Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
There are a lot of good men in this world, but not a lot of good religions. In fact, there's only one good religion, one true religion, and by God's mercy, we are members of that religion, Christianity. And that might seem like a very inappropriate thing to say, but thanks be to God, the Church helps us to say it the right way because we live in a context of a lot of pluralism, we call it, and a lot of diversity, even religious diversity. And yet, even in that context, even in that environment, the truth remains the same. There are many good men in this world, for sure, but not many good religions, only one true good religion.
The Church teaches that there's an equality, and now I quote from this document that's really useful, Dominus Iesus—the Lord Jesus. The Church says that there's an equality, which is a presupposition for respectfully living with one another, even if there's a diversity of religions. There's equality, but that equality refers to an equality of personal dignity, regardless of religion, not to doctrinal content, the Church says. The Church, in fact, must be committed to proclaiming to all people the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ and of adherence to the Church through baptism and the other sacraments in order to participate fully in communion with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
In other words, to use this word, to use this language that's in a healthy way challenging and maybe provocative. In other words, yes, all men are equal, but not all religions are equal. Christianity is better. That's why we try to share it. That's why we have missionaries. That's why we try to spread the gospel. It's really good news. What's the good news? There's a better religion than all the religions in this world. There's a true religion that puts us in touch with the true God. 
And other religions are not only false, they're actually an obstacle to people on their way to God. And the only good thing about them, the only helpful thing about them, is whatever element of truth they might have from Christianity. Okay, there might be some good in them, but it's not due to those religions. It's because they have some good from Christianity, whether because they're monotheistic or because they have the commandments or whatever element of truth they have.
So in and of themselves, other religions are not helpful at all. They're big obstacles. And again, this is, you can look this up in Dominus Iesus. It's a very fundamental document, especially for modern-day circumstances. How do we speak of the primacy, of the superiority of Christianity over other religions in a modern-day context? This document, Dominus Iesus, gives us the good words to say that. So again, other religions are not just false, they're actually big obstacles to God. That's why it's worth defending Christianity, even dying for it.
And where is this homily even coming from? Well, today's feast, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, has its origins in the Battle of Lepanto, in which 8,000 Christian men gave their lives to defend Christianity, to prevent the spread of Islam into Europe. And there might have been, I mean, there's always politics that unfortunately trickles or floods into religion. And in any battle, that's gonna be the case. But there might have been many good men on the side of the Ottoman Muslims trying to spread Islam in good faith into Europe. Perhaps so, maybe they were in good faith. But thanks be to Our Lady, they failed. And thanks be to Our Lady and to the Holy Rosary, Europe remained Christian. And we are Christians and not Muslims.
Yes, even good men can be in ignorance, in error, in darkness, through no fault of their own. And we have to admire many people who, again, are in error through no fault of their own and yet are living upright lives. We admire them and not their religion. And we remember that they're good people despite their religion. So that's what makes them actually more amazing—that they've got this big obstacle in the way, which is their own false religion, and yet despite that, despite that, they can be better than many Christians. Imagine if these people didn't have that obstacle in the way. My goodness, how holy they would be! If they only met Christ by name, if they didn't have that stumbling block, that impediment in the way.
Now, thanks be to God, we don't have that impediment. We have the way, the truth, the life—Christ. And let's now ask ourselves how great it would be if we only lived our faith, right? Because we have it, and yet we so infrequently live it. That's a sad thing. There's no obstacle in our way. The path is wide open in front of us, and yet there are so few fervent Christians. Got to examine ourselves and whether we don't fall into that category. And what a help the Rosary can be in living our faith. Again, the daily meditations of the life of Jesus, a God-made man, the daily meditation on the mysteries of salvation, the daily meditations on the virtues that we are to live, the daily meditation on the fullness of the life that Christ came to give us, and a petition to make all those things happen in our lives.
And yet, well, how many people pray the Rosary every day? Oof. Scared to even ask that question because it's a disappointing answer very often. But if we only lived our faith, how awesome would that be? And it doesn't have to just be a daydream. It can be a reality.
So concluding this, let's call it a short sermon. Concluding Dominus Iesus, this document again reminds us Christians of the big responsibility we have because we've received a great mercy. When we say Christianity is better, it's not because we want to point fingers at others and say, "Oh, our religion is better." No, we've received a great mercy. We have a big responsibility to share but also to live what we've received.
So the Church tells us all the children of the Church should nevertheless remember that their exalted condition results not from their own merits but from the grace of Christ. And if they fail to respond in thought, in word, and in deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged. If we fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to the grace that we've received, we shall not be saved and we shall only be judged more severely for failing to appreciate the gift that we've been given.
The Holy Rosary can be an excellent aid to make our thoughts, words, and deeds correspond to the faith that has been revealed. Let's pray it every single day. God gives big graces through the Rosary and He wants to give them to us as well.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.