The gates are open, the shepherd is dead, and we are the prey. Pope Benedict XVI, the Vicar of Christ, has been called to his judgment and we must all pray for his soul.
Regardless of whether you believe Pope Benedict resigned the Papal office in 2013 or not, we can all probably agree that we are now truly fatherless.
And regardless of whether you think Benedict was a Modernist to the end, or made efforts to disavow his earlier Modernist positions, I hope we can agree to give him the benefit of the doubt and that he acted with good intentions and without malice towards to the Church and faithful.
But we are orphans now, left to fend for ourselves in a world controlled by thieves, thugs and demons. In some ways, that certainly has been the case since 2013, but I like to take Benedict as his word that he was praying for us this entire time and perhaps fending off the worst of the ghoulish demons.
We are now left to pray for him, and we have no earthly spirtual father left to guide us. We are sheep without a shepherd and the gates are wide open for the wolves to pounce when they see fit.
And yet, here we are, in the middle of the Christmas season. Would Christ ever really abandon us? Of course not, we all know He wins in the end. The question for us is what happens between now and that final victory?
We do not know, but we cannot ignore we are all being called to a collective trial, a mutual carrying of the Cross as we fend off evil that seeks the ruin of souls.
This can only happen if we stay true to the Church (the real Church), the sacraments (the real sacraments), the Mass (the timeless one) and cling to those few remaining priests and bishops who hold to, and teach, the Roman Catholic faith—not it’s cheap replica that currently occupies the Church’s buildings and controls the bank accounts.
This requires discipline, discernment, faith and hope. Holy Mother Church gave us the tools we need to persevere during these times. Holy Scripture and the great saints warned us and prepared us for these times—thank you Pope St. Pius X.
A few important questions remain for us: will we use those tools and spiritual weapons the Church gave us for these times? Do we have the courage to stand up to the wolves and defend the Truth—or will we take the easy way out and hide behind the false cloak of obedience to a lie?
The shepherd is dead, the gates are open—these are the times when saints are made. Pope St. Pius X, pray for us.