LGBT activists have been on quite a roll lately, haven’t they?
Over the last year or so, their efforts to see to it that gender-bending and homo deviance are not only accepted, but celebrated, have gained considerable momentum.
Their recent victories have been legislative (with so-called “gay marriage” becoming the law of the land in both Ireland and the United States), cultural (the tidal wave of applause for “Caitlyn” Jenner) and even ecclesial (the publication of a document by the Holy See lauding the “gifts and qualities that homosexuals have to offer to the Christian community.”)
The unfortunate reality is that the numbers of those who favor the LGBT cause (especially among the up and coming generation) have been growing to the point of a majority; the signs of the times are obvious and there’s no question in which direction this ship will continue to sail lest divine intervention alter its course.
While it’s obvious enough to faithful Catholics that the entire LGBT movement is nothing less than an act of open rebellion against God, one wonders why this particular form of depravity features so prominently in a society that boasts of a veritable smorgasbord of godless past times.
The reason that the LGBT agenda is so clearly coming to the fore may well be that we are fast approaching the last days.
In a 2008 interview with Tele Radio Padre Pio (recently posted at Rorate Caeli), Cardinal Carlo Caffara (Archbishop of Bologna) said:
What Sister Lucia told me: Final Confrontation between the Lord and Satan will be over Family and Marriage.
When reading these words, one immediately thinks of the upcoming Synod, which only lends credence to the claim that we are entering that pivotal moment in salvation history given that a crisis of faith in the Church herself is expected to accompany the final confrontation.
The question remains, however, why this particular battle?
In other words, could not one just as easily imagine that the final confrontation will be over abortion, or Islam, or naturalism, etc.?
Perhaps, but I would submit that a showdown over matters concerning marriage and family makes the most logical sense as its really nothing more than Satan’s nefarious war plan coming full circle – the battle ending up precisely where it began; its final front line long ago predetermined.
How so?
The Evil One tipped his hand all the way back in the Garden of Eden where he revealed that undermining human sexuality and gender as created by God (and therefore marriage and family) would form the very centerpiece of his unholy strategy for seeking the ruin of souls.
What’s more, it’s rather clear that attacking the male of the species has always been among Satan’s highest priorities; undermining maleness in such a way as to tempt men into rejecting the God-given attributes that define “masculinity.”
So, you want to read the signs of the times relative to the approaching final confrontation?
Keep an eye on the state of males both in the culture at large and in the Church – their strength, their manliness and their godliness – as you can be certain that this is precisely where Satan is determined to pile up the most casualties.
The result of Satan’s unrelenting attacks against manhood is exceedingly evident – not just in the most obvious cases, like the Caitlyn Jenners of the world – but in the plethora of men in our day who demonstrate a palpable lack of masculinity; e.g., timid husbands who are afraid to take the lead in making difficult (and not so difficult) family decisions, fathers who are too weak to discipline their own children, and men who are more inclined to shed tears than to offer a strong shoulder upon which to cry.
The degree to which individuals and families suffer under these circumstances is noteworthy. So too is the degree to which the children of the Church suffer when their spiritual fathers are weak, effeminate and indecisive; a topic that merits a treatment all its own.
For now, let us turn our attention back to the very beginning, to the Garden of Eden, where one discerns that the fate of the human family, in large measure, all comes down to the males…
According to the creation account recorded in the Book of Genesis, on the sixth day, God created humankind, male (Adam) first and then female (Eve) as his “helper.”
The Lord then commanded them to “increase and multiply,” to which end the Scriptures inform us, “A man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.”
In the nuptial unity thus described, male and female together strike a particularly profound image of the Triune God – the Father whose eternal exchange of love with the Son is so superabundant as to be that from which the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, proceeds.
This is why the Evil One immediately focused his assault on the institutions of marriage and family.
You see, Satan cannot attack the Persons of the Blessed Trinity directly; he is powerless to corrupt that which is Divine. He knows this.
As such, he resorts to goading humankind into distorting the characteristics that are inherently appropriate to the genders as God created them; all in an attempt to corrupt the Divine image made visible as male and female become one flesh in the life giving bond of holy matrimony.
