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THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE GREAT COMMANDMENT: THE GOOD SAMARITAN

(Read Luke x, 23-37.)

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY what God desires of you by this precept. He commends that your heart, that is your will, be turned towards Him; that your desires follow no other law than the law of God. In one word, that you desire nothing better than to be united to God; that you rejoice in nothing else than the honour of God; that you grieve for nothing except what offends God; that you fear nothing but to incur the anger of God. Moreover, He desires that all the members of your body be employed in promoting the glory of God, and that your whole mind be directed towards God, so that whether you study, or whatever you do, you aim only at pleasing God. This precept is first in importance, because it is the end of all the other precepts, and above all the others in excellence. It raises us to real and intimate friendship with God.

APPLICATION: If God had not commanded you to love Him, you should unceasingly beseech Him to permit you to do so, so great is the privilege and the worth of this love. And how shall you not then love Him, now that He commands you to love Him?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord keepeth all them that love him: but all the wicked he will destroy. (Ps. cxliv, 20.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that you cannot perfectly fulfill this precept on earth, but only in heaven. Nevertheless, you should strive to fulfill it at least in part, by placing God before you as your final end in all circumstances, and above all things. Think of the miser who loves his money as his final end. Whatever happens he thinks of putting his treasure into a place of safety, and never consents to be parted from it. Think even how much thought, labour, industry, and longing are directed towards keeping and adding to his money.

APPLICATION: Thus on a false god, such as is money, a miser ends by concentrating his whole being, esteeming that in his gold he has virtually all his good. Why cannot you succeed in doing as much for that true God, in Whom truly you find all your good?

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. (Ps. xvii, 2.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY the principal means you should make use of to attain this love. One is to strive after an intimate knowledge of God by the consideration of His excellences. The saints loved Him much because they know Him face to face, as it were. Strive therefore at least to know Him from afar off, in the benefits He has conferred upon you, in all His works of nature, of grace and of glory. The second is that you should exercise yourself in frequent acts of the love of God, and accustom yourself to do all your actions for love of God. The third and last is that in prayer you should beseech God to give you the grace to love Him. For God Who loves you infinitely desires nothing so much as to be loved in return by you.

APPLICATION: God loves you without any interest for Himself, and you too must strive to love Him without any thought of self-interest. Make use even of the fear of punishment and the hope of reward to incite you to love Him more. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I will extol thee, O God my king, and I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and for ever (Ps. cxliv, 1.)

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MONDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE COMMANDMENT LIKE TO THE FIRST

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

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that the precept of loving your neighbour goes along with that of the love of God. The love of God is called the first and the greatest commandment; the love of neighbour is called the second, because we ought to love our neighbour for God’s sake and God for Himself, and not for the sake of our neighbour. For the rest these two precepts are so united together that one cannot love one’s neighbour if one does not love God, nor love God if one does not love one’s neighbour. Hence they may be said not only to have been born together but also to die together.

APPLICATION: Can you have the heart then to set so little value on this precept? Our Lord’s words are unmistakable: And the second is like unto the first.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? . . .He. . . who hath not used deceit in his tongue, nor hath done evil to his neighbour. (Ps. xiv, 1, 3.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that the love of one’s neighbour consists in wishing him well in souls and in body. Then it is that you love him as yourself, when you desire the good of both, as you do for yourself. This good you should desire for your neighbour precisely because he is your neighbour, so that he may be helped by you to attain to eternal beatitude along with you. Therefore you must desire this good for all men be they great or little, be they good or bad, benefactors or enemies; that so all may be your companions hereafter in heaven.

APPLICATION: If, therefore, you exclude any of these from your love, it is not possible for really true love of your neighbour to be in you, even as one who denies but one dogma of the faith taught by the Church cannot have true faith. Yet how many boast of loving their neighbour, whilst they refuse this love to perhaps more than one. For to these they do not wish that good, which the law of charity requires us to have for all.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I meditated also on thy commandments, which I loved. (Ps. cxviii, 47.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY that there are three stages in this love for our neighbour. The first is that concerning him you never admit any thought that is unjust or unreasonable. For by doing so you would not only not love him, but would rather show your hatred of him. The second that you wish well to your neighbour for his own sake. Therefore when you love him either for the pleasure of his conversation, or for the good you desire from your connexion [means a relation between things or events] with him, though you do not thereby transgress the precept, at least you do not fulfill it. For you do not then love him as your neighbour, or as one like yourself, but merely in view of your own self and for your own advantage. Thirdly, you should not wish well to your neighbour with cold and indifferent will. But with one that is fervent and efficacious. In charity unfeigned. ( 2 Cor. vi, 6.)

