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Save Your Soul – Virtues to Ponder On

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No copyright infringement intended. This page is a replication of the book Glow, which chronicles all of Fr. Al’s sermons.

> Pursuit of Holiness

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Jesus has chosen you. He has called you out of love. He has led you here. Why? So that you may bear fruit of holiness, perfection and sanctity. In other words, Jesus has called you so that you might become saint and that you might become holy and perfect as Jesus is holy and perfect. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

You are called to become like Jesus – to do as He did, to think as He thought, to speak as He spoke, to resemble Him and to become perfect and holy as He and our Father in Heaven is perfect. You are called to become a saint. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

A saint is one who is good and virtuous in a very extraordinary exceptional manner. A saint is not just one who practice virtue. He practices extraordinary virute. He practices it habitually, regularly and consistently, not just once or twice, but it becomes a part of his way of life. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

A saint is truly a champion. In the spiritual life, he is God’s gold medal winner. This is true greatness and true glory. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

First and foremost, to become a saint is to will to become a saint – this burning, consuming desire and personal ambition to become a saint. And next, you must do two things: you must avoid evil, you must do good. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

Nothing is impossible with God. Jesus changes water into wine at Cana. He can change your heart into a heart like His, a heart which is holy, pure and virtuous. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

You must make every sacrifice no matter how difficult, to avoid the evil of sin and the slightest sin. You must make every sacrifice to prevent from sining…. You sin by your examples, by your words. Not only must you avoid sin- mortal sin, venial sin- you must do everything to keep others from committing the slightest sin. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

You must practice three types of goodness: prayer, penance, charity. All of the saints, without exception, prayed, did penance and practiced charity towards their neighbors, towards the poor, in an extraordinary and exceptional manner. (Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

Ask God to stir up within you this will, this desire and this ambition for greatness, for glory, for sanctity and for holiness. Ask Him for help and the grace to become a saint and each day, let us try our best to follow Jesus, to practice virtue, to become holy, to become perfect and to become saints. ( Homily, Sept. 18, 1988)

Each day, we must have the burning desire, this consuming ambition not to remain still but to climb higher and higher until we reach the peak of the mountain of the Lord, which is holiness and perfection. (Homily, Feb. 15, 1989)

The only thing of real real importance in this world is to save one’s soul and to save the souls of others. (Homily, Feb. 15, 1989)

We should think of Jesus day and night. He is the Living Book which we must study and read, and from which we must learn in order to become saints, to become perfect. (Homily, Feb. 15, 1989)

You must say to those around you quietly and silently, “Be an imitator of me, as I am Christ.” You must teach about Christ to others by your example and by your daily life. (Homily Feb. 15, 1989)

By your imitation and resembling if Christ, you light up the world. You must this burning, living and shining bright candle which will light up this darkened world, depraved and twisted by sin. (Homliy, Feb. 15, 1989)

God created us once. He made us out of nothing but because of sin, this original masterpiece which God intended, so He wishes to remake this masterpiece, this painting, this sculpture. And the model is the living Christ. (Homily, Feb. 15, 1989)

Holiness is the work of God but it is also our work together. Without God and without His grace, we cannot become holy. Without our cooperation, without our work, we cannot become holy. (Homily, Feb. 15, 1989)

A saint is a superman. We must aspire to be superman, superman of God. This is what it means to be saint. We must desire this. Each day, we try to climb this mountain of the Lord. To become a superman, to become a saint, a champion of God, means to resemble Jesus, to imitate Him in all things and to follow Him each day. (Homily, Feb 15, 1989)

A saint is a hero of heaven. He is a genius of holiness. A saint is truly a great person, the greatest among the children of men. Sanctity and holiness is true greatness. And, you should have the holy ambition to be great. You should have this burning desire to become someone great. You should say, “I am called to greatness.” And, you should aspire to greatness. (Homily, Aug. 28, 1988)

What did Jesus do? He took twelve men. They were poor, uneducated and simple fisherman. He did not take twelve lawyers or university professor or philosophers or twelve rich men of twelve politicians, cabinet ministers or even twelve high priests! He took twelve fishermen-poor, ignorant, weak-like us, like you! Jesus trained these men to be leaders, to be teachers to other men and to be witnesses. (Homily, Aug. 28, 1988)

