Advocate vs. Accuser

Dear Friend, 

If you’ve been paying any attention to the news in the past couple of days you probably saw the explosion of liberal rage directed at Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, who happens to be Catholic. 

He delivered a graduation address to Benedictine Catholic College in his own state, to a class and student body of Catholics, in which he openly advocated…Catholic beliefs.  

In fact, Mr. Butker simply advocated for a concept of marriage and family that has been the staple of human existence since the Garden of Eden. 

So, why the explosion of demonic rage? Why did the NFL feel the need to immediately distance themselves from Butker and proclaim themselves champions of “inclusiveness”? 

We know why the ladies on “The View” flew into a fit of ranting—totally expected—but others were equally vicious. Someone sent out a public tweet telling people where Butker and his family live; someone else immediately started an online petition to have him fired from the Chiefs. At last count there were more than 70,000 names on the petition! 

How do you explain all this anger against traditional values and those who express them in public? Simple: it’s written in Psalm 2:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? / The kings of the earth set themselves, / and the rulers take counsel together, /against the Lord and against his Anointed.

In other words, this rage is an age-old campaign of the Evil One against “the Lord and His Anointed,” Jesus Christ, the eternal sign of contradiction to the world and all its values. I doubt that there is any more complicated an explanation for it. 

But remember: those of us who are also anointed through the sacramental life of the Church can expect to be objects of that same rage sometime in the near future as our country slides further down the path to perdition each day. 

Why should I bring this up at all? Because we are on the cusp of one of the holiest feasts of our Church calendar: the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. It is the birthday of the Church, the day when the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity took up residence in the Church to assist Christ’s followers in the great project of evangelizing the world.

Before Pentecost, the disciples were locked in the Upper Room, timid and afraid to announce the Good News to others. After Pentecost, these same men became super apostles, taking the message to the ends of the earth and giving their lives in testimony to Christ. 

That’s exactly the effect the Holy Spirit can have on our lives when we truly welcome His seven-fold gift of Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Piety, Fear of the Lord, and Fortitude.  God the Holy Spirit is unlimited in generosity with His gifts. 

Scripture calls the Holy Spirit the Advocate (Jn 16:7). An “advocate” is a protector, a defender, a petitioner for the good of the one he is defending. And in the spiritual life, we always need an Advocate against the aggressive power of evil in our world, especially today. 

In contrast, the devil is called “the accuser” which is the very reason why innocent people like Harrison Butker, or pro-life advocates who are thrown in jail simply for praying, or good bishops and priests, get fiercely attacked. And judging from the increase of such demonic attacks, he’s growing stronger each day. 

But the feast of the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have an Advocate who will never leave us and who can provide spiritual protection from the power of evil. We simply have to ask for it. 

As we draw close to the Solemnity of Pentecost, let us make a profound act of faith in the Holy Spirit, that, no matter how evil our times may be, God will never abandon to the power of evil those who call upon Him. 

Let us place our loved ones under His divine protection and ask His special graces for champions like Harrison Butker and others who have the courage of their convictions in the public forum. 

Let us sing in unison this weekend the ancient refrain of our Church: Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Come, Holy Spirit, come to our aid!

Your friend in Christ,

Thomas J. McKenna  
Founder and President
Catholic Action for Faith and Family