We see in this Gospel how God is concerned about our salvation.
He's more happy with the conversion of one soul than he is with 99 righteous men.
And so our Lord is intimately concerned about us.
He's not indifferent.
He's not saying, oh, one more soul has made it to heaven or one more soul has gone to hell.
And saying that in a matter-of-fact way, he doesn't do that, of course.
He's intimately concerned about our salvation and our conversion.
In fact, this is what is most important to God is the conversion of souls.
And it should be for us as well, our conversion, the conversion of other people, of other souls.
And how important that is in our living, our day-to-day life, how we should be concerned about our neighbor.
We can't be indifferent because this is what's most important to God.
The salvation of all souls.
We're all here to save our souls, to make it to heaven, to be happy with God in heaven.
And so this is something we should think about a lot and be concerned about.
How do we save souls?
I think maybe the first thing is we think about is preaching, preaching by the word,
talking to other people about the faith and about God.
About sin, about the important things of life.
When St. Francis gave the advice to the friars on what they should preach about,
he said preach about virtue and vice, punishment and glory.
These are the most important things for us to live a holy life and to arrive at our salvation.
The glory of heaven, but also the punishments of hell.
These are all we need to think about as well because they are real and they're dangers.
We focus on virtue to live a holy life, to be good, to be innocent, to live an immaculate life,
to be as perfect as we can.
And we focus on vice, these positives and negatives, virtue and vice, punishment and glory.
We have to think of both.
We have to think of vice, another word for sin.
The word that is avoided today by so many people because it's considered a negative thought,
a negative idea, but it's a truth, it's a reality.
So we have to think about it and we have to preach about it.
We have to avoid it and we have to know what it is and preach about it, talk about it,
and be concerned about it, do everything we can to avoid occasions of sin,
to realize that this sin is the greatest evil in the world, the greatest offense to God,
and our greatest danger, and punishment and glory.
Punishment, if we think about punishment, that really changes our life.
It scares us.
Punishment, pain, it scares us and it scares us into living, doing what we're supposed to do,
staying away from death.
Staying away from dangerous things that will hurt us.
So we have to preach about that, not be silent about hell and be silent about punishment that is real
and that will happen to you and to me if we don't live according to the commandments of God and glory.
That enticement, that encouragement, we think of the rewards of eternal life
and certainly that motivates us.
To live a holy life.
So these are the things that we preach about in our word,
but we have to preach even more than that in our example,
our good behavior, our holy life, especially a life of charity,
our kindness and goodness to our neighbor,
our help that we give to our neighbor,
the sacrifices that we do for the good of our neighbor.
This is what converts souls.
The most.
And it is the thing that we need to focus on the most.
My example, my behavior, my obedience to the commandments of God,
my life of holiness.
This is my primary duty and the most powerful influence on my neighbor.
And hand in hand with preaching, which is not just,
which is the word and my example,
is confession, the importance of confession.
Confession is what really changes souls.
I think it was some saints said that preaching gathers souls in like a net,
but confession converts them one by one.
And so how important confession is for the priest to focus on confession
and individual souls to focus on.
Confession, how this is what really changes my heart.
I can listen to, I can listen to preaching,
but that's not going to change my heart.
That's not going to make me a son of God.
If I'm not, if I haven't been baptized yet,
or if I haven't, if I'm living in mortal sin,
the preaching is not going to change my soul.
It is confession that will change my soul,
that will really bring about my conversion.
It will make me once again a son of God.
And it will also strengthen me to live a holy life.
So confession is really the ultimate conversion.
And also the focus on prayer.
Prayer is what, as Saint Maximilian said,
prayer is what exclusively changes the hearts of men.
Prayer is what brings about the salvation of souls.
We can preach about vice and grace.
We can preach about vice and virtue and punishment and glory.
We can even preach about confession.
But it is what, it is prayer that brings souls to preaching,
to confession.
Prayer is what makes preaching powerful.
Prayer is what helps souls to come to confession,
to come to the sacraments.
And so we have to focus on prayer in a major way
in my personal life and even in the lives of others.
To promote prayer, to promote the Holy Rosary,
to promote a life of meditation.
We read in the Office of Readings this morning
of Saint Charles Borromeo giving recommendations to priests
to live a holy life.
And they had, his major focus was on meditation.
How do you prepare for Holy Mass?
How do you prepare for confessions?
How do you prepare for your preaching?
How do you prepare for your prayers of the Holy Offering?
How do you prepare for your prayers of the Holy Office?
You have to meditate.
You have to prepare through meditation,
through recollection, through avoidance of distractions
and occasions of sin.
Meditation, prayer is what's most important for a priest
to live a holy life, for religious as well,
and for us to bring about our own conversion
and the conversion of our neighbor.
We have to pray.
We have to make time to pray.
We have to live a recollected life.
We have to realize the importance of silence,
recollection, quiet, solitude with me and God.
And I have to make time to do that.
If I don't have time, then I have to make it
because it is crucial, critical for my own salvation
and the salvation of other souls.
Our Lady of Fatima said that so many souls go to hell
and there is no one to pray for them.
And so if we don't pray, so many souls will go to hell.
So we need to pray.
And what are we going to pray?
We pray the Divine Office.
We try to pray it well.
But for most people, it is the Holy Rosary.
This is the most powerful prayer in the prayer
that helps us to develop a prayer life
because it's a lengthy prayer.
It takes 20 minutes to pray a good rosary.
And we need to dedicate that time
to pray a rosary every day,
as Our Lady said at Fatima,
to pray the rosary every day
for the conversion of sinners,
for peace in the world,
for the end of wars in the world.
Prayer, the Holy Rosary,
is what will bring about conversion.
And conversion of souls
is what is most important to God.
And so it is what must be most important to me
and is what's most important to everyone.
Of course, salvation.
Conversion means salvation, happiness,
happiness in this life and in eternal life.
And a good example,
in practice of the virtues,
and once again, the love for neighbor,
practicing charity,
this is what will influence souls
to conversion the most.
And so we entrust all this
to Our Lady especially.
She is most concerned
for the salvation of her children.
Her children are important
to Our Lady, everyone.
And so if they are on the wrong path,
she is sad
and wants us as her helpers
to bring about the conversion
of her children.
And so we think about our way of life too,
especially us as religious.
We have chosen to come to
live a life as a religious
for my own salvation,
for my own perfection,
so that I will make my own soul safe.
But I have also come here
to religious life
or whatever way of life or occasion you have
to save my own soul
but also to save others.
And religious life is one of the best ways
to bring about conversions.
You enter religious life,
and you have the greatest influence on others.
Everyone looks at you for your example.
They ask for your prayers.
They look to you for guidance in life.
And if we go on to the priesthood,
what is my motivation for the priesthood?
My motivation, primary motivation,
is to save souls,
to preach, to hear confessions,
to give spiritual direction to souls
so that they will find salvation,
so they will find conversion.
The priesthood is primarily directed
to the salvation of souls.
The priesthood in religious life
is for my own conversion
and the salvation of souls.
So, once again,
conversion is the most important thing to God,
and so it must be the most important thing to me
day and night in all my prayers
and my good example.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.
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Thanks for watching!