The Battle Lines Are Not Political; Not Right vs. Left – This is Christ vs. Antichrist
The “Do What Thou Wilt” Culture
There is no question that this is a VERY strong demonic force we are facing today … one that has managed to invade the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy. Yet, far too many remain oblivious as to what is unfolding in our times. Venerable Fulton Sheen (as heard in the video below) shines a bright light on why this is …
“Why is it that so few realize the seriousness of our present crisis? Partly because men do not want to believe their own times are wicked, partly because it involves too much self-accusation, and principally because they have no standards outside of themselves by which to measure their times. Only those who live by faith really know what is happening in the world … The great masses without faith are unconscious of the destructive processes going on.”
What Are the Destructive Processes?
As the sexual revolution, and this age of excessive indulgence, was exploding in the 1960s, a new way of looking at our relationship with God was being ushered in by weak, world-compromising bishops. Instead of calling us (as centuries of bishops had done before) to strive for heroic virtue, we were being told that we were “victims” of our circumstances, and we simply cannot help but indulge our wants and desires. In fact, many in the hierarchy have been attempting to say some sins are no longer sins … because avoiding them is beyond our capability (see contraception, see “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect”).
And, precisely during the time this NuChurch (Sheen refers to it as an “Ape of the Church” in the video below) was being ushered in, a real demonic force entered the world. On “witches night,” April 30, 1966, exactly 50 years from the Angel’s (believed to be St. Michael) appearance to the children in Fatima in 1916, Anton LaVey founded the “First Satanic Church” in San Francisco, CA. Required reading for members was “The Satanic Bible.” The central theme of the Satanic Bible is, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Since the 1960s, the number of satanists and witches has risen dramatically. A Newsweek article reports: “With 1.5 million potential practicing witches across the U.S., witchcraft has more followers than the 1.4 million mainline members of the Presbyterian church.”
Setting aside the startling rise of the occult, the religion of “do what thou wilt” has become the norm in our crumbling culture. The famous Nike slogan – JUST DO IT! – was, essentially, a call to physical fitness. Yet, it became the motto of our modern culture. Basically, it seemed to morph into, “If it feels good, do it” … don’t deny yourself any comfort or form of pleasure, even if it rises to the level of sin … “my body, my choice” … “love is love”… “ Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
A Sign of Contradiction
It was Mary, at the Wedding of Cana, who beckoned her Son to expose Himself as our Savior. This first visible public action of turning bland water into delicious wine (representing the joy of the Holy Spirit) would come through the words in direct opposition to Satan: “Do whatever He tells you.” This is “way back” to the paradise of God’s Presence. This is the key that unlocks the door to the Supernatural Life.
Therefore, this is the “real battle line.” As much as those who want to own the narrative tell us otherwise, at its essence, this battle is not about politics; it is not about left vs. right – this is about Christ vs. Antichrist.
Venerable Fulton Sheen (from the video below), in his prophetic eloquence, put it this way …
“The battle lines are being clearly drawn and the basic issues are no longer in doubt. From now on men will divide themselves into two religions, understood again as surrender to an absolute. The conflict of the future is between an absolute who is the God-Man and an absolute which is the man-god; between the God Who became Man and the man who makes himself god; between brothers in Christ and comrades in the anti-Christ.”
You and I are traversing through historic times. Fr. Robert Altier was correct in saying…
St. Louis de Montfort told us that in these times, the latter times, he said that God is going to raise up the greatest Saints that we have ever seen. Even to the point, he said, that those Saints will tower over the Saints of the past the way that a cedar of Lebanon towers over a shrub. Think about some of the great Saints we have, and they are going to look like shrubs compared to what’s coming. And you can be one of those Saints. There is no reason why you can’t.
Yes, you and I are called to be some of the greatest saints in all of history. But, authentically religious people, authentically spiritual people, will always be opposed. This is what Jesus meant when he said: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Luke 12:51). Authentically spiritual people pose a direct threat to the “do what thou wilt” religion of our culture.
Venerable Fulton Sheen (in the video below) points out …
“Evil catastrophe must come to reject us, to despise us, to hate us, to persecute us, and then, then we shall we define our loyalties, affirm our fidelities and state on whose side we stand. Our quantity indeed will decrease, but our quality will increase. It is not for the Church that we fear, but for the world. We tremble not that God may be dethroned but that barbarism may reign.”
How easy it is for so many to follow the crowd through the wide gate (Mt 7:13) of the many fads and trends of immorality, self-gratification, and even the occult. We are tempted to “get in step” with the ruling class who are the instruments of Satan in our times. We are tempted to fearfully avoid conflict, at all cost … even at the cost of our heavenly reward. Yet, St. Louis de Montfort reminds us that the real heroes of every age are those brave souls who courageously accept the challenge of integrity by ignoring the trends of their times while remaining true to themselves, even if it means being a signum cui contradicetur, a sign of contradiction, in the world (Lk 2:34).
God wants to, as Fr. Altier stated, “raise up the greatest Saints that we have ever seen.” God wants to “choose us,” but are we “ready” to be chosen? Are we controlled by our “wants” or are we controlled by God? Are we loyal … ready to jump with every command of His? Are we “strong” enough to “stay the course” in the missions He gives us? We need spiritual first responders, not just folks who take care of the wounded, but those who take down the active shooter (the devil); those who are willing and ready to say, “I’m Going In!”
Call to Spiritual Arms
In his monumental homily entitled, “Fatima: A Call to Spiritual Arms for the Salvation and Peace of the World,” Archbishop Cordileone gives us thebattle plan to “reverse the curse” of a nation under the spell of a satanic “Do what thou wilt,” man-centered cult that erupted from his archdiocese in the 1960s in San Francisco:
For 100 years we ignored the message of Fatima; or, perhaps, it is not so much the message we ignored, for we are well aware of the warnings and the history that resulted. Rather, it is the requests we ignored. But we cannot afford to do so any longer. We have to pay attention. We have to do what she told the waiters at Cana: do whatever he tells you [You see? This is the “reverse” of “Do what thou wilt”] And what does Christ tell us to do? …
Far from being something we check off on a to-do list, what we are about today is nothing less than a call to arms: to spiritual arms. We are living in a time and place of intense spiritual battle, and only in taking up spiritual arms will we alleviate the spiritual disease that is at the root of so much of the physical and mental suffering in the world today.
Again, this is not a political battle … This. Is. Spiritual. Warfare!
Venerable Fulton Sheen concludes his historic homily (in the video below) by giving us fair warning:
“Those who have the faith had better keep in the state of grace and those who have neither had better find out what they mean, for in the coming age there will be only one way to stop your trembling knees, and that will be to get down on them and pray.”
Fulton Sheen delivers prophetic sermon on the Antichrist, the signs of our times, the apocalypse, a coming chastisement, and gives three practical suggestions for Christians of this age.
