OUR AIM IN LIFE
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 25, 2024 at 12:00AM in Sermons
'Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God."—MATT. vi. 33.
1. It is natural to seek and desire.
2. But how few, the Kingdom of God!
3. What is meant by the Kingdom of God"? -Christ teaches us.
"It is natural to man to seek after something. There is always a want in the heart, and man seeks after that which he imagines will fill the void. Test this. Usually it is something that will ensure a better income, a position, influence; or maybe just the pleasure and joy of life, variety, excitement, the vogue of the present. Or it may be a loving heart seeks for love; it is ready to give, and yet it yearns for a return of affection. Whatever it may be, a man, worthy of the name of man, is seeking something, is keen after something.
But looking around us in the world, the last thing that would strike us would be that the chief thing that mankind was seeking was "the Kingdom of God." And yet that is the injunction of our Blessed Lord: "Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God." Seek it, yea, seek it first! Seek it above everything else! It is of no avail to own that the world at large utterly neglects this solemn word of Christ. The practical point is to ask ourselves our own soul-are we seeking first this Kingdom of God? Is there not something else in our heart striving to be master there? Is there not something else that dominates our interest, our time, our thoughts? About which we are more keen and anxious, more strenuous and determined, than gaining the Kingdom of God.
But you may object: What is this Kingdom of God? How have we to seek it? Can it be that we have to discard and reject the pursuits and pleasures of the world that lure us on, and are not satisfied without they are supreme in our heart, to banish them utterly and listen to what faith tells us of the Kingdom of God? The message of faith strikes us cold and numbs our heart; for we are told in the book that we dare not doubt nor disobey about the Kingdom of God. The gospel says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." Blessed are the meek: those that mourn: those that hunger and thirst after justice: the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers: yea, "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven ” (Matt. v. 3, 10)."
Such is the teaching of the God of Truth, God made man for our sakes. These words are in His first sermon, and did not His own life bear them out? He did not teach one thing, and do another. He was born in a stable-poor in spirit. He said, "Learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart" (Matt. xi. 29). He was the Man of sorrows. He was merciful; and the peacemaker, for He came in His mercy to reconcile poor rebel sinners to His Father. He suffered persecution, even to the death of the Cross, and thus He won the Kingdom of heaven. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory?" (Luke xxiv. 26).
And the sacred book teaches us again, what would all the pleasures and glory of the world be to us (and how little shall we ever gain of them !)?—for "the world passeth away" (1 John ii. 17). All that has enthralled the hearts of men with vain hopes is nothing more but merely the short lived glory of a summer's day. Whereas we have immortal souls to satisfy; how can transient joys suffice for them? What a void there would be; and alas, how soon in our deluded souls! Peace and plenty, joy and comfort, friends and love around us only make the thought of death the more to be dreaded, and the leaving them all, the final separation, the more appalling.
Look through the dark and fearful vista of the future, the sacred book comes to our assistance once again. "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world" (1 John ii. 15). Seek not this world and its joys and its vain happiness, but seek first the Kingdom of God, and then when life is over, what a revelation of glory there will be, a Kingdom of glorious eternity. The cross becomes the crown: the poor take possession of the Kingdom; the meek shall possess the land; those that have mourned and suffered shall rejoice; the merciful shall find mercy; the clean of heart shall see God; the peacemakers and those that have forgiven shall find forgiveness and a welcome to their Father's home; and those that have suffered for Christ's sake, theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Poor, unknown, despised on this earth, we may have been: obedient, humble, and contrite of heart, we have daily done our best to seek first the Kingdom of God, and death will reveal it to us that we have succeeded, and the blessed success will last for ever! No more anxiety and fear of falling into sin; no more crosses and afflictions. We shall be transformed into the children of light and glory, companions of the saints, surrounded by the angels. Children of Mary, we shall then learn what it is to have the Queen of heaven for our Mother. We shall be welcomed by our Lord and Savior, because we have obeyed His words in the holy book. And for ever we shall dwell with our Father in heaven, because we kept that word, "Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God."Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB (14th Sunday after Pentecost)
SELFISHNESS
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 18, 2024 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"Where are the nine ?"-LUKE Xvii. 17.
1. Our petitions very different from our thanks: selfishness the cause.
2. The miracle proves that nine out of ten were selfish and ungrateful.
3. How our Blessed Lord suffered from ingratitude.
4. Let us learn unselfishness from our Savior, and unite our thanks with His in the Holy Eucharist.
"ALL prayer is not simply a prayer of petition, of asking, however much we may need mercy and grace and forgiveness. Praise and thanksgiving are due to the almighty and loving God. The angels and blessed in heaven sing without ceasing the glory and praise of God, and their grateful thanks will last throughout eternity. But on earth how different are nine out of every ten of mankind! We are earnest when we want anything; in fear and misery and pain we make our petitions to God repeatedly and earnestly. The favor granted; the fear removed; the pain alleviated; oh, how poor our gratitude! The old saying is true, "Eaten bread is soon forgotten."
We cannot help but think thus with the example of the lepers fresh in our minds to-day. Anxious, earnest, imploring were those lepers in their misery. The voice of the Savior filled them with hope, they obeyed; they were cleansed, to their utter joy and amazement; but only one returned, giving thanks to his divine benefactor. Selfish in their prayer, to get rid of their loathsome disease; selfish even when miraculously cured, they went on their way selfishly rejoicing!
“Where are the nine ?" It is a humiliating avowal to own that we too have been selfish; that we find ourselves amongst the nine. Our conscience can recall anxiety, fear, tears in the past, when we humbly begged of God for forgiveness of some grave sin; in dread of a calamity or the expectation of death. Yes, and conscience is ashamed to own the brief, halfhearted, or perhaps forgotten gratitude with which we repaid our loving Lord. Selfishness led us to beseech and pray; selfishness led us to forget the grateful thanks that were due.
How, then, can we overcome this love of self, which is the cause of our want of thankfulness? Gratitude is due to God, and He loves us to be grateful. gratitude hurt the Sacred Heart of our divine Lord, not now indeed, but in His lifetime. Continually, all through those thirty-three years of His days on earth, our Lord had present in His mind the ingratitude of men, and it grieved Him. He knew all that He would do and suffer for sinners, and infinite love could do no more and He knew all the neglect, the forgetfulness, the ingratitude of those whom He had loved so much. We are told that the sufferings of His soul were greater far than the sufferings of His sacred Body in His Passion. The scourging, the crown of thorns, the nails through His hands and feet were less agonizing than the stabs of ingratitude through His tender, loving Heart. The bodily sufferings of the Passion, from His Betrayal to His Death, were over on Good Friday, but in His Heart He had suffered all His life. It was not merely the ingratitude with which He was treated whilst on earth, but all the ingratitude that would be shown Him, the Prisoner of love in the Holy Eucharist. He foreknew how He would be treated, even by those who believe in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar-all their neglect, forgetfulness, disdaining to visit Him, to receive Him. They know that Mass and Holy Communion are the supreme acts of love and thanksgiving to Almighty God. Alas! "where are the nine?" Some few are faithful and loving, but where are the nine? By most men, He is often and carelessly forgotten.
What a model of unselfishness is our dear Lord! Though He knew all this and suffered it, yet did He give Himself not only to the Cross; but to continue His Redemption, He renews it in each Holy Mass, and dwells continually with us in the tabernacle: “I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Matt. xxviii. 20). If we would only study His unselfishness and make the memory of it live within our hearts, it would shame us; it would make us annihilate the self-love within us. Let us, then, learn unselfishness from our Lord in the tabernacle. He is there longing for us to visit Him, to pray to Him, to love Him and receive Him. Look back at our own lives. For days, weeks, months perhaps, we have forgotten Him. How cold and distracted we are even in His sacred Presence! During how many a Mass of obligation it has been merely by our bodily presence that we have been before Him, and our hearts far from Him. Selfishness again! Distractions born of worldly desires, of uncharitableness, because self had been slighted or hurt, of memories of self-gratification, of memories of our sinful past perhaps, have occupied our minds. And all the time, He, our Divine Benefactor, Whom we were pretending to worship, was waiting for a loving word of thanks.
Our poor thanks - are they worth offering? Are they worthy of His acceptance? Yes, indeed; for in His mercy He has made Himself our own thank offering! Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, is the thank offering. At Holy Mass, at Holy Communion, we are united to Him; and our poor thanks are borne up to heaven with His, and accepted before the throne of God." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB (13th Sunday after Pentecost)
Preparing for Lent (Quinquagessima)
by VP
Posted on Saturday March 02, 2024 at 11:00PM in Sermons
“Thy faith hath made thee whole.”—Luke Chapt 18. verse 12.
"Which of us, dear brethren, has such perfect spiritual health that he does not need to call upon Christ, our all-merciful physician? We are all crippled, blind, and sick. The great remedy by which we must be healed is faith. We see how the blind man in to-day's Gospel was made whole by faith. In another place we read of the woman with an issue of blood made well by faith. And in many other parts of Scripture faith is put down as our great healing remedy.
Thank God, we have received the great blessing of the Catholic faith! But is our faith what it ought to be ? Is it a living faith? If we have a living faith it will show itself by our deeds. Let us examine ourselves today as to our intentions for the coming Lent. How much practical faith shall we find in ourselves? “ Faith without good works is dead.” How can we expect that such faith will make us whole? Are you dreading the approach of this season of penance? Are you calculating the easiest terms upon which you can get through it? Do you look upon it as an evil time, which must be borne with, but out of which you expect to get nothing but discomfort?
