Posted on August 2, 2015 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Today in the Gospel, Christ tells us what his true mission for coming into the world was. Christ came so that he could offer to each of us the ability to become saints. After Christ’s example, the Church certainly has a special duty to care for the poor and the sick. However, it is not Christ’s nor the Church’s purpose in doing so for everyone to have a comfortable life. We can often get side tracked into reducing Christ to a mere social worker, who sought to defend the rights of the down trodden.
There is, however, so much more to the mission of Christ. He cares for each and every single human being because He desires that all come to the love and knowledge of God. He cares for them because He knows that each and every single person has been created in God’s image and is called to live eternally in heaven. We have not been called to have comfortable lives here on earth, or to solely make life comfortable for all people. We have been called first and foremost to be saints, to grow in holiness and love.
This is where so many get it wrong when they say that God just loves each person, and so we are free to do what we want. Or those who say that the first and foremost mission of Christ was to provide for the poor. Christ certainly does love each person, but he desires so much more for us to also love Him and experience this love in the Kingdom of Heaven.
All that Christ did, and subsequently the Church, has been for the salvation of souls. May we also act in the same way, so that all we do aids in our salvation. We should first of all pray to God each and everyday for this gift, and contemplate what eternity means. Secondly, all that we do, whether it is in our family lives, our work, or our recreation, should always be done in light of our eternal homeland. There should not be a single thing we do – be it prayer, works of charity, or recreation – that does not take salvation into account.
So many go through life and believe that this is all that there is. For us, this is just the begining of our existence, and we have a God who desires to give us so much more. May the words of Christ in the Gospel today always stay in our hearts and minds. If we do not prepare for salvation now, it may come for us at a time we are least prepared.
May God Bless you in the coming week!
