FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, it is said, FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN (ECCLES. 12:13). *The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who practice it (PS 111:10). The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord; she is created with the faithful in the womb (SIR 1:14) THE FEAR OF THE LORD AS IT IS SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE IS NOT JUST A CONCEPT, BUT AN EXPERIENCE THAT PREDISPOSES WISDOM. THIS IS NOT FEAR OF A TYRANNICAL GOD WHO IMPETUOUSLY AND ARBITRARILY INFLICTS PUNISHMENT, BUT THE PROPER RESPECT, AND FEAR, OF A GOD WHO ADMINISTERS JUST PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE WHO DESERVE IT. THE BIBLICAL FEAR OF THE LORD IS AN INTELLIGENT FEAR, BASED ON DEEP PERCEPTION OF THE HOLINESS AND MAJESTY OF GOD, WHICH RIGHTLY RECOGNIZES THE POSSIBILITY OF VIOLATING THE LAW OF GOD, DESPISING HIS LOVE, REJECTING HIS MERCY, AND MERITING ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM HIM. WHILE THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS SIMPLY THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM, AND THE END OF WISDOM IS LOVE (1JN 4:17), ONE DOESNT JUMP INTO LOVE WITHOUT A DEEP AND ONGOING EXPERIENCE OF BIBLICAL, SPIRIT-INSPIRED FEAR. THE SCRIPTURE TELLS US IN FACT THAT BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO FEARS THE LORD AND THAT, INDEED, THIS GOD-GIVEN FEAR OF THE LORD FREES US FROM OTHER FEARS: He is not afraid of evil news, his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord, his heart is steady, he will not be afraid (PS 112:1,7-8). The fear of the Lord is glory and exaltation, and gladness and a crown of rejoicing. The fear of the Lord delights the heart, and gives gladness and joy and long life. With him who fears the Lord it will go well at the end; on the day of his death he will be blessed. (SIR. 1:11-13). TODAY, THERE IS A GREAT AVERSION TO AN APPROPRIATE FEAR OF THE LORD. AND CONSEQUENTLY, THERE IS A GREAT TRIVIALIZATION OF LOVE AND A GREAT FOOLISHNESS AS REGARDS RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD. FEAR OF THE LORD IS A GIFT OF GOD; IT IS NOT OPPOSED TO LOVE, BUT PREPARED FOR IT. FEAR OF THE LORD AND LOVE OF THE LORD GO TOGETHER. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH FOOLISHNESS IN THE CHURCH AND IN THE WORLD IS BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH LACK OF FEAR OF THE LORD. ST. BERNARD TELLS US THAT WE DO NOT LEARN WISDOM IN A LECTURE HALL, BUT IN AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD WHICH PRODUCES APPROPRIATE FEAR. For there we learn to Wisdom as a teacher in a lecture hall, delivering an all embracing discourse, here we receive it within us; there our minds are enlightened, here our wills are moved to decision. Instruction makes us learned, experience makes us wise. ... Though Wisdom gives light to many to see what they should do, it does not immediately spur them on to action. ... And so with God: to know him is one thing, to fear him is another, not does knowledge make a man wise, but the fear that motivates him. ... How truly is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom, because the soul begins to experience God for the first time when fear of him takes hold of it, not when knowledge enlightens it. ... Fear of him is itself an experience. ... From the beginning it is a barrier to foolishness. THE GLORY OF HEAVEN ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING THINGS THAT ST. CATHERINE RELAYS FROM GOD THE FATHER IS HOW MUCH MORE DEPTH THERE IS TO REALITY THAN MANY COMMONLY SUPPOSE. SIN AND EVIL ARE FAR MORE UGLY AND MORE HORRENDOUS THAN MOST OF US CAN IMAGINE; BUT SO TOO ARE THE BEAUTY, GLORY, AND GOODNESS OF HEAVEN GREATER THAT WE CAN COMPREHEND. The good of these souls is beyond what your minds eye can see or your ear hear or your tongue describe of your heart imagine. What joy they have in seeing me who am all good! What joy they will yet have when their bodies are glorified! ... You will all be made like him in joy and gladness; eye for eye, hand for hand, YOUR WHOLE BODIES WILL BE MADE LIKE THE BODY OF THE WORD OF MY SON. ... These souls wait for divine judgment with gladness, not fear. And the face of my Son will appear to them neither terrifying nor hateful, because they have finished their lives in charity, delighting in me and filled with good will toward their neighbors. ST. BERNARD DESCRIBES THE DIFFERENCE IN THE ULTIMATE DESTINATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS: Those who are in darkness will be in darkness still, and those who see will see more and more...and this is the last