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Love for our neighbor is a duty by the command of God. To love God is the first and great commandment. "And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt. xxii. 39). And the practice of this duty is inculcated and explained in this parable. Anyone needing kindly assistance is our neighbor, and we are bound, according to our ability, to help him. Even by thought we can be charitable, and study how to comfort the afflicted and the dying. A pitying thought would lead us to pray, and with prayers we can follow even the dying, and rescue them from purgatory. By word, by comforting, consoling, advising those in trouble. By deed, by bestowing alms, taking trouble to assist them, by visiting the sick and the dying.

Alas! our neighborly love is often weak and attenuated for want of practice. We are so engrossed with ourselves, with our own comforts and well-being, that we forget others, and begrudge a little sacrifice for them. To some, perhaps, we are a little charitable: their misery appeals to us. Others we pass by: their poverty, disease, surroundings are repulsive to us. We cannot bring ourselves to the practice of kindly charity to them. We shudder at the remembrance of what so many saints and pious people have done-visiting the hospitals, seeking out the afflicted in their homes, and attending to them in their wretchedness.

But how many other ways are there of being charitable, that do not call for such heroism! Begin with humble little practices, but let them be daily ones. A daily practice soon becomes a habit, and little kindnesses will nourish our thoughtfulness, our generosity, and presently we shall find ourselves showing mercy and being blessed by it. The least thing done for Christ's sake is worthy of reward-even "a cup of cold water" given in His name. The rich man, who was buried in hell, cried out to Abraham for a drop of cold water to cool his tongue. He was past all mercy. But the souls in purgatory are longing for a little alleviation; and how many are totally forgotten by their friends, perhaps even by those to whom they had been so kind in life! Perhaps some fond mother suffering now for being too indulgent to us, and we heartlessly forget her. "Show mercy," by prayers, masses, and do not begrudge a Holy Communion offered for them. How blessed will be the reward of our charity, and how grateful we shall be for having practiced it, when our time comes to be judged and punished!

Amongst the rewards for kindliness to others, who can tell the peace of conscience and happiness that result from works of mercy, or even from words of consolation, with which we have comforted others? The hard-hearted, the selfish, the haughty cannot picture to themselves what they miss, and the comforting, holy joy of which they deprive their souls.

But the greatest blessing for being kindly one to another is this, that day by day we are growing more like our Blessed Lord, Who went about doing good to all. His spirit is filling our souls, and our hard and selfish hearts are being subdued and taking up the yoke of Christ. "Love one another as I have loved you." This is the motive that urges us to be kind and charitable; to grow like to Him should be our daily endeavor. Therefore a peace, that the world cannot understand, envelops our daily life, and by degrees this world and its love and its pleasures lose their fascination for us; and with joy we feel that it is heaven and the Lord of heaven to Whom we are seeking to attain.

Practicing kindliness, in little ways day after day, transforms our lives, and from being selfish and hard we grow prompt and generous, ready for some great occasion, which may arise, when we can prove ourselves imitators of our divine Master, and ready for His sake to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others.

"Go and do thou in like manner." This He bids us do. Unless we attempt it, force ourselves to do it, we are disobeying; we are cowards. Self is our master; our Blessed Lord is ignored. No wonder our prayers are unheard; our passions unsubdued; the practice of piety repugnant. Our religion is merely an outward show; the spirit of Christ is not in our hearts; we hear, but heed not, His words, "Love one another as I have loved you."

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Francis Paulinus Hickey

Moreover, to seal us unto the Faith, and to strengthen us to act up to it, we are taught in the holy Gospel that Christ instituted the Seven Sacraments, by which grace is given to our souls. This power they have from their divine institution by Christ, the merits of Whose precious Blood is applied by them to the souls of men. The first is Baptism, which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and members of His Church. We receive the Holy Ghost in Confirmation to make us strong and perfect Christians. In the Holy Eucharist, which is not only a Sacrament in which we receive the true Body and Blood of Christ, but a Sacrifice also, the Holy Mass, which is one and the same Sacrifice with that of the Cross.

