9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
“The days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass
thee round, and straiten thee on every side; and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children
who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone, because thou hast not
known the time of thy visitation” (Gospel). Did Jerusalem have no opportunity to recognize
the time of its visitation? When the three Magi came from the East to seek the newborn king of
the Jews, were not the priests and scribes able to direct them to Bethlehem? When a deputation
of the priests in Jerusalem came to John the Baptist at the Jordan asking him who he was and
why he baptized, did not John answer in unmistakable terms: “I am the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. . . . I baptize with
water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. The same is He that
shall come after me: . . . the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose” ( Jn 1:23 ff.)? Did
not the Lord during the time of His public life work enough miracles before the eyes of all
the people of Galilee and Jerusalem, deeds that testified to His divinity? Only a few days had
passed since He raised Lazarus to life, and now a few days later He enters the gates of Jerusalem.
It is Jerusalem’s own fault that it did not know the time of its visitation. It had expected a
national and political Messias who would fulfill its earthly dreams; it did not know the time of
its merciful visitation and did not acknowledge the real Messias sent by God. Now Jerusalem
has incurred just punishment. In a few days the veil of the temple will be rent; God’s covenant
with His people will be torn asunder. Pentecost will be the birthday of a new chosen people, of
the New Covenant, of the Church of Christ; salvation will be taken from the chosen people and
given to the Gentiles. Scarcely one generation will pass before the Romans will come and cast
a trench about Jerusalem, will conquer and utterly destroy it. Truly they will not leave a stone
upon a stone, because Jerusalem has not known the time of its visitation. “All these things . . .
are written for our correction” (Epistle). The visitation of the Lord, which we did not recognize
through our own fault, and the grace which we refused and misused, cry out for vengeance,
for punishment and expiation. Yet the Lord loves us still; He wishes to save us. But if we will
not receive Him, He makes use of the rod of correction in order to make us understand that
we must walk in His ways.
“Thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee” (1 Kgs 15:26).
King Saul heard the word of God, yet he despised it and acted against God’s command.
He therefore is rejected by God, and the crown of kingship is bestowed on another man.
Whenever we resist grace or abuse it, we are in danger of losing our eternal salvation. One
grace is always linked to another one, to a whole series of graces. If we make good use of one
grace, it is followed by another, greater one; this grace, in its turn, is followed by a series of new
and more perfect graces. If we make light of one grace and lose it, we lose with this one grace
a whole series of graces connected with it. It is possible that our salvation may depend upon
this present grace. At all times and in all places this law holds good as a punishment for one
misused grace: God deprives us of new graces. When the Holy Ghost knocks at the door of
our soul and we refuse Him entrance, He will depart. When He speaks within us and we do
not listen to His word, He will be silent. When He makes His light rise upon us and we close
our eyes, He will withdraw.
“Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished” (Epistle). The Israelites
knew God’s command, yet they ignored Him in order to find out, as it were, whether His
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