Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:21 I guess I'll make a remark before we get going. It's we should be thankful for what we have. I, I was just on retreat with one of my, one of my very good friends had to leave the retreat early cause of his mother go back to Malaysia. He's a priest from Malaysia. His father died two years ago and the priest called up his mother and said, well, since your son says a lot mess, I was just calling to let you know that he won't be able to say mass for his father in the parish, or actually on any dice in property. And he had, and that's sole pastoral care. The priest gave to his mother when his father died. So they actually ended up the Buddhist, invited him. So he said, mass in the Buddha, the guys are chatting on the other side of some wall and the Muslims and Hindus brought the food. I mean, heaven help those priests in that diocese. So we had to pray for those people because the burial of the dead is a corporate work of mercy. And it's just astonishing, but be thankful for what we have. And remember the people that don't
Speaker 1 00:01:36 Today on the great feast of Pentecost. We're going to revisit a topic that we've looked at before now to put it all into context. We'll take a moment to make sure we have a clear grasp of our actual objective situation and do that. This quote from the Pope, Leo, the 13th quote, the race of man after its miserable fall from God, separated into two diverse and opposite parts of which the one stood Fastly contends for truth and virtue. The other those things, which are contrary to virtue into 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. 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 others, the kingdom of Satan and whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and have our first parents. Those who refuse to abate the divine internal law. We have many aims that are own and contempt of God and many aims also against God close quote. The vicar of Christ case mankind is divided into two and only two camps. One camp is headed
Speaker 2 00:03:00 Towards heaven, the kingdom of God and earth, the true church of Jesus Christ. Another camp is headed towards hell and as the kingdom of Satan. And that's not all, thanks to Adam. We all start life in the kingdom of Satan accepting of course our Lord, I bless mother. So mankind is divided into only two camps, the kingdom of God on earth, the true church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Satan. And we're all born as members of the kingdom of Satan. And that's still not all. See God is under absolutely no obligation to move us into his kingdom. No one can say to God that it's unfair. If he doesn't move him out of the kingdom of Satan into his kingdom.
Speaker 2 00:03:50 So our actual situation is that mankind is devoted, divided in two camps, and there's only two camps, the Keno God on earth, the true church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of Satan. And God's under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to move anyone us out of the kingdom of Satan into his camp. And if he has, it's a peer mercy, it's just a mercy. Okay? So over the past year, we've considered from several points of view in order to make sure that we have the correct Catholic understanding because in this area, there are lots of misunderstandings we've considered from several points of view of the dogma. There's no salvation outside of the Catholic church in order to deepen our understanding. This dog mutt today will meditate on the sermon given by st. Peter on that first Pentecost and in the process, we'll rely heavily on the analysis, the late great Monsignor Joseph Clifford Fenton Monsignor Fenn was one of outstanding two mystic theologians of the last century.
Speaker 2 00:04:59 A Vatican to Monsignor Fenton was a member of the preparatory theological commission, the doctrinal commission, the commission on faith and morals. He also served as a pretest, which is a, that's just a fancy Latin word. That means a theological expert. He was a theologian at the council for cartel auto Vianney, who was the head of the Holy office. So I've condensed an entire chapter from one of his books into just a paragraph. So what falls is essentially a very long edited quote with all that as background let's first, listen to the end of that great Pentecost sermon preached by our Holy patron, Saint Peter Saint Peter quote, do pennants and be baptized every one of you, 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 that he testify and exhort them saying, save yourselves from this perverse generation.
Speaker 2 00:06:00 They therefore that received his words were baptized and that were added that day, about 3000 souls close quote, the Holy ghost, do penance 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, save yourselves from this perverse generation. They therefore that received his word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3000 souls while discussing st. Peter's sermon, Monsignor Fenton points out, quote, both the text and the context of the acts. The apostles assure us that the people who hated st Peterson 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. Now if st Peter's words and this occasion meant anything at all, they signified that the individuals to whom he was speaking were 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're told to say themselves, by getting out of it, the institution, which they would leave. But the very fact of leaving this perverse generation was none other than the Catholic church itself.
Speaker 2 00:07:24 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 eternal and entire 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. Now, for the proper understand, this doctrine is imperative to understand the religious condition of the people, to whom Saint Peter developed, delivered a sermon. At first Christian Pentecost the acts of the apostles, which we just heard in the epistle describes him as Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven.
Speaker 2 00:08:22 A great many of these people were pilgrims men and women who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the great Jewish feast of Pentecost. Our Lord had died on the cross oil 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 died. They'd begun their pilgrimages, an act of worship in the Jewish religion. 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 incarnate word. They had started on their journey as members of God's chosen people, the people of his covenant, their journey to drusen was made precisely in order to worship and honor God.
Speaker 2 00:09:22 They were truly devout individuals. It's 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 an 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 itself himself. This social unit had automatically rejected. The teaching God had given about him, the rejection of this message, constituted abandonment of the divine 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, his supernatural kingdom on earth. It would become part of the kingdom of Satan.
Speaker 2 00:10:31 Well, the great Jewish social, and it was jecting our Lord, the little company of the disciples organized by our Lord, Ron themselves, Ron himself retained its faith. It continued to accept and to bear our Lord and to believe the 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 and earth. This recently organized society of our Lord's disciples began to exist as the kingdom of God on earth. This society was the true continuation of Israel. The men who in it were the true sons of Abraham and that they had the genuine faith of Abraham. This society was the new association of the chosen people. Its members were as Saint Paul called him the elect or the chosen of God. It was the true church or company, the faithful in the sense that no man could attain to eternal salvation unless 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 Lord's own mystical body.
Speaker 2 00:11:50 So it was that when Saint Peter spoke the crowd at first Christian Pentecost the society which had been constituted, the visible head was actually the church of God.
Speaker 1 00:12:02 His hears
Speaker 2 00:12:03 Few weeks before weeks before had belonged to God's supernatural kingdom on earth by me by means of their membership in the old Testament community now actually found themselves in the perverse generation precisely by means that same membership when st. Peter first spoke to them, they were in a position from which they needed to be saved. They were no longer members of the chosen people.
Speaker 2 00:12:35 It's extremely important for us to remember that the people of st Peter urged to save himself from a perverse generation in which they were living were definitely not men have no religion at all. They were developed members of establishment, which had been less than eight weeks before God's supernatural kingdom on earth. And that establishment that learned love for God and zeal in his service, many of them were so moved by zeal for the surface of God. They were willing to travel at very considerable distances and undergo serious hardships in order to assist at the temple sacrifice in Jerusalem during the days of the great feast of Pentecost. Saint Peter did not recommend these, the church to these people merely as something far more perfect than the religious affiliation that they already possessed on the contrary, st. Peter made it clear that it was necessary for them to transfer themselves from the perverse generation in which they then existed to a condition of salvation. The acceptance of his teaching was in fact, an entrance into the church. It is in line with this teaching that st. Paul is epistles refers to those within the church as saved. The entire context of the new Testament brings out the fact that by answering the church, men are actually being saved from the dominion of Satan. The Prince of this world, Saint Peter made it clear that in entering the church, the people to whom he was speaking at first, Christian Pentecost were really being saved.
Speaker 2 00:14:11 We must not lose sight of the fact that in our own day, there's sometimes a tendency to imagine that persons who are in a position comparable with that of the people, to whom st Peter's sermon was addressed are really an acceptable position. In every age of the church. There's has been one portion of Christian doctrine in which men have been especially tempted to misconstrue or to deny in our own times, it's that part of the Catholic truth, which was bought out by special forces and clarity by st. Peter and his first missionary sermon in Jerusalem. It is somewhat unfashionable today to insist as Saint Peter did that. Those who are outside the true church of Jesus Christ stand in need of being saved by leaving their own positions and entering the church. Nevertheless, this remains part of God's own revealed message.
Speaker 2 00:15:07 It is a part of Catholic doctrine that entrance into the church actually by becoming a member of the church. And when this is impossible, at least by an implicit though, sincere desire intention entrance to the church is part of the process of salvation is equally a part of Catholic teaching. However, that this is by no means the only part a man is saved from the evil belonging to the kingdom sate by his entrance into the church, but this 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 a full sense of the term until he's attained the beatific vision itself. Thus, despite the fact that it's possible for a man to be within the church and to lose his soul salvation is itself a process which involves his social aspect.
Speaker 2 00:16:04 Everyone who has been born since the sin of Adam, the exception of course, of our Lord and his blessed mother, everyone is coming into the world as a member of the fond family of Adam. And thus as one who belongs to what Saint Peter designated as the perverse generation, what Pope Leo, the 13th called the kingdom of Satan. The process of salvation is a process by which such men have been brought from that condition of aversion from God into the enjoyment, the beatific vision involved in that process by God's own institution is a transfer from the kingdom of Satan, into 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 quotes, Monsignor flatten.
Speaker 2 00:17:07 It is extremely important for us to remember that the people at st Peter urge to save themselves from the perverse generation in which they were living were definitely not men have 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. In that establishment. They had learned love for God and zeal in his service. Many of them are so moved by seal for the purpose of the service of God. They were willing to travel very considerable distances and undergo serious hardships or exist. The temple sacrifices st. Peter didn't recommend the church to these people as something merely far more perfect than a religious affiliation, they already possessed. No. He made it clear that it was necessary for them to transfer themselves from the perverse generation in which they then existed into a condition of salvation.
