Fr. Campbell- Signposts to Heaven
“Rejoice,
O Jerusalem!” So begins the Introit of today’s Holy Mass. We rejoice
today because we are half way through the penitential season of Lent,
and that much nearer to our goal, which is Easter Sunday, the Feast of
the Resurrection. But we have a further goal, an eternal Easter, for
which this life is a preparation. God has made it easy for us. The goal
is clear, the directions are sure. Yet there are those who do not, or
will not, understand.
“Why
did God make you?” asked the old catechism. Answer: “God made me to
know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy
with Him forever in the next.”
And
how do I get to know God? Some trust in their books and their Ph.D.’s.
Some search the heavens and listen for the voice of a superior
intelligence from outer space. Their pride prevents them from accepting
God at His word. Others bathe in the waters of the Jordan or the Ganges,
or go on pilgrimage to Mecca, or watch for the sunrise at Stonehenge.
Many are the false religions of this world, “paths” that lead only to
perdition. There is really only one way to know God personally, and that
is the way God Himself revealed. For God has introduced Himself to us
in the Person of His Son: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased.” We must respond: “Lord, I believe!”
Now
in knowing Jesus Christ we know the Father. This is so simple a truth
that many people miss the simplicity of it, and turn away looking for
something more complicated. “Enter by the narrow gate,” says Jesus, “For
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and
many there are who enter that way. How narrow the gate and close the way
that leads to life! And few there are who find it” (Mt.7:13,14).
And
what is this narrow gate? “Amen, amen I say to you, I am the door of
the sheep. All whoever have come are thieves and robbers; but the sheep
have not heard them. I am the door. If anyone enter by me he shall be
safe, and shall go in and out, and shall find pastures. The thief comes
only to steal, and slay, and destroy. I came that they may have life,
and have it more abundantly” (Jn.10:7-10). Jesus Christ Himself is the
“narrow gate” to eternal life.
Even
the Apostles were slow to understand. Thomas said to Him: “Lord, we do
not know where thou art going, and how can we know the way?” (Jn.14:5).
And Jesus replied: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father but through me. If you had known me you would also
have known my Father” (Jn.14:6,7). Even then, Philip said to Him: “Lord,
show us the Father and it is enough for us” (Jn.14:8). It must have
taken the patience of a God-Man to reply: “Have I been so long a time
with you and you have not known me? Philip, he who sees me also sees the
Father” (John14:9).
It
takes a simple faith, the faith of a child, to accept God at His word.
Jesus explained to His Apostles: “Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen I say to
you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child will
not enter into it” (Lk.18:16,17).
God
created me to love Him. Knowledge comes first, because you cannot love a
God whom you do not know. If you do not know Jesus Christ personally,
you cannot love God. But as you get to know Him better, you learn to
love Him more. That’s why it’s so important to grow in your personal
knowledge of Jesus Christ. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves him who begot, loves also
the one begotten of him. In this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God and do his commandments. For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not
burdensome. Because all that is born of God overcomes the world; and
this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is there
that overcomes the world if not he who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God” (1Jn.5:1-5).
This
knowledge and consequent love for Jesus Christ will have a great impact
on your spiritual life. If you struggle with sin and temptation, learn
to know and love the Lord more. If you find yourself weak in faith,
sluggish in prayer, and lax in your religious duties, you must grow in
the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. If you are troubled, anxious and
fearful because of the state of the Church and the world, you really
ought to know Christ, and love Him more, because perfect love casts out
fear. If you are angry at the pretender, Francis Bergoglio, the Novus
Ordo “church”, the president, your husband, your wife, your parents,
your kids, turn your thoughts to the Lord and get to know Him more, so
you can be filled with His love.
God
created me to serve Him. I am serving God best when I am at His Holy
Altar, offering together with the priest, through Christ, with Christ,
and in Christ, the one, perfect and acceptable Sacrifice to God the
Father, in which Jesus Christ is both Priest and Victim. I continue to
serve God when I go out strengthened by the sacraments, to fulfill the
duties of my state in life in obedience to the Lord’s commands, and
united in prayer with all the faithful throughout the world. Those who
know God, who love Him and serve Him, are never alone.
God
made me to be happy with Him forever. Those who know, love, and serve
the Lord in this world are destined for Heaven. “Let not your heart be
troubled,” says Jesus, “You believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father’s house there are many mansions. Were it not so I should have
told you, because I go to prepare a place for you” (Jn.14:1,2).
In the meantime, our prayer is that of the psalmist as we yearn for the heavenly mansions:
“How
lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul yearns and
pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the
living God… I had rather a day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in
the tents of the wicked. For a sun and a shield is the Lord God; grace
and glory he bestows; the Lord withholds no good thing from those who
walk in sincerity. O Lord of hosts, happy the men who trust in you!”
(Ps.83:1-3;11-13).
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