J.M.J.
Letter from the Rector:
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
During the days of God's generosity in Lent, we must correspond with His many graces. This is why we must thank God, for Lent is certainly a time enriched with many blessings as we meditate upon the Passion and Death of Our Lord. Recalling that Christ died for love of sinful man, we are encouraged to walk with Jesus in the penitential generosity of our Lenten observance. We are given, once again, the fortified opportunity to be purified of the contagion of the world. Without the call of Holy Mother Church to do greater penance in Lent we might be lost for ever in Hell or most certainly suffer greater pains in the fires of Purgatory upon our death. Lent, despite the notions of austerity, takes on a greater significance - one of joy and peace, in that we can "at our pace" join God in the purgation of all evil in our lives, now, rather than later.
Archbishop Lefebvre wrote in his first letter to members of the Society of St. Pius X (1970): "This is why, more than ever, we want to reject all vanities and preach penance to the world - and this we do by . . . our revulsion for all concupiscence of the flesh, by not reading any indecent books, magazines and articles that betray a licentious spirit; by generally avoiding movies, television and lascivious music. For we want to keep our souls and senses pure, in order to receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist."
To enter and abide in this Holy Union is the joy of the Christian life augmented by man's generosity in Lent. There is no greater happiness than to reside in God. Hence, we strive for this purity, the hallmark of God and the godly. There shall not enter into it any thing defiled, or that worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb (Apocalypse 21:27).
We must all strive to rid our homes and lives from the plague of immorality that destroys lives and souls, dragging the unwary to the despising of God by the sinking to the depths of fleshly lusts. We must teach our children to master their passions by an ordered life - the foundation of grace, the basis of virtues and the prerequisite of all true learning, in both the natural and supernatural order.
Enflamed with the fires of lust, sinful man cannot understand the beauty of God and His infinite love. Sadly, many fall into the pit of destruction with all the unguarded indecencies that are flaunted in our base world today. "More souls go to Hell because of the sins of the flesh than for any other reason," declared Our Lady of Fatima.
It would seem that we are afraid to consider the danger because such sins are so audacious. But we must decry them so as to protect ourselves, our children, our families, and our communities. We must actively oppose this infectious immorality.
The internet, television, vulgar music, the comfort of indulgence and vanity of modern "fashions" destroy the resistance of the will and arouse curiosity that leads to enslavement to impurity in dress, language, recreation, and relationships. The media flaunt perverted relations between man and women, subscribing so many to this rebellion against purity. Our Lady of Fatima warned: "Certain fashions are being introduced that offend Our Lord very much."
We cannot allow the pernicious seeds of impurity to germinate in our homes! Have we become desensitized to the indecency of society and accustomed to accept what only thirty years ago was clearly understood as the very hallmarks of loose and immoral living? Do we now pretend that "it's not that bad, it's cute"? Alexander Pope, poet of the 18th century, sums up this tendency to become desensitized: Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
We are shocked when we learn that a Catholic falls away from the practice of Faith, but this is not surprising when we live submerged in the compromise of not taking responsibility to flee the immodesty of the world. The consequence is only natural, too natural. And we have for too long been foolishly standing about with our heads buried in the sand, pretending that the indecency of the world that attacks our children and us is not "that bad" or that our children "know better," simply because we adults do not admit the attraction of the flesh, which we all know is such a "dirty" thing. Sins of impurity are so embarrassing; we cannot accept that we or our children are like that.
In Lent, we are called to purge the world from our lives by greater spiritual labor in the garden of our soul. The weeds of the world have choked the wheat of heaven sowed by the bleeding hands of our divine Lord; we must now uproot them. We must eagerly purge from our lives the immodest allurements of the world that lead to damnation. This labor is a death-like toil to the world, but it reaps life a hundred-fold; ...the grain of wheat falling into the ground die...if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal (Jn 12:24-25).
As life begins to sprout forth abundantly once again in the spring, we are called to join in the budding forth of new life by submitting to the austerity of laboring in the fertile soil of our souls. This is Lent, a time to grow in the life of God. May we not fear to abandon more and more the illusory joys the world has to offer and to risk this loss for the gain of the priceless joys of heaven: unending, perfect and in Christ.
Please pray for us in St. Mary's and be assured of our prayers for you. May our Queen, the Holy Mother of God, St. Mary, guard you under her maternal protection.
In Christ the King,
Rev. Vicente A. Griego, Rector
St. Mary's Academy & College
http://www.smac.edu/
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Sincerely in Christ,
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"
http://olrl.org
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