Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
I met an old man yesterday who had used cocaine for almost forty years before coming clean. He hasn’t touched the stuff for almost a decade. That man was happy and joyful in his old age, certain that God himself had rescued him from destruction.
A younger man, a foolish one, might choose to follow that same path, hoping to enjoy the pleasures of the drug during his youth before coming clean, putting his life back in order, and enjoying the comforts of family life. What is that but recklessness? The odds of surviving decades of cocaine use are not good, and there’s little chance of reform. It is true, yes, that a few souls have done it, like the one I met yesterday, but they are the lucky ones, the blessed, happy few.
Do not be reckless. Do not leave it to God to suddenly change your habits later on down the road. If you have formed a habit of denying God, do not expect yourself suddenly to accept God’s help at the end. You are just as likely to suddenly give up a cocaine habit as you are to give up any other sin. Start the hard struggle today to give up both habits if you have them. When you undertake that struggle, you will find, as St. Paul did, (cf. 2 Timothy 6:17-18) that the Lord will stand by you and give you strength. You will learn what it is like to be rescued from the Lion’s mouth and from every evil threat. You will develop real confidence, not reckless over-reliance. God will bring you safe to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.