14 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

GOD IS LOVE GOD IS TRUTH

The following is an excerpt of a speech given by Father Rodriguez at Our Lady’s Army of Advocates conference held in Boston, Mas-sachusetts in April 2016. He shows us how, without truth, the devil succeeds in leading souls of the faithful away from the Faith.

by Father Michael Rodriguez

God is love. God is truth. What I would like to

do in this talk is to focus on the latter – namely, God is truth – and point out how the devil has run attacks in our times against God. It is, therefore, a great attack against the truth.

There are 10 brief quotations from Sacred Scripture from St. John the Apostle that emphasize the importance of “truth”:

John 1:14 – “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw His glory. The glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:17 – “for the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”.

John 4:24 – “God is spirit and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and

in truth”. John 8:32 – “and you

shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 14:6 – “Jesus saith to him, I am the Way and the truth and the Life.”

John 17:17, 19 – “Sanctify them in truth; Thy word is truth... And for them do I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

John 18:37 – “for this was I born and for this came I into the world that I should give testimony to the truth.”

From the 1st letter of St. John 2:21, 24 – “I have not written to you as to them that know not the truth, but as to them that knoweth... that which you have heard from the beginning, abide in you.”

The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016 15

From the 2nd letter of St. John 1:4 – “I was exceeding glad that I found of my children walking in truth as we have received a commandment from the Father.”

And the final one from the 3rd letter of St. John 1:4 – “I have no greater grace than this to hear that my children walk in truth.” In opposition to these 10

quotes, I’ll give you just one

Father Rodriguez, teaching Catholic truths to the attendees at our Boston conference

16 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

that explains to us the work of the devil, and that’s John 8:44, obviously referring to the devil:

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him... for he is a liar and the father thereof.”

On the One Hand – Truth On the Other Hand – Lies

So, on the one hand we have truth; on the other hand, lies and deception. On the one hand we have Jesus Christ; on the other, we have satan.

Obviously, this is the great battle and hopefully all of us know that Our Blessed Mother is very much part of this battle.

The last public interview that Sister Lucia of Fatima gave was on December 26, 1957, to Father Augustine Fuentes. After this, she was silenced by the Vatican for the remainder of her life.

One of the important things which she said in this interview is the following:

“The devil is the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin, and the devil knows what it is that most offends God, and which in the short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of

souls. Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God because in this, will the devil succeed in leading the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders thereby the more easily he will seize them.” We can ask ourselves, “Well,

what does this decisive battle consist in?” I’m going to try to present to you that it is a great attack against the truth. That’s also why it’s a great attack by the devil against souls that are consecrated to God because those souls that are consecrated to God are also consecrated to the truth.

Priests, Religious, Bishops, especially the Holy Father, are consecrated to the truth, to witness to the truth – many even silently, such as contemplatives. But, in particular, when we are talking about the great leadership of our beloved Church, they are called to be consecrated to the truth by preaching the truth and by teaching the truth.

Since the closing of the Second Vatican Council, Holy Mother Church has experienced one of the worst crises in her entire history. The devil is waging a terrible attack against the Church. It is truly a time of

The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016 17

diabolical disorientation which affects every single one of us –traditional Catholics included.

We Are Not Immune to Diabolical Disorientation

One of the things that I hope to emphasize right now is this: that we may never think we are immune from this diabolical disorientation. Even if we are praying our Rosary daily, even if we appreciate and love and are going to the Traditional Latin Mass – this does not make us immune from the diabolical disorientation.

We are not immune from the attacks of the devil, the world, and the flesh. Satan is the father of lies and this means that he always deceives. Often he will use truths in order to deceive, but his end is always to deceive.

There are some frightening examples of this deception of satan that are found within the traditional movement. Many of us are witnesses to infighting among traditional Catholics.

Some individuals or groups inadvertently allow satan to make their point that they’ve got it right, but it can be, that arguments presented, in some ways, are deceptive. Even though some things that are true are being presented; other things

that also are true are being set aside.

There is even deception among those who say they are spreading the Message of Our Lady of Fatima. I think that many of them are well intentioned; but in spite of that, there is still objective deception on the part of what we might call the false friends of Fatima, who are not revealing the entire truth of the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.

I want to give thanks to God for the gift of Father Gruner –and obviously to continue to pray for him – because he truly was faithful to the entire truth of the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.

It is good, in turn, as a service to the truth, specifically the truth of the message of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima that we continue to do the best we can, to learn that message well and to direct faithful souls to the work of the Fatima Center where we have that assurance that this message is going to be presented in spirit and in truth.

Being the father of lies, the devil’s attack is ultimately directed against the truth – that is, the Catholic Church’s doctrine. That’s the Deposit of Truth. That’s where the treasure of truth lies – in the infallible

18 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

teachings, the definitions of the Holy Catholic Church. And so that’s where the devil’s attack is going to be primarily directed to.

