Christ is victorious!

This morning, I had a great chat with Son Rise Morning Show’s host, Matt Swaim, about Oklahoma City’s Archbishop Paul Coakley’s homily during the Holy Hour in reparation for the “black mass” that took place in the city’s civic center music hall September 21, 2014.

There’s been a ton of media hype – both pro and con – about the black mass, which is an inversion of the Catholic Mass and usually includes the desecration of a consecrated Host. In the case of the Oklahoma City event, a consecrated Host was obtained by the Satanists and then later returned due in large part to Archbishop Coakley’s heroic efforts.

While we absolutely cannot sit back and let such horrors occur, we also can’t let ourselves become discouraged or afraid.

As an interesting side note, Adam Daniels, leader of the Oklahoma City satanic group, wore a black robe trimmed in red similar to those worn by Catholic bishops. His purpose was to “destroy the fear that people have of the Catholic Church.” Think on this a moment: If the Catholic Mass was a mere charade and the clergy merely masqueraders, there would be no reason for satanists to mock them. Satanists fear the Church because they know the Mass is real and that the Eucharist is indeed the One, True, Christ. Do you ever hear of Satanists imitating Jewish rabbis or Lutheran pastors?

But, back to not allowing ourselves to become discouraged or afraid. Archbishop Coakely’s homiletic words hit the proverbial nail on the head: We know that Christ is victorious! Through his Cross and Resurrection, he has won the victory over sin and death once and for all. There’s no turning back the hand of time, no negating history. Christ’s victory is Truth. That’s what we have to cling to day in and day out, amid both the small and large trials and tribulations of our lives and even right in the face of evil itself. We know that Christ is victorious!

Perhaps you’d like to know that the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall seats 88 people. The satanists sold tickets to the black mass for $17.50 each and it was a sell out. But only 42 people actually showed up to the debacle. In contrast, more than 2,000 Catholics showed up for the Holy Hour, Eucharistic Procession, and Benediction that took place at the same time in protest and reparation. Nothing, nothing, nothing can circumvent the power of the Eucharist and more than 2,000 Catholics gathered in testimony to that.

I’d like you to read my column for Aleteia this week, in which I discuss this in more detail and also quote Archbishop Coakley’s homily. It’s certainly worth reading and certainly worth taking the archbishop’s full homily into your prayer and meditation. Truly, Christ is victorious. If we remember that, we will never fear or waiver in our faith.