Little Flower Parish at 204 1st St. N.W., Browning, MT 59417 US - The Cross Of Christ

DE LA SALLE BLACKFEET SCHOOL PROJECT By Fr. Ed Kohler February 4,2002 I mentioned in my last article, which dealt with God's justice, that in my next writing I would want to write about God's mercy. But the mercy of God has also been devalued in today's world as a consequence of the Secular Revolution just as has happened to an understanding of the justice of God. It is hard to understand the collective conscience of First World society today, but with the advent of the Secular Revolution of the 1960s it certainly changed. In moral matters we felt empowered to change the moral code and somehow we felt empowered to excuse others and ourselves from moral culpability. We are seemingly a very open minded people. It became hard to define sin and to find someone responsible for evil in the world. Most evil has been reflected on and understood in psychological and sociological terms. We have found it very hard to accuse anyone of wrongdoing or hold him or her accountable for any wrong done. The Secular World states that no one can be held culpable for evil done by a person who is psychologically damaged by sociological or physiological dysfunction. To some degree they are right. The Catholic Church has always taught that people must be free to sin. But the Secular World carries its argument too far by stating that all evil is a consequence of this dysfunction and therefore no one is truly free to be held accountable. There is freedom in people and to the degree humans are free they are held accountable by God for the wrong they do. In my last article I tried to make my case concerning the justice of God. For those who believe that there will not be a just punishment by God for personal sin, the traditional teaching of the Church about the Cross of Jesus Christ would hold no meaning and for them Christ's suffering and dying has no redemptive value. There is no need for God's mercy if there is no culpability to sin. This, I believe, is the opinion of the majority of highly educated Americans and Europeans today. My point is proven by the many ways first world people relegate Jesus to the common role of being just a holy man or a prophet. They may say He is the Son of God but His voice is heard as just one more voice among many. His moral teachings are buried beneath the new age thinking of the secular world. (When I think of the consequences of some of this new age thinking, such as the sexual revolution, I just shutter within myself.) Also in their attempt to be inclusive and non-judgmental many First World People want to make a huge point saying that all religions are equal. "After all, all people worship the same God.” they say. They want us to believe that it makes no difference to God what tradition we use to approach Him. All religion is inspired by God, they say, and no one has the right to say that one way is better than another way. To demonstrate their point it is now law that God and prayer cannot be brought into the public school classroom because some forms of prayer would infringe on the sensitivities of those in different faiths. It is for this reason that I desperately desire today the growth of the Catholic School System in the United States of America. A Catholic Christian who truly understands who Jesus Christ is would never conclude that all religions are equal. Jesus Christ is the Only Son of God. Who can be equal with Him? Jesus Christ is also the Word of God. He is the perfect reflection of the Creators glory, the exact representation of the Creator God's Being and Jesus sustains all things by His powerful word. Who or what other religion can reveal the true God more perfectly? We also learn that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Him. If He is the Truth and teaches the Truth, then this is the truth and means what it says, "that no one can come to the Father except through Him."(John 14:6) The Christian faith does not pretend to be inclusive or equal to all world religions. Our faith is the one true faith because Jesus Christ is God's only Son, and the Creator God said (at the time of the Transfiguration, Matthew 17:5), "This is my beloved Son on whom my favor rests. Listen to Him." And blessed are we who know this to be true and follow Jesus Christ. We have a moral obligation to bring this truth in a clear way to our children. There is more. I believe that all people sin, that these sins have real negative consequences, and that these consequences are noted by the just God we worship. Does someone think that God would not note the consequences inflicted on the world by Nazi Germany or the Communist Revolution, or the consequences inflicted on our children by the Sexual Revolution? The victims of these sins cry out for justice. Would God turn away from justice so as to be seen as a kind divine being? Jesus teaches us that all sin will be seen for what it has done and that the justice of God will be made known to the entire world. In God's divine light, when we see the full consequence of our sin, we will understand that there is no reasonable punishment we could inflict on ourselves that would answer the demands of justice and make us right before God. For most of us, what ever we could do to justify ourselves would be found lacking in relationship to the demands of justice. The Creator God will answer the demands of justice. He is a just God. It is a true aspect of His character. He cannot change His nature. Any clear thinking Christian can come to understand the incredible impact the passion and crucifixion of Jesus would have on the Creator God. It would be anguish worthy of God and of infinite dimensions. It mattered to God the Father that His Only Son, innocent and without sin, was rejected, suffered, and was put to death at the hands of sinners. The suffering of His Son counts for a lot in the mind and heart of God. It is the power of that suffering by His Son on the altar of the cross that opens the doors of mercy in the heart of God to us who are sinners. Before we can enter the Kingdom of the just God, the demands for justice must be met. The Kingdom, besides all its other attributes, is a Kingdom of Justice. If our own personal sufferings lack what justice would demand of us, and if we want to enter the Kingdom of God, we must turn to Jesus. To find the mercy of God we discover it is poured out to us in the sacrificial sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross. If we are found lacking before the God of Justice, and if we look to Jesus Christ for mercy, and if Jesus claims us He can pay back what we lack in the presence of justice. Jesus would say, "That person belongs to me. By my suffering the demands of justice are satisfied. By my blood that person is washed clean. I will ransom him. I will redeem her. By my sacrifice on the altar of the cross they are to be justified and made right to enter the Kingdom of God. He is my brother. She is my sister." The God of justice, remembering His Godly anguish at the time of the crucifixion of His Only Son will say, "The debt is paid. Let it be done at the will of my Son. You. Enter the Kingdom of God." If we have sinned to the extent that we need a redeemer, and if Jesus is the only one who moves the heart of God to mercy, then how can one be justified apart from the savior of the world? Jesus is not simply a holy man. He is the instrument of our salvation and apart from Him we cannot be saved. It is by ignorance, by pure foolishness, or by willful sin that anyone would walk apart from Jesus Christ. I feel morally obliged, as a pastor, to provide a way that our children can come to clearly understand who Jesus Christ is for them. They need to live in an environment that protects them from sin. They need to live in an environment that would easily lead them to the mercy of God when they do sin. In a secular world that hates the Father of Jesus, my best answer is found in the Catholic school system. I pray that this ministry is of value to you. If you would like to know more about our parish or our De La Salle Blackfeet Middle School please see our Web Page: http://littleflowerparish.catholicweb.com. If you want to help us financially please write us at: Little Flower Parish, P.O. Box 529, Browning, Montana, 59417. We pray for our benefactors. Please feel free to copy this writing and to share it with others.

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