Cathedral overflows for Holy Hour of Reparation
Considering that Christians follow a Lord who transformed the worst event in history – his passion and death – with his resurrection and ascension, it arguably should surprise no one when God constantly brings good out of a parade of evils.
If the spiritual powers and principalities of this present darkness have not yet learned that lesson, they probably never will. However, had the people who planned and promoted the so-called “Black Mass” that was held on the grounds of the Kansas State Capitol that same day known it would prompt an outpouring of prayer, fasting, and penance throughout the Catholic Diocese of Wichita and the entire state, they might have scuttled their plans.
Then again, from an eternal perspective, those same people may one day cite their efforts at sacrilege as another evil ploy that backfired, since a portion of the ensuing prayer, fasting, and repentance was offered for their moral and spiritual benefit. That included the prayers of the Very Rev. David Lies, vicar general and exorcist of the Diocese of Wichita, who led a Holy Hour of Reparation at Wichita’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception before celebrating Mass at noon. Fr. Lies led the liturgies because Bishop Carl Kemme was traveling from Illinois after his mother’s funeral. The turnout for both far exceeded the customary attendance for a weekday Mass.
“It is love for that real presence of Jesus that brings us here today,” Fr. Lies said. “It is that love that brings us, with great sorrow and compunction for the knowledge of the offenses committed against the real presence of our Lord by those who are adherents of the Evil One. It is this moment we pray for those individuals who, out of error, who out of, perhaps, sadly, hatred, commit desecrations and blasphemy and sacrilege against the bodily presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
As Christ prayed “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing,” from the cross, so should his followers do, Fr. Lies urged. “So yes, we come to pray today before our Lord, to show our love for him, to make reparation for the evil committed against his real presence,” Fr. Lies said. “My brothers and sisters, we should also do something just as courageous and pray for the persecutors of Jesus Christ. Today, we lift up in prayer Michael Stewart, the figurehead of the Satanic Grotto of Leavenworth. We lift up those who are joining him to commit this act of blasphemy and desecration today, and we pray for their conversion. We pray that they will turn away from the deception of Satan. We pray that they will not face the eternal horror of eternal separation from God in Hell. Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours, so that they might experience their true Father, not the Father of Lies, not the Father of Darkness, but their beloved Father in Heaven who loves them.”
Media reports indicate that Stewart was arrested during the “Black Mass” for entering the Capitol rotunda and causing a disruption. Press accounts also say the event drew about 30 people, while counter demonstrators numbered in the hundreds.