Be vigilant at all times, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Amen.
Today's readings on the first Saturday of the month are kind of appropriate for this time of year, November,
where it gets very dark and cloudy and so forth, and the leaves are all gone and nothing is growing.
This is a time of death, in a way, and that's what we're all going to have to do someday.
That's what the readings are all about.
God, to be vigilant at all times, and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.
What will it be like to stand before the Son of Man at the end of our lives?
God, the judge, will there then be, and he will see our whole lives and show us what we've done.
It will be a day of great anxiety, and that's why we need to make sure we're always ready,
and we don't become drowsy, as we see in today's reading.
Like so many people in the world, we're living in a time of great apostasy in the world,
where people do not believe anymore.
People do not go to church.
They do not keep the commandments.
They think everything's okay.
I'm okay.
You're okay.
I'm a good person.
I'm a nice guy.
But I'm reminded of one of the old baseball managers about nice guys.
Nice guys finish last, he said.
It's kind of true in baseball.
Not in life all the time, of course, but nice guys finish last.
If you're only a nice guy, you're not going to make heaven.
We've got to do more than that.
And that's why Our Lady came to Fatima, and that's why this first Saturday of every month is such a wonderful time.
Sister Lucia of the Fatima children loved the first Saturdays.
She longed for the first Saturdays to come around each month so that she could give it to Our Lady and do what Our Lady had asked.
Do what the Blessed Mother asked.
Our Lady had shown that little children, hell, you have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go.
If men do what I say, many souls will be saved.
She told them to pray.
Pray.
Pray and sacrifice for many souls, she said.
Many, many souls will go to hell because no one prays and sacrifices for them.
She also gave them the little prayer.
I say that after each decade of the Rosary.
Again, reminding us of salvation of souls.
Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins.
Save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.
We say that after each decade.
Save us from the fires of hell.
Hell for all eternity.
Who can ever imagine what it's like?
Save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.
Who can ever imagine what it's like?
St. Leonard of Port Morris in his treatise on how few are saved said,
the majority of men are not saved.
The majority of adult men are not saved.
That means women, of course.
The majority.
Majority.
Many will be saved, of course.
Many will have not reached maturity.
Many young children, many little babes and so forth.
So there'll be many saved because Jesus Christ has saved us.
We should all be saved.
Jesus didn't come to have people go to hell, of course.
He came to redeem all men.
Let us hope that he did not die in vain for some, for all, for some of us.
But when you look around, as I mentioned before, the apostasy that we have in this, our world,
it's, you know, we see how many will be lost.
St. Leonard.
In the, in the treatise, in the beginning of the treatise, he's very, very strong.
But at the end, he let, he shows the people the light.
Doesn't have to be that way.
You don't have to lose your soul.
All you have to do is do what you're supposed to do.
Live a good life.
Keep the commandments.
God's grace is there.
He wants to save you.
If you keep my commandments of God, you will be saved.
If you practice.
The faith.
You do what you're supposed to do.
Holy Mass every Sunday.
Confessions and so forth.
And, of course, the Lord has given us Holy Communion.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting.
And I will raise him up on the last day.
We have it all in our Catholic faith.
That's why we have to go around, as I mentioned yesterday, and evangelize.
And bring people into the sheepfold.
Because what other faith has what we have?
All those other faiths are of human origin.
Only our faith is of divine origin.
Built upon the apostles.
Do they have the first Saturdays?
First what?
First Saturdays.
Yes.
Lots of Catholics don't even know what the first Saturdays are.
But Our Lady gave us this.
In a way, an insurance, a policy.
She said, if you do the first Saturdays.
I will be there at the end of your life.
With all the graces that you need.
To save your soul.
All the graces you need.
Our Lady will be right there with you.
At your deathbed.
With all the graces that you need.
To save your soul.
We should all be saying, what do I have to do?
What do I have to do?
Let me know.
What do I do?
What do I do?
Well.
Our Lady said.
Receive Holy Communion on the first Saturday of the month.
Pray five decades of the Rosary.
Meditate.
Keep her company.
Keep me company.
For 15 minutes.
By thinking or meditating.
Talking to her about the Rosary.
The mysteries of the Rosary.
Resurrection.
Crucifixion.
All the major mysteries of our faith.
And then go to confession eight days before this Saturday.
Eight days ago.
Or eight days from now.
You have a two week period.
Not so hard.
And if you did that every first Saturday.
You would find great joy in doing it.
The blessings would be there.
It's not onerous.
It's easy.
My yoke is easy, Jesus says.
And to do this is easy too.
You'll be on easy street, as it were.
It makes it easy.
And yet how few people even know about it.
How few people do it.
How careless.
We're more worried about our shopping.
All Christmas presents and all that nonsense.
Football games.
Baseball.
All that.
Operas.
Theater.
Television.
Internet.
We spend hours and hours and hours doing nonsense.
That's not going to get us into heaven.
We've got to wake up.
We have to tell people not to be careless.
Your salvation.
Your eternal salvation is at stake.
You must keep the commandments.
Right?
Be a good Catholic.
Right?
Be a good Catholic.
Know what God wants you to do.
He's established his church.
Upon this rock, I'll build my church.
So we have to tell people who are not Catholics to investigate the Catholic church.
Don't believe all the propaganda you see about the Catholic.
You hear about the church.
Study it.
Make sure that your church, the church that you're in, is the right church.
As Gilbert Keith Chesterton said,
I wanted to join a church, he was a convert,
in which my sins would be forgiven.
Where are you going to get your sins forgiven?
St. Anthony Mary Claret said,
it's not that everybody has to be a Catholic, strictly speaking, as it were.
He said, but where else are they going to get rid of their sins?
Their mortal sins?
We have it all in the Catholic faith.
How blessed we are.
So let us do all we can to spread it.
Tell people about the first Saturdays.
Do them ourselves.
And many, many souls will be saved, as Our Lady says.
That's why she came to Fatima.
She came to Fatima to wake us up.
So that we would not, as Jesus says, don't become drowsy.
Don't be sleeping.
Wake up.
Wake up.
As we say, wake up and smell the coffee.
Wake up and find out what's going on,
really what's going on in our world.
It's a wake-up call, my friends.
Every first Saturday.
Thank the Lord.
So let us pray and thank our Blessed Mother
for this wonderful privilege of doing the first Saturdays.
May the Lord bless you.
Amen.
To a blessed soul, may God bless you and bless you always.
From very first Sunday to the Hodes aboutラ
Rhemos0, Julia Monk .
Be blessed!
Be given grace!
Thank you.