Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Today on the great feast of Pentecost. We can take a few minutes considering the end of that great sermon preached on Pentecost by Saint Peter. Before we consider that passage, let's take a moment to review our actual situation. It's important to always keep this in mind, or we don't understand our faith very well. And there's a lot of people I'm not speaking to you, but just in general, a lot of good Catholics that don't get. This will rely on Pope Leo, the 13th, the only father quote, the race of man after it's miserable, fall from God, separated into two diverse and opposite parts of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue. The other, for those things, which are contrary to virtue and truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely the true church of Jesus Christ and those who desire from their heart to be United with it.
Speaker 0 00:01:01 So as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and his only begotten son with their whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan and whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader now of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law. And we have many aims of their own and contempt of God and many aims also against God close quote, the vicar of Christ. So mankind is divided into two and only two camps. One is headed towards heaven. That's a kingdom of God on earth. The true church of Jesus Christ, the other camp is headed towards hell and as the kingdom of sane. Okay? That's not all thanks to Adam. Where do we start? We all start life in the kingdom of Satan accepting of course our Lord and the blessed Virgin Mary.
Speaker 0 00:02:00 So mankind's divided two camps, the kingdom of God on earth, the church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Satan. And we're all born. We all start off as members, a kingdom of Satan. Thanks a lot at them. That's still not all. We got to remember that God is under no obligation to move anyone into his kingdom. We can't say to God, it's unfair. If he doesn't move me or anyone else out of the kingdom of Satan into his kingdom. So our actual situation is that mankind is divided in two camps, the kingdom of God on earth and the kingdom of Satan. We're all born as members of the kingdom, Satan and a God is under no obligation whatsoever to move any of us out of the kingdom of Satan into his camp. Now that's all background with all that being said, let's listen carefully to the end of that great pan across sermon preached by our Holy patron, Saint Peter, to the Jews, Saint Peter quote, Peter said to them, do pennants and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.
Speaker 0 00:03:08 And you shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. And with very many other words, did he testify and exhort them saying, save yourselves from this perverse generation. They therefore the received, his word were baptized and they were added in that day about 3000 souls close quote, the Holy ghost. Just repeat that cause we're going to be referring to it, do pennants and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost. And with very many of the words, did he testify and exhort them saying, save yourselves from this perverse generation. They therefore that received his word were baptized and they were added that day about 3000 souls. And that first Christian Pentecost today, the birthday, the church, we're going to spend time considering the implications of these remarkable lines from a point of view of the absolute necessity for salvation, the absolute necessity of our membership in the Catholic church at a later date, we'll consider issues like a salvation of other men by such means as baptism of desire, baptism of blood, what exactly men have to be believed to be saved?
Speaker 0 00:04:22 What exactly invincible ignorance consists of and so forth. Don't worry about that today. Today, we're going to meditate on this remarkable Pentecost sermon of our Holy patron, Saint Peter. And to do that, we're going to rely heavily on analysis made by the late great domestic theologian, Monsignor Fenton. And I've condensed an entire chapter from the book to try to get this cause I want to make sure that we see, see that the importance of this. So this is going to be a long but quite edited quote. All right, while discussing this very sermon st. Peter Monsignor Fenton points out, quote, both the text and the context of the acts of the apostles assure us that the people who heated st Peter's and junction to save themselves from this perverse generation entered the true church of God, the kingdom of God on earth. They entered the Catholic church.
Speaker 0 00:05:21 Now, if st Peter's words on this occasion mean anything at all, they signified the individuals to whom he was speaking we're in a situation which would lead them to eternal ruin. If they continued in it, they were described as belonging to a perverse generation. They were told to save themselves by getting out of it, the institution, which they would enter by the very fact of leaving this perverse generation was none other than the Catholic itself. The clear implication of st. Peter statement is that the church, the kingdom of God, was the only institution or social unit of salvation not to be within the society was to be within the perverse generation, within which a man was faced with an entire and eternal spiritual ruin to leave. The perverse generation was to enter the church by God's institution. The process of salvation itself involves a passage from the kingdom of Satan into the church that's worth repeating.
Speaker 0 00:06:38 We need to keep this in mind by God's institution. The process of salvation itself involves a passage from the kingdom of Satan into the church. Now, for the proper understanding of this doctrine, it is imperative. It is imperative to understand the religious condition of the people, to whom Saint Peter delivered his sermon on that first Christian Pentecost. They acts the apostles, which we just heard read describes him as Jews, devout men of every nation under heaven. A great many of these people are pilgrims men and women who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the great Jewish feast of Pentecost. Our Lord had died on the cross only a little over seven weeks before Saint Peter delivered that sermon. And many of the people who listened to st. Peter must have been on their way to Jerusalem. At the very time our Lord had died. They had begun with their pilgrimage as an act of worship in the Jewish religion.
