Some of us count forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, or more years of life.  We ask:  Have not all of these years passed quickly? Have they not appeared as but a few moments as one reflects back on them?

So, just as the past years have passed so quickly, consider how the rest of one’s life will pass!

Yet, if one compares one’s life span with eternity, what is it? Not so much as a grain of sand when compared with the entire universe, or, as but a drop of water when compared with even the smallest ocean. Thousand and millions of years are not a moment when compared with eternity.

There is some relation or ratio between a grain of sand and the universe.  It is true that it is infinitesimally small, but when one considers multi-trillions of years with eternity which never ends, there is absolutely no proportion because such years are limited while eternity is unlimited.  How true it is that our life in this world lasts but for such a short time. And this little while of our earthly life is of infinite importance, because WHERE each of us will spend our eternity depends on it.

IF each of us serves God during this little while with fervor and constancy, obeying God’s Commandments, practicing Virtue, exercising the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, each of us will receive for our reward the everlasting, unspeakable happiness and never-ending joys of Heaven.

But, if one serves the world, the flesh and the devil, an eternal, inexpressible horrible woe and exile await one in hell. Oh, how the Blessed in Heaven rejoice because they have devoted this little while of their earthly life to the service of God!  And how bitterly do the damned in hell regret that they have spent the little while of their temporal life in the forgetfulness of God and wasted their precious time in the foolish gratification of their passions and lusts, whether of the world, the flesh, or the devil.

Consider how transitory and perishable the things of this world really are! Their siren songs, by way of analogy, remind one of the irresistible allure of the mesmerizing mythical Sirens of classical Greek mythology made famous by the Greek epic poet Homer [b. c.9th Century B.C. - d. c.9th Century B.C.].  These lascivious Sirens lured sailors to their death by their singing. Odysseus, a.k.a. Ulysses, the hero in this Greek epic entitled “The Odyssey”, was able to sail past their rocky island by putting wax in the ears of his crew so that they would not hear this hypnotically enchanting singing.

So then, as each of us sails through our life, by making a proper use of the Mass and the Sacraments, especially Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and the living of a good life - a life devoted to the daily practice of Virtue and of doing good, may each of us close our ears to the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devils who try to allure each of us with their irresistible siren songs of spiritual lies to ignore the dangers of the rocky islands of disobedience to the Commandments of God and the Commandments of the Church which would end for us in the shipwreck of our immortal souls.

To this end let each of us resolve today, right now, to implore the Graces each of us needs from the Mediatrix of All Graces, our Heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  And, just as in “The Odyssey”, Odysseus was able to defeat the evil charms of the Satanic Circe who had turned his crew into swine with a magic drink, by his use of the herb moly which has white flowers and black roots, so then let each of us, by daily recourse to our Blessed Mother, especially by saying the 3 Hail Mary’s for purity, and by making a determined effort to say the Holy Rosary each and every day without fail, defeat the evil charms of the followers of Satan who would have each of us drink the dregs of Mortal Sin and thereby turn one’s soul into a continual state of the gluttony of habitual sin.

So then, resolve now to reflect this week on how fickle are the allurements of this world, whether they be financial wealth, real estate, stocks and bonds, power, and all of those things which the world esteems and how short a time each of us has to do everything we must do in order to assure our own place in Heaven!

For example, just by you reading this Sermon right now, you are telling God that you love Him and, by the help of His Grace, you will - beginning right now - live a life of real Virtue in the imitation of Christ, Our Blessed Mother, and the Holy Saints of Heaven, so that you may faithfully keep the Ten Commandments, remembering how Christ so clearly teaches all of us:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

“Why did God make you?”

“A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven” (Baltimore Catechism No. 1, Lesson First: on the End of Man, Question # 6).

This not only sums up the life each of us should live as practicing Catholics - not "Sunday only" Catholics, but it also reminds us that we still have work to do, we still have to continue to:

“to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world” so that we can “be happy with Him forever in heaven”.

“Give an account of thy stewardship:  for now thou canst be steward no longer” (Luke 16:2).

Therefore, DO NOW what THEN you will be happy you did DO NOW!!!

As a final resolution, in the Holy Name of Jesus, and in an exercise of Catholic Charity, please contribute to the support of the Church - in this case - the Shrine of Saint Jude.    Please help us to save Souls!

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and Charity! Remember, God is never outdone in generosity!!!

Think how happy you will be when, in the next life, God shows you all of the Souls you helped to save by helping our Apostolates, including this Sermon web site, because "he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:20).

“And in doing good, let us not fail.  For in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians  6:9-10).