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Fr. Hewko's Sermons: Third Sunday of Lent - March 3, 2024 - Printable Version

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Fr. Hewko's Sermons: Third Sunday of Lent - March 3, 2024 - Stone - 02-29-2024

Third Sunday of Lent [First Mass] - March 3, 2024 - “He That Gathereth Not with Me, Scattereth” (NH)


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RE: Fr. Hewko's Sermons: Third Sunday of Lent - March 3, 2024 - Stone - 03-05-2024

Third Sunday of Lent [Second Mass] - March 3, 2024 - "Québec Once Catholic!" (Québec City)




RE: Fr. Hewko's Sermons: Third Sunday of Lent - March 3, 2024 - Stone - 03-05-2024

Transcript of Father Hewko's Sermon from his first Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent 
[Any (unintended) errors in transcription are mine.]



Today is the Third Sunday of Lent. The Epistle is from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians 5. "Brethren be followers of God as most dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has delivered himself for us, in oblation and a sacrifice to God for an order of sweetness. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness. Let it not so much as being named among you has become the saints, nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose, but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this, and understand that no fornicator nor unclean nor covetous person which is a serving of idols have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be not therefore partakers with them. For you are here to for darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk ye as children of the light for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, in justice and truth."

The holy Gospel. From St. Luke Chapter 11. "At that time Jesus was casting out a devil and the same was dumb. And when he had cast out the devil, the dumb man spoke. And the multitude were an admiration at it. But some of them said he casteth out devils by bells above the prince of devils, and others tempting asked of him a sign from heaven. But he seeing their thoughts said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against the shelf shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that through bells above, I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by bells, above by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges."

"But if I by the finger of God cast out devils, doubtless, the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesses are in peace. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overtake him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest and not finding he sayeth, 'I will return into my house whence I came out.' And when he has come, he find it swept and garnished, then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And entering in, they dwell there. And the last state of that man, becometh worse than the first."

"And it came to pass as he spoke these things that a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice said to him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore thee and the breasts that nurse thee." But he said, 'Ye rather blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it. Thus are the words of the Holy Gospel."

So immediately after Mass, there will be the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a brief Benediction to receive the Blessing of Christ himself. Christ the King dwells here in the Blessed Sacrament. And He Himself will give you His blessing at the end of Mass with the Benediction. And He blesses not only you, but the whole valley here, the whole state of New Hampshire, the whole East Coast, the whole country, the whole world. And even the devils in hell and all the damned feel the influence of the Mass and the Sacrifice of the Mass.

So today, I'll be driving up to Quebec for Mass there this evening. And after Mass, of course you're all welcome to stay, and there'll be refreshments. You're welcome to stay as long as you wish. And if ever it gets so crowded back there, we can always pull the chairs in from the refectory and put them into the kitchen if we need to fill in those spaces.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, Amen.

I would like to read out to you a letter that was actually commanded to be read by a very holy bishop. His name was Bishop Ezequiel Moreno y Diaz. He was a bishop in Colombia. And this letter he wrote on February 12th, 1897. And you might say, "Well, 1897, what does that have to do with us?" You'll find the letter...it sounds like Archbishop Lefebvre's letters, and Archbishop Lefebvre used to put out letters quite frequently, and many, many things. But most of his letters were defending the Faith against the attacks of Modernism and Liberalism with Vatican II and the New Mass. And he was encouraging all the faithful throughout the world, "Do not compromise the faith, proclaim the Kingship of Christ, fight for the Kingship of Christ. You who are married have all the children God sends. You who are thinking of marriage or at a young age, consider giving your life to God as a priest, as a nun, as a monk, as a brother. And all of you who are members of Christ's body, we all belong to the same army under Our Lady, and we must fight to the day we die. Especially in these days that are an open attack against the Catholic Church, against the Catholic faith."

We are Catholic, we belong to the Catholic Church, we are part of the Church Militant. And we resist this destruction not only from the outside attacking our Holy Catholic Church, but what's not been seen at such a height before is the attacks from within the Church, from the very Head of the Church, and the bishops, and the clergy, and the Modernism that has swept most of the clergy into heresy and error. So if there's any time to hear this letter, it's now. So pay attention, and it's very powerful, and it's very good.

And this bishop worked many miracles. He died under the reign of Pope St. Pius X, and I'm sure he is in heaven and probably very good friends with Archbishop Lefebvre up there, because he saw the liberalism coming that we're swamped in now, and he was warning his faithful: don't fall for the traps and be strong in the Faith.

So he actually ordered this whole letter. It's quite lengthy, but I will summarize some parts. And he ordered this letter to be read during Lent on the Sunday during Mass. So pay attention. Don't fall asleep! This is too important for all of us.

And he begins his letter saying that we're in the beginning of Lent. Let's be generous with our Lord, strive to conform to him. And then he says, "It is the faith that teaches us these great truths that we have just expressed. The same faith tells us that in this important issue of the achievement of our ultimate end, in other words of the salvation of our souls, there is only one way for all time. Only one way to save our soul. When our soul is lost, it cannot be recovered. If this is what the faith teaches us, why don't men give the due weight to these great questions, the only ones that are truly important?"

