OUR FAITH
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 04, 2024 at 01:00AM in Sermons
JacquesTissot, healing
"By which also you are saved."—I COR. XV. 2.
1. Faith the gift of God.
2. The objects of our faith in the Gospels-viz., Redemption, Church, Sacraments, Prayer, Reward in Heaven.
3. Some fall away from faith, some think little of it; few treasure it.
"FAITH, without which we cannot be saved, is the gift of God. And faith is the most necessary gift for us to possess, and the noblest gift that the Almighty can bestow upon us, for faith can lead us to life eternal. For faith to do this, we must have a knowledge of its doctrines, and we must strenuously live up to it.
Faith teaches us through the Gospels. In the Gospel we can find all that it is necessary for us to know. And this knowledge is imparted to us in such a way that to know leads us to love and serve our good and merciful God. We adore one God in Three Persons. -Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. We are taught that God the Son became Man, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Ghost. And His object in this-His Incarnation was the Redemption of fallen man. The consummation of our Redemption was the Death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on Calvary.
But the Gospels teach us, moreover, that during His life on earth our Blessed Lord and Saviour established His Church, which was commissioned to preach the Gospel to every living creature. This Church was fortified with the promise of Christ, that it should be imperishable; that the Holy Spirit should teach it all truth, and that He Himself would remain with it until the end of time. That this Church should continue in its blessed work of guarding the truth and saving souls, Christ appointed a Vicar, the head of the Church, Peter the rock, to whom His powers were delegated, for to him He gave the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
Moreover, to seal us unto the Faith, and to strengthen us to act up to it, we are taught in the holy Gospel that Christ instituted the Seven Sacraments, by which grace is given to our souls. This power they have from their divine institution by Christ, the merits of Whose precious Blood is applied by them to the souls of men. The first is Baptism, which cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians, children of God, and members of His Church. We receive the Holy Ghost in Confirmation to make us strong and perfect Christians. In the Holy Eucharist, which is not only a Sacrament in which we receive the true Body and Blood of Christ, but a Sacrifice also, the Holy Mass, which is one and the same Sacrifice with that of the Cross.
The holy Gospel also hands down those blessed words of the Saviour: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them" (John xx. 22). How faith makes poor sinners cling in hope to this Sacrament of Penance. The sick and the dying are not forgotten in the list of Sacraments. The continuation of priests and bishops for the ministry is safeguarded by the Sacrament of Holy Orders; and family life is blessed and ennobled by the Sacrament of Matrimony.
Faith does not leave us lonely and unprotected in our daily life. How we should wander and lose our way, and be seduced by vain pleasures and pursuits on all sides, if our Faith let us forget God! But in the Gospel we are taught the duty of prayer-to raise up our minds and hearts to God. Our Blessed Lord Himself taught us how to pray! To lift up our souls to our Father in heaven; to do Him honour by our good lives; to long for His Kingdom to come; to know that perfection is in doing His holy Will; to turn to Him for strength for soul and body; to be forgiving to others, as we pray Him to be forgiving to us. Oh ! blessed prayer that thus directs our hearts and souls to God each day of life. Pray always," says the Gospel; and our Blessed Lord gave us the example, praying for us on the mountain side the long night through. And we need not fear that our poor prayers will be of no avail, for we pray "through Jesus Christ our Lord." Remember His promises," If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do" (John xiv. 14). "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him" (Matt. vii. II). Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (ibid. 7). The Gospel repeatedly assures us of blessed answers to our prayers.
And most glorious too in the Gospel is that blessed assurance of eternal reward, if we keep steadfast to the Church, led on by our holy Faith. After the Last Supper, our Lord prayed thus: "Father, I will that where I am, they also, whom Thou hast given Me, may be with Me: that they may see My glory which Thou hast given Me" (John xvii. 24). But speaking as the Judge our divine Lord and King speaks thus: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you the Kingdom prepared for you" (Matt. xxv. 34). Oh! how often have we prayed "Thy Kingdom come!" And thus our faith will be crowned in that eternal Kingdom of God.
Thus is our faith taught by the holy Gospel. Can it be that men, who once have been thus blessed with the sacred gift of faith, should fall away? It is, alas! too true. And for what have they abandoned their faith? That will be the remorse of it all throughout eternity. For what have they bartered their soul, their immortal soul, the soul that by faith was the child of God - the soul that had been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ ?
But many amongst us think but far too little of this gift of faith. There is something else that they prize still more. What can it be but something perishable, for this world passeth away, but faith leads to immortal glory. We then must treasure our faith, the blessed gift of God. We must know it thoroughly, follow its guidance, be loyal to it, and profess it openly. The Gospel and the Faith "you have received, wherein you stand; by which also you are saved, if you hold fast." Remember, eternal life depends on that "if you hold fast."
Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (11th Sunday after Pentecost)
