Day 14 – Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Rebellion

by Fr Richard Heilman | July 20, 2020 12:05 AM

Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Rebellion

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
At a word from You, the devil and his minions flee in terror.
You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength.
By the power of Your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord
To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels
To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces.
Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, The Church,
So that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation
We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust.
Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception … pray for us
St. Joseph … pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel … pray for us
(the patron of your parish) … pray for us
(your confirmation saint) … pray for us

 

“Freedom from Rebellion” by Fr. Rick Heilman

Recently, I have been pointing to one of Venerable Fulton Sheen’s popular TV shows from the 1960s (see below). Sheen entitled this particular episode, Quo Vadis, America, which translates to “America, where are you going?” This is a reference to a conversation recounted in the apocryphal Acts of Peter in which Peter, fleeing his ministry and the threat of crucifixion in Rome, meets Jesus on the road, who has risen. Peter asks Jesus “Quo Vadis, Domine?” (Where are you going, Lord?), to which Jesus responds that he is going to Rome to be crucified again. This gives Peter the courage to return to his ministry in Rome, where he ultimately ends up crucified upside down.

This sets up Sheen’s talk about patriotism. Sheen said, “Patriotism is a virtue that was allied to the old virtue of the Greeks and Latin called pietas, meaning love of God, love of neighbor, love of country. And when one goes out, all go out. When we no longer have love of God, we no longer have love of country.”

Sheen continued, “We started our country with a revolution. Revolution is in the air today. In fact, the arguments, today, are that we started that way, why not continue it? We do live in America with a revolutionary tradition. But the question is, what kind of revolution should we have?”

He then tells the story of a soldier who fought at Concord. The soldier was asked why he fought; why he went to Concord. The answer came, “For one reason, that we might govern ourselves.” Sheen goes on to say, “Now, what’s the revolution of today? VIOLENCE! Violence just for the sake of violence … the new type of revolt, which involves the destruction of everything in the past. And these people who are actuating violence today, claim they are in line with the American Revolution. THEY ARE NOT!”

The point Venerable Fulton Sheen makes is that our nation was founded, and has thrived, by the understanding that our rights and liberties come from God. The revolution he was viewing in the 1960s, and we are seeing reenacted today, is a rejection of God, in favor of man.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Church teaches … The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing. Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This ‘fall’ consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: ‘You will be like God.’”

You see? Once we rebel against God and his reign, we are left to make ourselves our own gods. We are then left to the inevitable outcome, which is totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is a form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state. The evil elites, throughout history, have sought such a government. Once they have gained control of every source of influence (media, education system, etc.) they are then equipped to build their army of “useful idiots.” “Useful idiot” is a derogatory term, referenced in writings of totalitarian governments, for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause’s goals, and who is cynically used by the cause’s leaders.

The evil elites of history have always rebelled against God and country with the same method of operation, which is to use a compliant, violent mob to usher in their plan for totalitarian rule. Sheen puts it this way, “Their principle was, that in order to get people to pass through a certain door, there was only one way to do it, and that was the way of terror.” There is a reason why there is a “silent majority” … they’re terrified to go against the agenda of the evil elites, and their violent mob.

Venerable Fulton Sheen then brings us to his point: “The world is built on order. There’s a plan. So, scientists are able to discover the laws of the universe. And in discovering the laws of the universe, men find harmony. This harmony, and order, had to come from somewhere. It came from God. What is the essence of Satanism? The essence of Satanism is the destruction of that order – the order of law, the order of morality, the order of religion, the order of ethics, anything you please.”

This may not be Concord, but the demonic rebellion against God and his beautiful order – against life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – is very possibly as severe as it has ever been. Quo vadis, America? … where are you going, America?

 

Prayer of Reparation

My Lord and my God,
We have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts toward fearfully allowing our nation to rebel against You and Your will.
We have fallen into this nationwide rebellion against You when we have not lived up to the call of our Baptism by standing against the aggressors of violence and destruction. Instead, like Peter, we flee.
We have been too easily swayed by the threats of the elites and their compliant mob to build up a patriotism that is filled with love for You, love of our neighbor, and love of our country.
In our weakness, we have allowed the ancient foe to advance.
We turn to You Lord, in our sorrow and guilt, and beg Your forgiveness for our lack of resolve to let the visible light of our love for God and country push out the darkness of the rebels.
We beg for the grace of Your goodness to build up within us the strength and endurance be this visible light of love for all to see.
We know, Lord, if You will it, it will be done.
Trusting in You, we offer our prayer to You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Exorcism

Lord God of Heaven and Earth,
In Your power and goodness, You created all things.
You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship.
By the strength of Your arm and Word of Your mouth
Cast from your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil
Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to fear and rebellion.
Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to do Your will.
Send Your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted in Your Church.
Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions.
Trusting in Your goodness Lord,
We know if You will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, etc.
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

 

To see the Goals, Methods and Levels of “Let Freedom Ring,” go HERE[1].

 

ENLIST IN THE UNITED STATES GRACE FORCE
(Please recruit family and friends to enlist!)

[2]

 

Source URL: https://usgraceforce.com/day-14-let-freedom-ring-freedom-from-rebellion/

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