Prayer for the Church: “Lead us not into Temptation”
David Martin | The Daily Knight
St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr chose to die rather than to respect the unclean ways of his hypocritical persecutors
The Church exhorts us always to fly the occasion of sin lest we pay it honor and get burnt with its flame. For in the same way our bodies get burnt by carelessly going near the fire, our souls get burnt by going near the fire of sin. The Bible says, “Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest near them, they will take hold of thee.” (Ecclesiasticus 21:2)
St. Alphonsus says, “If you ask of God strength to preserve you from relapsing into a certain sin, but will not avoid the occasions of sin, nor keep at a distance from the house, from the object, or the bad company, which led to your fall, God will not hear your prayer. And why? Because ‘thou hast set a cloud before thee, that prayer may not pass through.’”
Temptations come in all shapes and sizes, but the most dangerous of these are those that have a certain appearance of good whereby to lure us into evil. And with the tempter in white having now extended his sickening lure before the Church to entice souls into consenting to homosexual relations, Catholics have a duty to fly this occasion of sin. We refer of course to Fiducias Supplicans, Pope Francis’ latest document calling for clerical blessings of homosexual couples.
This is a scandal of unprecedented proportions in that the document promotes homosexual behavior but in such a way that it uses all manner of ambiguous, sophisticated wording to make us think it is the promotion of goodness.
False Obedience
Some will argue that the pope is still the pope whereby we’re obliged to obey his directive, but to that we answer that there is obedience, but there is also false obedience, which is an act of disobedience. For the rule is that when obedience is going to mean committing a sin or moral fault, one must not obey. As a holy priest once said from the pulpit: “Dearly beloved, you don’t have to go to Hell for anyone.” The saints by their lives and words are the first to tell us this.
The Virtue of St. Dymphna Virgin and Martyr
There is the example of St. Dymphna, a young martyr saint of the Church. Dymphna was the only child of a pagan king named Damon who is believed to have ruled a section of Ireland in the 7th century. Dymphna was the very picture of obedience — obedient to her parents, to the Church, to civil authority and to her instructors.
Now upon the death of Dymphna’s mother, her father, grieved over the loss of his wife was encouraged by his friends to propose to Dymphna since she looked very much like her mother. Her father swallowed the bait and proposed to Dymphna, saying, ‘I want you to marry me.’ Dymphna said, “Absolutely not.” Her father said, ‘Come, come now, I’m your father, obey. You’re going to marry me.’ Dymphna retorted, “Don’t you dare propose your lewd wish to me for I will have no part with it.”
Seeing her father enraged over her refusal, she was forced to flee from him with her confessor, Fr. Gereburn, who had advised her thus. They made their way to Belgium, after which Damon caught up with them along with an army of 50 men armed with clubs and swords. Damon gave Dymphna one last chance to consent, but she sternly refused.
In his fury, Damon ordered his men to kill Dymphna but somehow were not able to harm the young princess. The king then leaped from his seat and with his own weapon cut off his daughter’s head. Dymphna fell at his feet. Thus, the young virgin, barely age 15, died.
True Obedience
The point being that Dymphna today is listed as a glorious martyr saint of the Holy Catholic Church because of her perfect disobedience to her father for the love of God. This tells the story of how we must deal with the Church fathers today who want to seduce the faithful with their obscene doctrine and proposals. Like St. Dymphna, we say “no” to the shameful proposal of Fiducia Supplicans. For mere man we shall not offend.
Fortunately, bishops, cardinals and priests from throughout the world have voiced their condemnation of Fiducias Supplicans and have made it clear that they won’t allow the blessing of gay couples in there dioceses, for they’re not about to sully their souls and those of their flock through false obedience. For in the same way that support of Roe vs. Wade would show one to be pro-abortion, so support of Fiducia Supplicans shows one to be pro-LGBT.
The lines have been drawn, it is time for the ‘wheat and the cockle’ to take their sides. This is a spiritual call to arms, a calling that says: “Will the real Catholic please step forward.”
Church Tempted
It is hoped that more bishops and clergy will step forward to oppose Fiducia Supplicans to prevent the Church from succumbing to this latest temptation. For this is truly “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon the whole world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Apocalypse 3:10) The Lord’s Prayer especially applies at this time: “Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.” (Mt. 6:13)
We indeed pray that God lead us not into temptation, but that He deliver the Church from this latest evil of Fiducia Supplicans.
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