Defending the Faith Amidst Accusations
Summary of Headings
- Introduction to St. Peter and Paul
- Understanding Excommunication Claims
- Historical Examples of Faithfulness
- The Importance of Obedience to God
- Facing Modern Challenges with Faith
- The Role of Charity and Forgiveness
Introduction to St. Peter and Paul
To celebrate the feast of St. Peter and Paul today, our Bishop of Bada was devoted to the feast of St. Peter and Paul. That's why he chose the feast of St. Peter and Paul as the official date of ordinations every year in the coming. It's always that date because he wanted us to be attached to the feast of St. Peter always and forever and completely. It's a good reminder to us considering everything that just happened that even though many people have painted us as rebels and whatever else, we are not that. We are faithful children of the church. We are faithful children of St. Peter.
And just as St. Peter declared, we must obey God rather than men, we must also do the same.
Understanding Excommunication Claims
We must say the same thing each and every day. It is also very important for us to remind ourselves of what it is we're fighting for. This isn't just a question of fighting back against the church. It's not a question of fighting against certain people, certain individuals, or certain situations, or scandals, or whatever else. But it's the principles that are behind everything. I think the principle of the authority of Peter is one of the most important and most obvious ones. Everybody's heard a lot of noise, so let me break these down for you as simply as I possibly can.
And I want to make sure that everyone understands that I'm not saying that I'm going to be a good preacher. The things that I'm saying are not nearly as bad as you may have heard. That's the first thing to understand. We consecrated four bishops without a papal mandate on July the 1st. On July the 2nd, the Pope issued a decree. I should say Carmen Fernandez issued a decree of excommunication, la descendencia, against the six bishops, the two consecrators, and the four who received consecration. But in the condemnation, there was also included some clauses which enfolded all the priests and members of the Society of St. Pius X
Historical Examples of Faithfulness
as part and parcel of the same excommunication as pertaining to these in schismatic acts. Then they went even further and said that the faithful are also subject to the same excommunication. Or should we say, could be. The problem is none of that's true. The only one that could be even remotely legal is the condemnation of the six bishops. For everyone else, there is no basis on canon law, no basis in any way, shape, or form to actually condemn us as being excommunicated. So I want you to please let that idea out of your mind immediately. So then why would they say that?
Why would they say such horrible things? Because they are horrible things to hear. Schismatic, excommunicate, heretic. Whatever. These are horrible titles that separate us from the mystical body of Christ. Why would they say those things? Because they were not so. To scare people. Affected them. It was to scare people. It was to cause confusion and doubt, fear. It was to use, as Bishop Blimstein used to refer to it, the big guns right off the bat so that people would be frightened. Why? One of the purposes of the canon was to frighten people. It wasn't just to create big explosions.
It was also a psychological tool to frighten people. And that is exactly what is being done here today. It is an attempt to frighten and to discourage and to confuse. Of course it's going to work. Because, like I said, we are faithful to the children of the church. We belong to the church and we love the church. So the very idea of being cut off from the church is repugnant to us. But it's also terrifying for us. And it should be. But at the same time, the motion is never supposed to be the basis upon which we make big decisions. The great principle, the first great principle of discernment of spirits that we discuss in the Ignatian exercises is that in time of desolation, no change.
The desolation of the church is the desolation of the church. The desolation doesn't just mean when we are sad or downcast. It means any time of confusion or turmoil or a particular storm or difficulty. You do not change course. You do not change course. You stay on the course you are at until you can get your bearings. And then if you have to change direction, that's when you do. But only when the desolation has waned and you are able to think more clearly. Because the spirit, the evil spirit, will use our confusion and our fear to their own ends with joy.
Which is why the spirit loves to do that. Which is why it is important for us not to listen. It should not be the basis for any decisions we make. It is important for us to consider a little bit more the context of the situation we are in. For example, there is a lot of things that are thrown out as kind of just explosive remarks. To discourage or to dissuade us or whatever it may be. One of them is the question of salvation. You can't be saved outside the church. So therefore if you are excommunicated, you can't be saved. Well, if I could use a couple of examples from church history.
Saint Athanasius. Spoiler alert, he has the word saint next to his name so we know how it ended up. But he fought against Emperor Constantius who was a Nereidian. And he fought against Emperor Constantius who was a Nereidian. And Emperor Constantius was implying tremendous amounts of pressure on Pope Iberius. And Pope Iberius excommunicated Pope Athanasius. Saint Athanasius was driven into exile five different times. And he never stopped defending the faith. He was rehabilitated posthumously. It was cannabis. The Saint Athanasius was never excommunicated. Despite the declaration against him.
