Righteousness Brings Life

“The Righteous Man” (Mass readings: Jeremiah 18:18-20), Psalm 30, Matthew 20:17-28)

My little Mary, [God] the Most Holy Father strongly calls and exhorts men to be righteous, even if the righteous man [or woman] always pays the price for his rectitude in terms of persecution, as the enemies of God, the forces of darkness, do not remain passive and helpless in the face of his works. They rise up and cause trouble for the just man in order to silence him, to discredit him and overshadow his righteous cause, since the correctness of his behavior, his moral integrity is a light for consciences, shining around him, putting into practice the word of God that they they want to erase. When practiced, righteousness moves and shakes dormant souls, reforming them through its example for renewed good.

Since ancient times, the just person has lived out redemption in suffering, misunderstood and attacked by those who experience his nature [as contrary to theirs]. This is what has always happened to the prophets who have spoken in God’s name, proclaiming what is right and true. One of them is Jeremiah, presented to you in the first reading. He, a just man, announces the Divine Will, but is not accepted: they want to have him condemned to death, they try to kill him, he is subjected to serious punishments, and he, whose soul is tender and sensitive, suffers in the face of such manifest human hardness, mostly in his heart.

Perhaps so much tribulation in defense of the cause of the Eternal was wasted? Where is Jeremiah, if not triumphant in Heaven where he reigns in his glory? And where are his persecutors if not eternally confounded in their perdition? Who is the just man, if not he who comes to serve, to place himself at the service of others, to the point of giving his life, and who is he, if not myself, your Lord, I who make myself a gift for all?

In the Gospel, going towards Jerusalem, I announce to My apostles that I will suffer much, that I will be condemned and crucified, that I have come not to be served, but to serve to the point of shedding My blood in order to give life to men. Did they understand anything of this? The mother of James and John asks me for places of honor in heaven for her sons, and they themselves ask for and aspire to them [such places], but I announce to them and place before them not a throne of glory, but a bitter cup. They argue about greatness; I present the cross.

Who is offering such service? The one who has a heart that loves, a loyal and truthful heart, the one who is just. Those who live by love set out to become even the least of servants in order to be offered up for others. Only by following the Master, identifying with Me, retracing My footsteps, loving Me, do you become similar to Me and therefore righteous servants of love.

You will say to Me: “Yes, Lord, but if being righteous costs so much tribulation and self-denial, why be righteous?” Children, righteousness brings life, makes the good flourish, and holiness arises in striving to be faithful. What glory there is in the acquisition of merits to be offered to the Most Holy Father! If I myself, righteous among the righteous, paid for the conquest of your salvation, you too must each give your own part in offering your own tribute of justice as practiced, which is credit in the balance^[1] of love for redeeming your brothers and sisters.

You will all be weighed on the scales of justice, where your soul will be weighed with its crown of just works with which it was able to clothe itself through the giving of mercy. This will be the inheritance that will accompany you into eternity, where the righteous will continue their path behind the Master in bliss with their palms of victory. The Lord of Lords richly rewards those who have lived out His teaching, which is justice, balanced with the mercy that He is.

I bless you.