Easter III
Our “Guard Turkey” takes a break from his post…..
….to pay homage to St. Jude:
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Daily Sermons
April 11 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Attila and the Lion
April 12 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Michael of the Morning
April 13 – Fr. McGuire – The Just Man Who Lived by Faith
April 14 – Fr. Lehtoranta – St. Justin, Wisdom and Fortune
April 15 – Fr. Lehtoranta – St. Joseph and Marriage
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
Blessed Solemnity of St. Joseph. Our Lord’s adoptive father, our great Catholic patron and protector, was lost in the palms the day before Holy Week last month, so we are especially grateful for his Paschaltide feast this year. Last Wednesday’s Solemn High Mass, St. Joseph’s Table and the Blessing of Bread enabled us to honor this great saint, as does today’s Sunday Solemnity, and our continuing novena.
How much we Catholics need St. Joseph’s protection, far more than most realize. The latest document issued by Bergoglio on love and marriage is truly revolutionary. “Amoris Laetitia” destroys the entire Christian religion, rather than merely permitting, encouraging, those living in sin to approach the sacraments. Bishop Sanborn and Fr. Cekada just gave a devastating two hour critique which you can hear on Restoration Radio, if you can afford to. Otherwise, we will be sure to make written commentaries available.
I hear it snowed a bit last weekend. But last week’s cold weather was a bit of a relief, actually. It slowed down somewhat Summer’s inexorable march, enabling us to enjoy a few more cold crisp days of Spring sunshine before the warm weather. But the coldness inside church and the Church leaves me feeling chilly.
Last Sunday we had a record low attendance. I am grieved at so many missing Mass, but cheered that our actual faithful are always here, in number about 250. The fire of your charity burns bright. The rest are part-timers or visitors, welcome of course, but not to be counted on. Our faithful faithfully support our Mass and the collection each Sunday in a very regular fashion. I am very grateful to you for your fidelity.
The rest are visitors from other chapels, and those who attend occasionally but donate rarely. We are always happy to see them, and encourage them to be faithful, and to observe the Precepts of the Church, especially the First: To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation; and the Fifth: To contribute to the support of our pastors. Due to ignorance and coldness of heart, many traditional Catholics observe the Lord’s Day only by committing two mortal sins.
But coldness, cowardice even, extends to many good churchgoing traditional Catholics. Holy Mother Church is under attack from Rome itself, and very few have the courage, the Holy Ghost Confirmation courage, to separate themselves from the herd which recognizes, and is now recognized by this antichrist Bergoglio. It is a cozy, convenient arrangement to be sure. Bishop Fellay says the latest document from Rome “makes us cry,” but it should make them cry out “Wolf!” and unmask the false shepherd. But no. Coldness and cowardice obtain almost everywhere, and convenience dictates the una cum Mass.
On the 28th of April it will be 33 years since we nine priests were expelled from the Pius X Society. And why? “Disobedience” they will say, pride or sedevacantism. But the truth is that like St. Thomas More, “we would not bend to the marriage.” We refused the scandalous American marriage annulments of the 1970’s. Archbishop Lefebvre wanted to impose them on us in view of a deal (always deals! always discussions with the devil) with Ratzinger. In a word, politics. Lat-er, for awhile, even the Conciliar church recognized the scandal of the American annulments. Now those rules and more have returned with a vengeance under Francis. But church politics never change. Principle, doctrine must bend today to the new ways. We will not, and are proud Pius X gave us our walking papers so long ago, because we dared to stand up for the sanctity of marriage. Now, marriage and everything else Catholic is washed away.
Thank you for your prayers for a safe Mexican trip. All went well visiting Fr. Villegas’ two border churches in Baja California. The weather was unusually pleasant. It rained in Mexicali just before I arrived, and it only rains there once a year! The three-hour time difference, however, was fatiguing during the action packed weekend. My favorite part was an utterly charming play of the life of St. Gertrude the Great, presented by the catechism school in Tijuana. The catechism teachers wrote and rehearsed this little production, and the children eagerly and eloquently performed it. It was wonderful.
It was nice working with our own First Communion children yesterday, as they made their First Confessions. Their innocence and eagerness are just what we jaded adults need. “…to God who gives joy to my youth.” Indeed!
Some of us are observing Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary of death today, but all of us use so many of his words and phrases without ever realizing it. Read some poetry aloud today, look up a quote or two: “Life every man holds dear; but the brave man holds honor far more precious-dear than life.” (Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, Scene 3.)
May St. Joseph bless you, and bless you in your Catholic Faith. Hold it dear.
–Bp. Dolan