Beware of Ravenous Wolves

Preface

The Election of Donald Trump: Could This Be Our Last Chance? This article was published on December 23, 2016 (Saint Benedict Center; On-line Journal; Richmond, N.H.), shortly after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Beware of Ravenous Wolves is a follow-up on that article.

One year later

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign foul mouthed insults, mudslinging, and the lack of civility between the candidates sank to an all-time low. Hilary Clinton, a disciple of Saul Alinsky who dedicated his book Rules for Radicals to Lucifer, obviously was no friend of the Catholic Church. Clinton was the dark horse in the race for the presidency. She was overly confident, believing that she would win the election by a landslide. The odds were strongly in her favor — at least that’s the way it appeared to be. Need-less-to-say the world turned upside down on November 8, 2016. Trump defeated Clinton. Although the election was judged to be “fair and square,” Clinton vociferously claimed otherwise. She was bitter and resentful, contending that she was cheated and the victory should have been hers. But the election was over. It was time to return to “business as usual.” That’s what usually occurs when the cycle surrounding the election is completed. Not this time, however, not this time!

Trumps’ adversaries —The Anybody But Trump crowd — have continued to attack him, searching for and creating issues, even though there is no evidence of wrongdoing on his behalf. Some of Trump’s adversaries began calling for his impeachment as soon as he entered the oval office. When asked to give the new president a chance to get his programs started — after all he was just beginning his four year term — the Trump haters refused to cooperate with him.

Those political attack dogs, and the “useful idiots” who follow them, are using a play from Alinsky’s handbook in their attempt to oust Trump from the President’s office. The strategy is to outlast your adversary. Apply CONSTANT PRESSURE on the enemy until he is soundly defeated, even crushed you might say. Be ruthless if necessary! The election for the presidency is not over as far as the true Trump haters are concerned. The battle will continue throughout Trump’s term in office, until the end if necessary.

In order to stop our country and the Catholic Church from further erosion, Our Lord’s warnings need to be heeded now more than ever. The likes of Saul Alinsky can tell us how to destroy a nation’s unity. But, it is only Our Lord Who can provide the Wisdom, a Gift from the Holy Ghost, which is necessary for restoring that unity and prosperity. The Devil, alias the Father of Lies, is forever plotting and scheming to lure us into damnation. This Master of Deceit appears to be one thing, but is actually another. Our Lord, through Holy Scripture, emphasizes that we must BEWARE of the ravenous wolf. This is an important first step in protecting ourselves from him.

Beware of Ravenous Wolves: The Perfect Symbols of Evil

False prophets, by deceiving us, can lead us into Hell. This is what makes them so dangerous. Christ called these false prophets ravenous wolves. Our Lord paints a frightening verbal picture of these predators and how they operate.

Over two thousand years have passed since Our Lord warned us to “beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” In the Gospel of Saint Matthew (7:15), Our Lord focuses on deception and cautions us not to be fooled by appearances. The ravenous wolf — the evil one — is used to teach this important lesson. Christ cautions us that even though the wolf might cover himself with a sheep’s skin, bleat like a sheep, and feign the meekness of a tranquil farm animal, he is far removed from what he is pretending to be. Under the phony exterior, lies the heart of a voracious predator with an insatiable appetite. Moreover, the wolf has the body of a perfectly designed carnivore. He has twenty very sharp, slightly curved teeth in the upper jaw and twenty two teeth in the lower jaw. The sharpness of his teeth and the strength and steadiness of his jaws enable him to inflict a most powerful bite on his victim.

The wolf, who Christ describes as being ravenous, is the perfect symbol of evil. He is sly, shrewd, and deceptive. He stalks his victim with a blood thirsty lust, like that of a vampire. As an aside, some of you older readers might recall The Wolf Man movie starring Lon Chaney, which was released in 1941. Lon Chaney was transformed into a werewolf when the moon was full. The evil one, a wolf no less, was the leading character in this popular movie at that time.

