Not Rejecting the Lie Makes You Complicit in Truth’s Sorrowful Passion
Like pigs in bliss, they sit comfortably in the pews stewing in the filth that passes for homilies and Catholic practice.
To say we are living in the greatest crisis of truth in human history is not exaggerated.
Large sections of humanity live in a complete denial of reality, literally in a world of make-believe. We see this everywhere, from the satanic confusion of gender identity to what passes for art and entertainment.
And the modern Church is not helping. At all. The hierarchy is promoting everything but the Gospel truth and has become a cheerleader for the kingdom of lies that has spread like a cancer, to the point that it seems irreversible. From the Vatican to the local Novus Ordo parish, priests and prelates are propagating a false religion, denying dogmas, spreading heresy and championing heterodoxy.
And the not-so-faithful? Like pigs in bliss, they sit comfortably in the pews stewing in the filth that passes for homilies and Catholic practice. Either unaware or obstinately defying the fact that to not act and reject this new false religion means complicity and condoning it.
Yes, if you participate you are endorsing this new false religion passed off as Catholicism.
The truth has become sorrowful—mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, burdened by the cross, and crucified. What was once the foundation of civilization and the lifeblood of the Church has now been betrayed from within and without. Modern man, bloated with pride and starved of reason, despises truth because it binds him. The modern Church, desperate for relevance, has learned to smile while Truth bleeds.
The faithful Catholic must no longer be content to lament this silently. The time has come to gaze with sorrow and resolve upon the Mysteries of Truth's Passion—patterned after Christ Himself, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
When Truth Is Rejected
To reject the truth is not merely to err intellectually, it is to court damnation. Holy Scripture does not treat the denial of truth as a harmless misstep, but as a wilful rebellion that darkens the mind, enslaves the will, and invites divine judgment.
St. Paul lays this out with terrifying clarity.
Romans 1:16–26 – “God gave them up”
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...”
(Romans 1:18)
The Apostle does not say that men simply failed to know the truth. He accuses them of suppressing it. The Greek word (katechontōn) implies an active restraint—a willful holding down of the truth. This is not ignorance; it is rejection. And so, the punishment is not merely future damnation but also present moral collapse.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...”
“Wherefore God gave them up to the desires of their heart...”
(Romans 1:22, 24)
This is the frightful divine judgment upon those who exchange the truth of God for a lie: God gives them up. He hands them over to their own delusions, allowing their minds to rot, their appetites to invert, and their culture to collapse.
This is precisely what we are witnessing today. The rejection of truth has not led to freedom, but to slavery—slavery to sin, to irrationality, to the state, and ultimately to Satan. When man rejects the natural order, he does not rise. He descends. He becomes unnatural. In rejecting truth, man rejects reality itself, and thus ceases to be truly human.
“They changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator...”
(Romans 1:25)
Modern man has made himself god. And the Church, in her modernist elements, has assisted him—by presenting a Christ without the Cross, a Gospel without repentance, and a “truth” that “evolves” with every synod and cultural mood.
Ephesians 4:18–21 – Darkened Minds and the School of Christ
“Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts...”
(Ephesians 4:18)
St. Paul draws a direct line between rejecting truth and being cut off from the life of God. This is not a passive process. The blindness of heart (porōsis) is hardness—a moral stubbornness, a calcification of conscience. Once truth is rejected, the intellect dims, the heart hardens, and the soul is alienated from grace.
“But you have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus...”
(Ephesians 4:20–21)
Paul contrasts the darkness of error with “the truth that is in Jesus”. Christ is not just the bearer of truth—He is the source and substance of it. To know Him is to know reality rightly. To be taught by Him is to be set free.
Thus, to reject truth—whether doctrinal, moral, or natural—is ultimately to reject Christ Himself.
What, then, is the end of a Church that dilutes truth, or a society that legislates against it? The end is apostasy, followed by destruction. When truth is no longer welcomed in the sanctuary or the public square, only two things remain: lies and judgment.
The faithful must not be deceived. The rejection of truth is not a neutral act, it is a cosmic rebellion that calls down the wrath of God. We must stand firm, not only because we love truth, but because we fear the God who is truth.
Let the Church remember this. When we stop preaching the truth, God gives us up to the lie. And there is no more terrifying punishment than that.
Complicity with Satan through Falsehood
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
— John 8:44
These words of Christ are not ambiguous. In one breath, Our Lord unmasks the entire demonic economy. Satan is a murderer and a liar, and lying is not merely something he does but what he is. “He stood not in the truth,” for he severed himself from the very Logos, the divine order of being. The fall of Lucifer was not only a fall from obedience but also a fall from truth.
And so, to lie, to manipulate, to distort doctrine, or to remain silent in the face of heresy, is not merely a matter of error or confusion. It is to speak the native language of the devil. It is to become his mouthpiece. As Christ said, “when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own”—that is, every lie originates from him. Every lie participates in his rebellion.
To Lie Is to Murder Truth
Satan's lies are not sterile—they are murderous. His lie in Eden brought death to the human race. His lies whispered through heretics have slain countless souls. And now, his lies echo from within the Church herself—from pulpits, chancelleries, and even synodal documents—under the guise of “pastoral care” and “development.”
This is not an overstatement. To proclaim that doctrine can “evolve” into its opposite, to claim that moral absolutes can be overridden by “conscience,” to bless what God has called abominable—these are not merely mistakes. They are lies, deliberate and spiritual. And therefore, they are demonic.
When members of the hierarchy—cardinals, bishops, even successors of Peter—participate in this deception, they are not simply misguided. If they do so knowingly, they are collaborators with the father of lies. And when Catholics remain silent in the face of these betrayals—whether out of fear, comfort, or false obedience—they too become complicit.
The Pseudo-Obedience of the Cowardly
I want to make it clear.
Obedience does not bind us to lies. St. Paul teaches that "we must obey God rather than men"—and no authority, however lofty, can command assent to heresy. When prelates proclaim what contradicts Scripture, Tradition, or reason, their mitres do not sanctify their error. Silence in such a moment is not virtue—it is cowardice, and it is treason against the Truth, who is Christ.
Worse still are those who justify such silence by appealing to “unity.” But unity without truth is diabolical. It is the unity of Babel, not Pentecost. To preserve the outward peace of the Church while allowing the poison of falsehood to flow through its veins is to administer anaesthetic to a soul dying in mortal sin.
We must not share in these lies. We must not repeat them, excuse them, or remain passive toward them. For to do so is to draw near—not to Christ crucified—but to the ancient serpent, whose kingdom thrives on ambiguity, distortion, and deceit.
A Satanic Participation
Aquinas is unflinching: heresy is a species of infidelity, worse than paganism, because it comes from those who once knew the truth but chose error. Heresy is not only a theological misstep—it is a spiritual adultery, a betrayal of the Bridegroom, and thus a sin against charity itself. The heretic’s soul does not walk beside the Master; it speaks the voice of another father.
And what of the shepherds who tolerate heresy? Or worse—promote it while retaining their office? St. Thomas warns that scandal against the faith is one of the worst forms of scandal, because it tears souls away from salvation. And he does not hesitate to say that even a pope must be resisted “if he were to preach heresy.”
Truth According to Aquinas and the Saints
Truth, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, is “adaequatio intellectus et rei”—the conformity of the intellect to reality. Truth is not a feeling, not a trend, and certainly not subject to majority rule. It is the very light by which reason sees, the very foundation upon which the will chooses rightly. Aquinas teaches that truth is eternal in God, and man, made in His image, is called to know it, love it, and live by it.
Truth is not malleable. It is not pastoral. It is not democratic. It simply is. When the intellect is rightly ordered, it perceives the truth; when disordered by pride or sin, it descends into error and delusion. For this reason, truth is hated by those who love darkness. As the saints testify—especially the martyrs—truth has always been crucified by the world, but never defeated.
And this is so, because truth is not just an idea. Truth is a Person.
"I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
When our Lord said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” He did not utter a metaphor. He revealed a profound metaphysical reality: Truth is Jesus Christ Himself. Every rejection of truth is a rejection of Him. Every lie is a scourge across His back. Every cowardly silence in the face of falsehood is a betrayal by another Judas.
