When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home.
In today's Gospel, we learn very clearly that the compassion of Christ abandons no one,
and so the Lord this day again returns to Capernaum, a city in the region of Galilee,
a city and a region which had rejected him.
And so we truly learn this day that the Lord came in order to manifest his compassion,
and he would not withhold that compassion from any town, any city,
and any people.
He would be rejected, and he would go in.
And that theme in the life of our Lord would be repeated in every place on this planet
in which he walked while he was with us.
He would go in, he would be rejected, he would return,
and he would return always with the same message that he has come in order to forgive sins.
That message that each and every one of us as members of the mystical body
is in the Lord.
That message that each and every one of us as members of the mystical body
is entrusted to bring to the world.
To go in, to be rejected, to return, to return always with that truth
that is supposed to dwell in our minds and our hearts, that is, with Christ.
And so we have much to learn, especially us who many are called to serve the Lord
as consecrated to the Immaculate Virgin Mother.
And so we must look closely at what transpires in today's Gospel.
This man was so sinful.
He was so sick that he could not rise from his mat.
The palsy, which can be called a torpor of the flesh,
had so taken hold of his body that he could not rise from his mat.
And yet, in that state of slothfulness, he desired to be healed.
And yet, he could do nothing on his own, apparently, to bring about the healing.
He must have had some level of faith.
But it was certainly not at the same level as the four men who would bring him to the Lord.
And so we learn very clearly that it was the faith of his friends that saved the man.
And who is the man?
The man is each and every one of us, born into the order of original sin
and inclined by our very conception in original sin to evil.
We are the man.
And so...
And so we must depend upon the four friends,
that is, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
in the mystical meaning, that is, the Gospel,
in order to find our healings.
For we are totally incapable, on our own,
to rise from the mat of our sin,
to rise from the palsy.
And we must all, every member of the mystical body,
be aware of this truth in the very depths of our heart.
And so...
It was the desire of the four friends
to hear the Lord that was stronger in them
than their desire to avoid the toil necessary to approach Him.
And there is toil and labor
that is necessary to be exercised in approaching the Lord.
And if we allow it to discourage us,
then we will lose that which we were created to possess,
the love of God.
And so we too must be like these men,
have a stronger desire to hear and live the Word of God
and not be discouraged by the toil and labor
that is necessary to approach Him.
And for this, there are certain principles of our faith
that must be thoroughly and totally ingrained in our minds, in our hearts,
or we will be swept away in the tide of this modern world.
And so first and foremost,
we must be thoroughly convinced
that God and God alone,
has made us.
That we did nothing
to make ourselves.
Nothing.
We did not come
from the pre-existing matter
of a brute.
We came
from the Divine Trinity.
And where someone comes from
is where they are called to return.
And the very fact
that God made us
rational creatures means
that all creation
must return to God
through us.
We must,
in some way,
imitate the mediation of the Mother of God,
who, as it were,
exceeds us by leaps and bounds
in offering back to God the Father
the created world,
restored in her by the grace of God
in a singular prerogative
that separates her from every other soul
that has ever been created,
and a prerogative
in which there is no exemption,
no, as it were,
exemption from the rule to prove it.
She and she alone,
amongst all the creatures of God,
amongst all men,
has been preserved
from the stain of original sin.
And so,
if we are to understand what it means
that God has made us,
we must return to the Mother
in order that she may teach us.
Secondly,
we must be thoroughly convinced
that God made us good.
Good
is what is revealed to us
by blessed Moses.
God saw His creation
and He saw that it was good,
and that the pinnacle of that created order
was the creature created
in His image and likeness.
And so,
we must thoroughly be convinced
that God has created us
good,
and if we do not,
we seek to annihilate
the love of God.
For God cannot bring about
the creation of anything
from the smallest grain of sand
to the Immaculate Virgin,
except that it is good.
And so it must all
be returned to Him.
And we must thirdly be convinced
that the happiness we seek
is found in living a virtuous life,
and that virtue
comes by the grace of God.
