One of my favorite poets, who was also a great prophetic author, is James Dickey. In his book Deliverance, which was made into a film starring Burt Reynolds and Jon Voight, he writes about the system failing. Years later, a policeman told me something I already knew for myself: that the day was fast approaching when people wouldn't be able to rely on the police and we would be reduced to a fight for survival.
I realize for some of you, this will just sound like doom and gloom. But believe it. We are already seeing mob violence and the targeting of police.
Prepare now. Both spiritually and physically.
It can no longer be denied that America has become a "seething cesspool of filth and corruption." America has become a haunt of demons and of every foul spirit. Today, even those who present themselves as "Catholic" have lost the sense of sin. Archbishop Fulton Sheen warned that, "Man is powerless to resist evil if he does not recognize it as such, and deceives himself when he becomes indifferent to evil; his whole personality immediately begins to dissolve, for the power of conscience is inseparably bound up with the denunciation of evil. And this is precisely what our world is doing today; the very beliefs on which the best culture of the world was built are now called in question. Even the distinction between good and evil is lost, and now only a sense of civic loyalty remains. The prophet Isaias sounded such a decadence in his day: 'Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.' If we called sin by its name it would lose all of its seductiveness. Hell can be made attractive, only by surfacing it with the gold of Paradise." (Essay entitled The Sense of Sin).
Today, evil is called good and good is called evil. Catholics faithful to the Magisterium are portrayed as "divisive" and "offensive" even as active homosexuals are celebrated and told to have "pride" in their behaviors.
On April 6, 1941, Bishop Fulton John Sheen gave a sermon on his radio show "The Catholic Hour" in which he reminded listeners that, "The basic spirit of the modern world for the last century has been a determination to escape the Cross." He told his audience as well that, "There is no such thing as living without a cross. We are free only to choose between crosses." And then he asked them: "Will it be the Cross of Christ which redeems us from our sins, or will it be the double cross, the swastika, the hammer and sickle, the fasces"? Bishop Sheen believed, as I do, that America is at a crossroads. In his own words, "We in America are now faced with the threat of that double cross...Our choice is not: Will we or will we not have more discipline, more respect for law, more order, more sacrifice; but, where will we get it? Will we get it from without, or from within, Will it be inspired by Sparta or Calvary? By Valhalla or Gethsemane? By militarism or religion? By the double cross or the Cross? By Caesar or by God? That is the choice facing America today.
The hour of false freedom is past. No longer can we have education without discipline, family life without sacrifice, individual existence without moral responsibility, economics and politics without subservience to the common good. We are now only free to say whence it shall come. We will have a sword. Shall it be only the sword that thrusts outward to cut off the ears of our enemies, or the sword that pierces inward to cut out our own selfish pride"?
Thus far, America has chosen the double cross. Fleeing from the Cross of Christ and the supernatural kingdom established by the Son of God; one of sacrifice and sanctity, America has chosen to pursue a terrestrial kingdom of pleasure and power founded upon a distorted idea of what constitutes liberty or freedom. But this city of man, which has certainly achieved astounding advancements in various spheres while increasing the affluence of some, has also contributed to a climate where men are regarded as mere machines whose only value is to be found in what they produce or consume. This in turn destroys the individual’s sense of personal dignity and responsibility. Americans, in their tragic desire to flee from the Cross of Christ, have rushed to embrace this distorted notion of "freedom" and have forgotten that, as created beings, they only possess contingent rights. That is to say, rights which are accorded by Almighty God. Consequently, in their zeal to promote the fallacious idea that the basis of public morality should be whatever the majority of citizens are prepared to accept, they have also forgotten that man does not possess, and never will possess, the right to perform or engage in any act which is displeasing to God.
And where has this flight from the Cross of Christ led us up to this point? Was Bishop Sheen being an alarmist? In the words of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, taken from his Commencement Address at Harvard University entitled "A World Split Apart": "Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless space. Society appears to have little defense against the abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, the misuse of liberty for moral violence against young people, motion pictures full of pornography, crime and horror. This is considered to be part of freedom, and theoretically counterbalanced by the young peoples’ right not to look or not to accept. Life organized legalistically has thus shown its inability to defend itself against the corrosion of evil."
Getting back to Bishop Sheen. What did he mean when he said that, "Our choice is not: Will we or will we not have more discipline, more respect for law, more order, more sacrifice; but, where will we get it"? I believe Pope Benedict XVI was providing us with a hint toward an answer when he spoke of the "dictatorship of relativism." Americans who have gleefully embraced the tenets of liberalism have not learned the lesson the concentration camp and the gulag. These unfortunate souls refuse to acknowledge that atheistic ideology (and make no mistake, the current idea of "freedom" which has taken root in America is itself rooted in atheistic ideology) always, and without exception, gives birth to sheer violence. This is the lesson of atheistic humanism. A lesson which the majority of Americans would rather not think about.
WHO WILL CRY FOR YOU, AMERICA ?
ReplyDeleteI, will cry you a river
And much much more
My dear dear America,
Once so beautiful !
