Episode 3100: Just Pinch a Little Incense

Just Pinch a Little Incense
Opening Prayer
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
O God, Who has instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant us by the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation. O Lord Jesus Christ, open our hearts and minds to Your truth, and grant us the courage of the early martyrs to resist error and embrace the Cross.
Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede for us.
Amen.
Introduction
Welcome, dear friends in Christ, to another episode rooted in the timeless truths of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. Today’s episode is titled:
“Just Pinch a Little Incense.”
It’s a phrase that echoes from the bloodstained sands of ancient Rome but make no mistake: its spirit is alive and well in our times.
The Roman authorities didn't need the early Christians to renounce Christ entirely. No, they just needed a pinch of incense offered to Caesar or the gods of the empire. Just a small act of compromise. And then you could return to your daily life unbothered, un-persecuted, and respected. Sound familiar?
A Church Reborn in Compromise
Since Vatican II, a counterfeit religion has taken hold inside the shell of the Catholic Church. It is a Church of man, not of God a horizontal church that seeks peace with the world rather than peace with Heaven.
“He will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the Church… It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.”
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West (1948)
“Since Vatican II, a counterfeit religion has taken hold inside the shell of the Catholic Church. It is a Church of man, not of God a horizontal church that seeks peace with the world rather than peace with Heaven.”
It has given us:
• A counterfeit Mass: The Novus Ordo, stripped of reverence, mystery, and sacrifice, turned into a communal meal rather than the unbloody re-presentation of Calvary.
• A counterfeit catechism: One that omits eternal truths or distorts them under the guise of “development.”
• A counterfeit theology: Where human dignity is emphasized over the kingship of Christ, and mercy is exalted without justice or repentance.
• A counterfeit liturgy: Man-centered, casual, often profane, and designed not to glorify God but to entertain man.
And yet, the Church leaders our modern-day Sanhedrin ask us the same thing the Romans asked of the first Christians:
“Just pinch a little incense. Just attend the new Mass. Just obey without discernment. Don’t be rigid. Don’t be divisive. Just go along... and all will be well.”
But will it?

The Early Church Refused
The early Church didn’t compromise. Not even a little. They refused the pinch of incense. For that, they were devoured by lions, burned as torches, and nailed to crosses. They didn’t try to find “common ground” or “Dialogue” with paganism. They proclaimed Christ as King, and all false gods political, religious, or cultural were to be rejected outright.
St. Polycarp, as he was threatened with death, said:
“Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me any injury. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”
They didn’t worship Caesar. Today, we are asked not to worship Caesar, but to worship the spirit of the age inclusion, tolerance, relativism. We are told that “being nice” is more important than being holy. That unity is more important than truth.
But like the martyrs of old, we must resist.

The Courage to Resist the Counterfeit
Pope St. Pius X warned:
“The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.”
We are living in a time of white martyrdom. You may not lose your life yet but you may lose your friends, your family, your career, or even your standing in your parish. All because you stand with Tradition. All because you refuse to pinch that incense.
But will we be brave enough to stand? Or will we give in to the subtle pinch of compromise?
St. Athanasius, exiled five times for resisting heresy, famously said:
“Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ.”
And this is the crux of today’s message:
Are you willing to be that handful? Are you willing to be rejected, mocked, or cast aside? Are you willing to lose everything for the truth?

Resisting a Liturgy That Seems Traditional
Today, many churches try to “blend” the old and the new. They insert Latin into the Novus Ordo. They play chant while still using Eucharistic Prayers that water down the theology of sacrifice. This is still the incense pinch. A little tradition is used to make the counterfeit seem authentic. But it’s not the Mass of the saints.
It’s a deception.
Pope Leo XIII declared:
“It is absurd and a detestable shame to put Jesus Christ on the same level as other gods.”
Yet in our liturgy today, how many parishes present the Holy Eucharist with less reverence than they show to a civic ceremony? How many bishops elevate dialogue with heretics over obedience to the Sacred Deposit of Faith?
As St. John Fisher, the only bishop in England to resist Henry VIII, said:
“The fort is betrayed even of them that should have defended it.”
Let us be clear: a liturgy that compromises with error is not true worship. We must return to the Mass of the Ages not just in appearance, but in essence.
Conclusion: Christus Vincit
Christ is King. Not Caesar. Not the world. Not modernism. Not even the majority opinion of bishops or theologians. Christ, the King of Truth.
So we ask ourselves: Are we brave enough?
• To be poor for Christ?
• To be hated for Christ?
• To be canceled for Christ?
• To be martyred for Christ?
If we truly believe in the Kingship of Our Lord, then we must never pinch that incense not even to save our job, our reputation, or our place in the pews.
We must become saints. Nothing less will do.
Closing Prayer
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Martyrs and Lord of all truth, grant us the courage to resist every counterfeit—every false teaching, every diluted liturgy, every worldly compromise. Make us faithful like St. Polycarp, bold like St. Athanasius, and unshakable like the martyrs of Rome.
Let us not fear white martyrdom nor red martyrdom, but welcome them if it be for Your glory.
We consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Keep us firm in the Holy Faith until death.
Christus vincit. Christus regnat. Christus imperat.
Amen.