Fourth Sunday of Lent: The True Manna, the Bread of Life
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 30, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Holy Mass, Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, Wake Forest
(Rev. Fr. Parkerson, Rev. Fr. Meares, Rev. Fr.Tighe)
"This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world."- St. John vi. 14.
1. The tradition about the Messias.
2. Review of the miracle.
3. Contrast the Manna and the Holy Eucharist.
4. As of old, so many now leave our Blessed Lord.
THERE existed amongst the Jews a tradition, that, when the Messias came, He should be known and recognized by a miracle that should surpass even those of Moses, their leader and their hero. And amongst the miracles that Moses had wrought, the manna from heaven was reverenced as supreme. If we bear this in mind, we can see that the miracle of our divine Lord, in multiplying the five loaves to feed the five thousand men, was a bold and distinct challenge that they should be struck, remember, and recognize Him as the Messias. "This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world."
The manna had unfailingly rained down from heaven to feed the multitude in the desert for forty years. And in this chapter of St. John's Gospel we read how the crowd had followed our Saviour," because they saw the miracles which He did on them that were diseased." Jesus went up into a mountain, and when He saw the multitude that followed Him, He said to Philip: "Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"
It was out of the question to procure food on the mountain side. Our Lord had arranged the time and the place, "for He Himself knew what He would do." When hunger came upon that crowd, the remembrance of the manna would be forced upon them. Ah! if they could only be fed in the desert!
It is so easy to read of the miracle and pass on; but pause and try to realize the wonder, the excitement, the enthusiasm, when that vast multitude saw and understood what was being done. "Make the men sit down," said our Lord; then He took and blessed the five small loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down. Five small loaves for five thousand men! And the loaves multiplied in those divine hands. A harvest takes months to grow and fructify in the earth, but not in the hands of the Creator, God made man. Ten thousand eager eyes were watching and wondering. Each man was eager to receive his share; each one fearful lest the bread should not suffice for all. Ah! the manna their fathers had laboriously gathered before sunrise, and only that which would suffice for the day; here the bread was ready for them, and they did eat and were filled, and twelve baskets of fragments remained over and above to them that had eaten. No wonder their hearts burned within them; no wonder they recognized Him as their Messias. "This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world."No wonder that in their excitement they resolved" to take Him by force and make Him King!"
But Jesus "fled again into the mountain Himself alone." Next day they followed Him again, and were rebuked by our Lord: "You seek Me, because you did eat of the loaves and were filled." They sought to test Him again, whether He were the Messias: "Our fathers did eat manna in the desert," they answered. Alas! when our Blessed Lord would lead them further in their faith in Him, and reveal to them the mystery of the Bread of Life, they murmured at Him because He had said: "I am the living Bread, which came down from heaven." He repeated," I am the Bread of Life," and to show how this Bread surpassed the manna from heaven, He added, "Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are dead-if any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever" (v. 49, 50).
Oh! the sad ending of our Redeemer's loving endeavour to win the hearts of men. "After this many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." Alas! is not all this repeated in the lives of so many, who should know Him far better than these poor Israelites? Our faith teaches us that this Bread of Life is consecrated at every Mass and has been for wellnigh two thousand years! that it is multiplied far beyond the limits of the desert. In every land where there is a church or altar, He becomes present morning after morning, Who said, "I am the living Bread, who came down from heaven."
And how is it effected? By the words of Christ spoken by an ordained priest, "This is My Body." Not one Moses now, but thousands and thousands of priests all over the world bringing down the Bread of Life at the word of their Master-the Messias, Christ the Son of God!
And as of old, so now, many are unwilling and murmur, and, leaving Him, perish of hunger like the poor prodigal sons that they are. And even the good, the frequent, the daily communicants, where is our enthusiasm? Where the resolve to make Him sole King of our hearts? The good Lord is longing for that. He is drawing us, helping us, winning us to do that. Let nothing henceforth keep our hearts back from entire and zealous surrender of themselves to Him, His service and His love." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922
Third Sunday in Lent: The Shame that Leads to Sorrow
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 23, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Gerard Seghers: Repentance of St Peter
"Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."—LUKE xi. 28.
I. The noble calling to hear and keep the word of God.
2. To our shame, we have often neglected both hearing and keeping it.
3. The shame of having preferred sin and the friendship of the devil to keeping the word of God.
WE cannot help but be amazed when we hear these words of our Blessed Lord. Can anyone be more blessed than His own Immaculate Mother? No; but her greater blessedness was not simply in being His Mother, but being His worthy Mother. "Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."
This leads us to think, what a noble calling is ours to hear the word of God and keep it. What blessedness should be ours if we had done so; but if we have not done so, what shame and confusion. Where is the blessedness in our careless, negligent, and sinful lives?