You sold your soul
To a bunch of mercenaries
Which entered your sheep-fold
As wolves and goats
You sold your skin
To the highest bidder
You resemble a harlot
The new BABYLON
Eating and drinking
With the rich of this world
Prostituting yourself
For money and power
And became a den
Of thieves and murderers
You forgot all about
The One Who blessed
You so abundantly
Biting the Hand of the Blesser
Embarrassed to mention His Name !
Did He not teach you
To be wise as a serpent
And harmless as a dove
Why then do you behave
As a silly goose ??
He invited you to His dinner Table
He so diligently prepared
But, you made light of it
And went your worldly, haughty ways
One to his farm,
Another to his business.
But as the Father of Fathers
He waits for your return
The return of His prodigal daughter
WAKE UP, AMERICA !!!
Humble your pride
And follow the Way, the Life and the Truth !!!
Or, I SHALL cry you a river
A river of bloody tears
And much much more !!!
Rita Biesemans 02/17/2003
From CNS:
ReplyDeleteReverend Franklin Graham, son of world renowned evangelical preacher Billy Graham, said that America is increasingly embracing a “culture of death” that echoes what has occurred in Europe, and which stems from a “sinful, godless worldview that rejects Christ.”
A further problem in America, he added, is that “Christianity is constantly under siege from the halls of government and education, which seek to suppress any public expressions of faith.”
“In places like Europe, where Christianity has been in decline as the deceptive forces of secularism and materialism have spread across the continent, it’s not surprising to find the practice of euthanasia so entrenched,” said Rev. Graham in a commentary for the January issue of Decision magazine. “Earlier this year, Belgium became the first country in the world to allow child euthanasia with no age limit.”
“I’m concerned that America is not far behind,” said Rev. Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. “The euthanasia movement—disguised now as ‘death with dignity’—is gaining ground in a number of states. And for every 1,000 live births in the United States, 219 pregnancies end with a murdered child, through abortion.”
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this rise in the culture of death in our own country coincides with the embrace of an immoral, sinful, godless worldview that rejects Christ,” he said. “Christianity is constantly under siege from the halls of government and education, which seek to suppress any public expressions of faith.”
In addition to the push for euthanasia -- the deliberate murder of the terminally sick, handicapped, elderly, or mentally ill – Reverend Graham noted that the social and entertainment culture seems fixated on death and gore.
Football used to be the dominant choice on television on Sunday evenings in the fall and winter but today, for example, 17 million people skipped the football game to watch the season premiere of The Walking Dead, a series about zombies (the walking dead) hunting and eating people...
Read the rest at CNS.
This is how I felt after being 3 years in the Country and now my heart hurts terribly seeing what is happening in and to my dear Country. If only America would wake up out of the slumber !!!
ReplyDeletePRAISING AMERICA
AMERICA, the warm embrace
I couldn't believe what I saw
people working of every race
I'm still completely in awe
Whether from Asia, Russia or Africa
each group has something unique
enriching the culture of America
even coming from la Belgique
The result is a beautiful mosaic
in which all these shades of colors
are woven into a picture prosaic
without jealousy, hatred or horrors
It is the highest time, don't you agree
to turn the world's judgment into compassion
to turn the world's ignorance into empathy
to treat our fellow men without aggression
As we love each other unconditionally
we can end the suffering on this earth
and obtain for ourselves additionally
a most gracious spiritual rebirth
Keep going America on a par with the best
for they will profess your superior skill
your warmth distinguishes you from the rest
for me you are "the Shining City on the Hill"
Rita Biesemans, 12-21-1997
THANKFUL FOR THE LAST 17 years of my life
ReplyDeleteTHEY CALLED HER MISS AMERICA
In the US of A
in Arizona not in LA
A lifelong dream
Came to fruition
As a lightning beam
It was God's tuition
For His little child
Once gone wild
But here she is, Lord
To better serve You
Let her go overboard
In serving Your crew
She follows Your footstep
To not go astray
To follow in depth
The Truth, The Life and The Way.
Rita Biesemans
written July 16 2011
Our Lady of the Mount Carmel
The called me "Miss America" in High School - 6 years in a nun run boarding school in Flanders for Greek-Latin Humanities. My slogan was : "AMERICA FOREVER"
Paul, did you see the case recently of the priest in Dublin, Ireland, who came out as a gay man during the Mass and encouraged the parishioners to support the homosexual marriage referendum in Ireland later this year? Disgraceful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/dublin-priest-receives-standing-ovation-after-saying-he-is-gay-during-mass-30894931.html
Also disgraceful is the applause for a cleric who self-identifies as a homosexual and advocates for homosexual "marriage."
ReplyDeleteShameful and evidence of the demonic.
I just watched the Flemish-Belgian news and they were showing a video of "WORD MISDIENAAR"= "become an acolyte" (male or female) I looked it up on YouTube and of course I found it there.
ReplyDeleteOnce more I was scandalized. Going to Mass became a going to an amusement park. Lord how much more are we gonna make You suffer, Holy Mary intervene for us with Your Son to not wait too long anymore. This world is only changing for the worse not for the better.
http://youtu.be/L5GOszOOOgI : "word misdienaar"
"become an acolyte". The priest is even dancing with them.
Lord have Mercy, hasten Your Coming. Riki