The Alpha and the Omega and the Great Mandate

These times are unprecedented. Churches are closed in Australia and many other countries. Our priests are unable to minister the sacraments in public. There is massive pressure on us all, fuelled by the devil’s favourite tool, fear, to force us to take experimental injections which have been branded by governments and media world-wide as our saviour and ticket to freedom. I don’t judge those who have received the vaccines for whatever personal reason. I pray that they had full informed consent and no coercion in making their decision. Likewise, I don’t judge those who have decided to stay away from them for moral reasons or who are hesitant out of concerns regarding safety and efficacy. We are all created in the image and likeness of God.

The headlines constantly blare at us the news that this year’s dominant COVID strain is the Delta variant. They remind us daily just how highly contagious it is. They repeat to us the government’s mandate to vaccinate in order to regain our previous rights and freedoms: “Take the jab to get your health passport and we will let you have your freedom” is the government’s catch-cry. Governments are telling us that if we haven’t taken the jab, we won’t be able to attend places of worship, pubs, restaurants, movie theatres, shopping centres and the like, and that we won’t be able to work. Furthermore, whether one can see it now or not, the segregation of society has already begun. Those without the jab are branded as contagious, modern day lepers. But we need to ask ourselves deeper questions -what are the unvaccinated actually spreading if they are healthy, and why do they have to be separated from everyone? What am I, as a Christian, spreading? What is the fruit of what I am spreading? Am I really free if I decide to comply with these mandates? What makes one free?

Let me pause for a moment and briefly add to my previous post on Fear or Faith. Harking back to the days of my childhood, I smile as I remember how times were good in Australia. As the eldest of five children, I remember playing with my siblings in a carefree world and praying each day as a family. We misbehaved at times, but we were essentially free to go and do as we please. Sure, we had our ups and downs, as all siblings do, but overall life was great. It was a time when religious movies were played on mainstream television (how times have changed!) and the movie “King of Kings” was broadcast on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and sometimes even on Christmas Day. I remember us, as a family, watching the life of Christ as portrayed in that classic 1961 film starring Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus. I am particularly reminiscent of a scene in the movie when Jesus comes to visit John the Baptist in prison. Even though this meeting isn’t recorded in the Gospels, the conversation between Jesus and the prison guard, Lucius, has always resonated with me, even back then when I first saw the movie as a little boy. The words exchanged are as follows:

Lucius : [Jesus is trying to visit John the Baptist in prison] The prisoner John is not allowed visitors. If You wish to send him a message, leave it with the guard.
Jesus : I would see John.
Lucius : Why?
Jesus : I come to free John.
Lucius : [sarcastically] And just how do You propose to break him free from his cell?
Jesus : I come to free him within his cell.
Lucius : Freedom? Behind stone walls?
Jesus : You are free to come and go as you please, and yet you are still a prisoner because you place no faith in anything but your sword.

“I come to free him within his cell”. I remember going through the Gospels as a 10 year old trying to find these words but being unsuccessful. Irrespective of that, the words made a deep impression on me. They hold a wealth of meaning and I believe they resemble the spirit of the Gospel message of Christ. Those words which impacted me from long ago have finally made sense today, in this present situation. How can a person be free in the four walls of a prison cell? How can a person have freedom, when the four walls of pressure – mainstream media, governments, society at large, and the devil – are severing your freedoms and the ability to choose how to live your life?

Pondering on our current situation, one can’t help but draw parallels to the trials our Croatian forefathers experienced under the oppressive rule of communism. Our Blessed Cardinal Stepinac was placed under house arrest, effectively stripping him from the ability to act freely in performing his religious function as a Cardinal. He was offered freedom in exchange for complying to the mandates of men. All he had to do was to break the Croatian Catholic Church away from its union with Rome and he would be a free man. The communists even promised to allow him to be the face and head of this new break-away church. This was the man-made mandate the communists insisted on in order for Blessed Stepinac to have freedom. But Blessed Stepinac refused their mandates and instead chose to be free within his cell, first serving a term in prison, and then under house arrest. Yet the Cardinal cemented himself as a voice of hope and a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the people of Croatia, as well as remaining a faithful son of the Catholic Church.

In the light of our current situation, we need to ask ourselves how or what makes us free within the cell of lock-down? What makes us free even in the absence of lock-down? We need to look deeper into the narrative of the COVID-19 crisis and the mandating of vaccines and health passports. As Christians, we need to examine our conscience on this issue. Did we succumb to a fear that is foreign to our faith in God, a fear that isn’t worthy of our dignity as children of a loving God? Did we help to re-balance the sentiment of the current climate by offering an alternative witness to the pervading sense of despair and fear in response to the pandemic by displaying hope and witnessing to others with a contagious faith?

