If we saw this demon in its true, grotesque form, we would run
I will let you in on a secret about why so many people today are controlled by their fleshly, sexual desires. It is not a secret because it should remain hidden, but because so few are aware of it…We’re all thirsting, my dear friends! We’re all thirsting for deep union with another. We’re all thirsting to be deeply known, loved and accepted by another. But where is it that we’re seeking to quench this thirst?
Why is it that so many people today think that when priests and pastors start preaching moral values they are out of date and unrealistic? It’s because a dark cloud of deception is hovering over us.
God knows each of us through and through. He created us. He knows our deep needs, longings and inclinations – both the good and the disordered. He knows the thirst we all have for deep and profound union and love. And, believe it or not He wants to quench it.
I’ve heard many sides and views from others who question how God could expect a person to remain celibate when not married. And, I’ve had my own grappling with it all.
And, so, I want to share a truth with you that I have come to know and experience personally in my own life.
“God is alive!” my dear friends. And this deep, insatiable thirst we all have for love and union can only ultimately be filled by Him.
He is not an abstract God. For, I (as well as others of you out there I’m sure) have tasted and experienced the presence of God who longs to fill us, consume us and penetrate to the deepest core and recesses of our hearts and lives.
Who is it that’s behind this great sexual revolution that is drawing so many to promiscuity, perversion and such disorder, but that same sly serpent that first tempted Adam and Eve. A rampant demon of lust is seducing many in our country, subtly luring them down a path of darkness and destruction. If we saw this demon in its true, grotesque form, we would run; but as scripture tells us, he appears as an angel of light, mixing truths and goodness with lies and godlessness.
He mixes the truth that sexual gratification is pleasurable with the lie that it is what we need to appease this deep longing we all have.
The beloved late Pope John Paul II wrote in his last letter to us, “[Jesus tells us] abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4). This relationship of profound and mutual “abiding” enables us to have a certain foretaste of heaven on earth. Is this not the greatest of human yearnings? … God has placed in human hearts a “hunger” … which will be satisfied only by full union with him. Eucharistic communion was given so that we might be “sated” with God here on earth, in expectation of our complete fulfillment in heaven.” (Mane Nobiscum Domine)
So much more could be shared, should space allow, but I want to close by encouraging all people to open your hearts to our Divine Lord Jesus who is always there knocking at the doors of our hearts (Rev. 3:20), and who longs to come in and “dine” with us and commune with us. And, once we’ve let Him into the front door of our Heart, there are many other rooms, closets, nooks and crannies within our hearts that he desires to bring His redeeming love and grace into.
Jesus longs for a personal relationship with us, one that doesn’t just remain on the surface, but that goes “deep.” He longs to enter into the deeper cores and recesses of our hearts to fill us and become a living and vital part of every aspect of our lives. May the Immaculate Heart of Mary be our inspiration and guide.
For those who have been baptized, may you be open to the profound graces received through Baptism, of our Lord’s indwelling presence (as long as we’re in a state of grace/not in mortal sin – sincere confession restores this grace).
And, for those who are Catholic I say, may you not miss out on the profound and insurmountable graces that we can receive through our Lord’s presence in the Eucharist. We can never in this life comprehend the extent of what we’ve been given – to be able to receive Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, into our own bodies.
Be sure, however, to be rightly prepared to receive His Divine, Holy, Sacred presence worthily. If we are in a state of mortal sin, we must not receive Him until we’ve made a good confession.
And, we have a tremendous grace of being able to spend quiet time with our Lord’s true presence in Churches and adoration chapels. We are much blest here in St. Charles Parish to have two adoration chapels open to the faithful 24/7. Jesus waits for us, and though many of us don’t realize it, we long for Him. But we must do our part in opening our hearts to Him, because He waits for an invitation to enter in.
“Deep is calling on deep in the roar of waters” (Ps 42:7)
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