In other words, attacking marriage and family is the next best thing to attacking the Father, Son and Holy Ghost – the Devil’s primary target – and so it is that one might reasonably expect that this is precisely what the final confrontation will entail.
Satan’s desire to disrupt the natural order via an undermining of the genders is directed at both males and females, certainly, but it seems reasonable to consider that the Devil may indeed harbor an especially intense hatred for the male of the species for a number of good reasons.
The first and most obvious has to do with the basic principle of war that says, “Attack the head and the body will fall.”
As such, Adam’s primacy and the dominant role that the Lord had assigned to him in the order of creation was enough to place a target squarely on his back, as well as on the backs of every male to follow.
More noteworthy still is the fact that God’s plan of salvation is brought to fulfillment in the Person of Jesus Christ who is both truly God and truly male.
Ongoing motivation for this Satanic misandry (particular hatred of men), therefore, may logically be understood to perdure in light of the all-male priesthood that Jesus established in order to continue the work of Redemption through, with and in the Church.
Furthermore, one may also reasonably consider St. Paul’s exhortation in the Epistle to the Ephesians, “Husbands, love your wife as Christ loves the Church,” with the husband as a type of alter-Christus serving as yet more motivation for Satan’s ongoing disdain for masculinity, in particular as it is expressed in the context of marriage and family.
Is it just coincidence that, as a percentage of the population, more males than females identify as LGBT; that gay pride parades are overrun by homosexual males strutting their deviance, and the leading poster boys of the transgender movement at any given moment are almost invariably males?
I think not.
Satan is no dummy. From day one his plan of attack has been predicated on the premise that when the male of the species falters, the rest of the human family is poised to tumble like dominoes. Like I said, it all comes down to the males.
Paradoxically, evidence of Satan’s anti-masculine agenda came to light the very moment he approached Eve in the Garden of Eden that he might tempt her into disobedience.
While one might initially assume that the events described in the Book of Genesis reflect the exact opposite of my thesis, it is perhaps more accurate to consider it a reflection of Satan’s well-calculated plan to undermine first and foremost the male primacy that God had established.
You see, engaging Adam as if he were head of the human family would be tantamount to abiding by the very same order that he sought to corrupt. In other words, playing by God’s rules isn’t exactly Satan’s way; in approaching Eve, he did the exact opposite.
One might also find it noteworthy that Scripture gives no indication that God had directly forbidden Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s reasonable, therefore, to believe that this Divine ordinance was only later relayed to Eve by Adam himself.
If that be the case, we might understand that Satan was not so much urging Eve to disobey God (not directly, in any case) as much as he was urging her to disobey her husband, and in so doing, subverting the very order that God had established.
More insight may also be gained by taking note of the fact that the serpent mentioned in Genesis 3 is not the harmless little garden snake seen in illustrated children’s Bible’s; rather, it is a creature that is far more imposing.
The original Hebrew text describes the serpent as nahash which means leviathan or something more akin to a sea monster.
One might reasonably wonder where Adam was when his wife, the “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh,” was being engaged by this threatening beast.
Though Scripture doesn’t explicitly tell us, it is reasonable for us to believe that he may in fact have been right there in the midst of them; frozen, it would seem, in fear and in silence while Eve was left to her own devices to fence with the menacing tempter.
If so, it would seem that Adam had failed even prior to his eating of the forbidden fruit in the dereliction of masculine duty that God had entrusted to him, namely, “to keep” the garden; that is, to protect it and to keep it and its inhabitants (including, of course, Eve) safe in order to preserve the peace and the friendship that they enjoyed with God and with one another.
Once again, the original Hebrew text offers more clarity as the word typically translated “to keep,” shamar, more properly means, “to guard.”
Before moving on, I’d like to briefly address the anticipated feminist objection to the assertion that Adam had been assigned the distinctly dominant role just described by pointing to the way in which God reprimanded him immediately after the Fall.
Notice that God does not upbraid Adam for disobeying the prohibition He had given against eating of the forbidden fruit; rather, He reprimands Adam for “hearkening to the voice of his wife” (cf Gen. 3:17).