Who or what shall we fear then? It is true that sometimes it is easy to get caught in a cycle of fear and worry about financial issues, sickness and disease, social isolation or cancellation, and family relationship issues. I know I have certainly felt the pressure of some of these fears in my life. They are all legitimate reasons to worry, but we can and often do, by the grace of God, overcome and recover from these setbacks and concerns.
Death is a fear common to many. With the numbers of COVID cases re-read repeatedly and daily by every media outlet, and the number of deaths attributed to COVID broadcasted on the evening news, it is no wonder fear is instilled in the majority of listeners as they are now encountering the reality of death for the first time. But for a Christian, death poses no fear and does not draw the final curtain. Jesus tells us of Himself: “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that if anyone eat of it, he will not die. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he shall live forever” (John 6:50-51). So, for a Christian, death is not the final tragedy. It is eternal damnation that one should fear more than death of the body (Matthew 10:28) and it is the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News, this message of hope and salvation in Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 22:13).

Unfortunately, we live in a post-Christian, pagan, secular society which replaces messages of hope and faith with government mandates which seek to direct trust in government policies as the only saviours from disease and death (cf Matthew 15:9). Christ teaches us that we should give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God, what belongs to God (Mark 12:17). It is the mandates of Christ that we must fulfill, especially the ‘Great Mandate’ – the mandate to go make disciples of all nations, as commissioned in Matthew chapter 28, continuing the work of Christ with signs and wonders (Mark 16:15-18). In these troubled times, how have we carried out this ‘Great Mandate’ of Christ? Has our faith in the Alpha and Omega been a contagious faith, or have we been paralysed with fear? Have we spread the good fruit of hope, encouragement and a building up of the body of Christ?

To understand the great mandate of God, we need to go to the beginning of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, namely, the prologue:

“FATHER, . . . this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”1 “God our Saviour desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”2″There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”3 – than the name of JESUS.

It is important to note that God the Father desires all men to be saved and the only way to be saved is through acknowledging the truth, that Jesus Christ died so that we may be saved. The prologue continues, outlining and mandating this call to mission not just for the apostles, but for us all:

2 So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles He had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”4 Strengthened by this mission, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.”5

3 Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.6

This great mandate of proclaiming the Good News was not meant to be contained within the four walls of the Church, nor the four walls of a lock-down. Blessed Stepinac was able to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ even though he was under house arrest. It is our call to do the same and to fulfill the great mandate entrusted to us all by Christ and His Church. Using the current COVID catch-phrases as a starting point, let us examine our lives with a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) to see how we have carried out this mandate in our own circles of influence.

MASK WEARING

What are you hiding behind? What is the mask concealing in your life?

We all have masks at times. The mask of sin is the greatest hindrance to showing our love for Jesus and others. Although the COVID virus will not infect everyone, original sin (passed down from our first parents) and our own actual sins have infected one hundred percent of the population. Our sinful nature has masked us and separated us from relationship with God.

Blessed are we that God the Father sent His only Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross to save us from this sin. It is the spilling of his Most Precious Blood that has removed this mask of sinfulness in our lives by the grace of Baptism and given us the power to live as true children of God. Remove the mask of sin in your life by cleansing yourself in the Sacrament of Confession so you can grow in the love of Christ and His saving mission. Take off the mask and start to spread this contagious faith. Be a super spreader. Spread the Alpha and the Omega to all those you meet and infect them with your faith.

SOCIAL DISTANCING

Where are you hiding? Are you in the upper room, hiding from the authorities, as the apostles were after the crucifixion (John 20:19)?

The separation and isolation imposed by fear and lock-downs seems to discourage the free sharing of our contagious faith in the Alpha and Omega with others. But we mustn’t let distance stop us. We can still share our faith even if we are locked down and are restricted in our movements. We need to be super spreaders of the love and hope of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Talk to your neighbour. Have an encounter with the person on your street and show them the love of Christ. Call a friend or family member. Spread and infect them with a message of hope, encouragement and support. Distance yourself from the virus of sin rather than from the mandate of spreading the Good News and Gospel of Jesus.

