Saturday, June 30, 2018

Fr. Campbell, Led Astray with Empty Words (Eph.5:6)

Led Astray with Empty Words (Eph.5:6)

Fr. Campbell 

 

 One event in the history of the world gives human life its purpose and meaning – the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, on the hill of Calvary. There the Lord poured out His Precious Blood to take away the sins of the world. In this perfect and acceptable Sacrifice to God the Father, the true Holocaust, He was both Priest and Victim, offering up His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity on the altar of the Cross. It is this same offering which is made present for us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We read in today’s Epistle:



“When Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, He entered once for all through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands (that is, not of this creation), nor again by virtue of blood of goats and calves, but by virtue of His own Blood, into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption… And this is why He is mediator of a new covenant, that whereas a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the former covenant, they who have been called may receive eternal inheritance according to the promise” (Heb.9:11,12;14b,15).

The Holy Catholic Religion alone exists to fulfill that promise. If we treat all religions as having equal validity, then none of them can be valid, since they cannot all be true at one and the same time. They cannot fulfill the promise. There would be no truth to which we could adhere with confidence. We will never know the truth until we accept the truth itself – Jesus Christ, “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life,” and belong to the Church He founded.

Many people these days want to be “democratic”, and they think that it is undemocratic to call one religion true and all the others false. They don’t realize that they are actually choosing a religion anyway – the religion of Democracy, the idea that every point of view has validity. Their adherence to the religion of Democracy prevents them from acknowledging any one religion as true, more than the others. They should remember that “those who do not stand for something will fall for anything.” They have already fallen.

The democratic institution is doomed to destroy itself unless it is accountable to a power higher than itself. Today democracy is worshipped as a self-justifying process that will make all peoples free – free to do whatever they want. This is how democracy ends up when it is not subject to true governance.

Democracy will work only when it is accountable to the Institution established by God’s Divine Son, Jesus Christ – the Holy Catholic Church. The Church is God’s appointed Teacher to the nations:

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…” (Mt. 28:18b-20a).

Democracy without limits means equal rights for everyone – for all opinions, for all religions, for all ways of life. There is nowhere to draw the line, and it keeps getting pushed to the limit by “those who love democracy.” Modern democracy is mankind divorced from God and His Commandments. The rainbow flag is paraded down Main Street in every town, and everybody pretends it is the democratic way. Even priests now minister to the so-called “LGBT Community”, but those who are still in possession of their right minds don’t make a public spectacle of themselves. They seek help in the Confessional, or counseling from a professional, or from trusted friends.  

There must be no mistake. We have great respect for those who struggle against the perverse inclinations and temptations that our wounded human nature is heir to, whatever they may be. This is the way we become saints.

We are born into this world in a state of alienation from God because of Original Sin. If we allow the desires and inclinations of our wayward human nature to control us, we are headed straight for Hell. Our decisions in life must be based on human reason illuminated by faith in Jesus Christ and His teachings, and in conformity with His Holy Commandments. Those who parade their weaknesses in public and expect to be applauded and admired by everyone are deceived by the devil. And those who pass laws favoring their way of life, like same-sex marriage, are headed for Hell with them. They are inviting the punishment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. St. Paul issued this stern warning:

“But immorality and every uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becomes saints; or obscenity or foolish talk or scurrility, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For know this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous one (for that is idolatry) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one lead you astray with empty words; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Do not, then, become partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph.5:3-8).

The severe judgment of God upon this nation, and upon the world, is not far away. We are already seeing the signs that Jesus predicted: “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations bewildered by the roaring of sea and waves; men fainting for fear and for expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Lk.21:25,26).

Our Lord warns us not to be a partaker in the sins of these times: “Go out from her, my people, that you may not share in her sins, and that you may not share in her plagues. For her sins have reached even to heaven, and the Lord has remembered her iniquities” (Apoc.18:4,5).

But if the world has its methods for dealing with its problems – wars and rumors of wars, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered himself unblemished unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb.9:14).