APPLICATION: How solicitous you are in order to procure whatever you imagine to be for your own profit and advantage! You should do as much for your neighbour if you love him as yourself. But how rarely are any to be found in the world who fulfill this great precept? Many love their neighbour with an interested love, and most with a love that may be said to be more dead than alive. Consider seriously to which of these classes your love belongs.  

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk; for I have lifted up my soul to thee. (Ps. cxlii, 8.)

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TUESDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

This is my beloved son in whom I’m well please. Hear ye him. (Matt. xvii, 5.)

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that Jesus Christ is the Son of the divine Father and loved by Him for His own sake, for He is His Son by nature. But the just are adopted sons and therefore loved by the Father for the sake of Jesus, Who has raised them to be His brethren and partakers even of His divine nature. The Father has given all His power without limitation or reserve to Jesus as a sign of His love. Hence as we have been raised by Christ to sonship through grace, so likewise we receive from Christ every other gift which is proper and proportioned to our high dignity.

APPLICATION: With what affection then should you love this Son Who is so beloved of the Father, Who has been so loving to you as to make Himself your brother, and to raise you to sonship with God! Rejoice with Him in this glorious title of beloved and in the glory that He enjoys at the right hand of the Father. Strive to the utmost to be united by love to Christ, Who has done so much for you, and from Whom alone you can hope for your greatest good of all.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: God will save Sion, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. (Ps. lxvii, 36. 37.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that the Father by This is my beloved son in whom I’m well please, would signify  that He is not only pleased to make to dwell all the plenitude of the Godhead in the sacred humanity, but that He is pleased to do through His Son all the good He desires for all men. He hath purposed to re-establish all things in Christ (Eph. I, 9, 10), rescuing men from the slavery of sin and bestowing on them grace and glory. Now is it not the highest marvel that the Father should have been pleased to give His beloved Son as Saviour for us miserable creatures, without any advantage on His part, and without any merits on ours? Such are the wonders of divine love!

APPLICATION: Have you not yet learned how to love Him Who has so loved you? The love of God towards you is made known by what He has done for you. You should also show your love for God by what you do for Him.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to me? (Ps. cxv, 12.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY the consequence of this loving decree of the Father that all your good should come through the hands of Hi s divine Son, with what confidence you should have recourse to Christ in all your needs to obtain all that you desire. But if you desire Christ should hear you, you must hear Him, and do all that He your Master teaches you. To obtain benefits from earthly princes it is necessary to present your request, to redouble your solicitations; but in order to obtain favours and graces from Christ, it behoves you rather to listen to Him than top supplicate; Hear ye him.

APPLICATION: Therefore if you will give your mind to all that He teaches you by His doctrine, and by His examples, doing all that He asks of you, you will deserve to be promptly heard. He will pour upon you the fullness of His treasures. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I cried to thee, O Lord: I said, thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living. (Ps. cxli, 6.) 

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WEDNESDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE DAY OF THE LORD

The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not. . (Luke xii, 46.)

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that in Scripture three days are said to be in a special manner days of the Lord. The first is that of the universal judgment: the great day of the Lord. The second is that of the particular judgment. The day of the Lord shall come like a thief. The third is that day of tribulation, which is a judgment previous to the particular one, by which God tries a man to prove whether he is faithful or not. Every man’s work shall be made manifest, says the Apostle (1 Cor. iii, 13); and of the time God has chosen to make known what a man is, the Apostle says: The day of the Lord shall declare it.

