In today's Gospel, the Lord is warning us against all those vices that are contrary
to reason and indeed destroy the very reason that we have been blessed with, that is,
that quality that truly separates us from the rest of the beast.
For the other beasts have instincts, but we have something more important because we have
revelation, and so the Lord tells us and warns us about those things that would keep us from
him, those things that we turn to in order to assuage the anxieties of this daily life
or to escape any other form of suffering.
But as Christians, we know we are called not merely to avoid bad things.
But we are also to give glory to him who will come at the end of time to judge the
living and the dead.
And that is precisely why our Lord warns us to avoid those vices that would keep us from
him because they are contrary to his law.
But we must also look to that time in which the Son of Man will come again, that is, that
day when all will be judged by Christ according to how they have responded to the sacrifice
he has made for us.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
And we must also remember that year of the sacrifice is a sacrifice of his whole life
here on earth.
For we must not think that the Lord just began to suffer when he was impaled on the cross
at Calvary, but he begins to suffer as soon as he enters into the womb of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
Many of the saints have commented that the word desired to become flesh.
And once the word became flesh, he remained silent for nine months in the womb of his
mother, thereby beginning that passion that he would offer to God.
Amen.
offer to the Father in reparation for our sins.
And that is why it is not simply permissible to avoid bad things
or to become, as the modern world would declare, secular saints,
because there is really no such thing as a secular saint.
One can only be a saint if they worship authentically the one true God
as he has revealed how he wishes himself to be worshipped.
And ultimately, that means that we must turn to that sacred humanity
of Christ and worship it with all our mind, with all our hearts,
and with all our souls.
And it is necessarily included in that that the Blessed Virgin Mary
have a special place in the life of all Christians.
For without accepting her divine maternity,
it is not possible for us to truly recognize the Son.
And Scripture tells us very clearly that if, in the end,
we do not die in this state, it is because of our own fault,
because there is something we have attached,
ourselves to on this earth that keeps us from remaining attached to Christ
both in this life and then in the life to come.
And so, let us take heed of the Lord's warning
that it is simply not enough to avoid evil,
but we must also, with every fiber of our being,
strive to give glory to him who gives his Father glory
by restoring us to himself.
And so, let us truly be thankful as we prepare to enter,
into the mystery of Advent that will culminate
with the birth of Christ on Christmas Day.
And let us strive to prepare ourselves so that all souls
will see in us what Christ came to offer.
That is, we will draw all souls not to ourselves,
but to that place known as Bethlehem,
in which they may enter the cave of the darkness of our sins,
and there beholding the Christ child,
come forth miraculously,
from the womb of the Virgin Mary,
they may see their true hope,
their true life,
their true hope in life in this world,
and thereby stay close to Christ and his most holy mother,
so that they may journey safely through the trials and the tribulations,
the temptations and the attempts to escape suffering,
through the pleasures of this life,
they may safely journey through those trials and tribulations,
and ultimately acquire that gift that Christ has come to give us,
that gift that first becomes manifest to mankind on Christmas Day,
and most especially is manifested to us all
when he culminates his life on earth,
by his sacrifice and death on Calvary,
in order to restore us to life to the Father.
And so, let us always strive to avoid evil and to do good,
but let us remember we must do so with one thing in mind,
that is to give glory to God,
to please him and his most holy mother,
in this life,
in order that we may be happy with them
for all eternity in that life to come.
And so, let us pray.