Let us look into our souls, and shame will force us to be humble and obtain forgiveness. Hear the word of God! How many a time has the hearing of the word of God been distasteful to us, and we have shirked the opportunity of listening to it. A short, early Mass to avoid a sermon; no prayer-book with us to whisper a word of God, rather distractions rioting in our minds, our thoughts engrossed with all manner of memories and desires, but with no remembrance of any word of God. Spiritual reading! oh, that is left for nuns and priests! Newspapers, novels, ah! yes; our minds are enticed by something else than the word of God. Even if time hangs heavy on our hands, there is no desire to listen to that. That word which should steady our minds, give us pause to think whither all this foolish dissipation of mind will lead us. That word that should nerve us to resolve to do better and give ourselves to obeying God. That word which should give us courage, based on the promises of God, to do our best. With what shame do we find our souls overwhelmed by our sinful neglect in hearing the word of God.
But looking back, perhaps there was a time when we heard the word of God and loved to hear it. Words that lived in our souls when we were young, and which conscience will not let die, and makes them re-echo in times of temptation and sinfulness. Certain it is that we have all heard more than we have kept. That, indeed, is the important, the all-important, part. To have heard and not to have kept! "O Lord, Thou knowest my reproach, my confusion, and my shame (Ps. lxix. 10).
It is when we examine why we have not kept the word of God that we realize our shame. Why did we not? Because we loved and preferred to be careless and negligent, and even sinful. Yes, we have not kept the word of God because of our sins. When we look back and see the worthlessness of our sins, it is then that we are covered with shame and confusion. What good have they ever done for us, or will do for us? And yet we have preferred them to keeping the word of God. That would have made us blessed; our sins have brought nothing on us but shame; even in remembering them we are ashamed, but how much more, terribly more, when we shall stand in judgment for those sins; when the words of the prophet come true, and the Judge shall say: "I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, that will never be forgotten" (Jer. xxxiii. 40).
And instead of keeping the word of God, we find, on reflecting, that we have given ear to the whispers of the devil. Though we knew in our hearts that he was the father of lies, yet we listened to his seducing temptations, we gave half credence to his boasts of making us free and letting us do what we liked. Yes, in actual fact, we have preferred the mock friendship of the devil to being the faithful ones and blessed ones for keeping the word of God.
The shame of it! for we have despised and rejected the friendship and the love of God. We are the children of God - the good God, our Creator, our Father, Who has endowed us with immortal souls, Who has at Baptism enrolled our names in the Book of Life, Who has given us Himself in the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, Who Himself wishes to be our eternal reward in the Kingdom of His glory. We have despised this good God in not keeping His blessed word, but preferring to sin and live in sin. We are those of whom it is said, "Whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things" (Phil. iii. 19).
Let us change our hearts and be ashamed of what we have done preferring sinfulness, the friendship of the devil, to the blessedness of keeping the word of God. To be thus ashamed is a grace from God. It is the beginning of humility, of sorrow, of true repentance. This shame for the wasted past will nerve us to begin now to be in earnest, not to allow Lent to pass by carelessly. This holy shame will make us banish dissipation of mind, the love of vain and earthly pleasures, and turn our hearts all to God. This shame will fill our hearts with holy resolve and courage. We are poor indeed in God's sight, for there is nothing but shame to clothe our souls as we kneel before Him. But God is not only good, not only powerful, but God is merciful. And when He beholds our hearts grieving in shame over our wasted life, His mercy will bless that shame into repentance, and a contrite and humble heart God will not despise." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922
Second Sunday in Lent: Duties of Lent
by VP
Posted on Saturday March 15, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
"God has called us... unto sanctification in Christ Jesus our Lord."—I THESS. iv. 7.
1. Our sanctification the work of Lent.
2. The means: Fasting, self-restraint.
3. Almsgiving: Christ's poor alive and dead.
4. Prayer: the direct and most important means.
"OUR heavenly Father has granted us to start another Lent, during which "let us amend and do better for those things in which we have sinned through ignorance; lest suddenly prevented by the day of death, we seek time for penance, and be not able to find it." And the means by which we can amend and do better are plainly set before us during Lent. Each of us knows them; and each of us, if he followed his selfish inclinations, would fain find excuse not to use them. Fasting, almsdeeds, and prayer are not duties that human nature welcomes. But these are the means unto sanctification to which we are called.
There are so many reasons and excuses found for the non-observance of fasting, that very few are found to take any heed of the obligation. But the necessity of doing penance is still urgent upon us. And if we cannot endure the hardships that our forefathers bore humbly and penitently—are we less sinful, less prone to evil, have we less to make atonement for than they had? And is there no means of doing penance other than depriving ourselves of food? Is all that we drink as necessary to sustain us as meat and bread ? Would it not be real fasting to do without some of our pleasures and pastimes, cards, theatres, and the rest? Let us try the Rosary and attendance at the Stations of the Cross for a change. We may be unwilling, granted; but otherwise how shall we answer to God that we used the means to our sanctification?
Self also is ready with excuses when there is mention of almsdeeds. "Charity begins at home," and other well-known pleas immediately find utterance. But we are called unto sanctification, and not slavishly to obey the dictates of selfishness. The Holy Scriptures tell us: "Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person; for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee. For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it " (Tobias iv. 7, 12). And did not our Blessed Lord Himself note and commend the widow's mite, for He sees and blesses the good intention of the kindly heart. Remember His words: "Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured unto you again " (Luke vi. 38).
