Sainthood
Friends,
Let us think of the words, give me souls and take away the rest. When I think of these words, I think of three beautiful souls. These souls are Dominic Savio, Mickey Magone, and Francis Besucco. These young men allowed God to guide them to sanctity and happy deaths. Dominic Savio was a boy who did not have the best of health or riches in a secular sense. He had the riches of a joyful soul who strived for holiness. God calls us to carry our crosses and to follow him. Dominic Savio literally took his cross and carried it. One day in the playground, two boys were so angry and wanted to throw stones at one another. Savio stood in the middle knowing that these boys were older, bigger, and dangerous. He pulled his crucifix out of his pocket and said to them, throw stones at me. This boy had such a remarkable love for Christ and the Virgin Mary. At his deathbed, he continued to love God even though he could have been angered by how short he had to live. He continued to praise God and his last breath was “I see such a beautiful light.” He whole life was consumed by Christ. Another boy worthy of mentioning is Mickey Magone. He was a gangster in the streets of Italy. One day Don Bosco met up with him at a train station and asked him to come to the oratory. He did so and changed his life around for the better. One day, Mickey was talking to his friends about the pains of hell. One of his friends said who cares about hell. Then, Mickey lit a fire under his hand and said if you think that hurts just imagine being submerged into the eternal flames of hell. He knew of the reward of eternal life with our Savior. Another boy who lived a life for the Lord alone was Francis Besucco. He was a shepherd boy who tried his best in the eyes of the Lord. He knew of the fires of hell. He said, Our Lord says that we can only gain paradise by innocence or by penance. I can't go there through innocence because i've already lost. Therefore, I have to go through penance."
At the hour death, we will not be judged on how much money we have or how many girls we can get. We will be judged on how we help one another. If we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Brothers, we need to stay pure and holy. I know that many of us struggle with purity. I know that at least I do. Let us keep our minds ready to learn about God. Let us keep our hands to serve Him. Let us keep our eyes pure to see Our Mother and Christ in glory. What a beautiful sight it is. Let us keep our feet on the path of righteousness. We do not know when we will die. It could be a year from now, a month, a day, or even a moment from now. Let us be ready at all times. It will not be easy. The world hates Christ because He is not of it. The world loves its own. God calls us to not be part of the world. They will persecute and abandon us but the Lord loves us and we too can share in eternal life just as Savio, Magone, and Besucco do. We need to pray for one another. We need to love one another. It is not enough to love but we need to make sure that others know we love them. Sin bounds us as slaves to the devil but when we are free from sin, we are free to love and serve the Lord. This is true freedom my friends. Let us avoid bad companions and focus on the task at hand. The Lord loves us and wants us to save our souls. The great St. Philip Neri said."The most insane thing in the whole world was not to want to be a saint. Sanity is to take every means to achieve sanctity and be pleasing to God. When we think of the infinite reward God will give us for that - it is sheer insanity to do the opposite!" The devil will make us think we are not worthy but let us stay close to the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Brothers, the path of sanctity is beautiful. So let us be cheerful, stay close to the Sacraments, make Jesus and Mary our closest friends, and remember death before sin. If we live this way, death will be beautiful as we await eternal life with the Saints who are worthy to praise God forever and ever.
Let us think of the words, give me souls and take away the rest. When I think of these words, I think of three beautiful souls. These souls are Dominic Savio, Mickey Magone, and Francis Besucco. These young men allowed God to guide them to sanctity and happy deaths. Dominic Savio was a boy who did not have the best of health or riches in a secular sense. He had the riches of a joyful soul who strived for holiness. God calls us to carry our crosses and to follow him. Dominic Savio literally took his cross and carried it. One day in the playground, two boys were so angry and wanted to throw stones at one another. Savio stood in the middle knowing that these boys were older, bigger, and dangerous. He pulled his crucifix out of his pocket and said to them, throw stones at me. This boy had such a remarkable love for Christ and the Virgin Mary. At his deathbed, he continued to love God even though he could have been angered by how short he had to live. He continued to praise God and his last breath was “I see such a beautiful light.” He whole life was consumed by Christ. Another boy worthy of mentioning is Mickey Magone. He was a gangster in the streets of Italy. One day Don Bosco met up with him at a train station and asked him to come to the oratory. He did so and changed his life around for the better. One day, Mickey was talking to his friends about the pains of hell. One of his friends said who cares about hell. Then, Mickey lit a fire under his hand and said if you think that hurts just imagine being submerged into the eternal flames of hell. He knew of the reward of eternal life with our Savior. Another boy who lived a life for the Lord alone was Francis Besucco. He was a shepherd boy who tried his best in the eyes of the Lord. He knew of the fires of hell. He said, Our Lord says that we can only gain paradise by innocence or by penance. I can't go there through innocence because i've already lost. Therefore, I have to go through penance."
At the hour death, we will not be judged on how much money we have or how many girls we can get. We will be judged on how we help one another. If we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Brothers, we need to stay pure and holy. I know that many of us struggle with purity. I know that at least I do. Let us keep our minds ready to learn about God. Let us keep our hands to serve Him. Let us keep our eyes pure to see Our Mother and Christ in glory. What a beautiful sight it is. Let us keep our feet on the path of righteousness. We do not know when we will die. It could be a year from now, a month, a day, or even a moment from now. Let us be ready at all times. It will not be easy. The world hates Christ because He is not of it. The world loves its own. God calls us to not be part of the world. They will persecute and abandon us but the Lord loves us and we too can share in eternal life just as Savio, Magone, and Besucco do. We need to pray for one another. We need to love one another. It is not enough to love but we need to make sure that others know we love them. Sin bounds us as slaves to the devil but when we are free from sin, we are free to love and serve the Lord. This is true freedom my friends. Let us avoid bad companions and focus on the task at hand. The Lord loves us and wants us to save our souls. The great St. Philip Neri said."The most insane thing in the whole world was not to want to be a saint. Sanity is to take every means to achieve sanctity and be pleasing to God. When we think of the infinite reward God will give us for that - it is sheer insanity to do the opposite!" The devil will make us think we are not worthy but let us stay close to the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Brothers, the path of sanctity is beautiful. So let us be cheerful, stay close to the Sacraments, make Jesus and Mary our closest friends, and remember death before sin. If we live this way, death will be beautiful as we await eternal life with the Saints who are worthy to praise God forever and ever.
About
© 2009 Created by Don Bosco on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