Despite being attacked as such. Another, perhaps more apropos situation is the Great Western Schism. At the beginning of the Great Western Schism, there was a pope elected in Italy. Which the French did blight so they elected their old pope in France. And then the church was split for decades. At one point there were three churches. Three popes running around. Different parts of Europe. And at the very beginning of that time there were two great Dominican saints. Saint Catherine of Sieda and Saint Vincent Ferrer. And they were on opposite camps. Saint Catherine followed the Italian at home.
And Saint Vincent followed the French pope. Or the claimants to the papacy anyway. And both popes were excommunicating the followers of each side. And yet they're both saints. They were never excommunicated. We are not excommunicated. Salvation is still accessible to us because we defend the faith. Because we fight for the church. And because we fight for the church even against the enemies within the church. Even against those who think they serve the church. By attacking us. Remember the words of our Lord. There will come a day when those who kill you, even those who kill you, will think that they are doing a service to the Lord.
We are in that situation. We have to defend the faith and defend the church and defend the sacraments and defend the mass against all of her enemies. The second attack that many people will make is by denigrating what it is that we do. Because many times it's just a simple attachment. Well, if you want the Latin mass, we can make an accommodation. There are other places. Every diocese should have something. We'll make an accommodation. We'll reestablish the Ecclesia Dei commission. We'll do these. We'll do these other things. So that we can accommodate your attachments to the Latin mass.
That is not why we do anything. Just to make everybody very clear on this. We do not resist Rome. And the Pope. And to take dramatic steps like the consecration of bishops. Simply out of a sentimental attachment to a previous iteration of the mass. Which is how it is perceived by many people. We do this because we believe that the doctrine that the mass expresses is necessary for the salvation of souls.
The Importance of Obedience to God
We believe that the doctrine of the missionary spirit of the church is necessary for the salvation of souls. We do it because God is owed it. It is not out of personal preference or sentimental attachment. Or because we just like being old school or rebellious. Or whatever it may be. We do these things for the right reasons. In case anyone noticed, any time there was any sort of a public communication from Rome, what was Father Pagliarani's response? It was a profession of faith. It was a profession of faith because that is what we are fighting for. The faith. So don't let anybody denigrate it by saying, well there's not really a crisis in the church to warrant this kind of a rebellion because it's just the mass.
Or it's just a sentimental attachment to the mass. Or we can make an accommodation so that you can have everything that you like but you have to be inside the fold. It doesn't work that way. Another argument. Another argument that many people will use is obedience, obedience, obedience. The same argument that Parham Gagnon used against our Bishop Lefebvre back in 1988. Obedience above all things. Obedience is one of the most important and essential virtues in all of virtue. But the problem is the misuse of the word obedience. Obedience, as we are taught from a very young age in our catechism, or we should be taught, we are bound to obey anybody who has authority over us in all things that are not sinful.
The moment that something is demanded of us that is not appropriate, that is contrary to a higher law, we must refuse it. If a teacher tells us to do something that is against what our parents want to do, we obey our parents and not the teacher. If our parents tell us to do something that we know is against what God has commanded, we follow God and not our parents. That is obedience. It's a hierarchical system. It is not a materialistic, universal coating over everything. True obedience means subjugation to the order. And yes, God puts people above us. The Pope is above us.
The bishops are above us in the hierarchy. But only insofar as when they ask us to do something that is not contrary to a higher principle. As I mentioned before, Saint Peter said, we must obey God rather than men. God gave us a solemn mandate to save souls, to consecrate the priesthood, to defend the faith, to defend the Church. And that is a command we cannot ignore for any reason. It is crucial for us to have an understanding that these kinds of objections that are thrown out at us are immaterial. They come from the worst possible parts of our own human nature. To draw some parallels from the last day of our Lord, Good Friday, we can see the four groups of people that were around him for his passion.
The first group is that of the mob, the general people, the people who were just there in Jerusalem. The same people who just a few days before, on Paul's Sunday, welcomed him with open arms, throwing open the gates and seeing Hosanna, son of David. Just a few days later on Good Friday, chanting, crucify him, crucify him. Now what made them change so drastically? Was it their conviction? No. Because it was never conviction in the first place. It was always shallow. And it could have been born of any number of things. It could have been born of just a pack mentality. My neighbors are saying this, I'm going to say this.
It could be just getting swept up with the emotion of the moment. It could be just because they want to go with the mainstream. That's another argument we hear quite a lot. Just go with what everybody else is doing. Why do you have to be different? When you see everybody else going on bad paths, it's kind of not a bad idea to not, to be different. So, that is what the common people in Jerusalem were doing. And there were exceptions. There were exceptions. Look at the holy women who were crying over him as he walked by the Calvary. Not on this way to Calvary. Look at Saint Veronica who stepped out of her way to offer him a simple act of charity while he was going through so much suffering.
