By

Anthony Gonzales

 

"The Lord does not find it difficult to save His true worshippers from their trials, while the wrong-doers must await the day of judgment, marked down for torment; those especially, who follow the defiling appetites of their corrupt nature, and make light of authority. So bold are they, so obstinate, that they are not afraid to bring in new and blasphemous ways of thought, whereas angels, with a strength and a capacity far above theirs, do not bring on themselves any charge so abominable.

"Such men, like dumb animals that are born to be trapped and destroyed, sneer at what they cannot understand, and will soon perish in their own corruption; they will have the reward their wickedness has deserved. To live in luxury while the day lasts in all their pleasure; what a stain they are, what a disfigurement, when they revel in luxury of their own banquets, as they fare sumptuously at your side! Their eyes feast on adultery, insatiable of sin; and they know how to win wavering souls to their purpose, so skilled is all their accursed brood at gaining its own ends. They have gone far astray, leaving the true path, and following the path of Balaam the son of Bosor, the man who was content to take pay in the cause of wrong, and was rebuked by for his perversity, when the dumb beast spoke with a human voice, to bring a prophet to his senses.  They are wells with no water in them, clouds driven before the storm; the lot that awaits them is darkness and gloom. Using fine phrases that have no meaning, they bait their hooks with the wanton appetites of sense, to catch those who have had but a short respite from false teaching. What do they offer? Liberty! While all the time they are enslaved to worldly corruption; whatever influence gets the better of a man becomes his master. That they should have been rescued by acknowledging our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, from the world’s pollution, and then been entangled and overpowered by it again means that their last state is worse than the first. It would have been better if they had never been justified and to have been justified and then turn their backs on the holy law once handed down to them. What has happened to them proves the truth of the proverb, ‘The dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘Wash the sow and she will return to wallow in the mire.’” (2 Peter 2:9-22)

 

These words of St. Peter  are harsh but true. They are not referring to the person who simply falls due to passion and momentary  indiscretion, rather these words apply to those who have returned to the worship of  creatures rather than the Creator. These men and women have heard the call of Christ within their hearts, have embraced the One, True Faith and renounced the devil with all his works and empty promises but have turned  again  to pursue the lusts of the flesh. By their clinging to the creature rather than the Creator they have ipso facto renounced Christ in their hearts and have instead embrace the world with all its corruption.  They rationalize and justify themselves in order to avoid the natural response of the guilt they should feel.  They even are so bold as to think that God will save them in the end even if they reject His commands.  They say "It  is  just  for   a little  while. I will return when I  can  do  so without  giving  up  what  I want. I still "love" God. I'm still a good person."..Etc.etc.  What do these men and women mean when each one proclaims he/she is "a good person"?  They seem to think that because they don't kill people they are good.  They  deceive themselves  into  believing  that they are good because they treat  others well when in actual fact  they only use others to get what  they want.  They cannot love because they are too filled with themselves to love anyone else. They lie to themselves and have great affection for another and only end up using that person to fill a need within themselves.  They are, in  fact, walking corpses. They are dead within but think that they are alive. These spiritual vampires suck the spiritual life out of all those around them and after feasting upon all that the others will give these vampire leave their victim's alone with their withered spirits. They have no love because they are incapable of thinking about anyone but themselves.  They are users who have no respect for themselves or others.

 

This is a terrible form of spiritual slavery.  These people become trapped in a hell of their own making.  They end up hating themselves for what  they have done and for what they have given up.  They hate anything that reminds them of what they could have had in the love of Christ. Every thing good repells them and they become hypercritical of everyone seeing ony that which does not conform to the ideal.  They are like the devil for they run around finding fault and accusing everyone that is close to them of sin.They push away   people with integrity because they simply become a source of irritation to their wounded souls.  Poor  unhappy creatures. They are more miserable in their slavery then the pagans who have never know Christ. They are addicted to the misery they hate and can't seem to pull free.

 

Is there hope for these dead souls. Absolutely! There is always hope. We must pray for their return to the bosom of Jesus. Pray to Our Lady that she, in her tender and motherly care will lead them back to her Son and to His Church. They must renounce themselves completely to accept Him. They must learn to give and not to take. It can only be through a miracle of grace that this can happen but nothing is impossible to God.

 

Reprinted from THE HAMMER, a Roman Catholic Replies publication.

 

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