We have made a lot of sacrifices for our capital campaign. But what good is it if we do not save our souls? That is the whole point of everything that happens here. A priest wants every single person in his parish to save their souls. We want everyone here to be reunited in Heaven one day. We don’t want anyone to be missing. Fr. McBride and I don’t want to appear before Our Lord and hear from Him, “Yes, you were at St. Isidore’s in Watkins. You saved many souls. But look at all of these other souls who went to hell.” One of the most important prayers of the priest is: “Lord, do not let any one of the souls that you have confided to me be lost forever!” Mortal sin If there is one thing that a priest worries about more than anything else, it is the souls that have a habit of mortal sin. What do I mean by a habit of mortal sin? I mean that mortal sin happens regularly, in a predictable way. The soul commits a mortal sin every day, every week, every month, whatever. It is not something that happens occasionally; it happens according to a regular pattern. It is when a soul usually confesses mortal sin when he goes to confession. Impurity If this is happening, we all know the reason. 99% of the time, it is because of impurity. The soul has gotten into a pattern of indulging in illicit sexual pleasure and cannot give it up There are teenagers who start off on a bad habit of self-abuse. Then, they find that, when they want to stop, they are unable. There are teenagers and adults who have formed bad habits with technological devices. They have the behavior of addicts. They are always telling themselves that they are going to stop and yet they never do stop. What are we exchanging Heaven for? What are we exchanging the love of God for?