If you look upon Lent in this spirit, you are no true follower of Christ and the Cross—your faith is not a living faith. And a dead faith is worse than useless, for such a faith can abide only in the lukewarm, of whom the Holy Ghost speaks thus : “Would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." Beware lest your present lack of the Christian spirit of penance be the beginning of your casting forth !
But do not misunderstand and think that we must relish this coming season of penance, in our lower natures, just as a hungry man relishes his dinner. That is not the kind of relish we are bound to have. Although we may have an involuntary horror of penance, if we, nevertheless, appreciate our need of mortification, and are determined to make the most of this opportunity, all the more because we instinctively dread it, we show that God has at least a large part of our hearts.
He wants the whole of them, saying : “My son, give Me thy heart." But if we keep a part for our miserable selves, in His mercy, though grieved, He will not condemn us.
But if any one has not at least a determination to try, he may well tremble at his condition. If he thinks he can safely put off his repentance to his death-bed, he deceives himself. The odds against such a man's being saved are tremendous. Does it not stand to reason that an ordinary man who has spent his life in sin cannot, unless by a miracle of grace, accomplish in a short hour, or perhaps less time, what it has taken good men a lifetime to do? The dying sinner may persuade the priest that he has repented, but is it not because he has deceived himself in his fear of death? If we could test his repentance by offering him ten years more of life, would he persevere in his good intentions? If he has resolved not to sin any more for the sole reason that he has no chance left him for doing so, his repentance is a sham, and all the absolutions of all the priests that have ever lived cannot save his soul. " As a man lives, so shall he die." Is it not easier to repent now, while you are able, than upon your death-bed, when disease and sin have almost robbed you of reason ?
Have a living faith which will show itself by deeds! And let the prayer of the blind man be the prayer of each of us, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” And let us not cease until Jesus answers us, “Thy faith hath made thee whole."
Source: Five minutes sermons for Low Masses for every Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of Saint Paul 1893
MIRACLES.
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 13, 2024 at 11:00PM in Sermons
James Tissot: Les noces de Cana (The Marriage at Cana)
"As the Gospel of to-day relates one of the miracles our Lord performed, I am led to say a few words about miracles as used in evidence of the truth of the Divine doctrine of Jesus Christ. Certainly our Lord appealed to miracles sometimes as proof that He had Divine power, but that was by no means the rule. The miracle of changing water into wine was performed for no such purpose. On other occasions He bade those whom He healed to say nothing about it. And St. Matthew expressly said that the reason why He wrought not many miracles among those who knew Him best was because of their unbelief: the very reason we would think why He ought to have worked miracles before their eyes so as to oblige them to believe in Him. And St. John also intimates that our Lord did not place much reliance upon belief that only depended upon miracles; for he says, "Many believed, seeing the signs that He did. But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, for He knew what was in man." If we read the Gospels attentively we shall see that it was true then, as it has been all through the history of Christianity, that the triumph of His Divine truth has not been due to miracles, but rather in spite of them. If there was then, or has been since, anything which the world hates to learn of, and obstinately refuses to credit, it is a miracle.
"The idea of God or any messenger from God pretending to do things a man cannot understand! Don't I know nature well enough to know that even if God made it He cannot change it? To believe in miracles I would have to acknowledge God knows what I cannot know." That is the way men think, if they do not speak out their thoughts quite so plainly. There have always been miracles, plenty of them, enough to convert the whole world to Christianity if that were the means intended by Almighty God to bring about conviction and conversion. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still; and miracles convince men against their will - the will of their proud, self-conceited, rebellious heart. They see them plainly as you and I do, but they won't believe them. The triumph of our Lord's holy religion, therefore, has not been due to miracles of healing. These are the things unbelievers hate, as they do every other sign of Christ that demands their submission. But what conquers the world despite itself is Love and the sacrifices that it makes. They cannot stand out against the sight of our Lord's love, even unto death, nor gaze upon the love of those who through all generations have taken His place, and spoken, prayed, preached, suffered, and died in His name, without being won to belief.
So, my brethren, if you
are anxious to convert anybody to our holy faith, never mind about
miracles; and do not be astonished if they poohpooh arguments as strong
as the reasoning of St. Thomas. Go and show them a little of the
unselfish, charitable, self-denying, suffering love of Christ. Let them
see how sweet-spoken and kind you are to the poor, how patient you are
in affliction, how nobly you conquer your passions for God's love, and
resist temptations to drink and steal and gratify desires of the flesh.
Did I say never mind about miracles? I made a mistake. For if you do
what I have just told you, I am inclined to think some of you will be
doing as great a miracle as there is on record. You that are stingy,
give freely. You that dislike the poor, go and serve them. You that are complaining of God's
providence, submit to your lot like a man and a Christian. You that are a
drunkard, take the pledge and keep it. You that are living like a
beast, get honorably married and live chaste. You that have hands
getting hot for hell with ill-gotten money, make full restitution. These
will be miracles - miracles of grace; and against such miracles unbelief
never will have any argument, or power to resist either conviction or
conversion. And then you can say to the unbeliever: If you will not
believe in the Catholic religion for its truth's sake, look at me, and
believe it for the work it can do. It can bring a sinner back to God,
and that is a greater miracle than raising a dead man to life."