The second group is the Romans. Now the Romans didn't have much to do, shall we say, with our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what saves them from the worst of the culpability. Because, what did they do? They had no idea who Christ was. They had no idea about the prophecies of the Jews. They had no idea about any of that. That is the only way they were there. They were not there to understand those nuances. Which is why our Lord explained to Pilate that the grave sin was those who handed him over to Pilate. Because Pilate didn't know any better. But Pilate still made a mistake.
He still did something wrong. He washed his hands of the problem and said, it's not my problem. And he commanded his soldiers to take care of it. He had a little skirt, unjustly. They mocked him, obviously unjustly. And then they crucified him, unjustly. They were supposed to be the arbiters of justice and they abused their power and did something terribly unjust. They have reduced culpability because they did not understand the full impact of what it was they were doing. They did not understand the full death of the innocence of our Lord Jesus Christ. But at the same time, they were guilty for what they did.
Even though it was just obedience for them. They were just doing their duty. They were just fulfilling their obligation as soldiers. Roman justice was violent, it was dark, and it was brutal. It was supposed to humiliate the person and it was supposed to scare everybody else so that nobody else would fall into lie. As an example, if you don't fall into lie, you'll be excommunicated. It's the threat that's out there, even though it's no threat. The difference is the Romans had that power. Unfortunately, Rome does not at this point. Not in this circumstance. They weakened their own authority with this action.
The third group, why were they? They were compelled. The Romans were compelled by obedience. More than any else. By their singular ethic that they followed. Of stern justice. So they're a little less guilty. But just that, less guilty. Then we look at the Sanhedrin. These are the priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all under the rule of Innocent Caiaphas. And they were the ones who were given the authority and the power to bring Christ into the world. They were the ones who were supposed to proclaim him. They were the ones who were supposed to reveal him to the world and to define him as the Messiah.
And yet, they rejected him. They turned away from him. They condemned him. Why? What was their motivation in that? It was pride. It was ambition. It was hatred. And it was fear of losing their power. But there was a lot of different things involved there. Certain jealousy. Our Lord was extremely popular. They were not. He was preaching charity and he was preaching the fulfillment of the law. They were preaching the letter of the law. They were preaching about the harshest possible aspects of the law. They lost themselves in so many ways. Yes. They were not yet in that area. And as a result, they did not want to see Christ when he actually came.
They were the ones who had the full, they had the prophecies. They were looking for him. They were waiting for him. They were expecting him, which is why they went to St. John the Baptist and asked if he was the Messiah. They were ready for him. But they were not ready for him in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ. They did not want him that way. And so they rejected him. And they're the ones who initiated the call of his blood to be upon us and upon our children. They're the ones who are most guilty of the rejection of Christ. That pride, that ambition, that desire to be the only ones who have a say in what God and his church should do.
That is something that is very dangerous, very poisonous. And unfortunately, it has affected many levels of the church. They know what Christ would have done in these circumstances. And unfortunately, they don't. And they don't apply the truth well. Second thing, and the last group, is that of the apostles. There were 12 apostles. Nine of them fled when Christ was taken in the Garden of Olives. One betrayed them. One denied them after following him for a while. And one followed him to the foot of the cross. But even that one did not believe. What? Even that one, even Saint John, did not comprehend the enormity of the crucifixion or of the truth of the resurrection.
At that moment, he did not believe. These were the people who were closest to Christ. They were the ones who saw his miracles firsthand. Not through reports. They are the ones who witnessed so much of Christ's teaching. Who that very night, on Holy Thursday, had received his priesthood. Had received their first communion from his hands. Who had seen their first Mass. The first Mass. And received the most sublime teaching in the entire Bible. That discourse of Christ's after the Last Supper. And yet they still fled. And they still betrayed him. And they still denied him. And they still did not believe in him.
Why? Why would they not have believed? Why would they have fled? Why would they have denied him? Why would they have betrayed him? On the case of betrayal, Jude's ambition was greed. His pride. But on the case of Saint Peter and the other apostles, who is here. Saint Peter followed our Lord. Into the main gate. To watch the trial. On the stage, Saint Claude tore him more dirty. And he saw how the mob was packing Christ. And he saw that our Lord is the condemned duck. And being fearful for himself, he denied that he knew who our Lord was. So that he could save his own life.
It's an understandable response. He was scarce. But he still would save our Lord.
Facing Modern Challenges with Faith
But he still would save our Lord. And as a result, he went out and wept. He converted and became the humblest of the apostles. Which was something he was not before. He wept for his sin every day. For what he had done. The other apostles came from the Jews. The other apostles came from the Jews. In the upper room of the Luchinapolu. In the upper room of the Luchinapolu. Until he appeared to those that had strengthened them. Until he appeared to those that had strengthened them. And his first words to them were, Peace be to you. Because ultimately, this is the problem that we have.
The reason that this is causing a problem for any of us is because we are letting the noise get to us. is because we are letting the noise get to us. We are letting the noise get to us. We are letting the noise get to us. When we are in our home and there is a storm raging outside. I don't know if anybody has ever been in a tornado. But I'm sure with a hurricane you all know something about this. You hear the noise of the storm. You can hear it inside the house. Do you open your windows to hear it better? Do you open your windows to hear it better? Of course not.
But that's what we do when we listen to every Tom, Dick and Harry on the internet that suddenly is a canon lawyer and a theologian. Just all of a sudden, in the last week. That's what we do. We open the windows and doors to the storm and then we are surprised when the house gets messed up. When the house gets messed up. We are not trying to preserve the calm and quiet in our own soul and our own homes. That's part of the problem. Another part of the problem is that we are putting more importance on what everybody else is saying rather than going to the source of everything.
We are not spending enough time with the Blessed Sacrament. We are not spending enough time in the peace and quiet of our own mind. We are not fostering a presence of God in our own lives. That is really where we need to put the emphasis. Another thing I can deeply recommend for everybody is if you are ever in confusion or doubt about these kinds of situations listen to the responses in the sermon of Fr. Padre Arani. He has just been marvelous. His declarations of faith are very simple. No attacks. Nothing personal. His response to the post -declaration of communication is very beautiful and very simple as well.
That's the kind of spirit we need to foster within ourselves. But what is the thing that he insists upon? More than anything else, the spirit that he insists upon is the Spirit of Christ on the cross. And that is charity and that is forgiveness. The words of Christ, the very first words of Christ on the cross. Father, forgive them they know not what they do. In the Epistle for this Mass we hear that St. Peter is in chains. He is Jesus Christ. He is captured. He is in chains. And he is getting ready for his execution. He has been held over for his execution. And it says, And the church prayed for Peter and he was liberated.
We must pray for Peter. We must pray for the Pope. We must pray for Rome. We must pray for all the people who are believing the lies and all the people who are perpetrating the lies. We must pray for them deeply because we should not want revenge. We must not want anger to be thrown down upon them. We must not desire vengeance or anger or anything. It just simply is a question of following in the Spirit of Christ and praying for those even those who would do us harm. Even those who would cause more confusion and doubt and fear and anger whatever else. We pray for them.
We ask God to forgive them for their attacks on us. And yes, family, friends, those around us they may join in unfortunately. Stay in peace. Find calm in the storm. Find calm in the Blessed Sacrament. In the Sacrament, in the Mass. Preserve the Spirit of the Mass in your souls at all times and that Spirit of our Lord on the Cross. Because that is what we are now called to. That is what we must now give ourselves to. It's easy for us to start raging. It's easy for us to give in to the hurts and the fear. But at the end of the day, we are still called to be Christ on the Cross.
That is our vocation. But if you have confusion or doubt, let me know. If you would rather not talk to me but talk to one of these other priests, let me know. We can at least manage it. But I will make myself much more available. Nobody should live in doubt. Nobody should live in fear. But in the meantime, this is where we'll find our consolation. And it's in the Blessed Sacrament. And it's in the Mass. It's in our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in ourselves. Where there is confusion, we stay with the light. Where there is darkness, we stay with the light. Where there is doubt, we stay with the faith.
Where there is fear, we hold on to the one who knows that it is His courage who is God. They may be trying times, but it's also a time of tremendous grace. So be grateful for it. Give thanks to God for it. Pray for the church. Pray for the Pope. Pray for our bishops, especially the new ones. You pray for our faithful. Pray for all who suffer in doubt and confusion. Say prayers for each other. Support each other. Back each other. Form a tighter, stronger community. Let us move through this storm together so that we will be able to
The Role of Charity and Forgiveness
find eternal happiness in Heaven.
Summary
The homily begins by emphasizing the significance of the feast of St. Peter and Paul, highlighting the importance of remaining faithful to the Church and its teachings. The preacher addresses the recent accusations of schism and excommunication, clarifying that these claims are unfounded and rooted in misunderstanding. Drawing on historical examples such as St. Athanasius and the Great Western Schism, the homily illustrates how the faithful have navigated similar challenges in the past. The preacher emphasizes the necessity of defending the faith and the Church, even in the face of internal opposition and misunderstanding. The homily concludes with a call for charity and forgiveness, urging the faithful to pray for those who misunderstand or oppose them. It reminds the congregation of the importance of finding peace in the Blessed Sacrament and maintaining a strong community of faith.