Our Catholic Church is Stripped & Beaten – Please Don’t Pass Us By!
Please Don’t Pass Us By!
Today’s Gospel is the Parable of the Good Samaritan:
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied,
“A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
‘Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.’
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Here we are in the month of October, in an election year. But, as you all know, this is not just any election year. Everything is on the line, and I mean EVERYTHING! And, those who have and will continue to strip and beat us, remain mostly unchallenged. Since 2012, at least, when President Obama was given a “nothing to lose” second term, Catholicism has been severely beaten up by secular progressives.
In the meantime, we have seen Catholicism “beaten up”, for more than 50 years, by the secular progressives who have infiltrated the clergy within the Church. So much so, that we now know that 70% of Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence. Add to this that over 50% of Catholics agree that we can kill babies in our mothers’ wombs, and over 60% agree that same-sex marriage is perfectly acceptable.
The question is then asked, “Why isn’t all of this sounding major alarm bells for our spiritual leaders: Bishops and Priests?!?!” Why, indeed.
The Good Samaritan Priests of Our Times
Why did the Priest and Levite pass by the beaten man, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan? Both the Priest and Levite don’t help the bloodied man because touching blood would make them unclean for service in the temple (it is mercy and not sacrifice I desire).
For the most part, the clergy and lay staffers of today who pass by, don’t want to lose their credibility with secular progressives (and their money). To further the analogy, they continue and approve of the beating, allowing its effects to kill what is still alive, by passing by.
Can you guess what these persecuted priests all have in common? They’re all orthodox Catholics who actually believe and courageously teach the Catholic Faith, even if they be attacked by an offended secular progressive mob of their day.
A strange phenomenon is occurring in many dioceses throughout North America. Some priests are beginning to courageously speak-out against evils in society with new boldness and passion, almost as if someone’s (eternal) life depends upon it. One would expect these faithful priests to be persecuted by the purveyors of evil, which certainly happens with some frequency. However, you might be surprised to learn the greatest threat to these priests come from their own bishops (See why they are persecuted HERE)
These priests are the ones seeing their flock stripped and beaten, and they are coming to their aid. They are the Good Samaritans of our times. They cannot pass by, like the Priest and Levite did; their hearts will not allow them. They understand that their message will make them “unpopular” in the eyes of the secular progressives, and they understand they may very well be persecuted for rescuing their flocks. Just as an undaunted Jesus was led to the cross by the hierarchy of his day, a stripped and beaten flock takes precedence over these priests’ own safety and security.
I speak to this in today’s homily:
