Episode 3188: When the Flock Turns on the Shepherd

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Book Recommendation of the Day
"Life of Saint Philip Benizi of the Order of the Servants of Mary, 1233–1285: With Some Account of the First Disciples of the Saint" This biography, published by Burns and Oates, offers a detailed look at the life, work, and legacy of St. Philip Benizi, including his leadership of the Servite Order and early discipleship.
When the Flock Turns on the Shepherd: The Cancel Culture of the Modern Church
Cancel culture has become a plague in our society. In the secular world, it destroys reputations, careers, and lives often without mercy and often without truth. Sadly, this toxic spirit has entered into the very heart of the Church.
Today we’ll look at how cancel culture works against priests and faithful shepherds, both at the parish level and even at the Vatican. We’ll see how parishioners sometimes turn on their priests, and how cardinals who remain faithful to Tradition, like Cardinal Raymond Burke, are sidelined yet never silenced.
The lesson is clear: the world may try to cancel truth, but truth cannot be canceled.
Segment 1: The Spirit of Cancelation in the Modern Church
Cancel culture thrives on pride and mob justice. In the secular world, a celebrity or a professor says something unpopular true or not and the mob rises to destroy them.
In the Church, it looks a little different but it’s the same spirit.
• Parishioners rally together, not to pray or fast, but to pressure bishops to remove their priest.
• Complaints rarely concern doctrine. Instead, it’s about style, discipline, or a priest daring to confront sin boldly.
• A priest who preaches about mortal sin, reverent liturgy, or the dangers of modernism risks being branded “divisive.”
The irony is glaring: Catholics who accept without question what comes from bishops’ conferences or parish committees will turn their fiercest anger against the very priest who brings them the Sacraments.
Christ warned us: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20).

Segment 2: When the Flock Turns on the Shepherd
A headline from Return to Tradition captured this perfectly: “Outraged Catholics Try to Cancel Their Priest And It Backfires Hilariously.”
Why did it backfire? Because truth defends itself. When a priest dares to proclaim the hard teachings of Christ whether about marriage, Mass attendance, or reverent worship the mob may attack, but often the faithful remnant rallies to his side.
This reveals a deeper sickness: many Catholics treat the Church like a democracy. They act as though a priest’s fidelity depends on the votes of a committee. But the Church is not a democracy. Christ founded a monarchy, with Himself as King, and entrusted His authority to His Apostles and their successors.
When the flock turns against the shepherd, the results are tragic but also telling. God allows such moments to expose the difference between those who love truth and those who seek only comfort.