It may seem most unlikely to us that we shall ever need the alms of others; and it may be so in this life, but the day will come that we shall be needy and poor. When our soul, friendless and alone, shall be imprisoned in purgatory till the last farthing be paid, that is the hour when with bitter regret we shall bewail our selfishness in neglecting the poor and needy, and "Take especially the souls of the faithful departed. pity on me, at least you my friends!" Yes; but how seldom did we heed that cry from others amidst the pleasures and occupations of our life on earth! Prayers, a holy Communion, a Mass offered for the departed—what a blessing they will prove to us hereafter ! Give, and it shall be given to you."
eternal and blessed occupation. And we poor sinners are permitted to join our voices with theirs to praise and glorify and thank the good God. St. John the Evangelist, when blessed with a vision of heaven, heard the angels cry out, "Glory and honour and benediction! Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power, because Thou hast created all things, and for Thy Will they were and have been created" (Apoc. iv.). Should our prayers aspire to this? Yes, in very deed, we can thank and glorify God in union with the prayers of Mary Immaculate and the very prayers of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Himself. For we are "called unto sanctification in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These are the means by which we can sanctify Lent -prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds. We have need to make good use of this holy time. It is a duty, and an imperative duty. And how consoling it will be to us, when we come to die-perhaps before the next Lent-that we have made good use of this holy time." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
The Lenten duties that we have considered-viz., fasting and almsdeeds-have reference to ourselves and our neighbours; the third great duty-prayerrefers directly to God. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee; Who forgiveth all thy iniquities, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion" (Ps. cii. 2, 4). To use this greatest means of our sanctification, as it should be done, not so many more prayers are needed-though in Lent there should be an increase-as an intensifying of our devotion during prayer. We must throw our hearts into our prayers. We must remember Whom we are addressing.
Lowly adoration of our heavenly Father, our Creator, with an ardent offering of ourselves to do His blessed Will, and thus inherit the Kingdom of heaven, should commence our prayer. And that our prayers may be acceptable, our sins should be always before us," that He may fill our hearts with true sorrow, for " a humble and contrite heart" God will not despise. Then, lest we should fall away again, let us pray for help and strength. God loves thus to be implored, and He is our hope and strength in all our necessities.
There is another part of prayer in which we are often wanting-thanksgiving. Our Father loves to be thanked. Thanksgiving is the work of the angels, their
First Sunday in Lent: Help in Temptation
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 09, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Behold angels came and ministered to Him.”—MATT. iv. 16.
1. We are sure to be tempted.
2. We forget to cry for help.
3. Our Lord suffered Himself to be tempted for our instruction and encouragement.
4. Angels ready and faithful to assist us.
5. Let us imitate St. Antony's defence.
"THE gospel tells us to-day how our divine Lord suffered Himself to be tempted by the devil. It was for our sakes that He did so. Each one of us, that we may be worthy to win heaven, must be tried, and assaulted, and pass through the conflict. We must face this
fact-we shall be tempted by the devil. It is not within anyone's power to escape temptation. The misery of it may wellnigh overwhelm us. Our selflove will be crushed, for we did not think that we were so vile as the spectres of temptations around us would make us think. We find oftentimes that, when we have resolved to do our best, temptations are the most importunate. Yes, it is true, we are tempted by the devil.
In our misery, when thus tempted and tried, how often do we make a great mistake. We have not the sense of children. In fear and danger, children cry for help: we forget! There is One near us, with His angels, ready to minister to us; only waiting to be invoked, "Lord, save us, or we perish.' "Wherefore it behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren, that He might become a merciful and faithful high-priest before God, that He might be a propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that, wherein He Himself hath suffered and been tempted, He is able to succour them also that are tempted " (Heb. ii. 17, 18). "For we have not a high-priest Who cannot have compassion on our infirmities; but One tempted in all things as we are, without sin" (Heb. iv. 15).
Our Blessed Lord accepted the ministration of angels after His temptation to teach us that we are not alone in our misery and our danger. To be tempted is not a sin; but to trust to ourselves to be able to resist and overcome is presumptuous. Pride goeth before a fall. To come out of the conflict unscathed needs help, and help is at hand if we humbly invoke it. The angels are our guardians to assist us in our struggle with their fallen brethren. If the fallen angels hate us because we are Christ's, the good angels are anxious to shield us from evil and ruin for that very same reason. A prayer can summon them to the rescue. To forget their assistance, to venture to stand alone and defend ourselves single-handed from evil, is to imperil our souls. We are bound to pray for help in grave temptation. To fall into sin is our own fault; always our own fault. We could have been saved from the sin, if we had prayed for assistance. The angels are with us wherever we go through life; in every occurrence, in every danger they are at hand. Our passage through the temptations of life is not a forlorn hope; we have our leaders, our friends, our guardians around us. But alas! how often are they forgotten and ignored. Temptations seduce us. Careless souls even love the danger; foolishly disregarding the imminent and eternal consequences.
