November is the month dedicated to the Holy Souls, and the virtue for the month traditionally is Charity. In consideration of this, I want to share November 1st reflection/meditation from “A Year With the Saints.” May it be a source of inspiration and motivation for us to cultivate Love for God above all.
My God and my Lord! what need was there of commanding us to love Thee? Art Thou not most lovely in Thy infinite perfections? And for the infinite love Thou bearest to us, dost Thou not deserve our love? How, then, is it possible that anyone should not love Thee? If there is such a person, it must be because he has not deserved to know Thee. For, a soul that knows God, cannot help loving Him, and loving Him in proportion to his knowledge of Him; so that if he loves Him but little, it is a sign that he knows Him but little; and the more his knowledge increases, the more his love will go on growing. ~St. Teresa of Avila
A very elevated soul once gave her director the following account of her interior: “A great flame of love springs up in my heart, Father, when I clearly perceive, in the time of meditation, how the most holy Humanity of the Lord shows how much He deserves our love, by that which He bears to us, while He loves us even as He loves Himself. He manifests this to us: 1.) By the great things He has done, and is doing, for us. 2.) By the great desire He has to be loved by us, which He proves by so many extraordinary devices of love, and by remaining, as it were, in a state of violence, because He wishes to communicate Himself and make Himself known to us, that He may be loved by us; but as He finds no access, by reason of our want of proper dispositions, He cannot do it. 3.) By the patience with which He bears the coolness He meets with from creatures He has loved so much, and which has no effect upon His unalterable constancy of love. “Under these beams of light, the soul sends forth various affections—-sometimes of wonder that the Divine Majesty should be willing that the creature be loved with an infinite love, and the Creator and Lord with a finite and limited love; sometimes of love, but an excessive love, which devours and consumes it, and it would desire the heart of a Seraph to blaze and burn with the love of its God; nay rather would desire to love Him with that same love with which it sees itself loved by Him; and again of insufferable affliction at seeing itself destitute of the knowledge and love of God, which are the height of its perfection, and which would raise it to the Divine Majesty whom it so earnestly desires. This pain is increased by the new perception with which the Lord makes it understood that not loving Him is a positive slight to His power, wisdom, love, goodness, and so many admirable things which He has done and suffered for it. Oh, where can it rest and how not sink into nothingness beneath this light! I assure you, Father, that when God placed before my eyes the great contempt I had shown to my Love, when I did not love Him, I do not know how I remained alive. Surely, if He had not suspended my consciousness, I should have died on the spot.
“Finally, the soul is enkindled with ardent longings and desires that its Beloved may be known, and sends up aspirations and ejaculations to that Infinite Goodness, that it may make itself known in order to be loved. It professes its readiness to cooperate in the aid and advancement of souls, in whatever way may be pleasing to the Divine Majesty. It was thus that the loving Lord revealed Himself to me, His most vile and unworthy servant. And when He mercifully imparted to me any of these graces outside of the time of prayer, as when I was conversing with others, or at work, I fell into a trance and was so far unconscious that when the Sisters spoke to me I did not know what they said, though I always understood the Superioress if she required anything as matter of obedience.”
The blessed Jacopone was so much affected at seeing so many lose their souls by offenses against God in the Carnival time that he went about crying, “Amor non amatul; amor non amatul; quia non cognitur—-Love is not loved, Love is not loved, because it is not known.”
St. Philip Neri, too, often exclaimed: “O Lord, I do not love Thee, because I do not know Thee.”
SERMON 28 of St. Alphonsus de Liguori for PENTECOST SUNDAY. – ON CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD
JESUS CHRIST was given to us, by God, as a saviour and as a master. Hence he came on earth principally to teach us, not only by his words but also by his own example, how we are to love God our supreme good: hence, as we read in this days Gospel, he said to his disciples: “That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I.” To show the world the love I bear to the Father, I will execute all his commands. In another place he said: ”I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John vi. 38.) Devout souls, if you love God and desire to become saints, you must seek his will, and wish what he wishes. St. Paul tells us, that the divine love is poured into our souls by means of the Holy Ghost. “The charity of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.” (Hom. v. 5.) If, then, we wish for the gift of divine love, we must constantly beseech the Holy Ghost to make us know and do the will of God. Let us continually implore his light to know, and his strength to fulfill the divine will. Many wish to love God, but they, at the same time, wish to follow their own, and not his will. Hence I shall show today, in the first point, that your sanctification consists entirely in conformity to the will of God; and in the second, I shall show how, and in what, we should in practice conform ourselves to the divine will.
