The Beloved Son of the Father
Fr. Campbell
“Who
can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy
place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not
what is vain, nor swears deceitfully to his neighbor. He shall receive a
blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. Such is the race
that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob”
(Ps.23:3-6).
Those
who are wise must try to climb the Lord’s Holy Mountain. But the proud
can make no progress until they learn to be humble. Our Holy Mother Mary
tells us in her Magnificat:
“His
mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. He has
shown might with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the conceit of
their heart. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has
exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich he has sent away empty” (Lk.1:50-53).
St. Paul confirms her words:
“Let
no one deceive himself. If any one of you thinks himself wise in this
world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of
this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘I will catch the
wise in their craftiness.’ And again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of
the wise, that they are empty’” (1Cor.3:18-20).
In his Epistle to the Romans St. Paul speaks of the ultimate consequences of worldly pride:
“For
while professing to be wise, they have become fools, and they have
changed the glory of the incorruptible God for an image made like to
corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.
Therefore God has given them up in the lustful desires of their hearts
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.1:22-25).
We
see it everywhere now. Francis tells them, “God made you like this and
loves you like this and I don’t care. The pope loves you like this. You
have to be happy with who you are” (YourNewsWire.com, May 21, 2018).
But God, whose ways are not our ways, has a different opinion:
“Be
not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil… Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; in
all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths”
(Prov.3:7;5,6).
God
will “make straight your paths.” Our Lord tells us not to be satisfied
with the defects of our human nature. Those who seek the Lord will be
liberated from the effects of Original Sin:
“If
you abide in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed, and you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn.8:31b,32).
But we must be patient, persevering in obedience to the Lord’s Commandments:
“Humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the
time of visitation; cast all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for
you” (1Pet.5:6b,7).
We
have the best of teachers – Jesus Christ. We learn from Him all that we
need to know for the sake of our salvation. Our Lord revealed to us
that there are Three Divine Persons in One God – the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Be
“steadfast in the Faith,” says St. Peter (1Pet.5:9). Our Catholic Faith
is our anchor in these troubled times. Nothing else gives such meaning
and stability to our lives. It tells us that Jesus Christ is our Way,
and our Truth, and our Life (Jn.14:6).
It
is not true that we believe in the same God as the Jews and the
Muslims. When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah their religion
had nowhere to go, so it became the corrupt religion of Talmudism. As
for the Muslims, they don’t believe in the Holy Trinity either, and to
them Jesus Christ is just a man.
Just as Jesus was delivered up to be crucified, so will it be with His true disciples, as the Lord Himself told us:
“Then
they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will put you to death; and
you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And many will fall
away, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. And many
false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray. And because
iniquity will abound, the charity of many will grow cold. But whoever
perseveres to the end, he shall be saved” (Mt.24:8b-13).
Although few will persevere, St. Alphonsus gives us these encouraging words:
“He
who prays is certain to be saved; while he who prays not is certain to
be damned. All the saints were saved, and came to be saints by praying;
all the accursed souls in hell were lost through neglect of prayer; if
they had prayed, it is certain that they would not have been lost. And
this will be one of the greatest occasions of their anguish in hell, the
thought that they might have saved themselves so easily; that they had
only to beg God to help them, but that now the time is past when this
could avail them” (St. Alphonsus Liguori).