My dear faithful "Know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receives the prize?" [from the Epistle]

There is only one race — there is only one prize. We are all in a race, my dear faithful. We are all here upon earth, for a short time. We must run the course of our life, until we reach the end. We all will die some day. The course of our life is short, and it is nothing compared to eternity.

Eternal life. This is the prize. Our Lord has come into this world. He became flesh and dwelt amongst us. He has shown us His life. He came to give it to us. He died upon the Cross that we might live with Him. His very own life. He died to destroy our death, and He rose again to restore to us our life. A life that is so rich, so magnificent that there are no words to describe it. This is the prize that He offers us. He offers it to all of us. But we must want it. We must desire it. We must will it. We must run to it. We must run to obtain this prize.

And everyone does indeed run in this race. Every man desires happiness. Even the poor pagans desire happiness, but they search for it in things that cannot make them happy — riches, material things, power, pleasure. These things cannot satisfy, but only make one more miserable, because even after expending such great effort to obtain them, nothing is gained, only weariness and dissatisfaction.

There is only one that obtains the prize, as S. Paul says today. It is the one who runs for eternal life, the person who comes to Our Lord. Who grabs hold of the life Our Lord offers him. It is He that perseveres unto the end, he shall obtain the prize. He that perseveres unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Look at the people of this world, my dear faithful. How much will they do to become wealthy and famous. What will they not do to succeed in business? They wear themselves out. They sacrifice everything to the wealthiest, the most powerful. How ruthless they are with themselves in order to obtain that which they desire. How they save up money, how they work long hours, how much they sacrifice themselves, their families, in order to succeed? And for what? A little bit of money, a little bit of fame that may last a few years, and then the money is gone, and they are completely forgotten. All they have worked for will vanish into the tomb. What they have, even if they obtain it, cannot follow them into the grave. Death is the end of all for these people.

Would that Catholics had this sense of sacrifice, of courage, energy and ambition! They [the people of this world] strive with all their might for the corruptible things of this earth, but we, we, my dear friends, have eternal life to gain! What should we do to obtain this? What sacrifice is too great? What difficulty cannot be overcome? What an opportunity we have, to sacrifice these meaningless and empty pleasures of this world for an eternity of absolute bliss! What an exchange to offer these things that cannot satisfy us for that which will satisfy us completely — more than completely — more than any words can express? Run, my dear faithful, run to what Our Lord offers you. Run that you may obtain. Don't look behind. Don't look back to those things that are not worthy of you.

My dear friends, we are not running a fictional race. We are not just running in order to run, like these foolish people in the world. We have a prize to obtain. Something so precious that we must not let anything stop us from obtaining it. We are in a grand combat to obtain eternal life. Fight for it with all your strength. Don't let the things of the world distract you from the end. Don't beat against the air, but fight the true combat. We must become saints; anything else is of no importance.

My dear faithful, the Social Reign of Our Lord begins by your sanctification, of your family. It is the love of God and the love of your neighbor. It is sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of the Mass.

If you are the owner of a small shop, you cannot sell pornographic magazines. That is Christian politics. This is the law of Christ in society. If you are an employer, you must give your workers their just wage. If you are a policeman, you must protect the weak. If you are a father of a family, you must love your wife, you must provide for your children, you must lead them to eternal life. This is Christian politics.

One is either for Our Lord, or one is not. You cannot serve two masters. To attempt to convert the world by being involved in worldly things will only lead to your damnation, not to any betterment of society.

We must fight. Absolutely, we must fight. But not against the air. Not with stupid and vague notions. Not with worldly means. We must fight to become saints.

Who was it that changed the Roman Empire? Who was it that converted pagan Rome? It certainly wasn't any political party. It certainly wasn't worldly people. It was the martyrs who converted the Roman Empire. It was people who shed their blood for Our Lord. It was the saints. It was people filled with Our Lord Jesus Christ. People convinced of His doctrine. Who were sanctified by His grace. Who had the charity to offer up their sufferings for the conversion of their persecutors. Who understand the sacrifice of the Mass, Our Lord's sacrifice of Himself, and know that this means that we must sacrifice ourselves for our sanctification, for the sanctification of others, for the sanctification of the whole world.

Pray, my dear friends, pray. It only by prayer that one will truly understand Our Lord. It is only by praying that one will have the conviction and courage to be Catholic in this modern world.

And pray to Our Lady. It is she who is the hope of this wretched modern world. She appeared at Fatima at the beginning of this century to give us courage to live in these times in which we live. She is more powerful than any army set in array [quote]. She will conquer. And she asks us to help her. Not with worldly means, but prayer and sacrifice. This is what she asked for at Fatima: prayer and sacrifice.

Courage, my dear friends, courage. Run the race. Obtain the prize. Our Lady offers all to you. Like a good mother she is so solicitous for you. She wants you to win. She wants you to gain the crown of eternal life. She wants you to be with her for all eternity. Amen.

Fr. John Jenkins

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