It is common for us to treat venial sin as not serious. Yet every sin imperils our salvation. When we choose sinful acts, we abandon our end. This is why we must be vigilant to be careful in every act we do. There are no “small” sins if we are serious about our salvation. Sadly, there is a temptation to overlook these sins as irrelevant without remembering that every transgression offends Our Lord.

The Church’s doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady is a pinnacle of the liturgical year. By God’s grace she was preserved from the stain of original sin. Her preservation from original sin is a sign of how God set her apart from all of humanity. She had a singular role in salvation history that was foreordained by God to be the vessel that housed Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Lady’s sanctity is highlighted in the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This feast underlines the fact that Our Lady is full of grace. In our own lives, we are given a choice whether to live by nature alone or to be open to God’s grace. To accomplish this, we should strive to prepare ourselves for every sacred act we wish to perform or that God will ask of us based on our station in life. We must be ready for it if we wish to receive our Lord’s grace.

At the end of time, Our Lord will come as a just judge, dispensing publicly and privately the punishment or rewards to each as is due. How we respond to this Second Coming of Christ is reflected in how we respond now to his first coming in the Incarnation. It is at this time that we are called to submit to Our Lord Jesus Christ. For if we do not submit to him now, during this season of Advent, surely we will not submit when He comes again in glory.

We must orient ourselves properly at the opening of Advent. It is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ in our souls and so we must take special care of our spiritual lives. The spiritual life does not happen by accident. This is why we must recall that this period preparation is needful for it disposes us toward the special graces He offers us.

Vigilance, that is, being mindful always of Our Lord can give us a certain special blessings and happiness. When the end times come, it will be too late to become mindful and virtuous. This is why St. Paul is adamant that we must turn our minds to the Lord immediately, never missing an opportunity to grow nearer to Him.

On the last Sunday before Advent, Holy Mother Church asks us to reflect on the last things. It is a moment when we are compelled to reflect on Christ not coming only as the redeemer or mediator, but as the Last Judge. Focusing upon this reality is not done out of morbidity or negativity, but rather to remember always that we must account to our Creator how we have lived.

The final judgment of our souls, which is referred to as the General Judgment, is one we do not always place before our minds. Yet it is crucial for us to prepare for it. Confession is indispensable, and for many of us a General Confession that is mindfully given, examining the course of our lives, is of the upmost importance. Once we make it, once we have found the strength, to be truly open about our sins, it is incumbent that we persevere in the grace of God.

In February 1917, Our Lady asked three children in Fatima to make reparation to her Immaculate Heart. Of those sins she requested reparation for was in response to those who fostered in the hearts of children indifference or contempt for our Blessed Mother. Distressingly, in our own time, we witness the Church fostering that very…