PCR TESTING

We need to test ourselves daily by examining our consciences. St Paul tells us “test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thess 5:21-22). We don’t need to line up in cars to get nose swabbed. We need to swab our soul. Practice the Examen of St Ignatius of Loyola daily. Carry out an examination of conscience in preparation for the Sacrament of Penance. If we have strayed and infected ourselves with a variant of sin, separating us from the Alpha and Omega, we need to call a priest and go to the Sacrament of Confession in humility to restore our relationship with God. This will give us the strength and resolve to get up from any isolation and spread a contagious faith to all we encounter.

VACCINATION

Vaccines have been developed over the last 100 years in an attempt to eradicate disease and stop the spreading of infection. And a lot of good may have come as a result of this. The current COVID 19 experimental injections are questionable though, not yet proven with long term studies, and are showing signs of not being as effective as initially promised. But what is true is that they have certainly caused a great division and segregation amongst people. This blog is not to judge those who have or haven’t taken it. For a Christian, it is the Blood of Christ that we want to flow through our veins. It is the Blood of Christ, spilled on the Cross for our redemption, that we receive in the Eucharist along with His Body that we desire to permeate us. This is the true and ultimate vaccine for the body and soul. For this reason, pray that our Churches be opened so the faithful can once again go and receive their dose of life-giving drink. The faithful are being denied Life.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh, and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58).

The faithful need to receive their dose of this vaccine on Sundays at the very least, if not every day. Woe to those who have denied the faithful the Eucharist – the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (CCC #1324). For those who cause scandal and block the receiving of the Eucharist in the Holy Mass to all people – vaccinated or not, I repeat the words of Christ: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6).

HEALTH PASSPORT – DIGITAL CERTIFICATION

Governments have mandated that proof of vaccination be shown through the use of a passport or certificate. This will be needed to move around and function freely in society – to work, to shop and to attend public gatherings and venues. Entry will be denied without these credentials. Compare this situation to what Our Lord says in the parable of the wedding banquet. In this parable the king invited everyone but there was a person who entered without the appropriate clothing. “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” said the king (Matthew 22:12). The ‘wedding robe’ we need to enter the heavenly banquet is the robe washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb. We are healthy in both body and soul when living in a state of grace. Our passports are printed on our souls, not on a digital wallet. Heaven’s passport will only be for those who do the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21).

Having a passport system brands those who have chosen not to follow the mandates of men as an inferior class of people, fracturing society. It will mirror the situation of the lepers in the time of Christ’s sojourn on the earth, when they were forced to live away from the rest of the people and were not allowed into the cities according to the laws of that time. Ironically, the laws today want to treat the healthy as lepers and segregate them from society. This calls to mind the situation of the Jews in Nazi Germany who were forced to don a yellow star or badge to signify their exclusion from the mainstream and to carry papers identifying who they were. It is reminiscent of South Africa’s Black Apartheid, where countless black Africans were treated as lower class citizens, segregated from society by means of political and economic discrimination and forced to carry special written permits in order to enter otherwise restricted areas.

This health passport system being introduced today segregates society once again under a system of medical apartheid, essentially creating an inferior class of citizens. This is not part of the great mandate of God, but rather of man and ultimately Satan, who wants division and disharmony in society. Jesus died for ALL men, not just for a select group. Separating people who are healthy and not infectious, but who haven’t had a vaccine, is also illogical. You can’t spread something you do not have. The health passport system is not Christian. I am calling upon all Christians to stand up for freedom. Fight for unity and oppose those who want to impose laws that cause division and fracture society. Accepting this mandate will enslave us as prisoners, prisoners to an ideology that is flawed and oppressive. Regardless of vaccination status, we can never be free by following this evil mandate. Pray and desire unity as Christ prayed and desired unity (John 17:20-23).

 

So how does one become free, even within the four walls of a cell or within the walls of lock-down? Cast your mind back to the scene in “King of Kings” where Jesus wants to free John the Baptist within his cell. The answer, and the only answer, is Jesus. “So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). No matter where we find ourselves, be it in a lock-down, in a prison cell like John the Baptist or Cardinal Stepinac, at home, at work, or in society, only the Son of Man can set us free. Through Him, we are free to have a contagious faith that spreads the Alpha and the Omega; a faith to spread the gospel message of salvation and hope. We have that light in us (Matthew 5:16) and we need to let Christ shine in us and through us to light up the darkness of this world. This freedom will entail suffering; we may be called to suffer as a white martyr like Blessed Stepinac, or as a red martyr, spilling our blood, like St John the Baptist. Following the examples of holy men and women, have faith in God who is good and ask Him for a contagious faith. As stated in the prologue of the Catholic Church Catechism:

“All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer”

It is a call for us all, not just some. As Christ died so all may be saved, so all are called to this mandate of action. We are called to instruct others in the faith, to pray and to foster prayer in our families, to spread the message of hope, to share our faith and to celebrate the life-giving sacraments in the liturgy of the church. We all need to spend some time in prayerful conversation with God and ask ourselves the following questions:

How have I responded to the call of the ‘Great Mandate’?