With what an occupation have the ministering angels been entrusted by God! They first have to arouse us to be afraid of evil; to wish to escape it. Instead of fearing sin, we turn a deaf ear to the remonstrances which the angels prompt our consciences to urge upon us. We are reluctant to turn from the evil suggestion; the wicked companion; the occasions that we know will be our ruin. It is not that the angels are remiss in their endeavours; it is all our own fault yielding to our sinful desires, clinging to bad habits that will be our eternal ruin.
Pray that the angels may not grow weary of us, and that their divine Master may not recall them from their rejected ministrations. How faithful they have been to us! They are interested in us and devoted to us, because we are destined to be their brethren for all eternity. They rejoice over every soul they can save, for each one is another soul redeemed by the precious Blood of our Lord, and rescued from eternal loss.
This life is a time of trial and temptation; but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We must not cowardly give way, though we have to face the combat, for we are not alone. Remember we can instantly summon assistance. Imitate the great St. Antony, the model of those who are tempted. He tells us that his weapons were the sign of the holy Cross and the most holy name of Jesus. That sacred name, that blessed sign, would bring us instant help. "God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able" (I Cor. x. 13). He will send His angels to defend you, to drive away the enemies of your soul. Tempta
tions would be robbed of their terror, they would be vanquished, if we only remembered to invoke and trust. We must learn this lesson in life-the lesson to remember and pray; for as death approaches, temptations may be more powerful and deadly. The good habit of prayer will then spring to our rescue. The angels will redouble their vigilance. Not only our own prayers, but the prayers of the Church for the dying will be our safeguard. The priest before he anoints us bids the evil spirits to be banished, and the angel of peace to stand by us; and he prays the Almighty Father to send His holy angel from heaven to guard and protect and defend. Happy indeed will be the death of one who has trusted in the angels in the days of his warfare. He will have endured temptation bravely; his fidelity will have been proved, and his consolation then will be that the angels will come forth to meet him, and bear his soul to receive the crown of life." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
Repentance (Quinquagessima)
by VP
Posted on Saturday March 01, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."-LUKE Xviii. 38.
1. To repent, God's mercy is needed.
2. Sin, in regard of ourselves; of God; of our eternal welfare.
3. God willing and ready to forgive.
4. Our gratitude for forgiveness.
"THE holy time of Lent, upon which we enter this week, is given us once again by the mercy of God, in which to repent and put our souls in order. No one can afford, can dare to despise this fresh opportunity of having their sins forgiven. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John i. 8).
Then in what does repentance of sin consist? A thorough change of heart, by which we turn from our sins and break with them: confess them with true contrition of heart for having committed them. But can we ourselves do this? Can we shake ourselves free from the bonds of sin? Can we, the slaves of sin, gain liberty for our souls of our own power? No, we need the grace of God; hence our earnest prayer should be," Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."
If the blind, the lepers, all the poor sufferers were so earnest in seeking a cure, a freedom from their afflictions, and were mercifully healed by our Blessed Lord, how much more earnest should we be in seeking forgiveness of our sins! For sin is the leprosy of the soul; sin blinds us and leads us astray from the path to heaven; sin is the palsy that paralyses all our powers. Mortal sin, alas! is the death of our soul, the forfeiture of eternal life, the condemnation to eternal misery. All this is sin; for we are the slaves of that in which we have sinned.
And what is sin as regards Almighty God? A defiance, a rebellion, an insult and ingratitude of the vilest kind. By sin we dare to disobey the Almighty Master; by sin we insult the all-holy God, by preferring vile things to Him, by choosing the indulgence of our passions to doing His holy Will. By sin we ignore and despise all that an infinitely loving Father has done for us.
He has given us an immortal soul, destined to be happy with Him for ever, and we sell this soul for a paltry or shameful pleasure. He has pardoned us so many times, and we have added iniquity to iniquity by returning to our evil ways. And that pardon, that our heavenly Father has granted so often-what was the price of it? What was the ransom that was paid to rescue us from the thraldom of the devil? The precious Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who died on the Cross for us.
Alas! in the past when we have sinned we thought little of the dreadful evil of our sins. Yet, without exaggeration sin is this appalling evil, the calamity with eternal consequences for our poor soul. How the tempter has fooled us and ruined us time after time! When we gave way to our passions-jealousy, pride, avarice, impurity-he skilfully hid the malice from us. When we disobeyed the commandments of God and the Church, we did not realize the cruel contempt and ingratitude towards our divine Lord.
Then let us treasure this opportunity of repentance during the sacred time of Lent; let the prayer of our heart-earnest and constant-be, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." But can it be that God will hear our prayer and grant us forgiveness after all our falls, our relapses, perhaps our long continuance in sin? So many times have we made half-repentances and fallen again with scarce a struggle against temptation. Is not the patience of God worn out? Will He trust us and try us once again? In this anxiety and doubt, how consoling for us to recall the words of ScriptureGod's own inspired words--" Hear me, O Lord, for Thy mercy is kind," says the Psalmist, "look upon me, O Lord, according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies" (Ps. lxviii. 17). "Thus saith the Lord: Be converted to Me with all your heart . . . turn to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy" (Joel ii. 12).
