Who Do You Live For?

As we enter this Holy Week and prepare for the celebrations of Our Lord's Passion and Resurrection I would challenge you to ask yourself this question. Who Do You Live For?

Because of our sins we are all guilty of a crime that should be paid with our very lives. But Christ, innocent of all sin, took our place. He has ransomed us from the death that we deserve. So I ask, who else in our lives should we live for other than Him? He who took our place and died the death that we deserve so that we might share eternal life with Him.

Christ paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

Immaculate Heart of Mary

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you can let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” And His father and His mother marveled at what was said about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother,

“Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own (Mary’s) soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2: 22-35

Mary, the Mother of God, suffered with her only Son, Jesus Christ. She was bound to her beloved Son from the moment of her Immaculate Conception. The Holy Spirit moved Simeon to prophecy to Mary about the horrible death her Son would face and how this death would “pierce through her own soul.” Christ suffered for the sins and transgressions of all mankind and His Mother Mary would suffer these pains as well. The sword which pierced the soul of Mary was forged by the sins of mankind, from the fall of our first parents until the end of days. Her Immaculate heart is often portrayed pierced with this very sword or strangled by a crown of thorns. Our Mother bleeds and suffers with every sin or blasphemy against the Holy name of God. All who reject her reject her Son, Jesus Christ.

St. John Damascene explained that the Immaculate Heart of Mary "lives solely on the contemplation and the love of God." Her whole being is consumed with loving and serving the will of God. Being immaculately conceived, her will is in complete conformity with the will of God. We must remember that Mary is the Mother of God. Her love and relationship with God is like no other. She is in complete union with the Holy Trinity. Beloved daughter of God the Father, loving mother of God the Son, and faithful spouse of God the Holy Spirit. This is an inseparable union that binds Mary to Christ in a way that could not have affected her in a more profound way. She suffered with Him during His Passion and Crucifixion. St. Bernard wrote in the middle ages that at Calvary, “as Jesus died in Body, so Mary died in Heart.” This statement is profound in its utter simplicity while at the same time in its shear weighty truth. She suffered the pain and sorrowful wounds of a mother whose only son was being murdered. Her soul, bound eternally with that of her Divine Son, suffered the wounds of all our sins. These are the very same sins that Christ took upon Himself as He willingly gave Himself to the executioners.

She also suffered with her Son in another profound way. She suffered the realization that her Son came to die for us all but that many of us would selfishly reject His salvation by rejecting it through our sinful ways. All those who accepted the gift of mercy and sanctification offered by Christ on the cross would be saved from the death and damnation of sin. Freeing us from the bonds that shackled humanity to the original sin of Eden; Christ, the new Adam, in complete union with Mary, the new Eve, would offer mankind salvation from the death that betrayal of God rendered at creation. This salvation would come from God alone but we see Mary's complete cooperation in God's plan through her pure humility and total acceptance of His plan. Mary's suffering would come in the form of all who would hear the Gospel of her Son and reject its message of mercy and love. How she must weep for the poor souls who turn their backs on the Christ. His mercy is for all and for all time and yet so many will reject it because of pride. They are unwilling to listen to God and to conform their will to that of God. Truth is God’s only spoken Word, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

“Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.” Matthew 26: 14-16

Judas betrayed our Lord. Many have speculated why. Perhaps he did not believe. Perhaps he wanted to test our Lord and thought that he would reveal His glory when seized. The only thing we know for sure is that the greatest evil committed by men ensued, followed instantaneously by the greatest good in history. The evil of deicide (man killing God) followed by the unshackling of mankind from the sin and death of original sin……The salvation of Christ crucified. The question we need to ask is why do we betray our Lord?

In the time of Christ, paganism was rampant in the world. People worshiped false gods. The Church was given to the world to shine the light of truth; The Truth of Jesus Christ. The early Church bore witness through evangelization and martyrdom to this truth. They were persecuted, spit upon, and executed for their witness. The world today is better, right? More holy? More devout? Right? Wrong!

We live in a pagan society today that is even more godless and non-Christian than that of the early Church. It is more rampant and insidious than ever before. Woven into the very fabric of society and hidden from those who are blind or just choose not to see it. Abortion, pornography, artificial contraception, greed, power. These are all gods to many in this world and the list only starts with these. We spend so much time and effort striving for these things. We push the One True God out of our lives to replace Him with these false gods and they bring us nothing but suffering and death. How many pieces of silver will we sell Christ for? St. Augustine once said that our souls have a God shaped void in them. We can try to fill the void with worldly things but no matter how much we try to stuff in there we will feel empty until we fill that void with God.

This country was founded on Christian principles and beliefs. We have a society now that scoffs at religious beliefs. People of faith are called ignorant and medieval. A vast majority of Americans claim to be Christians. Look at the country we live in and ask if you truly believe that. Paganism is the religion of the Untied States of America today. Those “enlightened” members of our society call it progress and Satan laughs at the children of God as they “progress” and “enlighten” themselves straight into hell.

I call Catholics to task even more than our denominational brothers and sisters. We have been given the fullness of divine revelation. To those who have been given much, much will be required. The Church is in disarray. The true and real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is often doubted and even mocked in the Church today. People openly disobey the Magisterium and undermine the moral teachings of the Church. Catholic politicians stand in open solidarity with evils like abortion and fetal stem cell research then present themselves to receive the Eucharist. We must pray for our brothers and sisters and ask the Holy Spirit to break through the walls of their hearts.

We are all called to be saints. Called to holiness and sacrifice. Christ promised to preserve the Church from the “Gates of Hell” but He didn’t promise we wouldn’t have to fight. Turn to God and be humble before the Lord. I’m not saying this is easy. It is very difficult. Christianity is no wimpy religion. It requires sacrifice. If we rely on ourselves we will surely fail. If we humbly present ourselves before the Lord in the Eucharist and ask Him to give us strength He will surely answer our prayers. Give of yourself in unity with Christ crucified for the salvation of our wayward brothers and sisters. God’s name is Mercy and His mercy endures forever.