+++AMDG+++

SEPTUAGESIMA  SUNDAY ~ THE LORD OF THE VINEYARD

(Read Matt. xx, 1-16.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that those workmen, who were called at the first hour, are those nations who in the beginning of time lived according to the law of nature; those called at the sixth hour are they who lived under the written law; and those who were called at the last hour are the Apostles and their successors who came in the time of the evangelical law, to live under the law of the Gospel, and to work in the vineyard of the Lord. They were the last in point of time, but the first in the gifts of grace which the Incarnate Son of God brought us by His teaching, example, and by the holy sacraments.

APPLICATION: Thank God for His goodness in allowing you to be born under the law of grace. Still more should you thank him for placing you by birth in the heart of Christianity, and giving you such immense opportunities of so abundantly enjoying His gifts. How many there are among heathen peoples who would serve God more faithfully and better than you do, if they had the helps you have to live as a true Christian!

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Unto the upright there hath risen up light in the darkness. (Ps. cxi, 4.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that the various calls of the master of the household at morning, at midday, and at the end of the day may also signify to us that our Lord calls some to His service at the earliest dawn of the use of reason, others in youth and others in more advanced years. There are some even whom He calls again and again and at different intervals, for in the excess of His mercy He is desirous to overcome the resistance and obstinacy of their wills by repeated calls to serve Him.

APPLICATION: Think how many times you have resisted our Lord’s invitations, when He called you to a better and more perfect life. Acknowledge the mercy He has shown you, since He might have called many others who would have responded more promptly and served Him more faithfully.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! (Ps. xxxv, 8.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that God does not measure the time or count the years when rewarding those who serve Him. He rather regards their fervour and growth in virtue. Hence it was that the workmen who came at the last hour were made equal to all those who came early and worked longer.

APPLICATION: You count the years of your life and perhaps pride yourself upon your superiority over those who are younger, and expect to enjoy more exemptions and liberty then they. But rather reckon up the virtues and the good habits which you have all this time acquired, e.g., those of mortification, obedience, and of pure intention in your work. You will doubtless have reason to humble and abase yourself in comparison with many who are only beginners, finding yourself certainly in the number of the called, but perhaps not of the chosen ones. Many are called, but few are chosen.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou hast set our iniquities before thine eyes, our life in the light of thy countenance. (Ps. lxxxix, 8.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

MONDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ LIFE LIKENED TO A RACE

No man looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God. (Luke ix, 62.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that this life is likened by St. Paul to the course of a race along which we run towards the goal which is the glory of Paradise. All men are admitted to compete in this race, but how many there are who instead of running elect to stand still! The number of those who do not trouble to take even a step is countless. They remain inert engrossed in idleness, amusements, and worldly possessions.

APPLICATION: When you began a better life, you assuredly aspired and intended to run towards the goal. That however is not enough if you do not strive your very utmost to reach it.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I have run in the way in thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. (Ps. cxviii, 32.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY who is this fortunate person who is said to receive the prize in the race. Is it one only of all those who valiantly strive after virtue? Certainly not, for many are they who are saved. But it is only those who persevere. Let us therefore bear in mind how necessary it is not to be remiss, as we so easily may become, in doing good.

APPLICATION: When again you entered on a truly Christian life you began indeed to run, but how soon you grew tired! Scarcely do you undertake to practise the duties of religion than you begin to grow weary of them. Try to overcome your natural inconstancy, because it is undoubtedly a great danger, and unless overcome is one of the chief signs of belonging to the class of those who will not be chosen.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: He hath rejoiced as a giant to run his course. (Ps. xviii, 6.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that in order to reach the goal it is not enough to merely move towards it, but it is necessary to run perseveringly: So run that you may obtain. In the service of God it is not enough to advance leisurely. We must labour, make effort, and advance with all the more energy as we draw nearer the end.

