{"id":6262,"date":"2011-06-21T03:16:52","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T09:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/when-cedars-fall-2\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T14:33:43","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T20:33:43","slug":"when-cedars-fall-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/when-cedars-fall-2\/","title":{"rendered":"When Cedars Fall","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wail, you cypress trees, for the cedars are fallen,
\n<\/span>the mighty have been despoiled. Wail, you oaks of Bashan,
\nfor the impenetrable forest is cut down!
\nHark! the wailing of the shepherds,
\ntheir glory has been ruined. (Zech 11:2-3)<\/span><\/p>\n

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THEY <\/strong>have fallen, one by one, bishop after bishop, priest after priest, ministry after ministry (not to mention, father after father and family after family). And not just little trees\u2014major leaders in the Catholic Faith have fallen like great cedars in a forest.<\/p>\n

In a glance over just the past three years, we have seen a stunning collapse of some of the tallest figures in the Church today. The answer for some Catholics has been to hang up their crosses and “quit” the Church; others have taken to the blogosphere to vigorously raze the fallen, while others have engaged in haughty and heated debates in the plethora of religious forums. And then there are those who are quietly weeping or merely sitting in stunned silence as they listen to the echo of these sorrows reverberating throughout the world.<\/p>\n

For months now, the words of Our Lady of Akita\u2014given official recognition by no less than the present Pope when he was still Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith\u2014have been faintly repeating themselves in the back of my mind:<\/p>\n

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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.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them…” <\/em><\/strong>\u2014<\/em>Message given through an apparition to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan, October 13th, 1973; approved in June of 1988.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In some ways, one could ask if we haven’t already begun to live the prophetic words in the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>?<\/p>\n

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Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers…<\/span><\/strong> \u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>, n. 675 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That passage goes on to suggest that this “final trial”, ultimately, is the temptation and test that will\u00a0come about through a religious deception…<\/p>\n

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…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.<\/span><\/strong> \u2014Ibid. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What “problems” exactly? Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman \"\"seemed to think they would be problems very much like those in our present hour:<\/p>\n

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It is [Satan’s] policy to split us up and divide us, to dislodge us gradually from our rock of strength. And if there is to be a persecution, perhaps it will be then; then, perhaps, when we are all of us in all parts of Christendom so divided, and so reduced, so full of schism, so close upon heresy…. Then suddenly the Roman Empire may break up, and Antichrist appear as a persecutor, and the barbarous nations around break in.<\/strong> \u2014Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, Sermon IV: The Persecution of Antichrist<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

DO NOT DESPAIR… BUT PREPARE<\/p>\n

I am not suggesting that in our lifetime the Antichrist will appear for certain. Only God knows the timetable. But I would also say that Pope Pius X was perhaps on to something when he suggested in an encyclical that the Antichrist may already be on earth. (If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to prayerfully read Why Aren’t the Popes Shouting?<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n

Our Lord commanded us to be vigilant, to “watch and pray.” And not one without the other. The one who merely watches without praying will be subject to the temptation of despair, as the crises in our times are grave. On the other hand, the one who only prays may not heed the signs of the times and the ways in which God speaks through them. Yes, watch and<\/em> pray.<\/p>\n

And prepare.<\/p>\n

I have already written about this preparation in a simple writing called Prepare!<\/a><\/em> On the other hand, every single writing on this website is a refraction of this preparation intended to wake up, and keep awake souls during these stormy times. Part of this preparation is understanding not just what is happening in the world, but what is happening in your soul<\/em>. Christians everywhere who are sincerely trying to grow in holiness are going through a “trial by fire.” I have sensed the Lord saying in recent times that part of this trial is that He is no longer “tolerating” venial sins as He has in the past, so to speak. That the “margin of error” is closing, and the “give” that the Lord permitted in the past is no more.<\/p>\n

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I have looked away, and kept silence, I have said nothing, holding myself in; but now, I cry out as a woman in labor, gasping and panting. (Isaiah 42:14)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them…<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"This is not to say that He is less loving \u2014quite the opposite! It is out of love<\/em>, in fact, that Jesus is telling us that we must become holy in these times. Ultimately…<\/p>\n

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Jesus is demanding, because He wishes our genuine happiness. The Church needs saints. All are called to holiness, and holy people alone can renew humanity. <\/strong>\u2014POPE JOHN PAUL II, World Youth Day Message for 2005, Vatican City, Aug. 27th, 2004, Zenit.org<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We can no longer afford to leave any<\/em> room for Satan to wedge his way into our lives. He is on a rampage, for he knows his time is short.\u00a0It’s not so much that God has changed, but that He has permitted Satan to “sift us like wheat”, [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Luke 22:31<\/span><\/span>