Have I solidified my prayer life and made time for God – to thank Him, to present Him with my own and others’ petitions, and to make reparation for my sins and those of the world?

Have I isolated behind the mask of lock-down and not shared my faith due to fear?

We need to recognize that the important things in life are spiritual and we cannot grow spiritually if we are governed by fear. Fear comes when we forget that God is standing right beside us! Have faith in God that He will give us the grace to live our lives with the hope and love that God has always ordained for us. With this faith we will be able to handle any adversity and we will not despair, because we will realize that all that will happen – both good and bad – ultimately leads to the same end – God’s glory and our good. We live in the promised hope of returning to the heavenly home of our Father and Creator when our life on earth ends. Now is the time to grow in awareness that we are accountable to Him for the time that we have spent here on Earth (Romans 14:12).
How do you want to face the Father in Heaven when you are asked ‘What is it that you have done on Earth?’
If we do not respond to His call now, to this mandate of living and spreading the Good News and faith in Christ, it will be too late in the future to answer the questions that God will put to you. You need to know now – who you are, why you are here on earth, and what is it that your Lord and Saviour wants of you. Pray. Pray. Pray. Live out your prayer in action! I want to leave you with a quote from an early Church Father and Saint who echoes this mandated call:

“Scattered about the entire earth, your mother the Church is tormented by the assaults of error. She is also afflicted by the laziness and indifference of so many of the children she carries around in her bosom as well as by the sight of so many of her members growing cold, while she becomes less able to help her little ones. Who then will give her the necessary help she cries for if not her children and other members to whose number you belong?”
– Saint Augustine

Be super spreaders of the Alpha and Omega. Have a contagious faith!

Bog i Hrvati

Heaven’s Passport – The Pandemic of the Non-Believers

Fear or Faith? The choice for Freedom

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

 

“. . . so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)

 

“. . .pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent me.” (John 17:21)

With so much current world-wide confusion and mis-information surrounding the so-called Covid pandemic, the mandating of Covid vaccines and draconian ‘public health’ measures at present, many people and Catholics have presently found themselves in the position of being forced to choose a position on the issue. It is a position which, in more recent times, is being touted by governments as a choice for freedom. Freedom, they say, will only happen when certain vaccination targets are met to allow you a health passport. This freedom will allow you to travel freely, to work, to attend school and to attend public gatherings and restaurants. For those who refuse the vaccine the opposite is true – they will not be allowed to share in the privileges afforded to the vaccinated. This division in society as a whole (and even amongst Catholics) has essentially formed a rift between the vaccinated and the un-vaccinated – essentially having the unvaccinated treated like lepers or outcasts.

For the individual, this decision to jab or not to jab has to be based on something. Similarly, the way we may judge or treat a person who is jabbed or not jabbed is also based on something. Is this decision one based on fear or, by the power of God’s Spirit, one based on love and a sound mind? This blog does not aim to judge or criticise a decision made by any person regarding vaccination, but rather it aims to offer a reflection on the decision-making process, specifically, to help the reader discern which spirit it is that inspires our decisions.

So what exactly is freedom? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

“Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.” (CCC #1731)

So freedom is the ability to act or not to act using one’s reason (i.e. being informed), to make a free choice, which if directed toward God, attains perfection. Freedom is not the idea that I can do what I want and go where I will, as these actions can in themselves be good or evil, but rather, freedom is achieved by doing what you should do, being informed by reason, and has the glory of God as its final end. Following this logic, one can see that freedom is not achieved if a decision is made from a place of fear or coercion, as the following statement from the Catechism states:

“Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.” (CCC #1735)

Remembering stories my late father would tell me, I cannot help but reflect on our Croatian forefathers who had difficult choices to make for themselves and for their families. Under the Communist rule of former Yugoslavia, Croatians were offered the communist passport as a means of attaining certain privileges like better jobs, schooling, government housing, and a generally improved status and way of life. This passport, which was a physical manifestation of a choice for the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia, came at the expense of renouncing the Catholic faith and elements of the true Croatian national identity. Choosing to uphold the Catholic faith meant you were given less or no entitlements, little or no freedoms, the lowest jobs or positions and, in some circumstances, even death.