“The saints in heaven love God perfectly. In what, I ask, does the perfection of their love consist? It consists in an entire conformity to the divine will.”
First Point Our sanctification consists entirely in conformity to the will of God.
1. It is certain that our salvation consists in loving God. A soul that does not love God is not living, but dead. “He that loveth not, abideth in death.” (1 John iii. 14.) The perfection of love consists in conforming our will to the will of God. “And life in his good will.” (Ps. xxix. 6.)”Have charity, which is the bond of perfection.” (Col. iii. 14.) According to the Areopagite, the principal effect of love is to unite the wills of lovers, so that they may have but one heart and one will. Hence all our works, communions, prayers, penances, and alms, please God in proportion to their conformity to the divine will; and if they be contrary to the will of God, they are no longer acts of virtue, but defects deserving chastisement. X 2. Whilst preaching one day, Jesus Christ was told that his mother and brethren were waiting for him; in answer he said: “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. xii. 50.) By these words he gave us to understand that he acknowledged as friends and relatives those only who fulfil the will of his Father. X 3. The saints in heaven love God perfectly. In what, I ask, does the perfection of their love consist? It consists in an entire conformity to the divine will. Hence Jesus Christ has taught us to pray for grace to do the will of God on earth, as the saints do it in heaven. ”Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. vi. 10.) Hence St. Teresa says, that” they who practise prayer, should seek in all things to conform their will to the will of God.” In this, she adds, consists the highest perfection. He that practises it in the most perfect manner, shall receive from God the greatest gifts, and shall make the greatest progress in interior life. The accomplishment of the divine will has been the sole end of the saints in the practice of all virtues. Blessed Henry Suson used to say: “I would rather be the vilest man on earth with the will of God, than be a seraph with my own will.”
4. A perfect act of conformity is sufficient to make a person a saint. Behold, Jesus Christ appeared to St. Paul while he was persecuting the Church, and converted him. What did the saint do? He did nothing more than offer to God his will, that he might dispose of it as he pleased. “Lord,” he exclaimed, “what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts ix. 6.) And instantly the Lord declared to Ananias, that Saul was a vessel of election, and apostle of the Gentiles. “This man is a vessel of election to carry my name before the Gentiles.” (Acts ix. 15.) He that gives his will to God, gives him all he has. He that mortifies himself by fasts and penitential austerities, or that gives alms to the poor for God’s sake, gives to God a part of himself and of his goods; but he that gives his will to God, gives him all, and can say: Lord, having given thee my will, I have nothing more to give thee I have given thee all. It is our heart that is, our will that God asks of us. “My son, give me thy heart.” (Prov. xxiii. 26.) Since, then, says the holy Abbot Nilus, our will is so acceptable to God, we ought, in our prayers, to ask of him the grace, not that we may do what he will, but that we may do all that he wishes us to do. Every one knows this truth, that our sanctification consists in doing the will of God; but there is some difficulty in reducing it to practice. Let us, then, come to the second point, in which I have to say many things of great practical utility.
Second Point How, and in what, we ought to practise conformity to the will of God.
5. That we may feel a facility of doing on all occasions the divine will, we must beforehand offer ourselves continually to embrace in peace whatever God ordains or wills. Such was the practice of holy David. “My heart,” he used to say, ”is ready; God! my heart is ready.” (Ps. cvii. 2.) And he continually besought the Lord to teach him to do his divine will. ”Teach me to do thy will.” (Ps. cxlii. 1 0.) He thus deserved to be called a man according to God’s own heart. ”I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills.” (Acts xiii. 2 2.) And why? Because the holy king was always ready to do whatever God wished him to do.
6. St. Teresa offered herself to God fifty times in the day, that he might dispose of her as he pleased, and declared her readiness to emhrace either prosperity or adversity. The perfection of our oblation consists in our offering ourselves to God without reserve. All are prepared to unite themselves to the divine will in prosperity; but perfection consists in conforming to it, even in adversity. To thank God in all things that are agreeable to us, is acceptable to him; but to accept with cheerfulness what is repugnant to our inclinations, is still more pleasing to him. Father M. Avila used to say, that “a single blessed be God, in adversity, is better than six thousand thanksgivings in prosperity.”