And then he quotes how the little faith found on the earth in Our Lord's prophecy. "But yet the son of man when he cometh shall he find, think you, faith on the earth." And then he goes on to say, "Some call themselves atheists, others deists, still others pantheists. There are materialists, rationalists, and many Masons. All of them and many more call themselves Liberals. This is the common name for all modern errors, because these errors all found friendly reception within Liberalism."

And then he goes [on to say] how they work to deceive people by slippery words, and don't we see that now? 'Pro-choice' means you're a pro-murderer. That's what it means. But they use these nice terms. "Comfort care' that hospice uses to take care of those dying, it's anything but taking care of them. It's shooting them up so they die quicker. That's what it means. And progressive education, it's anything but true education. It's just propaganda for filth and immorality that's being pushed on the children in all the schools now. So what would he say today?

And then he picks up. According to the Council of Trent, Session Six, Chapter Eight, it says, "Belief is the beginning, the foundation, and the root of justification." So belief, it is necessary to maintain this. Because without this, we would be striving in vain to establish the beautiful edifice of Christian sanctity, and please God, and to attain eternal salvation. The Lord our God with his conduct teaches us of the great necessity to guard faith with special care. God has sheltered, our let us say has surrounded this virtue with an impregnable wall that he has instituted with beautiful care. One single mortal sin is enough to bring death to this charity, and killing the soul also dies.

But this very sin that kills this love and charity in the soul cannot get to this faith that remains and subsists in the soul even though it is dead. It is the principle with which the grace of God can resuscitate it and the root from which with the same divine grace, the leafy tree of Christian holiness can once again sprout.

So he's saying, 'yes, we can fall into mortal sin and lose the state of grace, lose charity. But if you have the faith, you can recover it. You can come back to the heart of Jesus by a humble contrition and confession, and recover the life of the soul.' And then he says, "Concluding from this preceding doctrine, no matter how many are horrible a man's sins may be, if he preserves the Catholic faith, his conversion to God is not so difficult. But if he comes to lose the faith, this is the most difficult thing, because he lacks the foundation of the edifice which can be built on, and the roots that bring up the sap that gives life to the soul which is dead due to sin. See then that it is of the greatest importance to know and to put into practice the means of conserving the faith and avoiding the dangers that lead to its loss."

So now he covers Four Points. One, Correct Belief. Two, Catholic customs and Catholic life. Three, Flee sin and liberalism. And then Fourth, Profess the Faith boldly.

Don't fall asleep!

First Point, Correct Belief. The first way to preserve the Catholic faith is a humble obedience to the guidelines of our Holy Mother, the Church. The good Catholic humbly accepts and believes everything that the Holy Church orders and teaches. Suspicious of his own judgment, he eagerly follows even the smallest rules of the Holy See. Whether these are doctrinal, discipline related, or other. He desires to subject his weak intelligence to every implication of what he believes to be the Master of truth, and to see things and judge things, believe and feel them as how the Master sees, judges, feels, and proposes them.

What appears to the Church as good and true appears also to him that way. Far from feeling mistrust, he feels joyful in thinking that he cannot be deluded by something that is directed by the Holy Ghost, and is supported by the infallible promises of its Divine Founder, Jesus Christ our Lord.

So if he was alive today, there's no doubt he would say like Archbishop Lefebvre, ignore the modernist teachings of these modernist popes that go against the tradition of the Church. You must ignore them and stay with Catholic Tradition. And all the councils down to Vatican I in 1870, and all the great encyclicals of the popes down to Pius XII. And this is what he's talking about. So this is why Archbishop Lefebvre could say without bitterness, without any agitation, "We peacefully fight for the faith. We peacefully continue tradition." And we know that the Holy Ghost guides the Church and it will come back to Tradition.

So I pick up again. He talks about the Catholic sense that's given in our baptism that Vatican Council I taught. This consists of a supernatural disposition for promptly and safely discerning truth from error.

So this means that when you hear error such as for example,' all religions are many paths to the same God,' your Catholic sense in baptism that's marked in your soul with the character of baptism, you automatically hear that and say 'something's wrong with this.'

And you might not be a theologian that can discern and say, "Well here's what's wrong with it, and here's what's true, and here's the errors to avoid," but you just have that Catholic sense this is wrong. And you're right, because that's given from the Holy Ghost in our soul called sensus catholicus. And this is what he's talking about. So we got to guard this gift of God, the Catholic sense.

And then he talks about the sin of pride. Pride in contrast is the origin of all heresies, because it leads to rebellion and against God and His Church, and proclaims the independence of its own reason. God though 'resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.' Jesus therefore said in the most expressive and tender way, "I confess to thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them to the little ones."

And so he talks about the greatness of faith and the rise of Lucifer's 'I will not serve,' and how Lucifer is behind all the liberal, modernist errors. And then he quotes Pope Leo XIII, how the intelligence submits to all that God has revealed. This is what the Faith is.! You and I believe all that God revealed, and all that His Holy Catholic Church teaches. We simply believe it as children believe their parents.

But we don't believe vainly. We believe because we see the proofs, the miracles that Christ worked, that the saints worked, that the miracles that always accompany the Catholic Church and still do, like all the incorrupt saints, and the true Eucharistic miracles, and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image of the Shroud, and many other miracles throughout the world, which shout out the truth of the Catholic faith.

