Tenacious Hope
We can always turn to God!
How low is too low? Is there a point of no return, where we can no longer turn to God? A few weeks ago, Pope Leo canonized Saint Bartolo Longo. Bartolo was an Italian lawyer in the late 1800s who got wrapped up in some shady spiritual practices while he was in school. He tumbled further and further into the darkness of the occult and was eventually “ordained” a priest of Satan. And for a long time after this, he was oppressed with depression to the point that he began to go mad! Several of his friends and family fought tooth and nail to bring him back to the Church, which was eventually successful, and he was given newfound peace and joy in God.
But even after his return to the Church, Bartolo was plagued with doubts, fears, and despair – he was unsure if he could truly be saved. Sinister voices told him constantly that an oath was eternal and he was forever in the service of the devil, whether he liked it or not. He then encountered the Blessed Virgin Mary in a powerful moment of prayer where he remembered her words to Saint Dominic: “He who propagates my Rosary will be saved.” He did so, and soon became a great advocate of the Rosary in Pompeii, tirelessly working to spread devotion and love for the rest of his life, building schools, churches, and orphanages. And now today, we see him declared a saint, from Satanic priest to Apostle of the Rosary! So how low is too low? There is no depth too dark or too deep for God to reach down to us and embrace us. We just have to reach up to Him.
This Sunday, for All Souls Day, Jesus tells us: “I will not reject anyone who comes to me…this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” My friends, Jesus is no liar! God wants us in Heaven with Him! There are many rooms in the Father’s house, and there is one for each one of us, lovingly prepared by Christ. There is no one who is so far from God that he cannot turn back.
The month of November is traditionally dedicated to praying for the faithful departed, both known and unknown. We, as the Church on earth, are called to pray diligently for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. I invite you to send any spare Hail Marys or Our Fathers you have lying around their way, to offer your own Rosaries for them, to pray for our beloved deceased. You never know who you might spring from Purgatory and launch into Beatitude. And when our own time comes, we’ll get to meet the countless friends in Heaven that will thank us for praying for them. And we’ll realize how much they’ve prayed for us too.
-Br. Andrew
