Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 16th Sunday of Ordinary time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The twelfth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in everlasting life.” There are ten (10) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 1058.
The Church prays that no one will be lost. Imagine the worst of the worst public sinners: Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Attila the Hun… Our saving faith and hope in God’s great mercy is based on His love for us sinners, and these aforementioned ones too. How deep will our gratitude be to spend all eternity with God in Heaven. In fact all the blessed in Heaven will thank God for His great mercy. While we pray and hope for the salvation of all, if someone should sadly die unrepentant with the stain of mortal sin upon the soul such will sadly be lost for all eternity.
Regarding our faith in life everlasting and our hope for life on high with Christ the Catechism here alludes to the Anima Christi. This was a favorite prayer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), which he included in his Spiritual Exercises although he was not it’s original author. It says in part: “…Lord, do not permit that I may be always separated from You…” (Ne permittas me separari a Te). We separate ourselves from God and His mercy and love by our sins and obstinate unrepentance. The time for repentance and conversion is now, while we still have life and breath within us.
We have in the Lord Jesus, Crucified and glorified the remedy we need in order not to be lost or separated from God, in the here and now or in eternity. None of us can save ourselves. We need the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride Holy Mother Church through which He gives us the grace we need to be the saints He calls us to be.
While God wants all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), whenever we sin we spurn God’s holy will and desires for us, namely, that we be saved. Freewill is one of God’s great gifts to us and is part of just how we are in the divine image. When we abuse our freewill, that is when we sin, we disregard what God wants and prefer creatures and creation to the Creator, with lamentable consequences.
As the creation, ex nihilo (out of nothing) and as the redemption show us that “all is possible” for God (Matthew 19:26), let us redouble our efforts to be the saints God calls us to be, spurning sin and Satan and the glamor of evil. Let us cooperate with God’s holy will in our regard and work with the many graces He gives us in the sacraments. This way He will be pleased with us and we will hear those beautiful words: Good and faithful servant, come share your Masters’ joy (cf. Matthew 25:21, 23).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr