An Open Letter to Bishop McKnight

by Dean Lamb

As shepherd of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Bishop McKnight, you are responsible for every soul in your flock.

Yet, incredibly, you bought into the pandemic fearmongering that wreaked havoc on secular society, and you closed our parish churches when we needed them the most. Consider that Saint Mother Teresa ministered tirelessly to Calcutta’s sickest people, including those afflicted with cholera and leprosaria—diseases far more deadly than COVID-19! The obvious FEAR shown by the Church hierarchy—and your disregard for the faithful—has been disgraceful.

How many souls were denied Our Lord’s blessings and graces because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was not celebrated publicly? How many souls were lost for eternity because they were not able to partake in the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation and the Eucharist? How many souls were “barely there” Catholics before COVID-19 and have now joined the largest growing denomination in the USA— “The Nones”?

Meanwhile, deaths from COVID-19 account for a mere .01% of the population. Of that relatively tiny number,  only 6% are the direct result of the virus alone. The remaining 94% of all COVID-19 deaths occurred in people with at least 2.6 additional comorbidities. Clearly, an evil agenda is motivating the inflated, gloom-and-doom numbers reported in the media and the irrational response of our shepherds who appear to have abandoned their flocks.

Over the past nine months, as the pandemic has continued, it is increasingly obvious that diabolical forces are at work to destroy Holy Mother Church. The forced church closures coupled with “live-streamed Mass” may have been the fatal blow to the aforementioned “barely there” Catholics, who are by now completely cut off from the Church and her Sacraments.

However, in retrospect, perhaps it all conveniently fell into your “path forward”, whereby ten counties in our diocese will see closures and mergers of their parishes due to a shortage of priests, reduced Mass attendance, and the cost of maintaining these properties. That agenda is much easier to sell to today’s Catholic population, eviscerated from the “Fear-demic” . . . all while you are spending an undisclosed amount to renovate the cathedral.

Now, while I know that our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ assures us that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail, He does not state in what capacity the Church will be found upon His glorious return. But especially now, as we face the nauseating possibility of an anti-Catholic Biden-Harris Administration seemingly hell-bent on perpetuating the pandemic, the Church is certain to fully embrace her Passion.

I am reminded of quote from the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen:

“Who’s going to save our Church? It’s not our bishops, it’s not our priests and it is not the religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that the priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and the religious act like religious.” 

It is for this reason I am writing you, Bishop McKnight—to remind you of your mission, your vocation, and the authority granted you by Almighty God.  The evil one is afraid of BOLD, COURAGEOUS men in mitres.  Be one!  Lead us! Proclaim the hard truth of the Gospel message.  Do not water it down! Now is the time to proclaim Jesus Christ—the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  His message was considered divisive to the Pharisees, Sadducees and sinners when he walked this earth, and that message is no less divisive today to the same groups (myself included in the sinner category). But divisive or not, people always need—and flock to—the Truth.  

I look to one of your counterparts in Texas, Bishop Strickland, as a shining example for all bishops. His demeanor and outspoken support for strong priests, like Fr. James Altman of “You Can’t be Catholic and Vote Democrat” YouTube fame, is exactly what we need from you!  Meanwhile, we hear about the heretical, pro-homosexual Fr. James Martin in the national Catholic media and read lame articles in the Catholic Missourian from random people in Pennsylvania telling us how, in essence, it was OK to vote for Joe Biden—a pro-abortion, pro-same-sex-“marriage” heretic. This was not OK! 

Abortion is the single greatest scourge this world has ever known and the sins that lead to it are rarely discussed from the pulpit.  We need to hear about purity, chastity, pornography, natural family planning and the Church’s teachings on these topics. In the words of decorated Navy Seal Jocko Willink, we need to hear that ‘discipline equals freedom’”!

In closing, the last four things—Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell—have been weighing on my mind more and more lately. It is in pondering these things in relation to the unchanged and unchangeable TRUTH of the gospel message that causes me great concern for the souls of me, my family and the whole world for that matter. I believe the Church has entered her passion and, if so, we NEED you more now than ever to be the beacon of light in the darkness. “Our souls depend on you, Bishop McKnight!”

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Dean Lamb considers himself an “undeservedly blessed” husband of 18 years to Jenny, father of five amazing children, and parishioner at St. Margaret of Antioch parish in Osage Bend, MO.