An Enemy Has Done This
The Gospel According to St. Matthew, chapter 13 verses 24-30, the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds:
Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.
This parable comes in the context of an entire chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel wherein Jesus teaches a series of parables pertaining to the Kingdom of God. It is worth noting that the chapter concludes with some of Jesus’ own hometown of Nazareth rejecting Him and mocking Him, essentially saying, “Who does He think He is?” Due to their unbelief, it is recorded that Jesus did not perform many miracles there. This is noteworthy given this present parable, in which Our Lord discusses weeds growing among the wheat.
Jesus is the man who sows good seed in the field. But while the workers were asleep, an enemy came into the field and sowed weeds among the wheat. Thus, when the plants began to grow, the weeds were then noticed by the workers. The man then reveals to the workers that an enemy had done this while they were asleep. The workers ask if they should go and remove the weeds from the field, but the man says no because then the wheat might be uprooted as well. So the man advises them to let the wheat and the weeds grow together, side by side, until harvest time. And then at that time, the man will instruct the reapers to collect the weeds and bind them up so they can be burned, while the good wheat will be gathered into his barn.
This parable of course has many layers of meaning, but it is particularly appropriate for the present times we are living in today. First of all, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is the Catholic Church. Our Holy Father Pope Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas, taught the Catholic Church “is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among all men and all nations.” The good seed represents the faithful children and loyal subjects of the Kingdom, meaning Christians in a state of grace, partaking of the Sacraments, performing the works of mercy, and preparing for Heaven.
“While men were asleep” refers to leaders in the Church who are negligent in their duty to protect the flock from wolves. Thus, the enemy is able to sneak in and introduce erroneous teachings and scandalous heresies, which lead souls astray through false doctrine. Heresy corrupts the soul with lies, even the hint of heresy. Would any sane person drink a gallon of water if they knew there was even a drop of poison in it? The pre conciliar Popes warned us over and over about the clever tactics of the Modernists. They exposed the secret plot of the Freemasons. They sounded the alarm bell on Naturalism, Atheism, and Communism. And yet the leaders of the Church became lax in their duty especially towards the middle of the twentieth century, allowing all sorts of evil novelty into the Church. They have erected for themselves their own golden calf, just as the Jews did in the days of Moses.
There is now confusion taking hold among Christians as a result of this, and we know that “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). Confusion comes from the enemy, the devil, who snuck in while the leaders were asleep. Our Lady of Quito, in the 17th century, revealed, “Thus, I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and from shortly after the middle of the 20th century… the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs, for Satan will reign almost completely by means of the Masonic Sects. They will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general corruption. Woe to the children of these times!”
Our Lady went on to say, “The Devil will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalise the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests… This apparent triumph of Satan will bring enormous suffering to the good Pastors of the Church, the many good priests, and the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth, who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of his God and Lord… Further, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer innumerable frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women.”
“In this supreme moment of need of the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent!.. The spirit of impurity that will saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it will inundate the streets, squares and public places with an astonishing liberty. There will be almost no virgin souls in the world… How the Church will suffer on that occasion the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and prudence. Many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger… the corruption of customs, unbridled luxury, the impious press, and secular education. The vices of impurity, blasphemy, and sacrilege will dominate in this time of depraved desolation, and that one who should speak out will be silent.”
Our Lady foresaw these very times, even naming the historical time frame for them. So then, why does the man in the parable say to allow the wheat and the weeds to grow side by side? For two reasons. One, to allow time for repentance, as He truly desires all to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live” (Ezekiel 18:32). Secondly, to allow His children to profit spiritually through practicing virtue and gaining merit through these trials. Indeed, it is all the more profitable for the Christian to grow in holiness and faith and hope when there are obstacles to overcome.
Heed the words of St. Jerome: “Wherefore let not him sleep that is set over the Church, lest through his carelessness the enemy should sow therein tares, that is, the dogmas of the heretics.”