Source: Five-minute Sermons for Low Mass, All Sundays of the Year, by Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul. 1893
In His Circumcision Jesus Christ Exhibits three testimonies of His Priesthood
by VP
Posted on Sunday December 31, 2023 at 11:00PM in Sermons
*' That the Child should be circumcised. "St. Luke it 21.
I. As a Master Of Truth.
II. As the Expiator of our Sins.
III. As the Sanctifier of Souls.
1. Jesus Christ was born, and appeared in the world, as He said of Himself, to "give testimony to the truth" (St. John xviii. 37); and in causing Himself to be circumcised, He began to give this testimony in the clearest manner, by manifesting Himself as the Supreme Truth. He showed that He had true human flesh, in order to confound the heretics of future ages, particularly the Manichean, who attributed to Him a spectral body; the Apollinarians, who imagined His Body to be con-substantial with His Divinity; and the Valentinians, who believed it to be a body brought down from heaven. Moreover, it certified Him to be a true son of Abraham, who received the precept of circumcision as a sign of his faith in the future Messiah. Thus, as St. Thomas says, did He confirm the promises made to the Holy Fathers. Finally He declared another most important truth, to wit, that we must observe the law, for this is the one way of salvation; therefore, as Venerable Bede observes, He would be circumcised precisely on the eighth day, as the law prescribed. In this manner did it become our High Priest to appear as a Master of truth, and it becomes us, His Ministers, to be likewise masters of truth. For this end He has given us in our ordination the Paraclete, who is "the Spirit of Truth," and who " teaches all truth" (St. John xvi. 13). Let us then guard against lying, for lies in a priest's mouth would be shameful. How well did the Apostle fulfill his ministry, from whose lips issued the words: "I say the truth, I lie not" (1 Tim. ii. 7). Moreover, let us teach the truth to the faithful, for it will deliver them from all evil: "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (St. John viii. 32). Let us endeavor to make them walk in the way of truth, that is, in the way of justice, for with St. John, we can "have no greater grace than this," to hear that our " children walk in truth" (3 St. John v. 4), and so shall we and they behold and enjoy the Eternal Truth in Heaven.
2. Jesus Christ was to save His people by the remission of their sins: "For He shall save His people from their sins" (St. Matt. i. 21); but there could never have been such remission without shedding of blood: "without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22). Therefore in His Circumcision Jesus Christ shed His first blood, which was as it were the prelude and earnest of the rest, which was shed even to the last drop in His Passion. A holy writer calls it "the Prelude of His future Passion and Death," and St. Bernard says He showed therein His great haste to take our sorrows; He showed Himself ready to shed His Blood for us. This first blood-shedding was exceedingly painful, humiliating, and grievous to Him. It was exceedingly painful, because, unlike other children, He had the full use of reason, and He did not distract Himself from feeling the pain, but, on the contrary, engrossed Himself with it, in order to suffer all its bitterness. Moreover, as St . Thomas says, His Body, being the perfect work of the Holy Ghost, was especially sensitive and delicate. Then, again, it was exceedingly humiliating because, as St. Thomas again says, circumcision was the remedy for original sin, and therefore it was a mark of shame, indicating the appearance of sinful flesh in the Holy of Holies. Finally, it was most grievous to Him, because it bound Him to the observance of the whole Law of Moses, which was a heavy yoke: "I testify again to every man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law" (Gal. v. 3). He observed this Law exactly, and bore its yoke even to His Last Supper, in order to relieve His followers from it: "made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law" (Gal. iv. 5). Thus has He taught His Ministers to shrink from no sufferings, humiliations, or burdens whatsoever when the welfare, of the Church is in question. Many, on this account, have offered themselves to God as victims for the people, and "in the time of wrath have made themselves means of reconciliation" (Eccles. xliv. 17). They have been severe to themselves, but to their people full of that charity which is "patient, is kind," which "beareth all things . . . endureth all things" (1 Cor. xiii. 4, 7). Are we ^like these? Do we desire to imitate Jesus Christ? Let us love the little Child of Bethlehem circumcised for us, and so shall we feel ourselves moved to imitate Him.