7. We should conform to the divine will, not only in misfortunes which come directly from God such as sickness, loss of property, privation of friends and relatives but also in crosses which come to us from men, but indirectly from God such as acts of injustice, defamations, calumnies, injuries, and all other sorts of persecutions. But, you may ask, does God will that others commit sin, by injuring us in our property or in our reputation? No; God wills not their sin; but he wishes us to bear with such a loss and with such a humiliation; and he wishes us to conform, on all such occasions, to his divine will.
8. “Good things and evil… are from God.” (Eccl. xi. 14.) All blessings such as riches and honours and all misfortunes such as sickness and persecutions come from God. But mark that the Scripture calls them evils, only because we, through the want of conformity to the will of God, regard them as evils and misfortunes. But, in reality, if we accepted them from the hands of God with Christian resignation, they should be blessings and not evils. The jewels which give the greatest splendour to the crown of the saints in heaven, are the tribulations which they bore with patience, as coming from the hands of the Lord. On hearing that the Sabeans had taken away all his oxen and asses, holy Job said: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.” (Job i. 21.) He did not say that the Lord gave, and that the Sabeans had taken away; but that the Lord gave, and that the Lord had taken away: and therefore he blessed the Lord, believing that all had happened through the divine will. “As it has pleased the Lord, so it is done: blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Ibid.) Being tormented with iron hooks and burning torches, the holy martyrs Epictetus and Atone said: ”Lord, thy will be done in us.” And their last words were: ”Be blessed, eternal God, for having given us the grace to accomplish thy will.”
9. ”Whatsoever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad.” (Prov. xii. 21.) A soul that loves God is not disturbed by any misfortune that may happen to her. Cesarius relates (lib. x., c. vi.), that a certain monk who did not perform greater austerities than his companions, wrought many miracles. Being astonished at this, the abbot asked him one day what were the works of piety which he practised. He answered, that he was more imperfect than the other monks; but that his sole concern was to conform himself to the divine will. Were you displeased, said the abbot, with the person who injured us so grievously a few days ago? No, father, replied the monk; I, on the contrary, thanked God for it; because I know that he does or permits all things for our good. From this answer the abbot perceived the sanctity of the good religious. We should act in a similar manner under all the crosses that come upon us. Let us always say: ”Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight.” (Matt. xi. 26.) Lord, this is pleasing to thee, let it be done.
10. He that acts in this manner enjoys that peace which the angels announced at the birth of Jesus Christ to men of good will that is, to those whose wills are united to the will of God. These, as the Apostle says, enjoy that peace which exceeds all sensual delights. “The peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding.” (Phil. iv. 7.) A great and solid peace, which is not liable to change. “A holy man continueth in wisdom like the sun; but a fool is changing like the moon.” (Eccl. xxvii 12.) Fools that is, sinners are changed like the moon, which increases today, and grows less on tomorrow; Today they are seen to laugh through folly, and to-morrow, to weep through despair; Today they are humble and meek, tomorrow, proud and furious. In a word, sinners change with prosperity and adversity; but the just are like the sun, always the same, always serene in whatever happens to them. In the inferior part of the soul they cannot but feel some pain at the misfortunes which befall them; but, as long as the will remains united to the will of God, nothing can deprive them of that spiritual joy which is not subject to the vicissitudes of this life. “Your joy no man shall take from you.” (John xvi. 22.)
11. He that reposes in the divine will, is like a man placed above the clouds: he sees the lightning, and hears the claps of thunder, and the raging of the tempest below, but he is not injured or disturbed by them. And how can he be ever disturbed, when whatever he desires always happens? He that desires only what pleases God, always obtains whatsoever he wishes, because all that happens to him, happens through the will of God. Salvian says, that Christians who are resigned, if they be in a low condition of life, wish to be in that state; if they be poor, they desire poverty; because they wish whatever God wills, and therefore they are always content. ”Humiles sunt, hoc volunt, pauperes sunt, paupertate delectantur: itaque beati dicendisunt.” If cold, or heat, or rain, or wind come on, he that is united to the will of God says: I wish for this cold, this heat, this rain, and this wind, because God wills them. If loss of property, persecution, sickness, or even death come upon him, he says: I wish for this loss, this persecution, this sickness; I even wish for death, when it comes, because God wills it. And how can a person who seeks to please God, enjoy greater happiness than that which arises from cheerfully embracing the cross which God sends him, and from the conviction that, in embracing it, he pleases God in the highest degree? So great was the joy which St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to feel at the bare mention of the will of God, that she would fall into an ecstasy.
