WE HAVE MOVED!

"And I beheld, and heard the voice of one eagle flying through the midst of heaven,
saying with a loud voice: Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth....
[Apocalypse (Revelation) 8:13]

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Fr. Campbell, "The Eclipse of God’s Commandments"

The Eclipse of God’s Commandments

 


“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,” says St. Paul (1Cor.12:4). God wished us to have these gifts from the beginning, but they were lost through the sin of Adam and Eve. And if God had not restored these gifts through the Sacrifice of His Divine Son, Jesus Christ, upon the Cross, we would all be left in the darkness of this world, which is passing away. We would think like the world, act like the world, and die like the world. But God sent His Divine Son to be the Light of the world, as Isaiah prophesied:


“Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light; and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has arisen” (Mt.4:15,16).

Those who have the mind of Christ know evil when they see it, but those who have the mind of the world cannot recognize sin and its consequences. It has turned into a catastrophe for this country, where sin is not acknowledged and we are led into the darkness by God’s enemies.

In Noah’s time God destroyed those who failed to seek refuge in the ark because they focused on the activities and pleasures of the world. God regretted, so to speak, that He had made them, and only Noah and his family were spared:

“I will wipe from the earth man whom I have created – man and beast, crawling creatures and bird of the air as well – for I regret that I made them” (Gen.6:7).

In the time of Abraham, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the gravely immoral behavior of their inhabitants:

“The Lord poured down on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. He overthrew those cities and the whole region, all the inhabitants of the cities and the plants of the soil” (Gen.19:24,25).

It should be clear to all that no one has a right to do wrong. No one has a right to offend God. And these things are an abomination in God’s eyes, says St. Paul:

“For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen – his everlasting power also and divinity – being understood through the things that are made. And so they are without excuse, seeing that, although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless minds have been darkened… Therefore God has given them up in the lustful desires of their heart to uncleanness, so that they dishonor their own bodies among themselves – they who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen” (Rom.1:20,21;24,25).
In this country the Holy Commandments of God were once recognized as the basis of the laws that were passed, and our representatives in government considered it their responsibility to preserve public order and lawful behavior. We were said to be a Christian country. But God’s rights were set aside when we began to focus on “human rights”.   On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

Today we are being pressured by the so-called “LGBT Community” to accept their lifestyle as normal, and to approve of their parades and their rainbow flags. It is presented by the media as a human rights issue. But no one has a right to do what is offensive to God.

We must make it clear that we are not talking about those who recognize the fault within themselves, and who strive to overcome it. We must all do that, while making good use of the Sacrament of Confession when it is available. But those things that belong in the confessional, or in God’s tribunal, should not be paraded in public as something to be proud of. Yet this is exactly what those who “come out” are doing. And we are all expected to admire them for their courage and to recognize their “rights”. But there are no rights for those who do wrong. God Himself tells them the truth, through the prophet Isaiah:

“Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes and prudent in your own conceits… Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust. For they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Is.5:20, 21,24).

“A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man,” says the Lord, “nor shall a man put on a woman’s dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord your God” (Deut.22:5).

“Be not deceived, God is not mocked” St. Paul tells us, “For what a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows in the flesh, from the flesh also will reap corruption. But he who sows in the spirit, from the spirit will reap life everlasting” (Gal.6:7-9).

Pity the poor children who are exposed to such things, almost before they can walk. Near San Francisco there is the Rainbow Day Camp, for transgender and “gender fluid” children, some as young as four years old. How can little children be expected to know even what these things mean? But God just judgment is upon the world:

“He who is throned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides them. Then in anger he speaks to them; he terrifies them in his wrath: ‘I myself have set up my king on Sion, my holy mountain’… And now, O kings, give heed; take warning, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before him; with trembling pay homage to him, lest he be angry and you perish from the way, when his anger blazes suddenly. Happy are all who take refuge in him!” (Ps.2:4-6;10-12).