The End Times: Ready or Not?

I want to begin this homily by asking you all a rhetorical question what a rhetorical question is it's a question that I don't want anyone here to answer out loud so try and think of the answer in the silence of your heart do you know who the first canonized saint was his name was st. Dismas he was the repentant thief who was crucified on the cross right next to the cross of Jesus and it just took one single moment of repentance at the end of his life and Jesus Christ the god man himself canonized him on the spot by saying today you will be with me in paradise there is a common saying that we will always be remembered by the way that we ended and so it will be with the state of our immortal soul at the end of our life it will be likened to the making of pottery we recall that when a clay pot is still wet and moist the shape is changeable it is subject to alteration and modification however when that clay pot is put into the heat of the fire it becomes hardened and that clay pot will remain in that shape forever there will be no turning back there will be no future time for change and soul will be at our judgment I will state the state of our soul will either be in the state of the sanctifying grace of God and it will be like that clay pot properly shaped to be put into the heat to be hardened and it will remain in that state forever and that soul even if it has to pass through purgatory we'll join the Saints in the kingdom of heaven forever or the state of our soul will end in the states of unrepentant mortal sin and it will be like a disfigured clay pot to be hardened and it will remain in that state forever and that soul will join the damned souls in hell for all eternity this is significant for us because today's gospel is all about the end times Jesus second coming when he will come to judge the living and the dead Jesus begins this gospel account with the following words in those days after the tribulation the Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from the sky and the powers and the heavens will be shaken when we hear Jesus say these words he is actually directly prophesying about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem which was eventually destroyed in the year 70 AD you see for the Israelites in the Old Testament the temple was regarded as a miniature replica of the world it was kind of like an architectural model if you will of the universe fashioned by God and so when we hear Jesus speak of these cosmic catastrophes he again is referring to the destruction of the temple however the destruction of the temple serves as a prefigurement of Jesus second coming which will bring forth the destruction of creation when again he will judge the living and the dead after we hear these cosmic catastrophes Jesus goes in detail about his second coming and how it will take place with the following words and they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds from the end of the earth to the end of the sky excerpts from st. Matthew's version of the Gospel accounts of the second coming which adds imagery to st. Mark's Gospel is as follows all the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world then he will say to those on his left depart from me you accursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels and we know what Jesus said at the end of the gospel today nobody knows the day nor the hour when this will take place Saint Paul says in the sacred scriptures that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night and so in order for us to not be found asleep in order for us to not be found off guard there is a need for spiritual vigilance to always be ready and prepared at all times there is a common saying that the one who fails to prepare is preparing to fail just think of a situation of a group of students who walk into their classroom and after they sit down the teacher hands out an unexpected pop quiz without any prior notice well the students who were vigilant who studied well who always paid attention in class who had good study habits it won't be a problem for them to pass that test but the students who were lazy who were never paying attention in class who had bad study habits or who even had the attitude of procrastination such as attitudes like oh I'll just learn the material later I'll change my study habits in the future well that person has just set themselves up for failure and we know that the ultimate test that we needed to pass is at our judgment when we will be tested in which how faithful we were to the gospel and how faithful we were in persevering and repentance persevering and being continually reconciled with the Lord this idea of procrastination that I just mentioned is really what the sin of presumption is all about also known as presuming on God's mercy we recall us that attitudes such as I know this action is evil and sinful but I'm going to do it anyways because God is going to forgive me later well the person with that attitude is falsely presuming that the future is guaranteed and also they are falsely presuming that they will be granted to grace to repent in the future they are putting their immortal soul in danger and in jeopardy and we know the possible results of having this attitude we recall the story of what Jesus gives us and the Gospel of Luke we recall the story is that there is a mast of a house and he entrusts his household to a servant and if the servant says to himself my master is taking a long time in coming back home and he begins to beat all of the maid servants and to eat and get drunk the master of the house will return at an unexpected day and at an unexpected hour and the master of that household will cut that servant into pieces and will place him in the place with the unbelievers one thing that we could do to help us or one thing that we could do to serve as an incentive for us to always be vigilant and ready is to frequently think about death too frequently think about the moment of our judgments this is actually what the Saints did and taht's st. Jerome's said the following words whether I eat or drink whatever else I do the dreadful trumpet of the last day seems always sounding in my ears st. Bonaventure said this to lead a good life a man should always imagine himself at the hour of death st. Angela Muricy once said this do now do now what you wish to have done when your moment comes to die and what is related to frequently thinking about death is dreading the loss of heaven and the possibility of going to hell to have a healthy fear of God is a good thing as it says in the sacred scriptures we are called to work out our salvation in fear and trembling just think the who knows that it is