A year ago to the day I wrote a post about division, specifically citing St. Paul and how those who embrace novelties contrary to Catholicism are the ones who divide, not those who stick to the traditions handed down by Jesus Christ and His Bride. I named this post “Novelty Divides” because anything that is new and not given by Christ or His Church causes us to divorce ourselves from the Truth. It causes divisions.

The Synod of the Family begins on Monday. We know for a fact that many of the bishops and Cardinals who are present in Rome are actually wolves in shepherd’s clothing. They have made their opposition to the Catholic faith known by publicly supporting adultery, divorce, remarriage, and homosexuality. The bishops’ conference in Germany has announced they will break apart from the Roman Catholic Church if the Synod does not allow for those divorced, remarried, and actively homosexual to receive Holy Communion. These wicked men spit in the face of Our Lord and tell Him that they know better than Him and that they are better than God. We know that this isn’t only the German bishops and Cardinals who will be at the Synod, but many bishops and Cardinals who will be at the Synod. There are even reports breaking today that the Synod’s final report is already being drafted. It appears that the Synod is only for show.

During the last several weeks we have seen attention intentionally taken away from the Synod and placed on a supposed schism of the SSPX, when indeed the SSPX is undoubtedly one of our allies in this fight against the heretics at the Synod. Instead of focusing our energies productively resisting the changes to Truth that these wolves are calling for, we had to instead defend our fellow Catholics (yes, the SSPX is Catholic), from unnecessary attacks that cut at the heart of charity, in which the SSPX were targeted as being the greatest enemy of our day. The SSPX has canonical impediments that need to be resolved, but this pales in comparison to bishops and Cardinals actively promoting heresy at the Synod. The issues of the SSPX pale in comparison to bishops and Cardinals threatening schism if they do not get what they want.

But this isn’t enough for the enemy, as all of the talk surrounding the SSPX has fizzled out. He needs the faithful to be divided further. Instead of using an easy scapegoat like the SSPX to draw attention away from his dealings in Rome, he begins to work on dividing the faithful Catholics themselves. While there is a very small group of Catholics who give a bad name for the rest of us, this is not a time in which to draw labels to them that many other Catholics sometimes identify with. Attitude adjustments need to be made by this minute few, but to bring this up only several days prior to the Synod and to use language that is generally used to berate faithful Catholics, is poor timing, especially when we do spiritual battle in only a few days.

All Catholics who defend the Church and Her teachings need to stick together in this unprecedented time in Church history. We all have our own issues and skeletons we bring along with us. That’s part of living a life in which we turn away from sin to face and follow Our Lord. But nitpicking our brothers and sisters for character flaws and venial sins during this time, which Bishop Athanasius Schneider calls the fourth greatest crisis in the history of the Church will only cause further division amongst faithful Catholics who are trying to defend the Church. These attempts at correction, while honorable as they may be, are not appropriate at this time, and since they do indeed cause division amongst the faithful, are not of God, but rather of the enemy.

Expect many more attacks and attempts to further divide the faithful during the Synod of the Family. Pray, fast, and do penance that Church teaching will be upheld at the Synod. Remember, during this time when the Church is being attacked from within, that we need to stick together like an army, lest we fall into the temptation of battling each other. Because if the faithful are busy bickering amongst themselves, then we will fail to pay attention to the real division occurring in Rome by a mutual enemy of us all; Satan.