A saint does not simply live for himself. He does not wish to be a saint simply to be perfect for his own pleasure, but to be a witness to Jesus, to be Jesus’ light, the salt of the earth, and the yeast in the dough, to transform and change society. We can do this with the power of Jesus. (Homily, Aug. 28, 1988)

My desire, my ambition, for the children, for my sons and daughters, is to give them many skills while they are with us, to teach them technical, vocational skills which will serve them throughout their life, to teach them knowledge of academic subjects, to teach them sports and music and drama, but above all, I want my children to be skilled in virtues, to become saints. (Homily, Undated)

My personal ambition, with the help of God and the help of your prayers, is to become holy. This is the ambition of every priest: to become a saint and also to make saints. (Homily, Jan. 31, 1990)

“Lord, show me what you want and give me the strength to do it.” That is the supreme grace which I seek. That is my only intention. (Homily, Jan. 27, 1991)

My children, you are not created as fat little ducks waddling in the mud, but to be like eagles destined to rise above and explore the kingdom of God, and you do this only by praying. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

Do it now, do it right, do it best for Jesus. (Homily, Undated)

Look at the eagle flying in the sky and gliding with the breeze. It looks amazingly beautiful. What makes the eagle fly? Is it its wings or the breeze, the wind which carries it up there? Both. The eagle must use its wings but there must be the wind, which moves it up. The wind is the grace of God. (Homily, Undated)

Be busy! God is activity! If God were to rest or to daydream, the world will disappear. God is constantly active, constantly creating the world. We are His children. During this brief time here on earth, we do not rest, or be lazy. (Homily, June 11, 1989)

> Prayer

Each day in prayer, we go to this living Book who is Christ. We read and study this Book, and, little by little, from this living Book, we learn how to become saints, how to become perfect, how to become fully alive. Little by little, by studying the Living Book, who is Jesus, we learn how we must think, judge, and decide, how we must feel, how we must speak, how we must act, how we must do at all times and in all circumstances. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

First and foremost, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, to be like Christ, and to imitate Him, we must learn how to pray. If you wish to be like a bird, the first thing you must do is learn how to fly. If you wish to resemble a fish, the first thing you must do is learn how to swim. If you wish to be like Jesus, the first thing you must do is to learn how to pray. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

Why does Jesus pray? He himself has no need of prayer. He is all-holy, all-prefect. He pray for us. He prays to give us an example, to teach us the way to God, the way to holiness. “I am the way,” and the “way” begins with prayer. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

Before keeping the second commandment, Jesus goes into the desert and prays for forty days and forty nights. He keeps the first commandment and then the second commandment. By doing this, He shows us that prayer is the most important. It is only by praying, by loving God, that can we love our neighbor. Only by keeping the first commandment that can we keep the second commandment. (Homily, Undated)

We go to God in prayer and we receive God’s grace, His help, His love. And then, we go to our neighbors, our sister, our brothers and we give it to them. If we do not keep the first commandment, we cannot keep the second commandment. (Homily, Undated)

There are some people who, all day, whatever they do, wherever they go, they are smoking, or chewing gum, or whistling, or singing softly. The man of God, the one who resembles Jesus, all day, wherever he goes, whatever he does, he prays. He loves to pray. He finds his joy and strength in prayer. He is a man of prayer as Jesus. (Homily, Undated)

We become spiritual astronauts when we pray. Prayer is our rocket ship. By prayer, we leave this earth. We leave this material, visible world. We enter the world of God. We discover the beauty of God’s world. We experience a new joy, new delight, and new pleasure. We become spiritual beings. That is why God, Jesus wants us to pray for ourselves. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

When you pray, you never pray alone. The devil comes. He is always there trying to interfere with your prayer, as he did in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus, trying to give you distractions. And then, the angel comes. There is always the devil and the angel in prayer. You must reject the temptation of the devil and receive the help of your angel when you pray. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “To think worldly thoughts requires no effort, no struggle.” It is like turning on a television and simply watching- no effort, very easy. But he said, “After thinking wordly thoughts, our minds are fatigued and heavy and depressed. But to think thoughts of God requires efforts, struggle, and sacrifice but after thinking holy thoughts, thoughts of God, our minds are restful, calm, serene, and full of joy and peace. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