In our own present day, we are witnessing a very unique situation in the history of the Church: a Pope in Rome going to war against the Mass of the Ages. Francis notoriously issued Traditionis Castodes earlier in the year, which placed severe restrictions and limitations on the celebration of the Tridentine Latin Mass. And now, most recently, he issued a Responsa ad Dubia, where he has banned the Sacrament of Confirmation, Priestly Ordination, Baptisms, and Holy Matrimony, following pre-Vatican II Missals. It also bans parishes from publishing the times for Latin Masses in their bulletins, which is ridiculous, but yes, it made Francis’ to-do list of priorities. His paranoia over Catholics going to the Latin Mass continues to build, and so he continues to make moves seeking to eradicate it from the memory of the Church.
Bishop Mutsaerts commented, “The language is very similar to a declaration of war… It feels like a betrayal and is a slap in the face of his predecessors. The Church has never abolished liturgies. Not even Trent. Francis completely breaks with this tradition… liturgy is not a toy of popes, but the heritage of the Church… The Pope should be the guardian of tradition. The Pope is the gardener, not the manufacturer… How dictatorial, how unpastoral, how merciless can you get? If you really want to evangelise, really show mercy and support Catholic families, then you honour the Tridentine Mass.”
We recall the words of Cardinal Sarah, previous head of the Congregation for Divine Worship: “Banning or suppressing the Extraordinary Form can only be inspired by the devil.” Heed the admonition of Pope Pius XII: “The day the Church abandons her universal tongue is the day before she returns to the catacombs.” One can only wonder who is inspiring Francis of Rome.
Pope St. Pius V assured us in 1570 with Quo Primum that the faithful would always have access to the Tridentine Latin Mass “in perpetuity.” He codified this Liturgy, which produced centuries of Holy Saints and Martyrs, in order to safeguard it from any possible stain of corruption from the Protestant Sects, who at that time were introducing all sorts of novelty into their “liturgical” concoctions. By contrast, Paul VI came along in the ashes of the wake of Vatican II, and secured the services of a Freemason (“Archbishop” Bugnini) and a group of Protestant heretics to help draft a New Order for the Liturgy. His New Order experiment stripped the Liturgy of the Latin tongue and gave us the vulgar tongue of the people. Priests now faced the congregation rather than the Altar. The Sacrificial Altar itself was replaced with a communal table. Holy Communion was now allowed to be received in the hand, rather than only on the tongue. Prayers which previously emphasized the sacrificial nature of the Liturgy were stripped down and replaced with emphasis towards the “work of human hands.” The glorious Catholic Mass now resembled a Protestant service, which was intentional since the goal was to make a Liturgy more “ecumenically friendly” to the “separated brethren” of the Protestant sects.
However, Catholics faithful to Tradition and loyal to Eternal Rome have always known that no one can take away the Tridentine Latin Mass. When faced with a threat from the inside, indeed from the very top of the rung, such as Francis of Rome, we are reminded that Our Lord and Our Lady warned us that times of apostasy would come in the latter days. The Freemasons’ goal was to find a Pontiff who worked for their ends and promoted their ideals, even if unknowingly. We can not know the culpability of Francis, nor his interior dispositions. However, we can examine his exterior decisions and actions in regards to eliminating the Tridentine Liturgy, and we can conclude, “An enemy has done this.”
Let none of us become puffed up in pride, for through the commission of one single mortal sin, we ourselves choose the side of the enemy. We must be vigilant in these days, and grateful to God for His generous mercy and graces towards each of us. May the lesson of the parable of the Wheat and Weeds stir our souls and awaken us from any spiritual slumber. Pray the Rosary every day for the salvation of souls and for peace in the world. And pray for the conversion of Francis. Pray for the conversion of all clergy compromised with Modernism, and pray for the restoration of Holy Mother Church. Our Lord will never abandon us, even if the faithful are reduced to a handful, as was the case in the days of St. Athanasius. They can occupy our churches, but we occupy the Faith.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.
