"Are you saved, brother?"
Editor's Note: We are bringing you Father's sermon from Trinity Sunday this year because it addresses the upcoming Mission Sunday and it is so appropriate on this Feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux whose missionary zeal and tender, loving heart would be horrified by the non-missionary mentality of the post-conciliar revolutionists, and the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi whose whole purpose was to rebuild Christ's Church because of its moral decay. Today we are in similar, even worse times and it is left to the faithful remnant to rebuild His Church in the third millennium.
The Feast of the Holy Trinity celebrates the greatest mystery of our Faith, the mystery of Three Divine Persons in One God. This mystery was revealed to us by the Son, Who was sent by the Father into this world to make known to us the way of salvation. When we are signed with the seal of the living God in the Sacrament of Baptism, we become children of God, and heirs of eternal life. Belief in the Blessed Trinity is necessary for salvation.
The ceremony of Baptism invokes the mystery of the Trinity. For those who seek Baptism, simple belief in God is not enough. They must believe in the Triune God, Three Divine Persons in One God, and be baptized "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Thus, believing as the Jews do, or as the Muslims do, is not enough, even though the Vatican II documents say that the adherents of the three religions, Judaism, Islamism and Christianity, all worship the same God. This is one of the cruelest deceptions of Vatican II, since it gives the Jews and the Muslims a false assurance of salvation.
Christian worship-the only true and acceptable worship offered to God our Father, through Him Who is at once Son of God and Son of Man - Jesus Christ our Lord, reaches its highest expression in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The prayer of the baptized Christian in the state of grace is united to the prayer of Jesus Christ, and rises like incense to the throne of God the Father. All other worship, well meant though it may be, is at best only of an earthly kind, and merits only an earthly reward.
Since Vatican II, however, Catholic life and worship have suffered shipwreck. Some say the Second Vatican Council introduced Protestant doctrine and worship into the Catholic Church. But the "Church of Vatican II" has gone far beyond Protestantism. At least the reformers (or would-be reformers) still believed in the inerrancy of Sacred Scripture, and that one must "repent, believe, and be baptized" in order to be saved.
The crisis in the Church has risen to a new level with the publication of the new message of John Paul II, released on Pentecost Sunday, for his next World Mission Day on October 20, the theme of which is "Mission is Proclamation of Forgiveness." Some nice things, some true things, are said in the document. Jesus forgave His enemies from the Cross. True! We must love one another as He has loved us. True! We must love and forgive our enemies. Difficult, yet true! But, incredibly, throughout the whole document there is not one mention of the necessity of Baptism, and this in a document on the evangelizing mission of the Church. In fact, near the beginning of the document, Jesus is quoted as saying: "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt.28:19,20). You expected perhaps to hear: "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…" But that part of the quotation has been omitted in the document, because it refers to Baptism.
The reason for the omission is soon apparent as we get to the heart of the document, one sentence, which gives us the sum and substance of John Paul's message:
"Through evangelization, believers help people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and, as pilgrims on this earth, although on different paths, we are all on our way to the common Homeland which God, through ways known only to Him, does not cease to indicate to us."
A truly astonishing statement for one reputed to be a Catholic pope! This should inspire horror in the hearts of true believers. But some will be delighted and comforted. We can now believe, they will think, that we are all "on our way to the common Homeland." No more of this scary stuff about hell. And how nice to know that, although we all follow "different paths,"- Buddhism, Islamism, Judaism, Lutheranism, Catholicism, and, yes, atheism - we will all end up in the same place, our "common Homeland," whether we wanted to or not. This is why John Paul can play everybody's grandfather, and can be so benevolent, so ecumenical, so "respectful" of everyone's religion, and make Traditional Catholics look like mean-spirited hate-mongers by comparison.
We know now why the reference to Baptism was omitted. As far as John Paul is concerned, you don't need it. The purpose of evangelization is not to call the nations to conversion and baptism, but to help people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters on our way to a common homeland, while we follow the path of our choice. What we are faced with is the new doctrine of universal salvation, which can be found in some liberal Protestant circles. The idea of Christian universalism is that there are many paths, many religions, but they all lead to Jesus Christ, Who is the only way to heaven. Even without faith or religious belief of any kind, you will still go to heaven through Jesus Christ. This is not actually a new doctrine, but it was reintroduced into the Catholic Church at the time of Vatican II by some liberal theologians, notably Karl Rahner and Karol Wojtyla, now known to the world as Pope John Paul II. It is not the teaching of the Catholic Church. It is not the narrow way which leads to life, but the broad road that leads to destruction.
This is what I meant earlier about the "Church of Vatican II" going far beyond the Protestant reformers. This document, "Mission is Proclamation of Forgiveness," while it speaks piously about dialogue, forgiveness, and love, clearly illustrates that the conciliar church and its antipopes have abandoned the Catholic faith and have initiated a new Reformation vastly more destructive than the Protestant one. Baptism has become an unnecessary ritual. One may find salvation following the path of any religion, or no religion. The New Covenant sealed in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ includes everyone in the world, because Jesus forgave everyone from the Cross. Go where you wish, do what you will, you are being saved, brother.
You have heard about the frog in the pot of water; he doesn't notice that the water is getting hot because it is being heated up gradually. But eventually he is cooked. I think the heat has just been turned up another notch. Trusting Catholics have been warmed up to accept the new doctrine, and many already do. Now John Paul is openly teaching universalism. His outrageous document has got to be the last straw. Read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. And pray, pray, for the Holy Catholic Church.
Father Louis J. Campbell
THURSDAY October 3, 2002 vol 13, no. 108
"Qui legit, intelligat" Father Louis Campbell's Sunday Sermons
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