Speaker 2 00:18:10 The acceptance of that teaching was in fact entrance into the church. The entire context of the new Testament brings out the fact that by entering the church, men are actually being safe from the dominion of Satan. The Prince of this world, Saint Peter makes it clear that an entering the church, the people to whom he was speaking on that first Christian Pentecost were really being saved in our day. There's sometimes a tendency to imagine that persons who are in a position comparable with that to the people, to whom st. Peter was preaching are really an acceptable position. It is unfashionable to put it mildly to insist as Saint Peter did that. Those who are outside the two church of Jesus Christ, the Catholic church stand in need of being saved by leaving their own positions and entering the church unpopular not. It remained part of the revealed message of God.
Speaker 2 00:19:11 Okay, let's review what we've seen on this topic. Over the course of the year, we've seen that it's a dog with a Catholic faith that the Roman Catholic church is actually the one and only supernatural kingdom of God on earth. The one and only institution outside of which no one at all is saved and outside of which there's no remission of sins. We've seen. It's a great mystery that is visible society. This organization, which so many bad members are mingled with, the good is actually the one and only supernatural kingdom of God on earth. We've seen this as one of the truest most frequently attacked in our own time, we see that this is a truth that may, we may be gravely tempted to overlook or pass over in order to make the teaching of the Catholic church. More acceptable to those who are not of the faith.
Speaker 2 00:20:00 We've seen that this infallible Truett must be understood in a sense in which the church herself understands it. We've seen it. Christ commands us to be incorporated by baptism into his mystical body, which is the church. We've also seen it. Christ commands us to remain United to him and to the pulp through whom Christ himself governs the church here on earth. We've seen that as a consequence, no one will be saved who knowing full well that the church was divinely established by Christ. Still refuse to submit to the church or withholds obedience from the pulp, the vicar of Christ on earth. We've seen it Christ to Lord decree the church to be a means of salvation without which no one can enter. The kingdom of eternal glory. We've seen order to be saved is not always required. That a man be actually incorporated the church as a member, but as necessary that he'd be United tour by desiring desire and longing at a minimum, we've seen the desire to belong to the church need not always be explicit as it is in the case of catechumens, but that when a person is invincible, the ignorant God accepts an implicit desire, which is called implicit because it is included in that good disposition of soul, whereby a person wishes his will to be conformed to the will of God.
Speaker 2 00:21:18 We've seen it. Baptism is absolutely necessary to salvation for Lord is expressly said, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy ghost, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. But the absence of sacramental baptism can be supplied by martyrdom, which is called a baptism of blood or by an act of perfect love of God or perfect contrition, along with a desire, at least implicit of baptism. And this is called the baptism of desire we've seen. There are four great truths of the faith, which everyone who has a use of reason must know and believe in order to be saved. These four truths are one there's one God to God rewards the good and punishes. The guilty three. There are three persons in the one God, and for the second person, our Lord Jesus Christ became man and died for our sins. We've seen this as the teaching of both scripture and tradition.
Speaker 2 00:22:07 Also the teaching of those great doctrines of church st. Augustan st. Thomas Aquinas, Saint Alphonsus. And over the past three centuries, this teacher has been reaffirmed by Rome on at least three separate occasions. We've also seen that no one can go to heaven unless he's in the state of sanctifying grace. And that sanctifying grace is not caused blind. Vincible ignorance. Invincible ignorance is not some kind of sacrament. Invincible ignorance cannot even dispose the soul for receiving sanctifying. Grace, much less give grace to the soul. Invincible ignorance has never been a means of grace for salvation, not even for the invincible ignorant people that live up to their conscience. But we have seen that in the case of invincible, ignorant peop people that do live up to their conscious as Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches God in his mercy will lead those souls to the knowledge of the necessary truths of salvation, either by sane and Misha missionary to him, like you sent Saint Peter to Cornelius, or even send him an angel if needs be instruct him rather than let them perish without their fault. And if they accept this grace, they will be saved as Catholics. Okay. That's a summary of what we looked at over the course of the year. There's a lot to ponder there for now. Let's just consider what are the practical implications for each one of us? What should we take away from this, on this beautiful Pentecost? Sunday, first, if we Catholics ever lead leave the Catholic church, we are moving ourselves from the kingdom of,
Speaker 1 00:23:46 Into the kingdom of Satan. What does that mean? It means we can't be saved. If we leave the church, we can't be saved. Everyone needs to burn this into his mind. If I leave the Catholic church, I can't be safe. I want to especially address the young people here right now. Priests, aren't completely stupid. I'm fully aware. They're young people that come to mass because your parents make you that are some of you. They're toying with the idea of when you leave home, leaving all the Catholic stuff behind for the love of God, for the salvation of your eternal soul. Don't leave the church. Listen to me, don't leave the church. If you leave the church, you can't be saved. If you leave a church, you can't be saved.