12. But, how great is the folly of those who resist the divine will, and, instead of receiving tribulations with patience, get into a rage, and accuse God of treating them with injustice and cruelty! Perhaps they expect that, in consequence of their opposition, what God wills shall not happen? “Who resisteth his will ?” (Rom. ix. 19.) Miserable men! instead of lightening the cross which God sends them, they make it more heavy and painful. “Who hath resisted him, and hath peace ?” (Job ix. 4.) Let us be resigned to the divine will, and we shall thus render our crosses light, and shall gain great treasures of merits for eternal life. In sending us tribulations, God intends to make us saints. “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thess. iv. 3.) He sends us crosses, not because he wishes evil to us, but because he desires our welfare, and because he knows that they are conducive to our salvation. “All things work together unto good.” (Rom. viii. 28.) Even the chastisements which come from the Lord are not for our destruction, but for our good and for the correction of our faults. ”Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord….have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.” (Jud. viii. 27.) God loves us so tenderly, that he not only desires, but is solicitous about our welfare. ”The Lord,” says David, ”is careful for me.” (Ps. xxxix. 18.)
13. Let us, then, always throw ourselves into the hands of God, who so ardently desires and so anxiously watches over our eternal salvation. ”Casting all your care upon him; for he hath care of you.” (1 Peter v. 7.) He who, during life, casts himself into the hands of God, shall lead a happy life and shall die a holy death. He who dies resigned to the divine will, dies a saint; but they who shall not have been united to the divine will during life, shall not conform to it at death, and shall not be saved. The accomplishment of the divine will should be the sole object of all our thoughts during the remainder of our days. To this end we should direct all our devotions, our meditations, communions, visits to the blessed sacrament, and all our prayers. We should constantly beg of God to teach and help us to do his will. “Teach me to do thy will.” (Ps. cxlii. 10.) Let us, at the same time, offer ourselves to accept without reserve whatever he ordains, saying, with the Apostle: ”Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?” (Acts ix. 6.) Lord, tell me what thou dost wish me to do I desire to do thy will. And in all things, whether they be pleasing or painful, let us always have in our mouths that petition of the PATER NOSTER-”Thy will be done” Let us frequently repeat it in the day, with all the affection of our hearts. Happy we, if we live and die saying: ”Thy will be done” “Thy will be done!”
Sermon for Whit-Sunday by St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney
“Know ye not that you are the temple of GOD, and that the spirit of GOD dwelleth in you?” -1. Cor. iii. 16.
From the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, which you, dear Christians, know commences with Advent, the holy Catholic Church has celebrated glorious festivals in honor of our divine Saviour. First of all was the holy feast of Christmas, when the faithful rejoiced that the Redeemer had come down from heaven to deliver us from sin and eternal damnation; after that we celebrated the joyful feast of the Resurrection, and we sang with the risen Saviour joyful alleluias because His bitter passion and our redemption was accomplished; and, finally, a few days ago, we saw our divine Saviour return to His heavenly Father, from henceforth to take possession of His throne of glory for all eternity. But there the same JESUS, who in this world had done so many such unutterably great things for us, was not unmindful of our soul’s salvation: He kept His work, which He had spoken to His Apostles, and also to us – the word, “I will send you another comforter,” another deliverer, “the HOLY GHOST,” and this Holy Spirit will not only rule over the holy Church founded by Him, but, according to the words of my text, He will enter into every soul and enlighten and guide them in the way of salvation; in Him we shall live, walk, and work for heaven.