You learn to pray by praying. You learn to do by doing. At first, it is difficult but little by little, we develop the habit. We become men of prayer. We learn to love prayer. We find our joy, our delight, and our happiness in prayer. (Homily, Feb. 22, 1989)

If you wish to become a champion basketball player, you must learn many skills. You must learn to shoot, to pass, and to block, but first of all, you must learn to run. This is the most fundamental skill. To become like Jesus, to become a saint, to become champion of God, you must learn many skills, but first of all, you must learn to pray. This is the most fundamental of all. (Homily, Feb. 26, 1989)

Another way of describing prayer is: Prayer is a loving conversation between friends. Heart speaks to heart. In prayer, my heart speaks with love to the heart of my friend, Jesus. In prayer, the heart of Jesus speaks with love to my heart. It is this loving conversation with my friend, Jesus. (Homily, Feb. 26, 1989)

Who is the friend for whom Jesus lays down His life? It is I. If I were the only one on earth, Jesus loves me, only me, just me, so much. He would come down to earth and become man and she’d His blood and offer His life for me. (Homily, Feb. 26, 1989)

In this world, a true friend is the greatest treasure, but a true friend is very rare–someone to whom you can talk and open your heart, speak, and converse, and there is a meeting of minds, union of hearts, oneness of wills, and a mutual understanding. We have such a friend in Jesus. I can go to my friend, Jesus, anytime, day and night, in prayer especially by visiting the chapel, adoring the Eucharist. This is the best way to practice this loving conversation with my friend, Jesus. (Homily, Feb. 26, 1989)

This is the ultimate object of prayer – without words, without thoughts, simply looking at Jesus with love and Jesus looking at you with love and this union of hearts, oneness of wills, minds, and souls. (Homily, Feb. 26,1989)

Love is the object of prayer. Remember this: Love is the goal of our prayer. Love is the purpose of our prayer. (Homily, Feb. 26, 1989)

Love is in the will, not in feelings or in the emotions, it is in the will. Jesus says clearly, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” “If you do what I command you to do, you are my friends.” If I love Jesus, I give Him my will. I become His servant, His slave… not only His friend. If I love Jesus, I wish always to please Jesus and I wish to do nothing to displease Him. (Homily, Feb. 26,1989)

By prayer, in prayer and through prayer, we love God, we honor Him, we adore Him with all our minds, our will, our heart, our strength. And so, the first and the greatest commandment, which Jesus teaches, is to pray. (Homily, Undated)

Prayer is for our own benefit. In prayer, by prayer and through prayer, we obtain all the gifts, graces and blessings of God. We need His gifts, graces and the blessings to lead a good life and to avoid evil, to save our souls, to obtain eternal salvation. (Homily, Undated)

Our loving Father in heaven wishes to give more than we wish to receive. He wishes to give abundantly more precious gifts than we desire or seek, or more than we can even think if or imagine. But, our loving Father in heaven will not force us to receive His gifts. He does not oblige us to receive His blessings. He is a humble God. So we must ask for His blessings, we must seek for His gifts, we must show that we truly desire His grace, and, we do this by prayer. (Homily, Undated)

“God comforts us in all our afflictions,” says St. Paul. In all our daily difficulties and afflictions, God, our loving, compassionate Father comforts us, consoles us, gives us strength, joy, happiness and He does this only if we pray. “Come to me,” says Jesus “all you who labor and are heavily burdened. I will refresh you.” In prayer, we go to Jesus. We are burdened, we labor each day, and He refreshes us. He restores our strength. He renews our spirit. (Homily, Undated)

By prayer, our life takes on new meaning. It has an added spiritual dimension. Without prayer, our life is meaningless. (Homily, Undated)

The object of our prayer is to forget about the howling wind- these are all the distractions that occur in our daily activity- and the waves crushing about us, all these difficulties, the things which call for our attention, and get out of our boat, out of ourselves and simply looking at Jesus with our attention, totally focused on Him and advance towards Him. (Sermon, November 23, 1989)

Try to develop these three forums of prayer: adoration of the Holy Eucharist, the rosary and the meditative reading of the lives of the saints. When you have a free moment, sacrifice your time and go to Jesus in the Eucharist and offer it to Him. Say the rosary, and say it with fervor, with love. Love to read about saints, to meditate in their lives. (Homily, Undated)

