Praised be Jesus and Mary. In the Gospel reading today, our Lord tells his
disciples that they're to go out to all the towns and villages where he intended
to visit, and they're to make one announcement. The kingdom of God is at
hand. If people received them, then they would be blessed. If the people didn't
receive them, they were to shake the dust from their feet and proclaim the
message to them anyway.
Our Lord makes very clear that there wouldn't be any excuses for these people
because they had heard the truth that the kingdom of God is in their midst, and
they had rejected it. The exact same announcement has been made ever since.
And how many people who were born and
baptized into the Catholic Church have rejected this kingdom? Millions. It's
common knowledge that the second largest body of Christians in the world is
non-practicing Catholics. They've decided either that
they know better than the church and therefore they don't have to follow its
teachings, or maybe they've decided they could find somewhere else they could
hear the gospel preached, or somewhere that was more fun, and so they've left
the church. Or in essence, they've decided that they don't need the Lord at all.
And so they do nothing. Now, of course, these people will be very quick to tell
you that they still believe in God, as though that's somehow going to save them.
You know, they even tell you that they love God. And you know what? I believe them.
They do love God, but on their terms, not his. Of course, we don't judge these people,
but we must be very clear. You know, the Lord came into the world, and he called
people to repentance. He called people to change their lives. And that message,
that message hasn't changed. There's still a need to repent, for the kingdom of God
is in our midst. Now, today, the kingdom of God in this world is the Roman Catholic
Church. And it's here for anyone who desires the fullness of
truth. We live in a time where we have lots of people who want to call themselves Catholic,
but they don't follow the teachings of Christ. Once again, we must be very clear. They have
divorced themselves from the church.
If you're Catholic, it means you're going to follow the fullness of the teachings of
Christ. And if you don't want to follow the teachings of Christ, you have cut yourself
off from Christ. You can still say you believe in Jesus, but guess what? You know, so does
Satan.
Just be, to be able to say,
well, I believe in God, or I believe in Jesus, you know, counts for nothing. St. James says
that the demons do as much, and they tremble. The Greek says their hair stands on end. You
know, they've made their choice. Oh, you know, they believe in God. And not only do they
believe in him, but you know, they know God much better than we do. They know the reality
of God. They know the reality of what God requires. And they decided that they know
a better way. They decided that they would follow their conscience.
Each one of us has to make decisions in our lives.
Now, are these decisions conducive to our salvation?
This is the question that we must ask ourselves
because the only thing that matters is to be able to get to heaven.
Nothing else really matters.
Everything needs to be looked at in the light of eternity.
Everything.
You know, what we read,
the movies or television we decide to watch.
You know, before we decide anything,
we must ask ourselves,
is this going to bring me closer to God?
Or is it going to lead me away from him?
Nothing else matters.
Everything is going to be left behind.
Everything in this world is passing away.
The whole world is going to pass away one day,
one day in fire.
And what will remain is our souls.
So we need to look very carefully
at what it is we're doing.
Are we saying that we believe in Jesus,
but our lives betray this reality?
Are we saying that we believe in Jesus,
but our lives betray this reality?
You know, if this is the case,
then the demons are not subject to us.
But even if the demons are subject to us,
our Lord tells us not to rejoice in this,
but rather rejoice that our names are written in heaven.
And that's another question we have to ask ourselves.
Are they?
Are they?
Are our names written in the book of life?
Let us repent while we still have the choice,
for the kingdom of God is in our midst.
Amen.
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