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THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE RULER’S SON

(Read John iv, 46-53 .)

Importune means to beg, urge, or solicit persistently or troublesomely; demand with urgency or persistence

CONSIDER FIRSTLY why Jesus had previously acceded to the Centurion’s request to go to his house and heal his servant who was grievously ill, and now delayed, when besought by a ruler to go to his mansion in order to heal his own dying son. St. Gregory says that the reason was to confound our pride. For this vice makes men run quickly when called to serve an illustrious person, but moves them not to help the poor and neglected, who are so much dearer to God.

APPLICATION: Such distinctions are contrary to all true charity. We should see in our neighbour the work and the image of God, and not regard the mere exterior value of honours and riches. There is no respect of persons (Rom. ii, 11) with those who, in serving their neighbour, wish only to serve God for God. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord is in his holy temple: the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes look on the poor man: his eyelids try the sons of men. The Lord trieth the just and the wicked. (Ps. x, 5-6.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY another reason why our Lord would not go to the ruler’s house. It was to correct the imperfection of his faith. He thought that Jesus was indeed a great prophet chosen of God to work great miracles, but he did not believe Him to be at the same time God Who was present everywhere. Hence he deemed that His bodily presence was necessary in order to bring back health to his dying son. 

APPLICATION: Behold one of the principal obstacles and reasons why your prayers also are not answered, namely, the weakness and imperfection of your faith. Faith is the first step by which man approaches God. It is also the first thing that is needed in order to obtain grace. Strive ini your prayer to re-animate and purify your faith, so that it may become real confidence as well, by begging it of our Lord: Lord, help my unbelief. (Mark ix, 23.)

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: They believed his words: and they sang his praises. (Ps.cv, 12.) 

CONSIDER THIRDLY that Jesus at the beginning repulsed the ruler’s request, so that, by more humble perseverance in asking the grace which he needed, he might merit it the more. Constancy in asking grace is so pleasing to God that, on account of it, He forgives all our defects in the manner of asking for it, and makes us obtain that which we do not deserve. For God was never known to repulse anyone who earnestly importuned Him in prayer, as we may gather from the words, Although he will not arise and give it him because he is his friend; yet because of his importunity he will give it. (Luke xi, 8.)

APPLICATION: Learn therefore to importune God in your prayers humbly, earnestly and perseveringly. Then you will certainly obtain your petition, if it be for the good of your soul, or some greater blessing will be given you.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day and in the night, before thee. (Ps. lxxxvii, 2.)

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MONDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ OBEDIENCE TO LAWFUL AUTHORITY

Yea, Father, for so hath it seemed good in thy sight. (Matt. xi, 26.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that in order to be truly obedient, it is not enough that you should perform what is ordered, because the thing is to your liking, or because you fear punishment, or hope for some advantage, You should do it because you are so commanded, conforming yourself to the will of your lawful superior not only in the action itself, but also in your own will. For true obedience consists in making your will one with that of him who commands.

APPLICATION: In order to do this, we should strive to persuade ourselves that our superior is right in what he orders. This does not prevent us from representing and difficulty we may find in the matter. However after having once represented it, we should not make any attempt to wrest and force the superior’s will to our own.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thou art just, O Lord: and thy judgments is right. (Ps. cxviii, 137.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that Samuel says, in the Third Book of Kings, that rebellion against the judgments of superiors is like the sin of witchcraft. He who thus rebels, sets himself up to conjecture and to divine, and to make of himself a prophet and a diviner. Whereas if you conform yourself to the judgment of your superior in all that is not sin, you are sure to please God and to do what is best. Your actions performed in obedience become products of a union of your human will with the divine will. But this may not be so if you follow your own judgment even when you perform actions otherwise praiseworthy, such as those of penance and devotion.

APPLICATION: May God grant that at your death He may not have to say to you as He did to the Hebrews: Who required these things at your hands? (Isa. I, 12.) How often do you neglect the certain good required by obedience, for the uncertain good of acting according to your own caprice! How often do you not make yourself a prophet and a diviner of what is best for you, and how often do you rebel against your superior!

