Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Ave Maria Parisima.
[00:00:03] Ave Maria Parissima. Okay, so if you really want something to meditate on that'll help you deal with the current events in the church and the state, go ahead, pull out your Bible.
[00:00:16] We're going to take a really quick look at four scriptures. I'll just throw a couple ideas out. And you need to take it from there on your knees in prayer. Okay. It. All right, so let's turn to the end of the fourth chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, and we'll start at verse 35. And he, our Lord, saith to them that day when evening was come, let us pass over to the other side.
[00:00:41] And sending away the multitude, they take him even as he was in the ship. And there were other ships with him.
[00:00:48] And there rose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that the ship was filled.
[00:00:55] And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow. And they wake him and say to him, master, doth it not concern thee that we perish?
[00:01:04] And rising up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still.
[00:01:09] And the wind ceased, and it was made a great calm.
[00:01:14] And he said to them, why are you fearful? Have you not faith yet?
[00:01:20] And they feared exceedingly. And they said, one to another, who is this? Thinkest thou that both wind and sea obey him?
[00:01:32] So the point is, God's in charge, even when it seems like you might be asleep.
[00:01:40] If we find ourselves in a bad storm, and we're certainly in one right now, he can and will calm it exactly when it suits him and exactly the way it does suit him. He's God.
[00:01:55] He's in charge. I don't think most people have thought about that enough. The point is that God actually fits the job description. Now, that might sound flippant, but it isn't. I can't emphasize that strongly enough.
[00:02:13] I think it's actually impossible to emphasize this strongly enough how important it is to have this really clear in your mind and your heart that God actually fits the job description. And I'm not being flippant.
[00:02:24] The point is that God actually is God.
[00:02:29] In other words, he actually is all loving.
[00:02:33] He actually is all knowing.
[00:02:35] He actually is all powerful.
[00:02:40] God actually is all loving, all knowing and all powerful.
[00:02:48] And I think it's impossible to emphasize this strongly enough, impossible to emphasize how important that is, to really have that just impressed in your mind and in your heart.
[00:03:02] God actually is God. He actually is all loving. He actually is all knowing. He actually is all powerful.
[00:03:11] Yeah. Okay. So why would it be so important to have this really clear in your mind and in your heart in the first place? Because it's true.
[00:03:19] But that's not what I'm driving at right now. There are very, very important practical reasons to clearly see and clearly understand that God actually is all loving. That God actually is all knowing, that God actually is all powerful.
[00:03:37] See, since God actually is all loving, he loves you with a love that even in eternity, you won't be able to comprehend. He loves you. He loves you and wants what is absolutely the best for you.
[00:03:52] He loves you and he wants what's absolutely the best for you.
[00:03:58] And because he's all knowing, he knows exactly what is the best for you in the very fullest sense of that word, he made you. And so he knows exactly what you need to become the saint he created you to be, exactly what you need to reach the heights of holiness he has planned for you from all eternity. And he knows each and every aspect of what you need, right down to the very finest details. He doesn't look to overlook the thing.
[00:04:25] He has a perfect plan for you. He knows perfectly, down to the very finest details, what is absolutely the best for you. Because he's God.
[00:04:36] He's all knowing.
[00:04:39] So he loves you and wants what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be. And he knows you and knows what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be.
[00:04:53] And since he's all powerful, he can and will do what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be.
[00:05:04] Now think about that for a minute.
[00:05:08] He loves you and wants what's absolutely the best for you. He knows you and knows what's absolutely the best for you. And since he's all powerful, he can and will do what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be.
[00:05:29] Okay, so what's the point?
[00:05:32] What are we saying?
[00:05:34] We're saying that since God loves you and wants what's absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be.
[00:05:42] Since God knows you and knows what's absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be. And since he's all powerful, he can and will do what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be. And how does he do this?
[00:05:57] By using absolutely everything in your life.
[00:06:02] Literally everything, ranging from your health, your friends, your enemies, family, the weather, the state of the Church, the state of the economy, societal collapse, the whole shoot match everything, even your sins, which, among other things, he can use to bring you to a greater humility and a greater compassion for the weak.
[00:06:23] In other words, everything that happens to us, and by the way, everything that happens, not just to us, but everything that happens, period, has been foreseen by God from all eternity. All of it. And everything that happens to us, everything that happens to us has been willed or at least permitted by God. That includes good things and bad things, everything. So whatever is good in these things has been willed by him, and he has permitted whatever is evil or morally disordered.
[00:06:57] Everything whatsoever that happens to us, good, bad or indifferent, has been willed or at least permitted by God.
[00:07:09] Everything.
[00:07:11] And since God loves you and wants what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be, and since God knows you and knows what's absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be, and since he's all powerful, he can and will do what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be.