The holy Gospel also hands down those blessed words of the Saviour: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them" (John xx. 22). How faith makes poor sinners cling in hope to this Sacrament of Penance. The sick and the dying are not forgotten in the list of Sacraments. The continuation of priests and bishops for the ministry is safeguarded by the Sacrament of Holy Orders; and family life is blessed and ennobled by the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Faith does not leave us lonely and unprotected in our daily life. How we should wander and lose our way, and be seduced by vain pleasures and pursuits on all sides, if our Faith let us forget God! But in the Gospel we are taught the duty of prayer-to raise up our minds and hearts to God. Our Blessed Lord Himself taught us how to pray! To lift up our souls to our Father in heaven; to do Him honour by our good lives; to long for His Kingdom to come; to know that perfection is in doing His holy Will; to turn to Him for strength for soul and body; to be forgiving to others, as we pray Him to be forgiving to us. Oh ! blessed prayer that thus directs our hearts and souls to God each day of life. Pray always," says the Gospel; and our Blessed Lord gave us the example, praying for us on the mountain side the long night through. And we need not fear that our poor prayers will be of no avail, for we pray "through Jesus Christ our Lord." Remember His promises," If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do" (John xiv. 14). "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him" (Matt. vii. II). Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (ibid. 7). The Gospel repeatedly assures us of blessed answers to our prayers.

And most glorious too in the Gospel is that blessed assurance of eternal reward, if we keep steadfast to the Church, led on by our holy Faith. After the Last Supper, our Lord prayed thus: "Father, I will that where I am, they also, whom Thou hast given Me, may be with Me: that they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me" (John xvii. 24). But speaking as the Judge our divine Lord and King speaks thus: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you the Kingdom prepared for you" (Matt. xxv. 34). Oh! how often have we prayed "Thy Kingdom come!" And thus our faith will be crowned in that eternal Kingdom of God.

Thus is our faith taught by the holy Gospel. Can it be that men, who once have been thus blessed with the sacred gift of faith, should fall away? It is, alas! too true. And for what have they abandoned their faith? That will be the remorse of it all throughout eternity. For what have they bartered their soul, their immortal soul, the soul that by faith was the child of God - the soul that had been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ ?

But many amongst us think but far too little of this gift of faith. There is something else that they prize still more. What can it be but something perishable, for this world passeth away, but faith leads to immortal glory. We then must treasure our faith, the blessed gift of God. We must know it thoroughly, follow its guidance, be loyal to it, and profess it openly. The Gospel and the Faith "you have received, wherein you stand; by which also you are saved, if you hold fast." Remember, eternal life depends on that "if you hold fast."

Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr.  Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (11th Sunday after Pentecost)

The Pharisee knew not how to pray, because he did not realize his need of God's mercy, but trusted in his own self-righteousness. The Publican knew his need of God's mercy, prayed for it and obtained it. According, then, to our realizing our need of mercy, our prayer will be acceptable and blessed. If we resent in our hearts being classed with sinners, needy and weak and prone to evil, we are not in the state of humility, which longs for and receives the mercy of our Father from heaven. Without prayer we cannot be saved, and there can be no genuine prayer unless we realize our need of grace and mercy. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity" (1 John i. 8, 9). They need not be glaring sins, that the world looks askance at; but whose heart has not been defiled in thought, word, or deed ? Have we never disobeyed a commandment through self-seeking, self-indulgence, or wilful negligence? Then do we not need to pray that such sins should be forgiven, and for grace lest again we relapse and forfeit God's friendship?

