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SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ THE GOOD SHEPHERD

(Read John x, 11-16)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that the care of a good shepherd are threefold, namely to guide, to feed and to define his sheep. Now all these cares Jesus, your true Shepherd, has manifested in your regard. Firstly, He is your guide through the desert places of this world, so that you may not stray from the safe path which leads to the fold of eternal repose: I will lead thee by the paths of equity. (Prov. iv, 11.) The good shepherd, in order the better to guide his sheep, goes before them and so draws them after him. Christ also by His most holy example teaches you the true path of virtue.

APPLICATION:  Set yourself therefore to study the life of Christ and in every occurrence you will find an example of that virtue which you ought to imitate, be it humility, patience, charity, meekness or any other. What a sublime manner of life is that for you, namely to conform your whole life to the example of Jesus! The sheep which faithfully follows in the footsteps of it’s shepherd never strays from the right path.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare. (Ps. xxiv, 15.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY  that your good shepherd Jesus is not only your guide, but He moreover feeds and nourishes you with heavenly doctrine, the vivifying streams of grace, with spiritual consolations and much more with the blessed sacrament of the altar. Where else can you find a shepherd so bountiful as to nourish his sheep with his own flesh and blood?

APPLICATION: And does not all this suffice to enable you to recognise the infinite goodness of your shepherd Jesus, and generously to reject all other nourishment, satisfied and satiated with that alone which our Lord has given you?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: he hath given food to them that fear him. (Ps. cx, 4,5.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that Jesus as your good shepherd defends you more effectually than any shepherd is wont to protect his sheep. Each one of Christ’s flock is assailed by three powerful enemies: by the devil as a voracious wolf, by the deceitful and mercenary world, and by the stealthy thief of self-love. From the assault of each of these Jesus defends the sheep of His fold. Already in our defence He has once most generously encountered death. And now He combats in each one of his sheep, giving them strength to overcome so that they may have the merit of being crowned triumphantly.

APPLICATION:   Strive then to be one of the faithful sheep of the fold of Christ. Follow the footsteps of His example, by nourishing yourself with that food which He has so lavishly prepared for you. Thus protected by so good a shepherd, you will have nothing to fear: neither the violence nor the snares of your enemies: If God be for us, who is against us? (Rom. Lxxviii, 13.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  We thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever. We shall shew forth thy praise, unto generation and generation. (Ps. lxxviii, 13.)

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MONDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ HAPPINESS

I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures. (John x, 9.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that all men are in the quest of the abode of happiness, but few are those who know how to find it. Many wise and ancient philosophers set themselves up as teachers and guides to happiness, but all to no purpose, because they understood not how to find the entrance leading thereto. The true and only door is Christ, Whom they either did not believe in or did not know. I am the door. He is the only one Who can come to your help by delivering you from supreme and eternal misery and enable you to enjoy eternal and supreme happiness.

APPLICATION: Blessed then are you, if you shall have rendered yourself worthy to enter by this door! Thank God with all your heart that without any merit on your part, He has allowed you to be born at a time of so much light, when with the utmost ease it is possible for you to find this door which is unknown to so many. Behold I have given before thee a door opened. (Apoc. Iii, 8.) If you do not enter it will be your own fault and to your own ruin.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: This is the gate of the Lord; the just shall enter into it. (Ps. cxvii, 20.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY  that besides the perfect happiness of heaven, there is an imperfect happiness which can be enjoyed on this earth. Of this likewise is Christ the door, because none there are in this world who can experience delights similar to those which the true followers of Christ enjoy. They are rather the delights of angels, which man enjoys according to what he has in common with the angels: By me, if any man enter in, By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures. What blessed pastures then does he not find who never separates himself from Jesus Christ! Blessed is the man that watcheth at the post of my doors. (Prov. viii, 34.) Jesus is the door that leads to heaven and blessed is he who not being yet able to enter within, stands at least at the door.

