The price of the cross makes possible our ticket to heaven. But while the price of the ticket has already been paid for us, we must pick it up at the ticket window, in other words, take up the cross and follow Jesus. We must desire to go where the cross leads. It is not always an easy journey. Many, maybe most, prefer the easy road, the path of least resistance. They favor the easy slide to the hard climb.
An important element between heaven and hell, God and self, is the issue of detachment. The Church has always understood this. That is why religious and priests make vows or promises. Celibacy is not a negation of the corporal affection of spouses, but is a choice to love in a single-hearted and chaste way. Poverty is not a repudiation of wealth and property as bad but rather is a spiritual detachment where Christ is our treasure. Obedience is no effort to impugn freedom and to avoid personal responsibility but rather is a way to surrender to divine providence. Hell is the abode where sinners not only refuse to let go of their favorite sins but also where the goods of a passing world are prized over that which is eternal. There is no bondage in following the law or commandments of God; indeed, it is the road to true freedom.
While the priest has the power to steal a damned soul from perdition in the few seconds it takes to say the absolution, it has likely taken many more minutes, hours and days for a penitent to fall to his knees and to confess. I am not a fan of cheap grace but rather suspect that our contrition and formation in faith is a process that starts, stops and goes again. Along the way there are missteps and way too numerous distractions. The devil hopes to waylay us long enough that time runs out on hope. This is not to say that we must haste in being holy for that would likely be a deception or an empty pantomime. While there is an urgency to repent, to believe and to evangelize; our actual approach to God’s throne must be deliberate and accomplished with patience. It is God’s work, not ours. The movement of sanctification cannot be rushed. When it comes to our part, we must be attentive to the whisper of God that reaches into the human heart. If there is too much activity and noise then it will be missed. It is here that sacred silence is so very precious and necessary. We must be quiet and we must listen. This is why I have always urged, when possible, a regular holy hour devotion before the Blessed Sacrament. Assorted religious pundits speak about our need to search for God. But this is an inexact and likely a false directive that can lead us in the wrong direction— to a deity of our own fashioning, a narcissistic idol. We must halt the activity and mute the noise. It is not so much about us finding God; rather, we must remain quiet and still, allowing the Lord to find us. He is the shepherd who goes in search of the lost lamb. Too many of us would give the search to the sheep and not to the shepherd. But apart from him, search as we might, we will always remain lost.
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