think about the moment when we expire and face our Lord? What will we tell Him when everything will be revealed, and He will ask:

“I gave you so many opportunities to do good, to stand for what is right, to prove that you love Me and love your neighbor. What have you done to prove to be worthy of eternal happiness? How have you served your God?”

The secret to a happy ending of our earthly voyage is in words of St. James 2:13 “For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Our mercy triumphs over God’s judgment.

Today many Catholics, especially in urban areas, are supporting pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality politicians, while holding socialistic or communistic views and at the same time they receive Holy Communion, unaware of the fact that they are not in a disposition to do so. Their priests are under great pressure and are often persecuted for taking a stand.

The salvation of many of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ is in grave danger, souls for which Jesus suffered so much and died a dreadful death. The Commandment of Love calls us to action. Different times required different measures, the Maccabees decided to fight and defend their faith and lives on the holy day of the Sabbath, King David took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate it himself and shared it with his companions. Our Lord Jesus asked the question; “is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” to point out the importance of prioritizing doing good over rules and regulations.

The Catholic Church has placed ‘instructing the ignorant’ as the second work on the list of spiritual acts of mercy. Since churches that were locked due to the COVID-19 pandemic are slowly opening we can help by putting instructive election flyers behind the wiper blades of cars parked around churches during Mass.

Check out our election flyers and prayer for the US.