APPLICATION: Meantime take up your stand at the feet of Jesus crucified, and here go in and go out. Go in by looking upon Him made man for you and your redeemer, contemplating His goodness, His mercy, His sufferings and death endured on the cross for your sake. In this way will you in some manner imitate that which the blessed do in heaven.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me. Say to my soul: I am thy salvation. (Ps. xxxiv, 3.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that the blessed exult in the pastures of heaven in the same measure as they sought after them whilst on earth by self-denial, obedience, humility, penance and by similar practices of virtue taught them by Jesus Christ. In order then that we may be happy here ion earth, as far as it is possible to realise happiness in this life, it is necessary that by similar practices of virtue we seek these pastures near to our crucified Lord.

APPLICATION:  The more then that you make use of such exercises of virtue and of mortification as were practiced by the saints on earth, so much the more abundantly will you now be refreshed by the food which Jesus gives to those still on the way. Hereafter too in heaven you will enjoy still more abundantly that food which is proper to the blessed there.

AAFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up on the water of refreshment. (Ps. xxii, 2.)

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TUESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ CUSTODY OF THE EYES

If thy eye scandalise thee pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. (Matt. xviii, 9.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that long before our Blessed Lord had uttered these solemn words, the holy man Job even in the ancient dispensation had made a covenant with his eyes to refrain them, as he says, from and unguarded look, lest God should have no part with him, or he no inheritance from God. But why did he speak of it as a covenant and not rather as a peace? To give us to understand that our eyes though so dear to us are in reality our cheifest enemies, and with enemies one may make a covenant, but not a peace.

APPLICATION:  Neither then must you trust these enemies nor ever lay aside your weapons of defence, because they are traitors that can lead your soul into a miserable slavery. And ought you not also, more even than so holy a man, to fear for your own self, so miserable and so weak?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity: quicken me in thy way. (Ps. cxviii, 37.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY  that the reason a covenant is to be made with our eyes is because they are the channels which usually introduce thoughts into the mind. When the mind deliberately reflects upon things it is said that he sees them. On the other hand when the eyes gaze upon objects it is said that they think of them, as the Psalmist also says: But thou shalt consider with thy eyes. (Ps. xc, 8.) And it is precisely these looks that may bring harm to the soul.

APPLICATION: Reflect then on how you act when you happen to encounter dangerous objects. Do you allow freedom to your eyes or do you quietly turn them away? If you are careless, you may do yourself a grievous injury.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  To thee do I lift up my eyes: who dwellest in the heaven. (Ps. cxxii, 1.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY the great harm such looks can cause you. You may well fear with holy Job that God will have no further part in you. For to such unguarded looks succeed thought which will steal your mind from God, complacency in them follows which draws away from Him your heart; finally, consent is given which robs Him of your will. And so it comes to pass that God, your lord and master, can no longer have any part in you.

APPLICATION:   Observe then how necessary it is for you to be on your guard against enemies so dangerous. Do not permit them any hostile act, so that you may not have to lament in the words of the Prophet: My eyes hath wasted my soul. (Lam. Iii, 51.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  Destruction and unhappiness are in their  ways, and the way of peace they have not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes. (Ps. xiii, 3.)

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WEDNESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ PRAISE OF MEN

Be not as hypocrites that love to pray that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward. (Matt. vi, 5.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY what all the good that comes to you from the praise of men really signifies. They may call you fortunate and blessed, but they cannot make you so. In reality you are what you appear in the sight of God and nothing more. If before God you are but poor, miserable and worthless, what can it profit you that the world should judge you differently?

APPLICATION: Oh how great then is your folly, that runs so blindly after praise, that seeks after vanities! Let every one praise you to your heart’s content, because they cannot add to your stature I do not say one cubit  (Luke xii, 25.) but not even a single inch.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The wicked have not set thee before their eyes. (Ps. Lxxxv, 14.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY   that the praise of men not only does not bring you any profit, but causes you great harm in that it deprives you of a true knowledge of yourself. It deceives you in making you believe that you are what in reality you are not, by hiding from you your defects, by minimising or falsifying them, and by even going so far as to extol in you as a virtue that which should be censured as a fault or a vice.

