Just because those involved in this horrific practice happen to be among the political elite, the powerful, or the rich and famous should not diminish the scope of the crime involved. The whole topic has been politicized when in fact this should not be a political issue at all.

The fallout

Since its release, “Sound of Freedom” has created a firestorm I don’t think we have seen since the “MeToo” movement in 2016. Suddenly men and women from border control agents to social welfare workers have become outspoken about the abuse they have seen as they discharged their duties. As an example, Tara Lee Rodas was deployed to the Pomona Fairplex Emergency Intake Site in California to help the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement reunite children with sponsors in the US. What she experienced there was shocking.

Her testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement in April 2023 revealed activities and oversights that did not, in fact, reunite children with their sponsors. In her own words:

I thought I was going to help place children in loving homes. Instead, I discovered that children are being trafficked through a sophisticated network that begins with being recruited in home country, smuggled to the US border, and ends when ORR delivers a child to a Sponsor — some sponsors are criminals and traffickers and members of Transnational Criminal Organizations. Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income — this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking.

The mere fact that the producers of “Sound of Freedom” found pushback from major studios who would not venture to release the movie to audiences is a telling thing as well. Once released, though, the film broke open secrets in the movie and television industry that have been buried for decades. It was not long before some celebrities came forward to tell their stories about the weird doings in and around Hollywood.

As in our own times, the Hebrews slowly began to lose their faith by tolerating and then adopting the practices of the pagans. When the measure of iniquity was filled, Divine justice intervened.

A few years ago I happened to see a video about child sexual abuse. It came from a surprising source: actress Blake Lively. She gave emotional and compelling remarks at Variety magazine’s Power of Women event on the topic of child pornography and exploitation. She spoke not as an actress playing a part, but in her own words she was “here as a momma”.

Others are speaking out: Ashton Kutcher, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Thompson, and Mark Wahlberg. Efforts to silence them have failed. God is good.

It isn’t as if they have not been telling us all along. Hollywood’s resident pariah, Mel Gibson, may be proven right after all. He has been quite vocal about his experiences in what he calls “Hollyweird” to the point that up until now whatever he said wasn’t even taken seriously.

And then there was the 2020 Golden Globes Awards where host Ricky Gervais gave a scathing monologue that touched on many of the perverted activities these “beautiful people” routinely do.

We are here again on the cusp of Divine justice

Even before the Catholic Church called out the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance (willful murder, sodomy, oppression of the poor, and denying a laborer just wages), the Lord himself (Lev. 20:1–27) told Moses there would be severe punishment (death) for the following sins:

• Human sacrifices to Moloch
• Dishonoring your parents
• Adultery, fornication, and other deviant practices
• Turning to mediums and fortune tellers

Those conversant with Old Testament history know and understand how God’s relationship with the Hebrews was hit-and-miss. The Hebrews never seemed to see that when they trusted in God and his Providence they were given everything — a land flowing with milk and honey — their enemies subdued — the good life.

As in our own times, the Hebrews slowly began to lose their faith by tolerating and then adopting the practices of the pagans. When the measure of iniquity was filled, Divine justice intervened.

Believing the lie of the serpent is alive and well today not only in thought but in practice: Abortion (sacrifice to Moloch). The dissolution of the family. Adultery. Fornication. Pedophilia. All forms of deviant behavior are rife and sanctioned in our world today.

The Lord flooded the world as punishment for egregious transgressions. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their depraved practices. Think these are just Biblical stories to frighten or amuse us? You might want to think again. Archeologists believe they have found the location of Sodom and Gomorrah and there is evidence to strongly suggest that the destruction was not of this world. Dr. John Bergsma spoke about this “heat event” to Matt Fradd on an episode of “Pints with Aquinas”.

Bad things are happening because the world has lost Christ

My digression is not without purpose. Christ established or perhaps reestablished God’s Church when, after his passion, death, and resurrection the Old Law was replaced by the New Law. A new sacrifice and worship, the perfect sacrifice as St. Paul says, as well as the two Great Commandments became the foundation for humanity’s relationship with God.

A reorganization of society based on the laws of God and the divine right of the priesthood and, more closely related to “the masses”, the divine right of kings.

OK. I get it. We are a more enlightened people. We are individuals with inherent rights. And the Church needs to stay out of the affairs of the state.

The French Revolution, though, with a dagger thrust into the Sacred Heart of our Lord and Savior, firmly asserted the “rights of man” superseded the Rights of God and the Social Kingship of Christ.

Stop snickering. Seriously, mankind now has rights that supersede our loving and Creator, because we as a species with our individual truths, are now gods.

Nowhere is it more firmly set than in the Garden of Eden when the serpent proclaimed that God had lied to Eve.

But the serpent said to the woman, “No, you will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4–5)

Look where this road has taken us. Believing the lie of the serpent is alive and well today not only in thought but in practice: Abortion (sacrifice to Moloch). The dissolution of the family. Adultery. Fornication. Pedophilia. All forms of deviant behavior are rife and sanctioned in our world today.

Catholic Action

More than 90 years ago, the Rev. Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp. wrote a book, The Social Rights of Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, the King. In a question-and-answer style, Fr. Fahey clearly explains what will, and in fact, has happened when the Rights of God are set aside so the so-called rights of man can be implemented.

We pray for the clergy, most especially for those like Archbishop Strictland who stand against the errors of modernism. We place ourselves under the mantle of Mary, our Queen. Most especially for me is to pray for the moral courage to speak out whenever possible to assert the Rights of God in the world today.

He outlines the structure Catholics must use, as the motto of Pope St. Pius X states “To restore all things in Christ”. It begins, Fr. Fahey asserts, where it should, with the Pope, bishops, and the clergy to instruct and teach.

To be honest I don’t see that happening any time soon with an event like the Synod on Sodality set to begin in October. It falls, therefore, on the laity to take up the cause. As Fr. Fahey states, “Clearly laymen are called in strict charity to enlighten their neighbor and to labor, not only for the good of individuals, but for restoration of society as a whole” (p 63).

Such cooperation on the part of the laity has seemed to the Fathers of the Vatican Council so opportune and fruitful of good that they thought well to invite it. ‘All faithful Christians, but those who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Savior, that they bring aid to ward off and eliminate those errors from Holy Church’….In respect consequently to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors, the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play. Pope Leo XIII

This painting of Christ could be redone with him weeping over Rome instead of Jerusalem, and his heartwrenching words echoing for us today:

If thou hadst known, in this thy day, even the things that are for thy peace! But now they are hidden from thy eyes. For days will come upon thee when thy enemies will throw up a rampart about thee, and surround thee and shut thee in on every side, and will dash thee to the ground and thy children within thee, and will not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:42–44, St. Joseph New Catholic edition 1962)

We pray for the Pope. We pray for the clergy, most especially for those like Archbishop Strictland who stand against the errors of modernism. We place ourselves under the mantle of Mary, our Queen. Most especially for me is to pray for the moral courage to speak out whenever possible to assert the Rights of God in the world today.

Latest from RTV — WOKE VATICAN: Millions Resist Pope’s “Hostile Takeover”