In today's Gospel, our Lord instructs the disciples that the primary mission of the
Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, is to convince us of the truth of the Incarnation
and all that Jesus taught us.
And so, the primary grace we receive is faith, faith that the Savior of the world has come,
has established until the end of time the means of His mercy, that is, Holy Mother Church.
And then our Lord begins to try to convince the disciples that it is extremely important
that they believe this truth with all their heart, with all their mind, and with all their
soul, because He says the time will come when we will be expelled from synagogues, and even
worse, that those who persecute the Church will seek to put us to death, and all the
while claiming to serve the one good God.
And so, we must always have that fruit of the Holy Spirit known as magnanimity, that
is, long-suffering.
Long-suffering, because we must overcome our own faults and failings, our own sins,
and also because we must overcome that persecution from without.
That attempt to always destroy Christ, because the Spirit of the world, being the Spirit
of Satan, always seeks to put Him to death, and most especially to put Him in death in
the members of His mystical body, for the Lord Himself cannot be overcome again when
He rises.
He rises victorious, never to die again.
But in explaining the mystery of the mystical body, He said very clearly that what was done
to Him would be done to us.
And the Acts of the Apostles particularly point out that magnanimity of the early followers
of Jesus Christ, most especially in the person of Saint Paul, who would suffer shipwreck,
who would be beaten, who would be persecuted, who would always be put on trial by the pagan
world.
And yet, Saint Paul would go forward.
If he was beaten, when he recovered, he would go back, trying to convince those people of
the love of God, and most especially, how that love is manifested through the grace
we receive through Holy Mother Church.
And so, let us always be on guard against our own faults, our own sins, and also against
the persecution that will always be carried out against the mystical body of Christ,
that persecution that rages most violently in our own time, that persecution that has
many names, the New Age movement, the Masonic threat to the Church.
It has legion names because the enemies of the Church are legion.
But in really one sense, while there are legion, there is, there are many, there is one.
And so, we must always be aware of that.
We must always be aware that it is Satan who is inspiring this hatred for Jesus Christ
and inspiring in the hearts of men an attempt to bring the Church down.
And so, let us especially get in that habit that Saint Maximilian Mary Colby and all the
great saints were in the habit of doing, recommending to the Mother of God the most hardened of
sinners in the world.
And often, we do not consider because we always consider.
We consider the worst of sinners, those who are caught in crass vices, most especially
against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments.
But the greatest sinners in our world are those who are using all the gifts of their
intellect to seek to destroy the philosophy of Jesus Christ manifested to us through Holy
Mother Church.
For they commit almost on a daily, on a daily basis, the greatest sacrilegious and highest
blasphemies.
And so, let us always recommend them to the maternal mediation of the Mother of God so
that as was said in her Magnificat, she may humble the proud and hence bring them to a
knowledge of the Savior so that they too may work out their salvation in fearing trembling
in this life.
And let us always remember that it is our lot in this life to always be constantly vigilant,
always be constantly on God.
Because we also are subject to the assaults of Satan as he attempts to lead us astray,
lead us from Holy Mother Church into his anti-kingdom and ultimately to suffer with him for all
eternity in heaven.
So let us always remember that we are called to be joyful with God for all eternity in
heaven.
May that be true?
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