The Truth is set before us

by Deacon Bob Ellis –

Photo by Nils – Unsplash

A nation that permits babies to be brutally torn apart limb by limb and ripped from the wombs of their mothers will not long retain God’s blessings and protection. The swiftly developing Communist revolution in America, which threatens the survival of our republic, is evidence of the rapid dissipation of both. On November 3, we will either reject abortion or opt to permit its continuance.

There is no excuse for the deafening silence of most clergy at all levels when they ought to be strongly, loudly, and clearly teaching their flocks that they are morally obligated to oppose any candidate for public office who promotes abortion. I have no words to adequately describe the many who support such candidates. May God have mercy on their souls.

The issue of abortion is the paramount and preeminent priority of the 2020 presidential election. All other issues combined do not rise to its level of importance and consideration.

When one candidate for the office of president of the United States of America is for abortion and the other against, abortion is the only issue that matters. The admonition against single-issue voting contained in the USCCB’s 2020 “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” is moot as far as the 2020 presidential election is concerned. It would apply only if both candidates held the same position on abortion.

When one candidate for public office supports and/or promotes abortion and the other opposes it anyone who votes for the former engages in cooperation with grave moral evil. Any Catholic who does so commits a mortally sinful act, thereby seriously endangering their eternal salvation.

Photo by Maria Oswalt

For far too many years, the dichotomy between the terms pro-abortion and anti-abortion has become radically skewed by the substitution of the term pro-life for anti-abortion in parlance on the subject. The late Cardinal Bernardin’s Seamless Garment document augmented the dichotomy by blurring the distinction between issues that involved intrinsically moral evils and those that do not.  

For example, abortion is an intrinsic moral evil that can never, under any circumstances be justified. Capital punishment, on the other hand is not an intrinsic moral evil. While Catholics might legitimately disagree about whether its exercise is acceptable in a particular given circumstance, it can be morally justified. This has always been the position of the Church. It is a matter of the prudential judgement of those involved in making the decision.

The exercise of prudential judgement in the determination of how to act is appropriate and necessary when actions do not involve intrinsic evil. When they involve intrinsic evil prudential judgement is moot. 

The provision of crystal-clear teaching of the above to their flocks is a moral imperative for Catholic clergy of all ranks. Sadly, far too many are failing to provide it, and to their shame and possible damnation, many are teaching the opposite. Confusion abounds! The Catholic faithful are starving for authentic moral teaching. The Oct. 13, 1973 words of Our Lady to Sister Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan come to mind.

The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”

It is obvious to the world that the work of the devil has been embraced by enormous numbers of Catholic clergy at the priestly level and scattered throughout the hierarchy of the Church. They will not, however, prevail. “…the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18).

How did we come to be where we are today?

In the Old Testament we read: “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes” (Jer 5:30-31)?

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? So once it was. So now it is.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry” (2 Tim 4:3-5).

Does a Jesuit cleric world famous for his promotion of all thing’s LGBTQ come to mind? In the spirit of Archbishop Athanasius Schneider’s words, which characterize those who support such clerics, I have to ask myself if those who permit him to poison their flocks and grant him status have suffered a loss of supernatural faith in the Body of Christ.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching” (2 Tim 4:1-2).

Timothy’s admonition has been ignored for decades, hasn’t it?

Chapter 21, verses 5-24 of the Gospel according to Luke provide profound insight into parallels in the world in the 21st century and are worth considering, before continuing with how we came to be where we are today.

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

As we witness the destruction of Catholic churches throughout the world, do we wonder if Jesus might make a similar observation about our church buildings today?

Signs and Persecutions

They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and, ‘The time is near!’[b] Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 

Let’s not fret about the end of the world. As Jesus told us, that time is not for us to know. Let’s simply be prepared for each of our own ends in this world.

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”

These conditions are apparent these days. Oct. 13, 1917 (Fatima) and Oct. 13, 1973 (Akita) were a sign and portent respectively, were they not?

12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

If a new world order controlled by Marxists succeeds in being established, the time for the application of these words of Jesus will have arrived.

The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold

20 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.[d] 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Think of the United States of America as the Jerusalem of our day and prepare accordingly.

Let’s return now to how we came to be where we are today.

The simple answer is sin. Our Lady’s parting words to the children at Fatima were “People must stop offending God because He is already so much offended.” Fifty-six years later, on Oct. 13, 1973, her opening words to Sister Sasagawa were “…if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity.” Sin has only worsened and increased.

One, and perhaps the most significant contributing factor, has been the spread of the errors of atheistic communism throughout the world by Russia, which could have been prevented had the pope honored Our Lady’s 1929 request for her consecration. Although St. John Paul II finally did it 55 years later, Jesus’ words to Sister Lucia in 1936 had already come to pass. “If they do not wish to heed my request, as like the king of France, they will repent and do it, but it will be late. Russia will have already spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars, and persecutions of the Church; the Holy Father will have much to suffer.” (A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, p 187)

Although the popes failed us, they are not solely to blame. The conversion of Russia depended as well on the establishment and practice of the First Saturday Devotion. In that regard we have all failed and so must share the blame. Information about this devotion and Our Lady’s other Fatima requests can be found at www.BlueArmy.com. Go there and learn. Once you’ve learned, live and spread Our Lady’s message and requests with everyone you can.

While in America in 1976 St. John Paul II (then Karol Wojtyla) spoke the following words:

We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church, and the Polish Church in particular, must take up. It is a trial of not only our nation and the Church, but, in a sense, a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization with all of its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.”

Today we are witnessing the steady progression of his prophecy. Catholics around the world are having difficulty reconciling the vast array of corruption within Holy Mother Church and Christ’s promise that the gates of Hades would not prevail. Why is all of this happening?

Two paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach us about the Church’s ultimate trial:

“Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the “mystery of iniquity” in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.” (675)

“The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God’s triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.” (677)

What ought Catholics do in their present circumstances?

  1. Vote only for anti-abortion candidates for all public offices and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
  2. Tend to the duties of your state in life offering all the aches, pains, trials, and tribulations as reparation for sin and the conversion of sinners.
  3. Continue to cultivate virtue in the living of your life.
  4. Develop devotion to the Holy Eucharist – Christ’s Real Presence on earth.
  5. Pray, especially the rosary daily – as a family if possible.
  6. Increase and strengthen your faith.
  7. Let hope dispel all the fears being foisted upon you by those who are using the Covid-19 pandemic to control you.
  8. Love your neighbor.

If you have a question or would like to discuss anything in this article further, I can be reached by email at rellis@bluearmy.com or by phone at 920-371-1931. May God bless each of you and your families.


Deacon Bob Ellis is the national coordinator for the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA.

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