And then he says here, "To deny the existence of this authority in God or to refuse to submit to Him means to act not as a free man, but as the rebel who abuses his freedom. And in such a disposition of mind, the capital and deadly vice of liberalism essentially consists. Humble obedience to the discernment of our Holy Mother Church is the way, my children, to keep the faith and to avoid falling into the widespread errors through misfortune of our time, which are the chief reason for the rebellion that is caused by pride."

So this reminds me a lot of when Archbishop Lefebvre said in his interview after he did the consecrations in 1988, he was asked, "Well, if Rome wants to propose an agreement, won't you accept it? The Pope would be extending his hand." And he said, "If Rome wants to make a deal, I will first ask the Holy Father, 'Do you accept Pius IX 's Syllabus of Errors? Do you accept the teachings on the church and state, and the Kingship of Christ under Leo XIII and on Human Liberty? Do you accept the Pascendi of Saint Pius X condemning modernism? Do you accept the Kingship of Christ of Pius XI and Pius XII? Do you accept all these papal encyclicals which are generally part of the ordinary magisterium and infallible?' If you don't accept these, there's no discussion, no dialogue possible."

So this is Archbishop Lefebvre himself doing what this good bishop himself insisted on. Stay with the tradition of the Church and the great encyclicals of the popes that condemn the modern errors.

Second Point, which is very important, especially for our survival today, which is the second way to keep the faith is a truly Christian life. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that he came into the world so that we could have life, an abundant life. To secure it in this way, there is no doubt that we can have Christian life in abundance. As the faith is the foundation of this life, there is no doubt that having abundance in Christian life, we also have an abundance of faith.

So he says, "During this, we must keep the sacraments as much as you can." And today it's quite a lot of survival for most faithful traditional Catholics. You know you can't go to the Novus Ordo sacraments, and you don't even know if they're valid. Most of them now are probably invalid, but that's for the Church to decide. But tradition already condemns the New Mass and Vatican II. So you have to keep close to the sacraments when you get them from priests who don't compromise the faith. It's that simple. Like the Catholics of the Vendee during the French Revolution in 1789 and onward, they would not go to priests who compromised the faith. They wouldn't go to their Mass.

And it wasn't even the New Mass! It was the Tridentine Mass, and the priest wore a cassock and wore the traditional vestments. But if they knew the priest compromised with the oath, signing the Oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, they would not go to his Mass because they called him the juring priest, and they would only go to the nonjuring priests. Who had the same Mass, by the way, in the forest in the middle of the night, in the barn, in the middle of the night. They had to run for their life because they were hunted down. So we still have it not so bad, don't we?

And then he goes on to say how the religious practices are so important in the home. Daily prayer, daily rosary, religious duties, and practices of piety. These are very important. And he talks about the danger of abandoning, for example, that the religious practices of daily rosary. If you start praying the rosary, "Oh, we haven't prayed it together as a family in two months," well how are you going to expect to keep the faith and your children to keep the faith? If we abandon the practices of daily religious life, how are we going to keep the faith? If a priest abandons his breviary, that's the first step to abandoning his priesthood.

And that goes with the laity. When you abandon the rosary in daily prayer, you set yourself for the path of losing the faith, and it's very dangerous. And this is what he's insisting on. Keep the practices of the faith.

Here he says, "It frequently happens that error leads to corruption of customs. But more frequently, especially among Catholics, the corruption of customs leads to error or the loss of faith." St. Cyprian says, "No one believes that the good can abandon the Church. The wind carries away the straw and the chaff, but not the grains. Church history provides us with many examples that confirm this truth. We can say that the corruption of customs has created more apostates from the faith than the persecution and torments of tyrants."

Now this is so powerful, this sentence. Because Marx, Karl Marx, he understood this. You corrupt the customs of the people, and you'll make them lose the faith. Get them in the music. That's why who was behind the whole rock music revolution? It was financed by the you know who's and the higher ups, who knew exactly what they were doing to corrupt the people. And then get them in the fashions. Put the girls in blue jeans, get them to dress in miniskirts, get them to be immodest, and get the spirit of rebellion that... And this is what the colleges were teaching in the '60s and '70s. "Your parents are backwards. They have values set from the old Western European ways. We're in a new era now, so don't go with what is of the past. Go with what's of the future and modern."

And this rebellion against the past. If Cicero, or Plato, or Socrates, or Aristotle heard those words, they would cover their ears and they would cuss the man out for talking like a madman. Because for even the Ancients, they had a respect for what was given from their fathers.

And the Holy Ghost confirms this in His words when he says, "Keep the boundaries set by your fathers." That there be a chaperone during dating, that's set by our fathers. Of course it's abandoned in the modern world, but it was the wisdom of our fathers that when a girl and a guy were dating, there'd be a chaperone. Uncle Bob and Aunt Millie, they don't have to sit with you at table. But they sit at the other table, then you can talk to your girl or your guy alone at the table. Or you go for a walk along the Oceanside or the riverside. You walk, but not far behind is the chaperone. Those were the wise ways. And keeping with friends and family, it avoided falling into fornication and destroying and sowing seeds of bitterness in their whole marriage. So that's just one example of keeping the Catholic customs.