3. The Holy Child was circumcised in order to operate in us a spiritual circumcision; that is, as St . Thomas says, He took upon Himself the figure in order to accomplish the reality in us. Further, Origen observes, that Christ being our Head, even as we died in His Death, and rose again in His Resurrection, so were we spiritually circumcised when the flesh of our Head was circumcised. Therefore the Apostle tells us: "In Him you are circumcised, with circumcision not made with hand in despoiling of the body of the flesh," but, by the mystery of the Circumcision operating spiritually in you, "in the Circumcision of Christ" (Col. ii. 11). A sign in the flesh was given to the Jews, who were a carnal people, but they often remained " uncircumcised in heart and ears" (Acts vii. 51). Christians, on the contrary, ought to experience a circumcision in the heart, in the putting off of the old generation, of the old man and his deeds, that is to say, of all that belongs to our sinful origin; and in this putting off, as St. Thomas says, sanctity consists. Let us then meditate how Jesus Christ by that painful wound, by the Blood which He then shed, wrought the salvation of souls. Let us carefully examine our hearts that we may see whether they are circumcised, or whether passions are still alive in them impelling us to evil. Let us remember that the priests of Christ are the ministers of spiritual circumcision, as the priests of the line of Aaron were the ministers of carnal circumcision. Christ was circumcised by one of them, or by some Levite in the stable. Let us therefore endeavor to minister it to others, not only by word but by example, and let us pray to our Divine Lord, that, by the virtue of this His Most Precious Blood He would despoil us of the desires of the flesh, and make us live according to the Spirit.
"Turn away my reproach which I have apprehended, for Thy judgments are delightful."—Ps. cxviii. 39.
"Thou hast redeemed us to God in Thy Blood."—Apoc. v. 9.
Friday of the Second week of Advent
by VP
Posted on Friday December 15, 2023 at 07:22AM in Sermons
"Thus was the Earth in desolation when the Messiah came to deliver and save it. So diminished, so decayed, were truths among the children of men (Psalm xi. 2) that the human race was bordering on its ruin. The knowledge of the true God was becoming rarer as the world got older. Idolatry had made everything in creation an object of its adulterous worship. The practical result of a religion which was but gross materialism, was frightful immorality. Man was for ever at war with man, and the only safeguards of what social order still existed in the world were the execrable laws of slavery and extermination. Among the countless inhabitants of the globe, a mere handful could be found who were seeking God. They were as rare as the olives that remain on the tree after a careful plucking, or as grape-bunches after the vintage is ended. Of this happy few were among the Jewish people those true Israelites whom our Saviour chose for His disciples and, among the Gentiles, the Magi that came from the East, asking for the new-born King, and later on, Cornelius the Centurion, whom the Angel of the Lord directed to Saint Peter.
But, with what faith and joy did they not acknowledge the Incarnate God! And what their hymns of glad gratitude when they found that they had been privileged above others, to see, with their own eyes, the promised Saviour! Now, all this will again happen when the time draws near of the second Coming of the Messiah. The Earth will once more be filled with desolation and mankind will be again a slave of its self-degradation. The ways of men will again grow corrupt and this time the malice of their evil will be the greater because they will have received Him who is the Light of the world, the Word of Life. A profound sadness will sit heavy on all nations, and every effort for their well-being will seem paralysed. They and the Earth they live on will be conscious of decrepitude, and yet it will never once strike them that the world is drawing to an end. There will be great scandals. There will fall stars from Heaven, that is, many of those who had been masters in Israel will apostatise and their light will be changed into darkness. There will be days of temptation and faith will grow slack, so that when the Son of Man will appear, faith will scarce be found on the Earth.
Let it not be, O Lord, that we
live to see those days of temptation. Or, if it be your will that
they overtake us, make our hearts firm in their allegiance to your
holy Church, which will be the only beacon left to your faithful
children in that fierce storm. Grant, O Lord, that we may be of the
number of those chosen olives, of those elect bunches of grapes, with
which you will complete the rich harvest which you will garner
forever into your house. Preserve intact within us the deposit of
faith which you have entrusted to us. Let our eye be fixed on that
Orient of which the Church speaks to us, and where you are suddenly
to appear in thy majesty. When that day of yours comes and we behold
your triumph, we will shout our glad delight and then, like eagles
which cluster round the body, we will be taken up to meet you in the
air, as your Apostle speaks, and thus will we forever be with you (1
Thessalonians iv. 16). Then we will hear the praises and glory of the
Just One, from the ends of this Earth, which it is your good will to
preserve until the decrees of your mercy and justice will have been
fully executed. Jesus! We are the work of your hands: save us and be
merciful to us on that great day." Dom Gueranger, December 15
2nd Sunday of Advent: The Missionary Spirit
by VP
Posted on Saturday December 09, 2023 at 11:00PM in Sermons
"Jesus, making answer, said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen."-St. Matt. xi. 4.
In the Gospel just read, my dear brethren, we are taught a very practical and important lesson. St. John the Baptist had been thrown into prison on account of his bold denunciation of the sins of those who were then in power. His disciples, it would seem, were losing confidence in him and in what he had taught them. His imprisonment was causing them to waver; and so St. John sends them to our Lord that they may learn from Him whether He was indeed what John had said He was, the promised Messias. "Art thou He who art to come, or look we for another?' '
Now, in what way did our Lord reply to this question? Did he enter into a long and elaborate argument in order to show from Moses and the Prophets that He fulfilled in Himself all that they had foretold? No, it was not by words that our Lord removed their doubts, although never man spake like Him. The way in which He brought the truth home to these men was by deeds. "Go relate to John what you have heard and seen; the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them." It was the works which the Father gave Him to do which gave testimony of Him.