Countless Croatian Catholic religious, priests and faithful were suppressed or even imprisoned for their choices, as in the case of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac. The ruling communists offered Blessed Stepinac the choice to break away from Rome and head his own church, and in doing so, be granted the freedom and the privileges that came with that choice. As history relates, he chose to carry his cross in imitation of Christ and to be a faithful son of the Catholic Church. Other priests, who made similar choices to Blessed Stepinac, had to be hidden by the faithful, going house to house, hearing confessions, baptising, and celebrating Mass underground. It is clear to see that these heroic Croatians were not influenced by fear or the lure of false freedoms in making their choices, but chose bravely for true freedom, despite being treated as outcasts by the ruling socialists. They were certainly aware and informed of the consequences of not taking up the communist passport. They achieved freedom by maintaining their integrity, their faith, unity and in doing so, giving glory to God.

It is my observation, that there are two types of Christians, those who primarily act out of fear and those that primarily act in faith. Fear is to the devil what faith is to God. When we act out of fear, we’re giving permission to the devil to lead us because that is primarily how he acts upon us – through fear and deception. God, on the other hand, has given us His Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, which is, as St Paul tells us, a spirit of power, and of love and of a sound mind. We received this spirit of faith when our parents brought us forward for Baptism and when we were initiated and equipped as soldiers of Christ with the gifts of the Holy Spirit at our Confirmation. But how many of us act out of fear rather than in faith and with a sound mind?

Many years ago I came across the inspirational true story of the 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. I could not help but see the parallels between what they went through and the experience of our Croatian forefathers, an experience we are encountering ourselves and seeing played out in this day and age.

The 40 Holy Martyrs are commemorated on March 10. In the year 320 AD the Holy Martyrs died at the hand of Emperor Licinius who persecuted Christians, particularly in the East. We first hear of the Martyrs in a eulogy-type sermon delivered by St Basil. He relates how these 40 men were faithful and trusted soldiers in Cappadocia under Governor Agricola. Agricola found out that he had 40 soldiers who were Christians, and following the edict of Licinius, tried to force them to worship idols. Refusing to sacrifice to the Roman idols, all the 40 soldiers were jailed for eight days, beaten with stones, but at the same time also lured with gifts to give up their minds. Sound familiar? Rather than giving in to achieve freedom, they stood their ground in faith and fidelity to Christ. As a result, they were sentenced to death by freezing in the Sebaste Lake in the province of Armenia. The martyrs were herded naked into the lake, at dusk, in the middle of winter. Some soldiers were stationed around the lake to guard the martyrs so they wouldn’t get out. To coerce and entice the future martyrs, Agricola’s soldiers made warm baths and fires near the lake’s edge in an attempt to tempt the martyrs to emerge from the water and to warm themselves up first, and then to subsequently change their minds and sacrifice to the Roman gods.

This situation, to choose the proposed freedom, is the decision facing all of us today. In Australia the vaccines are heavily promoted, marketed, and coerced upon the population. Sure, the Federal government has said vaccines are not mandatory, but they have given private employers and corporations the impetus to mandate vaccines. No jab, no job is the slogan of the rule. Another slogan is no jab, no entry. If you are not vaccinated you cannot travel, nor enjoy the freedoms of eating out at a restaurant, nor enter a shop or public event. This is what is proposed to the people. Have the experimental vaccine and the government and businesses will reward you with freedom.

You may be saying that this isn’t about religion, it is about health. That is not completely true. It is, in fact, also about religion. Our Churches are closed! We are not able to attend Mass, receive the Eucharist or the Sacrament of Confession, baptise our children nor bury our dead freely. And yet, our churches are and have been used as vaccination hubs! It isn’t safe in the eyes of some to worship with the faithful lining up in the pews, but it is safe to line up in Church for the jab!

But even the Pope and our bishops have encouraged the vaccines you may say. Yes, this is true however they are not doctors or experts in this field. The Pope is just giving his personal opinion as a bishop. It does not carry the infallible authority given on a matter of dogma or faith such as that when he speaks ex-cathedra (from the chair of St Peter). His opinion should be listened to and considered in the same manner as all opinions, but the individual must then base his or her decision not solely on the weight of opinions but on the basis of accurate information gleaned from a variety of credible, unbiased sources (with no conflict of interest). The governments and religious institutions have made it a pandemic of the unvaccinated and our bishops have left us with the pandemic of the unbaptised and the un-absolved; a pandemic of the un-evangelised; a pandemic of the starving, made up of those who are unable to receive the Eucharist, the source and summit of the Christian life.

