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St Anthony's SSPX, Whanganui
"That was a cracker of a sermon!"
The speaker was among the happy mêlée of Massgoers - 11 o'clockers going in and 9 o'clockers coming out - at St Anthony's SSPX Whanganui yesterday, the Feast of the Holy Family. Her face was lit up from within. "I think he was a bishop,"she said.
He was. A mitre and crozier were a pretty broad hint; people kneeling to kiss his ring were another. The 9 a m Sung High Mass crowd had been treated to a sermon from Bishop Bernard Fellay, former superior general of the Society of St Pius X for 24 years.
"The time we are in, if we look through the eyes of God, is a nightmare. Apocalyptic. God tells us the devil is unchained. He has multiplied his attacks on all levels - natural, supernatural, the Church, morals - and his means are electronic. In former times we had a list of prohibited books. The family was safe.
That was before radio, Tv, the internet, smartphones. "These things are not in good hands! They break all the defences of the Catholic family! Do they give you holy ideas to go to heaven? Or hell? I say 'hell' - sometimes very subtly, sometimes plainly, in direct temptations. Christians are not aware. If it's a bad movie, switch it off! Don't let the enemy in: period."
Novus Ordo Massgoers may be shocked. Not 5 minutes into his sermon, the good bishop has mentioned the devil and hell.
"How can we defend ourselves? Let's have the Catholic view: this time is very serious and dangerous. God allows it - this is not to make us fall. The only reason He created us is to go to heaven. He wants us to be winners and He gives us the means and the first is grace.
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| The Ascension Rembrandt |
"God is in control of what happens. If it's something bad, God has given permission for that, , and a limit to evil. The devil can't do whatever. God can't lose control. I repeat: He wants us to be winners! and He offers us the means. Turn to Him! Beg for His grace that He wants to give us!"
Bishop Fellay offered a definition of sin: turning to creatures. "You prefer the creature to God! We prefer ourselves to God! If you want to be protected, healed, saved, first of all turn away from creatures and turn to God. Like the great saints, take refuge in God.
"Make simple acts of faith, hope, charity. "I believe you are in the Host. Mary, I believe you are the Mother of God. I believe You will help me so I come to You. You have offered me help so I come to You.
"This causes immediate union with God! It makes us jump from earth to heaven! These simple acts are an atomic bomb to the devil. This teaching of the Church is the most efficient against temptation. Make one of these acts. Try to make it most intense. Practise it, practise it a lot!"
Stay with God. He wants us to be children, to go to heaven. What do children do if there are bad dogs around? They grab your hand. Grab the hand of God continuously. Consecrate your Catholic families to the Holy Family.
"God wanted to put Himself at our level. Everything He did was to put Himself at our level, to merit graces for us. He went through all the stages of life so that whatever the situation is, we can grab the grace Our Lord merited for us in similar situations.
+Fellay used the analogy of a vacuum cleaner: "it needs to be plugged in and if you go too far it will be unplugged - so you go back to the plug. I don't say God is a vacuum cleaner. We are the vacuum cleaner and we need to be plugged into God. Every time we think of an event in the life of Our Lord we are plugged in. Every time we are plugged in to the stream of Grace which flows from Jesus. It is so simple.
"The Church wants us every year to go through the whole life of Our Lord, throughout the whole world. We have to meditate on the life of Jesus in the Holy Family.
"Too often we put good and evil on the same level. There is an infinite difference between them. Evil you can only find at the creature level. God is infinitely mightier, higher and stronger. So we stick to God. That doesn't mean we won't be hurt. Sin has entered our poor earth so we must make sacrifices and repair. We have something to suffer: from our neighbour, enemies, accidents, Acts of God,
"Whatever, if you are united with God, God turns into a new victory - and the victory of the Cross is the highest victory of God. Allow God to continue His Passion in you! United with Jesus you save souls! What the world sees as a loser in the hands of God is turned into a winner. Our Lady of Fatima said souls are falling into hell because no one makes sacrifices for them. When they are going straight into hell you win for them the eternity of heaven! I guarantee you will save souls.
"Keep this eye of faith every day. Never forget God, every day. Go to Him. Make sacrifices and put a lot of love in them.
"It is certain the family is under incredible attack today. Proportional to this attack we need a proportional defence. The first defence is to turn to God.
"Pray in the family. Gather everybody together and pray together. Pray the Rosary: the Blessed Virgin Mary said, "Pray the Rosary. You get a plenary indulgence every time the family prays the Rosary. Sister Lucy, Pope Pius XI, and the Blessed Virgin Mary have given us this prayer with special efficacy.
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| The VIsitation Jerónimo Ezquerra, |
"There is no problem which cannot be solved by the Rosary. I have seen so many times how this is protection for the whole family.
"Daily Mass of the parents is incredible protection to the whole family. You can never beat God in generosity. In a sense, this forces God to be more generous.
"Grace does not take away nature. If you break your leg you say a nice prayer, but you go to the doctor. There are certain actions which a parent must do. You can't rely just on prayer. You must take actual protective measures.
"So don't put in your children's hands any of these modern instruments. They have been created to do harm. This is not just about porn. Modern scientists tell you your child spends 4 hours in front of a screen, his memory diminishes 40%. His concentration is a disaster.
Those who stay in front of the internet etc harm themselves psychologically, in memory and concentration. Those who create the internet, tv and apps deliberately intend to make people addictive. And the loss of time in which we could do so many good things! It is total, pure waste!
"Parents must check what they put into the hands of their children.
"Before the age of 17, 18, no screen, no smartphone, no internet if you want them to be safe.
"One day they will have to face it but they can only resist if educated, if they have strength, if they are ready to fight to defend themselves.
"Make them aware of the dangers! Practise the opposite virtues - but don't be a horror, don't make a hell of it for your children. They must learn to be masters of themselves.
"Above all I beg you on my knees to be there for your children. Be accessible. They need to talk to you even when you're tired. They need to present to you their problems. If they have this relation with you when serious things happen they will come to you.
"God wangted matrimony to be a sacrament turned into a source of grace. That's the way God wants you to live on earth. His life is a spring which is animating all.
"Go to Mass to make stronger this spring of Grace. Count on it. Let's go to Mary and St Joseph for special protection and blessing. We all want to go to heaven and we know that the time is hard. We don't have the right to put in doubt that God wants us up there.
"May we merit Mary's intercession to lead us all into heaven. Amen."
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| The Baptism of Christ Piero della Francesco Jesus, on the Feast of your Baptism we beseech your special graces and protection for our families |
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