Speaker 0 00:07:46 At the very time when the Jewish religion was the one approved, especially by God. And when the Jewish religious Commonwealth was actually the supernatural kingdom of God on earth, the church of the old Testament, these people as individuals probably had nothing whatsoever to do with the persecution and murder of the incarnate word of God. They had started on their journey as members of God's chosen people, the people of his covenant, their journey to Jerusalem was made precisely in order to worship and honor God. They were truly devote individuals yet seven weeks before the religious body, to which they belonged had ceased to be God's church. The Jewish religious social unit had definitively rejected our Lord. The Messiah promised in the old Testament, this company had hitherto enjoyed its position as God's church, by virtue of the fact, it had accepted and professed its acceptance of the divine message about the promised Redeemer in rejecting the Redeemer himself.
Speaker 0 00:09:02 The social unit had automatically rejected the teaching that God had given about him, the rejection, this message constituted an abandonment of the defined faith itself by manifesting this rejection of the faith, the Jewish religious unit fell from its position as the company of the chosen people. It was no longer God's church. It was no longer as supernatural kingdom on earth. It became part of the kingdom of Satan. Well, the great social unit of the Jews was rejected. Our yard Lord, the little company of the disciples organized by our Lord, Ron himself retained its faith. It continued to accept and to obey our Lord and to believe divinely revealed message that centered around him. Thus at the moment of our Lord's death on Calvary, the moment when the old dispensation was ended and the Jewish religious association ceased to be the supernatural kingdom of God on earth, this recently organized society of our Lord's disciples began to exist as the kingdom of God on earth.
Speaker 0 00:10:13 This society centered around our lady and st. Peter was the true continuation of Israel, the men who were within it, where the true sons of Abraham, and if they had the genuine faith of Abraham, this society was the new association of the chosen people. Its members were as Saint Paul called them the elect or the chosen of God. It was the true church or company of the faithful in the sense that no man could attain to eternal salvation. And last he passed from this life within it. This organized society within which unworthy members would be intermingled with the good until the end of time was actually our Lords on mystical books. So it was that when st. Peter spoke to the crowd on that first Christian Pentecost, the society of which he had been constituted, the visible head was actually the church of God. His heres who a few weeks before had belonged to God's supernatural kingdom on earth, by reason of their membership in the old Testament community now actually found themselves in that perverse generation precisely bye beans.
Speaker 0 00:11:26 A reason of that same membership when st. Peter spoke to them, they were in a position from which they needed to be saved. When Saint Peter's speaking to them in this sermon, which occurs immediately after the reading we had at the epistle, they were in a position from which they needed to be Sayed. They were no longer members of the chosen people. It's extremely important for us to remember that the people st Peter urged to save themselves from the perverse generation in which they were living were definitively not man of no religion at all. They were devout members of the establishment, which had been less than eight weeks before God's supernatural kingdom on earth. And that establishment, they had learned love for God and zeal in his service. Many of them were so moved by zeal for the service of God. They were willing to travel very considerable distances and to undergo serious hardships in order to assist at the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem during the great feast of Pentecost st.
Speaker 0 00:12:32 Peter and his preaching did not recommend the church to these people as something far more pure perfect than the religious affiliation. It already possessed on the contrary. He made it clear. It wasn't far more perfect. It was necessary. It was necessary for them to transfer themselves from the perverse generation in which they then existed into a condition of salvation. The acceptance of his teaching was in fact, an entrance into the Catholic church. It is in line with this teaching that Saint Paul in his epistles refers to those within the church as being saved. The entire context of the new Testament brings out the fact that by entering the church, men are actually being saved from the dominion of Satan. The Prince of this world, Saint Peter made it clear that an entering a church, the people to whom he was speaking on that first Christian Pentecost were really being safe.
Speaker 0 00:13:29 We must not lose fact or sight of the fact that in our own day, there's oftentimes a tendency to imagine that people who are in a position comparable without of the people whom Saint Peter's sermon was addressed are really in an acceptable position. In every age of the church. There's been one portion of Christian doctrine, which might've have been attempt, especially tempted to misconstrue or deny in our times is the part of Catholic truth truth, which was brought out with special force and clarity by st. Peter. And it's the first missionary sermon in Jerusalem is unfashionable to date, insist to st. Peter did that. Those who are outside the true church of Jesus Christ stand Anita being saved by leaving their own positions and entering the church unfashionable or not. This remains part of God's own revealed message. It is part of Catholic doctrine that entrance into the church, actually by becoming a member of the church.