The picture of a ravenous wolf is not a pretty one. Once the wolf bites into the flesh of his prey, there is no escape. He virtually devours his hapless victim, leaving little or nothing for any scavengers that are waiting on the sidelines. Only a bleak aftermath remains. It is too late to heed Our Lord’s warning — the time to BEWARE has passed. There are two Gospels (Matthew, 10: 15-22 and Matthew, 7: 15-21) I would like to cite in which Christ warns His disciples about ravenous wolves and the evils they will face when they go out and preach the Word. The first Gospel (Matthew, 10: 15-22) is as follows:

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Behold, I am sending you forth like sheep in the midst of wolves. Be, therefore, wise as serpents and guileless as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles.”

Note that Our Lord refers to His disciples as being like sheep and advises them to be “wise as serpents and guileless as doves.” Again, He warns them to “beware of men.” Evil men are the ravenous wolves who will punish and kill the sheep — those who follow Jesus Christ. But how do we identify the ravenous wolves? In the next Gospel (Matthew, 7: 15-22) Our Lord addresses this issue. The disciples are taught to distinguish between those men who are ravenous wolves and the sheep. Learning to make this distinction will help the sheep to avoid being deceived. Moreover, the sheep can then better protect themselves from those vicious predators, who will be hell-bent on destroying them. The Gospel focusing on this topic is as follows:

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

“Beware of false prophets.” Our Lord’s warning once again appears in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. Our Lord tells His disciples that they can identify the evil ones by being keen observers of the results of their actions. He says to His disciples: “By their fruits you will know them.” Christ then adds, “every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bad fruit.” This principle is fixed in stone. Interestingly, the ravenous wolves that Christ describes and warns us about are always with us. Wolves with a ravenous appetite exist in every generation. Their insatiable hunger for the flesh of warm blooded mammals is never satisfied. The cunning wolf — the deceptive evil one — will always be seeking to lure unsuspecting sheep into his clutches from which there is no escape. This, too, will always be fixed in stone.

Sociopaths: Today’s Ravenous Wolves

Throughout the course of history, evil minded men have preyed upon their fellow human beings, particularly those who are most vulnerable and can be easily deceived. These evil minded predators were called “ravenous wolves” by Christ in Saint Matthew’s Gospel. Today we might call them Sociopaths. The characteristics of Sociopaths — their fruits you might say — are as follows:

Sociopaths are intelligent, skilled in using words, and affable. However, they use these skills to deceive others. The Sociopath is markedly self-centered, lacks compassion, and manipulates others, always placing himself and his needs first. Sociopaths can be charming, making a good initial impression. However, their relationships are shallow and seldom long lasting.

Sociopaths are impulsive. As a result, the outcome of their actions often leads to bad and even disastrous consequences, particularly for those who blindly follow them. Today’s ravenous wolves — the Sociopaths of our time — are potentially dangerous. Trouble with the law is not uncommon.

Sociopaths, unlike ordinary folks, experience no feelings of guilt, remorse, or shame when engaged in wrongdoing. In short, Sociopaths have no conscience. This gives the Sociopath a license to do anything that pleases him. The only thing to fear is the possibility of getting caught.

Sociopaths never admit that they are wrong. Even when caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they will make excuses. The Sociopath will insist that he had permission to take the cookie — telling a lie which he knows can’t be verified. Or perhaps the Sociopath is caught with a stash of drugs. He might contend that he was holding the drugs for a friend and didn’t know what was in the package. Admitting that he violated the law and apologizing for any wrongdoing are unlikely. Sociopaths might apologize for bad behavior if they can avoid being sued, incarcerated, or socially ostracized. However, their delivery of the apology shows that it was “forced” and has no meaning.

Sociopaths believe that they are “good” persons, despite the difficulties that they cause for themselves and others. When the Sociopath’s motives are questioned, he will go on the attack, blaming the questioner, the circumstances, or other people for raising issues about his integrity. The Sociopath will claim to be a person of high moral character, but his behavior and the scandals surrounding him show otherwise.

Sociopaths love power. They will lie, cheat, steal, incite chaos, pit one group against another, and create strife and hatred in order to achieve the dominance, which they seek. Sociopaths can be ruthless. They expect to win. Moreover, they will use any tactic, no matter how despicable, to bring this about. Again, even if they are confronted with proof of their wrongdoing, don’t expect them to admit this. Rather, changing the topic, using false information, telling more lies, and other “dirty tricks” will be paraded out to avoid dealing with the unpleasant truth.

