Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe

By Mauro
(translated audio)

06.07.2024

XIII Week of Ordinary Time – Year II

Saint Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr

Am 9: 11-15; Ps 84; Mt 9: 14-17

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (And with your spirit).

These words of St Paul¹ remind us every time that it is not sin, it is not trial, it is not fatigue that detaches us from the love, the joy of Christ. Only we can decide to detach ourselves. I say this for myself, I say this for you: we must be careful not to think that it means we detach definitively from Christ. We are not in that danger of not choosing Christ. However, every time we do not choose Him completely, even in the simple things, we detach ourselves from His love. How much do we lose! We are the ones who feel bad. And I believe that everyone experiences this. I will try to come back to this later.

Everything we do, everything, from when we get up to when we go to sleep, if we do not do it out of love for Christ, we detach ourselves a little from that love. Because it is a law of the Spirit that if we do it for Him, He gives us Himself. By giving us Himself we have the strength to face life; if we do not start off like this, even in the most beautiful things we can do – I say the greatest, like the love of a mother for her son, the cleanest love – if we do not pass through Christ, we lose it; that strength gets lost.

So let us place ourselves before God in this awareness that we always need this strength. Then it is not asking for forgiveness for its own sake, but the need to be united with Him. I also thought, as we sang, that this love of Christ is always there. What does it mean for Christ when a soul definitively chooses Lucifer? His love does not cease; He continues to love that soul. What will happen then? I do not know. What kind of Freedom is this that does not limit us, that sees us hurt ourselves and continues to love us, and leaves us free?

Let us call back many souls who are at this limit, but who are still salvageable. We call all those of good will here.

And in the name of all we say, “I confess …”

***

The readings of this Saturday of the 13th week, starting with the prophet Amos, make us ask: but was the prophet speaking for Israel? For whom was he speaking? To whom does he refer when he announces: «The wine that will come down from the mountains, the hills…»? The psalm continues: «Justice and truth will meet…?» We cannot exclude that he was already speaking to Christians, because as a prophet he already saw the new times, the times after the coming of Jesus, like all the prophets of the Old Testament. I think that the only answer we can give, which is also the one that must revive hope within us, is that he spoke of the New Creation, he spoke of the new people, which does not divide Jews, Christians, Greeks. It is a “new people”. Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all the prophets spoke of this new people.

I said that this must kindle hope, but it must also kindle the truth, it must also kindle the light on the road that has been given to us, because if we do not kindle this light in the awareness that we are on a road to the New Creation, we run the risk of interpreting all the readings according to the spirit of the world. Then we would try to create the Promised Land for ourselves, like Israel, who is still waiting for what is written to happen, and while they wait, we see what happens. This is all a human interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

The Gospel² continues with this clarity: «New wine in new wineskins». Jesus said this in parables, but look, He repeats it in so many other ways that it is very clear. To welcome Christ, to welcome Jesus is a decision that makes everything new, it is a decision that brings us into the new. It is a decision of those who decide in favour of the new, but there is no longer room for compromise, there is no longer room for half-hearted things, it is new: «You do not put an old piece of clothing on a new one, you do not put wine in old wineskins». It is new, it is all new, it does not leave things halfway. It is a decision that is made out of love, out of love for Jesus Christ, out of love for everything that we have seen and that everyone has seen, because it is history what Jesus has done for man.

But, look, it is always clear from the Gospel when He says: «Those whom my Father has given me I will not lose. I have lost no one»³. It is a decision for those who said yes at conception, those whom His Father has given Him, those who are His. It is a decision that we do not make, we can only confirm it. Let me try to explain. I believe that one cannot say: “I am converted”, just as one cannot say of a sick person who is healed: “I am healed”. Let us speak of a miracle, no one says: “I am healed”, “God has healed me”. It is the same with the converted. I am not converted, Jesus Christ converted me: He took me, He seduced me, He changed, He transformed me. Alone I cannot adhere; I said yes, but it is all an action of grace. There was a yes said at conception, it is a yes awakened by grace in the course of life, but it is God’s work. No one can convert, no one can make it if God does not want it.