How the enemies of Christ knew corrupt the customs, the fashions, the music, the entertainment, and they've totally dominated this. There used to be the Index [of Forbidden Books - Index Librorum Prohibitorum] that condemned bad [books,] movies. Now that the bishops have gone with Vatican II and they're all liberal and modernist, there's no guidance anymore.

Protestants have a sort of Index however. I forget the name of it, but they have some study for every movie that comes out, and its rating. "It's over violent, it's pornographic, stay away from it." So the Protestants are picking up where the Catholic Church used to stand strong.

So I continue. "We can say that the corruption of customs has created more apostates from the faith than the persecution and torments of tyrants." How true this is, how true this is.

Masses of people and entire nations abandoned the faith because they had already been prepared by the corruption of customs. The enemies of the Catholic Church know this well. And to this end, their battle plan is to corrupt. Pope Pius IX on May 29th, 1876 stated, "Their first thought was to corrupt the spirit and heart of the people and mainly of the youth."

An official document of the leadership of the secret society, the Freemasons states, "Let us never tire of corrupting. It is decided in our discussions that we do not want more Christians. Let us therefore popularize vice among the masses. They can sense it with their five senses, and swallow it, and be saturated in it. If their hearts are corrupted, there will be no more Catholics," quoting a free Masonic lodge. If their hearts are corrupted, and just think now with internet pornography, and the drug scene, and the whole immodest scene. It's who can save their soul really? But without Our Lady, we won't.

He continues, "A truly Christian life is one that can save us from the loss of the faith and from apostasy, while in the middle of such danger. Let us live in such a way that we will always be in a state of wanting there to be God, an immortal soul, a future life with rewards and punishments. And in a word, the certainty that everything that our Holy Mother Church teaches us is true." Of tradition, of course. Let us follow the council of the apostle who says, "Having faith and a good conscience," which some rejecting have made shipwrecked concerning the faith.

Point Three. The third way that we note for preserving the Catholic faith is to flee as much as possible from all communication with those who profess doctrines that are contrary to Catholicism. Interacting with these men puts us in danger of losing the faith. It is necessary to avoid them. So he's warning about hanging around non-Catholics, the danger of that.

St. Paul the Apostle wrote to Timothy, "Now these avoid, for of these sort resist the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith." In the same letter, he states that the talk of these men eats away at things like cancer. And Father Cornelius a Lapide commenting on these words declares, "All the Holy Fathers taught that we must flee heretics like the plague." That's why you don't go back to the [New] Mass. That's why you don't go with the Conciliar] church. That's why you don't go with the 'Insult' [Indult] Mass either, because it's modernist liberal priests saying the Latin Mass.

So their sermons are all promoting Vatican II and 'Saint' John Paul II, and so-called 'Saint' Paul VI, and quoting them. But they're liberal, and you're going to get poisoned, and you're going to lose the faith. That's why Archbishop Lefebvre said, "Stay away from the Insult [Indult] Masses," and the Society of St. Peter Masses, and all these compromised Masses. He wasn't playing games, because he understood the importance of preserving the true Faith.

All the Fathers taught that we must flee heretics like the plague. Our Holy Mother the Church also teaches us to keep a distance from them with Her conduct and way of proceeding with those who lack faith.

So then he talks about, of course in business you have to deal with these people, be in them in the world but not of it. Let us add that reason and experience also demonstrate this danger, and consequently the obligation to avoid it. Interaction with other men exercises in us such an influence, that we slowly become like them. Hence the adage, "Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are." When we spend time with someone, we perceptively take on his way of being. We make his thoughts ours. We come to feel like he does, lament the things he laments, feel joy for the things he feels joy for, applaud what he applauds, and condemn what he condemns. We are in a word what he is or at least the perfect image.

At the beginning perhaps, one does not approve of his evil insinuations and even expresses disgust. But bit by bit, this disgust disappears, and then these are not even thought of as evil. Later they're regarded as humorous events. Finally, they penetrate the entire soul and come to occupy the same place that religious beliefs used to occupy. This process converts the man into an unbeliever, an impious person. Oh, how many have had what we have just described shamefully happen to them? How many have lost the faith from interacting with those who mock them? How many have even lost their soul, their poor soul? And for all of eternity, from dealing with unbelievers. One single unbeliever is enough to bring about the loss of many who interact with him. This is seen everywhere in all times and even today.

So remember how St. John Bosco warned his boys? "Don't hang around bad friends, they'll take you to hell." I continue. "We said when we began this to discuss this point that we must flee from communications with those people, who profess doctrines that are contrary to Catholicism. Consequently, Liberals of every shade are included in this, because the Pope has condemned liberalism in all its varieties as an error, that is in every one of its principles and even in its latest and hypocritical bluff of what's called Catholic Liberalism. This is why it is necessary to avoid Liberals as much as possible. We must not have to flee interaction with the Liberals who declare themselves atheists, materialists, rationalists, Freemasons, etc. Much more so, we also have to flee liberal Catholics because they are the most dangerous. They do the most damage to the church and to souls."

