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Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Our former District Superior of
the U.S., Fr. Peter Scott, has now moved on to his new nomination as rector of
the seminary in Australia. I wish to thank him for his dedication, leadership
and guidance during the past twelve years. Our prayers certainly go with him. I
would also like to thank you in advance for your prayers and patience as I
attempt to fill the very large shoes he has left. It will take some time to grow
into them but with God’s grace all things are possible.
As Fr. Scott mentioned in the July issue of this Report I
have spent the past six years as Prior at Saint Joseph’s in Armada, Michigan
where the work of the Society began in 1974. As with all our chapels it has been
blessed with its share of trials and tribulations which our Lord sends to his
friends. Like many others, by recognizing God’s will and accepting it, much
fruit has come forth, its parish and school nearly doubling in size over these
years. They also have, like all faithful Catholics during these painful times
which the Church is traversing and amidst their cares and worries, the great
consolation of being able to lean upon the only unshifting foundation: our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Before Vatican II the Catholic Church had a unique and
widespread reputation for incredible narrowness, stubbornness and intolerance
among non-Catholics. The reason for this un-cooperative attitude of the Church
is found in the unshifting revealed truths concerning the virtue of faith, which
is best expressed by St. Paul: "As we have said before, so now I say again:
If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you other than that
which we have preached to you, let him be anathema. For do I now persuade men,
or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I yet pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ. For I give you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which
was preached by me is not of man. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I
taught it; but I received it by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1:
9-12)
Vatican II destroyed this reputation for intolerance and
thus today it is so called Catholics themselves who look upon the "traditional
Church" as such. As our holy founder Archbishop Lefebvre once said, "He calls
himself Catholic, yet at the same time, sides with the Church’s enemies. He
cannot bear the truth, the unchanging and complete truth. He cannot bear the
fact that we are fighting against error, that we are fighting against the world,
Satan, and the Church’s enemies, that we are always in a state of crusade. We
are in a state of crusade, a state of continual combat." It is "the
defenders of the Church, the defenders of truth and of the Church’s tradition
that bring down upon themselves the anger of all who think that one must
compromise with the world, that one must adapt to the times and not condemn
error." "Our Lord Himself also proclaimed the truth. Well, they put Him
to death. They put Him to death because He proclaimed the truth, because He said
that He was God. And He was. He could not say that He was not. And all the
martyrs preferred to shed their blood, to give their lives, rather than
compromise."
What a great grace and a great mystery it is to have the
one true unshifting Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ which, contrary to the false
claim that this faith is a sin against the freedom and liberty of man, frees him
by removing the barriers of the natural order which shield, from the world and
man, the inner life of the Godhead. The barriers of nature crumble before a
simple act of faith, revealing not only many naturally attainable truths but far
more importantly, a vast new order of truth above the natural capacities of the
human mind; "the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things
that are not seen".
In all of our chapels we are blessed to have groups of
faithful who realize this great gift and correspond by joyfully living their
faith. In short they fight to uphold the motto of our Society’s patron saint,
Pope Saint Pius X, "To restore all things in Christ." And they take his
words to heart:
"The times we live in demand action–but action which
consists entirely in observing with fidelity and zeal the divine laws and the
precepts of the Church, in the frank and open profession of religion, in the
exercise of every kind of charitable works, without regard to self-interest or
worldly advantage. Such luminous examples given by the great army of soldiers of
Christ will be of much greater avail in moving and drawing men than words and
sublime dissertations; and it will easily come about that when human respect has
been driven out, and prejudices and doubting laid aside, large numbers will be
won to Christ, becoming in their turn promoters of His knowledge and love which
are the road to true and solid happiness. Oh! When in every city and village the
law of the Lord is faithfully observed, when respect is shown for sacred things,
when the Sacraments are frequented, and the ordinances of Christian life
fulfilled, there will certainly be no more need for us to labor further to see
all things restored in Christ. Nor is it for the attainment of the eternal alone
that this will be of service–it will also contribute largely to temporal welfare
and the advantage of human society. For when these conditions have been secured,
the upper and wealthy classes will learn to be just and charitable to the lowly,
and these will be able to bear with tranquility and patience the trials of a
very hard lot; the citizens will obey not lust but law, reverence and love will
be deemed a duty towards those who govern, 'whose power comes only from God' (Rom.
13, 1). And then? Then, at last, it will be clear to all that the Church,
such as it was instituted by Christ, must enjoy full and entire liberty and
independence from all foreign dominion; and We, in demanding that same liberty,
are defending not only the sacred rights of religion, but also consulting the
common weal and the safety of nations. For it continues to be true that
'piety is useful for all things' (I Tim 4, 8) —when this is strong and
flourishing 'the people will' truly 'sit in the fullness of peace' (Is.
32, 18)."
If in the times of Saint Pius X action was demanded how
much more is needed today. When it is not just a few but all Catholics who take
these words to heart and act upon them, when all return to the unshifting
foundation, then will we too see the restoring of all things in Christ.
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus
bless you on this feast of His Immaculate Mother’s Heart.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. John D. Fullerton
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