'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith' (I Jn.
5:4).
Christ the Lord conquers the world, and that victory, my brethren, is
ours also. The apostles conquered the world, and that victory is ours
also. There is nothing of greater power in the world, my brethren, than
the Christian faith. The swords that cut off this Faith are blunted and
broken, but the Faith has remained; kings who fought against this Faith
suffocated under the anathema for their crime; kingdoms which waged war
against this Faith were destroyed; cities which cast out this Faith lie
thrown down in their destruction; heretics who perverted this Faith
perished in soul and body and went out of this world under the anathema,
but this Faith remained.
When the world rushes upon us, my brethren, with its illusions; with the
illusion of exterior beauty, the illusion of riches, of pleasure. of
transitory glory, with what shall we resist and by what shall we be the
victors but by this Faith? Truly, by nothing but this invincible Faith,
which knows of something better than any of the good things of this
world.
When all the illusion of this world reveals its other face; when beauty
turns to ugliness, health to sickness, riches to poverty, glory to
dishonour, power to degradation and all the flowering of physical life
to filth and pollution; by what shall we overcome that misery, that
filth and pollution and keep ourselves from despair but by this Faith?
Truly, by nothing but this invincible Faith, which teaches us enduring
and unchanging values in the Kingdom of God.
When death shows its destructive power over our neighbours, our
relatives and friends, over our flowers, our crops, over the work of our
hands, and when it turns its irresistible teeth on us ourselves, by what
shall we conquer the fear of death and by what unlock the door of life,
that life that is stronger than death, if not by this Faith? Truly, by
nothing but this invincible Faith, which knows resurrection and life
without death.
O Lord Jesus, Thou Conqueror of the world, help us also to conquer the
world by faith in Thee. To Thee be glory and praise for ever. Amen.
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