Don’t miss the opportunity!

Today at Holy Mass we here in the first readings from St John……..”Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure”……..Each and every one of us is a work in progress….Do we view our life through the lens of the sanctification process? - Because that is what life is all about - A process for us to be sanctified…..Do we realize that nothing impure enters the gates of heaven?…This is why St John, the beloved disciple tells us very clearly….”Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure”….Are we doing the “heavy lifting” now while we are still on earth?…..Mankind must cooperate with God in order to be saved……God gives us the grace, if we allow him to…..This process of sanctification can not be accomplished on our own…Our fallen nature will not allow it - This is why we must utilize the tools given to us…..Daily Prayer, weekly fasting & frequent reception of the Sacraments (Eucharist & Confession)…This is how we slowing become who we were born to be…Again as St John tells us…..”What we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him”…….This is the one and only purpose to life - To strive to become holy - To allow God to make us that way through our cooperation……Nothing else matters - Nothing else will be remembered - Nothing else will be left standing….Nothing but the holy people of God - Make sure we become one! 

“The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him he gave power to become the children of God.”

The closer we grow to God the more we as Catholics will be receptive to the Holy Spirit…We will view life as a “teaching mechanism”….Moving, shifting, changing and accepting all things that happen, both good and bad, as if they come from the hand of God himself - Because they do  - All for the purposes of sanctification…..Our minds and hearts need to be transformed to this process………The Church mandates that every Catholic goes to a Sacramental Confession once a year…This is stated very clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church…However, the saints strongly encourage us to participate in frequent confession (Once a month) - Who are those saints?…….Pope John Paul II; Padre Pio & Fulton Sheen….Why would we go to confession once a month, even if we have not committed any mortal sins?…With each confession not only are we forgiven of all our venial sins, but we received Sacramental Grace to overcome those sins we confessed and in time we will stop committing them…This is how we grow in virtue and this is how we cooperate with God in the process of our sanctification…..Remember what St John told us today?…..”Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure”……Going to a Sacramental Confession and receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace is vital………Are we doing this?……We can not self-manufacture a holy life….Only by and through God’s grace can we become pure - As St John rightful tells us….Americans for the most part have a distorted view of our purpose here on earth and of heaven….While we are still living, we chase after things that in many case do not matter and when our life is over, we believe that we all go into heaven no matter what - On our own terms…This my friends is a lie “sold” to us from the devil himself….We MUST cooperate with God in order to become the people we were ALL meant to be.

“You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin”

Today at Mass we hear the words of St John who give us our “marching orders” as Catholics - To make it a priority to aspire to become pure - Dare I say holy!….The closer we get to God - The more God can use us…..Everyone wants to make an impact - Just scroll through any social media platform….But are we focusing on the areas that can make the biggest impact? - One that will last?…..Our time on this earth is so short - Let us focus on Building the Kingdom of God…..We do that by prioritizing our own sanctification process…..God is not concerned with all your diplomas, the money you have in the bank or the house you live in…He is concerned about the salvation of your soul and its our job to allow God to transform us - Transformation does not happen magically…We have to take part in the process - Are we doing this?…Is this our priority?…..Our life goes by in a flash - Before we know it - Our youth is gone and we are old….Allow God to make you who you were born to be - A saint - Don’t miss the opportunity!