Now, the work of bringing back man to God, which brought our Lord down from heaven and of which he made the beginning, is continued and carried on, since He left this world, by His Church, which He founded for this purpose. By His life, and especially by His death and passion, He purchased for mankind full and complete redemption, inexhaustible grace in this life, and never-ending glory hereafter. To what our Lord did no addition can be made which is not itself due to the merits of our Lord's death and passion. The only thing which remains to be done is to have this grace applied to the souls of men. This application is to be made by the ministrations of the Church; in this way the realization and completion of our Lord's work are entrusted to her; and consequently, since our Lord went to heaven again, the Church is for men in the place of Christ, and has in her hands the ordinary means by which men make their own what our Lord has done for them. It is in the Church that our Lord dwells, it is through the Church He works, it is by her ministration that men, according to the ordinary course of God's providence, are saved.
If this be so, we must all see how important it is that nothing should be done by Catholics to keep men from the Church, and that everything should be done to bring them within her fold. The Church has a work to do for every man in this vast city of ours. And how is she to perform this work? How is the fact, that she comes from God, to be brought home to each and all? In early days miracles were the most cogent proof of her supernatural origin. But although miracles are still wrought in the Church, they are not among the ordinary ways by which we can prove to those outside that the Church comes from God. Argument, historical investigation, logic, are good ways of doing this. But men are too busy to study profoundly in our times. There is another way, however, and a better one; one more powerful, one which appeals to larger numbers, one without which all the ways are very often unsuccessful, and that is that Catholics should prove themselves to be before the eyes of men what the Church teaches them to be; that by their works, which they are seen to perform, they should make manifest to all that they are in possession of the truth of God.
Can we say, my dear brethren, that this is the case? Let us not be afraid to look at the facts as they really are. Are our lives such as to recommend to those outside that faith in and through which all must be saved? Let each one ask himself this question; and reflect what a terrible thing it will be hereafter if he has so acted as to have shut out from eternal life a single soul which might have been saved had he acted rightly."
Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year, Volume 1 by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul 1893
The Holy Viaticum
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 05, 2023 at 06:51PM in Sermons
By Heinrich Hofmann 1893 | |
Come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall be safe." St. MATT. ix. 18.
"There is one thing that should be the constant theme of our prayers: the one thing above all to be desired. A good life must be crowned by a holy death. And we have confidence in this, that our Blessed Lord will graciously hear our prayers. "Thou hast given him his heart's desire; and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips " (Ps. xx. 2).
We have such a perfect model before us in this day's gospel in the ruler, who besought our Blessed Lord to come to his daughter, who was at the point of death. His faith, his earnest entreaty is pictured before us three times over, as SS. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each give us an account of this miracle that was granted to the father's desire and prayer. Our Savior was so touched that at once, to allay the father's fears, He said, " Fear not, only believe, 'and she shall be safe. And Jesus rising up, followed him with His disciples." A delay occurred through the woman that touched the hem of Christ's garment, and our Lord speaking to her. The father's fears redoubled, and friends hastened to meet him, saying: "Thy daughter is dead; why dost thou trouble the Master any further? But Jesus, saith, Fear not, only believe" (Mark v. 35). That father's faith and earnestness were rewarded by his child being raised to life and restored to him.
We have something more precious to us than that young maiden was to her father. Does it not shame us to remember his love for her, and his faith in Christ our Lord, contrasted with our apathy about our souls? Where is our daily earnest prayer, our anxiety about the state of our souls, whether dangerous, dying, or dead? Do we fall at our Lord's feet, praying Him to come into our house?
If we were ill, you will say, we should pray thus, and be as anxious as that father was. No, the preparation for a holy death is not made when we come to die. It is during life that we should prepare for the end. If we have little or no desire, no fervent longing for Holy Communion during life, we shall not have it when we come to die. Each Communion should be a preparation for the last one. And oh, how much depends on our Blessed Lord coming to us then! For so great a favor, is it not well worth to pray for it day after day? Each time we receive our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist our most earnest prayer and desire should be, that He will come to us at the end, and then our soul" shall be safe."
How the saints longed for that safeguard when death approached! St. Benedict had himself borne to the church, and, supported in the arms of his brethren, standing before the altar after receiving His Master and his true King Christ, he gave up his soul to God. A fitting end for such a blessed life. And St. Thomas Aquinas, when the Holy Viaticum was brought to him, though dying, raised himself and knelt and prayed aloud, "I firmly believe that Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is present in this most holy sacrament. I receive Thee, the price of my soul's ransom, I receive Thee, the Viaticum of my soul's pilgrimage. Thou, O Christ, art the King of glory, Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father." And so needful and precious is it to our souls to receive the Holy Viaticum that St. Mary Magdalen was transported by a miracle from her hermitage to receive It ere she died.
