In his 1884 encyclical Humanum Genus, Pope Leo XIII wrote the following:
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God…separated into two diverse and opposite parts…
The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ…
The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God…
His Holiness went on to say:
At every period of time each has been in conflict with the other, with a variety and multiplicity of weapons and of warfare, although not always with equal ardour and assault
At this period, however, the partisans of evil seems to be combining together, and to be struggling with united vehemence, led on or assisted by that strongly organized and widespread association called the Freemasons
The Holy Father proceeded to write a scathing critique of the Masons, proving just how wicked they truly are – which, of course, they did not like. But that subject is for another post.
For now, I want to focus on the first part of Leo’s encyclical; the part that speaks about the kingdom of Satan. Specifically, I want to focus on just how brazen those who propagate his lies are becoming in publicly expressing their admiration for him and the “multiplicity of weapons” they employ to entice others to join them on the road to perdition.
Anyone who watched this past weekend’s Grammy Awards knows what I’m talking about.
Under the guise of “artistic expression,” Katy Perry, who recently announced that she is not a Christian anymore, implicitly told the world which side she is on.
Katy PerryHer performance, which even E! Online thought was diabolically inspired, was filled with fire, dark symbolism and hellish imagery.
The Satanic nature of Perry’s routine apparently prompted Christian gospel singer Natalie Grant to leave the Grammy’s early.
Former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron couldn’t help but notice the presence of evil either, tweeting: “Is it just me or are some of the Grammy performances so far seem to be really demonic?? Looks like there is a lot of evil in the world…”
No, it’s not you, A.J., there is a lot of evil in the world, especially in Hollywood. It just hides under the pretense of “entertainment.”
But wait. There’s more!
During another performance by someone who claims to be a musician, the institution of marriage was mocked and debased when 34 souls exchanged wedding vows. In an attempt to ostensibly show the world that marriage truly is for everybody, straight couples, old couples, young couples and homosexual couples lined up and, when actor Queen Latifah said the magic words, poof, they became life buddies, I mean, spouses, I mean, well, you get it…Here’s the video
Last, but definitely not least, rapper Jay-Z and wife Beyonce treated the audience to a cornucopia of lustful images during a recital of her song “Drunk In Love” that undoubtedly forced the viewer’s mind to be populated with all kinds of wretched, impure thoughts.
If you’re like me, chances are that you were filled with anger when you saw the platform evil was given at this year’s Grammy Awards. Don’t think that that feeling is wrong. It is, in fact, a good thing. For it is a righteous anger that gives evidence to the fact that your soul is rightly oriented to God, that you are disposed to live according to His will, and that you despise that which leads souls into the abyss.
Just remember that our war as Catholics is not against flesh and blood. It is against the spirits of wickedness and the prince of darkness. As Pope Leo once said: “Catholics are born for combat.”
Join me in that battle.