Speaker 0 00:14:33 And when this is impossible, at least by an implicit, those sincere desire intention entrance into the church is part of the process of salvation. It is equally part of Catholic teaching. However, this is by no means the only part a man is safe from the evil beagle belonging to the kingdom of Satan by his entrance into the church. But that entrance in no way, guarantees that he will actually enjoy the beatific vision for all eternity. The process of salvation is not fully completed. A man cannot be said to be saved in the fullest sense of the term until he's attained the beatific vision itself. Thus, despite the fact is possible for a man to be within the church and lose his soul. Salvation is in itself a process which involves a social aspect. Everyone, everyone that's been born since the sin of Adam with exception of our Lord and the blessed mother, everyone has come into the world as a member of the fond family of Adam.
Speaker 0 00:15:33 And thus as one who belongs to what Saint Peter designated as a perverse generation, what Pope Leo, the 13th called the kingdom of Satan. The process of salvation is a process by which such man had been bought from that condition of aversion to God, into the enjoyment of the beatific vision involved in that process by God's own institution is a transfer from the kingdom of Satan, into the one, the one supernatural kingdom of God on earth. Since the moment of our Lord's death on the cross, that kingdom has been again by God's own institution, the Catholic church, the mystical body of Christ on earth, close quote, Monsignor Finn. Now there's a lot to think about there, but for now, we'll just shift gears and consider what are some of the implications for us? What are we supposed to take away from all this on this beautiful Pentecost Sunday, first conclusion, if we Catholics, if we Catholics ever leave the Catholic church, we are moving away.
Speaker 0 00:16:42 We are moving ourselves out of the kingdom of God and into the kingdom of Satan. And what does that mean? That means we can't be saved. If we Catholics leave the church, we can be saved. If we leave the church, we can't be saved later on. We'll consider the salvation of other men, but for today, everyone needs to burn this into his mind. If I leave the Catholic church, I can't be saved. Now I want to speak. Especially the young people, priests aren't completely stupid. I know that there are young people here that come to mass because your folks make you and you can't wait to leave home and dump all this Catholic stuff for the love of God, for the salvation of your soul. Don't leave the church. Listen to me. If you leave the church, you can't be saved. What is your soul worth?
Speaker 0 00:17:47 Second conclusion. We're already in the kingdom of God. We're already in the kingdom of God. We've already been placed into the kingdom of God. Think about what that means. Think about what that means about how much God loves us each and every one of us here that he's given us this priceless gift. We've been moved up from being children of wrath from under the dominion of Satan, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light and grace and truth. Third conclusion, since we're in the kingdom of God, the true church, that means that God is with us. He's with us. He hasn't left us orphans. Now is he there right now? The most busted stack with all to really present body blood, soul and divinity. It's always, we're in a state of grace. He's dwelling within us in a depths of our soul in the most spiritual part of our soul, the father son, the Holy ghost, the most blessed Trinity is dwelling within our souls.
Speaker 0 00:18:56 As in a temple, God is with us. This means that not only can we visit our Lord and the most blessed sacrament when we're in church, but as long as we're in the state of grace, we can also visit the most blessed at Trinity simply by turning inwards. That's why we call it the interior life. The true your life is getting more and more in contact through prayer with the blessed Trinity that's dwelling in us as a temple, somebody loves and he's in the depths of our souls. Okay? Think of the dignity to which God has called us. He's moved us from being enemies, from being enemies and under the dominion of Satan. And he's moved us into being his temples.
Speaker 0 00:19:41 Fourth conclusion. Once we're in a state of grace, once we've been can supernatural life, we don't have anything to be afraid of, except sin. We have nothing to be afraid of sex sin, because that's the only thing that can separate us from God. The only thing that can separate us from God is sin. We have nothing to be afraid of except sin, nothing, nothing. We're here to become saints. The only obstacle to our sanctity is sin from the state of grace. The only obstacle to leading a successful life is sin. Nothing else matters. Sickness, suffering, death, nothing matters except sin. Once we're in a state of grace, that's the only danger to our salvation is sin. Finally, these truths need to be acted upon what are we doing since God is with us? Both in the most blessed sacrament, the altar and the depths of our soul.