We must pray as Jesus prayed. How do we pray as Jesus prayed? What is this prayer of Jesus? The prayer of Jesus has three characteristics: humility, fervor, and perseverance. (Homily, March, 1989)

To pray as Jesus means to pray with humility, to pray as a beggar asking a rich man for alms, as a child asking a father for a gift, as a sick man asking a doctor fir treatment and medicine. (Homily, March, 1989)

Another characteristic of the prayer of Jesus is fervor and zeal. We must pray energetically, zealously, and fervently. The first commandment is this, “You shall love the Lord your God!” How? “With all your will, and all your strength.” It is enough to come and pray with ninety percent of our strength, mind, will, and effort- it should be a hundred percent – all. (Homily, March, 1989)

Prayer is fundamental to the spiritual life. Prayer is the oxygen of the soul. If the body lacks oxygen, it becomes weak, it becomes dizzy and eventually it dies. So it is, if the soul does not pray, it becomes weak, dizzy, exhausted and it eventually dies. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

We are destined to be eagles. We are created to fly, to rise above. One who does not pray will always live like a duck. He will live on the earth, in the mud and in the muck. He will never experience this great joy of rising above and discovering this beautiful world of God in the heavens. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

Jesus says, “Pray always and never grow weary.” “Take care and pray constantly.” So Jesus tells us not to pray just eight hours, or one hour or twenty minutes but always, constantly. This is what Jesus did in the Gospel. “I and the Father are one,” He says. He was always absorbed in prayer. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

There are two types of prayer: formal or high-intensity prayer and the informal or low-intensity prayer. This formal, high intensity prayer requires concentration, attention and effort. There is a certain tension and stress involved. This is meditation, adoration of the Eucharist, spiritual reading, the rosary and the Station of the Cross. It is obvious that we cannot offer this type of prayer constantly and always. We do not have the time and it requires too much effort and strength. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

There is another type of prayer: informal, low intensity, which requires little effort. It is very light, easy and refreshing. It is simply looking at Jesus with love, calling His name lightly, easily with love, thinking of Him easily, lightly with love, remembering His words, in a sense, touching Him, feeling His presence easily, lightly with love. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

The thought of God arises from our hearts. We are delighted to think of Him, to call the name of Jesus and to remember His words. This gives us a certain spiritual glow, a certain spiritual radiance which really changes and transforms our lives. So, this is what we should try to do. We practice formal prayer, yes, but also informal prayer. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

St. Therese of Lisieux said that never did more than three minutes elapsed in her life without the thought of God arising from her heart. She constantly thought of God. This is what we should try to do. Little words such as, “My Jesus, I love you!” “My God, I believe in you!” “Mary, help me.” This is light, easy and effortless, so that it becomes second nature to us. It becomes a habit. This is what it means to pray constantly, to pray always and to pray without ceasing. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

If you say the name of Jesus but you continue to lie and cheat, you continue to steal, you continue to think impure thoughts and do deeds against chastity, you pray as the pagans. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

In prayer, we gather the strength, the power, the energy to overcome all the evil in our life, to get rid of all the bad habits, the habit of sin, and to replace them with habits pleasing to Jesus. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

In prayer, we offer these two mites like the poor widow in the Gospel- goodwill and effort. We really want to pray, we have the will to pray, we wish to please Jesus in prayer, and we do our best. We do our best, that’s all. We could do no more. That is a good, perfect and holy prayer. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

Our prayer should always be action- oriented, a dynamic prayer. We pray in order to do and to change our lives. Prayer is for us. It is not for God. To offer a perfect prayer requires only goodwill and effort. (Homily, Jan. 30, 1991)

Prayer and sacrifice – these two words go together like a flesh and blood. Prayer can be compared to flesh of the body. Sacrifice can be compared to blood. The flesh and body without blood is weak, pale, anemic and lifeless. So it is, prayer without sacrifice is weak. It is powerless and lifeless. (Homily, Aug. 20, 1990)

By prayer, we leave temporal things. We think and discover things which are eternal. We leave the natural world and enter the supernatural world of men and enter into this beautiful world of God. We discover the secrets of God. We see His face, we hear His voice, we enjoy His presence, we taste His sweetness. (Homily, Aug. 20, 1990)

