Do not wander! Do not return! Do not remain!
Dear Faithful,
The great Octave has ended, Low Sunday has passed and the liturgical celebration has for another year concluded . . . and yet, the Victory of the Resurrected Lord continues at every moment, through each day, for all time, lasting into eternity! It continues in His Church, it continues through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments of His grace, it continues in the Divine Doctrine infallibly contained in the Deposit of Faith, it continues in the souls of the faithful on Earth, in Purgatory and those now enjoying the Beatific Vision for eternity in Heaven! The Alleluia of Easter morn resoundingly rings from pole to pole, and will do so before the Throne of the Lamb without ceasing, endlessly and joyfully sung by the choirs of Angels, the blessed and Saints!
While the liturgical year, as the rhythm of life, necessarily continues on its path, the glories of Lenten victories inspired and sustained by the grace of the Cross must take root deeply in our souls and ever spur us on to the valiant practice of virtue, even heroism as we walk the pilgrim's path toward our own death and resurrection! As the great Saint Augustine wrote long ago to the Christians of all times: Those travelling long distances by foot are accustomed to sing in order to seemingly lessen the load and labor upon weary feet; so Christians, Walk and Sing! And what must we sing? Alleluia, which simply means, Praise the Lord! My dear friends, let us then ever march on, walking toward that eternal destiny desired by the Crucified and Resurrected Christ, ever closer to obtaining the mansions prepared for us from all eternity, praising God—Father, Son and Holy Ghost—in thought, word and deed! The same Saint cries out in warning: Do not wander! Do not return! Do not remain! This march to Heaven is, necessarily, a continual and persevering progress in virtue, a greater and deeper understanding of our holy Faith, and the daily practice thereof. Simply put: to grow without fail, without falter, in the knowledge and love of Our Lord Jesus Christ! For Christ as God is the goal we must reach, and Christ as Man is the road we must travel!
Let our joyous and just celebrations at the Easter season be the harbinger of eternal and never ending glories, stored now in our hearts and expressed in our deeds. For, as Pope Saint Gregory the Great meaningfully asked, what would the celebrations of men here below profit us, if we were to miss the eternal celebrations of the angels before the throne of God? The present solemnities are but the shadow of those to come! Let then, faithful souls, the participation in these temporal joys, inflame our hearts and minds to thirst for the everlasting ones in Heaven!
Be assured of my prayers and the continual efforts to provide you with the grace of the God, who was not content to merely teach us the way to Heaven, but took upon Himself our human nature to show us the way. Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Yours in Christ the King,
Father Michael McMahon
