Beginning of the homily
2. How should have the rich young man responded? With promptitude,
generosity, and heroism. Once the call of God is known, we must carry it out:
A. with promptitude:
that is to say executing quickly what God desires, not postponing its
realization. “The grace of the Holy Spirit is a speedy grace” (St. Anselm). “We
must respond without delay” (Venerable Luis de la Puente). Popular wisdom
teaches “Don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today”. Poetically, Jose
Maria Peman, puts in St Francis Xavier these words:
“The great resolutions,
For its best accomplishment,
Must be taken in the moment
And they must be fulfilled quickly.
…I am friendlier to the wind,
My lady, than to the breeze…
And we must do the good in a hurry
Since evil does not lose a moment!”
Those who constantly delay the call of God find themselves in the
deplorable state of soul that Lopez de Vega so well describes:
“How many times the angel would tell me:
Soul peer now through the window
And you will see with what love he endeavors to calls
And how many oh sovereign Beauty
Tomorrow we will open respond
To respond the same thing again tomorrow!”
The saints replied with promptitude. Such is the case of Abraham,[1]
of Samuel “Speak, Lord for your servants hears (1 Sam 3:10). Likewise
responded St Peter and St Andrew: they abandoned their nets and followed him
(Mk 1:18). St Paul too followed instantly: instantly, without seeking
counsel of any man (Gal 1:16). As did the Holy Virgin upon knowing the will
of God: let it be done unto me according to your word (Lk 1:38) going in
haste (Lk 1:39) to the house of Elizabeth.
B. with generosity: that
is to say with perfection they left everything (Lk 5:11). And they left
them decidedly: no one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was
left behind is fit for the kingdom of God (Lk 9:62).
Some say that they want to serve the Lord but they give the
conditions: “Lord let me go first and bury my father.” But Jesus answered
him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead” (Mt 8:21-22).
God desires the total surrender. He wants our heart undivided and
unconditionally.
C. with heroism: it is
the disposition of those that truly desire to follow Christ in such a way that
as St. Paul says they wish to die to be with Christ,[2]
and as St. Thomas says, “they do not retract in difficult endeavors that give
glory to God and save souls.”
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