It is not enough just to live but we must live fully and intensely. Only by praying and by becoming spiritual beings, can we live this full, and the meaningful life as Jesus comes to give us. If we do not pray, our life is very narrow. It is very limited. Our life is without meaning. (Homily, Aug. 20, 1990)

To run each day in the way of holiness, you need to breathe in this oxygen of God, His grace, His energy. This we do in prayer. (Homily, Undated)

In prayer, we breathe God, He enters our souls, and His power fills our beings and stirs in us the will to become holy.” (Sermon, July 30, 1990)

In the evening of the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and He breathe upon them and He said,” Receive the Spirit.” In prayer, Jesus, in a sense, breathes upon us and we receive the Spirit, the Spirit of God, this Spirit of Jesus. (Sermon, July 30, 1990)

As we advance in prayer, we will experience this increased, intensified zeal of souls, this apostolic zeal. We will have the impression that we have done nothing yet for Jesus. (Sermon, July 30, 1990)

Inevitably, as our prayer life intensifies and becomes deeper, purer, there arises in us this courageous, bold, daring willingness to sacrifice and to suffer- this attraction for the cross. (Sermon, July 30, 1990)

In prayer, by keeping the first commandment of Jesus, we receive the grace, the strength, and the ability to overcome our innate selfishness, greed and pride. Then, we can practice the second commandment. (Homily, June 9, 1991)

Prayer is for our good, our benefit that Jesus urges us to pray. Our prayer is not for God. Our little prayer is really nothing to the infinite glory and joy and happiness of God and of Jesus. In heaven, Jesus lacks nothing. He possesses all things. He is infinite. He is eternal. Does our little prayer add anything to the eternal riches of Jesus, to the infinite joy and glory of God? The answer, of course, is no. What does a poor, hungry, starving, dying beggar like Lazarus have to give to a man who is rich, and enjoying life and living sumptuously and marvelously every day, as Dives in the Gospel story. He has nothing to give. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

Another reason Jesus urges us to pray is to receive the gifts, graces and blessings of God. “Ask,” says Jesu, “and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.” We ask, seek and knock in prayer, through prayer and by prayer. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

A father’s greatest delight and pleasure is in giving gifts to his children. More than his children wish to receive these gifts and delight in these gifts, a loving father takes greater pleasure and joy in giving. This is the nature of God. God is love. Love is giving, giving without measure, giving abundantly, giving the most precious gifts imaginable. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

Prayer is for our benefit. We are deceived if we do not pray. But it is not simply enough to pray. We must pray with fervor, with intensity, with faith, with love. Otherwise, our prayer is meaningless. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

The first prayer is based and centered on the Eucharist. This is the Holy Mass and communion. And, the extension of communion is adoration of Jesus – Host, Jesus – Bread, Jesus in the Eucharist or visit to the Blessed Sacrament. This is the principal form of prayer which we stress here. We prepare our hearts and we receive Jesus in communion, with fervor, with faith, with love, and Jesus is in us, we are in Him. His life is in us. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

At Mass, in communion, we receive Jesus with the lips of our body, so to speak. We receive the Host on our tongue. Through adoration and visit to the Blessed Sacrament, we receive the same Jesus, but this time, with the lips of our hearts. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

You must love to pray, love to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, love to adore Jesus in the Eucharist, love to say rosary, love to pray to the saints and meditate on the lives of the saints. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

Above all else, we want you to develop two skills, two talents, two arts. The first skill is the skill to pray. This is something you must learn by doing. This is an art-form which you must develop. The second is the skill, the art, the talent, to truly love, love each other as Jesus loved His disciples. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

Anyone who lives here on earth without prayer, without any thought of God, without lifting up his mind and heart above, lives a life of a fool. His life is meaningless, without any purpose. (Homily, June 12, 1991)

Only if we pray joyfully, lightly before Eucharist, the rosary, with the saints, do we obtain the grace, the strength to practice this second commandment to love our neighbor, our brothers and sisters as ourselves. (Homily, June 9, 1991)

How did Jesus feel in Calvary, which is the highest prayer and purest form of contemplation on record? He felt a sense of despair and His heart was filled with darkness. He expressed this: “Father, why have you abandon me?” and yet He remained there. He remained faithful to this prayer unto end. (Sermon, March 3, 1989)