Surely, then, with all confidence we may trust in the mercy of our heavenly Father! It is He Who turns our hearts to wish to repent. It is He Who prompts the prayer to our Saviour, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." And that mercy will be poured down upon us to enlighten us to see our sins; to have the good will and the courage to break with them; to confess them; to have loving and sincere sorrow and compunction of heart for having committed them.
Finally, what gratitude should fill our hearts that we have so forgiving, so tender a Father: "Who forgiveth all thy iniquities, Who healeth all thy diseases, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion" (Ps. cii. 3, 4). "For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild, and plenteous in mercy to all who call upon Thee. Thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy and true" (Ps. lxxxv. 5, 15). This is the Father, rejoicing when He hears our prayer for mercy, blessing the poor sinful heart resolving to come and ask for pardon.
This is the holy work of Lent. This blessed work of repentance has peopled heaven! Pray to that multitude of redeemed and glorious souls who have prayed the same prayer for mercy; who have received the same grace of contrition and absolution; who can look back to some Lent when they turned to God with all their hearts. They persevered faithfully, and may we do the same in the service of that good God “ Who is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy."
Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
Placing Scandals (Sexagessima)
by VP
Posted on Saturday February 22, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
The Sower of good seed, 1180.
“And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it choked it."-St. Luke viii. 7.
We,
my dear brethren, have received the seed of the Divine word, and we
have kept it: we have never fallen away from the true faith as it is in
Christ and His Church, and with God's help we never shall. Our
steadfastness in the faith is our greatest glory in the sight of heaven
and of earth, and whatever our shortcomings may be, we are at least free
from the awful crime of apostasy, and this worst of all reproaches can
never be laid to our charge. The good soil that produces a hundred fold
is ours; but alas! the thorny soil is ours also, and our faith though
firmly rooted is often choked by the pernicious jungle growing up around
us, in which we suffer ourselves to become entangled.
How many a
glorious promise of supernatural faith and virtue in those around us
becomes utterly blighted by the thorns of the world's ways and
temptations, because no proper care is taken to resist them and stamp
them out! The thorny growths that stifle our faith and render it
worthless in the sight of God are many indeed, but there is one in
particular that is more destructive than all the rest beside. I need
hardly name it to you, for you know it but too well—the deadly Upas-tree
of intemperance- that casts its withering shade over our hearts and
homes and altars! Is there a single person here this morning that does
not know of more than one generous soul in whom every fruitful germ of
faith and hope and charity, and every sentiment of true Christian
manhood and womanhood, have not been blighted by this prevalent passion ?
Call the roll of your nearest friends and acquaintances, and how many
will you not find absent from the ranks of Christian life, duty, and
fidelity through this one vice? There is a skeleton in every closet, and
the saloon-keepers have taken the flesh off its bones. This more than
anything else chokes the divine seed of the word amongst us; this
nullifies the power of our faith; this neutralizes the effects of the
Sacraments; this scandalizes our holy religion and makes our consecrated
ministry vain; for this is the evil root from whence springs the foul
crop of lusts and blasphemies, and crimes and contentions, that stifle
every virtue of the Christian life and weigh down the Church of the
living God.
Could we but cast out this baneful blight of
intemperance from amongst us, our glorious faith would appear in all its
strength and beauty, and yield its hundred fold. If it were not for the
gross and scandalous lives that so many so-called Catholics lead,
nothing could stop the onward march of our faith. This is the one
objection raised against us that we cannot satisfactorily meet.
We
know very well that ours is the only true religion, and that it
supplies every help that we need to enable us to overcome our passions
and to lead upright lives. But the world at large knows little or
nothing of our faith; it only looks at the dark side of our every-day
conduct, and scornfully asks: "Where is the influence of the Catholic
religion on the venal politician, the low liquor-seller, the drunken
reveler, the meretricious streetwalker, the abominable fathers and
mothers who make their homes a hell upon earth, and drive their
unfortunate children to destruction ? And what reply can we make? We
cannot deny that many who claim to profess our faith are an utter
disgrace to it, and a rock of scandal to the world. They, of course,
have shaken off all sense of obligation to their religion and its
teachings, and have no more conception of religious duty than the cow or
the horse. Theirs is a purely animal existence, they live only for the
gratification of their lower nature, and we disclaim all responsibility
for them. What responsibility has the Catholic Church for those who
seldom or ever darken its doors, who never approach its Sacraments, who
spend their Saturday nights in the saloons, and their Sunday mornings in
drunken slumber? What responsibility has the Church for the recreant
rowdies who hang around the corner grog-shops, and the fallen flirts who
frequent the sidewalks? They may have Catholic names, but that is the
only evidence of their Catholicity. The thorns of dissipation and
sensuality and sin of every kind have choked the seed of truth in their
hearts, and they are outside the soul of the Church, though they may
still claim to belong to its visible pale. But take our consistent
Catholics, men and women who are in touch with the spirit of their faith
and honestly endeavor to live up to its teachings. Are they not in very
truth the salt of the earth? and does not the divine seed planted in
their souls produce a hundred fold?"