But do all men who have received the HOLY GHOST cooperate with Him for heaven? In other words, are they all true children of the HOLY GHOST? Unfortunately I must say that many men, although they have received the HOLY GHOST, are not children of the HOLY GHOST, but children of the world. I consider it, therefore necessary to show you whereby we can recognize:
I. Who is a child of the HOLY GHOST, and
II. Who is a child of the world.
I. Without doubt, dear brethren, that Christian is a child of the HOLY GHOST who avoids all grievous sins, for the HOLY GHOST can only dwell in a soul which is disunited from grievous sin; He is that purest Spirit in whose eyes sin is an abomination. Therefore St. Paul writes: “Grieve not,” that is to say by sin, “The Holy Spirit of GOD.” (Eph. Iv. 30.) Sin turns the abode of the HOLY GHOST into an abode of satan. St. Gregory writes, therefore: “The sinner’s heart is the devil’s workshop, but not the dwelling of the HOLY GHOST.” It is especially the sin of impurity, whether committed by unchaste thoughts, words, or works, which drives the HOLY GHOST out of our hearts, and closes against Him the entrance to our souls. “The sensual man,” writes St. Chrysostom, “cannot receive the grace of the HOLY GHOST.” And Holy Writ says, in expressive words that on account of this sin the HOLY GHOST cannot remain in man. “My Spirit,” we read, “shall not remain in man forever, because he is flesh.” (Gen. vi. 3); in other words, because he is addicted to the lust of the flesh.
For this reason, dear Christians, if through a sinful life you have lost the HOLY GHOST, strive by penance to purify your soul again from sin, so as to receive the HOLY GHOST into your hearts again. St. Peter exhorts us to do this in the words: “Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of JESUS CHRIST, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the HOLY GHOST.” (Acts ii. 38.) Reflect upon what you have lost through sin, namely, that you are no longer a child of the HOLY GHOST. Let us do penance, that we may obtain the heavenly treasure again!
Without doubt, I say further, is the Christian a child of the HOLY GHOST if his heart is adorned with numerous virtues. As our divine Saviour in Holy Communion enters only into a virtuous heart, and that the Christian before receiving the same should excite feelings of virtue, even so the HOLY GHOST will only dwell in those souls which are adorned with these virtues; in such a soul He has an abiding dwelling place. Just as the oil keeps the light burning, and the flame is extinguished when the oil is all used, just so is the HOLY GHOST – the light and fire of the soul – preserved within us by virtue and good works. St. Augustine, therefore, in a sermon on the feast of Pentecost, tells his listeners: “the promises of our Redeemer have been fulfilled; our LORD JESUS CHRIST is ascended into heaven, and the HOLY GHOST has come down from heaven; there remains for us, in order that this double event be fulfilled in us, to preserve within us by a virtuous life the HOLY GHOST who has descended, and by leading such life to follow JESUS CHRIST, who has ascended. And this virtuous life of ours should consist in a firm faith, in the hope of GOD’S mercy, in the love of GOD and our neighbor, in humility, in being at peace with our neighbors, and in piety and the fear of GOD, especially in purity of heart and chastity. Where these virtues are found in the souls of Christians, there we find the true children of the HOLY GHOST.
Finally, dear Christians, I say, a sure mark of a child of the HOLY GHOST is borne by that one who is a child of prayer, especially when he often prays to GOD for the gifts of the HOLY GHOST. Our divine Saviour demands such a prayer from us when He says: “If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke xi.13.) The Apostles serve us with an example that the heavenly Father grants the HOLY GHOST and His gifts to those who ask Him. He promised the HOLY GHOST to them with these words: “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever.” (John xiv.16.) What, therefore, did the Apostles do when they returned to Jerusalem after the ascension of JESUS into heaven from the Mount of Olives? They adjourned to an upper room where they lived, and they all united together in prayer with Mary.
And being assembled there in the same manner, in prayer, on the feast of Pentecost, suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind coming: and it filled the house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire; and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the HOLY GHOST, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the HOLY GHOST gave them to speak. (Acts ii. 1,2.) Should we, dear Christians, pray less than the Apostles did for the HOLY GHOST and His gifts? Our holy Church imitates the Apostles in invoking GOD for the HOLY SPIRIT. Through the entire week of Holy Pentecost she prays by the mouth of the priests, “Come, HOLY GHOST, and visit the souls of Thy servants.” (She sings that beautiful hymn, “Veni Creator Spiritus” (“Come, Creator Spirit”), that He may descend into the souls of the faithful, and enlighten them by the word of GOD. Pious Christians have always prayed to the HOLY GHOST for His seven gifts. A pious abbot named John cried out to his listeners in a sermon: “We will beseech GOD to grant us His HOLY SPIRIT that He may fructify and refresh our hearts with the rain and dew of His grace.” Yes, we will pray frequently for his sublime grace, and with heart and voice repeat after St. Augustine those beautiful words: “Breathe perpetually, O HOLY GHOST, Thy holy work within me, that I may think upon it; move me, that I may do it; persuade me, that I may love Thee; strengthen me, that I may hold Thee fast; keep me, that I may not lose Thee!” Truly, those who pray thus possess the HOLY GHOST, and are indeed true children of the HOLY GHOST!
