Welcoming this "great trial" with faith and hope.
Today, in the context of the Gospel, Fr. Steve talks about the Lord's strong words to St. Peter, our first pope, and to us. We can trust that the "gates of hell will not prevail against the Church," but we also need to be careful of thinking as the world does. We do well by seeing this Great Trial from the perspective of Our Lord, who always invites us to take up our cross and follow him.
The temptation may be to bail out of the Barque of Peter, the boat of the Church, but the call of the Lord is to remain, and, indeed, in this time of purification, to bail out the boat by becoming purified by the Spirit. In other words, to become saints. That's our hope, and the world's hope. We don't have assurance that the Church in Europe will persevere, but we do know that the Church will never "capsize," even if it has seemed often at the point of capsizing.
This is one of many Great Trials that the Lord and the Catechism tell us that we would endure. Our role now is to remain faithful, and to use our gifts to build up the Kingdom of God. Come, Holy Spirit!
After communion, Fr. Steve recommended that the faithful read Bishop Olmsted's Pastoral Letter "Into the Breach," a letter addressed especially to men. This is an exciting time to be Catholic, and Fr. Steve recalled the Eve of St. Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V. Let's join the Spiritual Battle. We won't regret it.
