Although internet service was restored on Tuesday morning, we have been entirely consumed with the threats made against us. All else is pretty much on hold for time being.
The man who threatened us was released from jail on Monday after being given a formal criminal trespass notice, a violation of which results in automatic arrest. Enterprising little man that he is, however, he staged a stunt yesterday morning, Wednesday, July 11, 2018, the Feast of Saint Pius I, that involved his children running on his property on the pretext of looking for a lost cat that was supposedly "wild."
One of the children, a seventeen year-old girl, was trying to get close to a pen where our daughter keeps her goat does. The girl was wearing a backpack that she has never worn before. There is no doubt in our minds--or those of our neighbors who witnessed this stunt--that this was an attempt to put some kind of poison into the goat pen. The supposedly "wild" cat was seen being carried away on the back of the neck of the aforesaid teenaged girl a short distance from the roadway where their father had parked his car to oversee the matter.
Law enforcement officials were called. The deputy who spoke to us said that we needed to get a "game camera," which I did by using funds donated for that purpose three days ago now. As the situation is deteriorating rapidly, though, we have been further advised to purchase en entire wireless home security system to provide twenty-four hour coverage of the grounds. This can't prevent someone from carrying out foul deeds, but it can sure capture such a person in the act of committing them. The deputy who spoke to us said, "We prosecute from these cameras every day." What a commentary on the world in which we live, a world without Christ the King and His true Church.
Thus, I am afraid that we have to raise an additional five to six hundred dollars over and above what has been donated thus far. The additional amount will be used solely for purposes of purchasing what is well-reviewed home security system. We have a neighbor who would install the system this very afternoon if I am able to raise the funds to purchase it.
Additionally, a friend wrote to say that I should get a twelve gauge shotgun. However, my back is so terrible now that the thrust of the recoiling would place me straight on the ground and into a hospital. That having been noted, I suppose that the time has come to purchase a means to protect ourselves with a weapon.
Obviously, this is all uppermost in our prayers now. We are praying for the conversion of the man and his family. We are praying to be kept safe. Above all else, we are praying to do will of God as we pursue justice without vengeance and as we rely upon the most powerful weapon of all, Our Lady's Most Holy Rosary. We are in Our Lady's loving hands and in the folds of her mantle as we accept this cross that has been fashioned for us by the loving hand of God from all eternity. This is a chastisement for our sins, and we accept it as such while admitting there is a good deal of human stress and concern that is very natural for weak vessels of clay.
Please remember us in your prayers, and we thank those who can see fit to help us with non-tax-deductible financial gifts at this time. I hope to have time on Friday to complete my next article. All I can do is to beg your understanding as this problem has consumed us for the better part of two weeks.
Thus it is that I offer a revised reflection on the holy life and work of Saint John Gualbert that was written some years ago now.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Saint John Gualbert, pray for us.
Saints Nabor and Felix, pray for us.
