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The Standard Bearer’s Battle Hymn
By Rebecca Frech
http://shovedtothem.blogspot.com/2012/01/standard-bearers-battle-hymn.html
Armies everywhere used to march into battle with their standard bearer (the guy with the flag) right up front. He was the visual proclamation of who an army was. He was absolutely essential in warfare, and darn near a required part of battle He did not fight the battle himself, rather his job for the army was to bravely march forward announcing to everyone who saw him “this is who we are and what we stand for, by golly!” There was no mistaking allies or enemies in a time when a contingent unfurled their colors and lifted them high for all to see.
Those of us with large families are the modern day standard bearers of the Church Militant. We are an obvious physical symbol of the Church in the modern world. Our presence loudly proclaims that we believe in the gift and value of life . After all, we have surrounded ourselves with it.
Many times in recent years, the parents of large families have been left wondering where the army has gone that we are representing. As we face increasingly vocal and hostile opposition from a world which values self over sacrifice, our churches and pastors are silent in the face of the onslaught.
Our pastors have chosen fear over bravery. Instead of loudly condemning contraception for the evil that it is in the world and teaching the proper place of sex in society, our spiritual leaders have chosen to remain silent rather than be unpopular. It is easy to rail against the evil of abortion from the pulpit; it’s not hard to be against killing babies. It takes a much stronger man to call out the evil of the Pill and the creeping destruction it has had on society.
Their example of cowardice has taught their flocks that such things are not truly important. They have left us, the flag bearers, unprotected. When we meet with hostile looks and unkind words at the store; nasty comments and resentment within our parishes (even from our clergy); the unceasing pressure from doctors, friends, and even strangers to contracept; or disbelieving stares and ugly anger within our extended families, even in front of and to our children, there is very often no one to contradict them. There is no cavalry riding to our defense.
When representatives of our modern culture condemn us to our faces for “overtaxing the planet’s resources” or ridicule our “irresponsible breeding”, our fellow Christians more often than not will simply turn away. They are afraid of confrontation and so they back away from the battle, either because they are ill-equipped to fight it, they are scared, or because they quietly agree with the aggressors.
We, as a Church, need to do better than this. We need to protect those who are so visible, and we need to better equip those we are sending into the world. We need our priests to teach about sex, not just abortion, but all the moral issues wrapped up in that three-letter word. We need to be taught about the cancer of contraception, not just once every few years when a guest speaker shows up (if he comes at all), but often and with frank honesty.
The people in the pews need to be told that this is a battle for our very souls and we need to be taught to recognize the weapons of the enemy. There is a reason for the decrease in the number of larger families in the modern world. It is a failure of leadership. The faithful are not being taught that children are a gift from God and are to be treasured and welcomed that way, and so even the faithful weekly church-goers have fallen into the trap of ease and convenience. They have been allowed to go forth in ignorance because our priests and bishops fear public condemnation, but their silence condemns us to what they fear. Their people, the Church Militant, could be marching happily to Hell because there are too few people willing to stand in front of them and speak the truth.
We desperately need our leaders to lead. We have read the Bible, heard the Truth and answered the call. We are here, eagerly standing firm against a culture which it often seems is beginning to hate us. We have answered the call. Where is the rest of the army? They have left us to face the Enemy and his cohorts alone.
Without an army, the guy with the flag is no longer a proud member of anything. With no soldiers to back him up, standard bearer is nothing more than a fancy name for the target.
ABYSSUS ABYSSUM INVOCAT / DEEP CALLS TO DEEP 
Rebecca Frech describes the present situation very well. The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about is “the other catholic church” which exists in the U.S. in joyous and open rebellion against the Holy Father. This “other catholic church” occupies the churches built by faithful Roman Catholics and occupies the universities and colleges built by faithful Roman Catholics and even occupies entire Diocese created by faithful Roman Catholics.
This “other catholic church” has learned a lesson from experience: dissent from the Magisterium of the Church rarely ends in excommunication. Discipline from Rome is slow in coming, is hesitant, is restrained, measured, tolerant, even lenient in many, many cases. Dissent from Pope Paul VI did not send the sky crashing down. The most outrageous dissenters faced Papal judgment, ‘sometimes.’ Consider the case now of Georgetown University inviting Sibelius to speak. This is clearly a slap in the face of the Pope and the faithful prelates of the Pope in the United States. People ask me: “How could this happen.”
Well, remember in 2008 when the Holy Father visited the United States. Anyone reading the writings of the Holy Father knows exactly what his position is on contraception and abortion and the reception of the Blessed Sacrament by pro-choice politicians. Yet at Papal Masses during the Pope’s visit, who should be invited to attend? Edward Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Christopher Dodd. Catholics in open dissent from the Magisterium of the Church invited to papal Masses. Each was a VIP, given special seating for the occasion. And who were the first to rise and go up to receive the Blessed Sacrament? Of course, the Holy Father himself did not give them Holy Communion. Nevertheless, they went up to receive. No one stopped them. Where were the Holy Father’s advisors?
Rudy Giuliani also received Holy Communion at a Papal Mass. Did these ‘culture of death’ politicians sneak in and run up and receive the Blessed Sacrament? No. They were invited. They were given choice seating. Where was Archbishop Wuerl in all this? Where was Cardinal Egan?
People ask me: “Why doesn’t the Holy Father write an Encyclical Letter against Abortion?” Pope Paul VI wrote an Encyclical Letter on contraception and what happened? Massive dissent with no consequences.
It is interesting that priests and Bishops expect a certain level of respect from their flocks and yet some of the same think nothing of thumbing their nose at the Holy Father. I have learned from experience that if someone is constantly preaching about how St. Paul stood up against St. Peter; that person is probably not being faithful to the Holy Father.
I believe we must follow the Holy Father. While I would like to see this crisis end right now, I am not the Holy Father and only he possesses the fulness of authority in the Church. He will act when he will act, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and at the time of the Holy Spirit’s choosing. Truth cannot fail to defeat error in the end. Until that time we must stand fast with the Holy Father and pray for our brothers and sisters in this “other catholic church” who seem to be getting more powerful day by day. Perhaps one day we will be called to do more than take insults and be ostracized. Perhaps we will be called to martrydom.
We are living in a time analogous to the Nazi occupation of Germany. At that time Catholics were divided in support and in opposition to Adolf Hitler and his “policies.” The division cut high and low with laymen, priests and Bishops opposing and supporting Hitler. The Nazi Supreme Court ruled that Jews were non-persons. Less than a century later the unborn were ruled to be non-persons in our country. African-Americans were once ruled to be non-persons and Native Americans too. One does not have to be a Roman Catholic to know that abortion is evil. The truth of this doesn’t just rest on Divine Revelation. It rests on common sense. We need to be on the side of the angels on this one.