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. (Ps. xcvi, 2.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY how Samuel declares the refusal to obey to be like the crime of idolatry. (Ibid.) The reason is because he who disobeys, and s determined to go his own way, recognises his own will as the supreme lord of all his actions. This supreme dominion is to be attributed to God alone, Who as regards yourself has communicated it to your superiors: He that heareth you heareth me. (Luke x, 16.) Therefore to divert an attribute from him whom God has given it in order to transfer it to your own will, is to make an idol of yourself. You set up one altar against another; you prefer your will to the divine will by making it your first rule of conduct.

APPLICATION: Consider therefore what a serious fault is opposition to the judgment of superiors, due to the desire to follow your own. Still more serious is it for you to try and bend the will of him, who governs you in the place of God, to your own will. For thus he has to act the part of a subject rather than that of a superior.  

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his words, hearkening to the voice of his orders. (Ps. cii, 20.)

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TUESDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ FIDELITY IN LITTLE THINGS

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater; and he that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater. (Luke xvi, 10.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that one of the greatest deceptions in the spiritual life is to desire to do great things , which most probably will never be done, and to neglect meanwhile the little points of your daily duty in that place or office where God has put you. This longing to do great things, although it may be a sign of fervour, may sometimes do great harm to you. It will often distract your heart and your mind from that which you ought to be doing daily. Moreover, it may often fill you with pride, making you think yourself already rich in virtue.

APPLICATION: First accustom yourself to do the little things well, that so you may afterwards aspire to greater ones. For if you are faithful as far as lies in your power in little matters, you may hope that you will be faithful in the greater.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth. (Ps. xxxiii, 2.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY how important and meritorious is this fidelity in doing little things well. For these are so frequent and so continuous, they are liable to be very tiresome to nature and very opposed to self-love. We find no food for vanity in them, and consequently we gain great merit from them. They form in us a good habit of overcoming the repugnances of nature, whereas great occasions are very rare and we cannot acquire a habit by performing only a few acts. Moreover vainglory easily enters into the performance of great things. 

APPLICATION: Strive then to put up with some sharp words, to overlook the bad treatment which you sometimes have to experience. Perform punctually and diligently all those lesser duties that your state requires of you, that so you may gain much profit thereby: He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater. (Luke xvi, 10.) But if you are not faithful in the little things neither will you be in those that are great.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me: the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me. (Ps. c. 6.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that he, who does not value the smaller good, cannot hope to do well when greater opportunities arise. So too may he fear to fall into grievous sin, who is not careful not to fall into small sins. He that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater. This fear of falling into grave sin is not so much for him, who occasionally falls into involuntarily into venial sins, through the weakness of corrupt nature, as for him, who does not refrain from frequently and voluntarily committing venial sins, without any fear or remorse of conscience. For a bad habit such as this, joined to corrupt nature, makes it very easy to fall into mortal sin.

APPLICATION: Consequently, if you, with  your eyes wide open, let yourself be habitually drawn into little sins such as ambition, sensuality, or avarice, you will easily and gradually become blind, you will shortly pass on from little to great sins, from venial to mortal. He that is unjust in that which is little is unjust also in that which is greater. It does not say, shall be, but is, because grave sin, although in the future, is now really so near that our Lord speaks of it as actually present. Ah! Should you fall into mortal sin, God grant that the fall may not then be also irreparable

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: My soul hath longed greatly to desire thy justifications at all times. (Ps. cxviii, 20.)

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WEDNESDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ CONFESSING THAT WE ARE SINNERS

O God be merciful to me a sinner! I say to you this man went down into his house justified rather than the other. (Luke xviii, 14.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY how much reason there is that you should have these words of the poor publican often in your mouth. Often you complain that God tries and afflicts you. It seems to you that He presses His hand too heavily upon you. Yet holy Job in far greater afflictions thus cried out: I have sinned and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I deserved. (Job xxxiii, 27.)

APPLICATION: Change then your attitude towards our good God and say rather that, by these trials which He sends you, by these infirmities, by these humiliations, that seem so hard to your self-love, He only allows you to pay a very small part of what you owe the divine justice, to atone for your sins both of omission and of commission.  

