Dear Editor:
I sympathize with the people from Kephas blog….Tell them the following from one who has lived the same spiritual crucifixion….In the Diocese of Arlington I received the Catholic Faith, taught by the cream of the crop, priests ordained by Bishop Keating, along with many good and faithful Catholics. Having found the Faith was indeed finding the Pearl of Great Price.
Then I moved to Florida. I thought I would die. There was not an orthodox parish anywhere (until I found one on the other side of Orlando an hour away.) Every parish was like St Peter's; every priest like Fr Grinnell or worse. Every Sunday after Mass I would throw myself on my bed and plead with God, "Please, please, please don't let me lose my Faith! Please don't let them (Diocese of Orlando) take it from me."
I thought of moving back to Virginia but having just moved I was exhausted. I never asked for consolations - only that I would not lose my Catholic Faith handed down from Jesus, to the Apostles, to the Diocese of Arlington's orthodox priests, to me - just a normal person.
Going to Mass was torture of spiritual crucifixion of the worst kind. But I went just to receive Jesus because that was all I could think of to do. Then I thought of St Damien of Molokai, who was alone there on Molokai Island with no other priest, no nuns, no church, and he kept his faith. I thought of so many others in times past who kept their faith in the face of heresy. I also knew that no one can take our Faith unless we let them. God heard my plea, and even though I did not ask for consolations as such, he sent them - many of them - so that I would not only know that what the Church taught was the full Truth, but that I would, in the face of it all, be able to withstand the onslaughts of the spiritual horror.
In the end, I met several faithful Catholics, definitely God's plan, (that story itself shows how God works miracles) and we started The Orlando Truth which for 10 years was one of the greatest adventures of my life.
After a decade, and after Bishop Wenski went back to Miami, the only way to shut me up was to send an orthodox priest to my parish. For the first time in 15 years I was able to go to Mass at my own parish and not squirm from the "fingernails on the blackboard" of heresy going up and down my spine. After 4 years that good and holy priest was transferred, and the new bishop (he must have been clued in by Wenski) sent THE MOST orthodox priest in the entire diocese to our parish, and what a blessing he is. Just fabulous! I also would read orthodox religious books and orthodox Catholic website articles, etc. in order to be sustained. Please tell Kephas Blog that ...you know this saying - I can't remember it word for word but it goes something like..."In these times we have liturgical nonsense so that we too may be martyrs." That's what they are going through - spiritual martyrdom. It's horrible...but I lived through it still retaining my faith and I know that they can and will do it too. I'll pray for them and all the people at St Peter's. I'll pray for Fr Grinnell too, but my experience has been that liberal priests rarely change. I normally leave that part up to God. If he wants them in Heaven He's got to help them. I do my part here...pray for them and walk by after Mass giving them lip with a smile on my face. They never quite know what the smile means either. Keep the heat on Fr G in your newsletter! S.M. Orlando, FL