If the Church is to “enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover” (CCC 677), that is, The Passion of the Church, then she will also follow her Lord through the Tomb…
The Hour of Powerlessness
After a public ministry capturing the hopes and dreams of a people longing for their Messiah — three years of revolutionary preaching, healing, and miracles — suddenly, the One who offered hope, restoration, and the fulfillment of all desires… was dead.
Now, faith itself was plunged into utter darkness. Now hope, too, had seemingly been crucified. Now, the love that crossed every threshold and shattered every definition… lay still and cold, confined in a tomb. All that remained was the echo of mockery and the fading aroma of frankincense and myrrh.
This was but the crowning of what began in Gethsemane when Jesus — who up till then always passed through the angry mob with ease — was led away in chains. It was the hour of powerlessness when the seeming impotence of Christ shook the faith of the Apostles… and confidence and assuredness melted away. They fled in fear.
Now, after two millennia of preaching, healing, and miracles, the Catholic Church is entering the same hour of seeming powerlessness. Not because she is, in fact, powerless. No, she is the sacrament of salvation established to gather the nations into the Heart of Jesus.[1]‘As sacrament, the Church is Christ’s instrument. “She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all,” “the universal sacrament of salvation,” by which Christ is “at once manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God’s love for men.’ (CCC, 776) She is the city set upon a mountain to be the “light of the world” (Matt 5:14); she is the vessel which has set sail in history, destined for an eternal harbour. And yet…
…this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light because their works were evil. (John 3:19)
Even within the Church, her own sinful members have begun to disfigure the Body of Christ, stifle her truth, and persecute her members.
…today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, interview on flight to Lisbon, Portugal, May 12th, 201
And thus, the Church is becoming more irrelevant to this generation by the hour….
The Hour of Irrelevance
As Jesus lay in the tomb, it was as though His teachings and promises were now irrelevant. Rome remained in power; the Jewish Law still bound believers; and the Apostles had scattered. Now, the greatest temptation assaulted the whole world. For if the God-man is crucified, what hope is there but for man to craft his own miserable existence into whatever utopia he could until he, too, took his last breath?
As the Church follows her Lord through its own Passion, we see this temptation arising again:
…a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist… —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 675
This is precisely the transhumanist vision of the ruling elite: Agenda 2030 and…
…the fusion of our physical, our digital and our biological identities. —Chairman Prof. Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum, The Rise of the Antichurch, 20:11 mark, rumble.com
In this “Fourth Industrial Revolution” lies the exaltation of man over God, “incarnated” as it were in the Antichrist…
…the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thess 2:3-4)
With the help of novel technologies, within a few centuries or even decades, Sapiens will upgrade themselves into completely different beings, enjoying godlike qualities and abilities. —Professor Yuval Noah Harari, top advisor to Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum; from Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2015); cf. lifesitenews.com
Hence came the last warning from the great papal prophet, Benedict XVI:
We see how the power of the Antichrist is expanding, and we can only pray that the Lord will give us strong shepherds who will defend His Church in this hour of need from the power of evil. —POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI, The American Conservative, January 10th, 2023
I am reminded again of the novel Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson in which he writes of the time of Antichrist when the Church will be as irrelevant as a corpse in a tomb, when there will come…
…the reconciliation of the world on a basis other than that of Divine Truth… there was coming into existence a unity unlike anything known in history. This was the more deadly from the fact that it contains so many elements of indubitable good. War, apparently, was now extinct, and it was not Christianity that had done it; union was now seen to be better than disunion, and the lesson had been learned apart from the Church… Friendliness took the place of charity, contentment the place of hope, and knowledge the place of faith. —Lord of the World, Robert Hugh Benson, 1907, p. 120
Do we not see this already in the doctrine of “tolerance” and “inclusivity“? Is it not evident in the revolutionary spirit of the youth who are readily embracing Marxist errors once again? Is not appearing even within the Church herself among those “Judases” who are betraying the Gospel for a godless global agenda?
To Whom Shall We Go?
It is admittedly distressing to watch the collapse of Western civilization in real-time, and with it, the influence and presence of the Church. While our brothers and sisters in the Middle East know all too well the violent suppression of Christianity, it is no less disturbing to see the censorship of truth and the exchange of freedom for an “apparent solution to our problems” (which we are told are “climate change,” “pandemics” and “overpopulation”). The “promise” is an airtight world where everything will be centralized, controlled, distributed and monitored by a wealthy few.
If no one power can enforce order, our world will suffer from a “global order deficit.” —Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, Covid-19: The Great Reset, pg. 104
It’s like watching a ballerina in slow motion pirouette into a busy freeway. We cry out; we warn; we prophesy… but the world shouts back, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
And so the temptation is to despair.
What then should we do? The answer is to follow Jesus to the end.
…he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)
That’s it in a nutshell: remain faithful to God’s Word, even unto death. Persevere in prayer, even when it is dry. Continue to hope, even when evil 
seems to triumph. And never worry that God will fail to help us:
Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (John 16:32-33)
This past month, the closer we have come to this Holy Saturday, the more oppressive and difficult I have found it to persevere in prayer. But I find myself repeating the words of Peter, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” [2]John 6:68
LORD, the God of my salvation, I call out by day; at night I cry aloud in your presence. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. For my soul is filled with troubles; my life draws near to Sheol. I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit; I am like a warrior without strength. (Psalm 88:1-5)
To which the Lord replies in the very next Psalm:
My mercy is established forever; my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: I will make your dynasty stand forever and establish your throne through all ages. (Psalm 89:3-5)
Indeed, after the Tomb, the Church will arise again…
WEEP, O children of men!
Weep for all that is good, and true, and beautiful.
Weep for all that must go down to the tomb
Your icons and chants, your walls and steeples.
Weep, O children of men!
For all that is good, and true, and beautiful.
Weep for all that must go down to the Sepulcher
Your teachings and truths, your salt and your light.
Weep, O children of men!
For all that is good, and true, and beautiful.
Weep for all who must enter the night
Your priests and bishops, your popes and princes.
Weep, O children of men!
For all that is good, and true, and beautiful.
Weep for all who must enter the trial
The test of faith, the refiner’s fire.
…but weep not forever!
For dawn will come, light will conquer, a new Sun will rise.
And all that was good, and true, and beautiful
Will breathe new breath, and be given to sons again.
—written March 29, 2013
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