Recently, the words of Francis Cardinal George from 2010 have been recognized as being more apropos now than they were when he spoke them. He said then, “I will die in my bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die in the street.” Those are some serious words from a man who recently recognized that it is likely all Catholic hospitals will close in 2 years under the HHS mandate.

Whenever humanity goes through times like these, the faithful have always been led to ask, “What is God trying to tell us.” You see this scenario over and over again in the Old Testament as the prophets tell the people to listen and to repent. It is time for us to do the same. Yet, from what shall we repent? Our message is in the Gospel.

Jesus foretells his coming hour of giving his life. He says that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. It is here that he not only foretells his hour, but we also know the why of the hour. He will give his life for the salvation of souls.

The Apostles after His resurrection follow His command and go out into the world to preach the gospel for the salvation of souls.

This is their mission and this is mission of the Church. We are in the saving souls business.

However, for quite some time that mission has been tainted with the focus on saving our own souls. Indeed, so much has there been a lack of focus on the saving of souls to be replaced by each individual focused on saving his own soul, that the Pope apologized for  the lack of evangelization on the side of baptized life-long Catholics a few years ago.  The message then is clear: Do not focus on your own salvation alone, but focus on living the gospel of Christ so that those in darkness may see a great light

It is from missing this vocation that we must repent. Let me tell you what is at stake.

I told you about the protests at the Cathedral, but now in light of Cardinal George’s statements, it is time to tell you the other side of that story. When we were being attacked we were not seeking to defeat our persecutors, we were seeking to persevere in our faith. We had another vision of the reality that we needed to heed. To explain this, I am going to illustrate a scenario. Imagine you are in a battle and your enemy below has all the weapons, you are just trying to maintain your place and remain alive. Then suddenly, you see what the enemy does not see. It is a huge Tsunami  coming,  it will swallow up your enemy. You are on high enough ground that it will not affect you, but your enemy will be wiped out in minute. You want to win the war, but you do not want to see your enemy wiped out like this. There is no hope and they will destroyed in an instant. They do not see it.

That would best describe the scenario we encountered.

The people attacking us, as I have explained to  you before are using Saul Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals. Many using that book became agents of Lucifer. Let me explain, the book says to defeat the Church using its sins against it. That is what the Devil does. These people seek the elimination of the Church, so does the Devil. They have become agents doing Lucifer’s work in a battle against God. They will lose, but Lucifer is after the destruction of any soul he can bring to his side through his own efforts and the efforts of his agents. Here is the issue, there is in a promise in that book. The promise is this: Use the book and you will bring change. You will cause great destruction, but you will be able to bring forth your radical agenda. You will not build a just society,  but you will bring change. But, when all is said and done, you will find yourself in the Lucifer’s Kingdom for all eternity. We call that Kingdom Hell. That promise is right in the book. That is also how the devil works. He promises and delivers and when you find yourself where you did not want nor expect to be, he shows you how you agreed to it all at the beginning.

When Cardinal George spoke as he did earlier, he was speaking of the possibility of martyrdom here on our own shores. Yet, what is a martyr? Martyr comes from the Greek meaning witness. It simply means a radical form of witness to the reality of Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Light. Yet, martyr or not, that is our call. You and I are called always to be witnesses to this truth.

It is looking like the next years and even decades will be difficult for people of faith, but that is so that the light may shine in darkness. You and I have a call to be that light to others that those in darkness may see that great light. The message God may be speaking to us, is do not focus on your own salvation alone, but focus on living the gospel of Christ so that those in darkness may see a great light. Our prayer, our way of life is called to witness to God’s mercy and call to salvation. This is what you and I were called to do at baptism.

Several times in history, there is a record of saints seeing a vision of souls falling into Hell like snowflakes. The last such message that I know of came to Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia at Fatima. You and I have a call to do what we can to lead as many souls to salvation as possible. Because we are in the saving souls business. This is why Jesus died on the cross and this is the mission He sent the Apostles on after His resurrection and this is the mission you and I have everyday. We are in the saving souls business. We have not been as attentive to business as we should have and the enemy has reaped the benefits.

The time is coming to resolve to live our faith in a strong way so that all may be saved. Through devotion to the rosary, through the virtuous life, through staying close to the sacraments.  So many have turned away from that mission thinking they only need to be good enough to get to Heaven, a heresy. They have walked away from the call and the mission. Let  us never be them. Let us turn to the Lord and ask what we may do so that His will be done. After all there are many that have turned to the enemy in order that he may lead them to believe that their will is being done when all the while he is just fulfilling is side of the implied contract until he take them into this Kingdom and imprison them against their will. Without your perseverance and living the faith, he will succeed. Let us let that not happen. Do not focus on your own salvation alone, but focus on living the gospel of Christ so that those in darkness may see a great light.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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