Anyone with eyes to see will undoubtedly be able to discern the extent to which a “different spirit” is exerting influence on the ecclesiastical hierarchy and, consequently, also on the faithful who trust in its guidance. While it is good for the sheep to follow their shepherds, obedience is abused when the shepherds no longer lead the flock along the path God has laid out for them. Unfortunately, this is precisely what is happening at crucial junctures.
One way to offer spiritual resistance—which is not directed against the wayward shepherds personally, but rather against the false doctrines and evil spirits behind them—is to hold fast to the Church’s traditional doctrine. This means neither accepting nor allowing oneself to be influenced by modernist innovations. This requires vigilance, since the spirit of relativism did not begin to spread in the Church with the pontificate of Francis; rather, it has been at work for decades and intensified after the Second Vatican Council, reaching an intolerable level following the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
Yesterday, we emphasized in our meditation that Catholic moral teaching has not changed and will never change at the heart of the Church. There have only been attempts to adapt it to a modernist mindset in order to better harmonize it with the current political reality, which greatly harms the Church and the world. Such an approach leads to the Church’s ruin because it weakens her from within, causing the salt to lose its flavor. It also leads to the ruin of the world, because the world is deprived of the voice that corrects it and no longer has to face the Church’s call to conversion, since, in the meantime, the Church often speaks and acts according to the ways of the world.
Let us take a look at other fundamental issues for spiritual resistance:
The mission of the Church has not changed! The mandate to proclaim the Gospel to all people remains in force (cf. Mt 28:19–20), because no one can be saved without Our Lord Jesus Christ. “No one comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn 14:6). All dialogue and ecumenism will be authentic only to the extent that they obey this missionary mandate of the Lord. The goal of the mission cannot be for the Muslim to become a better Muslim or the Hindu a better Hindu, but rather for all to encounter the God who sent His own Son into the world to save them (cf. Jn 3:16). No one can change this—not the Pope, not a bishop, not any creature!
Whoever stands firm on this will offer active resistance against the powers of confusion that seek to distort Jesus’ missionary mandate to the Church, in order to integrate it into a general religious association and thus deprive it of its character necessary for salvation.
In Ephesians 6, St. Paul describes the armor of God (cf. Eph 6:11–18). One of the “weapons of attack” is proclaiming the Gospel, because this takes away the Evil One’s power over souls and proclaims the Lord’s victory.
The path to holiness has not changed. First and foremost, it is a matter of welcoming God’s love and responding to it, of entering into an intimate relationship with the Lord and nurturing it. To this end, God has given us His Word, prayer, the sacraments, and many other means.
God’s love comes first, and from it springs true love for our neighbor. It is essential that we keep this hierarchy in mind. In fact, God’s love is also the most important content of evangelization, for it concerns the salvation of souls, who await Redemption and are to encounter the love of our Father. All other issues must be subordinated to this! It is not the betterment of the world that should take first place in the Church’s proclamation, but the love of God manifested in Our Lord Jesus Christ.
“I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them,” says the Lord (Jn 17:26).
Whoever, living in a state of grace, carefully preserves the sound doctrine and moral teaching of the Church, serves the missionary mandate just as Jesus entrusted it to the apostles, and aspires to holiness, is already equipped with sturdy armor to resist anti-Christian forces and not allow oneself to be blinded.
In addition, there are certain prayers that should not be neglected and will be of great help. Among them are the Liturgy of the Hours and participation in Holy Mass as often as possible, regular confession, the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary, prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel, the practice of prayer from the heart, the reading of Sacred Scripture and other beneficial spiritual literature, listening to sermons, lectures, and retreats; the practice of spiritual and corporal works of mercy; etc.
Therefore, we have sufficient means at our disposal to cultivate our faith and be strengthened in Christ. This is what we can do to cooperate with the grace and protection that God grants us.
In the last two meditations of this series, we will discuss the spiritual battle we must all wage and share concluding reflections on anti-Christian influence.