According to the Apostles, what is the goal of accepting Christ? The apostles teach that the goal of accepting Christ is the salvation of souls. We choose to follow Christ and accept his salvation, have you made the choice?

I want you to look at the first reading and the Epistle carefully. In both, you see a choice. The first discusses the early Christian community where people came together seeking the salvation of Christ and in the process rejected the world. In the Epistle, St. Peter encourages the faithful in their quest for their goal which again is salvation. Look carefully and notice there is a choice, seeking Christ or rejecting Him. As we learn in the Book of Revelation, and as Jesus speaks elsewhere, we have a choice, either follow the world or follow Christ. One path leads to salvation and other to, well, a rather dark place in the long run. We choose to follow Christ and accept his salvation, have you made the choice? Following Christ means to accept his gift of eternal salvation and seeking Him that we may experience the fullness of human living eternally. It can be an intense risk and one that may lead you in places you do not want to go. However the point is that in Christ we find true salvation, without Christ we something else that we may not want at all.

A common theme in St. Peter is the resurrection one that calls us to turn our back on the world and look forward to our salvation. He also calls us throughout his letters to focus on that future which is ours that is eternal life. He makes some stark statements about the world around us. “Save yourself,” he says. “From this wicked generation.” So in Peter you see this theme that Jesus resurrected from the dead and leads us to eternal life. Focus on that reality and not on what the world gives us.

What does this mean. In a way, the message would  have been easier to discuss in the 1940’s or before, for it was around that time, that Catholics were still outcast minority in society. Indeed, one of the targets of the KKK is Catholics just as much as Jews and Blacks. But now we are living in a different time, where being accepted in society, making it, is a powerful place for Catholics to be. But that makes it more difficult to hear St. Peter’s words to understand you can’t embrace the world and embrace salvation simultaneously. You can seek your place in the world, but there comes a time where a separation is called for and that separation is what brings us to salvation.We choose to follow Christ and accept his salvation, have you made the choice?

The reason is that the world has its own path and those who choose the path get caught up in the world. You cannot find true salvation in the world as the world will seek you to compromise your values and your goals of salvation in order to make it. One priest called this compromise “pretty poison.” It is that compromise we make to fit better in the world. Peter is showing us how powerful is our way of life when we embrace the resurrection and the road to salvation. He is warning us to focus on this which means not a 24/7 monk like existence, but to realize the greatest promise we have is resurrection, everything else falls short. Easter is a time to recognize what Christ won for us and to choose to accept that gift.

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We are coming to a time, probably the greatest since the fourth century, when we truly need to make a choice to either follow Christ to our salvation or follow the world. Jesus always warns us about following both. When I say “we” I am specifically referring to Catholics in the United States. Why, because if we accept the pretty poison of compromising our values that we may make it in the world, then we may find an Earthly salvation that does not bring us to the resurrection. Let me give you an example: This week you may have heard that it was discovered that an electricity generating plant in Oregon is using biological waste including aborted babies for fuel. I have checked several sources on this and found it is completely true as horrifying as it may sound. How did our country, founded on Christian values, come to the point that we are using aborted babies for fuel. This is so disturbing that even the Voice of Russia is reporting about this. What values embrace a society that considers this normal? When did we end  up in this place? What is most disturbing is who made money on this system which has been found to be used in England, Canada and the United States? Are you still certain your goal is to make it in the world? Are you still certain the world is the place we want to be accepted? I knew ten years ago we would come to this point and low and behold we have indeed come to this point.

Where does our nation go from here and can it recover from such a severe lost of respect for human dignity and the sacred? Where do you stand? Are you standing with Christ? Or a world that seeks to diminish any life that does not serve its own values. We choose to follow Christ and accept his salvation, have you made the choice?

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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