No Compromise: Defending Truth Like the Apostles
Summary of Headings
- Christ's Final Days with the Apostles
- The Spirit of No Compromise
- Facing Evil and Defending Truth
- The Apostles' Mission and Modern Catholics
- Obedience and Spiritual Warfare
- Building Fortresses of Virtue
Christ's Final Days with the Apostles
... and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. Um, you celebrate, uh, it's time after Easter where Our Lord is spending time with the apostles and with the disciples, those, that those not a directly as well fled, others that work with him or followed him. And he's, he's doing a couple of different things. Easy. He's kind of bringing back their, their sense of faith. Uh, even we see even after Christ shows us up resurrection, you're still, uh, there's still lack faith in the parking policies to some degree so he's trying to rebuild that but at the same time he's establishing his church this really is one of his main focuses while he is spending time before his ascension into heaven so soon he'll ascend to heaven and then he's done he's gone his work is accomplished and finished so he has to during this time build what can of the catholic church that has already been established at the very moment of his death and we could see that he there are a few different things principles that he's tried to establish but the apostles are aware of that they understand so that this church may be successful obviously we
know the church will triumph until the very end our lord himself has promised and the church will never fall at any point during the history of mankind and christ all the way to the end of the world the church will never fall christ has said that explicitly the gates of hell shall now prevail against him so how is that accomplished and the first thing we're going to do is we're going to establish or get across the apostles is the the notion of the compromise that that there cannot be compromised before the face of error or evil or falsehoods and that truth must be stood for even you must die for it and christ christ puts this to his apostles not necessarily by his words that we know in scripture but simply by his actions it's the very first thing that he does is he doesn't compromise he dies for the truths that he preaches he dies for the errors that he goes against so much so he he not only dies in defense of them he actively fights for them this is why i see thomas aquinas asked the question does christ direct does christ kill himself is he the cause of his own death and saint thomas says well he's not directly the cause of his
own death because he doesn't himself kill himself right he it is the rumen soldiers it is the jewish high priest and the people that kill him but he indirectly does kill himself because christ goes after the high priest he pushes the high priest the jewish leaders at the time he pushes them to the point where they say god kill this man so it's not just that he stands around and when evil is put forward he defends it even to the death no no he goes out and he fights against error he actively will try to establish good and fight against error and this is the spirit of no compromise that catholic souls have to have and he transmits this
The Spirit of No Compromise
to the apostles immediately you have to confront evil you have to defend truth by confronting evil and you have to do it to the point of sword if that's what is asked and this is very very clear to them once see once he when he dies the apostles are unsure of what exactly is going on they've seen his miracles they've seen all the beautiful things that he's done they've never seen him in this state of vulnerability where he's dying okay why is he dying they're unsure they know that the high priests are angry with him but it doesn't click until he rises to get it from the dead and now they understand we have to die for truth it all comes together the picture is complete for them and they it's everything is still foggy there's still a lot of mystery to them of what's going to happen but one thing they know is if truth is at stake we have to defend it and even die for it and we have to go to face the eagles because that's what our master did and don't forget there is great hope in doing that christ transmits to them through his resurrection coupled with his death that if you fight for truth if you
defend the truth if you fight against error and against false setting you'll compromise even to the point of death or not just death but to the point of failure if you fail meaning on a material level if you fail if you fight against if you stand up against error and falsehood if you defend what and yet humanly speaking you fall into complete and total abject failure it doesn't matter because you are with god and you will rise again one day and this is incredibly important to the apostles they understand that this man has our back if we go and die for truth we will be like him you will rise again our god will be with us our master will always protect us if we are fighting for truth defending it and going against error this is what us modern catholics have to understand the air is everywhere both on a world level both on a church level and on a personal level we have air coming in from all sides and we have to understand that we can't just sit around and like just defend ourselves we have to go openly and attack it to happen most especially in our own personal lives you know too often
catholic souls what they try to do is just sort of get to the day by like dodging evil things okay the moral sin is there It's sort of like, you know, like there was the old like like Asteroids or Space Commander in or wherever you're just sort of like Dodging the asteroids and making sure you don't get hit. This is not the Catholic life
Facing Evil and Defending Truth
It's not spiritual warfare that we have been called to it's not just waking up every day It's a guy just can't fall into the world said I can't do anything bad If you spend a roll, it's just dodging error. Then we fall at the Apostles day That's a big it and they just didn't want they were trying to stay out of trouble All right, they're following this ship warrior Christ total warrior. He's going in all these different places going right up to the Jews He's condemning in the possible. Oh my gosh. I don't know about this When when Christ says we're gonna go help Lazarus our friends. He's dying They're like, I don't know what master if we go right by Jerusalem. They're gonna try to kill us Let's kind of stay away from the same. Peter's like, I don't know don't go there like they're gonna try to kill you No, no, no go and these these are Paul's as well. All right, but yeah We can't be like the Apostle trying to dodge Just guide you right then. No, go out and open the attacking. Where are my faults? Where are my weaknesses?
