God
Scripture
Faith
Homilies
At various times, undoubtedly each and every one of us has had friends who were not good influences. Friends who, through their words and deeds, encouraged us to vice and temptation to sin. Friends who led to an abatement and repression of virtue within us, as opposed to a growth and flourishing.
We are communal beings. God made us to be social! In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, we read "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help." Conversely in 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul warns us that "Bad company ruins good morals."
Brothers and sisters, I would like to encourage all of us to assess our relationships: who is leading us closer to Jesus's heart-- and who is hardening our hearts, making us less amenable to God's good grace and love? Who is helping us to till the gardens of our souls-- and who is drying that garden out, making it rocky and infertile?
In computer programming, we have the term "garbage in, garbage out." No matter how well written a computer program is, if we provide it with bad input, it will have improper output. This concept applies not just to our friends, but what we do recreationally.
Is our pattern of life-- how we spend our time, our hobbies, which TV shows we watch, which books we read, which video games we play-- drawing us into communion with each other; with the saints; and with God eternal? It is often said "we are what we eat". Our souls work the same way. In 1 Peter 5:8, he implores us to "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
Does this mean, though, that we should abandon those who are lacking in virtue? By no means! In Mark 2:17, Jesus tells is "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." And once again from Paul, we have this from Romans 8:29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family."
As Jesus came for the sick, and as we are called to imitate Christ in all things, so too it is our Father's will that we minister to those who are spiritually ill. We even say so in the Fatima Prayer: "O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy."
Just as we should surround ourselves with virtuous people, so too should it work in the opposite direction: the faithful should be models of virtue to others. As sons and daughters of God almighty, we should spread the kerygma not just by proclaiming the Word, but through acts of radical love and charity to those most in need around us. We should ask the Holy Spirit to give us an abundance of grace, which we can pour out for others.
It is in this way we can mark the road for all souls towards God's ceaseless, merciful love.
We are communal beings. God made us to be social! In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, we read "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help." Conversely in 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul warns us that "Bad company ruins good morals."
Brothers and sisters, I would like to encourage all of us to assess our relationships: who is leading us closer to Jesus's heart-- and who is hardening our hearts, making us less amenable to God's good grace and love? Who is helping us to till the gardens of our souls-- and who is drying that garden out, making it rocky and infertile?
In computer programming, we have the term "garbage in, garbage out." No matter how well written a computer program is, if we provide it with bad input, it will have improper output. This concept applies not just to our friends, but what we do recreationally.
Is our pattern of life-- how we spend our time, our hobbies, which TV shows we watch, which books we read, which video games we play-- drawing us into communion with each other; with the saints; and with God eternal? It is often said "we are what we eat". Our souls work the same way. In 1 Peter 5:8, he implores us to "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
Does this mean, though, that we should abandon those who are lacking in virtue? By no means! In Mark 2:17, Jesus tells is "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." And once again from Paul, we have this from Romans 8:29: "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family."
As Jesus came for the sick, and as we are called to imitate Christ in all things, so too it is our Father's will that we minister to those who are spiritually ill. We even say so in the Fatima Prayer: "O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy."
Just as we should surround ourselves with virtuous people, so too should it work in the opposite direction: the faithful should be models of virtue to others. As sons and daughters of God almighty, we should spread the kerygma not just by proclaiming the Word, but through acts of radical love and charity to those most in need around us. We should ask the Holy Spirit to give us an abundance of grace, which we can pour out for others.
It is in this way we can mark the road for all souls towards God's ceaseless, merciful love.