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee. (Ps. l, 6.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that, in order to say these words and really mean them, you must really believe them, and this you cannot do unless you strive to understand well and realise how ill you have behaved towards God in the past. How ungrateful you have often been for His goodness in preserving you amid the many perils of the world! How often you have failed to correspond to the obligations of your state in life! How backward and remiss you have been in the acquisition of virtue!

APPLICATION: After such reflection say sincerely then from your heart; O God be merciful to me a sinner. I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved. For what comparison is there between any adversity that God send you now, and that punishment you have deserved in hell for all eternity.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O Lord, be thou merciful to me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. (Ps. xl, 5.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that each of the lost in hell can say the same words but does not indeed say them, for in hell there is no place for truth. Yet, however much they suffer, they are punished less than they have deserved for one single mortal sin! Consider then whether the trials, with which God afflicts you in this life, are not much less than what you deserve for your many sins. And what are the sufferings of this life in comparison with those of the next life, which God so far has spared you? They are like the picture of a painted fire as compared to a real one. 

APPLICATION: Does it seem to you too much to live here for a short time, in a little or even in much humiliation, you who have deserved to remain for ever under the proud feet of Lucifer? Does it seem to you too painful to be confined to a bed of suffering, you who perhaps should now be burning eternally in the fires of hell? Does it seem to you to be a too unhappy life to be deprived of comforts and to be debarred from pleasures and amusements, you who, like the rich man of the Gospel, would not be able in that prison of fire to find a drop of water wherewith to cool your lips. Reflect on all this, and you will indeed find it easy to say: I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and you will add and I have not received what I have deserved.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. (Ps. xciii, 17.)

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THURSDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ CASTING OUR EYES ON GOD

Look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is at hand. (Luke xxi, 28.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that this world is indeed full of snares laid by the devil. In order not to fall into them you must walk with your eyes fixed, not upon the earth, but lifted up and fixed on God. Servants keep their eyes fixed on their master, and this for three reasons, viz., in order to fulfil his orders, to follow him wherever he leads and to beg his help if they find themselves in necessity or his pardon if they have been in fault. On similar manner you should also keep your eyes and heart, constantly intent on God, so as to obey in all that He requires of you, at the least sign either from Himself or from His ministers.

APPLICATION: Perfect obedience to God and to His representatives, brings the happy privilege of walking in perfect safety where others might easily be lost. What account do you make of this happy privilege which you at all times have? He that keepeth the commandments shall find no evil. (Eccles. Viii, 5.) 

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 servants keep their eyes upon their master in order to follow and attend upon him. So must you do with God. But how can you do this perfectly if you do not keep your eyes turned to Him, thinking to yourself how His divine Son behaved in circumstances similar to yours when living upon earth? If in all your actions you look at the example left you by our Blessed Lord in order to imitate Him, you will be certain never to go wrong. And whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on them. (Gal. vi, 16.)

APPLICATION: Why then do you not set yourself to meditate seriously on the actions of Christ as described in the holy Gospels? These are meant to serve you as a sure guide and rule of life, just as the navigator’s chart serves to guide him safely and happily into port.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Behold as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters; so are the eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us. (Ps. cxxii, 2.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that servants keep their eyes on their masters, either to seek their help or crave their pardon. So must you do with God. For your security from falling into the snares of your enemies will come, more than by anything else, from continually asking for help in your needs and for pardon for your faults. If you neglect to ask for this aid, you will not obey His divine will, nor will you conform yourself to the example of His divine Son.

APPLICATION: Confess yourself to be guilty, to be poor and in peril, to be therefore incapable of attaining by yourself the blessedness of heaven. Never tire then of keeping your eyes fixed on God and His divine Son. On Him depends all you may ever hope for of good both here and hereafter. Say then: My eyes are ever towards the Lord. (Ps. xxiv, 15.)  

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I set the Lord always in my sight, for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved. (Ps. xv, 8.)

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FRIDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ CHRIST DELIVERED HIMSELF FOR ME

Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John xv, 13.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY what St. Paul says (Gal. ii, 20), I live in the faith of the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself for me. To live in the faith of the Son of God means that you so trust in Jesus Christ, that you feel sure that, while you let yourself be ruled by Him, all will be well with you.

