DAILY HOMILIES #hungry

If we are to understand hell as the place of the unfaithful, it follows that there is a place other than heaven and hell where souls go to receive either a severe or a light beating. This place is what the church calls purgatory. As the Catechism puts it: “Purgatory is the final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” (CCC 1030-1031) This purification is done to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

God knows how it feels to be so hungry that you begin to chew paper (or anything that meets your eye). Whether we like it or not, there is hunger in our country today; people are ready to do anything to survive. We may want to judge them like the Pharisees who condemned Jesus and his disciples. However, before pointing fingers at anybody, ask yourself: “What have I done to help?”

Stop trying to conform to evildoers. Walk in the light and tell the truth at all times. Indeed, they would not like you, but your persistence in doing the right thing would make them restless. Even though they attack you publicly, they still go home and cry like babies.

The truth is: We are the brothers and sisters of the rich man. The fact that we are privileged to hear this parable of Jesus means we have been warned. Remember the corporal works of mercy, they would form the basis of our judgment on the last day.

Don’t get discouraged when things are not so good for you. There is always going to be light at the end of the tunnel. There will always be sunshine at daybreak. As the earth rotates about its axis and revolves around the sun, movement is always going on, things just keep changing, and nothing lasts forever, one day it will be your turn. Since the earth has not stopped moving, one day it will move in your favour, and things will turn for your good. Have Hope!

Jesus is saying to us today: “Whatsoever you do to the least (the smallest, the unimportant, the poorest, the minority, the outcast), that you do unto me.”