This is a rather strong indication that Adam’s primary failure – the one that led to the deprivation of grace that henceforth afflicted the entire human family – was his unfaithfulness to the God-given requirements of his masculine identity; e.g., rather than leading his family, he followed his wife; instead of protecting and guarding her, he stood silent; rather than engaging the aggressor, he remained passive…
One might also take note of how other passages of Sacred Scripture assign primary blame for the Fall to Adam as opposed to Eve.
The prophet Hosea, for example, points directly to Adam telling us that he “transgressed the covenant” (Hosea 6:7), while St. Paul writes, “in Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22).
With all of this said, the million dollar question, as always, is now what?
While we may not have much control over the where’s and when’s of the final confrontation between Good and Evil, we have much to say about the battle for our own individual souls and the destiny of our families.
One of the best things that can be done to set such things aright is for men to behave like men, with women encouraging them in every way possible to that end, because like it or not, in many ways, it all comes down to the males.
Satan realizes that by destroying distinctions between male and female and overturning sexual morality, he can destroy marriage and family, which would destroy the Catholic Church. Here’s a relevant article: http://www.barnhardt.biz/the-one-about/the-one-about-why-priests-can-only-ever-be-men/
This is one of the best articles I’ve read this year. The sad part is that because of who you are, and your previous work on pope Francis, very few will see it.
How fitting also that Satan has diverted all the attention to the supposed “war on women”. A classic diabolical half-truth.
LGBT “activists” & the LGBT “agenda” is a work of the Jews. Porn is a tool of war and it is the Jews who are waging war on us. Homosexuals make up a very small number and the militant among them makes up an even smaller number. Where does the money come from that the “gay mafia” uses?
Bottom line it is the Jews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSKAS-YVCns
I agree that this is another wonderful posting by Louie. So often I read your articles and say to myself, “I never looked at it that way.” This one, like to many others, is illuminating, a most appropriate view of our times. Only a miracle, I fear, can save us from monumental error in the synod.
I will begin to add the young men of the world who are being destroyed by pornography to my rosary intentions. These poor fellows are being warped years before they start families (if they ever get around to starting families).
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Genesis 4:6-7
Perhaps the problem (as shown here in the first murder) is not strong females versus weak males, but rather, and as always, sin.
Louie, you have written well. Very, very good and insightful. We can only turn this around one woman at a time. If we women willingly submit to our husbands’ decision making role (even if we ‘think’ they are wrong) we would go a very long way to shoring up the confidence real men used to have.
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If we step back our men will step forward.
How did we get here?
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I think the answer lies in these words from one of the holiest pontiffs in the history of the Church:
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“In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked, lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men [IE EFFEMINATE AND PUSSILANIMOUS CATHOLICS DOING THE BIDDING OF SATAN]… All the strength of Satan’s reign is due to the easy-going weakness [READ “EFFEMINATE” HERE TOO] of Catholics. Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zachary did in spirit: What are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands? The answer would not be doubtful: With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved Me. I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My adversaries. And this reproach can be levelled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries.”
–Pope St. Pius X, Discourse at the Beatification of St. Joan of Arc, Dec. 13, 1908
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I.E. Even as long as ONE HUNDRED years ago, St Pius X lays the charge against the Catholics of his time that they (the men) were in a process of, in effect, “effeminisation”!!
Louie,
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Kudos for your latest article, which I think is incredibly relevant and hits the bulls eye at the problems facing the Church and society at large. On the same theme, I believe Vatican II was the result of pusillanimous bishops rescinding their God given duty to uphold (or as you point out “shamar” – to guard) the doctrine of the faith.
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Having said that, regarding your statement, “Notice that God does not upbraid Adam for disobeying the prohibition He had given against eating of the forbidden fruit; rather, He reprimands Adam for “hearkening to the voice of his wife” (cf Gen. 3:17).”, the cited passage does mention God reprimanding Adam for disobeying his order not to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree:
“And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, WHEREOF I COMMANDED THEE that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.”