APPLICATION: Though God sends you suffering, sickness, humiliation, desolation, yet you must always throw yourself completely into the arms of that same Lord, Who has so loved you and Who in the end will make all things work for your good. I live in faith.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS:The Lord is my light and my salvation: Whom shall I fear? If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. (Ps. xxvi, 1-3.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY to what an extent Jesus Christ has loved you since He delivered Himself for you. He Himself willed to be in person the one great victim offered for your salvation. He was betrayed by Judas and given into the hands of His enemies because He delivered Himself. And all this He did lovingly for you. He loved me and delivered himself for me. He died as much for you alone as for all men, so that in the act of dying He thought of you, prayed for you, and offered to the Father that sacrifice of the Cross for you. And as He came down from heaven to die for all men, so if it had been necessary He would have descended for you alone.

APPLICATION: See then whether He really loves you or not. See whether you have not just reason to show trust in Him, by submitting yourself completely in all things to His dispositions in your regard.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: The Lord lifteth up them that are casted down: The Lord loveth the just. (Ps. cxlv, 8.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY what great wrong you do our Lord, Who gave  Himself up entirely for you to the death of the cross, if you do not give yourself entirely to Him by casting yourself into the arms of His loving providence. But, in order to give yourself entirely to Him, you must surrender yourself up completely to His will as a victim of obedience.

APPLICATION: Let Him then dispose of you in everything, either Himself immediately, or by means of His ministers. Do not seek to know how things will turn out for you, but resolve to live in faith as a babe on its mother’s breast, where it reposes peacefully and is nourished. 

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? Thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee. Thine arm is an arm of might. (Ps. lxxxviii, 9, 14.) 

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SATURDAY AFTER THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST ~ THE FEAR OF THE LORD

Fear ye him who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. (Luke xii, 5.)

CONSIDER FIRSTLY that David, whilst confessing to have feared and to fear still, none the less begged of God fresh fear. Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear. (Ps. cxviii, 120.) He desired that the fear he had in spirit should abound also in his flesh so that, bedsides keeping the superior part of his soul subject to God, it might also keep in subjection the inferior part that rebelled.

APPLICATION: Blessed also would you be if you could attain the same end. You must however always continue to beseech God that He would instil His holy fear even into your very senses, your eyes, your tongue, your ears, into all your feelings and your whole self, so that your rebellious senses and self may not rise up against Him. A material piercing passes from the body to the heart, but the spiritual from the heart to the body. The saints, when they thoroughly crucified their spirit by rendering it obedient to God, were instant also in crucifying and subjecting their flesh. Do not wonder that your flesh is increasingly rebellious, for you do not sufficiently fear God in spirit, and so you cannot come to fear Him with your flesh either, for it is always the last to lay down its arms and yield.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear: for I am afraid of thy judgment. (Ps. cxviii, 120.)

CONSIDER SECONDLY that the reason why David begged this holy fear was because he dreaded the divine judgments. for I am afraid of thy judgment. (Ibid..) BY the divione judgments we may understand the divine commandments, or we may take them to mean the judgments of the counsels of God which are inscrutable. They may also mean the rigorous judgment of God will pronounce on every one of us, when we come to pass out of this life. Therefore David asked God that He would suppress the rebellious rising of the flesh, because he feared lest it should make him fall into sin. He knew the rigorous judgment that God would pass on every thought, on every word, on every least action of his.

APPLICATION: What say you, who fear so little to lose the grace of God, who so easily promised yourself final perseverance and who make so little account of all the evil suggestions that assault you? Safety does not come from presumption; it comes from the holy fear of God.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: Thy justice is as the mountains of God: thy judgments are a great deep. O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! (Ps. xxxv, 7, 8.)

CONSIDER THIRDLY that you should not only beg from God with the greatest earnestness this subjection of the flesh, Pierce  my flesh with thy fear, but that you must also co-operate with God in order that you may obtain it. Thus did holy David, who afflicted his body with vigils, with fasting, with hair-cloth, with ashes, and other austerities.

APPLICATION: If you do not act thus your flesh, far from being crucified, will be rebellious against God and against His holy commandments.

AFFECTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS: I covered my soul in fasting: I made haircloth my garment. (Ps. lxviii, 11, 12.)

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