I do not want to make this blog a ‘medical science’ blog. But for the person who wants to be informed (not by politicians but by peer reviewed medical journals and the silenced medical experts such as Dr Robert Malone the inventor of the mRNA vaccines) it is clear that the vaccines have not done what they were proposed to do. If jabbed, you can still contract the virus with breakthrough infections, pass on the virus just as much as the unvaccinated, and end up in hospital and die from the virus at a rate no lower than the unvaccinated. This is all evident in the northern hemisphere nations that have the highest vaccination rates, such as Israel, Malta, Iceland and the UK. If one searches properly for this information with the purpose of being accurately informed (click on hyperlinks in article), one will discover that this is the result being observed, questioning the efficacy of the vaccines.

One thing is certain – ‘no jab, no freedom’ is the cry of governments world-wide and it has caused division amongst families, work places, society and even amongst states, territories and countries. Through my extensive research into medical peer-reviewed published journals, I have not found evidence anywhere that the unvaccinated are a threat to anybody, especially to the vaccinated. Yet the governments continue to segregate society with their mandates and their threats to the unvaccinated of withheld freedoms and privileges via so-called ‘health’ or ‘green’ passports. Our good God makes it rain or shine on the good and the bad. It should be Heaven’s passport we are more concerned about.

Continuing the story of the martyrs, we learn that upon being forced to undress and enter the cold waters of the lake, one of the martyrs exclaimed:

“We don’t take off our clothes, but we take off the old man. Winter is harsh, but the Paradise is sweet; the cold is strong, but the delight is pleasant”.

This response has the power of the Holy Spirit as its author. It is power. It is love. It is of a sound mind. There is no fear in this statement. If the response was one made out of fear or coercion, they would have jumped out of the icy water at the thought of death and ran to their bodily freedom.

After a while of suffering the cold and being tempted to take the world’s concept of freedom, one of the original 40 soldiers gave up, deciding that he would comply and sacrifice to the Roman gods. He left the 39 in the lake, and hurrying toward the heated baths and fire on the lake’s edge, died on the spot, as his body could not handle the rapid temperature change.

But that night an unusual miracle occurred: the lake’s water warmed, the ice melted, and 39 shiny crowns came down from heaven upon the martyrs. This miracle was witnessed by only one guard, the only one who remained awake, called Aglaius, who counted only 39 crowns, and then realized that one of the 40 had run out of the water and had died. Aglaius then woke the other sleeping guards, stripped his clothes and jumped into the lake, shouting “I am a Christian too” and in doing so, taking the number of martyrs once again to 40. At dawn, the Saints were removed alive from the lake and executed and burnt so that the faithful would not have relics. Thus, the Holy Martyrs entered Heaven on the true and only passport, stamped with their love and fidelity to Christ.

So what are we to learn from this story of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste and the actions of our Croatian forefathers? Certainly that fear and coercion are the vehicles of the devil. They do not provide true freedom.

What should the vaccinated do? They should pray. Pray, repent, confess their sins (and to a priest as soon as possible) and pray that the body of Christ (the Church) may be one. They should pray for the ending of this pandemic and not treat the unvaccinated as if they were lepers.

But those who are vaccinated should not be judged by the unvaccinated. What should the unvaccinated do? They, too, should pray. They should not judge those who, for whatever reason, chose to get the jab. But they should stand firm in their decision not to acquiesce to all the pressure. They will be offered prizes to become vaccinated. They will be offered the warmth of a secure job, travel, and the ability to move freely, thus sparing them the coldness of isolation, but they should stay strong and hold their line. Expect to see the vaccinated freely congregating in restaurants, public areas etc. Pray that those in government and our bishops do not force or coerce people to get vaccinated out of fear. They will use this emotion and coercion to make the ones holding out break – like the soldier who saw the warmth of the hot baths on the side of the lake. Do not break ranks. Hold your line!

What is coming? More of the same. If we look at the northern hemisphere and countries like France, the people are revolting. Vaccinated and unvaccinated alike are banding together – holding the line. They do not want to bow down to the idols of their governments who are just pushing for more lockdowns, more vaccines and more restrictions.

