A Promise of Hope: The Resilience of Truth Amidst Darkness

As we anticipate the coming of Christ at Christmas, let us not lose hope that His truth will ultimately defeat our enemies.

“That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.” (John 1: 9-12).

As the United States of America, along with the rest of Western Civilization, crumbles under the diabolically fueled heavy boot of lawlessness, Marxist ideology, mass apostasy from Christianity, a culture of death, and humanist idol worship—as those who claim apostolic Catholic authority throw faithful Catholics to the wolves—we can look to Holy Scripture and the true meaning of Christmas for authentic hope.

Let us step into the shoes of Palestinian Jews in the first century before the coming of Christ to gain some perspective.

The Apparent Fall of David’s Kingdom

Having recently escaped the bonds of slavery thanks to God’s providence and having received a legal and moral foundation under the Mosaic law, the Israelites were primed to build up a new great nation under the leadership of King David.

God entered into a covenant with David, in which God made David the founder of a great dynasty, the ruler of a great kingdom, and promised a temple for proper worship. The throne of David was established, and God promised it would never end. The future looked bright for King David and the Israelite nation.

Despite this glorious beginning for the Israelites about 1000 years before Christ, things turned bad, pretty quickly. Under the threat of civil war, the kingdom became divided and split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Both kingdoms suffered through bad leadership and evil kings. Eventually, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in about 721 B.C. and forcibly scattered its citizens.

The southern kingdom of Judah did not fare much better. Less than two hundred years later, Babylon conquered Judah. Top Jewish leaders were forced into Babylonian exile, and the line of David was seemingly extinguished.

Zedekiah, the last Davidic king, was forced to watch as his captors executed his sons. Then they gouged out the king’s eyes, so that his last visual memory was the slaying of his sons. To add insult to injury, the temple and the king’s palace were burned to the ground.

Ultimately, the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians and the Jews were allowed to return to the Promised Land. The temple was even rebuilt. But the Jews remained a target of oppression.

The Greeks, under Alexander the Great, eventually conquered the Persians. The world was taken in by the glory of Greece with entertainment, riches and, of course, false idol worship. Even the Jewish priests were caught up in the secular world, neglecting proper worship and their priestly duties in order to attend sporting events in the arena (2 Maccabees 4:12-15).

The temple itself was desecrated as it became a house of worship for the Greek god Zeus and hosted all types of debauchery and false idol worship (2 Maccabees 6:3-5).

Despite some incredible military successes, thanks to the Maccabees, things continued to look bleak for the Jews, particularly because they had no legitimate king. Eventually, Rome conquered the region, which installed Herod “the Great” as a false “king” over the area.

Parallels to the Present Times

Do these accounts sound familiar? Are faithful Catholics, like the Old Testament Jews, not suffering under a powerful pagan American empire, governed by the enticements of entertainment, riches and liberty?

Have not our priests and bishops given up the places of worship, the doctrine, and moral authority in exchange for worldly benefits and pleasures?

Without bold leadership and a healthy hierarchy to guide the faithful in times of trouble and distress, are not those who claim valid apostolic authority contributing to the disintegration of Christendom when they say all paths lead to Heaven, when unrepentant mortal sinners openly receive Holy Communion, and the hierarchy participates in Pachamama idol worship in the Vatican gardens?

Like the Old Testament Jews, what hope do we have left when our own spirtual fathers abandoned us to the hungry wolves?

Let’s turn back to the Jewish story. Unfortunately, it will get worse before it gets better.

Evil King Harod and the Roman Domination

Harod was an Edomite, and therefore, a gentile. Nevertheless, in his attempt to justify himself as a king, he rebuilt the Second Temple and strictly observed Jewish dietary laws. He earned the title “the Great” because of his penchant for spending money and rebuilding magnificent buildings, including the Second Temple. He also handsomely rewarded the temple priests and managed to purchase their support.