APPLICATION:  And yet notwithstanding, is it not true that you love and run after that which so shamefully betrays you?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  Understand, ye unwise among the people, and ye fools be wise at last. (Ps. Xciii, 8.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that he who praises you by taking from you a true knowledge of yourself and of your own defects, does you another great injury, namely, that of making you stray away from the right path, which is that of humility. This is the road by which Jesus walked and those also who following His footsteps became most dear to God. This is the road you must thread, if you wish to reach the same end. Now he who praises you takes you from it. For he makes you conceive an exalted opinion of your own self and so despise your neighbour. He makes you resent every little contradiction and not submit promptly to those who are placed over you. He makes you aspire to the most honourable positions. In a word, he makes you become proud. 

APPLICATION:  Therefore renounce resolutely all claim to praise and never do anything in the least in order to procure it.  If at times it follows you, reject it, and especially the false reasonings which it suggests to your mind. Above all accustom yourself to seek only in all your actions the approbation of God Who alone can make you truly happy.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man can do unto me. (Ps. Cxvii, 6.)

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THURSDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ SEEKING LIGHT FROM GOD

The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things. (John xiv, 26.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that the wisdom which you have most need of consists in knowing how to regulate yourself well as to your state in life, your work, and your responsibilities. Doubt not therefore that you will obtain this grace from God if you will but ask Him for it. If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God… and it shall be given him. (James I, 5.) It is by God a lone that we may hope to be illuminated, because He giveth to all men abundantly, provided He be supplicated. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee. (2 Paral. Xx, 12.)

APPLICATION: In your difficulties and doubts are you always careful? Do you even always remember to have recourse to God in order that you may be illuminated and guided? 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou hast delivered my soul from death : my feet from falling : that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.  (Ps. lv, 13.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that in order the more surely to obtain such wisdom you must ask for it earnestly and perseveringly. Earnestly, because of your trust in the promises which God has many times confirmed in holy scripture, Let him ask in faith; perseveringly, that is not ceasing to ask until you see that your prayer is answered; Nothing wavering.

APPLICATION: Believe than most firmly that you will not fail to obtain, if you do not leave off praying. You have not to trust ion the strength of your petitions which are so deficient and poor but in the virtue of the divine word, a word more potent than any king.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: There is no one in death that is mindful of thee… I have laboured in my groaning, every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with tears. (Ps. vi, 6-7.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that want of perseverance in asking proceeds from a want of confidence, and from wavering in the hope of obtaining our petition. For this reason St James says; He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind. (James i, 6.)  For a little while you ask and then you leave off. He who asks in this manner is sure to obtain nothing. For God wills that our trust in Him be lasting. He will have us continue to petition without ceasing, even when He seems not to hear us, and defers granting us favours and graces, so that He may prove whether we trust in Him as much as we ought.

APPLICATION: What great merit would your prayer have if at your first request your petition was granted at once? You would certainly ask, nothing wavering, but you would be wanting in faith. The merit consist in seeing your petition seemingly repulsed and than repeating it as did the woman of Canaan who in the end deserved to hear : O woman, great is thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt. (Matt. Xv, 28.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O God, hear my prayer ; give ear to the words of my mouth. (Ps. liii, 4.).

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FRIDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR

By this shall all men know that you are by disciples, if you have love one for another. (John xiii, 35.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY the distinctive mark by which our Blessed Lord wished that His disciples should be known. It was not by miracles, nor by learning nor by any of those other prerogatives by which they might be endowed, but merely by love for one another. It is essential then that this mutual love be greater than that which is ordinarily found among those who are not followers of Christ. For He wished that it be a characteristic sufficient of itself to make them universally known by all as being His disciples.