Segment 3: Cardinal Burke: A Global Example of Cancel Culture
This spirit reaches even into the Vatican.
Cardinal Raymond Burke is one of the most faithful defenders of Tradition in our time. For years, he warned against doctrinal confusion, modernist innovations, and the watering down of the faith. For that fidelity, he was stripped of authority and denied a papal audience for nearly seven years.
And yet just this past December he was received by Pope Francis. The world noticed. As one commentator remarked: “Eighteen months ago, a papal audience for Cardinal Burke was headline news. Today? Not so much. Wonder what’s changed?”
What changed is this: despite attempts to silence him, Cardinal Burke’s voice has only grown louder, his warnings more prophetic, and his presence more respected among the faithful remnant. His very sidelining became the proof that he stood firm for truth.
Like the parish priest vindicated when the mob’s attack failed, Cardinal Burke shows us that cancel culture cannot succeed against fidelity to Christ.
Segment 4: Scriptural & Historical Parallels
This struggle is not new.
• 2 Timothy 4:3 — St. Paul warned: “For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”
• St. Athanasius — Driven into exile five times for defending the divinity of Christ, he was known as Athanasius contra mundum—Athanasius against the world. Yet truth prevailed.
• St. John Fisher — The lone bishop of England to oppose Henry VIII. He was executed while others compromised. Today, he is canonized. The compromisers are forgotten.
In every age, attempts to cancel the truth only backfire, producing martyrs, saints, and witnesses whose voices echo through history.
Segment 5: The Irony of Modern Parishes
Today, many priests are afraid to preach the hard truths for fear of being canceled. Instead, they fill homilies with platitudes about “accompaniment” and “inclusivity.”
But the irony is this:
• When priests boldly proclaim that marriage is between one man and one woman,
• that missing Mass is a mortal sin,
• or that the Novus Ordo has brought confusion to worship,
they may be attacked but they also awaken a faithful remnant.
The same parishioners who no longer believe the fullness of the faith will often rise up to silence the priest. But it is the faithful few, the ones who pray, sacrifice, and live the sacramental life, who will rally to defend him.
Segment 6: Hope in the Remnant
Here is where hope enters.
Every time cancel culture strikes, God raises up defenders. Petitions of support circulate. Bishops quietly uphold the truth. New vocations arise in traditional seminaries and orders.
As St. Augustine wrote: “The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”
Cancel culture is a worldly spirit. The Spirit of Christ is eternal. And the gates of hell will not prevail.
Closing Exhortation
So what do we, the faithful, need to do?
• Pray for your priests. They are under constant attack.
• Defend them when they speak truth. A word of encouragement can strengthen them in battle.
• Reject cancel culture in the Church. It belongs to the world, not to the Body of Christ.
• Cling to the promise of Christ: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18).
Cancel culture may rage, but truth cannot be silenced. Fidelity always has the last word.
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 4:9–14
St. Paul writes of the apostles as “the offscouring of the world,” enduring hunger, thirst, persecution, and dishonor. Yet in all this, they show forth the glory of Christ.
Reflection
The Christian vocation is not to comfort, but to the Cross. The world sees humiliation; God sees sanctification. Paul’s words unmask the folly of pride and ambition: the true apostle accepts being despised for the sake of Christ.
This reading is especially poignant in our own age, where Catholics are tempted to seek respectability in the eyes of the world. But to be a faithful Catholic today often means ridicule, marginalization, or even persecution. St. Paul reminds us: fidelity is worth infinitely more than worldly esteem.
Gospel – Luke 12:32–34
"Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. Sell what you possess and give alms. Make for yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in Heaven which faileth not: where no thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."
Reflection
Here Our Lord reminds us that we are a little flock—but loved, chosen, and destined for the Kingdom. The path to that Kingdom is detachment: sell what you have, give alms, and place your heart in Heaven.
Christ does not condemn wealth in itself, but He does condemn trust in riches. True security is not in possessions, but in God’s providence. A heart attached to earthly treasures cannot be lifted to eternal ones.
This Gospel is profoundly Marian: Our Lady, whose Immaculate Heart was detached from all vanity, treasured only the things of God. And it is profoundly saintly, for the saints are those who exchanged the riches of earth for the crown of Heaven.

Feast of St. Philip Benizi
Born in Florence in 1233, St. Philip Benizi entered the Servite Order and became one of its great leaders. Known for his humility, he declined high honors, even fleeing when the people sought to elect him pope. He spent his life preaching, serving the poor, and reconciling warring factions.
In his humility and detachment, he embodied today’s Gospel. He possessed nothing but was rich in Christ. He endured the contempt of the world but won the imperishable crown of Heaven. His life is a mirror of both St. Paul’s words and Christ’s teaching: the glory of the Christian is not in possessions or prestige, but in holy poverty, humility, and charity.
Application for Today
• Detach from worldly honors: true glory lies in being faithful to Christ, even when despised.
• Treasure heavenly riches: give alms, serve the poor, and seek virtues more than possessions.
• Embrace humility: like St. Philip Benizi, who fled from worldly honor, we must flee from pride and self-exaltation.
• Live as a little flock: do not be discouraged by being small in number; fidelity matters more than size.
Conclusionary Prayer
O God, who didst raise up blessed Philip Benizi to be a shining example of humility and a peacemaker in Thy Church, grant that we may imitate his virtues of detachment, charity, and fidelity. May we, like him, despise worldly honors and lay up treasures in Heaven, so that when the Lord comes, He may find our hearts fixed on His Kingdom. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
St. Philip Benizi, pray for us.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Sorrows, intercede for us.