day of both, complete blindness and perfect sight. Then nothing remains to be taken from those who are completely emptied, nor is there anything more to be given to those who are filled, unless they may expect to receive more than fullness, ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE MADE TO THEM. ... THEY SHALL PUT INTO YOUR ARMS FULL MEASURE PRESSED DOWN AND OVERFLOWING... (LK 6:38) A WEIGHT OF GLORY (2COR 4:17) EXALTED ABOVE MEASURE, SO THAT THE SUPER ABUNDANT OUTPOURING OF LIGHT SHOULD REFLECT UPON BODIES ALSO. ... THOSE WHOM HE ENLIGHTENS WITHIN HE ADORNS ALSO WITHOUT, AND CLOTHES THEM WITH A ROBE OF GLORY (SIR. 6:32). THE UNION WITH AND LOVE OF GOD THAT BEGIN IN THIS LIFE AND GROW AS THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY PROGRESSES WILL BE GLORIOUSLY MANIFESTED AND PERFECTED IN HEAVEN. BUT SO ALSO WILL THE UNION AND LOVE THAT WE HAVE HAD WITH ONE ANOTHER IN THIS LIFE BE GLORIOUSLY MANIFESTED AND PERFECTED IN HEAVEN. THE FATHER TELLS CATHERINE THAT THE PARTICULAR RELATIONSHIPS WE HAD ON EARTH, INSOF AS THEY WERE IN THE LORD, WILL ACTUALLY INCREASE IN DEPTH OF INTIMACY AND LOVE IN HEAVEN. FRIENDSHIPS AND MARRIAGES THAT WERE LIVED IN AND WITH JESUS WILL BE SAVED AND INDEED PROVE TO BE A LOVE THAT IS TRULY FOREVER. THE TIME FOR BIOLOGICAL PROCREATION WILL HAVE COME TO AN END - OUR BODIES NOW TRANSFORMED IN GLORY, MADE READY FOR FOR AN ETERNITY OF CELEBRATION - BUT THE LOVE, IN CHRIST, THAT WAS BUILT UP IN TRUE CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIPS WILL LAST FOREVER. WE WILL NOT ONLY KNOW AND RECOGNIZE ONE ANOTHER IN HEAVEN, BUT KNOW AND LOVE EACH OTHER EVEN MORE! They are hungry and satisfied, satisfied yet hungry - but they are far from bored with satiety or pained in their hunger. ... THEY ARE ESTABLISHED IN LOVE FOR ME AND FOR THEIR NEIGHBORS. AND THEY ARE ALL UNITED IN GENERAL AND SPECIAL LOVE, BOTH OF WHICH COME FROM ONE AND THE SAME CHARITY. THEY REJOICE AND EXULT, SHARING EACH OTHERS GOODNESS WITH LOVING AFFECTION, besides that universal good which they all possess together. THEY REJOICE AND EXULT WITH THE ANGELS, AND THEY FIND THEIR PLACES AMONG THE SAINTS ACCORDING TO THE DIFFERENT VIRTUES IN WHICH THEY EXCELLED IN THE WORLD. And though they are all joined in the bond of charity, they know a special kind of sharing with whom they loved most closely with a special love in the world, a love through which they grew in grace and virtue. They helped each other proclaim the glory and praise of my name in themselves and in their neighbors. So now in everlasting life they have not lost that love; no, they still love and share with each other even more closely and fully, adding their love to the good of all. ... WHEN A SOUL REACHES ETERNAL LIFE, ALL SHARE IN HER GOOD AND SHE IN THEIRS. NOT ONLY DO SOULS KNOW AND LOVE EACH OTHER EVEN MORE FULLY IN HEAVEN, BUT THEY DONT STOP KNOWING AND LOVING PEOPLE THAT ARE STILL ON THE JOURNEY ON EARTH. WE ARE NOT ALONE. WE ARE KNOWN. WE ARE LOVED. Their desires are a continual cry to me for the salvation of others, for they finished their lives loving their neighbors, and they did not leave that love behind but brought it with them when they passed through that gate which is my only-begotten Son. So you see that in whatever bond of love they finish their lives, that bond is theirs forever and lasts eternally. ... What these blessed ones want is to see me honored in you who are still on the way, pilgrims running ever nearer your end in death. Because they seek my honor they desire your salvation, and so they are constantly praying to me for you. I DO MY PART TO FULFILL THEIR DESIRE PROVIDED ONLY THAT YOU DO NOT FOOLISHLY RESIST MY MERCY. BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH SILENCE, OR OUTRIGHT SKEPTICISM, IN THE CHURCH IN RECENT DECADES CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL, THE HORROR OF SIN AND GLORY OF HEAVEN, IT MAY BE THAT CONFRONTING THE VISION OF CATHERINE - WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY SCRIPTURALLY BASED AND FIRMLY EMBEDDED IN THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH!- MAY CAUSE US TO STRUGGLE WITH ISSUES OF FAIRNESS OR TO ASK THE FAMOUS QUESTION HOW COULD A GOOD GOD SEND SOMEONE TO HELL? ITS INTERESTING TO NOTE HOW THE FATHER SHOWS CATHERINE THAT AS EACH PERSON DIES HE OR SHE ACTUALLY RUSHES TO WHERE THEY WANT TO BE. IN A VERY REAL WAY EACH PERSON CHOOSES THEIR OWN DESTINY OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFETIME AND, AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH, EMBRACES WHAT HAS TRULY BECOME THEIR CHOICE. WE CHOOSE OUR OWN DESTINY How great is the stupidity of those who make themselves weak in spite of my strengthening, and put themselves into the devils hands! I want you to know, then, that at the moment of death, because they have put themselves during life under the devils rule (not by force, because they cannot be forced, as I told you; but they put themselves voluntarily into his hands), and because they come to the point of death under this perverse rule, they can expect no other judgment but that of their own conscience. They come without hope to eternal damnation. In hate they grasp at hell in the moment of their death, and even before they possess it, they take hell as their prize along with their lords the demons. AS HORRIBLE AS THE FINAL MOMENTS OF UNREPENTANT SINNERS ARE, SO WONDERFUL ARE FINAL MOMENTS OF THOSE WHO DIE TRUSTING IN THE MERCY OF THE LORD. The just, on the other hand, have lived in charity and die in love. If they have lives perfectly in virtue, enlightened by faith, seeing with faith and trusting completely in the blood of the Lamb, when they come to the point of death they see the good I have prepared for them. They embrace it with the arms of love, reaching our with the grasp of love to me, the supreme and eternal Good, at the very edge of death. And so they taste eternal life even before they have left the I mortal bodies. EVEN PURGATORY MAKES PERFECT SENSE AS A MARVELOUS PROVISION OF GODS MERCY, A WONDERFUL PART OF THE GOOD NEWS. There are others who passed through life and arrive at the end point of death with only a commonplace love, and were never perfect. These embrace my mercy with the same light of faith and hope as those who were perfect. But these have this light imperfectly, and because they are imperfect they reach out for mercy, considering my mercy greater than their own guilt. CATHERINE SUMMARIZES THE FATHERS WORDS: So no one waits to be judged. All receive their appointed place as they leave this life. They taste it and possess it even before they leave their bodies at the moment of death: the damned in hate and despair; the perfect in love, with the light of faith and trusting in the blood. And the imperfect, in mercy and with the same faith, come to that place called purgatory. THE STATE OF OUR SOUL EVEN DETERMINES HOW THE LORD APPEARS TO US AND WHAT THE EMOTION THE ENCOUNTER WITH HIM INSTILLS IN US. AS BERNARD PUTS IT: You see, the gaze of the Lord, though ever in itself unchanged, does not always produce the same effect. It conforms to each persons deserts, inspiring some with fear but bringing solace and security to others. THE FATHER REVEALS TO CATHERINE A VERY SIMILAR INSIGHT: These souls [those who die in friendship with the Lord] wait for divine judgment with gladness, not fear. And the face of my Son will appear to them neither terrifying nor hateful, because they have finished their lives in charity, delighting in me and filled with good will toward their neighbors. The different appearances of his face when he comes in my majesty for judgment will not be in him but in those who are to be judged by him. To the damned he will appear with just hatred, but to the saved, with mercy and love. EVEN IN THIS LIFE, THE CONDITION OF OUR SOUL WILL COLOR HOW WE THINK OF AND PERCEIVE GOD. THE SPECIAL MISSION OF ALL THE DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH IS TO TEACH AND SHARE THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW THAT IS FOUND IN THE SCRIPTURE, IN ALL ITS ESSENTIALS. ALL OF THEM WRITE IN LIGHT OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION OF THE HUMAN RACE APART FROM CHRIST, THE REALITY OF HEAVEN AND HELL, AND THE URGENT NECESSITY TO ORDER ONES LIFE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO THE FOLLOWING OF JESUS - RIGHT NOW. AS BERNARD BLUNTLY PUTS IT: Lord Jesus, whoever refuses to live for you is clearly worthy of death, and is in fact dead already. Whoever does not know you is a fool. And whoever wants to become something without you, without doubt that man is considered nothing and is just that. ... You have made all things for yourself, O God, and whoever wants to live for himself and not for you, in all that he does, is nothing. FEAR GOD, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, it is said, FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN (ECCLES. 12:13). SOME OF THESE SAINTS TEACHINGS CAN ONLY BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD WHEN WE SEE WHAT THEY SEE ABOUT THE TRUE SHAPE OF REALITY. THE FULFILLMENT OF DESIRE RALPH MARTIN youtube/playlist?list=PLl6BeUzXcF-mKKkARvUM0f7yUbGsSEutj
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 06:12:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015