Category: Laity

  • Holiness, Masculinity, Defending the Truth, Faith and Family

    Holiness, Masculinity, Defending the Truth, Faith and Family

    Fr. Jeffrey “Skip” Thompson delivered the hard truth at the CT Catholic Men’s Conference in Bristol, CT on October 19, 2019.

    Men need to step up and lead their families in these difficult and ambiguous times.

    But my heart is heavy— as perhaps many of yours are— about the future our kids will face — in a culture that is becoming anti-Christ and is losing its moral compass. Our “one nation under God” is crumbling. Psalm 11 laments: “Foundations once destroyed, what can the just do?” God help us. And He will. He promised that “against His Church the gates of hell will not prevail.” Amen! But in the meantime we’re in a fight.

    Mortal sin has become law — abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage so-called, to name a few. Our Lady of Fatima warned us that the final battle would be over the family. According to St. John Paul II, the family,defined as a husband, wife and child, is “the living icon of the Holy Trinity.” Thus, it is no wonder evil hates it and is at work, “to steal, kill and destroy” it

    Father Thompson is the Vocations Coordinator for the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles.  Prior to becoming a member of the MSA, he was a political lobbyist in the state of California. In addition to being the Vocations Coordinator, Father Skip also serves as the Dean of Men at Holy Apostles College and Seminary.  During the summer he is frequently on the road conducting parish missions.

    Fr. Thompson’s calling to the priesthood occurred later in life, so as a father and a Father he brings a unique perspective to the issues facing men today.  A downloadable copy of his talk on Holiness, Masculinity, Defending the Truth, Faith and Family is available at the Connecticut Men’s Conference site, or is embedded here to view online.

  • The Heart of the Matter

    The Heart of the Matter

    We are very excited to get access to a series of articles written by Fr. Thomas Hickey, and published in his parish bulletin, all based on the work of Fr. Chad Ripperger, that analyzes the spirits of the past six generations and how those spirits have affected the Church. 

    These brief essays may or may not describe the church you are in. 

    They may or may not describe the persons sitting next to you in the pew. 

    They may or may not describe the persons living in your home. 

    They may or may not describe the person occupying your own shoes.

    But we can assure you, the symptoms revealed in these essays exist in many churches… far too many churches.  And the causes are not something that can be easily dismissed.

    As an exorcist, Fr. Ripperger can vouch for the fact that demons are real, and that they have overtaken many churches, prelates, and many lay members of those churches. 

    As Fr. Ripperger notes, “It does not take a doctorate in moral or spiritual theology to recognize that the Church and the world are in a particularly bad state, morally and spiritually.”

    Indeed.  But there is hope.  Read these articles for some insight into The Heart of the Matter.

    The Heart of the Matter #1: Looking for Causes

    The Heart of the Matter #2: Generational Spirits

    The Heart of the Matter #3: A Call for Heroes

    The Heart of the Matter #4: The Lost Generation

    The Heart of the Matter #5: An Unlearned Lesson

    The Heart of the Matter #6; The Not-So-Greatest Generation

    The Heart of the Matter #7; The Loss of Tradition

    The Heart of the Matter #8: Full Churches, Empty Souls

    The Heart of the Matter #9: A Boom Blooms

    The Heart of the Matter #10: Legitimizing Sin

    The Heart of the Matter #11: The Death of Truth

    The Heart of the Matter #12: Morality Inverted

    The Heart of the Matter #13: Enter the Demons

    The Heart of the Matter #14: What to Do?

  • Are They With Us?

    Are They With Us?

    Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves. Mt. 10:16.

    In a recent article the Washington Post noted that there are a number of groups who are banding together as “laity” to demand accountability of their priests and bishops.  That’s all well and good, but we shouldn’t think that just because some people have joined together under a single banner to make demands upon the hierarchy that they necessarily have the best interests of the Catholic Church or its adherents in mind.

    Take, for example, the group that calls itself “5theses”, highlighted in the Washington Post article.  In imitation of Protestant Martin Luther, who did so much to tear the Catholic Church apart, they are allegedly posting their “five theses” on the doors of various churches.  What do they demand?  In addition to “Transparency”, they demand that “every diocesan newspaper in the country” set aside space in every issue “for survivors of clergy sexual abuse to share their stories”.  They also demand that bishops “shed the royal raiment and regalia of the episcopate” and “put women in church leadership… [including] reopen[ing] the discussion of women’s ordination, and to name women as cardinals at the next consistory and at every consistory going forward until a balance is achieved,” and require every church to pray a certain prayer every Sunday for a “reformed church” that meets their definition of the Church that Christ established.

    In other words, to create a new Protestant denomination out of the existing Catholic Church. Martin Luther would be proud.

    Here at The Laity, we respect and pray for all of the members of the Holy Roman Catholic Church – priests, religious, bishops, laity, and our Holy Father.  Our goal is not to tear the Church apart and remake it in our image.  Our mission is to engage with the hierarchy on these important issues and ensure that the Church is adhering to its own mission to preach the Gospel to all nations (Mt 24:14).  We welcome those who would join in this effort.  We do not welcome those who seek, like the “5theses” group, to make the Church into something it was never intended to be, something other than what Christ himself intended it to be.

    To those who demand to remake the Church in their own image, I leave them with this closing line from William F. Buckley: “Search for the perfect church it you will; when you find it, join it, and realize that on that day it becomes something less than perfect.” But leave our Church alone.