Will You Die for Him? (A Sermon on the Eve of Persecution in America)

From The Remnant
Letter by Father John Echert
  

Fr. John Echert, Ministering to the Souls of Soldiers in the Mideast

Editor’s Note: Whenever I hear it said that Catholic priests who continue to serve our war-torn Church from within the establishment are playing the part of the coward for not joining a traditionalist fraternity or society, my blood begins to boil. The following is the transcript of a sermon delivered a few weeks ago by a diocesan priest here in St. Paul. Father Echert has been providing daily Traditional Latin Masses in this archdiocese ever since 2007, and before that he opened his church willingly and enthusiastically to the TLM shortly after he was made pastor of the Church of St. Augustine in South St. Paul. A relatively young military chaplain who has served in Iraq and in various dangerous locations in the Mideast, Father’s courage seems to recognize no limits, unquestionably loyal to the Church but utterly unafraid to speak the truth no matter the personal costs. So the next time you’re tempted to claim that only priests trying to “save their skins” stay on and serve within our occupied Church, please remember Father Echert and the many good priests just like him who cannot find it within themselves to abandon their flocks to modernist priests during the present siege, and so have determined to stay on and hold the Catholic ground come what may. And as you read the following sermon, please consider the courage in the face of evil that is required of a priest first to deliver this sermon in the present climate and then to give the “rad-trad” Remnant permission to publish it. God bless you, Father! And, for what it’s worth, when they come for you, which now begins to seem almost inevitable, we’ve got your back!   Father Miguel Pro, pray for us and for our courageous priests. MJM

My Friends in Christ,

It has now been one week since the diabolical Supreme Court decision which now makes same-sex marriage a universal right for Americans. How ironic that in the days leading up to this national holiday that celebrates the Independence of the United States, the highest court in the land should abuse its power in such a blatant act against true human liberty and rights as determined by God.

Cardinal George Pell Takes a Swing at Pope Francis’ Environmental Encyclical

The Vatican's financial chief, Cardinal George Pell, has taken the unusual step of criticizing Pope Francis' groundbreaking environmental encyclical. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

From Religion News Service

By Rosie Scammell 

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s financial chief, Cardinal George Pell, has taken the unusual step of criticizing Pope Francis’ groundbreaking environmental encyclical, arguing the Catholic Church has “no particular expertise in science.”

Nearly 18 months after Pell was brought to the Vatican by Pope Francis and given a mandate to reform the city-state’s banking affairs, the Australian cardinal gave an interview to the Financial Times, whacking his boss’ landmark document.

“It’s got many, many interesting elements. There are parts of it which are beautiful,” he said. “But the Church has no particular expertise in science …. the Church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters. We believe in the autonomy of science,” Pell told the Financial Times on Thursday.

In the papal letter, released last month, Francis called for global action on climate change and criticized world leaders for not addressing the issue urgently enough. While the pope won praise from environmental activists, others have argued the pope should not be wading into the political and scientific debate.

Until now, Pell had remained quiet on the contents of the encyclical, despite gaining a reputation in Australia as a climate change denier. In 2011, he clashed with the then-head of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, Greg Ayers, who said Pell was “misled” in his climate change views.

Despite the cardinal’s criticism of the pope’s environmental stance, Pell noted the encyclical had been “very well received” and said Francis had “beautifully set out our obligations to future generations and our obligations to the environment.”

Since the document’s release, the Vatican has hosted a high-level meeting on the environment, while Francis has taken his message on the road throughout Latin America.

Rev. Paul Scalia - The Errors of Modernism

Father Paul Scalia is the Delegate for Priests in the Diocese of Arlington, a position he now holds full-time as pastor at Saint John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, VA. He received a Master of Arts degree from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum, in Rome in 1996 and was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Arlington the same year. Fr. Scalia has published articles in various periodicals including This Rock, First Things, Adoremus Bulletin, and Human Life Review, and is currently serving as Chaplain for the Arlington Diocese Courage Chapter. He has also served as Parochial Vicar at St. Bernadette's in Springfield, St. Patrick's in Fredricksburg, and St. Rita's in Alexandria. Fr. Scalia is a member of the Institute of Catholic Culture's Board of Advisers and has given numerous lectures on faith, morality, and modern challenges to Orthodoxy.

Father Scalia's lecture is part of an ongoing series sponsored by The Institute of Catholic Culture, an adult catechetical organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization. The Institute seeks to fulfill its mission by offering education programs structured upon the classical liberal arts and by offering opportunities in which authentic Catholic culture is experienced and lived.

 

Maranatha Celtic - The King Of Love My Shepherd Is

And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things (Mk 6:32-34).

Solzhenitsyn Mourned Bastille Day. So Should All Christians

The French Revolution invented radical nationalism and socialism, and launched the first modern genocide, aimed at Christians. 

Tuesday, July 14 probably passes without much fanfare in your home, but the date, Bastille Day, marks the beginning of the greatest organized persecution of Christians since the Emperor Diocletian. This day, the beginning of the French Revolution, also planted the seeds for the murderous ideologies of socialism and nationalism that would poison the next two centuries, murdering millions of believers and other innocent civilians. Between them, those two political movements racked up quite a body count: In Death By Government, scholar R. J. Rummel pointed out that

during the first 88 years of this century, almost 170,000,000 men, women and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death; or buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens or foreigners.

But the first such modern genocide in the West took place in France, beginning in 1793. It was undertaken by modern, progressive apostles of Enlightenment and aimed at pious peasants in the Vendée region of France. By its end up to 300,000 civilians had been killed by the armies of the Republic.

This story is little discussed in France. Indeed, a devout historian who teaches at a French university once told me, “We are not to mention the Vendée. Anyone who brings up what was done there has no prospect of an academic career. So we keep silent.”

Read more at The Stream >>

Prince Harry Announces that Orlando Will Host Next Invictus Games

Prince Harry, Patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, announces that the second Invictus Games have been awarded to Orlando. The 2016 Games will take place from 8 – 12 May at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Following the success of the inaugural Invictus Games in London in 2014 Prince Harry always hoped that they would be just the beginning of the Invictus story...

Find out more about the Invictus Games here: http://www.invictusgamesfoundation.org/

Monsignor Charles Pope - Dies Domini: Learning to Live the Lord’s Day Today

Monsignor Charles Pope attained a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from George Mason University in 1983, and obtained his Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degree in Moral Theology from Mt. Saint Mary's Seminary in 1985. Ordained to the priesthood in 1989, Fr. Pope has served at several parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington, and was named a Monsignor in 2005. He has served as pastor at Holy Comforter - St. Cyprian Parish in Washington, D.C., since 2007. He is currently a Spiritual Director for the Washington Comitium of the Legion of Mary, and acts as Archdiocesan Coordinator for the Celebration of the Latin Mass. He has published several articles in pastoral journals, has been offered a regular column in the Catholic Standard, and has taught numerous catechetical courses.

Monsignor Pope's lecture is part of an ongoing series sponsored by The Institute of Catholic Culture, an adult catechetical organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization. The Institute seeks to fulfill its mission by offering education programs structured upon the classical liberal arts and by offering opportunities in which authentic Catholic culture is experienced and lived.