Vigilance and Fidelity in the Time of the New Paganism

When I read this first reading at Mass this morning, Paul's letter to the Ephesians, what Paul writes to this early Christian community immediately rang strongly in my ears. He writes that they were recently pagans, without hope, you were pagans in the world, Paul says. This changed radically through the proclamation of the Gospel; now they too are Christ's Church, the chosen people. And now in Christ Jesus, Paul writes, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. I ask you, brethren, whether our people too, and above all the European peoples, including my Croatian people, were not once pagans, far from Christ, but through the missionary activity of Saint Paul and numerous other Christian missionaries in his time and in the centuries that followed, they accepted the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and became God's new, chosen people.

However, unfortunately, we are witnesses to a new paganism, witnesses to a mass defection from God and Jesus Christ, as well as His Church, especially in Western Europe, the cradle of Christianity and Christian civilization. It is very sad that every year one hundred thousand Germans or Austrians abandon Christianity just because they have to pay the church tax, while at the same time they give huge sums for everything that is not Christianity, which is often radically hostile to Christian teachings. It is hair-raising not to see that Europe and America themselves are leading this new paganism, in which there is no longer a place for God, for Christ, for the Christian heritage, but precisely the opposite things are propagated, such as abortion, same-sex partnerships, and every other similar joylessness that should be disgusting to a normal person.

Is it not terrible that in the European Parliament, which inherited Christian civilization, there is no longer a place for the cross or any other Christian symbol? The consequences of this new paganism are wars, hatred, drugs, escape from reality, youth protests that often end in sheer bestiality, the replacement of the European population with those who do not want a future, do not want children, and instead a completely different population arrives, with completely different values, and often completely contrary Christian and European values. But this must not frighten us, rather we who believe in Christ and the Christian saints must remain steadfast and firm.

After all, perhaps we are sometimes laughed at if we lose our jobs because of our Christian convictions, or at least cannot get ahead in this godless society. We consider Medjugorje precisely as a lighthouse, a sign of God that we are not abandoned and we do not need to fear anything, but quite the contrary, day by day we must publicly bear witness to our faith and desire to live according to our Christian principles, that is, according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We Christians are aware that we have been redeemed, that Christ is our peace, that He is our prince of peace, and that we must always remain on His path, the path of God.

What are our tasks on this path? Our tasks as Christians who believe that we were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, which was shed for us on the wood of the cross. Our first task is to give immeasurable and constant thanks to God, who saved us without any merit of ours, who created and redeemed us solely because of His infinite love for His creature, man. Yet, it is little to express this gratitude merely with thoughts and feelings, but we must do it with our lives. And precisely in this lies our second task.

And this means that our life of faith and commitment to God can by no means stop at mere words, at mere outward appearances, but must permeate our lives every day. This means that we must fight with all our might to be people of the Gospel, even when it is difficult, when our bodily instincts lead us elsewhere, and even when the difficulties of life, of whatever nature they may be, illness, loss of the dearest persons, or disappointment caused by dear people and so on, bring great temptations upon us. Precisely then we must remain God's, we must not allow ourselves to become confused, to go astray, and to leave that path on which we are moving toward God and toward a happy life, both in the present and in eternity.

Saint Luke speaks to us about this in today's Gospel reading in his own way. Luke conveys Jesus' words to His disciples on the theme of vigilance. Vigilance here must be understood as openness to the Word of God, as readiness for cooperation with God and determination in avoiding sin. We Christians await our Savior without fear and want to receive Him as the dearest friend. And when we await a dear friend for a visit, we are impatient and live in constant tension. Yet God is the dearest and most important being for us, and He is our Lord.

Therefore we await Him most joyfully, either in the second coming of His return, or on that day when we will meet Him face to face. Likewise in the Gospel, our whole life is compared to the night when the Lord will return home. The servants know this, but no one knows exactly when He will return. Therefore, stay awake. With bright lamps in their hands, their garments prepared for every work. And Saint Augustine explained the waist girded with a cord as the purity in which everyone must live in their vocation, and the burning lamps as readiness for every good deed.

He urges Christians to renounce sin day by day and follow God at all costs, for this is the reward that Christ promises us in return. And this reward is so great and fantastic that what awaits us has neither been heard by the human ear nor seen by the eye. We cannot imagine what joy and indescribable happiness will reign when we see God face to face through all eternity, and along with this enjoy the company of those we love best, because there is no doubt that in eternity we will recognize one another. But we must not await this reward merely from the future.

Those who are Christ's and want to follow His path are already rewarded a hundredfold here on earth. Not in that no troubles and difficulties befall them, but in that they resolve them with faith and trust, committing themselves to God's providence. It is no wonder, for example, according to reports by doctors, that believers undeniably die more easily than unbelievers. Because they view death not as loss, disappearance, and destruction, but as a transition to the heavenly Father.

The Gospel call to vigilance is the eternal determinant of all those who want to be God's, yet we believers also often forget about it. Worldly things, especially the media, which so strongly influence our behavior, turn us in another direction. Thus the earthly often becomes more important to us than the divine, so much so that with our lives we turn against God. It is precisely in this context that we must view the messages given by the Mother of God here in Medjugorje. God sends the Mother of His Son to awaken us from a dead sleep, to move us out of our debauchery and our carelessness toward God.

To return to His commandments and saving words. It is a wonderful gift to see how many people here have awakened from their spiritual and life negligence and stepped once again onto the path of the Gospel. It is wonderful to see that God is truly present here through so much prayer, sacraments, holy confession, and conversion, by the thousands. And it will be even more wonderful if all of us examine ourselves: are we walking on the right path? What is most important in our lives? Are we living as children of the light? And do we await the encounter with Christ every day in complete readiness and vigilance?

Brethren, let us resolve ourselves today as well for God and Christ, especially in this month of grace, giving thanks from the depths of our hearts to the Lord for the wonderful gift of His mother. Amen.