Christ: Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death. Do you know what the taste of death is? It is interior darkness and the absence of hope. It is depression that gets heavier and heavier until it spawns despair. It is the sense of defeat and meaninglessness that seeps into every corner of the soul like a cold, dense fog that gets thicker and thicker and thicker. It is discovering that you are alone, that no one truly knows you, and so no one can truly love you. It is seeing the seething ugliness of sin putrefying in one’s heart and being unable to do anything to wipe it away. It is watching your dreams slowly wither away, unfulfilled, or seeing them come true only to turn into nightmares as soon you reach out to grasp them.

No one can live at peace with themselves unless they are willing to follow me. There is no other way. Death is existence without my friendship. It is what I came to destroy. You who have embraced life, you are my prize and my delight, because you let my victory in.

Keep my word, follow me and I will give you life.

Christ: Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death. Do you know what the taste of death is? It is interior darkness and the absence of hope. It is depression that gets heavier and heavier until it spawns despair. It is the sense of defeat and meaninglessness that seeps into every corner of the soul like a cold, dense fog that gets thicker and thicker and thicker. It is discovering that you are alone, that no one truly knows you, and so no one can truly love you. It is seeing the seething ugliness of sin putrefying in one’s heart and being unable to do anything to wipe it away. It is watching your dreams slowly wither away, unfulfilled, or seeing them come true only to turn into nightmares as soon you reach out to grasp them.

No one can live at peace with themselves unless they are willing to follow me. There is no other way. Death is existence without my friendship. It is what I came to destroy. You who have embraced life, you are my prize and my delight, because you let my victory in.

Keep my word, follow me and I will give you life.

     Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego sang God’s praises, not after they had been delivered from the fiery furnace, but while they were in the midst of the flames. These three young men were prepared not to be saved. Even before they were rescued from the furnace, they exulted in God’s goodness and glory.

     It’s natural to praise God’s greatness after we have been delivered from an ordeal. But what about extolling his greatness while we are undergoing a trial?

     Whether God miraculously saved them from the furnace or they perished in its flames, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God was worthy to be praised, just for who he is. So too our faith cannot rest solely on miraculous answers to prayer. Trials will come, and we won’t always be released from them immediately. God doesn’t always do what we want how and when we want it done. But even in the midst of these difficulties, we can declare his greatness because he is God and deserving of all our honor and praise.

     Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego sang God’s praises, not after they had been delivered from the fiery furnace, but while they were in the midst of the flames. These three young men were prepared not to be saved. Even before they were rescued from the furnace, they exulted in God’s goodness and glory.

     It’s natural to praise God’s greatness after we have been delivered from an ordeal. But what about extolling his greatness while we are undergoing a trial?

     Whether God miraculously saved them from the furnace or they perished in its flames, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego believed that God was worthy to be praised, just for who he is. So too our faith cannot rest solely on miraculous answers to prayer. Trials will come, and we won’t always be released from them immediately. God doesn’t always do what we want how and when we want it done. But even in the midst of these difficulties, we can declare his greatness because he is God and deserving of all our honor and praise.

To indulge our self-seeking appetites 

at the expense of what’s truly fulfilling,

This is sin. 

It is a rebellion against the way 

God created us to be, 

it is preferring our own disordered, shortsighted, and irrational preferences 

to God’s perfectly wise and loving will. 

This tendency is always at work in us, 

and whenever we give into it, 

it tightens its grip, 

making it harder for us both to perceive 

our true good and also to pursue it. 

Thus, “everyone who 

commits a sin is a slave.” 

The way to overcome 

our tendency to selfish implosion 

is to “make Christ’s word our home.”

When Jesus tells us 

to make his word our home, 

he is inviting us to dwell in his will, 

to find our comfort, our solace, 

our rest, and our renewal in his will. 

Jesus comes to rescue us from 

our vain attempts to concoct 

some magic formula for self-fulfillment. 

His will is his word, 

and his word is the expression of his love, 

so to dwell in his word 

is to be in a constant communion 

with the one who loves us – 

to live in friendship with Christ. 

He is the truth, and he will set us free.

To indulge our self-seeking appetites 

at the expense of what’s truly fulfilling,

This is sin. 

It is a rebellion against the way 

God created us to be, 

it is preferring our own disordered, shortsighted, and irrational preferences 

to God’s perfectly wise and loving will. 

This tendency is always at work in us, 

and whenever we give into it, 

it tightens its grip, 

making it harder for us both to perceive 

our true good and also to pursue it. 

Thus, “everyone who 

commits a sin is a slave.” 

The way to overcome 

our tendency to selfish implosion 

is to “make Christ’s word our home.”

When Jesus tells us 

to make his word our home, 

he is inviting us to dwell in his will, 

to find our comfort, our solace, 

our rest, and our renewal in his will. 

Jesus comes to rescue us from 

our vain attempts to concoct 

some magic formula for self-fulfillment. 

His will is his word, 

and his word is the expression of his love, 

so to dwell in his word 

is to be in a constant communion 

with the one who loves us – 

to live in friendship with Christ. 

He is the truth, and he will set us free.

I have a dream that we, as a world, recognize the gravity of our collective spiritual condition. In this dream, the heads of governments insist that we all follow strict protocols to avoid temptation as well as seducing others into sin. There would be 24/7 coverage, with updates on our progress, interviews with priests and religious, proclamation of scripture by moral and biblical experts, and stories of recovery and courage from the lives of the saints related by hagiographers. I dream of many rushing to prepare the test kits of examinations of conscience and an army of priests and bishops deployed to hear confessions around the clock. Well, you get the point.

It is certainly not wrong to look for a cure for the latest virus. I only wish we were as concerned for our spiritual and moral well-being. Jesus says, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt 10:28). We do face physical threats in this world, but they are not our worst enemy. Moral plagues and sinful viruses can damage us eternally.

In times like these, when the temptation to fear death is so strong, resist the devil and run to God. Dwell in the shelter of the Most High. Be sheltered by Him from the scourge that lays waste at noon and the plague that prowls in the darkness (cf Ps 91). Make your first goal to stay spiritually alive and flee anything that might lead to mortal sin. If you do this, then even if you were to die, by dying in faith you would receive a maximum promotion (likely through Purgatory) to the heavenly realms. Be strong! Fear not!  The devil is a liar; he wants us to fear lesser things so that we ignore the more serious. Wash your hands, but don’t forget the spiritual version:   Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).