If hitherto we have been careless and negligent in this respect-seldom thinking and praying for a holy death, and piously longing that our Lord in His sweet mercy may come to us at the end, let us begin at once, heartily, fervently to make it our daily supplication. Our divine Lord longs to save us, but He does expect to be asked, to be implored, to be desired and yearned for. Let us pray like that father in the gospel, and say like David, “O God, I have declared to Thee my life. Thou hast set my tears in Thy sight. In what day soever I shall call upon Thee, behold, I know that Thou art my God. In God I have hoped. . . because Thou hast delivered my soul from death; that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living' (Ps. lv. 9, 13).
Prepare in life, pray in life, for at our last illness, through misery, pain, and weakness, there may be little zest for prayer. The faithful Lord will remember all the supplications and holy desires and He will come to us, with Peter and James and John, as the Gospel says, typifying faith and hope and charity, and our soul shall be safe. The words with which the priest administers Holy Viaticum show us the danger of that hour, and how, indeed, we need an almighty guardian. The priest holding the Blessed Sacrament, which is given to us as the food of the wayfarer, for our soul's journey to the other world, says, "Receive, brother, the Viaticum of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who may guard thee from the malignant enemy and lead thee to life everlasting."
Thus our dear Redeemer comes to our soul that it may be safe and may live. Yes, this life may pass away, but our soul's life is just beginning-the eternal blessed life, to which our Lord will lead it. That blessed life which we shall pass in beholding, glorifying, loving our good God, our Savior for ever and for ever." Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr Francis Paulinus Hickey
Fraternal Charity
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 22, 2023 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant ?"-MATT. xviii. 33.
Little things betray the spirit of our hearts in this respect. It is no excuse that they are only little things. There is nothing that is really little, that is for God or against God. Besides, if we are resentful and bitter about small matters, how can we reasonably expect to be forgiving, kind, and charitable when we have serious reason to be hurt and offended? For the safety of our soul we have to watch small failings in this matter of fraternal charity.
Naturally we are very prone and ready to fail in charity. We are keen to notice; to think evil; to repeat and exaggerate anything against another; self-love easily takes offence, and the offence rankles, and brotherly love is ruined. Whereas, with the aid of prayer, and with the grace of God, we should constantly try to be charitable; thinking no evil; saying no unkind word; doing kindnesses even to those who have been unkind Above all, to be ready to forgive from the heart whatever may have been said or done against us. In this matter we have either to mean and try to be saints, or we shall, eventually, find ourselves reprimanded and punished by our Master, Jesus Christ.
Take what the saints have done and said. The great St. Teresa prays thus: "Forgive us, O Lord, not because of our prayers and good deeds, but because we have forgiven." When Blessed Juvenal Ancina was dying, poisoned by an enemy, he not only refused to mention the name of the assassin, whom he knew well, but strictly forbade that any inquiry should be made to lead to his punishment. And St. John Gualbertus, about to kill the murderer of his brother, at the sign and mention of the Cross, forgave him from his heart. And this was the turning-point-a proud young nobleman changed into a saint.
Not only were the saints ready to forgive, but they practiced active and kindly charity amongst the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. When we read the lives of holy men we cannot help but be struck by this humble and penitential habit. Even exalted personages and profound scholars steal time from their other labors to visit hospitals and the poor in their homes. This is one of the surest marks of real holiness. And others, again, devoted their whole lives to such work and founded religious Orders to perpetuate their labors. Oh! they had compassion on their fellow-servants. Call to mind St. Vincent of Paul. Who shall ever tell all that has been done in his life and since his death, by himself and those he taught to succor human misery? Their name is legion who have followed in his footsteps. And St. Camillus, the patron of a holy death, whose holy calling it was to tend the dying, winning poor sinners over in his hospitals to repent and die in peace. These are the heroes of charity, and so many more that could be named, and whom you of yourselves will remember. Heroes of charity, who loved to tend the most loathsome diseases, and whose touch wrought so many miraculous cures. We cannot be like them heroes, but we can and must pray to have a little of their spirit of kindness and compassion.
We must be determined and ready to meet the trials of life with resignation and serenity, and being kind to others in their necessities and miseries will bring this grace to our own souls. We cannot help it; suffering is like our shadow-we cannot get away from it. But being mindful and tender towards the sufferings of others will enable us to bear our own with fortitude and hope. St. Laurence the Martyr first saw to the poor and afflicted, distributed the Church's treasures to them, and with the sign of the Cross opened the eyes of the blind; and then when roasted slowly to death, God blessed him so that the flames were like roses to him, and happily and triumphantly he died for Christ. This is how God blesses compassion and fraternal charity.