All other forms of it
are merely false imitations,
false strivings,
false attempts to build a kingdom
in this world in some way,
separated from the world of God
in which we are called to dwell.
We are called to be virtuous,
and virtuous is acquired by the humble.
The humble are the ones who understand
the primary reason
why the human knee bends,
not as it were so that we may go about
the commerce of the world,
although that is necessary,
but first and foremost
that we may give homage to God,
lowering ourselves
so that we may recognize Him
who is higher
than all of His created order
because He and He alone
is existence itself.
And so we must thoroughly be convinced
that perfect,
that is enduring happiness,
cannot be found in this world.
It simply cannot be found in this world.
The happiness that the human heart seeks,
all human hearts,
no matter how corrupted they may become,
no matter how perverted they may seek relief
and happiness
in what all manner of bad practices,
enduring perfect happiness
cannot be found
in this life.
Period.
It is not here to be found.
For the happiness that the human heart craves
is to be found
in the blessed abode of heaven
and unless that heart is united
with the Divine Trinity for all eternity,
it will not find
the perfect happiness it seeks.
What doth it profit a man
if he were to gain the whole world
and suffer the loss of his soul?
Or as St. Thomas more so eloquently pointed out
to that poor soul who wouldn't listen to him,
Our Lord said,
What doth it profit a man
if he were to gain the whole world
and suffer the loss of his soul?
But for Wales,
a region of England,
as it were,
a cesspool region,
it was considered
the lowest region of England.
And so we must always remember
that the happiness we seek
is found in heaven.
And so,
with this in mind,
then we must thoroughly be convinced
that life here is toil and labor,
it is difficult
and it is often wrought
with many struggles.
And this is precisely
the Divine Plan for us,
so that in the struggles
we may acquire and grow
each and every moment of our lives
in virtue.
This life is a struggle
for each and every soul
that will be brought into it.
And in that struggle-ness
we will prove ourselves
manly or not.
We will prove ourselves to God,
either His lovers or His haters,
and suffer the recompense
for how we live our lives.
And so,
we must then remember
never, never
must we avoid
attaching our hope for happiness
in any of the changing things
of this world.
God's truth
manifested through Holy Mother Church
is the only solid rock,
the only moor
that the soul should attach it to itself
in the changing tides
of this corrupt world.
For it is only there
and there alone
that the soul is not cast adrift
in the storms
that overwhelm the world.
The storms that come and go
and will come and go
until the Lord comes again.
We live in a veil of tears
and we must all stop
looking upon this world
either optimistically
or pessimistically.
Always and everywhere
when there are contrary opinions
Christ is not operating.
Because the reality
is what we must live in.
And that stands above
the extreme opposites.
They are always and everywhere.
There is no such thing
as a liberal
or a conservative Catholic.
There is only such thing
as a heterodox,
an orthodox,
a follower of the faith
or a heterodox,
someone who has rejected it.
It matters not whether you reject it
by conservative principles
or liberal principles.
It is still a form of modernism,
still a form of heresy.
Christ's truth is above
the two extremes
and it will always we will be
because it is the via media,
the middle way
that stands above error.
It is the only solid rock foundation
that we have
for any semblance of hope
in this world
and indeed without it
we are cast adrift
in the sea of despair.
And so,
we must always and everywhere
understand
that Christ calls all of us
as he did this poor paralytic.
What does he say?
Christ calls him son.
When the priest of the old dispensation
wouldn't touch him.
And how many members
of the mystical body
go about with the same mentality?
I will not touch that sinner.
Then we will not be touched by Christ
because we are in the same boat.
Nowhere
in the mission of Jesus Christ
did he preach
ever,
ever,
ever
isolationism
for members of the mystical body.
Never,
not once,
not one word uttered.
Indeed,
what was taken from the chosen people
was taken for them precisely because
they refused to give revelation
to the Gentiles.
They were called to preserve the truth
for their sick brethren
and they nationalized it.
They drew it in,
and in,
and in.
And so the light
could not,
as it were,
turn out
from them
to illuminate
the poor souls
lost
in the darkness of sin.
And we must thoroughly
understand that.