In a letter on March 6th, 1873, Pope Pius IX said, "Though the children of this world be wiser than the children of light, their snares and their violence would undoubtedly have less success if a great number of those who called themselves Catholics did not extend a friendly hand to them." Doesn't that remind you of what Archbishop Lefebvre said? He talks about those liberal Catholics who want to shake hands with the modernists and make peace with the modernists. And even if it be the Holy Father, the Pope, but if he's a modernist and destroying our Catholic faith, we don't shake hands. We pray for him and we respectfully oppose him publicly. That was Archbishop Lefebvre's mind on it. We cannot shake hands with modernists, how often he said that. And now we got Society priests shaking hands with local diocesan bishops on a friendly basis, and now they're able to use their churches, and it's all nice and smiles. But no more, you'll never hear them condemning the New Mass or Vatican II when they're using a church of the New Mass. It's not going to happen. They're silenced.

And then Pope Pius XI continues in this quote. "Yes, unfortunately there are those who seem to want to walk in agreement with our enemies and try to build an alliance between light and darkness, and an accord between justice and inequity by means of those so-called liberal Catholic doctrines. These doctrines based on the most pernicious principles adulate, praise the civil power when it invades the spiritual arena, and urges souls to respect or at least tolerate the most iniquitous laws. As if it had not been written absolutely that no one can serve two masters." So that's why it's a sin for Catholics to vote for pro-abortion candidates. You cannot vote for them.

"There are certainly much more dangerous and more painful than our declared enemies, these liberal Catholics, they not only support their efforts perhaps without realizing it, but also maintain themselves at the very edge of condemned opinions. They take on an appearance of so-called integrity and sound doctrine. They beguile unwise lovers of reconciliation, and deceive the honest who would revolt against open error. In this way, they divide the minds, destroy unity, and weaken the forces that should be assembled against the enemy."

So wow. Archbishop Lefebvre, he was a grace for all of us, but he was clear you don't make peace with the enemies of Jesus Christ. So says the Pope, "As you can see, such a clear, conclusive, and expressive document needs no comment. One must flee from interaction with liberal Catholics, much more than with the open enemies of religion. Because the former are more dangerous and more false. They drag souls away for submission, or at least tolerate the most evil laws." So they don't think along the lines of Mother Church. And we have to if not correct them, then avoid them.

Directors of Catholic Associations must exclude not only extreme liberals from the associations, but also those who strive to reconcile Catholicism with the liberalism, that is Catholic Liberals. One needs to say to them with Pope Pius IX that it is impossible to serve two masters. Here, it will also be appropriate to declare that as another way to preserve the faith, we must avoid reading harmful books, leaflets, and newspapers. And of course he would add dangerous websites. "We already addressed this point in our pastoral letter of August to the left last year. No one should think himself so firm in the faith, that he has nothing to fear from those who have no faith. Even with his extraordinary wisdom from God, Solomon bent his knee before the idols due to his close interactions with idolatrous women. This frightening example like many others should make us distrust ourselves and flee from interactions with those who profess doctrines that are contrary to those of Holy Mother Church."

So how often I've met young men, "I'm going to go to the Novus Ordo seminary or this liberal seminary, and I'm not going to fall for their dupes and their lies. I'll just stay Catholic, and when I get ordained, then I'll come out strong." But by the time they're ordained, they're already brainwashed, they're broken down. So that's a dream, a false dream.

The Fourth Way and the last way to preserve the Catholic faith, let us point to the Christian courage to profess our Faith. A Christian must never deny the faith or even give the impression of doing so. He must always earnestly confess it as demanded by God's honor and the neighbor's salvation. First, we can never deny nor even an appearance that we believe in Jesus Christ, and that we are the sons of the Catholic Church. The Church was established by Him. We cannot deny that we believe in all the truths that She puts forward for us to believe. We cannot do this for any motive, such as the acquisition of great wealth or of the entire world, or for the prevention of the loss of our belongings, health, our very life. Denying the Faith is a grave offense against God, who is the Truth Itself. Because this is the same as saying that He does not merit one's belief.

Denying the faith is also the same as saying to Jesus Christ that we are ashamed to be His disciples. And for this he said, "For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him, the son of man shall be ashamed when he shall come in his majesty and that of his Father, and of the holy angels." St. Luke 9. "We deny the faith not only with words, but also with actions, gestures, or a sign that expresses this denial. For thousands of martyrs, a single word, action, or gesture would've been enough to liberate them from suffering and death."

So open brackets, think of the many Catholics who could have gone to one Anglican 'Mass' in England, just one, and sit in the back and not even participate, but just go. And they would not be in prison, nor fined, nor put to death. But most Catholics and the good priests would not participate in these false beliefs and false practices. So that's the same now. We cannot go or compromise with New Mass or Indult Masses.

But none of them did that, these saints, and so they gave glory to Jesus Christ and saved their souls. These Catholic heroes also did not deny their faith in appearance, because they knew that this would cause great scandal, and would do grave injury to God even if they did not inwardly deny God. The beautiful example of the elderly Eleazar is celebrated everywhere, and this is in the Books of the Maccabees, book 2, chapter 24.