Where are if I have if the soul the Catholic Church loves living in the soul like a fortress You our fortress leave having our soul Where are the weak points where the points that we have to pull all of our defenses? Where we have to focus all of our attention and go out and fight those battles the great souls are the souls that wake up every Day, it's like struggle with jealousy I struggle with worldliness. I struggle with impurity. Those things I will actively fight. Not just like, I hope I don't fall into impurity today. No, no. I go and fight. I need to be pure. I need to be pure today. I need to be generous today. I need to be godly today instead of worldly.
I need the virtue. And I need to chase after that virtue. No compromise. No compromise isn't just sitting there like, it won't fall. It's going out and building something. That's what the apostles did. Christ rises up at the Ascension. He says, go and preach to every nation. Build my church in every corner of the world. And you look at it, right? The Catholic Church is the greatest real estate owner in the world. Right? Why? Because the apostles and the successors of them, all the way up until the mid -centuries, the Jesuit priests going out to the jungles, to the deserts. St. Mark is in the deserts of the Middle East. St. Luke, I think, was even appeared in South America.
Right? The apostles went everywhere.
The Apostles' Mission and Modern Catholics
And missionary priests and bishops went everywhere. Even up to these very times. Going and preaching the gospel. Defending truth but willing to die for it. Willing to die for it, knowing that it is the blood of the martyrs. The blood of those who defend the faith. Who stand up for truth and fight against evil. That is where the church draws its light. It's from the blood that we shed. You and I shed every single day. By not compromising. By building a strong fortress. By fighting against the evils in our life. By fighting against the evils in the world. And not sitting there and cowering, saying, Oh, I don't want to dress this way or act this way. Or do this sign of the cross in public.
Well, people might think of me differently. So what? So what? That's the message of Christ. You will be hated. He says it right before he goes to die. As he's sharing bread and wine and water with the apostles. The world will hate you. Because it has hated me. That's his only promise. He doesn't sit there and say, Things are going to be so hazing. People are going to love you so much. Because, I mean, look at me. I mean, I'm our life. Jesus is in the state of your heart. I've done so much good. I died for the world. They will understand that one day. When they understand that, they will love you. Because you give the message of love. No. No. No. They will hate you. That's his message.
Imagine. That's the message. They will hate you. Because they have hated me. They will hate me. Christ still has yet to be justified. Still to this day. There are billions of Catholics. Yeah, for sure. A billion Catholics. Whatever it is. But in the history of mankind, Christ is still condemned as a madman, as a blasphemer, as an innovator, someone that was evil, all these different things. We are fighting for Christ. And we will be hated by the world for it. They will hate us. They will hate everything that we stand for. They will hate everything that the church is. And we see that today. We see that today. Even with our own God. The smallest little, like, one person, like, one bishop or one person just stands up and says, I don't necessarily agree with this.
All of a sudden, the wrath of the world against the Catholic. That's what this is. All of this is to go after Christ. All of this is to go after the church. And all of this will eventually be to go after Catholic souls. That's it. Because not even what we say, just because what you stand for. What you stand for. Right? That's it. And you could see it both. You don't necessarily see it right away at a Catholic way. First of all, as a priest, you see it, right? As a priest, personally, or if you spend time. If you just, like, walk through the streets with a priest or the Catholic, and you just see eyes that are puzzled, a lot of eyes that are in judgment, a lot of eyes that just don't like the feeling of that Christ is here.