For we are called
to touch the sinners
because we,
as sinners,
have been touched.
And we should desire
that they be touched
by the same love.
The mystical body of Christ
is the only institute in the world,
the only institute in the world,
and it will always remain
the only institute in the world
big enough
to shelter all souls in the world.
Every other institute
has some type of exclusivity
by which you are not allowed in.
You are either in the black club,
the white club,
the yellow club,
the rich club,
the poor club,
the female club,
the male club,
the dog lover club,
the cat lover club.
Everyone is in a club.
And yet God has come
to bring everyone
into the only home
built large enough
to house and protect
all souls.
And that is what
we are called to fill
God's house.
And you do not fill the house of God
by acquiring
a siege mentality,
by isolating
oneself
when we are supposed to be
the light of the world.
To this
we are reminded
of one of those
most popular images.
Unfortunately,
often
when it is published
it is cropped
in which Christ
is sitting
on a stump
and the children
are being gathered
to Him.
But if we saw
the full image
we would see
off to the side
a stream of children
that are being cajoled
and sent forth
to Christ.
And who is it
that is there
in the background
gently bringing
the children
to her son?
Mary,
our mother.
And we
are called
to imitate her,
to bring
all souls
to her son
so that they may have
the opportunity
to be touched
as she was touched
by His love
and as we all
must desire
to be touched
by His love.
And so
we see often
this scene repeated
time and time again
in the most tragic images
of our society.
What are the most
striking images
that come to us
from this war-torn world?
Always and everywhere
the images
of a woman
who sacrifices herself
as she helps
the refugees
out.
That love
of the worn,
torn images
of hell
on earth.
Always
the mother's love
sacrificing itself
for children.
That love
that each
and every one
of us
is called
to imitate.
That love
that is always
and everywhere
repeated
when the soul
bends down
to touch
the heart
of another soul
because their heart
was touched
by Christ
and that must
always be the intention.
My heart
was touched
by Christ
and I desire
the heart
of this soul
to be touched
by Christ.
And so
we cannot take
upon us
that mentality.
Christ came
to conquer
the human heart.
Christ came
to conquer
the human heart
not
to retreat
from him.
And no member
of the mystical body
if they want
to be an authentic
member of the
mystical body
will retreat
from the heart
of any soul
the most hardened
of sinners.
We
follow
a victorious
king
who goes
forth
to conquer
and he does
not count
the cost
not even
unto his life
in order
to manifest
his love
and so
we must not
count the cost
even unto
our own lives
for we are
to see the love
of the Immaculate
instilled
in the hearts
of our modern world.
And so
our Lord
gives us
the reason
why we are
not to take
this mentality
for he tells us
very clearly
go out
into the highways
and into the byways
and fill
my banquet hall.
That is a summary
of the mission
of the Immaculate
Mediatrix
to fill
the banquet hall
of God
that is
to go out
into the mystical
body
in order
that they may
be nurtured
by Christ
himself
that Christ
may become
their teacher
that Christ
may become
their life.
This is
our mission
and
anything
else
we hide
in
is to reject
our mission
as members
of the mystical
body
and so
we go
forth
to the altar
of our sacrifice
for the sake
of Christ
and that altar
exists
in every
human
institution.
No man
is a father
no woman
is a mother
unless
there is
sacrificial
love
in their home
that is
a complete
annihilation
of the self
for the other
so that
the love
between mom
and dad
is not
a question
of whether
the love
between mom
and dad
is reflected
in the formation
of the children
that is
the communication
of Christ's
life
is organically
transmitted
to souls.
You cannot
catechize
until
first
you evangelize
and
evangelization
means rolling
up your
sleeves
and getting
in the mud
that the sinners
are trapped
in
and protected
by the mother
of God
from having
that mud
adhere
to you.
It is only
then
when the soul
is taken
out of the
mire
that they
are now
ready to
sit down
and have
presented
to them
the catechism
of Jesus
Christ
and when
that is
done
in the divinely
ordained way
that means
that Christ
nurtures
Christ does
everything
because
he
and he
alone
is good.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.