Sunday, August 26, 2018
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY
after Pentecost (21st S. Ord. Time)
The nations raged,
but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to
recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
This verse refers to the blowing of
the seventh trumpet which proclaims the coming of God’s reign after the victory
over diabolical powers. End of time prophesies can be very frightening and
confusing. Yet, we need not fear:
all we need do is seek the shelter of Christ’s church and to do what we can to
do His Holy will. Pope Francis recently commented that humankind will bring
about the end of the world unless we rein in our rapacious greed. You might
want to peruse Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter
Laudato Si’ Of The Holy Father Francis On Care For Our Common Home.
Once
we allow ill will to take root in our hearts, it leads to deep resentment. The opposite of resentment is forgiveness, which is rooted in
a positive attitude that seeks to understand other people’s weaknesses and to
excuse them. Yet we
keep looking for more and more faults, imagining greater evils, presuming all
kinds of bad intentions, and so resentment grows and deepens. Thus, every
mistake or lapse on the part of a spouse can harm the bond of love and the
stability of the family. Something is wrong when we see every problem as
equally serious; in this way, we risk being unduly harsh with the failings of
others. When we have been offended or let down, forgiveness is
possible and desirable, but no one can say that it is easy. The truth is that
“family communion can only be preserved and perfected through a great spirit of
sacrifice. Today we recognize that being able to forgive others implies the
liberating experience of understanding and forgiving ourselves. Often our
mistakes, or criticism we have received from loved ones, can lead to a loss of
self-esteem. We become distant from others, avoiding affection and fearful in
our interpersonal relationships. Blaming others becomes falsely reassuring. We
need to learn to pray over our past history, to accept ourselves, to learn how
to live with our limitations, and even to forgive ourselves, in order to have
this same attitude towards others. All this assumes that we ourselves have had
the experience of being forgiven by God, justified by his grace and not by our
own merits. We have known a love that is prior to any of our own efforts, a
love that constantly opens doors, promotes and encourages. If we accept that
God’s love is unconditional, that the Father’s love cannot be bought or sold,
then we will become capable of showing boundless love and forgiving others even
if they have wronged us. Otherwise, our family life will no longer be a place
of understanding, support and encouragement, but rather one of constant tension
and mutual criticism.
What
is it to walk in the Spirit? It is, in all things and at all times, to
follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and not merely to abstain from the
works of the flesh, but rather to crucify the flesh and its lusts, and
earnestly to aspire after those fruits which the Holy Ghost produces in men?
such as charity, peace, and joy. So shall we belong to Christ, and become
partakers of eternal life. Is it not wonderful that while all Christians desire
to belong to Christ, and to be heirs of His kingdom, they are unwilling to
crucify the flesh with its vices and concupiscences, and to destroy its lusts,
as though they believed this to be required only of the clergy, whereas it is
to all Christians that Christ says: “If any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. xvi. 24.)
What
is meant by serving God? Doing the will of God in all things which He requires
of us, in whatever state of life we may be placed, and doing this with
fidelity, with unwearied zeal, and out of love for Him.
Who
are the two masters whom we cannot serve at the same time? God and an
inordinate desire for worldly gain. One cannot serve both, because they demand
things that are contradictory.
Who
are they that serve mammon, or worldly wealth? The avaricious,
who, impelled by their longing for riches, offend God by manifold
transgressions of His commandments.
Why
does Christ refer us to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field? To awaken in us
confidence in Divine Providence. If God feeds the young ravens (Ps. cxlvi. 9)
and the birds of the air if He decks so beautifully the flowers of the field,
how much more will He not care for men, whom He has created after His own
image, and adopted as His children.
Are
we, then, to use no care or labor? That by no means follows from what has
been said. The Savior forbids only that anxiety, proceeding from little faith,
which, in striving for maintenance, neglects God’s honor and commandments, and
the good of one’s soul. For the rest, God Himself has commanded man to labor
(Gen. iii. 17-19); and St. Paul says, “If any man will not work, neither let
him eat” (n. Thess. iii. 10).
What
should preserve us from excessive anxiety? A firm and living faith that God
can and will help us. That He can is clear, because He is almighty; that He
will is certain, for the reason that He is love that He has promised it to us,
more than once, most expressly, and that He is faithful in keeping His
promises. Let us, then, trust in God, and daily renew our confidence in Him,
particularly when we say the Creed, or when, in the Our Father, we pray, Give
us this day our daily bread.
Consolation in Poverty
In
your misery and poverty, say often, with Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord so it is done; blessed be the name of
the Lord (Job i.21). Or seek comfort in these words: “We lead indeed a poor
life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God and depart from all sin
and do that which is good” (Job iv.23).
Warning against Usury (or price gouging)
Usury
is that mortal sin which takes advantage of our neighbor’s poverty and need to
extort from him what is justly his own. Would that usurers might bear in mind
what the Lord says: “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and
suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Matt. xvi. 26.)
Full Sturgeon Moon
According to the almanac today we are having a Full
Sturgeon Moon; plan to spend some time fishing or visit an aquarium with your
children or grandchildren.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
55. You think you are quite important: your studies, your research
work, your publications, your social standing, your name, your political
activities, the positions you hold, your wealth... your age: you're no longer a
child!...Just because of all that, you, more than others, need a Director for
your soul.
·
Please
Pray for Senator
McCain (1939-2018) and our country; asking Our Lady of Beauraing to
intercede.
[1] Pope Francis, Encyclical on Love.
[2]Goffine’s
Devout Instructions, 1896
[3]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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