A couple from another state texted me:

“Hi Father, Thank you for the awesome Epiphany homily. I have some ‘boots on the ground’ thoughts for you. Seeing as how our parish is the fastest growing [trad. cong.] parish in North America (per Fr A.), I’d say the trends here are worth considering as we look at the end times prophecies.  The vast majority of solid families who made the Exodus to [our state in NW] are very young. They are simple, solid and unwavering. Most adults are converts or reverts. The oldest of whom have oldest children entering teen years. It is becoming clear that each large family will produce AT LEAST 2-4 vocations. So that means that in 10-30 years, traditional seminaries, monasteries and convents will see an exponential increase in vocations. There will also be exponential numbers of Traditional Catholic marriages between children in these families. If the Triumph of the IH is near with promises mass conversions, how do these demographics impact the timing? Will these future religious & priests be needed for Mass conversions to take place? How will the well-formed children born from this surge of Trad marriages be needed to save souls? Or do we need the era of peace as a precursor for these massive vocation increases & holy marriages to take place at all?  It is very clear to us that this generation of children is receiving tremendous grace. We are witnessing closely the generation that will save the Church (which is not our generation but our children or potentially their children), but because they are still quite young, are we looking at a 20-30 year delay in the Triumph/Angelic Pope? Or do we need the graces from the Triumph in order for these kids to execute the plan preparing for the 2nd coming?

My reply: “There are good traditional orders popping up, but people need to be open to unusual vocations like my own if Rome fully bans the TLM or an EMP takes the lights out in the USA. That’s why I think the interior life and asceticism and healthy living is more important than the buildings of traditional orders or even a view towards ordinations. The desert monks of the early years put all the emphasis on the ascetical life and nearly nothing on ordination or what letters came before or after a name (like FSSP or SSPX.) We live in a hyper-sacramental time in Church history (which is good, because we need it) but many times in history Catholics just had to focus on fasting and not committing mortal sin ever. I hope we get both (the ascetical life and sacraments) in the future, but since we don’t know what the future holds, we aim for the ascetical life. Great seminaries and monasteries and families can all be built on a great ascetical life, but the ascetical life doesn’t require great seminaries or monasteries or even great families. So, if your build up the interior life, your children will be ready for living in a cave alone or in a big family like yours or in the glory of the Triumph where they have 100 congregations to choose from. But since we don’t know, we put the emphasis on mental prayer more than ordination hopes. Happy Epiphany by the way!”

Their reply: “Wow, thank you!! That all makes sense and gives us a lot to ponder as we navigate the Church crisis & our daily little way. Our intuition to shelter these kiddos & instill self denial has been very strong (remarkable undeserved grace for a couple 80/90s kids who grew up in nice families but drank Kool-aid & watched horror movies at slumber parties). Perhaps underground Church life and cave dwelling will be the path for this generation. We’ll make sure they make a plan to dig a bunker for you, Father.💪🏻 Happy Epiphany! 👑👑👑”

[Cell texts published with permission.]