Be of good cheer; Mary has crushed the head of the serpent.
Fr. Steve refers to the priests’ convocation at which he preached on St. Francis, whose mission was to rebuild the Church. This is our mission too, in the midst of the current abuse crisis. He quotes from 2 Timothy 4:1-5:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.”
There will always be a time when people will crave that which they want to hear, instead of the truth. In the Gospel of today, Jesus speaks the truth about marriage and divorce, and children. This teaching is entirely inimical to what the world teaches. We are in a battle for the soul of the Church.
Fr. Steve refers to the recent debacle and attack by Democrats on the nomination of Brett Kavanagh to the judiciary. Their motive? To stop Roe vs. Wade coming under threat of being overturned. Fr. Steve speaks out boldly against artificial contraception as the door through which the culture of discardable human relationships was promoted, ultimately ushering in the culture of death and the denial of procreation as the result of marital intimacy. Children have become an inconvenience, not a blessing.
At the Youth Synod part of the liberal agenda is a push to accept the definitions and mindset of the LGBT lobby. We must stand up for the truth against the onslaught of relativism regarding the Church’s teaching about human sexuality. Fr. Steve quotes from a homily by Pope Benedict form Christmas 2012. A significant portion of the homily was devoted to denouncing the non-binary view of human sexuality. In his homily, Benedict cited a study by Gilles Bernheim, the Chief Rabbi of France, who reported that the "true structure of the family" was under attack thanks to gender-nonconforming individuals and sexual minorities.
But Fr. Steve sees this as the most exciting time to be alive – a time of spiritual battle, a time of rebuilding the Church, a time of proclaiming the truth of the gospel.
In a letter from Sr. Lucia to Pope John Paul II she stated that the last battle will be about the family. The battle has already been won and this is a long mop-up operation. The gates of hell will never prevail against the Church.
In his post-communion comments Fr. Steve sympathizes with couples who wish to space pregnancies, but reiterates the truth of the Church’s teaching on contraception, appealing to our individual consciences.
Pray for the pope, the bishops, the synod and the Church.
