March 28, 2012 – Buena Park, CA
Dear Friends,
Sunday, April 1, 2012 is Palm Sunday. It is this day on which Holy Week begins. This is the most solemn week of the Church year, as we are reminded of Our Lord’s Passion and Death.
How many, especially those of you who will read this blog, are fully aware that Our Lord’s Death and Resurrection are indeed, the central events of human history. It was through His death that man was redeemed of his sins. The effect of His death, has unfortunately been twisted by many to mean that all our souls have been saved after having proclaimed some sort of “love” for Christ. This, of course, is totally wrong.
Our Lord’s Death opened Heaven, which had been closed sin the Fall of Man. This now makes it possible for those found worthy to enter into Heaven. There is no free ticket; no guarantee; no unreasonable assurances of salvation. If you have some form of “paperwork” which proclaims your salvation, you are sadly being misled.
On the other hand, Our Lord’s Death does provide three profound points for our consideration. The first is proof of His love for us. He was willing to endure horrible sufferings, not only as an example for us, but because it was His Father’s Will. It has been said by others that one drop of His Blood would have been enough to redeem man. Yet, Our Lord was willing to shed ALL of His Blood. Why – to prove that His love for us was whole and entire. In addition, from the sacrificial standpoint first demonstrated in the Old Law, the sacrifice needed to be immolated entirely. This means the sacrifice needed to be destroyed (burned) in its entirety. Nothing was to be left of the sacrifice if it was to be accepted by God. This is why at the time of His death, Christ was not able to give any more of Himself!
The second point is the evil of sin. We live in a world in which many, if not most, either do not know or choose to ignore the seriousness of sin. The effect in either case is that the world is full of sin. Mortal sins are committed each day in numbers which are known only God, but clearly it is seen that little regard is given to sin and its effects.
Mortal sin destroys all grace in the soul. A soul which dies in this state will go directly to Hell. There is no recourse after death. God’s justice is such after death that forgiveness will not occur. All hope is indeed gone.
Satan has had a lot of time to practice on souls. He knows how to entrap them, blind them, use their naivete, or otherwise fool them so as to get them to sin seriously and think little of the sin. One of the results of such a situation is an attachment to a sin, particularly those of impurity.
When Adam and Eve fell in Paradise, it changed the course of history. All of nature was affected by it. Both have been suffering ever since in ways which few recognize. Our Lord wanted to change this damaged course by redeeming Man. This brings us to the third point; satisfaction.
In the eyes of God the scales of justice must be balanced. When considering the countless sins and their nature which have been committed by men, women and children over thousands of years, there is no way man alone would be able to satisfy the injustices toward God. All such sacrifices would be finite, or limited, because man is limited, and, therefore, insufficient. This is why once man fell, God’s plan was to have Our Lord come to this world and die for the sins of men. His sacrifice would be infinite, and therefore, capable of balancing those divine scales. The satisfaction which was required, was accomplished.
Take time in Holy Week to say the prayers which Holy Mother Church has provided. Acknowledge the debt of gratitude which we owe Our Lord for His sacrifice. Pray the prayers of the True Mass and understand this Mass is the same sacrifice as that of Calvary.
May God bless you,
Fr. Joseph, OFM