Today’s gospel serves as a powerful lesson—admonishment—against Catholics who have been entrusted with the fullness of divine revelation and the treasury of the Christian faith in Christ, yet have nevertheless squandered it through acts of injustice, apostasy, and heresy toward the Tripersonal God.
Jesus Christ
Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen and Have Believed
When Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” he emphasized the importance of the virtue of faith. Through faith, we seek Whom we cannot see and enter into a personal relationship with Jesus. It’s about getting to know who he really is. Doing so requires reaching out in self-entrustment.
The Mystery of the Church
Jesus Christ founded a Church that inherited His doctrine, His law, His grace, and His Love: the Holy Spirit. The mystery of the Church was the culmination of Salvation history, of that mysterious Love of a lover that God had manifested towards humanity and His Chosen People.
Heaven and The Narrow Gate
People today often think that getting to heaven is easy. All you have to do is be a “nice” person. We dabble in sin regularly, even nearly constantly, telling ourselves “it’s no big deal. God is merciful.”
The Greatest Commandment: Love God and Neighbor
We draw not only our strength to love from our love of God but the fullness of human life is made possible only by loving God above all else for his sake. Love then flows outward, as an abundant well-spring, to others. So powerful becomes this force of love that the Christian can even love those who hate him. His love of Christ empowers him to love and pray even for his enemies.