"Those who loved Eleazar advised him that he only needed to appear to eat the prohibited meat in order to save his life. But he said full of bravery, 'For it doth not become our age,' said he, 'To disassemble,' that is to fake eating the meat. Whereby many young persons might think that Eleazar at the age of four score in 10 years was gone over to the life of the heathens. And so they threw my dissimulation and for a little time of a corruptible life should be deceived, and hereby I should bring a stain and a curse upon my old age." Eleazar said this, and he died a glorious death, leaving this good example that so many have imitated since.

Occasionally, tyrants forced the martyrs to go in front of idols and put in their hands burning coals and incense. So that compelled by the pain of the burning coals burning right into their skin and muscles of their hands and wrists. So that compelled by the pain, they would throw the coal and appear to offer incense to the idols.

But the saints, taking the pain, they remained immovable so that they did not appear to offer incense through even the slightest hand movement. And one of them was St. Balaam. He did exactly that. So he held his hand and didn't flip it over, while his hand was just cooking and roasting. But he chose that rather than appear even to burn incense to the false gods. And what does that tell us about compromising the faith? You don't compromise the Catholic faith, period.

And Archbishop Lefebvre was so clear, and why didn't his sons listen to him? I don't know. I continue. "What confusion and shame must these examples cause so many Christians who don't suffer for their faith, neither a taunt or even an insult. An impious satire, burlesque laughter, an overbearing look, or an insulting and bold phrase of enemies of religion are often enough to cause trembling among some Christians. These weak individuals should hear the words of Isaiah, 'Fear ye not the reproach of men and be not afraid of their blasphemes. For the worm shall eat them up as a garment, and the moth shall consume them as wool. But my salvation shall be forever and my justice from generation to generation.'" Isaiah 51, "Neither can we deny the faith nor appear to do so in any case." In any case, "But this is not enough. Instead we must confess it. And we can conclude from St. Paul's words, for with the heart we believe under justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. We can conclude the same from these words from Jesus Christ, everyone therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven."

In addition, the Church founded by Jesus Christ is a Visible Church, and will no longer be Visible if those who comprise it, in other words, her children do not confess Her Faith exteriorly. Just as someone who conceals his Faith cannot be known as a disciple of Jesus Christ, neither can the Church be known without the exterior confession of those who make up its membership.

So see the importance of not only believing as Catholics but professing as Catholics, openly and externally. And this applies to the laity, but all the more to the priests and the bishops, who should be professing and preaching the Holy Catholic Faith fearlessly like Archbishop Lefebvre did.

I continue, "There is however a difference in the obligations of not denying the faith from confessing the faith. We have said that never in any case can the faith be denied, not even in appearance. But in terms of confessing it exteriorly, it is not necessary for salvation to always do it in every place, in every circumstance, but only when the honor of God or the salvation of the neighbor demands it.

"When then our silence results in dishonor to God or in a bad example that can scandalize our neighbor, we are obliged to confess the faith, and we sin if we don't. In our era when we are obliged to live surrounded on all sides by the enemies of our holy religion, there are many occasions when we have the duty to confess our faith under pain of sin. It is unfortunately not unheard of and in fact frequent that in our presence, these enemies of our religion mock the Holy Mysteries, blaspheme our Lord Jesus Christ, insult our Holy Mother, ridicule the saints, deny some of the truths of the Faith such as the existence of hell, which so disturbs them, and other such things. In each and every one of these cases, we are obliged to confess our faith because God's honor requires and demands this, and our silence would be a guilty one.

"But we do not intend to recommend the Christian courage for confessing the Faith only when conscience obliges this, but also when there is no strict requirement to do so." For example, you're at a restaurant, you make the sign of the cross when you say grace. "But I might be made fun of." Well why are you ashamed of the sign of the cross? When soccer players before huge stadia of thousands of people make the sign of the cross, boxers before their fight. And we're ashamed just to say grace?

"We can often do this through our work. For example, we can receive the Holy Sacraments often, even though they call us 'pious.' We can attend the Holy Mass, the 40 Hours Devotion, and other devotional acts as much as our duties allow, even though they call us slackers. So not going to work, but going to Mass instead. We can take part in an edifying way in processions and other religious rallies, even though they qualify us as self-righteous. We can revere those objects and people consecrated to God, even though they call us clericals. We can help with the arrangements and decoration of the altars and churches, especially for important festivals, even though they call us sacristans.

"In contrast, we must reproach and reject all conduct, and uttering that sounds like error and liberalism. And demonstrate our aversion to everything with the same sense, whether it concerns literature, school, college, association, a circle, a demonstration, an internment, a project, a company, or other such things.

The farther we can get away from error, the less danger we have of falling into it. If we succeed at feeling this aversion that I have just indicated, for whatever smells or feels to be error, it will be a great security. It stays far away from us, and is even a clear signal of the integrity of our faith." So this is a very important point!

So Catholics must be allergic even to the smell of liberalism. That's why we traditional Catholics are opposed to the Doctrinal Declaration signed by Bishop Fellay. That's why we raised hell against this, because this is a direct attack on our faith, by compromising with the New Mass and Vatican II, which Archbishop Lefebvre and the old SSPX used to clearly say, "No agreement, no discussions with Rome until Rome comes back to tradition."