Source: Five minutes sermons for Low Masses for every Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of Saint Paul 1893
Work for God (Septuagesima)
by VP
Posted on Saturday February 15, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
"Why stand you here all the day idle?"-Matt. xx.
"We are all called by God, my dear brethren, to labor in His vineyard. That is to say: we are called to serve God faithfully; to fulfil His Divine will; to observe His laws and precepts; to avoid the evil He forbids, and to do the good He prescribes. And we are not only called, but we are strictly bound to fulfil all that is included in this service of God. We are bound in justice, we are bound by gratitude to labor in God's vineyard for His honor and glory, for the salvation of our souls.
God has a supreme right to our service. We are His creatures. It is God who created us, who called us out of nothing. To God we owe our life; to Him we owe the preservation of that life during every moment of existence. And therefore does St. Paul say, "In Him we live and move and have our being." Thus we are entirely dependent on God: we belong to Him, and He has supreme jurisdiction over us; He has the right to prescribe how we should live, how we should serve Him. There can be no exception to this law; He has the sole right to require every one to labor in His vineyard. Where there is a right, there must also be a corresponding duty. It is God's right to command the service of every one; it is the duty of every one to obey.
Hence there can be no idlers in God's vineyard; no man can offer the excuse that he has not been hired.
Every act of neglect of God's service, every evasion of His law, is always an act of injustice. Every sin has, besides its specific malice, the malice of injustice. Every idler in the vineyard of the Lord is in a state of sin; if he says that he has not been hired, he is a liar. God hires every man who comes into this world.
Besides the claim God has on us in justice, He has also a claim on our service by reason of the Redemption. We belong to Him because of the price He has paid for our salvation. "He has redeemed us at the price of His Precious Blood." Justice makes us serve Him, but higher than justice is the claim of love. And His Love constrains us to obey Him. Love makes Him sovereign Lord and Master. We belong neither to the world, nor to the devil, nor to ourselves: we owe nothing to them; we owe everything to Him whose love for us has moved Him to buy us with His blood. And so it is, my brethren, that every act of rebellion against God's law is always an act of ingratitude as well as injustice; every sin, besides its special malice, has the malice of injustice and ingratitude.
What pitiful, what hardened creatures we are when we forget these plain truths: when we act as though we were a law unto ourselves, and practically act as though we are responsible to no one. How dull is our sense of justice, how hardened is our heart when we can forget or ignore God and the claims He has upon us. We let the devil rule us, we make passion our master, we lift up self in place of God.
Are there any amongst us here this morning who have forgotten what they owe to God? Are there any whose years of sin and neglect of God have made them so deaf that they cannot hear His call to them; who do not know that their place is in His vineyard? To such as these does God now say, "Why stand you idle?" You who have wasted the morning, the noon, perhaps the evening of life in idleness, in sin; "go you into my vineyard"; there is still a chance for you to redeem the wasted time. Wake up out of your lethargy. Shake off the stupor that unhallowed pleasure and secret sin have cast over you. Smash the chains that have bound you to the service of the devil, the slavery that has smothered within you every instinct of justice, every worthy prompting of the heart, every noble aim in life. "Why stand you here idle?" This is the call of God to you. Go you into the vineyard of His service. What though for years you have neglected His call, His mercy is still near you, and He will pay you what is just— will pay you with life eternal.
We are now on the threshold of Lent - the special season of prayer and penance. Be no longer idle. Enter upon God's service with courage, with honest zeal, with firm hope in God's mercy. Begin at once - begin with a good confession. God is now calling you; for many of you it is even now the eleventh hour; for many of you this call may be the last."
Source: Five minutes sermons for Low Masses for every Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of Saint Paul 1893
Frequenting the Sacraments
by VP
Posted on Saturday February 08, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
Confessional, Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse
"Let the peace of Christ reign in your hearts."—Col. 3. 13.
"FREQUENT Confession and Holy Communion are, my dear brethren, the food which we need to take with us in climbing the mountain of heaven. If we try to get along without them, we shall faint by the way. Do not imagine, then, that confession is only a means of getting rid of mortal sin; do not think for a moment of putting off confession till you have fallen into a mortal sin, or, perhaps, into quite a number of them.
For though we are not required by any positive law to go to confession unless we have fallen into mortal sin, still we are required to keep out of mortal sin, and we cannot do this without going to confession before we have fallen into it. So it comes to the same thing; we really are obliged, for the honor of God and the care of our own souls, to go to confession when we have nothing but venial sin on our conscience, and to go quite often too. Confession and Holy Communion may be compared, not only to food, but to medicine; and to a medicine such as people would take in a place, for instance, where the fever and ague, or some other disease, is prevalent, not to cure themselves of the disease, but to keep from taking it. For we all are in a place where the terrible disease of sin prevails; and we ought to go to confession often, so as not to take it.