He’s not going to be primarily worried about others who really don’t have the truth or who have partial truths – they are still being deceived. But because of this, his ultimate attack is directed against the Church’s doctrine. His immediate attacks are upon the basic means which are used by the Church to teach and transmit the truth, namely the Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and her Magisterium – the Holy Father, and the Bishops.

The Devil Attacks Truth and Church Doctrine

Please consider this. Think about this as part of the plan – what it is that satan is doing, how he is carrying out this great attack against the truth, against Church doctrine. His immediate attacks are going to be on what the Church uses to transmit this truth. The Church transmits her truth primarily in these ways: through her Liturgy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and through her Magisterium (the Pope, the Bishops united to the Pope) teaching the truth.

Given this, I would like to make five recommendations –even pleas – to you. Please take

them to heart.Plea No. 1:

Above all, be faithful to the Divine teachings of Holy Mother Church. In other words, be faithful to the truth. This requires that we study. So, please make an effort to keep on studying your faith well.

I strongly urge all of you to read Father Gruner’s book, Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul. If you already read it, I strongly urge you to read it again. Don’t just read it once. Read it more than once and really make an effort to try to spread this book to others. You can do a great, great service to the truth, and do the best that you can to offset this attack of the devil by becoming an apostle, so to speak, by trying to get this book into as many hands as you can. Plea No. 2:

Above all, be faithful to the Traditional Latin Mass. Some of the faithful here might go to the New Mass. I strongly urge you to please make every effort to be 100 percent faithful to the Traditional Latin Mass. I don’t have the time right now, unfortunately, to explain all of the reasons behind this, but one thing to just keep in mind – the truth which the Catholic Church teaches does not change through

The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016 19

liturgy. It does not change in any radical way and it’s what we call, as Catholics, lex orandi, lex credendi.

The way that we pray determines and affects the way that we believe. It is so essential to being able to preserve and transmit the truth. Faith is the true worship of the Catholic Church. So, make every effort to be faithful to the Traditional Latin Mass – whatever sacrifices may be necessary. Encourage others to do the same.

We Must Study and Love the Sacrifice of the Mass More

For those who may have been going to the Latin Mass

for many years – please don’t be complacent. There is so much that needs to be done in terms of studying more and more the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – to come to love it more, to be more and more devoted, to become more and more aware how the great truths and mysteries of our faith are being transmitted through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In ways that are known to us and in ways that are not necessarily known to us – it is the Mystery of Faith. There will be many ways in which you will be able to appreciate this transmission of the truth in the original Latin Mass. The more

Father Phillipson (left) and Father Rodriguez (right) during their rare spare moments at our Boston Conference.

20 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

you study, the more you will be able to appreciate that. There also will be many ways by which we can’t necessarily appreciate it – it is a Mystery of Faith. Plea No. 3:

Be very vigilant when it comes to members of the current magisterium; but at the same time, pray and sacrifice for them – the Bishops, and especially for the Holy Father. This is tricky because I think you have to try to balance both of them. You have to be extremely vigilant.

But, you also have to be careful in terms of being overly critical, or overly judgmental. It doesn’t mean that we can not and do not have the duty to point out great errors where they are – even when those go all the way to the Papacy – but at the same time, we can’t lose sight of the fact that we must truly and sincerely do our best to pray and sacrifice for the bishops and for the Pope. This is a very important element of the Message of Our Lady of Fatima. Plea No. 4:

Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Her Message of Fatima. I don’t think there is any question that this is a great grace and a weapon that God has given us to again withstand the devil’s assault against the truth.

Plea No. 5: Remember St. Paul’s

admonition (Ephesians 6:12):“For our wrestling is not

against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.” May we never forget that

this isn’t just about finding the right answers or going to the Latin Mass or reading about the Message of Our Lady of Fatima, or trying to convince others.

It is a spiritual battle. We’re dealing with something supernatural – the devil, himself, seeking to attack and destroy. Christ told the Church – and this is what will always be essential – fidelity to prayer, the effort for each one of us to grow in holiness and to grow in humility. We have to realize that there’s a terrible crisis that’s afflicting the Church.

The ultimate answer is not going to be something natural, but something supernatural. Part of what is going on right now is that, indeed, we are undergoing a Divine Chastisement. I don’t think any of us can stand before God right now and say: “You know what,

The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016 21

I’m completely pure and have no sins, and have nothing to do with the chastisement that has come upon us.”

Our Blessed Mother at Fatima precisely warned about this – that if we didn’t comply with Her requests and commands, there would be a Divine Chastisement. In many, many ways, we have not complied with Her Message and Her requests and commands, all the way from the top to the bottom. And so, we are undergoing the Divine Chastisement. That means then, that in order to contribute to the Supernatural solution, we have to take seriously, prayer, penance and our own conversion.