Our need of grace and mercy is evident, and the means to obtain every blessing is humble prayer. "By all prayer and supplication, praying at all times,” says St. Paul (Eph. vi. 18). And David teaches us to pray: "Help me, O Lord my God, save me according to Thy mercy" (Ps. cix. 26). Thou art plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee" (Ps. xxxv. 5). And God's mercy is not only to forgive, but to keep us safe and strengthen us to be faithful. In answer to prayer there is God's constant watchfulness and the care of a loving Father. Prayer makes us mindful of God's mercy and anxious to correspond to His graces, and be faithful in observance. It makes us grateful for our Father's care and solicitude. And gratitude merits a continuation of God's favours. The kindness of God is revealed to us in prayer. How does the Scripture describe the goodness of God? "Thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful: patient, and of much mercy" (Ps. lxxxv. 15). The Lord is gracious, merciful, patient, and plenteous in mercy. The Lord is sweet to all; and His tender mercies are above all His works" (Ps. cxliv. 9).

It is prayer that creates this peace and trustfulness in God; that made the austerities of the saints a foretaste of the joys of heaven. They were wisely humble enough to know that they could not do without the mercy of God, and yet trustful that they could obtain it and every grace if they prayed for it. How different our prayers would be if we realized our need of the mercy of God, and how prayer would always obtain it for us, if we humbly sought it. The saints did, and constant was their earnest, humble prayer. Who are we to dare to be self-sufficient, and imagine we need not pray for forgiveness of the past? Pray to make a good beginning once again; pray to persevere, for without it we cannot hope to persevere, a day or an hour, in doing good.

Let us recall a prayer of St. Gertrude. It reads as if a poor sinner, like the Publican, had composed it; and not a great saint, who was favoured with the gift of miracles, had frequent visions of our Blessed Lord, and who was the first to introduce devotion to the Sacred Heart. This is the prayer: "O sweet mercy of God, full of tenderness and clemency, behold, in the sorrow and pressing need of my heart, I seek safety in Thy loving Will, for Thou art my whole hope and trust. Thou hast never despised one sad and sorrowful. Thou hast never rejected the vilest sinner. Thou hast never abandoned one seeking help. Thou hast never passed by one in grievous trouble without a look of mercy. The needy and poor Thou dost always assist, as a mother her child. To all invoking Thy most holy name Thy loving assistance is given. And even unworthy me, Thou wilt not cast from Thee on account of my sins and my unworthy life" (Exer. c. vii.). Let us implore our Lord to grant us the spirit of such prayer as this. We shall not then be ashamed to use the prayer of the Gospel, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Frequently and from our heart let us say it, and we shall be justified in the sight of God." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr.  Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (10th Sunday after Pentecost)

It seems almost impossible that man could prove himself thus obdurate, in spite of all that the loving Saviour has done for him. But always and everywhere there have been men and women, who really and through their own fault have made themselves so guilty and impenitent as to be abandoned by their Saviour and their God. This hard and impenitent heart is the result of the power of the habit of sin, which enslaves them. When a man begins to sin and to turn from God, he thinks he will be his own master and independent. He will not brook the commandments, "Thou shalt " and" Thou shalt not." His own will is to be master. There is the fatal mistake! Free, independent, one's own master; yes, such is the lying suggestion of the devil. Whereas the truth, the inspired Word of God, teaches us most emphatically the very opposite.

"Amen, amen, I say to you, that whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin " (John viii. 34), are the solemn words of our Blessed Lord Himself. And St. Peter, who, alas knew what sin was, says, "They themselves are the slaves of corruption, for by whom a man is overcome, of the same he is a slave " (2 Pet. ii. 19). If by sinning we become the servants, the slaves of sin, to what a state of abject slavery, indeed, must a habit of sin enthral us! Of his own power such a man is utterly unable to free himself. He has bound himself beyond release. A bad habit is like a rope. A child can snap a few slight hempen meshes of which a rope is made. But when countless strains have been twined and formed into a stout rope, the man that is bound with it is powerless. And so with our souls. Habits slight at first, that a good will and a sorrowful heart could break, by degrees form themselves into bonds that defy our efforts, and will become everlasting bonds, unless God's gracious mercy intervenes.