APPLICATION: May God grant that in the pursuit of Christian perfection you may not do rather the contrary. Moreover the Apostle says: So run. We must run in the way prescribed and not according to our own will and caprice. You have always to run along the way of the commandments of God and of the Church. You must imitate the examples of the good persons who have gone before you. Above all you must follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ Who in this course, rejoiced as a giant to run the way. If you do not act after this manner, your running will be like that which St. Augustine describes the running of the pagans to have been: Great strides but out of the right course.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Lead me, O Lord, in thy justice because of mine enemies; direct my way in thy sight. (Ps. v, 10.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

TUESDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ THE VALUE OF MY SOUL

What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? (Matt. xvi, 26.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY how Christ here says that all the kingdoms of the world cannot compensate for the loss of one’s soul. If we lose our soul, what will it avail us to have possessed for a short time all the glory of the world? Do you imagine that the remembrance of all their earthly pomp and pleasure is of any relief to those monarchs who may now be buried in hell? The remembrance of good that is lost only brings sorrow with it. Hence it is that those miserable beings cry out: What availeth our pride? Or the display of riches what did it avail us? And yet are not many lost, not because they possessed great kingdoms but for miserably small things, so vile and shameful that we can hardly imagine it? It is not necessary that the devil should promise them all the kingdoms of the earth. Some sensual pleasure suffices, or the gaining of a few paltry pence.

APPLICATION: Do you not compassionate such a disastrous a ruin? Fear at least your own danger. Run not the risk of losing your soul for some mere caprice or some sudden outburst, for some trifling promise.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou art my God, my lot is in thy hands. (Ps. xxx, 15.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY how Christ not only says that it would avail you nothing to gain all the kingdoms of the earth at the expense of losing your own soul, but moreover you must not risk the slightest harm or spiritual injury to your soul even to gain all these kingdoms. Consequently you must not sully your soul, nor harm it by the commission of a single venial sin, although by so doing you should gain all the gold and treasures of the world.

APPLICATION: And yet how little do you fear to commit many venial sins, and even deliberate ones, in order to satisfy some desire or some passion, sins which will only result for you in punishment and ruin.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: So shall I always keep yhy law; yea for ever and ever. (Ps. cxviii, 44.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY how Jesus Christ says further that this acquisition of the whole world will not outweigh the loss of your soul of a single degree of grace and of glory, that you might have gained by the practice of some act of virtue. The very least degree of grace and of glory is worth more than all the kingdoms of the earth. Is there a single act of virtue which you can offer to God, which He will not reward with a recompense infinitely superior to all the world can promise you? All the goods and treasures of this earth are fleeting, empty, and uncertain, whilst every degree of glory is a treasure infinite in its duration and immense in its greatness.

APPLICATION: To all this you pay but little heed. You neglect every day to  avail yourself of the opportunities that arise of performing many good acts, which from time to time you could so easily do. Therefore, says the prophet Isaias, they shall receive double in their land. (Isa. lxi, 7.) And this land is Paradise.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord will reward me according to my justice, and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands. (Ps. xvii, 21.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

WEDNESDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ DEATH THE GOOD COUNSELLOR

This night do they require thy soul of thee. (Luke xii, 20.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that as it was sin that first brought death into the world, so there is no better antidote against sin than the thought of death. All sins have usually their origin in the love of pleasure, or of the riches and honours of this world. Thus then the thought of death which ends all these pleasures, riches and honours, is able to moderate the love of these passing things in the heart of him who seriously thinks upon it. Watch beside the bed of a dying man, and see how all the pleasures and enjoyments have passed away and give place to pain, weariness, anguish and agony. Look at him as he lies dead upon the bier and you will see him despoiled of all his riches: When he shall sleep, he shall take nothing away with him. (Job xxvii, 19.) Behold him in the grave and you will see all his glory buried with him. To-day he is lifted up, and to-morrow he shall not be found. (1 Mac. li, 63.)

APPLICATION: Does not then the consideration of death suffice to detach you completely from all those satisfactions, conveniences, and paltry honours that you persist in pursuing to the great detriment of your soul? Try to keep constantly before your mind the view and the value with which you will regard these things at the moment of death.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death I fear no evils, for thou art with me. (Ps. xxii, 4.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY how death corrects our errors and misconceptions about the future. Not only does it make us view the things of this life as small and valueless, but it also reveals to us the greatness and importance of those of the future life which we now so little care about. We are in this world as it were in a chamber full of smoke which prevents our seeing clearly the things which are within, or outside of, it. At the moment of death all this darkness will be cleared away. We shall perceive that all temporal things are only as a dream, which vanish on awakening, and the things of eternity are the only real good or the only real evil. That which is not eternal is nothing.