But some good people do not seem to understand this at all; and there is a remark, common enough, and which I suppose you may have heard made about this matter of frequent confession. It is this: "I don't see what these people have to tell who go to confession so often." One who makes such a remark as that cannot, it would seem, have any idea of the reason why people are urged to frequent Sacraments at all. He would stay away from confession, for his part, till he "did something,”—that is, fell into some mortal sin. For such a one, if when the time came for his Easter duty, he had by good luck fallen into no mortal sin, the only course would be, one would think, to do something on purpose, so as to have something to tell. He does not understand that these people who go to confession often are not supposed to have any grave burden on their consciences.
Of course they will be likely to have venial faults, which, though the Easter penitent might not think them matters for absolution, really are so. And by the help of the Sacraments they may be overcoming these faults. But a good enough reason for their going to confession once a month, or even oftener, would be simply to avoid grievous sins; on the principle that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
They go so often, also, in order to get light, as well as strength, to avoid sin; to know beforehand what they ought to do. You may think that they ought to have sense enough to tell for themselves without bothering the priest about it; but if I am not mistaken, many who think so will find, if they look back a little, that there were some occasions when they did not know exactly which course to take, and had to go very much at hazard. Perhaps they asked about it afterwards, and perhaps they forgot all about it. But why not ask about these matters beforehand? For, after all, though you can read, there are some things rather special to yourself and your own circumstances that you cannot get from books. It is good to have a guide sometimes, who has more thorough knowledge than you, to show you the way; to point the road up the mountain which you have to climb.
You consult a lawyer, or a doctor, about your temporal matters; why not consult a priest about spiritual matters, in the place where he waits to help you so far as he can, and where the Holy Ghost also will help him to help you? For Almighty God has commissioned the priest specially to guide the faithful in spiritual matters, as you know; and he can often show others the way where he cannot well find it for himself.
But even if the priest does not help you much, our Lord Himself will, in the Sacraments which He has provided. He will guide and direct you by means of them,
if you will only come to Him in them. That is one great reason why He
is there. I hope I have now said enough, my dear brethren, to give you
some idea of the necessity of approaching the Sacraments frequently, if you really have a purpose of amendment, and a desire to save your soul. Too much could not be said. Think of the matter
seriously, and you will see this necessity more and more, and will
seriously purpose to go often and regularly to confession and Holy
Communion." Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year by the Paulist Fathers, 5th Sunday after Epiphany
Taking Courage
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 25, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
"Sometimes, my brethren, we feel discouraged because we have not kept our good resolutions, and are even ready to say it is better not to make any at all, so often do we break them. I have no doubt there are some listening to me who began the new year courageously and with some sincere promises to God of leading a good life, and have already slipped back into the bad old ways; and now they say, What was the matter with my good resolutions? I did not mean to lie to God, yet I have not kept my word with Him; I have relapsed; I am as bad as I was before, maybe I am worse. What, then, was the matter with my good resolutions?
Now, in considering this question let us not get into a panic. God knows us just as we are, and far better than we know ourselves. Therefore He is not so cruel as to hold us strictly to all our promises. "God is true and every man is a liar," says Holy Writ, and our experience of human nature demonstrates that although we are honestly determined to tell the truth, and do tell it, when we promise to God to behave ourselves properly, yet we know very well that in a moment of weakness we may break down, and that is understood when we make our promise. I remember reading of St. Philip Neri that sometimes on waking in the morning he would say, "O Lord, keep thy hand on Philip today or he will betray Thee."
Hence it is a great folly to say, "I do not want to make a promise for fear I could not keep it." That would be good sense if you were going to swear to your promise, or if you were to make a Vow. But a promise to attend Sunday Mass, to keep out of saloons, to stop stealing, to be more good-natured at home, and the like is a very different matter. In such cases we must shut our eyes and go ahead, and meantime pray hard for God's assistance.
There is such a thing as being too fidgety about the future, looking back too far into it or imagining temptations not likely to come up. Once there was an army officer who led an edifying life, and who came to a priest of his acquaintance and informed him that he was in great distress, and feared that he could not persevere. "What is the matter?" said the priest. "Why I know that duelling is a deadly mortal sin; yet if I were challenged to a duel I fear that I should not have the virtue to decline the challenge and suffer the disgrace which would be sure to follow." But," said the priest, "has any one challenged you or is any one likely to do so?"
"Oh, no! not at all;
but..." -
"But wait until the temptation comes. You have made up your mind not to commit mortal sin, and when this particular temptation comes God will give you grace to overcome it."
Do not cast your net too far out into the stream; do not be in a hurry to promise to abstain from any particular sin or to do any particular act of virtue for your whole life except in a general way. In a general way you are determined to keep God's law, honestly and firmly determined. As to this or that particular sin, you hate and detest it and have made up your mind against it; whenever the temptation comes you are resolved to resist it.
There are three things
about which one should make good resolutions rather than about any
others:
First, the practice of prayer;
Second, going to confession and Communion;
Third, avoiding the occasion of sins.
