Day 3 – Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Treason
Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Treason
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 Treason” by Fr. Jim Altman
Dear family, the very word “treason” stirs a fundamental loathing within us toward the traitor. Nobody likes a traitor, a betrayer. Indeed, as to the greatest traitor of all time, the betrayer of the Son of God, Jesus Himself said “… woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Mt 26:24
The common understanding or definition of traitor is criminal disloyalty, typically to the state. It is a crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one’s nation or sovereign. Perhaps the most ancient figure that exemplifies treason is Brutus, who betrayed Julius Caesar, through whom Shakespeare had utter the famous words “et tu Brute?” – “and you, Brutus” – even you, Brutus, my friend? Remember such similar, chilling words, spoken 2,000 years ago, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Lk 22:48
As Americans – at least before the current historical revisionism – we have known since schooldays what to think of treason. We were taught what to think through classic examples that, like every good parable, imparted to us the sense of right and wrong. On the one hand, we learned of the betrayal by Benedict Arnold, whose name has become synonymous with treason. Benjamin Franklin wrote that “Judas sold only one man, Arnold three million.” On the other hand we learned of the glorious sacrifice of Nathan Hale who, as he stood before the British gallows, uttered the renowned words “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
Who can forget the brave witness of Faith of Bishop St. John Fisher who refused to apostatize himself before the malevolent King Henry VIII, whilst the rest of the cowardly episcopacy bent to the will of a mere human. Who can forget the more recent brave witnesses of the Mexican clergy-martyrs, like Blessed Miguel Pro, or the incomprehensibly brave 14-year-old boy, St. José Sánchez del Río.
It all fits together … the secular revulsion we have toward the “Benedict Arnolds” of the world, and the revulsion we have toward the “Judases” who betrayed us in the Faith. It certainly explains the revulsion that the faithful had for the grave betrayal of the abuse scandal. It was bad enough that abuse occurred in the first place; it was immeasurably worse when certain members of the hierarchy covered it up, it was much worse than that when others who knew stood by and did nothing, and worst of all when some of the hierarchy themselves were perpetrators. The grave consequences to the faith of the faithful is well known.
But it is easy to blame those we readily identify as Judases. It is a lot easier to point the finger at other particularly evil traitors, but what about us? Let us never forget the parable Jesus taught about those who were convinced of their own righteousness. How often are we like the Pharisee who took up his position in the Temple “… and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector.” Lk 18:11
The fact is that we all have been traitors. In fact, we all are traitors, to a greater or lesser extent, maybe, but traitors nonetheless, every single time we betray the Sacrifice on Calvary, every time we sin, in what we have done and in what we have failed to do. We betray the Cross of Christ every time we refuse to pick up our cross and follow Jesus to our own personal Calvary. For today, let us look at what might be the most insidious way we betray Jesus in what we have failed to do.
As the great Archbishop Charles Chaput once said: “For Pope Benedict, lay people and priests don’t need to publicly renounce their Catholic faith to be apostates; they simply need to be silent when their baptism demands that they speak out, to be cowards when Jesus asks them to have courage.” So what about us? What about our own treason?
Dear family, in our PC-poisoned culture, we are stigmatized, chastised and ostracized when we try to live out our Faith publicly. We are hammered by the proposition that we are being “judgmental” when we stand up for the Truths of our Faith. Yet, if we speak the unchanged and unchangeable Truth about sin, and endure the repercussions for speaking up and speaking out, should we not have the same attitude as Jesus to the temple guard, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Jn 18:23
Let us pray this day to be free from treason – from highest treason – against Jesus our Lord, in what we do, but perhaps even more, in what we have failed to do, by remaining silent when our baptism calls us to arms, to stand up and speak out against sin in the world. Indeed, dear family, we will know we have gone spiritually blind when we can see nothing significantly wrong with something that God has called sin.
Prayer of Reparation
My Lord and my God,
We have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts to move our hearts toward treason.
We have fallen into treason when we have not lived up to the call of our Baptism by not acknowledging You before others.
We fear the persecution in every aspect of our lives, especially those things that impact on our income, or on our social relationships.
In our weakness, we have been weak in Faith, and betrayed You like Peter in the courtyard, denying You far many more times.
In so many ways, we fear the ill-will of man more than we fear the loss of Heaven.
We turn to You Lord, in our weakness, and beg Your forgiveness for our countless betrayals.
We love You, Lord, and we beg for the courage to say to others to others, “yes, I know Him Who is Lord of Heaven and Earth.”
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 silence and treason.
Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to Your will.
Send Your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of treason 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 the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son
of the Eternal Father, save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, save us.
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, etc.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
And made us, for our God, a kingdom.
Let us pray:
Almighty and eternal God, Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world and willed to be appeased by his blood. Grant, we beg of Thee, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
To see the Goals, Methods and Levels of “Let Freedom Ring,” go HERE.
ENLIST IN THE UNITED STATES GRACE FORCE
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