The fight is far from over. But take heart, for the Lord has already won the victory. Just as Christ suffered for us, so too will the body of Christ have to suffer. We are living in times that were long prophesied. We did not choose these times. Our good God chose us to live in these times, to be saints; to hold fast to the mercy and love of God and to live the Gospel value proclaimed by Jesus. If you find yourself combatting the spirit of fear, turn immediately to Jesus, remembering His words: “It is I. Do not be afraid” (John 6:20). Do not fear. Jesus is with you always. In humility cry out to the Lord. Stand firm. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18). Like the 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste, hold your line. Do not listen to fear, but rather with the power of the Holy Spirit of God, have faith, love and have a sound mind. I urge you all – hold the line, whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. We are all children of God. Stand firm against mandates based on fear. Resist coercion for health passports. Instead, pray and repent. Confess your sins. Storm heaven with your prayers and sacrifices for the opening up of our churches. Stop the pandemic of the un-baptised the un-absolved and the famine of the Eucharist. Let nothing stop you seeking your daily food – the Eucharist.

I want to leave you with a psalm to meditate on – a soldier’s psalm.

Psalm 91
You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’
For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;
He will cover you with His pinions,
and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
or the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling-place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love Me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know My name.
When they call to Me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honour them.
With long life I will satisfy them, and show them My salvation.

Faithful Catholic soldier – Stand firm and do not fear!

Bog i Hrvati

 

 

 

Definition of Coercion

The broad definition of coercion is “the use of express or implied threats of violence or reprisal (as discharge from employment) or other intimidating behaviour that puts a person in immediate fear of the consequences in order to compel that person to act against his or her will.” Actual violence, threats of violence, or other acts of pressure may constitute coercion if they’re used to subvert an individual’s free will or consent.

In legal terms, it’s often said that someone who’s been coerced was acting under duress. In fact, “duress” and “coercion” are often interchanged. Black’s Law Dictionary defines duress as “any unlawful threat or coercion used… to induce another to act [or to refrain from acting] in a manner [they] otherwise would not [or would].”

Heaven’s Passport – The Pandemic of the Non-Believers

Contagious Faith

The Pandemic of the Non-Believers

“Government mandates for COVID – mask wearing, lockdowns, social distancing, sanitising, vaccines, and now vaccine or health passports.” These are words which are continuously bombarding us through the television, newspapers, social media and even in our personal conversations. Their subject, COVID, has so gripped the whole world with fear that it has become the predominating focus and attention of almost every person on this planet. But at what cost?

I am a father of 4 children. My youngest, who is 7 years old, made a statement recently that stopped me in my tracks. She said, “Dad, I can’t remember what life was like before COVID”. For a second, completely taken aback, I had no words with which to reply to her. My daughter’s comment forced me to hold back the tears that were welling inside of me for her, and not only for her, but for all who were feeling like her. The sadness in her voice impelled me to turn to deep contemplation, reflection and prayer.

Whether COVID is man-made or naturally occurring, whether people are dying with COVID or from COVID, whether vaccines work or don’t work, the heart of the matter is that our churches are closed. The faithful are denied access to rightful worship of God and the sacraments. The great apostasy has, and is, occurring – there has already been a great exodus of Catholics leaving the Church, and a great many of those who remain are denying the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, denying the power of the sacraments, and accepting abortion and illicit unions. The errors and heresy of Modernism are running rampant. Church closures, sanctioned by the majority of our bishops, have only added fuel to this great departure from the faith. The confusion and lack of direction from our bishops is clearly apparent. This great apostasy is the real pandemic!

People are being conditioned to invest their trust into science and the government for their protection and livelihood. They have abandoned or forgotten God in their greatest time of need. One has only to look at human and Church history throughout the Scriptures and throughout past ages to see that we have been here before. How quick we are to forget!

The Old Testament records various outbreaks of endemic disease, perhaps not too dissimilar to coronavirus, which prompts one to ask why God permits endemic diseases. In the Bible God expressly tells us that the reason He sends plagues and diseases on His people and on His enemies is “to make you see My power” (Exodus 9:14, 16). God sent plagues on Egypt to force Pharaoh to free the Israelite’s from bondage, while sparing His people from their effects thus indicating His sovereign control over diseases and other afflictions (Exodus 12:13; 15:26). God also warned His people of the consequences of persisting in sin, one of which is being afflicted by plague (Leviticus 26:21, 25). Two such occasions are recorded in the Scriptures – one where 14,700 people died (Numbers 16:49) and another where 24,000 people died (Numbers 25:9) in a plague sent by God. After giving the Mosaic Law, God commanded the people to obey it or else suffer many evils, including disease and plague (Deuteronomy 28:22). These are just a few examples highlighting the plagues and diseases sent by God in response to sin.

It can be hard to imagine a loving and merciful God displaying such anger and wrath toward His people. But God’s punishments always have the goal of repentance and restoration. We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life”. (#324)

This is echoed in the book of Chronicles in the Bible, when God says to Solomon:

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14).

