Keeping the Faith
Father Feeney never tired of saying, “It’s a fight to keep the Faith. If you don’t believe that, you’ll never save your soul.” We have all seen how athletes fight to win. Those who don’t put their mind to it, work hard, and make sacrifices end up losing no matter how gifted they are. Everyone knows that it is not easy to get a good job and to keep it; good jobs are scarce and the competition is tough. And who will believe that it’s easy for one to keep his or her morals in today’s permissive society? If the young and inexperienced are not protected and warned of the impending dangers they face from those who would rob them of their innocence, they will easily fall prey to the wicked. No one can take kidnapping, child abuse, or murder lightly these days.
Yet when it comes to the Faith—that virtue “without which it is impossible to please God”—the vast majority of the Catholic faithful take it for granted. They believe that they were born Catholic and will die Catholic, however carelessly they live their religion. Sadly enough many have lost the Faith. They often act and talk like Protestants and don’t even know it. Will they save their souls? Not without regaining the True Faith.
In the late 1940’s when Father Feeney was stationed at Saint Benedict Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he saw the danger of Catholic students losing their faith while attending secular colleges, like Harvard, Radcliff, and M.I.T. Word got out that Father—like a true priest—was warning the students not to become like their secular and atheistic professors, who were responsible for “advancements” such as the use of the atom bomb.
Some students were convinced of the danger and pulled out but not many. According to Father Neil Donahue, S.J., one evening Father Feeney came home to the Jesuit residence and fell down into a chair fully discouraged. “How can I convince Catholic students that they are losing their faith at Harvard when my own brothers in religion, (i.e. Jesuits) are getting degrees there?”
At the same time, Catholic colleges were fast losing their religious identity in order to “compete” with the secular. As the situation worsened, Father and four professors at Boston College made a stand for the Faith and the great controversy for which Father Feeney became known erupted. An attempt was made to silence Father Feeney but his message was heard around the world. He accused Boston College of having lost the faith and teaching heresy, namely that salvation could be obtained outside the One True Church.
Then in the beginning of the 1950’s Father Feeney and his followers went to Boston Common to warn the people of Boston—which was a predominately Catholic city. Every Sunday for seven and a half years, Father and several members of his community would stand up and show how Boston was being undermined by enemies of the Faith.
Today we see that Father Feeney was indeed a prophet. Boston is no longer a Catholic City. In this capital of Massachusetts, sodomy has been legalized and even raised to “marriage” status. Abortion was accepted over thirty years ago, with little resistance by either the laity or the hierarchy. Pro-abortion politicians are members in good standing in the Catholic Church. They will not be denied the Holy Eucharist, despite directives from the Vatican. Fifty churches will close their doors this year, due for the most part to lack of attendance. Immoral sex education programs, which corrupt the innocent have been common fare in Boston's Catholic schools, despite many years of protest by outraged parents.
In a lecture at Saint Benedict Center 50 years ago, Father Feeney said, “I do not know any group of men more free from sins of that kind (impurity) than the Catholic priests of this nation.” That was then, when according to Father Feeney cowardice of preaching the Faith was the besetting sin of the clergy. With the loss of Faith, unspeakable sins became commonplace. As a result more the ninety million dollars have been paid out in damage and what was once the headquarters for the Boston Diocese has been sold to pay the bill.
If there is no One True Faith and no need of the One True Church for salvation then, there is no need for a hierarchy, a clergy, or for any outward structures or appearances. When the Faith is lost there is no salvation, human or divine. It's time to review and embrace the age-old teachings of the Church on salvation.