In today's Gospel, our Lord's essential point is that once we set out to follow Him,
we must consider all things else as rubbish, and so, when the Lord calls,
we must be willing to go, and when He tells us to stay, we must be willing to stay.
We must be willing to do all things. He primarily tells the young man who would return
to his family not to return because, as many of the doctors and the fathers point out,
he wished to go back and make sure that all his goods were distributed amongst his family
so that the family could hold on to the wealth. But the Lord had greater plans,
as He has greater plans for each and every one of us, and so, when we are asked to leave the
things of this world, we must be willing to leave it, and indeed, that is the spirit that must imbue
each and every member of the mystical body as it imbued the hearts of St. Lawrence Ruiz
and his companion, Martyrs, for when they were called to put all things aside and give a modest
witness for their love of Christ, they willingly would do so, and that is why we must not be
attached to the things of this world. We must be willing to do all things of this world,
for in our life the Lord will give us and send us many things. We must strive only to do one thing
with them, that is, to use them in accord to the will of God our Father, that is, to give right use
to each and every thing that we have possession of in this life in order that we are truly putting
it to the disposal of the will of God and for the good of the kingdom of heaven. And so,
there must be all those virtues,
especially in the life of the Christian, that does not put its hope for happiness in the things
of this world, but uses them in order that they may gain their eternal salvation. And so,
as with St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions, let us strive to use all the things of this world
in right order, that is, in accord with the will of God, and strive not to put anything in this
world ahead of the love that we have received from our Lord in the sacrament of baptism and
in the sacrament of baptism.
In the sacramental life of the church, let us strive always and everywhere to hold on to that
possession which is most dear, that is, the possession of our faith, and then we will come
to know what the Lord means, for we must plow in the field of the kingdom of God, and in order to
do so, we must seek to plow the straightest and most beautiful lines in that field that we possibly
can. And so, our Lord tells us, once that we have placed our hands to the plow,
let us not look back, but let us always look forward, always laboring in the field of the
kingdom of God, so that when he comes to take us, we may be found with those good works,
those good works that are seen in the lives of all the martyrs and of all the saints,
those good works that we are called to strive to imitate, and the root of them is ultimately not
to be attached to anything in this world, but to be willing to leave it when the Lord calls,
or to put it down to take up something else,
when the Lord asks, always and everywhere, seeking to do his will, seeking always to give
good witness to that which the Lord has wrought in us, through his grace, and ultimately to give
good witness to the kingdom of God, so that all souls may come to desire her in this life,
to be incorporated into her mystical body in this life, for she is the one safe haven in this world
of darkness. She is the one.
She is the refuge of sinners, and so she is that refuge by which we receive the mercy of God,
and by his grace we are strengthened, strengthened not to be attached to the things in this world,
and ultimately the strength not to be attached to even our lives, which is the greatest sacrifice
we can make for Christ. And so, when St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companion martyrs
were asked to give up that which was most precious that they had received from the Lord,
that is, their very life, they would do so willingly, willingly in witness of that love
that they had for the Master, who first loved them by giving his life for their sake, so that
they, in each member of the mystical body, could, in imitation of Christ, give their life for love
of him who first loved us.
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