The Acceptable Time (2Cor.6:2)
Fr. Campbell
“Now
is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!” says St. Paul
(2Cor.6:2). We must take his words to heart, because our time is short,
and if we stray from the Way, Jesus Christ, how will we ever save our
souls from eternal perdition?
These words of Our Lord should wake us up and get us moving:
“Walk
while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you. He who
walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the
light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light”
(Jn.12:35,36).
But
it’s already getting very dark in this world. Many are deceived and
have lost their way, because the Light of Christ is dimmed. Few
Catholics can see clearly, and confusion reigns, even among many
Traditional Catholics.
St.
Paul says, “If the trumpet give forth an uncertain sound, who will
prepare for battle?” (1Cor.14:8). Our papal pretender, Francis
Bergoglio, gives an uncertain sound, resulting in considerable confusion
among NO Catholics. On one day he may talk about loving Jesus, and the
next day he may be found laughing with his Jewish friend, Rabbi Abraham
Skorka, though the Jewish Scriptures have only contempt for Jesus. Or he
may be meeting with the Muslims, who see Jesus as only a minor prophet.
Which Bergoglio do we follow? Better to follow St. Paul, for whom
“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today, yes, and forever”
(Heb.13:8).
Those
who continue to avoid the Light of Christ will reach their point of no
return. If God’s graces are continually resisted, God will get tired of
trying (so to speak), and grace will no longer be available when we are
in desperate need.
Creation
itself reflects God’s infinite perfections, although it can be only a
faint reflection. But when we look at the seemingly infinite grandeur of
the universe, we see that is does indeed reflect the glory of God. We
have this beautiful passage from the psalms:
“The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his
handiwork. Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts
knowledge; not a word nor a discourse whose voice is not heard: through
all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the earth their
message” (Ps.18:2-5).
But
God gave us a greater Light than suns and stars. God the Father, taking
pity on the littleness and weakness of the human race, and in view of
its fall from Grace, sent His own Divine Son to be born into this world
as a Man, born of the Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary. And when the Son of
God was born the Man, Jesus Christ, His purpose and mission were
expressed by the words: “Behold, I come to do thy will, O God”
(Heb.10:9).
Jesus Christ is the obedient Son of the Father. He assures us:
“Amen,
amen, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but only what he
sees the Father doing. For whatever he does, this the Son also does in
like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he
himself does… I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me”
(Jn.5:19,20;30).
Jesus is the perfect image of the Father, and of one will with Him. St. Paul writes:
“He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For
in him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things
visible and things invisible… For it has pleased God the Father that in
him all his fullness should dwell, and that through him he should
reconcile to himself all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens,
making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col.1:15,16a;19,20).
In
these Scripture passages we have the example of what human life should
be. We are here to do the will of the Father, and to live our lives
following what we see in His Divine Son, Jesus Christ. And here is the
final word: the only way we can know the Father, and conform our lives
to Him, is to know the Son, Jesus Christ. Our Lord Himself said to His
Apostles:
“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…
He who sees me sees also the Father” (Jn.14:6,7a;9b).
Holy
Scripture warns us not to be like the ancient Israelites who died in
the desert, and were never allowed to enter the Promised Land:
“Today
if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the provocation,
during the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tried
me, proved and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was offended with
this generation, and said, ‘They always err in heart, and they have not
known my ways.’ As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into
my Rest… Let us therefore hasten to enter into that Rest, lest anyone
fall by following the same example of unbelief” (Heb.3:7-11;4:11).
Our “Rest”, of course, is Heaven, where Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, awaits us: