Persevering to the End (Mt.24:13)
During the season of Advent we unite ourselves in spirit with those who in ancient times longed for the coming of the Messiah – with the prophets and holy people, with St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph, and Mary, who was to become His Holy Mother. The coming we are really looking forward to is, of course, His Second Coming, when He will come in glory on the clouds of heaven, and all His saints with Him.
His
coming will be sudden and unexpected by most of the earth’s
inhabitants, who will be absorbed in their worldly pursuits with no time
for God or spiritual things. “All the tribes of the earth shall mourn,” Scripture says.
There are, however, many who expect Him to come soon. They see many biblical prophecies being fulfilled. The
reference Jesus makes to the fig tree in the today’s Gospel has always
been taken as a symbol for the Jews and their return to the Holy Land. Evangelical
Christians, Pentecostals, and other sects are feverishly poring over
their Bibles looking for the fulfillment of each minute detail of
prophecy.
Catholics
can agree with them about some things, but we must not be taken in by
their misinterpretations, such as the one about “The Rapture.” St. Paul
in 1Thessalonians, speaking of the end of the world, says that those
believers who still survive when the Lord comes will be caught up to
meet Him in the air. The Evangelicals and others say that Christian believers will be taken up before the Great Tribulation, the “time of sorrows,” spoken of by the Lord. The
rest of the human race will have to endure the Tribulation. But the
false doctrine of The Rapture this has never been the teaching of the
Catholic Church.
Sad
as it is that we have to be deceived by false teachings from outside
the Church, it is even sadder that we must endure those from the inside. How
shall we keep the faith, survive, as St. Paul says, until His coming,
since our holy faith is under siege from every direction? “Watch and
pray,” the Lord says.
Just
who are the “believers” anyway? The Church used to speak of believers
as those who by God’s gift of faith believed in Jesus Christ. Those who
did not believe in the Gospel were infidels, or unbelievers. Now
everyone is a “believer”. The church of Vatican II refers to those of
other religions – Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, etc. – as
“believers”. They are “believers” without faith.
What of “the unity of the one human family”? Being members of the same species does not make us “one human family”. Because of Original Sin we are a divided people, as was demonstrated at the Tower of Babel. But there is a new
human family, the Head of which is the New Adam, Jesus Christ. St. Paul
says in Colossians, “You yourselves were at one time estranged and
enemies in mind through your evil works. But now he has
reconciled you in his body of flesh through his death, to present you
holy and undefiled and irreproachable before him.” (Col. 1:21,22) This
is where faith separates us from the unbelievers.
Does
religious freedom constitute a fundamental human right? Actually it is a
Masonic doctrine, which has overtaken the true Catholic doctrine on
religious freedom. But it is one of the most important
pillars of Francis Bergoglio and the other conciliar “papas”, without
which their ambitious ecumenical and inter-faith program would collapse.
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 are bound to believe and accept the
word of God. Not to accept it is to call God a liar.
Jesus once sent seventy-two disciples into the towns which He himself intended to visit, with these instructions:
“But
whatever town you enter and they do not receive you – go out into its
streets and say, ‘Even the dust from your town that cleaves to us we
shake off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at
hand.’ I say to you, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in that
day than for that town.” (Lk. 10:10-12) Jesus said about Capharnaum,
“And thou, Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted to heaven? Thou shalt be
thrust down to hell! For if the miracles had been worked in Sodom that
have been worked in thee, it would have remained to this day.”
(Mt.11:23) Clearly, human beings do not have a “basic human right” to
refuse the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The
brilliant 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.”
Following
the ancient teaching of the Church, Pope Pius IX called the right to
religious freedom “insanity,” and declared it “especially fatal to the
Catholic Church and to the salvation of souls.” The same teaching was
upheld by his successors, like Pope St. Pius X and Pope Pius XII. Beginning
with John XXIII the doctrine of religious freedom began to creep into
Church documents until it was enshrined in the documents of Vatican II.
Since then it has been hammered home relentlessly, and is now accepted
mindlessly by the vast majority of Catholics.
If we are to preserve our faith we must be aware that it is under attack, and come to its defense. Otherwise
we will lose what has been handed down to us through the centuries from
the Apostles, who received it from the Lord Himself. We mourn for our fellow Catholics who are being misled by wolves in sheep’s clothing. We mourn for Holy Mother, the Church, sorely oppressed by her enemies. Yet we have the Lord’s promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against her.
I always look forward to father Campbell's sermons on Sunday. Thanks Eric for posting them.
ReplyDeleteGreat sermon from Father. Pray we all persevere.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all a blessed Advent season!
ReplyDeleteThe rapture is a false doctrine. I know Catholics who follow “Bayside” who believe in this false teaching.
ReplyDeleteVatican II NewChurch is heretical. I am glad for your site Eric which has helped me understand this.
ReplyDeleteReligious liberty is one of the greatest evils the Novus ordo teaches.
ReplyDeleteI hope I am ready when Jesus comes. I don’t think any of us will see that day. I could be wrong though
ReplyDelete