Having said that, it is interesting indeed that the holy writer should first mention God reprimanding Adam’s “hearkening” to the voice of Eve, followed by His rebuke for disobeying His order”… But your point that Adam’s primary failure was his unfaithfulness to the duties associated with his God-given masculine nature is germane and very well made.
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In addition, I would draw attention to another interesting verse:
“And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?” 3:9
Where are the fathers of all those single parent households taking care of both the mother and children?
Where are the shepherds of the Church to be found taking a strong stance in defense of the faith, the family and morals?
Indeed – WHERE is the man sitting in the throne of St Peter to be seen on a public (or even, private) platform defending the deposit of faith and the natural moral law?
Satan will also perversely embolden, perversely empower, and perversely justify Muslims over Catholics on this issue.
While we witness the corruption of all kind of wanton sensuality around us, the Saint whose life is celebrated in the Church this day, John Marie Vianney, is a great counter-example of a man of God, who, for the sake of spiritual strength and saving souls, made himself physically weak through continuous disciplines designed to subjugate the senses to the willful choice to do good, and avoid evil.
The fruits of his labor are still going forward, with countless of conversions, beginning with the entire parish of Ars (200 souls), where his body lies incorrupt for all to see.
http://www.olrl.org/lives/vianney.shtml
Women certainly can help men in the “decision making role” by their loving care and support, but of course are no substitute for the God-given authority and responsibility of men over their wives and family.
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This is the importance of women for a healthy family life:
“A good wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.”
Proverbs 31:10-11
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Genesis 31:1-21 shows, I believe, that husbands that love their wives communicate their purposes and intentions to them – where there is a mutual affection there is a mutual confidence.
In all due respect, there’s some pretty shaky theology in this post. Adam failed in his duty BEFORE he ate the fruit? So, he sinned before he fell?
If JPII had written that, you would, I believe, be howling the word “heresy” from the rooftops!!!
An excellent blog entry, Louie.
Your summation and analysis of the current situation is very accurate.
God is order. And part of that order deigned that humanity have separate and distinct genders namely male and female, all in the image and likeness of God.
Knowing this, Satan has deliberately set out to create disorder. Satan seeks to contaminate the structure ordained by God.
Man in his stupidity and pride, has bought Satan’s lie that he (man) ought to be master of creation, and not God.
Of course Satan has never told man that the price of following him is eternal death.
Are we in the end times? For many, today, even right now as I type, are experiencing their very own end time as they physically die and their existence in this world ceases.
Of course their spiritual existence is unending.
“The Evil One tipped his hand all the way back in the Garden of Eden where he revealed that undermining human sexuality and gender as created by God (and therefore marriage and family) would form the very centerpiece of his unholy strategy for seeking the ruin of souls.”
The idea that the story of the Fall of Man is all about the undermining of human sexuality and gender is pretty far out there. Let’s face it, the most brilliant and holy men have exegised the Bible since it was written and I’m pretty sure none of them ever came to that conclusion.
Mary is the new Eve, and Jesus is the new Adam. Jesus performed his first public miracle at the request of his mother. And at the time of the Fall God promised that a woman (Mary) and her seed (Jesus) would crush the head of Satan.
Yes, as punishment for the sin of Eve God stated that women must be subjected to their husbands. But, it is in the Bible that husbands should “love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,…”
St. Catherine of Sienna was a counselor to two popes:
“ Letter after letter was dispatched to the princes and leaders of Europe. To Pope Urban himself she wrote to warn him to control his harsh and arrogant temper. This was the second pope she had counseled, chided, even commanded. Far from resenting reproof, Urban summoned her to Rome that he might profit by her advice. Reluctantly she left Sienna to live in the Holy City. She had achieved a remarkable position for a woman of her time. On various occasions at Sienna, Avignon, and Genoa, learned theologians had questioned her and had been humbled by the wisdom of her replies.”
Good point alarico.
A really interesting interpretation about the subversion of the God-given heirarchy of authority. The trouble with the ‘male’ problem is that most do not ‘harken’ to the voice of God, but to the voice of those already seduced by the serpent. — Isaiah 3: FOR behold the sovereign the Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water. The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the cunning man, and the ancient. The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech. And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.
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I reckon one could apply it directly to VII. The Council Father’s became ‘Eves’, sitting at the feet of Communist, Protestant, Rabbinical and Eastern Orthodox ‘serpents’. And those few true ‘husbands’ amongst the Cardinals permitted the whole dereliction. What resulted was an organisation that fell from the Cathoic Church (a type of Eden if you like), and the fallen away is the Novus Ordo. Interesting that the Novus Ordo missal, which threw out the perfect tradition of a year long cycle and replaced it with a three year Sunday cycle combined with a two year weekday cycle mish-mash on the grounds that they could cram in more scripture EXCLUDES this important passage: Romans 1: 24-32 Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonour their own bodies among themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie; and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections. For their women have changed the natural use into that use which is against nature. And, in like manner, the men also, leaving the natural use of the women, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men working that which is filthy, and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error. And as they liked not to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness, full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity, whisperers, Detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Foolish, dissolute, without affection, without fidelity, without mercy. Who, having known the justice of God, did not understand that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.
Thank you for this link. I want to listen more to E Michael Jones. That the judeo-masons (Jews) are at the bottom of our crisis is beyond all reasonable doubt, both with regard to the Church and the whole Marxist Cultural Revolution. Their rejection and hatred of the Logos and consequent worship of lucifer, is the bottom line of the total onslaught against Christian Western Civilization. I watched a short one on art – I thought it excellent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi4nDKO-UFY
There’s lots of Wisdom here, Thanks to All !!!
The best example of a woman cooperating with God is Our Lady. Using her gifts of reason and free will, she first asked how the incarnation the Angel was speaking of could be possible, since she was a virgin. Being told it would be by the power of God, she then responded with full Faith, “I am the handmaiden of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy will”
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Today’s feast honors her and reminds us God is not limited as we are–
as He made it snow in Rome, in August, to prove her appearance there had been genuine; and that the request for a Church to be built in her honor, (now known as the Basilica of St. Mary Major) was indeed the will of God.
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As faithful Catholics who realize how bad things have gotten, it’s as important to keep speaking the truth, as it is to continue our daily prayers and sacrifices for the conversion of all souls–including the most duped and hardened sinners, and for strength for those struggling to keep The Faith while being persecuted for it, as most of us are, today.
God Bless us all.
Contemplating about this blog entry some more.
Louie is absolutely spot on where he says that Satan knows that he cannot attack the Father, Son and Holy Ghost directly and therefore can only attack them through corrupting as much of humanity as possible.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that in his core, Satan actually knows that he is a beaten entity. The only thing that prevents or dilutes that realisation is his own pride. It was his pride that led to his insurrection against God in the first place, and it is his pride that fuels him to continue to fight for centuries and centuries, in what is an unwinnable war.
Humanity is Satan’s agency in his fight against God. Given the times that we live in it may appear that Satan is winning more battles than not and no doubt each victory swells his pride. But in his core Satan knows that he is doomed. He knows that at a time of His choosing, God can eviscerate Satan.
(1st Corinthians 15: 55-56)
And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? [56] Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Some theologians have argued that Adam failed to pay attention to what Eve was doing and so, failed but his sin was disobeying God’s command.
Over 405,000 have signed the petition to Pope Francis, to dare. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/405000-people-104-bishops-sign-petition-to-pope-francis-asking-for-clarific
I cannot point the finger at Jews or any other group other than Catholics. Catholics are meant to be the ‘anima mundi’ or the soul of the world. It is our failing, it I my failing, for we (I) have not lived the faith as fully as it should be lived. If Catholics truly followed Christ and His teachings, the world would be a different place. Yes, yes, I know that we have weak and effeminate shepherds in many places but still….are you and I praying enough? I am lousy at fasting but know I need to. I myself must do more to console the Heart of Jesus and to keep my focus on Him. With Our Lady’s help, I hope to do better. One holy soul makes a huge difference and many holy souls will change the world and hasten the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.