Herod was a classic political hack who ruled with an iron fist, supported by a foreign power that helped him present himself as something he was not—the king of the Jews. He was a cruel and psychotic man. He had multiple wives and even had at least one killed. He ruthlessly murdered many of his own subjects out of jealousy and spite. It’s no surprise that he felt no remorse in ordering the slaughter of every male under the age of two in the Bethlehem area after learning about the birth of Christ. The Roman Emperor famously declared, “It’s better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

Such was the state of the Jewish nation, now an outpost of the Roman Empire, at the time Christ was born. A once great nation under the glorious reign of King David, with whom the Lord made a promise of an everlasting kingdom, was now suffering under the murderous reign of a psychopathic gentile-born king.

This, following almost 1000 years of division, destruction, and subjugation to foreign powers, after their last legitimate king suffered torture and humiliation. It’s hard to imagine things could get worse.

Pagan America’s Despair

Isn’t the situation the Jews found themselves in just before the incarnation of Christ similar to the modern United States, which seems to be crumbling under the weight of sin, corruption, and unfaithful leaders?

We live in a nation that celebrates the killing of unborn babies and allows the sick and elderly to murder themselves—with compassion, of course. Families are destroyed through no-fault divorce, Christian populations, not subject to genocide, contracept themselves out of existence, while boys and girls are not allowed to assume they are boys and girls anymore. The “prosperity” America enjoys is a product of usury and national debt—money taken from the labor of future generations who have yet to be born, if they are allowed to be born. It is all diabolical.

One might expect that the truly oppressed would find refuge within the Church, under the guidance of Church leaders who publicly recognized the social reign of Christ.

And yet, when we look at the reality we face, the majority of bishops today, particularly through the lens of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we see a disturbing trend: faithless hirelings who refuse to teach Truth, impose synodality at the expense of the common good, and submit to a globalist world agenda as they reject Christ’s agenda.

We are looking for those with David’s courage, but we find Harod instead. But like the Jews before the time of Christ, we need not lose hope in God.

Hope for a King

In the face of this terrible situation that the Jews found themselves in, they held on to something that God long ago promised. Not just the everlasting kingdom promised to David, but also the promise of a messiah. The Prophet Isaiah long before prophesied:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root… he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:1-4).

Of course, Jesse was King David’s father, and for centuries, the Jews waited for this rod (or shoot) from Jesse to spring to life, despite being previously chopped down, seemingly out of existence. Later prophets like Jeremiah also prophesied with hope:

And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out… Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. (Jeremiah 23: 3-6).

Keeping Hope Alive in the Face of Spiritual Tyranny

Just like the Jews could not be saved by a false Messiah, a Simon Magus if you will, so America will not be saved by modern-day magicians, sex perverts, and those who reject Christ’s Truth.

The remnant of God’s flock still has HOPE. Contrary to what Vatican II teaches, we know that Christ maintains complete sovereign authority over society, “since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in His power.” (Pius XI, Quas Primas).

What a blessing it is to remind ourselves that the Vatican II infiltrators have no more authority or power over Our Lord and His Church than Herod did. We need not fall into the pits of despair, as many have already, trying to reconcile the falsehoods and lies coming from those who claim apostolic authority with Christ’s Truth.

While the Modernist infiltrators proclaim the right of every person to reject Jesus Christ and publicly worship their false idols, Christ still reigns and is coming.

While the Modernist infiltrators would have us believe we rigidly cling to oppressive superstitions of the past, we cling harder to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her example.

While the Modernist infiltrators ransack our Church buildings, deny our doctrine, and promote the secular globalist agenda, Catholics will keep hope.

Indeed, it is our solemn duty to keep hope alive in our hearts and in the world. We must spread the Truth as we were commanded and wait for that glorious day when America and the rest of the world will submit once again to Christ’s authority and His Church as was rightfully intended.

Christ is King, He continues to reign, and may His light never be extinguished.