A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 3:2
The world hates this voice.
It hated it when John the Baptist cried out in the wilderness.
It hates it now.
For this voice does not flatter.
It exposes lies.
And our age is built upon three great errors -error that oppose Gospel Poverty , Chastity and Obedience that are destroying Holy Matrimony
The First Error: “What I Have Is Mine”
Men today say: This is my wealth. My house. My property. My right.
But God says otherwise.
“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
— Psalm 24:1
Everything belongs to God.
You own nothing absolutely.
You are a steward, not a master.
The first Christians understood this:
“Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own.”
— Acts 4:32
Listen to the Fathers of the Church.
St. Basil the Great thunders:
“The bread you keep belongs to the hungry.”
St. Ambrose says:
“Nature produced all things for all. Greed made them private.”
And St. John Chrysostom warns:
“Not to share our wealth with the poor is theft.”
Yes—theft.
The rich man who hoards while the poor starve is not merely uncharitable.
He is a thief before God.
The Gospel counsel of poverty crushes the pride of riches.
For the Christian does not cling to possessions.
He knows they belong to God.
The Second Error: “Carnal Desire Is a Gift”
The world shouts another lie:
Carnal desire is good.
Carnal pleasure is natural.
Carnal union is the highest expression of love.
But the Scriptures say otherwise.
Carnal desire is a wound of the Fall.
It entered the world through sin.
The Apostle Paul speaks plainly:
“I would that all men were even as I myself am.”
— 1 Corinthians 7:7
What does he praise?
Continence.
Freedom from the motions of the flesh.
Marriage is honorable—but only in so far as it restrains the passions.
The Apostle says:
“Because of fornications, let every man have his own wife.”
— 1 Corinthians 7:2
Marriage is given as a remedy, not as an indulgence.
And even within marriage the Apostle points beyond the flesh:
“Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to prayer.”
— 1 Corinthians 7:5
The goal remains continence.
Listen to the Fathers.
St. Augustine:
“Marriage is good… but continence is better.”
St. Jerome:
“Marriage fills the earth; virginity fills heaven.”
St. Clement of Alexandria warns:
“To have intercourse for any other purpose than to beget children is to do injury to nature.”
Marriage restrains the passions.
It does not glorify them.
Carnal desire is not a gift to celebrate.
It is a disorder to govern.
And the saints know this.
The Third Error: “There Is No Head”
Now we come to the great error of our age.
The lie born of pride.
The serpent said in the beginning:
“You shall be as gods.”
— Genesis 3:5
That was the first revolution.
The creature refused obedience.
The creature demanded equality.
And today the same rebellion appears again.
The world cries:
There is no authority.
There is no head.
Man and woman rule equally.
But the Apostle of Christ declares:
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands.”
— Ephesians 5:22
And again:
“The husband is the head of the wife.”
— Ephesians 5:23
This is not a custom.
This is the order of God.
The Apostle says:
“Adam was first formed, then Eve.”
— 1 Timothy 2:13
Creation itself speaks.
And the Fathers speak with it.
St. John Chrysostom proclaims:
“The wife is subject to the husband as the Church is subject to Christ.”
St. Augustine teaches:
“The husband is the head of the wife in the ordering of the household.”
Where there is no head, there is chaos.
Where there is no obedience, there is pride.
And pride always destroys.
Pride destroyed the angels.
Pride destroyed paradise.
And pride will destroy every home that enthrones it.
But look to Christ.
“He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death.”
— Philippians 2:8
The Son of God obeyed.
And sinful man refuses?
Repent
The world worships wealth.
The world indulges the flesh.
The world rebels against authority.
But the Gospel calls men to another path:
poverty, chastity, and obedience.
The Christian holds wealth lightly.
The Christian restrains the flesh.
The Christian bows before the order of God.
And so the ancient cry must sound again:
Repent.
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.