The first two fill our souls with God's grace and the third keeps us out of danger. Put all your good resolutions into company with prayer (and monthly, or at least quarterly), Communion; and you will have no great difficulty in pulling through. From month to month is not so long a time to keep straight, and a good confession and a worthy Communion is God's best help. Morning and night prayers are a mark of predestination to eternal life; keep away from bad company and dangerous places, and avoiding bad reading and all other dangerous occasions, has very much to do with an innocent life and a happy death."
Source: Five-minute Sermons, by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul 1893 (3rd Sunday after Epiphany)
The Good Will of Christ
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 25, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
Our Lord Jesus Christ (Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ) Tissot
“I will.”—MATT. 8. 3.
1. Christ's good Will exemplified.
2. Why so willing to help us? Because we are His by creation, His by redemption.
3. Remembrance of the good Will leads us to hope, repentance, and trustful confidence.
"God's Will is mercy. And twice in the Gospel just read, we hear our Blessed Lord say, "I will,” and immediately mercy followed. The leper besought Him, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." And Jesus, stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying, "I will, be thou made clean." And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. Again, when the centurion related how his servant was sick of the palsy and grievously tormented, Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
Nothing can do our souls more good than to remember this ready Will of our Lord in showing mercy. The Book of Wisdom tells us the reason of this loving Will. "Thou sparest all, because they are Thine, O Lord, Who lovest souls" (11. 4). How vile of us oftentimes, without a thought of gratitude, to take God's mercies as if they were our due! There are people who may even say, How does God show His good Will and spare us? Our life is hard enough; our pleasures few; our miseries and pains and afflictions frequent. Are not such people a proof of our Lord's good Will?
They seek no mercy from Him, and yet He spares them. Do we not all provoke Him by our sins? Do not many remain careless and enthralled in bad habits for years, with no sorrow, or fear of God, or prayer on their lips? Yet the good Lord is waiting patiently for that prayer for forgiveness to be uttered, and then at once, as He answered the leper, He would say, "I will," and their soul would be cleansed.
But why, O Lord, is Thy good Will so patient and so ready to respond to the cry of a penitent heart? Because we are Thine." Yes, God created us, and He hateth nothing that He has made. God is our Father, we are His children; though often, alas! ungrateful, disobedient, rebellious children. Yet the infinitely good Father loves us still, simply because we are His children.
Moreover, O Lord, we are Thine because Thou hast purchased us by Thy precious Blood. By our sins we have sold ourselves to the devil, we have become his slaves, but Thy good Will has paid the ransom for us. And this not once, but perhaps many and many a time, when we have relapsed all through our own fault, through not seeking help and strength from above. Looking at our past life, who can doubt the patient, loving good Will of Christ our Lord?
We may well wonder how it is; what is the secret of this bearing with us so long, and this readiness to forgive. God loves us. That is the secret of it all. God loves us, for what else could account for such longsuffering patience towards us in sinfulness, and such readiness to forgive, when the grace of contrition, which is His gift, moves us to repent? And what else could account for the multitude of His graces, and the generosity that knows no bounds?
Let us try to learn to bear this remembrance of the good Will of our Lord in our hearts. Nothing could do us more good. We should never then doubt or despair; we should have hope of forgiveness however great our sinfulness, however long we might have abandoned our religious duties. Remembering it, hope would burst forth into love and gratitude. A new life would spring up in our souls: devout prayer, repentance, attending Mass, receiving Holy Communion.
Once that we felt that our leprosy had been cleansed, that the grievous torment of the sickness of our soul had been relieved and cured, could we help but be as grateful as the leper of the gospel was? We can picture him afterwards following Christ with His disciples, one of the faithful ones. And the faith that should animate us to do our utmost for God should be like that of the centurion, which our Lord marvelled at and commended. He had not found so great faith in Israel.
One of the great evils of sin is to prevent us remembering the mercy of God; whereas the miracles of our Lord and Saviour's kindness recorded in the gospels force us to recall and tenderly to meditate on the love of that Sacred Heart which is waiting to work on our souls the same marvellous cures. To remember the mercies of the Lord is a great grace, and awakens in our hearts a trustful confidence in His goodness. It is the first step of the penitent sinner returning to His outraged Redeemer. It makes us loathe the evil we have done against Him; it brings us to His feet, praying for pardon. We come like the leper, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." And the same blessed answer is ready for us, "I will, be thou made clean." And we come forth from the confessional, filled with that
blessed confidence that He has spared us, because He loves us. And unworthy though we are, at His loving invitation we draw near to the altar, longing for the Bread of Life, and we hear that divine voice saying, "I will come and heal you," and strengthen you and guard you, and "he that eateth this Bread shall live for ever." May we persevere loyal and faithful to the end, and that end will soon come. Then may our dying prayer be, "Lord Jesus, receive my soul !" and we may trustfully hope that the blessed answer will be, "I will." "Thou sparest all, because they are Thine, O Lord, Who lovest souls." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922 3rd Sunday after Epiphany