Our True Identity Is Being Catholic

... Two final points, and here again, I think Father Gruner is a good example. Always remember this – our true identity is being Catholic. It is not an adherence to a particular group, however important that adherence may be. And that adherence, especially right now in times of diabolical disorientation, I think is important. You need the help of like-minded Catholics. You need to band together. We need to unite together to be able to also navigate these stormy waters, but ultimately,

your true identity is Catholic, not allegiance to a particular group.

Repeat this sentence to yourselves many times – ‘my true identity is as a Catholic, not my allegiance to a particular group.’ This temptation is as old as the time of the Apostles. (Corinthians 1:11-13) “I belong to Paul, I to Apollo, I to Cephas, I to Christ.”

My salvation hinges on whether or not I am Catholic. That is, the One True Faith, not on whether I go to Mass with a particular group or particular priest. ...I am first and foremost a Roman Catholic, and as a Roman Catholic, it is very helpful to remind oneself that, in all probability, God, in His mysterious Providence, is using groups of Catholics who are striving to recover the Catholic Faith and Catholic Tradition. ...

The solution will most likely not come from any single one of these groups; but all of them, each in its own way, may very well play a role in the ultimate solution effected by Divine Providence, and by Divine Providence alone.

What moves Divine Providence most? Just look to Our Lady of Fatima – prayer, penance, sacrifice, prayer for the Holy Father. It is God

22 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

Who chooses whom He wills, when He wills, and how He wills. And as Roman Catholics our primary focus must be on God, His Providence and His Church. Only afterwards, and secondarily, should we focus on affiliation with a particular traditional group.

Devotion to Our Lady Assists Our Fight Against Diabolical Disorientation

My final words then are: a great, great help to be able to fight against this diabolical attack against the truth, and in particular also the diabolical attack against the Magisterium and against traditional Catholics is, guess what? – devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.

I think this is something that helped Father Gruner a lot. One of the reasons why he was able to avoid getting into all of this infighting among the traditional Catholics was because of his focus and his devotion to the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.

It is providential that Our Blessed Mother, in appearing at Fatima, obviously knew what was coming, and because of that, She precisely gave us what She gave us at Fatima, so that this could be a great source of unifying traditional Catholics even when there are some

legitimate differences among them.

God Works in Mysterious Ways

I think there are legitimate differences among traditional Catholics, and I think traditional Catholics have very strong convictions about which particular path they should take to try to restore the Faith, to try to restore the Mass.

I don’t think they have to be kind of wishy-washy and say that it doesn’t matter what you do, go to whatever Mass you want. No, I mean they have very strong convictions but, at the same time, you have to also have the humility to know that you are not God and to also know God is working in mysterious ways.

There are many ways we can be an imperfect human being or imperfect group, or priestly society. The devil is very much attacking us and we also need to have that humility to say: okay, maybe there still are differences that kind of cause tension, but there are also things that definitely unite us.

One of those things that clearly unites is love for the Mother of God. Love for the Mother of God. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A desire

Workshops at our Boston Conference

Joanna Swords, Volunteer Coordinator, chats with a volunteer who sends Fatima materials to Africa.

Angela DeGa (center) teaches how to make Rosaries at her Workshop.

Joe DiZillo teaches how to approch priests with the Fatima Message.

24 The Fatima Crusader | Summer 2016

to be faithful to the Message of Fatima. A desire to be faithful to the recitation of the Holy Rosary.

So my conclusion, and again obviously, I say this in memory of Father Gruner, is to work at this angle – don’t forget this angle – yes, we have to study the truth, and work hard at studying; we have to adhere to the traditional Latin Mass and do whatever it takes to continue to grow in our love and appreciation for the Mass.

Create Bridges

But also, do the best that you can do, create bridges with other traditional Catholics, that may not go to the same chapel that you’re going to, or they think you’re a compromiser, or that you’re against the Pope, etc.

Try to build bridges with them by really making an effort to say: “Look, let’s pray the Rosary together. Let’s carry out a Marian devotion together. Let’s study the Message of Our Lady of Fatima together. Pray a Novena to Our Blessed Mother together.”

Look to Fatima

The Message of Our Lady of Fatima is something that can and must unite us.

And most definitely, most definitely, any Catholic who

comes to you with a desire to grow in their faith, to grow in devotion to Our Blessed Mother, to learn more about the Message of Our Lady of Fatima – for Heaven’s sake, don’t spurn them; don’t start criticizing them, even if they go to the Novus Ordo or even if they are still kind of confused.

Be Charitable Be Patient

Be charitable. Be patient. Work with them.

Definitely, it doesn’t mean that you have to be weak in your convictions. But look to Our Blessed Mother and know that She is also providing us a providential way to truly be faithful to the Truth; truly be faithful to Her Son; truly be faithful to the Church.

The Blessed Mother shows us how to be able to contribute all our small parts in restoring the Faith, in restoring the Mass, in being a small part of Her victory – the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart – against this great attack of the devil.

Thank you and God bless you. |

Order your CD or DVD of the entire speech. See pg. 32.