Shortly before Pope St. John Paul II was elected as Supreme Pontiff, he visited America as Cardinal Wojtyla in 1976. It is reported that during his last speech of his visit Wojtyla made the following very striking and prophetic statement:
“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church, and the Polish Church in particular, must take up. It is a trial of not only our nation and the Church, but, in a sense, a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization with all of its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.”
We now seem to be seeing that confrontation played out right before our eyes. Riots. A global pandemic. Economic hardships. But note that Cardinal Wojtyla said that the entire church must take up this struggle. So the leadership of SPSE is calling upon all of our teams to do everything they can to share the gospel, to reach out to lost souls. Every last one of us has to enter into this battle for the kingdom. We want all SPSE members to be prudent and stay out of harm's way (from COVID-19 and violent demonstrations), but we also strongly encourage you to be a beacon of light in the ever-increasing darkness, however you are able.