So it's just the Catholic Faith and the love for it that repels any smell of liberalism and compromise. And any talk, for example of New Mass excuses. The farther we can get away from error, the less danger we have of falling into it. If we succeed at feeling this aversion that I have just indicated for whatever smells or feels to be error, it will be a great security. It stays far away from us and is even a clear signal of the integrity of our faith. That's why we see liberal Catholics, for example, not feel any aversion to sins against the faith. "You're extreme, you're overreacting." And that's what they said to us until 2012. "Just wait a little longer." "Yeah, but they already signed on compromise. They're already compromising the faith." "Well, just wait a little longer."

"Liberal Catholics, they don't have aversion to sins against the faith, which even seem for them to be insignificant. They are therefore scandalized when they hear that this sin of liberalism is the gravest of all, except for formal hatred of God and total despair. This scandal reaches its height when descending from this general proposition we specify that being a rationalist, a material, a liberal, etc., and we would add conciliar Catholic today, is more sinful than being a drunk, thief, killer, or any other such things.

"They cannot conceive of this, these liberal Catholics. Just like they failed to explain that God's servants fill with holy indignation when they see the spreading of heresy, or the good faithful covering their ears after hearing a single word pronounced against the faith. They smile and think It's funny to see such manifestations of faith. That is why they do not feel horror at the sins against the faith. Having such a feeling, this horror then, and feeling aversion to sins against the faith and to everything that smells of error is a good sign and a great shield against heresy and error."

So if you are upset when you're hear prelates promoting, making excuses for the New Mass for example, or promoting Vatican II, or saying the New Mass is legitimately promulgated, you are right to say something's wrong with this. And this is what this great bishop is saying. It's a great shield against heresy and error. Let me repeat this.

"Having such a feeling, this horror then, and feeling aversion to sins against the faith and to everything that smells of error is a good sign and a great shield against heresy and error. Let us have courage then my sons, Christian courage to profess the Catholic faith. It is in an admirable way to preserve the faith and not lose it in the midst of so many dangers, and to ensure its expression not only when we have the obligation to do so, but also on occasion such as what I mentioned before. In this way, you will position yourself farther from the danger, and will be more secure from falling into it."

"We believe my sons, that if you come to properly practice things as I have just mentioned, telling things that they should be told with the grace of God, which is never lacking, you will not have the great misfortune to lose the faith and fall into the deep abyss of heresy. Take then in your practice these ways. They will protect you from an evil impact of errors that have spread everywhere. Don't be surprised that we insist so heavily on this matter of the conservation of the faith, or that we come back to this issue again and again. It is clear that today, your situation is critical, because the dangers that threaten your faith are much greater."

And then here, he goes on to talk about the republic of Ecuador, which is neighboring Colombia. And he is talking about the new Constitution, which is like all modern constitutions of modern countries, they're all masonic. Liberty of all religions, liberty of the press, liberty of conscience. And he's telling these Catholic people, "You must not fall into these liberal errors."

The constitution that was given to Ecuador, and we could say our own, let's be honest, our own which rejects Christ the King not only is not worthy of applause and praise, but also merits the anathema and reproach of every good Catholic, because it contains dispositions that are highly injurious.

"First to God, whom it disdains in a most daring way, making Him not equal but inferior to false gods, because it allows the entry into the country of the ministers of these, but not those of the true God." So protestant ministers everywhere backed by the state.

"Two, against," think of the Indians with Father De Smet. They wanted the Catholic priest, they wanted the 'Black Robes.' And Father De Smet went to the White House pleading, "Let them have the Black Robes. The priests will take care of these Indians." And the White House said, "Sorry, we're going to ban the Black Robes and bring in all the Protestant ministers with their wives." And the Indians were furious, and after that came many massacres of Indians as well.

"Second, against the Church. These liberal ideas are against the Church of Jesus Christ, whose rights it violates and stamps on in a most scandalous manner.

"Three, this constitution is against the religious orders, which are so loved by the church for their important services against which the nation's borders were closed despite being open to all the sectarian ministries."

So in Ecuador, they banned many religious orders to come in because they were Freemasons governing. So this was about 22 years after the assassination of the great president Garcia Moreno. As Our Lady foretold, everything will come under Freemasonic power. That's what the whole Great Reset and the World Economic Forum, that's what they're all about, and that's who they're in the grip of.

"And then against the faithful whose religion is despised, insulted, and persecuted. And finally, against the nation itself, composed of an immense majority of Catholics whose right not to have any other religion than Catholic was not considered in any way, let alone protected by this new constitution."

And he goes on to talk about the false worship, religious liberty, liberty of conscience. Just like Archbishop Lefebvre constantly preached against these things, and remember Bishop Fellay for example, saying that religious liberty of Vatican II is "very limited, very limited." When all the popes condemned it in the most scathing phrases.

"What audacity, what boldness, and what delirium, what injury to God and to men? What heresy and what error, with what zeal would we show how perverse, absurd, and malicious is each provision of this supreme law? It is against the sacred laws, but it is not possible to do such in a pastoral letter. It requires a book, and not a small one, for enough information so that each Catholic can understand that it needs to be rejected." He's talking about the new constitution.