APPLICATION: Take as your rule of conduct to do that which you would wish to have done at the moment of death. O death, the judgment you inspire is good. (Ecclus. xli, 3.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My days have gone down like a shadow, and I am withered like the grass. (Ps. ci, 12.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that at the hour of death, time shall be no longer. (Apoc. x, 6.) There will be no time left to correct the errors you have made in your estimation of time and of eternity. Consequently do not now delay to correct them by despising the present. Make it your aim to merit future goods, for death which inevitably comes to every one will surprise you when you least expect it. For at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come. (Luke xii, 40.)

APPLICATION: If death were to come to your bedside and find you in your present state, would you not wish to have yet a little space of time be given you so as to put your conscience in better order? Then do not delay to do so at once. For at that moment time will be no more.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready. (Ps. cvii, 2.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

THURSDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ THE WAGES OF SIN AND REWARD OF VIRTUE

No man can serve two masters. (Matt. vi, 24.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that there are two powerful sovereigns, God and the devil. Each of them invites you to enlist under his standard and each proclaims himself most ready to reward you in return. God will repay you for your good works if you attach yourself to His service. The devil will also repay you for your evil deeds, if you will but serve him by using your natural powers and senses as so many weapons of iniquity.

APPLICATION: So it is that the devil will have you use your tongue for detraction, your ears for vanities, your eyes for curiosity, your will for evil suggestions, and so for the rest. But consider well the difference of their rewards. Try to understand it well now so that you may not err in your choice.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Protect me under the shadow of thy wings, from the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. (Ps. xvi, 8-9.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that the payment the devil will make you if you serve under him, is none other than death. The wages of sin is death. (Rom. xvi, 23.) He does not give one death only but double payment, the death of guilt and that of punishment, and by hastening on the death of the body also. The soul dies through guilt of sin, immortal though she be, because it makes her lose God Who is the life of the soul, just as the soul is the life of the body. Oh deplorable death which deprives the soul of a divine life! And yet it is but just that he who despises his Lord should also lose Him. Such a soul then must, as it merits, be buried in hell, and to this end the devil strives to hasten the death of the body also.

APPLICATION: As it was through the devil that the death of the body was brought into the world, so he uses all the power allowed to him to make it happen sooner. To how many disasters, disorders and infirmities both of soul and body does not the demon subject him who serves under him.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Draw nigh unto my soul and deliver it; save me because of mine enemies. (Ps. lxviii, 19.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY how far better will be the reward of him who enlists in the service of God. He will give you Himself as the life of your soul: He is thy life and the length of thy days. (Deut. xxx, 20.) It also will be a double life, one on earth of grace and of spiritual consolations, the other in heaven of glory where for eternity you will possess the joy of God Himself. Remember too that even as the service of the devil causes and hastens the death of the body, so does the service of God lengthen the days of life: The fear of the Lord shall prolong life. (Prov. x, 27.)

APPLICATION: Behold therefore the rewards of these two sovereign leaders. Thank our Lord from the depths of your heart for having called you to fight under His standard. But even among those calling themselves followers of Christ there are not wanting those who in reality fight under the standard of the demon. Woe be to you, if to your shame you be one of these.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Let thy hand save me for I have chosen thy commandments. (Ps. cxviii, 173.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

FRIDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ TAKING UP OUR CROSS

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. (Matt. xvi, 24.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that for each man, after the loss of innocence and the shipwreck of his sin, the cross of penance is the only plank of salvation. It is called the wood of life (Prov. iii, 18.) because in it alone lies our hope of salvation, and he who does not cling firmly to it will be engulfed and perish. It is as when a ship is going to pieces in mid-ocean, and there is no other hope for the unhappy passengers but to seize some piece of floating wood. For which they struggle among themselves in order to grasp and lay firm hold of it.