There is no doubt that the disease called coronavirus and the effects of this so-called pandemic have adversely affected humanity. Rather than moving closer to God and seeking His forgiveness in a spirit of humility, humanity is moving further away from God, a God who can heal both body and soul (Matthew 10:28). I am not discrediting or belittling the benefits of modern medical science that is used to serve bodily health, but this unwavering faith in modern science has come at the price of trust in God, Lord of both the body and soul.

In Biblical times of plague, kings and priests had no trouble humbling themselves through fasting and prayer and the putting on of ashes and sackcloth as public manifestations of their interior repentance (cf. 2 Kings 19:1; Joel 1:13). Where is this manifestation of repentance today? Where is the call for public repentance through prayer and fasting to the laity and the clergy from our bishops and priests? Where are the public processions and Masses offered specifically for an end to this pandemic?

In the year 590 AD, Pope Gregory I called on the entire Church in Rome to process from their seven regions to Santa Maria Maggiore in solemn prayer asking God for pardon to end the plague which besieged the city for 50 years at that time. Legend has it that St. Michael the Archangel ended the plague by standing on the Mausoleum of Hadrian and sheathing his sword to show that the people’s prayers had been answered.

One of the worst pandemics in history – the Black Death Plague (or the Bubonic Plague) – was also the setting for a prime example of the Church and her bishops leading the people in prayer and repentance. During the Black Death Plague, in 1348, Pope Clement VI, in consultation with the Bishops, had the Votive Mass in Times of Pestilence said. The people repented and fasted and attended the Votive Mass for the Deliverance from Death in Time of Pestilence. Why is this not happening today? Why are our Church leaders not calling for this Mass and not calling for repentance, prayer and fasting? Instead, churches are closed and the faithful are advised to stay home, obey government orders and follow medical advice given by politicians.

It is time for the faithful once again to make a public stance by witnessing to the importance of repentance, prayer and fasting. It is time to put on sackcloth and ashes like the people of the Old Testament. If the bishops and priests do not once again say the Mass to end the plague and lead the people into repentance, then it could very well be that the laity will have to lead by example. My daughter does not remember what life was like before COVID. I do not want this to be the ‘new normal’, a life where churches are closed and deemed non-essential. I do not want my daughter to live through a life with no memory to recollect of her father, her mother and the faithful fighting for the Truth, fighting for the preservation of their faith, setting an example for future generations. And if this was to happen, and upon reaching the gates of Heaven, we would be able to show our Lord our credentials, that we were of the generation who fought for their faith, trusting in the Lord.

It is time for people to repent. It is time for bishops to open our churches and to say the Votive Mass to end this pandemic. It is time to social distance from sin, to stop infecting other people with talk that does not inspire or lead them to God. It is time for people to sanitise their souls in the Sacrament of Confession and to receive the only medicine that can sustain us, the Divine Physician Himself, the Bread of Life. It is time to take off the mask of vanity and lies, and allow faces of humility to shine through and seek God’s forgiveness.

What credentials will you show on your passport when you stand at Heaven’s door? What have you, Catholic man and father, done to protect your home from this pandemic, from the infection of sin entering your home, from taking and isolating your family members away from the One True Faith?

If you haven’t done so already, call a Catholic priest to bless your home and your family. Place a blessed crucifix in a prominent place in the home. Consecrate the house to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Enthrone the Sacred Heart as King of your home and family. Use blessed water and exorcised salt to keep the infection of sin away. Lockdown some time for praying with the Scriptures and spiritual reading. Arm yourselves with prayer, fasting and the family Rosary to increase your immunity. Our Blessed and Immaculate Mother will never abandon her children. Recall the story of St John Bosco in Turin during the cholera epidemic of 1854. He asked the young men he commissioned to visit the sick to carry an image (or medal) of the Virgin Mary with them and to pray regularly. None of them got infected. Men, you are being commissioned to do the same.

I want to leave you with the words of Saint Gregory the Great who said this during the pandemic in 590 AD:

“It is fitting, beloved brethren, that the punishment of God, the coming of which we should have feared, as we fear now when we bear this punishment. May this suffering, as a means of supplication, open the door to God, and the very suffering we endure would crush the stiffness of our hearts … So, let each of us seek protection in repentant lament, while there is time to cry.”

Will you do your part to end this pandemic? What credentials are on your Heaven’s passport?

Bog i Hrvati

Fear or Faith? The choice for Freedom

Contagious Faith