Thank you both so very much.
Let us pray for the truly brave, truly valiant, and truly good Priests who daily resist this evil. There are many such Priests. There are more decent Priests who fear causing scandal. There are more Priests yet who have worse motives. I may say no more.
They are out there! You need to pray and ask our Lord for guidance. In total despair, I pleaded with Him to deliver me from weekly agony of watching Him demeaned at Mass. Oh how He responded! He guided my path to a small Maronite Catholic Church with a very orthodox priest and a community in need. Over the past two years, we have worked at building up the parish and eventually moving it into a 150 year old, boarded up Methodist/Episcopal Church. We applied to the state for landmark status and the building is now on the National Register of Historical Landmarks.
Tomorrow, Father and I will meet with our state grants representative. As a small community, we have limited funds but now that the future church has been declared a landmark, we qualify for matching state grants to do the restoration work. It's a long process but if we are approved, it will expedite the process of converting the church into a Catholic Church. Ironically the community in which this church is located houses 6 Catholic Churches. Last summer, Bishop Hubbard closed 5 of them, consolidating everyone into one Church. Each time Father goes over to work on the future church, people ask him when it will open. There is a tremendous need for another Catholic Church. In our case, since our pairsh is Maronite Catholic, Bishop Hubbard can't touch it. Father is bi-ritual (Maronite and Latin Rite) and he plans to offer both liturgies in the future parish.
Please remember him in your prayers. It is not unusual to find Father up on the roof of the future church, repairing leaks. Our Maronite bishop is worried, as are all of us. If we can obtain the state grants, Father will be able to repair the roof and finish the interior, thus providing another parish for Catholics in that community. Thank you for your prayers!