[00:07:34] And everything, each and every one of these things, good, bad or indifferent, will absolutely help you on your journey to become that sAint, if only you let them.
[00:07:46] And that brings us to the second Scripture we're going to take a look at. Turn to St. Paul's letter to the Romans. Let's go to chapter eight and verse 28. That's after the acts of the Apostles. Yeah, there you go.
[00:08:00] We know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as according to his purpose, are called to be saints.
[00:08:11] To them that love God, all things work together unto good.
[00:08:19] To them that love God, all things work together unto good.
[00:08:26] We know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as according to his purpose, are called to be saints. Now, there's a lot there.
[00:08:39] See, God sees to it that everything contributes to the spiritual progress of those who love him, not just the grace he pours down upon them through the hands of our Lady. Not just those natural gifts and talents he's granted them, but even their weaknesses, sicknesses, contradictions and failures. And as we've already seen, God even permits their sins in order to bring them to a deeper humility and pure love.
[00:09:06] So nothing comes to pass except that God has already foreseen it, willed it, or at least permitted it.
[00:09:15] God loves you and wants what's absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be. God knows you and knows what's absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created you to be. And since he's all powerful, he can and will do what is absolutely the best for you to become the saint he created to be to them that love God. All things work together under the good. Should spend more time pondering that Scripture.
[00:09:38] Here's our third Scripture. Turn back to the Gospel of St. Luke. Yeah, Matthew, Mark, Luke. It's the third one, the order they were written. Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 16 and verse ten.
[00:09:52] In Luke, chapter 16, verse ten, we read, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater, and he that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater.
[00:10:11] He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater, and he that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater.
[00:10:25] We might call that a heart barometer.
[00:10:28] Where's your heart? Are you faithful in little things or are you unjust in little things? Where's your heart?
[00:10:38] I'll let you ponder that more, and you need to ponder that more. And I'll just limit myself to a few remarks here. Again, if every day you're doing what you can to be faithful to God in your day to day activities, you can bet your bottom dollar that God is going to give you all the graces you need to remain faithful in whatever situations he may permit you to fall into. And if that means you're going to have to suffer for him, let's not have any illusions at all in this matter. If you're going to be faithful, you are going to suffer for him. Or even should the Lord call you to martyrdom, he will give you all the graces you need to sustain those kind of challenges.
[00:11:18] So here's another scripture, the last Scripture we'll toss out today, and then we'll call her. Good.
[00:11:27] And we can flip back to St. Paul, second Epistle of St. Timothy, two Timothy, chapter three, verse twelve and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
[00:11:46] And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you're going to be faithful, you are going to suffer for him. We've got God's word on that. All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
[00:12:10] You need to ponder that, and you really need to ponder that.
[00:12:15] But at the same time, never forget that God loves you and he will give you all the graces you need to remain faithful in whatever situations he may permit you to fall into. And that means that even should he call you to martyrdom, he will give you all the graces you need to sustain that kind of a challenge.
[00:12:36] It's also important to realize that if you are going to be martyred, you won't get the grace of martyrdom until you need it. St. Thomas more got the grace to be martyred on the day he was martyred, not months or years before. Give us this day our daily bread.
[00:12:54] We get the grace of martyrdom at the time that we need it and not before.
[00:13:00] So you want to strive to be more and more faithful to the duties and challenges of your day one day at a time, living each day more and more for the Lord, dying each day more and more to your selfishness. You've heard me talk about martyrdom on the installation plan plenty of times. And that's what it means.
[00:13:20] If we're serious about our walk with the Lord. That's what each one of us needs to do. Okay. All right. So there's a lot more that could be said, but that's good enough for now. We need to keep meditating on his scriptures. The word of God is alive. It'll change. You keep reflecting on the fact that God actually is all loving.
[00:13:40] God actually is all knowing. God actually is all powerful and from all eternity. He chose you to live. Right now, he loves you.
[00:13:49] So even if the sky is falling, and it might be, we didn't put it up there, he did. He's in charge. We don't have to worry about it. We have to be faithful to our daily duties. That's what we have to strive.
[00:14:05] And let's not have any illusions.
[00:14:07] We don't want to kid ourselves it's only going to get worse.
[00:14:12] So think on these things. Keep pondering them till they become a part of you.
[00:14:17] A few other pieces of advice. If every time you go to confession like it's the last time, you'll get to go, if every time you go to communion and make your Thanksgiving like it's the last time, you'll get to receive our Lord and thank him, if you say your rosary every day, if you say your rosary every day and keep working on your Holiness, and most especially on being charitable to your neighbors and praying for sinners, and you never, never forget that God can and will calm everything down exactly when it suits him and exactly the way it suits him, well, then you're on the right track then. If you're doing all that well, then just relax. Don't worry. And have a cold one. Bye.