For ourselves let us take consolation from this thought: God seems blind to our failings, as long as He sees kindness to others in our hearts. He gives us Himself as an example. He was meekness itself; He went about doing good to all; He loved to be amongst the poor; and of all that were diseased, do we read of one being sent away uncured? And His blessed Mother is like to Him, as we should expect. We salute her as Queen of Heaven, but a title she loves better is "Mother of Mercy." Mother of Mercy." How often have we stood in need of her pity and her help, and how often again shall we receive it, for she will ask our Lord for us, and she cannot be denied, if only she sees us striving to be to each other kind, and charitable, and merciful, and compassionate." Source: Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
The Calls of Grace
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 08, 2023 at 12:00AM in Sermons
Sacred Heart, Raleigh NC
'They that were invited were not worthy."-Matt. xxii. 8. "
"This gospel reminds us of the manifold invitations, the countless calls of grace, wherewith we are favored by our loving Lord and Savior. Here in God's church we cannot help but remember them. How often has He spoken to us those words, "Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened: and I will refresh you (Matt. xi. 28). At another time, when He has seen us wasting the short and precious hours of life, He has bidden us, "Go you also into My vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just " (Matt. xx. 4). And when our souls have yearned for Him, wishing to give themselves devoutly to Him, He has said, as He did to St. Andrew, "Come and see" (John i. 39), and we have known where to find His home here in the tabernacle where He is waiting, always ready, to welcome us and bid us stay with Him.
And why all these merciful invitations? He has no need of us. He is supremely blessed and happy without us. There are so many countless multitudes better than we are. Have they been as favored as we feel that we have been? Then why these calls of grace to us? They are purely out of benevolence. "He is the Lord, who loveth souls."
If it were not our Lord Himself, Who tells us how His calls and invitations are received, we could not believe that human nature could be so perverse, so ungrateful. The gospel tells us first that some refused: they would not come." Others promised, perhaps half meant to accept, but " they neglected." Others - can it be possible? -insulted, outraged, and even put to death the servants who brought the Master's invitation.
How have we responded to the invitations of Almighty God? Please God, we have not outraged His mercy by insulting His ministers and by rebelliously disobeying His Church, as those do who neglect their Easter duties. Again, please God, we have not "refused," daringly saying, "I will not." But who is there that can plead not guilty to "neglecting"? Who is there that has not put God off? Another time will do for the service of God, at present the claims of the world are very pressing. Business has to be attended to; friends are importunate; health, leisure, pleasure all urge their claims. Some other time we will respond to God! He, Who gives us time and life, is begrudged a little of the time which we owe to His loving kindness. Sometime, as we know well, is repeatedly no time: tomorrow never comes! Today is the time to respond to God. Think for a moment the insult it is to keep God waiting for an answer. Every good resolution that, through God's grace, we have made, and that on looking back we see has come to naught, is a proof of our neglect. We began, but we neglected.
There are some who may try to excuse themselves by urging that many others have had better chances; more frequent calls of grace, opportunities of practicing piety denied to them; but none of us can truly say that we have not been invited and pressed to join God's service. Does not the gospel tell us, that the servants were at length sent out to bring in all that they could find, both good and bad? So we must have neglected or even resisted, or we should have found ourselves amongst the servants of God. Let us resolve now to take that word of St. Paul's, "I cast not away the grace of God" (Gal. ii. 21), and make it our own, and with a firm, resolute will promise, "I will never again cast away the grace of God."
Our Blessed Lord's parable tells us how the Master, hurt and grieved, complained, "They that were invited were not worthy." Let us pray for holy fear lest we be found unworthy; for a holy anxiety to look to ourselves carefully lest we neglect. We must beware of being self-satisfied. We see others, as we may think, worse than ourselves, but have they received as many graces and calls as we have? And if they are more negligent, more guilty than ourselves, how does that make us stand better in the sight of God? Again, let us not be self-satisfied by any little good that we may have done, which, very likely, is far outbalanced by our shortcomings and our faults. Take heed by the example of those who thought they would be well received by their divine Master. They had forgotten their neglect and putting God off till it was too late. The five foolish virgins came to the marriage festival after the door was shut. They were too late. The Gospel says, " But at last also came the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answering said, Amen, amen, I say to you, I know you not" (Matt. xxv. II). And remember those others of whom our Lord said: "Many will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and cast out devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you that work iniquity" (Matt. vii. 22).
Is not this enough to make us humble and ready to accept God's graces; to welcome His invitations; to be careful to respond to them; and to do our utmost day after day? If we do this and persevere loyally, zealously, we shall indeed hear a very different word from the Master, a blessed welcome indeed! "Then shall the King say to them, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you the Kingdom prepared for you" (Matt. xxv. 34). (19th Sunday after Pentecost. Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year by Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