So remember, Ecuador and Columbia were Catholic. They were overthrown by the Masons. The US was never Catholic as such. But we got to fight for this. We got to strive for this our whole life.

"You already know my children, what you need to say to those who show you this constitution and praise it. Tell them that it contains blasphemous, heretical, erroneous, injurious, evil and scandalous provisions from the theological perspective, that it is a fertile origin of vice, apostasy, sin, and iniquity." Separation of church and state for example, leads directly to abortion laws, leads directly to assisted suicide laws. And killing babies now after the ninth month, which is being passed in certain states.

"And iniquitous when considered from the moral perspective, and that if the cause of sedition, disturbance, disorder, damage, and ruin for individuals, towns, and the nation from the political perspective. I'm sure that the supporters of error will ask us as they already have on another occasion, why we get mixed up in foreign affairs. Why do you mix politics and religion?

"We respond that we do so because foreigners get mixed up in our affairs all the time with great nerve and the evilest intentions. These foreigners should leave us in peace, and not send even one of the many pages filled with anti-Catholic doctrines that they send to us. They should stop with their attempts to get believers to leave the Catholic faith. Perhaps then we will be quiet. We say perhaps, because anywhere we see persecution of the church, we have the duty to defend her. If errors appear anywhere, we must combat them with our powers. Faithful Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ, sons of the Catholic Church, you also have the duty to defend your holy mother and master the holy Catholic Church.

"No, it is not only the bishops and priests who have to speak and work to fight the destructive currents of error, including Freemasonry, and its servant liberalism, and to defend religion. The simple faithful must also do this through all legal means that are within their reach in the form and manner that they can.

"If faithful Catholics work to defend their religion as energetically as their enemies work to destroy it, we would certainly not have to lament so much persecution and misfortune as we do everywhere. It is so shameful to compare our enemy's persecution of religion with our own apathy and inertia in defending it.

"Let this conduct which is cowardly and undignified for Catholics be far from us. Let us fearlessly confess Jesus Christ in front of men. Let us courageously defend His Holy Church. Let us be willing and able to suffer and lose everything instead of committing even the smallest of modern errors that are related to deathly liberalism."

Now doesn't that sound like Archbishop Lefebvre?! Absolutely! This is exactly what he said. So in other words, 'we got to continue fighting the liberalism, in the political level and in the church. Let us not shy away from mockery, insults, and threats from the enemies of God, the church, and society. And now we have to say with tears even, we have to stand up to these bad popes trying to destroy our Latin Mass, trying to destroy our Catholic faith, and the kingship of Christ.'

"Let us work in this way and have no occasion to face the divine castigation that other people suffer or to let the following words of the savior be fulfilled in us. Therefore, I say to you that the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof."

"We conclude my children in saying that just as it is impossible to please God without having faith, or to justify or save your soul, it is also impossible without faith to receive the Holy Sacraments that the Church requires for us to receive in this holy time of Lent. Those then who accept an error condemned by the Church must not approach the Holy Sacraments, without first repenting and discarding the error. The Sacraments, which are the springs of life and grace for those who receive them properly, transform into venom, and death, and condemnation in those who receive them unworthily."

Isn't that so true? So if any of us believe in Vatican II and the New Mass, you got to go to Confession. If any of us believe in the errors condemned by the Church such as liberty of speech and press, liberty of the video, separation of church and state, those are sins against the Faith, and you cannot go to Communion until you confess them and recant them. What does this do for American Catholics? That means we got to become Catholic and stop being liberals.

And this is a great bishop, and there's no doubt he's a Saint. John Paul II canonized him. That's not saying much, but I'm sure in his life, he truly was a saint. Because you can't be a saint today without fighting liberalism. We can talk of holiness, and virtue, and all these great things, and lives of the saints. But if we don't fight the modern errors, we're just clouds floating in the air aimlessly. We must fight the errors of our time. And obviously, you wouldn't be here if you were not fighting for the Holy Faith. So you must persevere and take courage.

Let me close with his last paragraph. "Oh, Divine Catholic Faith. Come Son of Heaven, descend on us, and spread throughout our minds Your dazzling light so that with it, in this holy time of Lent, we can penetrate into the sublime and loving mysteries of the passion and death of Our Sweet Jesus. Let us understand the treasures of salvation, grace, and blessing, that His abundant redemption provides us. Let us strive to turn to these riches through the Holy Sacraments, which were instituted for this merciful end. And let us obtain the eternal salvation of our souls. Let us strive to make the most of the fruits of redemption while there is still time. Let us receive what the proper dispositions, the Holy Sacraments, and obtain the salvation of our souls."

"This is the only truly necessary thing necessary for man. This is what your bishop requests and begs. He blesses you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. This pastoral letter is to be read in all the churches of our diocese, on the two feast days during the mass, given and signed for us without sealed and countersigned by our secretary in Pasto, Colombia. February 12th, 1897. Father Bishop Ezequiel, Bishop of Pasto."

Oh Holy Mother of God, give us bishops like this again.

O Mary, conceive without sin, pray for us.

O Mary, conceive without sin, pray for us.

O Mary, conceive without sin, pray for us.

And for those who do not have recourse to Thee, especially all Communists, and Freemasons, and other enemies of Holy Mother Church, Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.