Brothers,
Thank you for joining us in our fight for the purification and renewal of the Catholic Church! Today is Friday, the fourth Friday of 17 Fridays until the end of the year that we, the nearly 11,000 Catholic men who have signed the letter, have committed to doing “difficult fasting” as penance for our sins and the sins of leaders in the Church. This week we discuss four items: Penance & Fasting, Tithing, the Second Vigano letter, and Action:
- Penance and Fasting: We encourage you to engage in a “difficult but not destructive fast” today for the intention of the purification of the Church. While fasting is critically important, we must also remember that Christ’s call to conversion is not primarily by means of outward signs, but through interior conversion. The Catechism (Para. 1431) describes interior repentance as:
“a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.”
- Tithing: The tithe literally means a tenth of all fruits or profits justly acquired. In Old Testament times, the Mosaic Law obligated the Hebrews to give a tenth of their yields to the Lord by way of the priests. Under the New Covenant, while the obligation to give at least a tenth of one’s goods has only been made mandatory for Christians during some periods of Church history, all Catholics are REQUIRED to provide for the needs of the Church (CCC 2041). In fact, this is one of the five precepts of the Church that all Catholics are obligated to perform. We recommend that prayerfully discern how much and to whom you tithe. While 10% is a good number to strive for, the most important thing is that you give to a level where it causes you to sacrifice something from your lifestyle.
- Vigano pens follow-up letter: According to Lifesite News, “Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has today issued a new extraordinary testimony, responding to Pope Francis’ refusal to answer the charge that he knew of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s sexual abuse, yet made McCarrick “one of his principal agents in governing the Church.” You can read this letter here.
- Action: We are Christian men, we are naturally inclined to ACTION! The original signatories, like many of you, were inspired by both the women who wrote their letter to the Holy Father, and by Archbishop Vigano’s courageous letter, in which he called out much of the senior leadership of the Church. As Archbishop Vigano has followed up on his letter with a renewed call for action, we are in the process of establishing several initiatives to allow for men to take more concrete steps to ACT. Stay tuned!
In Jesus,
Catholic Men United
