This brings us to today’s first reading.  In order to understand where we are going we have to accept the way the world works. There are certain things that just are. We know that death came into the world through sin, but also that people die is a given. The minute you were born, it was a given that there would come a time that you would die. There is nothing that is going to change this, because it is a given. Death is the default. If we find a way to stay alive on Earth, then that is through an action taken and if the action is not taken then we default to the reality of death. Death is always the default.

Let me give you another default, Hell. Many people may not realize that Hell is the default. Without any intervention all go to Hell. However, because God sent His Son into the world and He died and rose, the default changed for those who choose to seek Christ. However, it is an action that we take in seeking a relationship with Christ, turning from sin and seeking to do good. All these things are part of the intervention that leads to the exception. Without the intervention we default to Hell. Why is this true, it is something that is in God’s realm where His ways are greater than our ways and His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. It may be beyond us but it is in the realm of why things are the way they are.

This is where we begin in the first reading. Written towards the end of the Babylonian exile  where that empire which had conquered Judah was itself about to fall is a powerful and famous passage. God is speaking through Isaiah and calling His people to turn from sin so that they may become among those liberated from their unjust oppression by the Babylonians. The reading speaks to us about turning from sin that we may be liberated from death  and damnation.

We need to understand something important. The horrible death that Jesus experienced should reflect to us the horrors from which He saved us. He went through that torture to save us from the greater horrors which are found in Hell. The more we turn from sin and to Christ the greater our place in Heaven, the more we reject Christ the closer we are to Hell.  So, as we see in Isaiah, now is the time to turn from sin, now is the time to forsake sinful ways, return from sin and seek Christ because the day is coming when we will not have that chance.

This is why confession is so important but also growing in the habits of virtue and turning from sin. These things are not often taught today because a form of universalism has infiltrated our Church, however, that does not mean it is accurate. If we focus on doing good things and not also turning from sin we are not turning to Christ and we fall under the default.

I don’t like to discuss exorcism too much, but there is something that does come from the exorcist community that is extremely important. The Devil is legalistic. This is why the Sacraments are so important. In the first sacrament: Baptism the first thing we do is declare to the Devil that the baptized has been claimed by Christ. This means we become God’s and Satan needs to stay away. However, we can reject that grace and return to the default state. it has been demonstrated during actual exorcisms that the Devil can accuse the exorcist of any of his unconfessed sins, but the minute he is forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconcilation the Devil may never speak those sins. This sacrament is a powerful avenue of salvation and grace.

God declares us guilty of sin, but if we have repented of our sin, He forgives us and waives the due eternal punishment from sin in Hell. However, if we do not repent, then the declaration of sin remains,and there is no sentence but condemnation. It is the Devil himself who pulls out the law books and says if he or she does not accept salvation, then the soul is his in the oppressive kingdom of the Hell.  This is why we have the reading from Isaiah calling us to make our choice today. Choose to accept the salvation from Christ, repent of your sins forsake sinful ways and seek Christ. For the time will come where you will stand before the Throne of God as either a citizen in Heaven or with no citizenship papers at all. If you are the former, you are saved, and if you are the latter you are condemned. Now is the time to make your choice. Let us look at the Gospel for a second. There is one group in this parable who are never mentioned. That is the group that does not choose to work for the rancher. Those who choose to work for him, regardless of the time of day receive a full days wage. Those who choose not to accept his offer receive nothing.

We have to understand that this is a part of our reality. There is the default to Hell and the intervention through which we get to Heaven. We accept Christ, we draw close to the sacraments, we seek fellowship with Christ we, as the Book of Revelation says, stand confidently awaiting the kingdom of God. If we reject Christ, turn from the sacraments and embrace the world, we have no defense before the throne of God for the law condemns us, but by our own choice we accept our position under the law and do not make recourse to seeking citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. God can work with those who repent, he can do nothing for those who do not, for they fall under  the law that they embraced whose enforcer is the Devil himself.

This is also why we need to avoid sin and teach the same to others. It is again not common here in the US and Europe. Too many have become Universalists saying there is no sin, there is no faith only reason. That is saying that their thoughts are the thoughts of gods, their ways are the ways of gods. God says our thoughts are not His thoughts, our ways are not His ways.

Now is the time to reject sin and embrace Christ. It is the best time, because it is the present time and we do not know how long the future will be.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J. Carr