APPLICATION: Happy are you if you understand that the cross means all this to you also, and if instead of leaving it to others you go in search of it for yourself. You fail to reflect upon this truth, and so instead of seeking it you push it from you by flying suffering, mortification, humiliation and all that goes to constitute a true penitent. Be assured that just as contemning and flying from the cross is rather a sign of ultimate ruin, so in like manner the embracing of it is a sign of salvation: It is the tree of life to them that lay hold on it. (Prov. iii, 18.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Behold they that shall depart from thee shall perish. (Ps. lxxii, 27.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that in time of shipwreck it is not enough to seize a plank. One must lay fast hold of it, for he who has not the courage to struggle against the angry waves will be lost as if he had never grasped the plank at all. And so it is with the cross. Of what avail is it that you lovingly embrace it for a while, if you allow temptations to overcome you and make you abandon it? Blessed is he who shall retain it. (Prov. iii, 18.) Oh how many there are who embrace the cross of Christian perfection, but how few who perseveringly hold on to it!

APPLICATION: When God in His mercy called you to a better life, you embraced the cross with courage and perhaps too with joy, even exclaiming with St. Paul: God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Gal. vi, 14.) Consider now how far you have persevered in that good sentiment, for it will be of little advantage to you to have embraced the cross if you do not hold fast to it even to the end.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Mine eyes have sent forth springs of water, because they have not kept thy laws. (Ps. cxiii, 136.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that these words, the wood of life, are rightly applied to the mystery of the cross, because at all times the true wisdom of the faithful consists in loving and embracing the cross of Christ, Should you but remain firm in seeking for nothing but the cross, leaving to others to seek for ease and honour, you would be sure of attaining to paradise and even a high degree of holiness.

APPLICATION: Choose therefore for yourself that which the world rather shuns, after the example set you by Jesus Christ on the cross. Do not doubt then but that you will be carried into port far more securely and with greater ease than the wise and prudent, the learned and the lettered men of the world.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I have inclined my heart to fulfill thine ordinances for ever, because of the reward. (Ps. cxviii, 112.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

SATURDAY AFTER SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY ~ FOLLY OF WORLDLINESS

Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? (Luke xii, 20.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that the prosperous sinner, who lives happy in the riches and abundance of this world’s goods, is often called in Holy Scripture by the name of fool. And well does he deserve this name, for being in the position to purchase for himself the glory of paradise and to show his gratitude to his divine benefactor, by giving part of his goods to the poor and in using them for other good purposes, he on the contrary only disposes of them to offend his Lord more grievously and merit for himself more rigorous punishment.

APPLICATION: Look well into your heart and see if there lurks therein any envy for such a truly pitiable  form of happiness, which merits rather your deepest commiseration.

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

CONSIDER SECONDLY how our Lord concludes this parable of the rich man by saying, So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich towards God. (ibid. 21.) What then will the boasting of riches avail him at such a moment? What folly therefore to be dazzled by the apparent happiness of such fools and to be enamoured of their false prosperity! Envy not the man who prospers in his way. (Ps. xxxvi, 7.) The seeming happiness of the sinner is no good sign, and when continuous it is a worse sign still. It is often a proof that God bears with the bad man in this life, and will punish him more severely in the next.

APPLICATION: It follows in consequence that the more such a one seems to you deserving of being envied for his flow of prosperity, the less you should envy him, reflecting on the doom which awaits him: As the flower of the grass he shall pass away. (James i, 10.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The senseless and the fool shall perish together, and they shall leave their riches to strangers. (Ps. xlviii, 11.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY what is said in the Book of Proverbs (i, 32) : The prosperity of fools shall destroy them. So it will be for those who lay up treasures for themselves. Riches have abounded, their hearts were set upon them and lo! In a moment they are all come to naught, There remains only the bitter regret: What hath pride profited us? Or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? (Wisd. v, 8.)

APPLICATION: When therefore you see men in the midst of their pomp and grandeur, repeat to yourself: Envy not the glory and riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not what his ruin shall be. (Ecclus. ix, 16.) Run not the risk of becoming affected towards or of envying their false happiness and wretched prosperity.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. (Ps. lxi, 11.)

+ + + + + + + JMJ + + + + + + +

+++AMDG+++