Today’s Old Testament Reading is a lesson for those who want to be on the right side when God separates souls. We are told that He burns away corruption and that His beloved souls shine like gleaming drops of purest silver. The last prophet begins by prophesying John the Baptist, the first prophet of The New Testament.
Malachi tell us that John the Baptist will be the messenger of Jesus, and that He will burn away the impure. We may profitably contemplate, th0ugh not fully comprehend, the pain involved and strive to avoid it by greater obedience. Malachi 3, 1-4:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
He separates impurities from souls by tests of obedience. His Words offer opportunities to obey and to disobey. Those who obey do not run from His Words: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.” Those who have been refined know that His Words are more important than their thoughts and desires. They obey Him.
There is only one way to follow the most incredible instructions in all of time: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”? To obey, person must worthily receive Communion in a Catholic Church from an ordained priest or bishop in good standing.
“Well, we have communion in our church.”say many of those in schisms. “Our beliefs are just as good as yours.”
They are not. None of the churches in schism were brought into being by Jesus. They lack His authority. There is no way to receive His Body and Blood outside The Church that began when He said to its first Pope: “Thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Only in His Church, at the Sacrifice of The Mass, does it come true that “Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please The Lord . . . . “
We must encourage our friends to purified by Confession, Communion, and the Sacraments. We encourage them to “Seize the day!” while there is still light in their eyes.
