FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY
November 22-24
vol 13, no. 142

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The Last Judgment

Worry not how man judges you, but be very, very concerned how God will judge you.

    Editor's Note: This weekend we present Father Louis Campbell's sermon for the Last Sunday After Pentecost which he delivered to his parishioners last year on November 25th. His vision of what would occur two months later at Assisi was, sadly, right on for, as he points out, and all should be honest enough to admit it by now, the current pontiff of Rome has veered from the truths of Holy Mother Church by adopting humanism. In his tunnel-vision desire to please all religions and push the disastrous Vatican II agenda of secularization and ecumenism, John Paul II has sold out the Church for there can be no "authentic peace" except from God and only through the way Christ established in His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are still the Church of the Faith of our Fathers and we must fight to keep it so for the usurpers have invaded and threaten to eclipse the Truths and Traditions of Holy Mother Church. We cannot not let them be victorious for salvation awaits those who are faithful and persevere. For those who do not heed Christ's teachings, the Last Judgment will be a most unpleasant and damning experience as Our Lord asserted in Mark 16: 16.

   The world as we know it is passing away. The world is under a death sentence - this because of sin - and there is no peace. As St. Peter says in his first Epistle, quoting Isaiah, "For, 'All flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass; the grass withered, and the flower has fallen-but the word of the Lord endures forever'" (1Pet.1:24). Jesus also in the Gospel today tells us, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" (Mt. 24:35). "The sign of the Son of Man (will appear) in heaven," He says, "and then will all tribes of the earth mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of Heaven with great power and majesty" (Mt.24:30).

   If the sign of the Son of Man were to appear in Heaven this afternoon, who would be ready? Would you?

   Let me ask you another question. How long do you think you could continue going to Communion, Sunday after Sunday, if it were not for the Sacrament of Penance, or Confession? Six months? One month? Sometimes it's hard to make it through the week, is it not? I hear confessions, and I know what people are facing these days. Now there are some who are more stable, or advancing in the spiritual life and avoid serious sin, but they also need that time in the confessional if they are to maintain their spiritual progress and avoid the pitfalls.

   Now concerning your answer to the question about confession, multiply it by thousands, millions, hundreds of millions of Catholics throughout the world, most of them in the "novus ordo" church, where confession is often a thing of the past. Some have not been to confession for thirty or forty years. I know personally a priest who was brought up Catholic and routinely received Holy Communion, but who never made his first confession until he was admitted to the seminary. And yet every last man lines up to receive Communion every Sunday.

   Granted that there are "novus ordo" parishes where people are struggling to keep the faith, and where people are concerned about the state of their souls and do go to Confession, my conclusion is that the number of sacrilegious Communions in the "novus ordo" church is astronomical. Now even if, as we suspect, the "novus ordo" Mass is invalid because of the defect of form of the Consecration, and they wouldn't actually be receiving the true Body of the Lord, yet the consciences of many are not clear, because they believe they are receiving Communion - well, at least if they belong to the diminishing number of those who still believe in the Real Presence.

   Who will be ready at His coming?

   If these were the only misgivings we had about the "novus ordo" church, it should be enough to make us run for our lives, fearful of the judgment that is about to descend upon the apostate church. But there is much more. The contemporary church flirts with the world, prostitutes itself, by entering into a "dialogue" in which it compromises the Gospel of Christ for political expediency. Through dialogue with the powers of this world and with the religions of this world, the contemporary church seeks to build a new civilization-"a civilization of love." It puts false hopes in worldly solutions to problems which require Heavenly solutions - the problem of world peace, for instance.

   Authentic peace comes only from God through His Divine Son, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Peace is His alone to give. Clearly, then, we must preach the Gospel. The Church has the authority from Christ and the command to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

   The difficulty is illustrated by the policies of the present occupant of the papal throne. John Paul II has recently called for another Assisi gathering of the leaders of the world religions, with a special invitation to the Muslims. On January 24th, they will gather there to pray for peace, "authentic peace." John Paul has also asked Catholics to fast on December 14, because it coincides with the end of the Islamic observance of Ramadan. As I indicated above, authentic peace will come only when the world - and the religions of this world - recognize the authority and the Kingship of Jesus Christ.

   The prayer meeting which took place in Assisi in 1986 with representatives of the World Religions is the "centerpiece" of the pontificate of John Paul II. It defines his pontificate, which is increasingly occupied with ecumenical and inter-faith interests. These meetings attribute a validity and importance to these religions which they do not have.

   Strangely enough, although the Person of Jesus Christ and His teachings will not be highlighted at this proposed meeting - it would not be politically correct - John Paul does assign a very central role to Jesus Christ in his version of the process of salvation. But this is at the root of the problem, because John Paul believes that at the precise moment of the Incarnation of the Son of God, all of humanity, from the beginning to the end, has been restored to the state of Original Grace. Hence, every human being has the Holy Spirit and is born in grace. The Church's doctrine of Original Sin is ignored. This lends a false credibility to the World Religions. Perhaps they were founded by individuals who were influenced by the Holy Spirit? Perhaps the religions they founded have become alternate ways of salvation, so that everyone in the world is being saved, whether they believe in Jesus Christ or not?

   Now, this is where, in turn, the Assisi prayer meetings derive their alleged authenticity. If the religious leaders gathered there are all motivated by the Holy Spirit, they are therefore capable of offering prayer which is of the Spirit, and acceptable to God. Unfortunately, this contradicts what the Holy, Catholic Church has believed and taught for 2,000 years - that all human beings, with a single exception, Mary, the Holy Mother of God - are conceived in the state of Original Sin and without sanctifying grace. This is why it is necessary to be "born again of water and the Holy Spirit," as Jesus tells Nicodemus (Jn.3:15).

   Because they lack Christian Baptism, it can not be presumed that most of the religious leaders who will be present at the coming inter-faith meeting-however excellent and noble human beings they may be on the natural level-are in the state of sanctifying grace. "Without faith it is impossible to please God," says Holy Scripture. Will they go to Assisi to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy and Undivided Trinity? Not likely! Will they be asked to believe in the truth of the Gospel? Not likely! What we end up with is a pious "wild goose chase," a futile attempt to bring forth a peace which Jesus said the world cannot give. Why have we given up the Gospel and accepted the ways of the world?

   This leaves the world under judgment because it has rejected Jesus Christ, Son of God and only source of authentic peace. And the apostate church is under judgment for its faithlessness and disobedience.

   Are we to despair, then, and give up hope of salvation? Not at all! "Because iniquity will abound," Jesus says, "the charity of the many will grow cold. But whoever perseveres to the end, he shall be saved" (Mt.24:12-13). The time of judgment is also the time of salvation for those who have washed their robes in the Blood of the Divine Lamb, through the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. "We exhort you, for Christ's sake, be reconciled to God," St. Paul says: "For our sakes he made him to be sin who knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the justice of God. Yes, working together with him we entreat you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, 'In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation, I have helped thee.' Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" (2Cor. 5:21-6:2) †

Father Louis J. Campbell


FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY
November 22-24, 2002
vol 13, no. 142
"Qui legit, intelligat" Father Louis Campbell's Sunday Sermons
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