Pride is the “Biggie.” This is the sin Satan committed in his choice to refuse to submit to God. This is the “original sin” that infected our first parents – “You will be like God” – and every generation that followed. In fact, without the waters of baptism, empowering us to stand against the original sin, along with a daily commitment to keep our “personal pride radar” up and on high alert, we can very easily slip into the intoxicating grip of pride. If we are not careful, we can find it driving just about every sin we commit. Pope St. Gregory the Great counted pride as the “mother of all sins.”

Pride, in fact, is the sin that is most at work to divide and destroy our culture. Think about this, Adam and Eve, to their ruin, believed that “freedom” was defined as the freedom from adhering to the will of God.  They wanted the ability to “Just Do It,” to do as they pleased and determine for themselves what was right and wrong.  They believed they had “progressed” beyond God.

There’s that seemingly indisputable term: “progress.” Or, as its adherents refer to themselves, “progressives.” By and large, this is a movement to remake whatever is determined to be archaic and no longer applicable, by the generation who has thankfully, “arrived on the scene” (sarcasm alert). They claim to have a kind of gnostic understanding of things that the “common folk” do not possess. They often make the lofty proclamation that they have “evolved.” What is archaic? What have they evolved from? GOD!

In fact, God, and His adherents, are a threat to the agenda of the “evolved.” In their eyes, the Dark Age’s notions must be destroyed. Notions such as seeing faith as a positive influence in the culture; revering and protecting the child in the womb; supporting the bedrock of civilization – the nuclear family; seeking care, housing and assistance for those dealing with psychological disorders and addictions … many of which are abandoned on the streets (e.g., drug addicts, homosexuals, those with gender dysphoria, etc.); banning the slavery of prostitution and child sex-trafficking; supporting a healthy economy to assist people off of government assistance and giving them the dignity of work; healing, instead of stoking, racial division; seeking quality education for our children (over kowtowing to unions who fill politicians’ coffers); having a patriotic heart for our country; honoring and thanking the heroic lives of police, military, first responders, and all those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us and our freedoms.

In today’s culture, if you hold these truths to be self-evident (to borrow a phrase) – notions that find their source in our faith in God – YOU are the problem! YOU are causing division. And YOU must be silenced or even assaulted. In other words, the so-called progressives have granted to themselves the right to dictate to everyone else what is right and wrong. They are the arbiters of what is considered the “new normal” of values. They have made themselves gods.

Add to this, that fitting in has become compulsive among far too many. Those who seek to preserve the best qualities of our culture, founded in God, have become targets for the “evolved.” We have now found ourselves in a place where it has become socially acceptable to ridicule, shame, and even physically attack those who are not adhering to the new values. Many are even on the receiving end of this socially acceptable abuse from family members and friends.

Humility opposes pride. Not that we are called to let ourselves be a “whipping boy” to bolster others’ lust for superiority. Humility is a reverence for the truth; a reverence for who we are and what we are called to be; a reverence for the reason we even exist – God. Humility opens the door to the spirit of gratitude. In our abundant gratitude for all God has done (beginning with setting us into existence) and is doing, we say “YES” to God, and a big fat “NO” to the incessant propaganda of a new normal of lies that directly oppose the will of God.

Like the heroic first Christians, we go about radiating our love for God and neighbor, while we are willing to die for the TRUTH. This was why the first Christians grew in number so rapidly. They were attractive because they were HEROIC! Now is the time, possibly more than any other time in salvation history, for more and more souls to rise up, as the first Christians did, with that humble and heroic light of truth and love. (From “Let Freedom Ring“)

You can enlist in the United States Grace Force HERE (please recruit family and friends!)

Information on the United States Grace Force can be found HERE

We highly recommend ordering the book “Let Freedom Ring” authored by Fr. Bill Peckman, Fr. James Altman and Fr. Rick Heilman. This amazing book will be a great tool for easy access, highlighting and bookmarking as you traverse through the first 40-days of our 90 Days to Peace journey with tens of thousands of other special forces prayer warriors!

You can order the book at RomanCatholicGear.com.