And there's a little apprehension. The world hates Christ. Hates Christ. Because Christ demands what? Obedience. Obedience. Obey my Father. Obey my Father. That's his great message. Christ is a failure. Total failure on this earth. Nothing. He was born in a cradle out in the freezing cold in poverty. And he rode, died on the ground. He died with nobody believing his message except for a few people. Sometimes I think Catholics think it like millions of people. Thousands of people were just all in on the message of Christ. It's not true. It's not true. Thousands of people were there for his miracles, for the bread that he was multiplying, and the fish, and raising people from the dead.
It was a show. They loved it. And they were hearing his message, but what they wanted was for the Jews to bring materials to people. They loved everything they were getting from him. But the messages, once it came down to it, was very difficult. Remember, our Lord tells them, look, if you want to be saved, if you want to spend your whole life with God, you have to drink my blood and eat my flesh. The Holy Eucharist. And thousands leave. And Christ is too heartbroken. You can see it, right? You imagine our Lord every day. The most special message that he could ever give to the world is the Eucharist. I will be with you always. That's the message of the Holy Eucharist.
The Eucharist that you're about to receive. And the message of the Holy Eucharist is that you are going to receive the Holy Eucharist. It is what? This is I am the Eucharist. And I will be with you always. And it's the only message he wants to give to people. He spends, imagine if you're like six years old and he's there just struggling with a soul who he knows is like a young kid who needs, who's lost, who maybe doesn't have a father, maybe is a, is a orphan or whatever it might be. And all he wants to do is give the message to the Eucharist. Don't worry. I will always be with you. I'm your God. And he can't. He wants to say it, but his father says, it's not your time, man.
He's 12 years old. He's in Jerusalem, right? When he's 12 years old, he gets lost in Jerusalem. He's, he's roaming around the streets of Jerusalem. He's going to meet all these 12 year old kids, right? His same age. He can be running around with them in the streets and these kids are lost. They're in little gangs. They're, they're already criminals. They're stealing. All he wants to do is give them the message. It's not the message of God. Like you're here to be good, to be true, to be virtuous. And, and there's the Eucharist that I'm going to use to, I'm God. Can't. The father tells him it's not your time. He's 15, 16, 20 years old, 25 years old. He now has friends that are older.
They're adults. They've lost their way. They're taking up prostitutes. They're gone off to thieves. They got off with Romans and task collectors. All he wants to tell them is like, I'm the Messiah. I'm the one. And I'm going to give you Eucharist. I'm literally going to shed my blood for you and I'll be with you forever. And his father turns and says, no, it's not your time. I mean. It's the pain and English that it must cause Christ that for 30 years he can say nothing. He just does what obeys the spar. That's it. Until finally his father says, now's the time. And he goes out. John the Baptist baptized and he goes into the desert and he begins his great mission.
Obedience and Spiritual Warfare
His great mission of he goes, walks into a way and he turns water into wine. Wow. Everyone thinks like, oh, what's another great party. Party's over the minute Christ turns water into wine. Everybody just, there's a hush that goes through the whole party. I just turned the water into wine. There's a few curious men, few curious looking in crowd and wondering who is this guy? Christ, what does he do? Every time he gives a great miracle, he gets up and leaves. Turns the water into wine, gets up, walks out to the night with his apostles. How many other men follow him? Curious. Who is this man? And slowly but surely they develop. They see it. This man goes from turning water into wine to all of a sudden at the top of a mountain, dying on a cross.
Starts with a party, ends with a sacrifice. He goes to everybody in the world and he starts preaching this message. This message of sacrifice. This message of obedience. Christ is obedient, obeys. All the way up until death. St. Thomas Aquinas says the redemption would not have happened if Christ simply died on the cross. It wasn't the dying on the cross that saved us. It was Christ obeying his father. All the way up until the last minute. He is a failure. Even into the ascension. He's about to ascend. He's died. He's risen from the dead. He's told the message that he's building a church, etc. And the apostles, as he's going up the mountain, turn the water into wine.
