DAY ONE, TALK FOUR - FAITH AND SALVATION

FR. CELSUS M. AGUISTE

To a Catholic there is no such thing as luck.  If we call ourselves lucky then we limit ourselves to chance which is temporary. When you depend on luck, you place your hope on something which is transitory and can only lead to stress and anxiety. As Catholics, we never say we are lucky, we say we are blessed. When we affirm that we a blessed we affirm something that is certain and this certainty brings peace. God's blessings are eternal. We  must expunge the words luck and lucky from our vocabulary because we are not lucky we are blessed.  Blessings are God's anointing in our lives.  |If anyone should say that you are lucky tell them that you beg to differ because you are not lucky but blessed.

I AM TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED.

1John 2:20

20 But you have the anointing from the Holy One, so that all of you have true wisdom.

When we are baptized the priests who stands for Christ anoints us with the oil of anointing as priest, prophet and King.  Each one of us is a blessing. Nothing that occurs in our lives is a coincidence, things don't happen to us by chance. God has a plan for our lives and therefore it would be more accurate to say that our lives are not a coincidence but a God-incidence.  I am blessed at all times.

1John 2:27

You received from him an anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things; it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in him, and keep what he has taught you.

I am Catholic, this means that the anointing is upon me and on every Catholic and we need to understand that we have a goal.  As Catholics we have a purpose for faith. Our Catholicity and our faith are  synonymous. Faith is not simply believing that God will look after our material needs, it has a much higher meaning than that.

1 Peter 1:9

 for you are reaching the goal of your faith: the salvation of your souls.

The goal of our faith is salvation.  The reason we are Catholic, the reason for our faith is salvation.  The purpose of our faith, the goal of our faith is salvation.  When we are talking Christ, when we are talking faith, when we talking catholicity,we are talking salvation. 

When God created us, He created us to be happy, to be free of sickness and pain.  If we are afflicted with sickness and pain there are a consequence of sin , the results of our actions and choices. God does not inflict punishment on us.

When we sin we freely choose to act contrary to God's law of love. Sin does not free us rather it restricts our capacity for joy.  God is a God of love and when our first parents sinned God immediately reached out his hand to save us.  Our God is the God of the second chance – that is what salvation means – it is God giving us a second chance.

How much do we need Jesus? 
We need Jesus as much as a drowning man needs air.  Christ is a matter of life and death. All we need is Jesus He is our only second chance.  Sin is missing the mark and falling short. If we do not have a desperate need for Jesus, we are in the wrong place.  We have to have a burning desire and a constant yearning for Jesus.  All we need is Jesus because He is our only second chance.

To sin is to miss the mark. We regain the mark of salvation by seeking God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  When we sin, we fall short. Sin makes us less than God intended us to be. Sin cheapens us.  Salvation is God reestablishing the state by which we can come home. Salvation has already come into the world. Christ has redeemed us by His Blood so every Catholic can say, "Yes, I am saved." We need to be certain of this truth. Salvation has been given to us at baptism.  Yes, we are saved, because we are baptized and through our baptism, we already share the life of Christ so salvation has begun. Sin no longer rules the world.  We no longer live by the law we live by grace so from that perspective yes we are saved because we are now sons and daughters of God.  Salvation is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are on the path of achieving our total holiness and goodness and graciousness like God intended.

Philippians 2:8

He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross.

Am I saved?  Yes salvation has begun.  Jesus has already shed his blood, the Blood of Christ has already redeemed us and we are now the sons of daughters of God.

Ephesians 2:8

8 By the grace of God you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you: it is God’s gift.

YES, WE ARE SAVED

Salvation is a gift of God, it is already in the world and has already begun. Jesus has redeemed us by His blood. We received salvation at baptism and through baptism we have a relationship with Jesus Christ who is God. We share in the life of Christ. Our salvation has begun but it will only be completed in heaven. We are redeemed. In baptism we became members of the Body of Christ and sons and daughters of the Father.

Salvation  is a relationship with Jesus Christ who says I am the resurrection and the life. Nothing can separate us from the life of Christ that we received in baptism. This is why St. Paul says in Romans 8:38-39 I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Salvation means that we have hope even though we sin because salvation has already been given to us at baptism and that is why we ought to live as sons and daughters of God. 

God in Christ has given us a second chance.

Romans 5:20 
 The Law itself, introduced later on, caused sin to increase; but where sin increased; grace abounded all the more…

This is salvation. We must always remember God's grace is always bigger than the biggest sin. Salvation means that no sin is so great it is greater than God's love. God's great love for us was made manifest to us on Calvary

When we go to confession we say bless me father for I have sinned, then we mention when we last went to confession because every sin was wiped away and was completely forgiven.  I received again the state of my baptism.  When God forgives our sins He forgets them. Every confessed sin is forgiven and forgotten.   Our salvation has already begun.

God's grace and love are far greater than our sins.  Sin cannot nullify God's love which He demonstrated in Christ who is our salvation and our hope. There is no sin that can ever nullify God's grace and God's redemption.

Hebrews 8:12

I will forgive their sins and no longer remember their wrongs.

WE ARE BEING SAVED
Once we have confessed our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation God no longer remembers our sins.  We must keep in mind that being saved is not accomplished on a once and for all basis but that  our salvation is an ongoing process as Philippians 2:12 reminds us: Therefore, my dearest friends, as you al­ways obeyed me while I was with you, even more now that I am far from you, continue working out your salvation “with fear and trembling.” We are far from perfect.  There is always some fault, some weakness we need to work on.

WE HOPE TO BE SAVED 

Every day we have to be vigilant against the snares of the devil.  We are reminded in 1Peter 5:8
Be sober and alert because your enemy the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  The devil tempted Jesus and we can be certain that he will tempt us too.

Romans 8:24

In hope we already have salvation. But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope: how can you hope for what is already seen?

St. Paul reminds in 1COR 9:24 Have you not learned anything from the stadium? Many run, but only one gets the prize. Run, therefore, intending to win it us that we are running a race.

In a race only one wins the prize so we have to strive to win. Salvation is an ongoing process, it is a  battle where we have to strive daily after holiness and perfection with the help that God makes available to us in the Sacraments of Reconciliation.  Frequent confession helps to weaken habitual sins and helps us to overcome temptation. The Sacrament of Holy Communion provides abundant  which will keep us strong, ready and alert so we will not stumble at the first hurdle.

There are no second chances in hell.  God knows that hell is a terrifying reality and He has done all to ensure that we don't go there but we have to remember that we can only get to heaven on God's terms.  There is one truth and one faith.   The choice is ours to make.