We must remember that “God is not to be trifled with”, and that he who habitually lives in a state of mortal sin is on the road to eternal damnation.
Newsdesk (29/11/2022 9:09 AM, Gaudium Press) “I adjure you on your knees, by the blood of Jesus Christ and the heart of Mary, to change your life, to place yourself on the path to Heaven and to do everything possible to belong to the small number of the elect.
I address myself, then, to you who live in the habit of mortal sin, in hatred, in the mud of impure vice, and who each day draw nearer to hell. Stop, return in the opposite direction; it is Jesus who calls you; His wounds, like so many eloquent voices, cry out:
‘My son, if thou condemnest thyself, thou shalt have nothing to complain of but thyself: ‘perditio tua ex te‘. Lift up your eyes and see with how many graces I have enriched you, in order to secure your eternal salvation. I could have had you born in a forest of barbarians; I did this for so many others, but for you, I made you born into the Catholic faith; I gave you to such a good father, such an excellent mother, in the midst of such pure instructions and teachings; if, in spite of this, you condemn yourself, to whom will the fault be attributed? To thee, my son, to thee. I have been patient with you; I have listened to you for many years; I listen to you still today in the Sacrament of Penance. If, in spite of everything, you condemn yourself, whose fault is it? It is yours, my Son, it is yours: perditio tua ex te.
‘You know how many are killed in a state of reprobation before your eyes: these were a warning to you. You know how many others I have put back on the right path to give you a good example. Do you remember what that excellent confessor said to you? It was I who made him say it. Didn’t he exhort you to change your life, to make a good confession? It was I who inspired him. Remember that sermon that touched your heart? It was I who gave it. And that which happened between Me and you in the secret of your heart; you must never forget it.
‘Those interior inspirations, those clear insights, that continuous remorse of your conscience, do you dare to deny them? All this was so much help from My grace, because I wanted to save you. I refused them to so many others and I gave them to you, because I loved you tenderly. My son, my son, how many others, if I spoke to them as tenderly as I speak to you today, would be put back on the right path! And yet you turn your back on Me.
‘Listen to what I am about to tell you, and they will be my last words: you cost me blood; if, despite the blood I shed for you, you want to condemn yourself, do not complain to me, do not accuse anyone but yourself. And during all eternity do not forget that if you condemn yourself, you condemn yourself against my Will, you condemn yourself because you want to condemn yourself.’
On the number of the elect
Whether there are many or few chosen, I say that he who wants to be saved is saved, and no one is lost if he does not want to be. And if it is true that there are few who are saved, it is because there are few who live well. Moreover, compare these two opinions: the first, which claims that the majority of Catholics condemn themselves; the second, which, on the contrary, claims that the greater number of Catholics are saved.
Imagine that an Angel, sent by God to confirm the first opinion, comes to tell you that not only are the majority of Catholics condemned, but that out of this whole multitude gathered here, only one will be saved. If you obey the commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace with a spirit of penance the Cross of Jesus Christ, you will be that one to be saved.
Then imagine that this Angel returns to you and, to confirm the second opinion, tells you that not only have the majority of Catholics been saved, but that of this whole assembly only one person will be condemned and all the others saved. If after this you continue in your practices, your vendettas, your criminal acts, your impurities, you will be the only one to be condemned.
What is the use, then, of knowing whether there are few or many who are saved? ‘Take care to make a good choice by your good works’, St. Peter tells us. ‘If you want to be saved, you will be saved’, said St. Thomas Aquinas to his sister, who asked him what she should do to go to Heaven.
I say the same thing to you, and this is how I prove it to you: no one is lost unless he sins mortally. No one sins mortally unless he wants to; this is an incontestable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell if he does not want to; the consequence is evident.
Weep for your past sins, confess well, sin no more henceforth and you will all be saved. Why, then, torment yourself so much, since it is certain that to go to hell one must sin mortally, that to sin mortally one must want to sin, and that, consequently, one does not go to hell unless he wants to?
This is not an opinion, but an incontestable and very consoling truth: may God help you to understand it and bless you. Amen”.
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