APPLICATION:  Does it appear to you then that such is your charity, and that besides your other virtues you possess this distinctive mark by which you may be known to be a follower of Christ?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? Or who shall rest in thy holy hills? He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice… Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbour. (Ps. xiv, 1-3.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY  that our Blessed Lord had His desire perfectly fulfilled among the early Christians. Hence it came about that the heathen conversing among themselves frequently said of the Christians: See how they love one another. They were all one in spirit by unity of faith, and one in will by unity of desires and deeds: One heart and one mind. (Acts iv, 32.) They practices too such heroic acts of charity not only among themselves but likewise towards their persecutors, that no other body of men could glory in similar acts. Now however among the faithful this charity has to a great extent grown cool, the powers of hell doing all they can to destroy it. Most necessary therefore is it that we should strive to fire our souls with this spirit of charity, and be ready to practice it when occasions arise.

APPLICATION: Examine yourself somewhat and see how far you have a care to maintain in your own household and with others the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. Iv, 3.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours I spoke peace of thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee. (Ps. cxxi, 8,9.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY what is the reason this mutual love so insisted upon by Jesus Christ is not better practiced. It is because we do not love Him as we should. The same happens with us as with the lines in a circle. The more closely they approach their center, the more they are united to each other; whilst the farther removed they are from it, the more divided are they from one another. Did we but remain united to Jesus, seeking only to please Him in all our actions, and to give glory to Him alone, we should be in like manner united among ourselves. But because we love Jesus so little, it is no wonder that there is so little love for one another.

APPLICATION:   Seek then to acquire a great love for Jesus, because by this means you will come to love your neighbour for the love of Him. This is what He most desires from you as the truest mark of your love for Him.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. My God is my helper; in him will I put my trust. (Ps. xvii, 2-3.)

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SATURDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER ~ NEED OF GOD’S GRACE

I am the vine, you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. (John xv, 5.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that Christ calls Himself the vine and us the branches, in order that we may understand the need we have of Him  even as the branch depends upon the vine. Now there are three kinds of branches. Some there are that are quite cut off from the vine, others again that are united to it but quite dead, and others in the full vigour of life. So in like manner it is amongst men. The branches which are cut off are the heretics and infidels fit only for the flames. The dead dry branches, united indeed to Christ, are those who adhere to Him by faith but not by sanctifying grace, and such as these draw not the sap which produces fruit. The living branches are those who adhere to Christ both in faith and charity, and so receive in themselves the virtues to produce fruits unto eternal life.

APPLICATION: See therefore the supreme necessity which you have of remaining closely united to Christ, so that you may not be as a dry branch but be able to bear much fruit.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Turn again, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard. (Ps. lxxix, 15.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY  that the branch not only has from the vine the power of producing fruit, but moreover also draws from the same source even the act of producing it. For the vine concurs with the branch by its vigour and action in the effect. So in like manner, Christ not only gives us the power of bringing forth fruit unto eternal life, but He Himself concurs with us in so doing, because without Him we can do nothing: Without me you can do nothing.

APPLICATION: O how thoroughly should you humble yourself at the thought of your own nothingness, and how annihilate yourself as it were in the presence of God with a longing desire to remain closely united to Him. Pray that it may be given you fully to comprehend this truth, that you cannot perform and good action, even the smallest, if our Lord does not give you the power and concur with you by His help in the action!

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  I am brought to nothing, and I knew not. (Ps. lxxii, 22.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY  how our Blessed Lord, while giving us the power to act, wishes at the same time that by the same gifts with which He endows us we should merit an everlasting crown, and it is by means of our free will that He will have us act. True it is that even the good use of our free will is also a gift, so neither must we take glory to ourselves in anything, but refer all to Him. When however we fail to make good use of it, the fault is all ours, because it is we who thus convert the good juice of the vain into fruit that is useless or even positively bad.

APPLICATION:  Have then these two maxims engraven in your mind. The first is, that all the good you do comes from God Who gives you grace both to will and to act. The second, that when you fail to do good this proceeds from your own self, because by means of your free will you oppose yourself to the action of divine grace. Cease not to pray constantly that God may give you light to recognise that your every good comes from Him: Without me you can do nothing, and that you may correspond with the action of divine grace by generously overcoming yourself.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:  Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord. (Ps. xxx, 25.)

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