possible to lose the game that will serve as an incentive for him to be disciplined in his training to be disciplined in practice and we know that the ultimate game that we have to win is entering into the kingdom of heaven to win the crown of unfading glory and particularly the one most important thing that we need to fear is mortal sin this also was the spiritual doctrine of the Saints as Saint John Bosco said the following there are two things I fear mortal sin which kills the soul and dying in mortal sin I fear that some of you may fall victims of your own negligence of your spiritual warfare death skips no one be vigilant now as scary as this all sounds the good news is that we have spiritual weapons we have spiritual tools tools to equip us to play the game confidently and I want to provide for us today a few of those tools not that this list is intended to be an exhaustive list but I want to mention just a few first and foremost daily personal prayer st. Alphonsus Liguori once said the one who prays much is likely to be saved the one who prays little has little chance to be saved the one who never prays has no chance to be saved we have to be careful to never fall into the mentality that we do not have enough time to pray just think about it when was the last time you heard someone die of starvation because they didn't have enough time to eat nobody's ever heard of that why because people make time to eat they make make eating a priority because if they don't they will physically die well the same thing is with our immortal soul if we do not nourish our immortal soul with prayer then the end result will be that we will spiritually die so if we are not praying it's not really a matter of not having enough time to pray it's just that prayer isn't a priority for us and I would like to recommend that in our daily prayers one thing that we do not want to neglect praying is the Hail Mary especially through the devotion of the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary we recall what we say at the end of that prayer Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen now I don't know about you but at the hour of my death when I'm about to be judged by Almighty God if I were to choose one person to be praying for me I'm gonna choose nobody else other than the Blessed Virgin Mary why because she's the closest to the king as she is the Queen of Heaven can you imagine how much and how fervently the Blessed Virgin Mary will be praying for us at the hour of our death if we stay faithful to praying the Hail Mary again especially through the recitation of the Holy Rosary st. Louie De Montfort once said this if you say the Rosary faithfully until death I do assure you that in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory even if you are on the brink of damnation even if you have one foot in hell even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul if in mark well what I say if you say the Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon from your sins and last but not least frequent confession confession is the very means in which mortal sin is forgiven and sanctifying grace is restored back to our immortal soul even frequent confession of venial sins can grant us actual grace to help combat the temptations against mortal sin Saint John Vianney once said this if one said to those poor lost souls that have been so long in hell we are going to place a priest at the gate of hell all those who wish to confess have only to go out do you think my children that a single one of them would remain the most guilty would not be afraid of telling their sins nor even of telling them before the whole world oh how soon hell would be a desert and how heaven would be peopled well we have the time in the means which those poor lost souls have not and I am quite sure that those wretched ones say in hell Oh a curse priests if I had never known you I should not be so guilty my brothers and sisters it's all about the - and what I mean about the - is simply this if we die if we die before the second coming we will be put into the ground and above us will be a tombstone and on that tombstone will be two dates the first day will be the day that we were born and the second date will be the day that we died and in between those two dates will be a - and that - will represent every single choice that we have made in this life either for God or against God made that - represents and have everything to do with fulfilling the purpose of our existence which is knowing loving and serving God in this world so that in hope we may be with him forever in the next I want to end this homily by reading a quasi poem which was written by a Monsignor Donato Valente I think this poem really summarizes today's topic these are excerpts from his work called heavenly football our life on Earth resembles a football game we are playing against a powerful team the world the flesh the devil the football field is the whole earth our goal is namely to the right heaven the opposite goal is to the left namely hell the kickoff begins when we are about seven years of age that's when we begin to know the difference between the two goals that's when we begin to gain or lose the ball is sanctifying grace every time we do good we gain yardage every time we commit sin we lose yardage when we commit a mortal sin we lose the ball and the other team takes over by making a good confession we regained the ball the sacraments refresh us during the game they help us gain yardage we play on the one game it lasts a lifetime there is no clock to tell us how much time we have left death will mark the end of the game there is no chance of a tie score we either win or lose if we win we will win forever the whole court of heaven will rush to congratulate us our reward will be so great that no one has ever seen heard or conceived of anything to equal it if we lose the game we lose forever all of Hell will be loosed and all the evil spirits will rush to thrust us into the abode of the Damned Souls the pains of loss will be immeasurable and everlasting and our names will be inscribed in the Hall of Shame forever therefore play the game be alert play hard play with confidence my brothers and sisters let us join our prayers and offer them up to God our Father through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary who crushes on the head the head of the devil as we pray together hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen

Channel: Fathers of Mercy

Views: 78,146

Keywords: Fathers of Mercy, End times, death, judgement, Jewel Aytona, End of the World, 2nd Coming

Id: 5toInZjeibA

Length: 22min 33sec (1353 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 22 2015