To attack truth is to crucify Christ anew.
In the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Church invites us to contemplate the suffering of Our Lord. But today we must also contemplate how Truth itself suffers—how it is handed over, mocked, scourged, and nailed to the Cross by the sins of our age, by the pride of modern man, and by the treachery of modernist clergy.
Let us now contemplate the Sorrowful Mysteries of Truth.
The Agony in the Garden – Truth Abandoned
In Gethsemane, Christ feels the weight of sin and the horror of abandonment. He who is Truth incarnate is left alone, as even His closest followers slumber.
In modern society too, Truth is abandoned in the Garden of academia, politics, and culture. Once revered as the guiding light of reason and civilization, truth is now treated as oppressive, outdated, or merely subjective. Universities produce ideologues, not thinkers. Politicians weaponize language to conceal, not to reveal. The modern man, like the sleeping apostles, cannot stay awake with Truth even one hour—preferring entertainment, distraction, and comfort to the arduous pursuit of reality.
Likewise, the modern Church abandons Truth in its own garden of “pastoralism” and “dialogue”. Instead of guarding Christ’s teachings, she slumbers in sentimentalism. Truth is too “divisive.” Doctrine is too “harsh.” So silence falls. Ambiguity reigns. And like the apostles, bishops and priests flee when the world approaches with its torches and clubs, unwilling to suffer for the Truth they were ordained to proclaim.
The Scourging at the Pillar – Truth Tortured
Our Lord is bound and scourged—His flesh torn for sins He did not commit. Here, Truth is physically assaulted, humiliated, and disfigured by those in power.
Today Truth is flogged in the public square. Any assertion of objective reality—about gender, marriage, life, or God—is met with ridicule, censorship, or even prosecution. Language itself is scourged. Male and female are redefined; sin is renamed as “authenticity”; murder becomes “choice.” Lies strike truth blow after blow, until it is barely recognizable.
And within the Church? Truth is scourged by theologians and clerics who, with a thousand academic lashes, twist doctrine into contradiction. “Development of doctrine” is weaponized to undermine immutable truths. Catechesis is gutted. Homilies flinch from clarity. The faithful, hungry for truth, receive only vagueness. The Church, instead of being a pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:15), becomes complicit in its disfigurement.
The Crowning with Thorns – Truth Mocked
Christ is mocked as King. A crown of thorns is forced upon His head, a purple robe draped in sarcasm. Truth is not only rejected—it is ridiculed.
And the world laughs at truth. Chastity is mocked as repression, modesty as backwardness, natural law as bigotry. The idea of a divine moral order is treated with contempt. Instead of seeking wisdom, modern man indulges in irony, sarcasm, and nihilism. He enthrones absurdity and wears his madness like a badge of honor.
Within the Church, truth is also mocked—though more politely. Reverence is dismissed as “rigid.” Those who cling to traditional liturgy or doctrine are labelled “ideological.” The true kingship of Christ is replaced with the democracy of dialogue. We witness a Church ashamed of her own truths—apologizing for the Gospel before she even preaches it. Truth is forced to wear a mitre and a cassock, only to be laughed at by the very shepherds tasked with proclaiming it.
Make no mistake though. When those ordained to guide souls instead steer them from sacred Truth, they commit no mere error but wage war against the very throne of Heaven. Each false teaching, each deliberate misdirection of the faithful, strikes like lightning against God's infinite majesty.
These wolves in shepherd's clothing gather divine wrath like storm clouds gathering thunder. Their arrogance echoes through eternity, each act of spiritual sabotage another weight upon the scales of judgment.
Unless they turn. Unless they repent.
The Carrying of the Cross – Truth Burdened
Truth staggers under the weight of the Cross. Christ is exhausted, bloodied, jeered. He carries the sins of the world—and is spat upon for doing so.
In our time, those who dare speak the truth bear a heavy cross. To affirm even basic natural or moral truths in the public square is to invite persecution. Jobs are lost, reputations ruined, families divided. Truth has become a crime. Those who live by it are cancelled, exiled, and demonized. And yet the burden must be carried.
