Posted on Saving Our Parish-By Thomas G. Kane: 

You know the destruction of Christian churches is becoming common practice in today’s world.  It is just as disturbing and sad as ever, but we have become desensitized to it.  If you check the news of the last couple weeks you will read of Christian churches destroyed in Egypt, Iraq, Kosovo (28 in three days and 75 in a year), Nigeria, Turkey,  Ukraine, Indonesia (1,700 in the last 15 years) Burma, India and even  France and Greece. 

Twenty percent of the Catholic Churches on the Gulf Coast were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.   We have heard of the destruction of churches during the various wars and incidents of  armed conflict and some countries have suffered greatly in their developing histories as the result of religious persecution. 

The Irish most notably had almost all of their churches brought to ruin by the English during their various invasions and persecutions.  The English even went so far as to outlaw the Catholic Faith and subject religious members and the faithful to death.   The Irish, as did other persecuted people, cherished the ruins of their churches and rebuilt them or rebuilt beside them, but always holding the ground and remains of those destroyed churches as hallowed, protected and things to be preserved.

I guess we did the same with that little church called the Alamo in San Antonio.  Today’s violence is primarily non-Christian faiths versus Christian faiths and people, but the past also dealt with Christian nation versus Christian nation, with often the same savageness and disastrous impact. 

During my military career I was lucky enough to be assigned briefly to a very devout country which cherished its Catholic faith and churches--Lithuania. The Lithuanian people are over 90 percent Roman Catholic.  They have been in the footpath of conquest. The French, the Germans and most recently the Soviet Union, who along with the Nazis, tried to erase this Catholic culture, but all failed.  Their faith meant more to them than anything.  

The Soviets did not provide any funding or support to the Lithuanian people in their preservation of their churches, but these people, the poorest of the, poor saved and preserved their churches.  They were and are things of beauty.  Napoleon during his conquest was so in awe of St. Anne’s Church in Vilnius that had he succeeded in his attack of Russia, he planned to bring it brick by brick back to France.

The Lithuanian people initially are a bit reserved.  When the “wall” fell in Berlin and US aid and troops under the Partnership for Peace spread into the Baltic and former Soviet Countries, they were distrustful of us as well.  We were in uniforms, as had been the Germans and Russians.  It was not until they witnessed our acts of kindness and upon entering their church, saw me genuflect and make the sign of the cross, that they welcomed me into the international Body of  the Church that has no borders. I was hugged and kissed and treated like a hero all for entering a church and recognizing what that church meant to them and to me. These people kept their faith and the symbols of their faith alive against overwhelming odds and difficulties. 

We have grown to accept a world of intolerance that places us against one another and leads us to question our Christian ideals and the possibility of men of different religions and political philosophies living together in peace, but we always knew that this would be a difficult thing.  We pray for peace and have faith that such may be possible through the example of Christ.  

What is always the most difficult thing to accept are the attacks from within; the true danger and threat to our Christian faith.  Heresy, Division, hypocrisy,violations of the tenants of our faith and abuses by those empowered to lead us in our faith.  These are not new things and the Church has battled these evils for centuries, convening councils and synods to address issues that split the faith.  We had basic principles and practices which we lived by and a code of canon law. 

God has often sent special people to lead us through these tough times and challenges to our faith--Francis of Assisi, Theresa of Avila, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Bonaventure and several others.  More recent examples would be Kateri Tekakwitha, Mother Theresa, John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI.  They provided symbols and examples of our faith which gave us something to cling to and face the challenges that would come.

Who would have thought that we would be battling to save our church in the United States of  America and in the little town of Corning, New York?  The threat here is just as real as the threat faced by the Lithuanian and Irish people and those who have seen their churches destroyed by forces from the outside.   Our faith must remain strong against all threats both external and internal and we must stand for what we know is right, the faith given to us by our fathers and Christ Himself as displayed through his Church.

We cannot afford to lose any more symbols or examples of our faith in a world that would destroy our faith and our God if given the chance. We truly are battling the forces of evil. We must make our leaders aware of our opinions, our faith in them and that we have been taught to know the value of our church and faith, and trust that they will not abandon us when we ask for their aid and support.

As a soldier I was always trained to trust in my leadership and I guess I am doing that once again. When you see something wrong, you just have a duty to speak out and hope you will be heard, but in the end follow the orders of your superiors unless it is unlawful or immoral.  Thomas G. Kane”

Source:

http://www.savingourparish.com/The_Destruction_of_Churches_from_a_Soldier.pdf

NoteMy following blog posts contain numerous articles and/or blog posts and videos that relate to this disturbing issue-You Decide:

Faith of Our Forefathers!

http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/faith-of-our-forefathers/

Have the “power elite” and pseudo-experts covertly sold us corruption disguised as freedom?

http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/have-the-“power-elite”-and-pseudo-experts-covertly-sold-us-corruption-disguised-as-freedom/

Restoring Honor In America!

http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/08/29/restoring-honor-in-america/

Does Europe have a future?

http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/does-europe-have-a-future/

Note: If you have a problem viewing any of the listed blog posts, please copy the web site and paste on your browser.  Sure seems like any subject matter that may be considered controversial is being censored-what happened to free speech?-You Decide.

“Food For Thought”

“God Bless & Keep Our USA Safe”

Semper Fi!

Jake

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