Wishy-Washy Advice On Dealing With Potential Mass Disruptions. Firm Manliness Is Needed

All, I received the following email from the parish in which I'm registered...

We rejoice in the most recent Supreme Court Decision on Abortion.

 

However, federal and local authorities have issued warnings that churches and other religious facilities face a heightened threat environment.  

 Should you witness a disruption by an individual or group, or any other suspicious activity in or around the parish:

• Call 911.  The street address of our church is REDACTED.
• Please handle the situation with Christian charity and discretion, and do not confront protesters, whether inside or outside of the church.  

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

The call to the police is most certainly needed.  I find the second bullet-point action (perhaps more accurately, inaction) questionable.  Men, I am addressing this to you for the defense against physical aggression is primarily a masculine duty.  What do you do when thugs come in and threaten the sanctity of the Church?  Do you just let them run riot throughout the church and pray that the police arrive quickly?  As the saying goes, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.  What if they stampede towards the Tabernacle and attempt to desecrate the Blessed Sacrament?  Do you utter whiny little protests at them while wringing your hands?  What if they dare expose themselves and hurl obscenities and threats at your wives and children?  

In these cases, "do not confront" is not morally permissible.  You simply must impede and contain the thugs, even if you have to lay hands on them and deck them a few.  Under no circumstances can you allow them to have their way.  Many of you (men in my parish included) have been going through a series called "That Man Is You".  Well, what's the good of all that talk if, when the chips are down, you intend to play the sanctimonious cowards?  You are called to be men, not 21st century beta-males.

I would suggest that men of the parish confer with one another - independently of clergy - and devise a plan on how to deal with these thugs, should they ever darken your doors.  Do not worry about what the mass media might say, for no matter what they will paint you in the most unfavorable manner.  They've gotten so many things wrong in the past anyway.  What will God think?

Let me close with an account of a martyr of the Eucharist, Saint Tarcisius.  He was a young Roman Christian.  The priests in the catacombs were trying to devise a plan to smuggle Holy Communion to Christians in prison.  Tarcisius volunteered to do the job, stating that because of his youth, he would not be suspected by the Romans.  They all agreed and he was given the package.

However, the Romans did suspect and confronted Tarcisius, demanding that he surrender the Eucharist to them.  He refused, whereupon they set themselves on him, beating him mercilessly.  They still could not wrest the package from him.  Finally Tarcissius died, whereupon the Eucharist rose from his dead hands and vanished.  

How young was Tarcisius?  Twelve years old.  Surely our grown men can muster up the courage to approximate his, through his intercession.  Be men of God.