The Church, rather than assisting in bearing this cross, often adds to the weight. Faithful Catholics who uphold traditional teachings are marginalized within the Church itself—seen as obstacles to "pastoral progress." They are told to keep quiet, to stop “obsessing” over doctrine, to “accompany” rather than convert. Truth is isolated even in the sanctuary. It walks alone.
The Crucifixion – Truth Crucified
At last, Truth is nailed to the Cross. The Word made Flesh, the Logos, is silenced. The crowd watches, many indifferent, some jeering. Only a few remain faithful beneath the Cross.
In secular society Truth is crucified at the altar of relativism. God is dead, they say—not with reverence, but with indifference. The modern man no longer even hates the truth. He is bored by it. He yawns while the Logos dies. With no eternal truth, only power remains. And so, chaos reigns. The crucifixion of truth is not a moment but the current status quo.
In many ways, the Church herself has helped hoist Truth onto the Cross. By refusing to preach clearly, by elevating pastoral ambiguity above doctrinal clarity, by preferring the world’s praise to God’s approval, the modern Church has assisted in the death of truth. The altar once resounded with the language of sacrifice and absolutes; now it murmurs soft half-truths, while the world watches and wonders if Christ was ever there at all.
And beneath this Cross stand only a few: the remnant. They weep, pray, and remain faithful even though surrounded by mockery from both pagans and prelates.
The Resurrection of Truth?
The Passion of Truth seems complete. But for the faithful, despair is not an option. We serve the Crucified and Risen Lord. Truth may be buried, but it will rise. Yet resurrection does not come without Calvary. The Church must pass through death to be purified. Truth must be proclaimed again, not as an option among many, but as the only way to salvation.
The sorrowful mysteries of truth are not just history. They are prophecy.
In every age, Truth suffers. In every age, Truth is betrayed. But in every age, Truth remains. For Truth is Christ and Christ cannot be defeated.
Let us stay awake in the garden. Let us carry the cross. Let us stand beneath the crucified Truth.
Let us not be among the mocking crowds or the sleeping apostles.
Let us be counted among those who still weep for Truth—and are ready to die for it.
Christus vincit!
Christus regnat!
Christus imperat!
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"The rejection of truth has not led to freedom, but to slavery—slavery to sin, to irrationality, to the state, and ultimately to Satan. When man rejects the natural order, he does not rise. He descends. He becomes unnatural. In rejecting truth, man rejects reality itself, and thus ceases to be truly human."
This was certainly my experience when I bought the gay lie in the 90's. Only by hitting hard against reality (drug addiction w/nowhere else to turn but God - Who I wasn't sure was even there anymore or loved me or would take me back), did I cry out to God for help; then I found the Courage Apostolate. With the help of a loving priest who mirrored The Father's love for me and spoke - with charity and kindness - the unflinching, convicting, hurting, cauterizing Truth - I made my back. Now, 20 years following that initial reversion, I can say unequivocally how walking the hard path is absolutely worth it. Yet something was missing for well over a decade and I couldn't put my finger on it -- until I came to the TLM two years ago. Then, I realized how deficient the Novus Ordo truly is and the Catholic "culture" it has created. Through the prayers of the Vetus Ordo, best way I can describe is that the tumblers all started clicking into place and I began experiencing "right-orderedness." A clean heart. A right-ordered spirit. The fruits of authentic worship and prayer. Deo Gratias! May the Holy Spirit guard and defend The Church against these awful wolves in shepherds' clothing.
Wells stated. Even in more traditional circles, the problem today is not so much what our priests say from the pulpit, but rather what they don't say. Perhaps out of fear of rebuke or cancellation by weak, effeminate bishops (which are the norm by far), they are loathe to elaborate on the most pressing and relevant issues affecting the salvation of their younger and more vulnerable members. The baton has very definitively been passed to parents who must educate themselves and relay unfiltered Catholic truth to their children because the V2 institutional Church has been largely neutered. How else are young people going to learn about the evils of contraception, abortion, cohabitation, illegal migration, divorce and remarriage, gender confusion, porn, and yes, piercings and tattoos? I have heard tattoos mentioned exactly once from the pulpit while they have exploded in popularity.