APPLICATION: Think now, whilst there still is time, what work will be shown to be on each of these three days of judgment.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: God is the Judge. One he putteth down, and another he lifteth up. (Ps. lxxiv, 8.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that at the day of the universal judgment every man’s work shall be manifest. All the most secret actions must come to light before the eyes of the whole universe. It will then avail you nought, to have now used so many artifices to hide the malice of your heart and actions from the eyes of those among whom you live. At the particular judgment too his works shall be manifest. Then shall the poor man who was abandoned and neglected like Lazarus, be brought and laid to rest in Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man who was courted, flattered, and envied, shall be dragged down by the demons into hell, with no hope of ever changing his lot through-out all eternity. The third judgment, when his works shall be manifest, is the day of tribulation in which God tries a man in order to make him know what he is. Are you not often a different person in affliction from what you show yourself in prosperity? In this consist the judgment of God makes of you in tribulation.

APPLICATION: Reflect now what role you will play in these great acts. If in trials and in sickness you are not strong and faithful, you will not be among the number of those whom it is written: God hath tried them and found them to be worthy of himself. (Wis. Iii, 5.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord will not cast off his people; neither will he forsake his own inheritance until justice be turned into judgment, and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. (Ps. xciii, 15.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY that all these three judgments are said by the Apostle to be made of fire. The fire shall try of what sort it is (ibid); just as by fire true gold is distinguished from the false. At the day of universal judgment, the fire that will devastate the universe will likewise separate the reprobate from the elect. The latter will receive no hurt whilst the reprobate will be severely proved. In the particular judgment, the fire of purgatory will prove the elect but the fire the fire of hell the reprobate. Finally in the judgment of tribulation, the true gold will be distinguished from the false, the good from the bad. For by the fire of suffering and affliction, the good will stand firm and resist, the evil will give way and will perish.

APPLICATION: If perchance you feel deeply the affliction by which God tries you, do not be thereby discouraged. It is enough that you remain faithful, not indeed by your strength alone, but by the strength of grace.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: We have passed through the fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into refreshment. (Ps. lxv, 12.)

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THURSDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE THINGS OF GOD

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his justice. (Matt. vi, 33.)

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that if you will distinguish within you the good from the evil and separate the precious from the vile (Jer. xv, 19), attributing to God what comes to you from God, which is the precious, and attribute to yourself what comes from yourself, namely all the vile, then thou shalt be as the mouth of God (ibid.), because thus you will always utter the truth. All men are called liars. All men are liars, says the Psalmist (Ps. cxv, 11), and that because they attribute to themselves that which is not theirs.

APPLICATION: What is it you possess of things that are precious? Is it nobility or talent or knowledge? All these are God’s gifts. Much more so are the gifts of grace. Therefore of yourself you possess nothing unless it is sin. Make then the separation by attributing to God that which is God’s , and to yourself that which is yours. If there be any good in your action, say with all your heart, that it is not you that do it but God, because you never do anything of yourself alone but what is bad.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou, O Lord, do with me for thy name’s sake: because they mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me. (Ps. cviii, 21.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY a second sense, in which these words are used, namely that if wisely you separate that which is worthy of value in this world from that which deserves contempt, you will be like the mouth of God. By the mouth of men, he that is rich, powerful, and has means to enjoy himself is accounted happy: They have called the people happy that hath these things. (Ps. cxliii, 15.) In the language of God he that has placed in Him all his contentment is called happy: Happy is that people whose God is the Lord. (Ibid.)

APPLICATION: How do you speak of these things? Have you yet learned to make this necessary separation, and to prize no other good than the grace of God. The other benefits are only in so far as we despise them, that so we may obtain grace. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance, and in thy name they shall rejoice all the day. (Ps. lxxxviii, 16, 17.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY a third sense, which is that if you would draw souls from sin, you will separate the precious from the vile, and you will thus be the mouth of God Himself, for thus will God speak by your mouth. This is the office that Jesus filled on earth, acting as the mouth-piece of Hid heavenly Father. This the apostles afterwards did and all who have followed them.

APPLICATION: Strive yourself also to do this faithfully, as far as your condition and your capacity permit you. If it be not yours to preach from the pulpit, or go to the missions to rescue souls from sin and from hell, do not at least neglect to rescue them by your good example and by good counsels in familiar discourse. These oftentimes sink more deeply into the heart than does the word of the preacher. 