In the Gospel He also says: «I speak to them in parables, so that by listening they will not be converted»⁴. But why? Because He is bad? No, but He does not want to allow anyone to take this step out of human cunning, out of human calculation: “It is convenient for me to be converted”. We convert or rather, God converts us, and we are seduced out of love. Only out of love.

After this passage to which we adhere, the new time begins: this will bring us into the fullness of the New Creation. But it is after His action of awakening, of conversion, that the new man starts to live. Everything new begins: the new life, the new way of thinking; this too is an action of grace, but we must participate.

It is a great mistake to try to take God and bring Him into the world. This is not the new world. When we take God and bring Him into our lives, when we take God and want to bring grace into our lives, it is not the new wineskin, it is not the new dress, it is old. The passage is to bring the world to God, not God to the world. By bringing the world to God, we enter into the dynamic of new life, of transformation, of resurrection, of elevation.

We have said it many times: choosing Jesus Christ is not joining a religion. It is life, it is a way of living, it is choosing to be His, to let Him act freely in our lives. It is living for Him. So, of those laws of the Spirit that we talk so much about: if we choose Christ out of love, as I have said, if we always start from that love in all our actions, whatever we do, if we choose Christ (and this does not mean to become or a monk or a nun or a priest; to choose Christ is for everyone) – whether we work, play, study, whether we are married or not – if we start from Him, in a true relationship with Him, a law of the Spirit starts which is the one that governs the Universe. He comes to us that we seek Him. We love Him and He gives us His love, we give Him ourselves and He gives us Himself. Then, everything we are going to do – I repeat work and so on – is no longer we doing it, it is Christ doing it with us. This is completely different! A Christian acts like that. If he does not do this, he is not a Christian. If the people of God live in this way, the Christian people, they become a barrier of light against evil, against the disintegrating energy, against the whole spirit of the world that is advancing. If we do not start from Christ, even if we do good (the good is good, I am not saying it is bad), it does not have this strength to repel evil. It is a good thing, but that’s it. I do not know if that is clear. The same action done starting off from God produces an energy that repels evil, drives it away, it is an exorcism.

This is the difference (it should be) between Christians doing good works and the State doing good works. Those of the State are also good, but they do not have the same strength. I say “the State” and I mean associations and so forth; the Communists also do good, or at least they try.

If we do everything out of love for Him and receive His love in this way, we will face every situation, whatever it may be – work, illness, problems, trials, everything – with the whole Church standing behind us, because where one is, there are all. Where there is one member of His body, there is the whole body. This does not mean that we will be able to solve the problem, but I can guarantee you that we will go through every situation in peace, we will go through it without despair. We will face the situation and emerge from it as God wants us to, and therefore victorious. Even if it did not go as we had imagined, but it went according to God’s thought and, therefore, went well.

It is clear that this requires faith. But, sorry, if we do not have this faith in God in our lives, in our journey here on Earth, this certainty that He is guiding us to recover us to the dignity of sons and daughters, this certainty that the new world will come and that we can make it come alive from now on, what is the point of talking about Christ, of talking about Christians? I take it for granted that this requires faith.

We see that in that faith, when we say: «Everything contributes to the good for those who love God»⁵, and really believe that, it all melts away. Tell me where there is a problem if I start from this attitude: I know that God guides me, I know that He loves me, I know that everything contributes to the good, to my good, because I love Him and I already feel that love that He gives me. There may be moments when we do not feel it, when we do not see it, that is clear. But even then, I am sure, and I beg you to experience it yourself, when you do not feel it, tell Him. Tell him: “Jesus, I know that everything contributes to the good for me, but I do not see it. Help me!” You will see it immediately. It does not mean that you will see what you have imagined, but you will feel peace, you will understand that this is the way. Jesus will never fail to give us peace, He will never fail to give us the light to go through everything. He will let us go through, yes, but we will never lack light.

