 | Father Richard James Cleary was born and reared in Wichita. After graduation from Cathedral High School in 1947, he attended the seminary operated by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Northwestern Missouri. There he came to appreciate the life of the monks and, having obtained the permission of Bishop Mark Carroll of Wichita, he became a monk of that monastery. After being ordained a priest in 1955, his superiors sent him to get his master’s degree at the University of Ottawa, Canada, then to study in Athens, Greece, and then in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his doctor’s degree in Theology. Finally, he spent a year of study at Harvard University. Later, Fr. Cleary was assigned to teach for many years in Rome. In 1998, he returned to Wichita, where he served in parish ministry at St. Mary’s Cathedral and at Blessed Sacrament parishes. In 2001, his abbot (superior) transferred him to Arkansas, where he served as chaplain of the Benedictine Sisters of Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, and helped in the parishes of northeast Arkansas. In March 2010, he was re-assigned to his monastery, Conception Abbey, Conception, in Missouri 64433. He can be contacted there at, 660-944-2877, or by email: rjcleary@juno.com. |
Religion
2012-03-22 15:05:09
Salvation...a variety of opinions
Q: I hear some clerics say that all you have to do to be saved is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have a personal relationship with him. Others say that, regardless of what you’ve done insofar as accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior, if you die in the state of grievous sin, you will go to hell. Why are there so many different opinions on something so serious: spending an eternity of happiness vs. spending an eternity of punishment?
A: In this question there are three issues to be considered. First, it is true that to be saved: it is necessary to accept Jesus as your Savior and have a personal relationship with him. This acceptance of Jesus and personal relationship involves not just words, but actually to have a personal relationship, which involves frequent communication through prayer, and carrying out all that Jesus has commanded through his teachings in the Bible and in the Church, which he established to interpret and to promote those teachings. Even those persons who do not know Jesus as such, but undertake to direct their lives according to his teachings, which are in the natural law and in the conscience of every person, can be saved by following that good will and ordering their lives towards God. Jesus knows and accepts such good-willed persons.
Your next statement is also true: “If you die in the state of grievous sin, you will go to hell.” But the earlier part of that statement: “regardless of what you’ve done insofar as accepting Jesus” must be qualified. Being God, Jesus knows everything you have done. He loves you and wants you to be saved. If your acceptance of Jesus is proved by your actions through life, Jesus is not going to abandon you to die in the state of grievous sin. He will help the sincere person to repent of that grievous sin before death, and so that soul will be saved from hell. Those go to hell, who have ignored the teachings of Jesus and his Church through much of their life, and so really never accepted Jesus, or they have rejected their earlier acceptance of Jesus. Even the most grievous sinner can be saved by repenting, by expressing sorrow for grievous sin before they die, even at the final moment of their life. But it is extremely dangerous to wait until the moment of death to express sorrow for sin, for offending God. Usually, persons in grievous sin have a long history of personal disregard for God, and in their final moments they are cursing and unrepentant. Still, God’s mercy is infinite and, if they did some good earlier in life, we can hope that Jesus might grant them the grace to repent on their way to final judgment. We don’t really know about such a person after death. The Bible seems to indicate they go to hell.
Your third question is simple. God gives every person a free will. Observe how many and what a variety of religions are in your world and elsewhere. There are several hundred sects (groups of persons) who call themselves Christians, but by their choice Jesus is not part of their lives. In jest we call them “cafeteria-Christians.” And there are innumerable non-Christian sects, a great variety teaching their own opinions, as if they came from God. Most of them borrow teachings from other religions. Most of these claim to be true. But many include some falsehoods (e.g. Scientology). Some of their founders allege divine inspiration (e.g. Mormons). But opinion is not truth as such. Some founders of religion do so for the sake of gaining money or attention (e.g. followers of Reverend Moon) or fame or whatever. Jesus Christ founded one Church, and it continues to teach his truth, regardless of popular opinions or current political fads.
