Fr. Campbell, "The Use of our Time in the Evil Day (Eph.5:16)"

The Use of our Time in the Evil Day (Eph.5:16)

Jesus Christ is our Priest, our Prophet, and our King. He is our Great High Priest, interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. He is our Prophet, Who preached the Gospel of Salvation to all who would hear Him, and He is our King, Who rules by right of His Divinity, and the authority invested in Him by God the Father. Next Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King.

The ordained priest holds these same three offices, because he shares in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. As priest he stands at the Altar of God, where he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He rules the faithful by upholding the Laws of God, and ensuring that the laws of the Church are observed, and he is also a prophet, preaching the word of God, observing the signs of the times, and announcing God’s judgment upon a sinful world.

It is the responsibility of the priest to point out the way of eternal life, and to identify the snares that are set for the faithful by the devil, so that they may proceed safely on their way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But in these times we find the world drifting far from God, contradicting His Commandments, and making up its own rules. The signs of the times, which Our Lord said we should read, indicate that we are witnessing the Great Apostasy, the great falling away from the faith, foretold by St. Paul and the Lord Himself.

The world was created by God and found to be very good, but now it is in spiritual darkness. It is now under the power of the devil, and it despises God. By “the world” here we mean those who do not know or love God.  Few believe anymore that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. This is why the judgment of God hangs over the world like a sword ready to strike.    

Preaching about Hell is just as important as preaching about Heaven. Many of the saints, besides desiring eternal life in Heaven, found meditating on Hell to be very profitable for their souls. Most human beings, unless they are confronted with the possibility of going to Hell, will do little or nothing to avoid it, especially if they think everybody is going to have a free ride to Heaven. There are millions now teetering on the brink of Hell because the contemporary church no longer preaches it, or even believes in it.

As for the existence of Hell, nothing is more clearly taught in the Gospels. St. John Chrysostom used to say that Jesus preached more often on Hell than on any other subject. St. Matthew says this in Chapter 13 of his Gospel: 

“The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all scandals and those who work iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt.13:41-43).

St. Paul also teaches in Second Thessalonians that “the Lord Jesus… will come from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, to inflict punishment on those who do not know God, and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These will be punished with eternal ruin, away from the face of the Lord and the glory of his power, when on that day he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all those who have believed”

(2Thess:1:7b-10).

In Our Lord’s description of the Last Judgment in which the sheep are separated from the goats, the Just Judge pronounces over those unrepentant sinners:

“Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt.25:41).

St. Peter tells us of “the day of the Lord”:

“The Lord does not delay in his promises, but for your sake is long-suffering, not wishing that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; at that time the heavens will pass away with great violence, and the elements will be dissolved with heat, and the earth, and the works that are in it, will be burned up. Seeing therefore that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of men ought you to be in holy and pious behavior, you who await and hasten towards the coming of the day of God, by which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved and the elements will melt away by reason of the heat of the fire! But we look for new heavens and a new earth, according to his promises, wherein dwells justice” (2Pet.3:9-13).

Well, how do we get to know God? How do we save ourselves from suffering the same fate as the world? The answer stares us in the face, as in the case of the Apostle Philip:

“Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long a time with you and you have not known me? Philip, he who sees me sees also the Father. How canst thou say, “Show us the Father”? Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?’” (Jn.14:3-10a).

There we have the answer! To find God we must find Jesus Christ. To know Jesus Christ is to know the Father, for “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” Jesus Christ is our Emmanuel, God with us!

Hear Our Lord’s own words:

“Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they all shall be taught of God.’ Everyone who has listened to the Father, and has learned, comes to me; not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God, he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes in me has life everlasting” (Jn.6:43b-47).