He's about to ascend. The apostles are like, so this is it, right? We're building a big castle and we're going to rule the world of Christ like medians. You still don't understand. He's a failure. He still hasn't gotten a message through to these people. Failure, failure, failure. It has all that mattered to Christ was obey my father in the moment. That's it. He didn't care about the consequences. Our Lord didn't care of what would happen in the future. He didn't care what would happen tomorrow. It didn't matter. All that mattered was what? What does my father want from me right now? And that's what he did. We are called to simply obey his. It is the hardest thing for us to do is to obey.
What does the church want from me? What does my God want from me? But even though it's the most challenging thing for us, it's the most peaceful thing for us. Because there is no worry. There is no concern what's going to happen in the world. What's going to happen in my life? What's going to happen in my family? What's going to happen to my loved ones? What's going to happen in this situation or that? It doesn't matter. As Christ himself, it doesn't matter. Failure, victory, none of that matters. Only what matters. What is my father asking of me right now? And give yourself 100 % of that. That's it. That's the only thing that matters. What do you want from me, Christ, right now?
Do you want me pure? Do you want me to be charitable? Do you want me to be merciful? Do you want me to be strong?
Building Fortresses of Virtue
Do you want me to be generous? What is it that you want from me right now? Right now, you have to listen to this going on, growing stern. All right, I give myself 100 % to it. What do you want next? I want you to give yourself to the ambulatory of the Mass. All right, I'll do that. I'll give myself completely. Oh, but my work, if things aren't going well, don't shut it down. I want this from you right now. I will take care of everything else. I am God. I will conquer the world if you give your heart to me right now. That's what I'm asking. That's what I need. I need to harvest souls that are willing to crush, to be crushed, that I may take their blood, and with it, I may conquer hearts.
That's what I will count on. So wake up every day to build fortresses in our own soul, in the souls of others, in all of mankind, in every corner of the world. But how do we do that? We obey our God. Whatever Christ asks of me, even in the smallest of moments. How many of us have been in mortal sin and have gone into a confession and received the state of grace? How many? Who won that for you? Who bought that for you? Somebody has to pay the price. Every time a soul confesses and goes through a mortal sin into the state of grace, somebody pays the price for that. It is not free. Every single one is paid. Who was it? A ten -year -old who offered up a piece of candy so that souls may be saved?
And in that moment, fifty years ago, some little boy offered up a piece of candy that a soul may be saved. And fifty years to this day, you walk into that confessional, and you're back in the state of grace. Somebody paid the price. There are souls and hearts out there that are looking and thirsty for truth. And Catholics are the ones who have to wake up every day and pay the price. Are we willing to follow Christ in the darkness, not knowing where he may lead us, but only knowing one thing? I see your heels, Lord. I listen and I hear your voice. And I can't see where it leads. But I will give everything that I may pay the price. I'm willing to pray with you to conquer hearts.
You were born to be Christians, followers and imitators of Christ. Build fortresses around your own soul. Fight against evil. Defend truth. And we obey your Father in Heaven in the smallest little moments, because it's the smallest moments when a soul gives itself to obedience. And the smallest and silliest of souls, that Christ loves those moments and those. And in those, builds fortresses. conqueror's hearts with the smallest of obedience of a singular heart in one single moment. Christ conquers. Amen. And they can follow the son of the good. Amen.
Summary
The homily begins with a reflection on Christ's time with the Apostles after His resurrection, emphasizing His efforts to strengthen their faith and prepare them for their mission. Christ's actions, rather than words, teach the Apostles the importance of defending truth without compromise, even to the point of death. The speaker highlights the need for Catholics to actively confront evil and defend truth in all aspects of life. This involves more than just avoiding sin; it requires a proactive approach to spiritual warfare, inspired by the Apostles' example and Christ's teachings. Obedience to God's will is presented as the ultimate act of faith, even when it appears to lead to failure. The homily concludes with a call to build fortresses of virtue in our souls, standing firm in the face of worldly opposition, and trusting in God's plan.