Today I was quite moved by the whole Mass celebrated by Archbishop Burke. I especially loved his homily and the Holy Sacrifice on the altar. His statement, “This seminary is the heart of our archdiocese” (i.e. you seminarians are the heart of the archdiocese), REALLY struck me as something important.
He is exhorting us, as Christ did, to live out our lives to their fullest in order to perfectly imitate Christ. Not fifty percent. Not seventy-five. One hundred percent. To the cross.
How miniscule are our sufferings and complaints compared to the suffering Jesus went through! We have nothing to complain about. Jesus has redeemed us through his death on the Cross, and now we MUST work to acheive eternal salvation through our actions on this Earth.
Instead of complaining or feeling down about studying for your exam or not getting something you really wanted, offer it to Christ as a sacrifice for your sins. Be a humble servant (yes, servant), and do everything with your ultimate purpose, God, in mind. We are becoming priests: Jesus’ lowliest, yet extremely important, servants on Earth. Live up to the challenge by doing everything a full one hundred percent for Christ.
We will stumble on this road with many paths, but we must remain focused on the final destination, and not get sidetracked by those many things which secular society throws at us. Don’t get wrapped up in ‘worldly’ things. Get wrapped up in Jesus and his Church.
May the all-powerful God grant us the grace to do his will everywhere, every day, and in every place. Amen.