We are now in the fourth week of Lent and Passion Sunday is fast approaching. Everything is now focused on the commemoration of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of humanity.
This series of Lenten meditations has led us to look closely at the current situation in the Church and in the world, and to draw the appropriate conclusions. One of them is to consciously engage in spiritual combat, not only to guard our own spiritual life, but also to assume, beyond the personal sphere, the place God has assigned to us in the ‘army of the Lamb’ and thus to serve the Kingdom of God.
We know that the Lord gave His life as an atonement for the sins of the whole world. In our Catholic Church, the concept of the Atonement is very much alive, especially in the most faithful circles. It was St Paul who exclaimed: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church” (Col 1:24).
Through his witness, Saint Paul draws our attention to an essential aspect. He could – and so can we – consciously co-operate so that the salvation which God offers us in His Son Jesus Christ might be completed in the Church, which is His Mystical Body. We know how many sufferings St Paul had to endure, including the inner sufferings associated with his apostolic ministry. These are an essential part of the mission that God entrusted to this great Apostle. In fact, Jesus redeemed us not only by His preaching, but above all by His passion and death. And this victory won by the Lord through his Passion, Death and Resurrection must be fully realised and carried out on earth. For this to happen, we too can unite all our sufferings to those of the Lord and thus serve the Church.
This is good news, because it means that everything we do and suffer in the Lord can be used for the evangelisation of the whole world! Nothing is in vain! Even the most insignificant act counts; every self-denial, every small sacrifice, every adverse circumstance patiently endured. …. All this becomes fuel for the fire of evangelisation!
St Paul was even able to rejoice in the sufferings he endured for the Church. This joy can only be understood if we become aware of the love that inflamed the Apostle. He knew that through his sufferings he was sustaining his mission, and he was aware of the immense effectiveness of this “interior apostolate”. His proclamation of the Word was thus firmly grounded in God.
In applying the discernment of spirits, I mentioned the five wounds inflicted on the Church, which are even more numerous if we take into account also the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, the statements made by Francis in Singapore that all religions are ways to God, and the synodal distortions that usurp the supernatural character of the Church and turn it more into a humanitarian institution.
Those who are already aware of all these deviations, or at least look at them with a very critical eye, must not only distance themselves clearly from them and engage in spiritual combat, but can do something else, which is very important: reparation.
– They can atone, for example, for the many sacrileges that have multiplied since Amoris Laetitia opened up the possibility of receiving Holy Communion to people who are objectively not in a state of grace. These sacrileges have gravely wounded the Church.
– They can ask the Lord for forgiveness and, like St. Paul, offer him all their sufferings and sacrifices in atonement for ‘the abominable idol set up in the Holy Place’ (Mt 24:15), when a figure of Pachamama was venerated in the Vatican gardens and even in St. Peter’s Basilica, thus publicly transgressing God’s first commandment. Although there have been private initiatives to make amends, this act has not yet been officially atoned for and continues to cast a shadow over these holy places.
– You can make amends for the confusion caused by the claim that all religions lead to God, which has misled so many Catholics and non-Catholics who should be hearing the true Gospel from the mouth of the head of the Catholic Church. We must also counter these claims with our unequivocal witness that Jesus is the only Saviour of mankind and that the Catholic Church was founded by Him and entrusted with the fullness of truth. Furthermore, it is important to ask the Lord’s forgiveness that the missionary mandate He gave to the Church is not being fulfilled, bringing much suffering and darkness to the world and the Church.
In this context, if we put into practice the concept of the Atonement and cooperate with our contribution, we are already actively helping to weaken the powers of darkness which, having deceived people, will want to accuse them before God. By appealing to the sacrifice of Jesus and His own prayer for the Church and participating with our cooperation, we can intercede for the Church so that the Lord will deliver her from the antichristian influence and lessen the consequences of the confusion, so that she will once again shine as the faithful Bride of Christ.