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.)

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FRIDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE CROSS OF CHRIST

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

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that when St. Paul could glory in nothing but in the cross of Jesus Christ (Gal. vi, 14.) he might indeed have justly gloried in his wisdom, in his piety, and also in the supernatural power given him to work even miracles. And yet in nothing but the Cross did he glory. Blessed too will you be if one day you come to glory as he did!

APPLICATION: You professedly glory in the cross of Christ as a Christian, as a follower and disciple of Christ crucified. But how far do you glory in being crucified on the cross after the example of your divine Master, in utter destitution, in supreme sorrow, in utter contempt? The world places its glory in riches, in ease, in high positions. The glory of him who truly follows Christ has to be entirely the contrary. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. (Ps. xxi, 7.)

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that this glory really means, as the Apostle says, that the world is crucified to you, and you to the world. It means that you and the world have sentiments contrary to one another. The world laughs at you because you care not for those good things that it desires, and you on the contrary despise the world. The world neither loves nor appreciates you; neither do you love or appreciate the world. 

APPLICATION: This is the perfect crucifixion that the Apostle confessed and gloried in, and that you must imitate according to your state in life. So may be verified in you the conclusion which the Apostle draws, Whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on them and mercy. (Ibid. 16.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and shall tell of thy power . . . Thy Kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. (Ps. cxliv, 11, 13.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY that inn order to attain this crucifixion it is necessary that the world should be dead to you, and that you should be dead to the world. The world dies to you when you actually renounce all its goods, for it has then nothing more to attract you. You die to the world when you renounce it with your heart and affections, because you can no more be attracted by it and you are consequently as one dead to it.

APPLICATION: Consider to what extent you have really renounced with your heart’s affection the world and its riches, of ease and of position. True it is, that you can never reach this blessed crucifixion and blessed death except by means of a true and strong love for Jesus crucified. This alone will detach you entirely from all things of the world. Love is strong as death. (Cant. viii, 6.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord is the strength of his people and the protector of the salvation of his anointed. (Ps. xxvii, 8.) 

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SATURDAY AFTER THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ GOD RESISTS THE PROUD

Learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart. (Matt. xi, 29.)

 

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that as a man resists another who would take from him his possessions, his reputation, or his life, so God resists the proud because he robs God of what belongs to Him alone. Of such an offence you are guilty when, because of talents and gifts of virtue, you give way to pride, you despise others and you glorify and boast of yourself, whereas all are gifts of God! What hast thou that thou hast not received? (1 Cor. iv, 7.)

APPLICATION: If then they are all God’s gifts why are you vain? It is true that in acts of virtue you concur with your own free-will, but this concurrence is also God’s gift. For it is God who worketh in you. (Phil. ii, 13.) Your body concurs in the act of your senses, and yet it would be foolish for you to attribute these acts merely to it and not to the soul that governs it. So also your free will without grace is like a body without a soul.

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

 

CONSIDER SECONDLY that God willingly gives the riches of His grace to the humble. For they are faithful depositaries who do not steal or usurp, prizing what is given them in grateful homage to Him Who gave it. He knows that He is putting His gifts into good hands, and that all will be returned again to Him like the rivers that return whence they came forth. Oh how just it is that God should be jealous of a glory which belongs to Him alone!

APPLICATION: When you humble yourself you utter the truth, and with this God is pleased. When you are proud you are a liar, and therefore are you hateful to Him.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud. (Ps. xvii, 28.)

 

CONSIDER THIRDLY what you have to do when you undertake some difficult enterprise for the glory of God. You have first humbly to acknowledge your own nothingness, and your own weakness. Then persuade yourself that, just because of this acknowledgment, God will condescend to work in you. For it will appear all the more clear that it is He alone Who works through so worthless an instrument.

APPLICATION: With such strong faith as this, you will overcome all the difficulties in the way because you have the Omnipotent with you: And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies. (Job. Xxii, 25.) 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord is my firmament, my refuge and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector and the horn of my salvation and my support. (Ps. xvii, 3.)

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