The Lord’s Rescue Plan
St. John, the beloved disciple, opens his first Epistle with these amazing words:
“I
write of what was from the beginning, of what we have heard, what we
have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon and our hands have
handled: of the Word of Life. And the Life was made known and we have
seen, and now testify and announce to you, the Life Eternal which was
with the Father, and has appeared to us. What we have seen and have
heard we announce to you, in order that you also may have fellowship
with us, and that our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his
Son Jesus Christ” (1Jn.1:1-3).
Jesus
Christ, God’s Divine Son, is that Man, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
legally the Son of Joseph, with relatives, friends and neighbors, a
carpenter by trade, but a teacher and a miracle worker by calling,
perfect in His human nature, not suffering the effects of Original Sin,
since in Him there is no sin.
But
Jesus Christ is also God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, one
with the Father and the Holy Ghost. With the Father and the Holy Ghost
He is the Creator of the angelic choirs, the galaxies and the stars, the
planets and the comets, the earth and all things that live in it.
But
not content to be our Creator only, He also became our Redeemer. When
Adam and Eve sinned and lost Sanctifying Grace for themselves and their
descendants, God promised to send a Redeemer to rescue us from slavery
and eternal loss. It was in fulfillment of this promise that He sent His
Divine Son, Who took upon Himself our humanity. And in order to spread
His word and give us the true means of salvation, Our Lord also gave us
the true religion, without which we would wander in the darkness of
false worship and end up in Hell to be forever estranged from God.
Yet
today religious freedom is considered by alleged “Pope” Francis and the
Vatican insiders, to be a fundamental human right, and has become one
of the cornerstone doctrines of the church of Vatican II. Actually it is
a Masonic doctrine, which has overtaken the true Catholic doctrine on
religious freedom.
St.
Augustine, one of the great Fathers and Doctors of the Church, had this
to say when writing against the Donatists: “For the soul there is no
worse kind of death than the freedom of error.”
The
meaning of true freedom is no longer understood even by those who
should be teaching and upholding it. True freedom is not to be free to
do what we want, but to be free to do what is right and true. True
freedom is freedom from sin and error, so that one is free to observe
God’s Commandments and worship Him as He has chosen to be worshipped.
Our Lord warned the Pharisees:
“Amen,
amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. But the
slave does not abide in the house forever; the son abides there
forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed”
(Jn.8:34-36).
Are we free to accept or reject the Gospel? People reject the Gospel because they are not free. They are bound by sin. They
love the darkness rather than the light. The grace of God is what makes
us free to choose the truth – in this case the truth of God’s word. When
it becomes a matter of choosing between the word of God and the word of
man, there can be no contest. We must accept the word of God, who can
neither deceive nor be deceived.
The Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary became the very first believer in the Son of God when the Angel Gabriel said to her:
“The
Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called
the Son of God” (Lk.1:35).
The
devil, of course, always finds a way to rob us of our faith in Jesus
Christ and His Holy Catholic Church. Through his army of lying and
scheming cronies here on earth, he has become master of the means of
communication, such as the internet. “Surfing” the internet is like
slogging your way through a huge and dangerous swamp. Those who are not
careful are sucked into the mire, and their spiritual life is stifled.
Remember, Our Lord told us that we can’t serve both God and the world:
“No
man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt.6:24).
The
devil laughs because he has tricked millions into serving the world
instead of God. In fact, they are servants of the devil. Those who are
addicted to pornography are in that unfortunate situation. They have
fallen into darkness, and they must turn to God and do penance while
they can still save their souls. But Our Lord has a plan for their
rescue: “This kind (of evil) can be cast out in no way except by prayer
and fasting” (Mk.9:28). Whatever it takes, it must be done! Our Lord
offers us hope, because the Holy Spirit of the Lord has gifts for those
who invoke Him. The evil one is no match for the Holy Ghost. St. Peter
preaches to the crowds about the last days and the coming of the Holy
Ghost, as he quotes the words of God to the prophet Joel:
