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00:00Music
00:29Yes, dear brothers, we are going to continue with the development of this theme from our letter to the Philippians, now looking at some topics, as always, of a pastoral nature, since our school, as we know, is a school of biblical spirituality, so what interests us is seeing what the Holy Scriptures tell us, how we can use the text of the Holy Scriptures to guide our lives.
00:54Let's go to the text, verses 21 through 26, it says,
01:29And so, this text speaks to us, that is, it should impel us in its reading to yearn for eternal life.
01:49In other words, Pablo, well, he has already lost his sense of purpose, like all Christians at a certain point, because we lose our sense of purpose because of the things of this world, we live in it, we enjoy it when we can, but this is not what gives reason and meaning to our entire existence.
02:05Paul, who obviously has walked much further in his spiritual life, also feels this weariness of human life and is walking towards eternity with the Lord, right?
02:19All his desire now is to be united with Christ, and this will become very, very clear to him if he goes to his Bible.
02:29Let's go now to Philippians, chapter 3, verse 7, where, well, this is made very clear to Paul.
02:38Paul says, but all these things that were once very valuable to me, I now consider worthless because of Christ.
02:48Furthermore, I value nothing else when I compare it to the supreme good of knowing Christ, my Lord.
02:54For Christ's sake I have lost everything and I consider it all rubbish in exchange for gaining him.
03:01We see then in this letter to the Philippians how Paul has already been progressing in this concept of his life in relation to Christ.
03:12For him, the important thing now is to be with him.
03:15Everything else, how wonderful that we have it and how wonderful, because we have all this as part of our lives, our homes, our families.
03:23But as we progress in our relationship with the Lord, this causes our life to begin to have a very relative relationship to other things.
03:34He says, if I compare this to Christ, that is, the comparison is Christ.
03:39He is the one who, at a given moment, gives meaning to our entire existence.
03:44So, when we read the texts, it's not just about saying, oh, well, the text is nice, but how good, but what does it tell me?
03:54So, this should lead us to reflect on whether we are truly progressing in our relationship with the Lord.
04:02And if truly for us, what is important is to be with Christ, or is it even more important to have a new car, a new house?
04:11What is truly important to us?
04:14He reiterates this again in his letter to the Corinthians.
04:17I invite you to go now.
04:19Let's look at 2 Corinthians, in chapter 5, verse 8.
04:23He says, but we have faith and would rather be exiled from this body to live with the Lord.
04:32So we would like to get rid of everything.
04:36This always comes to mind when I review these texts, those beautiful words of Saint Teresa, this beautiful poem she wrote,
04:46I live without living in myself, and I await such a high life that I die because I do not die, and I live bound to the irons of this body that do not allow me to go to meet my beloved.
04:58In other words, Saint Teresa feels trapped in this body and all she wants is to go and enjoy herself with it.
05:07This is, ultimately, the Christian's vision.
05:12And Paul, as we were discussing, in this letter to the Philippians it is a truly loving letter,
05:18It is a letter written from her own heart.
05:23We can see what the apostle's true desires are, can't we?
05:28He says, "I would like to leave this body and go live with the Lord."
05:36Vibrate with the promise of our Lord.
05:40You will remember the text of John 12:26, where Jesus says that he has gone to prepare a house for us.
05:50In other words, the Lord says in this text, "If anyone wants to serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there will also be the one who serves me."
06:01If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him.
06:04So Paul, who has followed him, Paul, who has served him, Paul, who loves the Lord, says, now, I want to go and enjoy eternal life with Christ.
06:15So, brother, sister, where is your heart now?
06:21Is your heart still here on earth?
06:24Is your heart still in things?
06:27Or is he already with the Lord?
06:30Because remember what our Lord Jesus told us, "Where is your treasure?"
06:35There is your heart.
06:36So, where is our treasure?
06:38Is he in heaven yet?
06:40Do we want to go live with our treasure now?
06:43Or do we still want to continue hoarding here on earth?
06:47That's why, when he's about to die, he's no longer afraid.
06:51It's a moment she's been waiting for.
06:54Death, then, now becomes a moment awaited, sought, desired by us.
07:00That is, even now Saint Paul, when he writes in his second letter to Timothy, says, I am ready to die.
07:10Now all that remains for me is to receive the inheritance that the just judge will give me.
07:16In other words, for a Christian, death is not that moment of despair.
07:22We know where we are going and we know where people are going, our people, our loved ones, who for so long have followed the Lord.
07:33People who go to mass, who confess, who take communion, who know the Scriptures and above all, who have sought to follow the Lord.
07:42It is true that not everyone has had the joy of knowing Christ, that they have not had the opportunity to have a good evangelization.
07:50But God has enabled them to live a life in accordance with his principles, loving their wives, children, parents, and community.
08:00They have loved others as Christ loved his own.
08:04Indeed, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, they will be judged by the God of mercy, by this God who sees this act of charity.
08:13Because let us remember that in chapter 25 of Saint Matthew, Jesus clearly tells us that we will be judged for our love of others.
08:23And when we have lived through this whole situation with the Lord, we know that we are going to heaven, that we are going to paradise.
08:30We have no reason to be afraid, neither we nor our loved ones.
08:34Certainly, the moment of death is a difficult moment, a moment of breaking, a moment of separation, which obviously affects us, it hurts us, but it does not lead us to despair.
08:48It does not plunge us into anguish and sadness, because we know that our loved ones are with the Lord, they have lived a life in accordance with his gospel.
08:58And what about us? We must wait for him with great serenity, with great peace, and when he arrives, be ready and prepared to go and take possession, as Paul says, of this wonderful place that God has prepared.
09:12That's why the day has no fear, and neither should we.
09:18Heaven is the most wonderful experience we could imagine.
09:23I would like to end this first comment, this part of our course, with another quote from Paul, which is in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 2, in verse 8, we read the following.
09:37He says, this is something that the rulers of the present world have not understood, for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
09:46But as Scripture says, God has prepared for those who love him things that no one has seen, heard, or even imagined.
09:55In other words, heaven is a wonderful, joyous experience.
10:00That is what we long for; all our sufferings, all our work, everything makes sense when we wait on the Lord.
10:08That is why we have read this text today, because for me, to continue living is Christ, and to die is a gain.
10:19Meditate on this text, let it reach your heart, let its essence fully penetrate you.
10:26so that when you are near death, you may have this peace and this confidence in the Lord,
10:34However you may ever have to say goodbye to one of your loved ones,
10:39May you also keep peace and joy in your heart.
10:42Okay, let's go to our break, we'll be back in a moment for our next pastoral analysis.
10:49Even at one point.
10:56Thank you.