Living in Sociopathic Times

We are currently on the threshold of the 2018 New Year. It is a little over one year since Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States. Nothing seems to have significantly changed over this period of time. The Anybody But Trump for President crowd still hates Donald Trump. They are still actively trying to destroy his presidency by using “dirty tricks” to undermine his agenda. The swamp, which he promised to drain, continues to be populated with those nefarious inhabitants who are hell-bent on doing whatever is necessary to replace Trump with someone who receives the approval of “the establishment” — those wealthy donors and powerful politicians who, from behind the scenes, decide which candidates will run for and be elected to public office.

Another election will soon be approaching us. Sociopathic politicians will seem to be everywhere. The old saying “Promises are made to be broken” will ring true with the usual round of excuses for not keeping them. Dishonesty is at an all time high and trust has become a word that has lost its meaning. Debates have become reduced to screaming matches. Rhetorical trickery rather than substantive discussion clouds the issues. Nothing seems to move forward. A short time ago, the local bank in my hometown was robbed by a man and a woman wearing Halloween masks. When I was a youngster, bank robberies generally occurred in wild-west movies. Now they occur in real life. We shrug our shoulders when this happens. Civil unrest, violence, road rage, and the mass murdering of innocent civilians by infidel fanatics have become so commonplace we are no longer shocked by what we are witnessing — could this be the harbinger of the end times, we ask ourselves?

Ordinary people are becoming increasingly more frustrated trying to understand and communicate with those persons who are in or aspire to become elected to public office. You might ask: Why is this so? The persons, whom we are attempting to communicate with and how they think, have much to do with answering this question. Like it or not, there are a significant number of sociopathic thinking politicians surrounded by their “useful idiots” whose goal is to destroy our nation, not save it. How does one “reason” with those ravenous wolves who are pursuing this course and who have no intention of doing otherwise? The answer is that we must make changes on how we approach and deal with them. Again, like it or not, the “dirty tricks” — even if the acts are criminal — will continue until the Sociopaths achieve the power to construct the City of Man on earth as they see fit. Only by returning to the City of God can we stop this spiritual insanity, which is engulfing us.

Will we destroy ourselves like Jerusalem

It is important to keep in mind that the history of the Old and New Testaments prove that God rewards and punishes us right here on earth. The Jews rejected Our Lord Who came into the world to save us. As a result, Jerusalem was literally destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Our Lord, in the Gospel of Saint Luke (19: 41-47) foresaw this coming. The Gospel is as follows:

At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it saying, ‘If you had known, in this your day, even you, the things that you are for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart about you and shut you in on every side, and will dash you to the ground and your children within you, and will not leave you one stone upon another, because you have not known the time of your visitation.’ And He entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house is a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.’ And He was teaching daily in the temple.

What is most striking is that the Romans did not leave one stone upon another when they destroyed Jerusalem. Jerusalem was controlled by the Judean rebels from 66 A.D. up until the time when Titus, the Roman General literally annihilated the city. God allowed the Romans to inflict harsh punishment on the Jewish people for failing to honor His Son and crucifying Him. There was no military messiah who came to save them. The “ravenous wolves” were in charge, leading the once chosen people down this ill-fated path.

Don’t forget: By their fruits you will know them

The critical question now is to decide whether we will follow Our Lord’s advice to be “wise as serpents and guileless as doves” or continue on the fast track of destroying ourselves from within. Yesterday’s ravenous wolves have morphed into today’s sociopaths. It is up to us to take the initiative to separate the good from the bad fruit and to follow and enforce God’s laws as He intended. This will be a most difficult task because His enemies are literally “hell-bent” in trying to make sure that this does not happen. As the results of the last election indicated, we still have the spiritual and moral fiber needed to win this battle. However, whether we are willing to engage in this most important undertaking is another matter. “Going along to get along” rather than standing up and fighting for our beliefs will be tempting, particularly when we are facing those adversaries who will use any means available to defeat us. Today’s sociopaths are a clever and tough skinned lot. They are Masters of Deception, highly skilled in pretending to be something they are not. Don’t be fooled by their appearance. Remember, “By their fruits you will know them.”

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.