Of course, always under the same condition: we must let Him lead our lives, we must trust Him. If I hold life in my hands, He, who respects my freedom, remains powerless, He can do nothing. He can say to me: “Mauro, you have already made up your mind. What should I tell you? Trust me. Follow me. Come and follow me”. Look, this is our journey on Earth, a people who live like this. Only Jesus Christ can save the Earth, but He can only do it through a people who allow Him to do so, a people who believe, a people who live in this faith. If there were a small remnant that lived like this, all wars, all pandemics, everything would stop.

However, here we have to ask ourselves – and I believe all of us Christians, all of us, no one excluded, have to do this – when Jesus asks the apostles: «What do people say who I am?»⁶, then each of us has to ask ourselves: “But who is Jesus to me? What is He in my life? Is He my bridegroom, is He the engine of my life?” He is the One without whom there is no life, that is, without Jesus there is no life. Truly, if Jesus were taken away from us, we would not be talking about life at all, what would we be talking about then? For me, it is a contradiction that we have to keep saying to each other: “Start from Jesus, put Jesus first”. I already feel a bit like a traitor that I have to say that, I mean, it should be obvious.

Fortunately, there are still many persecuted Christians in the world who, in order to keep Jesus first, are killed, who, in order to keep Jesus first in their lives, have to leave their country. They do exist, they do exist! Persecuted Christians who will not let go of their faith, who allow themselves to be killed, lose their jobs, lose everything and even flee. And we here in Europe are struggling – and have failed – to preserve Europe’s Christian roots, and we have lost on so many levels: abortion has become a law, a right. Europe has denied its roots. This has created a hole, a hole in that wall of light that drives out the darkness. The darkness has penetrated, and that is why we experience the times we are experiencing.

I have just read – I think it is a statistic from last year – that there are one hundred and fifty million slaves in the world, more than at the time of slavery. And do you know who they are? Children and women used for sex. One hundred and fifty million! When I read that, a prayer came up in me, a question I want to ask all of us as a prayer: where are the Christians? Where am I? I do not want to accuse anyone. But what values do I place the importance on in life? What is it that counts? What is it that really matters? What is it that deserves to be served, to toil for? I am not just thinking about works of charity, I am thinking about faith, that faith that counteracts evil, that faith that, if we have it, tells us that we can move mountains⁷. Where is this faith? Jesus’ words immediately come to mind: «When I return, will I still find faith?»⁸. It is Jesus who will change this world, it is Jesus who can save this world, there is no man who can do that. Without Jesus, nothing will change, everything will only get worse.

But it needs a people who accept Him. It needs someone who says to Jesus with joy, with love, not because they have to, not out of fear but out of love: “Yes, you will find faith. We are here”. And together with Him get to work, spend our lives for Him. I repeat, then I close: if we do everything we do out of love for Him, I guarantee you that at least the little world around us will change, above all we will change. The complaining will stop, because we do it out of love. And how can we complain, when we do it out of love? How can we see the burden, if we do it out of love? Yes, for a moment we will say, “What a pain!”, but then we will do it with even more joy. Since we know that this love nourishes Him, helps Him, we say: “But with joy I bear these sufferings, with joy, and unite them with yours, out of love”.

I ask you all to look at yourselves. Do everything out of love; out of love when you cook, out of love when you look at another, out of love when you serve a sick person, an old person, not because you have to: out of love. Everything out of love. That changes everything, because it sets this dynamic in motion that I talked about with the law of the Spirit. It is a law, and Jesus respects laws. Let us love Him so that He will love us, and His love will be much greater than ours. Just try to measure up to it, and these are the words Jesus said: “If you give me yourself, I give you myself”. I do not think any of us feel equal to Jesus. It is an exchange on our favour. Another time He said: “You take care of my things and I take care of yours”, meaning we win there too. The world is waiting.

And may Mary bless us, may She bless all those yes to God at the moment of conception that are hidden everywhere. May She really reach all the innocent, the slaves, all the rejected children, all the suffering humanity that has done nothing to suffer more than us, it just suffers. May Mary’s love reach them, but also our love, our offering and our prayers, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.