Speaker 0 00:24:51 Second.
Speaker 1 00:24:54 We're already in the kingdom of God. We have already been placed into the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1 00:25:05 We should all meditate on that. An undeserved mercy, each one of us can think how much God must love me each and every one of us here that he's given us his priceless gift. He's taken us out of the kingdom of Satan, and he's placed us in the kingdom of God. And that's in spite of the fact that we're sinners. And then he knew we were going to sin and he still loves us that much. He's taken each one of us or the condition of being a child of wrath, born into the kingdom of Satan. And he's moved us out of that kingdom, darkness and confusion of bondage in the kingdom of light and grace and truth. The Holy Catholic church. It's a pure mercy. It's a pure mercy. And even for all eternity, we can never be thankful enough.
Speaker 0 00:26:10 Third,
Speaker 1 00:26:14 Since we're in a kingdom of God, the true church, that means God is with us. He's with us. He hasn't left us orphans. Now is he with us? They're the most bless Itzhak with altar, which is just so amazing. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1 00:26:34 Now it's say with us like that, when we're in a state of grace, he's present in the depths of our soul father, son, Holy ghost. I'm most blessed at Trinity is present in us. He's moved us from being children, wrath, and Cain of Satan, to such a position that we've become his temples. We've become temples, a living God he's with us. That means not only can we visit him and the tabernacle, but as long as we're in a state of grace, we can visit the most plus attorney just by simply turning inwards in prayer. Think of the dignity to which God has called us. He's moved us from being as enemies to becoming his temples, and we didn't do anything to deserve it. And a lot of things to not deserve it forth.
Speaker 1 00:27:34 Once we've been moved in the state of grace, once we've been given this supernatural life sanctifying, grace, there's really nothing that anyone was, has anything that we need to be afraid of. Accept sin. We have nothing to be afraid of accept sin because that's the only thing that can separate us from God. The only thing that can separate us from God is sin. So we have nothing at all to be afraid of, except sin. We need to ponder that and fifth, and finally these truths need to be acted on what are we doing? What are we doing since God is with us? Both in the most busts sagging with altar and depths of our soul. We have power. We've got supernatural power readily available. We have infused virtues, faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, temperance fortitude. We have the seven gifts of the Holy ghost. We have supernaturally strengthened personalities, power from God himself. And we just have to use it. Ask him to strengthen. You, ask him to conform you more, more perfectly to him. Are we doing anything or are we reaching out to those around us? They're trapped in this perverse generation. They're locked the bondage, the kingdom of Satan are we reaching out? We got power, supernatural power. We just have to use it. We're not just supposed to sit there. This is the church militant. We're not supposed to just sit there and bask in the fact that we're Catholics, we're supposed to go out and take this message of hope. This message of truth. This message of love and freedom and a world locked in darkness and sin.
Speaker 1 00:29:46 We need to do that. Principally in our actions. That's the most important because words are cheap. If you're not living the life. It's the most important thing is to be living an authentic Catholic life. Cause that preaches way louder than anything we're to say, but our words need you be there as well. The only thing we need to be afraid of is sin. And if we don't throw a lifeline to the folks that God has placed in our path, then who will, we've got something they need. We've got something they want, even if they don't know it yet, we've been placed in the kingdom of God. And we want them to have what we've got.
Speaker 1 00:30:30 No, it's not some kind of giant argument that's going to do that. You don't make people Catholic by clobbering them. It's pretty easy to win an argument and lose his soul. We need to know the arguments. So I'm not against that, but we want to do it in the right way. Prayer. We need to be gentle. We need to be gentle, but we need to do something. If you discover the cure for cancer, would you keep it a secret? We got the cure for hell. We have the cure for all. And it's the only cure for hell. Don't keep it a secret, pray and do something. We've gotta be gentle, but we got to do something.
Speaker 1 00:31:17 Don't worry about getting it right. God works at broken instruments. That's the whole notion of the priesthood. Isn't it. Don't worry about getting it right. God's with us. Just do the best he can. That's all we can do. That's close. If we leave the Catholic church, we can't be saved. We're already in the kingdom of God. God is with us. And when we're in a state of grace or his temples, the only thing that can separate us from God is sin. So that's the only thing that we really need to fear. We've got supernaturally, strengthened personalities, and we need to use them to reach out, to bring the good news to the folks that God, places in our paths. Each one of us can say, God has placed me in his kingdom, the Catholic church, and I don't deserve it. He's given me the means of salvation. Expects me. Try to help those around me. What have I been doing about this?
Speaker 0 00:32:24 What am I doing? What will I do? <inaudible>.