Speaker 0 00:20:45 We've got power. We have supernatural power readily available. We have the infused virtues, faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance. We've got the seven gifts of the Holy ghost. We have super naturally strong personalities. We may have a fairly meek, mild Casper milk toast toward a sort of natural personality, but we've been supernaturally strengthened by being in the state of grace. We have power that comes from God himself. We got to use it. You take him at his word. We need to take the word made flesh. When receiving Holy communion, ask him to strengthen us and make us grow into him and like him, are we doing anything? Are we reaching out to those rounders? Like Saint Peter reached out on that first Pentecost are we, are we, we got power, supernatural power. We just have to use it. We're not supposed to just sit there.
Speaker 0 00:21:50 We're supposed to go out and take this message of hope. This message of love, this message of freedom from bondage and sin out into a world. Afflicted with darkness and misery and despair. We can take Christ revealed word out to our friends and neighbors in our actions, of course, but our words also the first sermon st. Peter preached after Pentecost, you had 3000 conversions. Okay? So we're not saying Peter, but that doesn't mean that we can't reach out. Okay. God puts men into our path. What does he expect us to do? But to try to throw a lifeline to them, if they don't have what we've got, see, we've got something they need. We've got something they want, even if they don't know it yet, we've been placed to the kingdom of God. And we want them to have, we want everyone to have what we've got.
Speaker 0 00:22:46 We want to invite people to become Catholic. Now we don't do that with a club. We don't want a cloud room. You can win an argument and lose his soul. We gotta be gentle. It's easy. It's summer coming up. We can practice when we're on vacation, practice on strangers. You're not going to see him again. Okay. It's going to be easy. Okay? I'll give you a few good techniques. This is from Frank. <inaudible> a Legion of Mary. It's easy. You know, you bump into somebody you're on vacation. You're pumping gas. You strike up a conversation with them about anything, about the price of gas, good place to go fishing. What's neat to see whatever don't fake it be genuine. You got, you're curious about something when you're traveling around. So you can be genuine. No one likes a fake. Let's see, right? Three. So you just stand around and visit.
Speaker 0 00:23:26 Huh? And then we've got some kind of rapport built up with the person asking something like, would it be too personal to ask you what your religion is and go from there. You can't get it wrong. You're trying to do something. You can't get it wrong. You go from there. Then if they're not Catholic, say, did it ever cross your mind becoming a Catholic that thought crossed your mind, go from there. If it says, no, say well, to my way of thinking, you're leading a greatly deprived life. You owe it to yourself to have a look at Catholicism. It means an awful lot to me. Let me assure you. If they point out all the pasta, seas and scandals and all the nonsense going on, which they probably will, you can just smile and say, well, come on in. And the water's terrible. I mean, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 0 00:24:07 You're trying to get somebody to consider our faith. You can't flunk. Except if you don't do anything, God put that person across your path. If you don't know what to do, have a pocket full and this metal, so you can give them away. It's easy here. You need one of these, you know, they'll take it from you. It's too late. They've got it once a year. If anyone, you know, the last one it is who cares? It's easy to do this stuff. Okay. Don't worry about getting it right. God's with us. We just do the best we can. We're not expecting to be Saint Peter. We're not, but that's okay. And we're not expecting necessarily to convert a stranger and just one conversation. Although apparently thing in college asked a guy, if you ever, you know, why don't you become Catholic? And he said, all right, why was fell over? That's only happened once, you know, but, uh, but Hey, it gives you hope, you know? Cause I just like that. I thought, wow, I was ready for an argument. I don't know what to say now. So I just stood there and said, ah, okay, anyway, we can do it. Besides if we're doing it with strangers, we don't need to be afraid. It's not as sin and we're never going to see him again. So who cares if we look stupid, you know, you get better at it. Okay. Practice. All right, let's review.
Speaker 0 00:25:15 If we leave the Catholic church, we can't be saved. We're already in the kingdom of God. God's with us and learned state of grace or his temples. The only thing that can separate us from God is sin. And so sin is the only thing that we need to be afraid of. We've got supernaturally, strengthened personalities, and we need to reach out to the people that God puts in our path to try to bring them out of the kingdom of darkness, out of the perverse generation and bring them into the kingdom of God. Christ has placed each one of us in his kingdom. Christ has placed me in his kingdom, the Catholic church. And he's given me the means of salvation. Each one of us has to say that Christ has placed me in the church and given me the means of salvation. He expects me to spread the word about this, to the folks. He places in my path. What have I been doing about this? What am I doing about this? What will I do about this.