II. I say, dear Christians that the children of the world stand in direct contrast to the children of the HOLY GHOST.
The children of the world, dear Christians, are manifestly those men/women to whom the world is everything, to whom the world and all that it offers is of more consequence than heaven – I might say, to whom the world IS their GOD. To them belong those who are attached with their whole hearts to transitory things; who make only the one effort to accumulate the treasures and wealth of this world, to become possessed of them. Tell me, is it conceivable that such efforts could proceed from a heart filled and animated by the HOLY GHOST? Does the HOLY GHOST not say in Holy Writ: “If riches abound, set not your heart upon them.” (Ps. lxi. II.) Can mankind, then, who has sold his/her heart wholly and entirely to the world and its treasures and possessions, say of him/herself that his/her exertions are holy and directed to heaven? Let the HOLY GHOST, dear Christians, reign in your hearts, that he/she may turn toward GOD and heaven, in heaven alone, where are true riches and treasures. “Seek first,” that is to say, more than all earthly things, “the kingdom of GOD.”
The children of this world are manifestly those persons who only strive after the joys and pleasures of this life. GOD has created us for heaven and its joys, “to the purchasing of salvation,” as the Apostle writes. (1 Thess. v.9.) At the same time, He has not forbidden us the en-joyment of worldly pleasures, for St. Paul says: “Rejoice with them that rejoice.” (Rom. xii. 15.) But GOD has not created us that we should enjoy solely the pleasures of the world without thinking of heavenly joys, nor strive after them, much less that we should strive for them alone. “Seek first the kingdom of GOD.” But, alas! how many people, how many Christian people, think only of joy, of pleasure, of the enjoyment of pleasures, and the lust of the world! How many seek these alone, and desire to enjoy them, without thinking of the joys of heaven, or longing for them! Worldly festivities with joyful meetings, with all the pleasures of the table; worldly pleasures with rioting and debauchery; worldly feasts with music and dancing; worldly festivities on Sundays and holy days: this is what occupies the atten-tion of so many people – their hearts desire it, without ever being satiated. Pleasures, and still more pleasures, enjoyment on enjoyment: this is what so many people are striving for. Now tell me, dear Christians, do not all these worldly pleasures and enjoyments generally bring grievous sins in their train? Do they not at least bury virtue beneath their pleasures, and are you not led thereby to eternal damnation? Can the HOLY GHOST dwell and work in the hearts of such people, who only serve the spirit of the world?
The children of this world, I will say further, are manifestly those people who lead a tepid life, forgetful of GOD; in them the HOLY GHOST cannot be, for He is and lives only in the pious and GOD-fearing. Holy Scripture says of Simeon that he was GOD-fearing, and it adds these words: “The HOLY GHOST was in him.” (Luke ii. 25.) He was GOD-fearing; he was pious, as the Holy Scripture says of him. He came, as it says further on, “in answer to the HOLY GHOST,” and he had the grace to take into his arms the Infant JESUS, and he blessed GOD for this grace. (Luke ii. 28.) Would Simeon have had this grace if the HOLY GHOST had not dwelt in him, and if he had not led a pious, GOD-fearing life? Can we, then, say of lukewarm Christians that within them dwells the HOLY GHOST, who instills in us the virtue of the fear of GOD and piety; may we say that of the lukewarm Christian who does not fear GOD, who does not lead a pious life nor visit the temple of GOD frequently, who neglects his morning and night prayers, who receives the Holy Sacraments either not at all or only once a year? No, I reply, he/she is a child of the world, lives only for the world, feels no desire to do good for heaven, and for this reason that it cannot be said of him/her, as of the pious Simeon: “The HOLY GHOST is in him.”
In conclusion, those are the children of the world, and not the children of the HOLY GHOST, who speak the language of the children of the world, and not the language of the HOLY GHOST. But what language does the HOLY GHOST speak? We see this in the holy Apostles. They are zealous to receive the HOLY GHOST, who came down upon them in the form of fiery tongues, that they may speak for the holy faith; they preach virtue, they exhort to charity and peace, to mercy and justice, to chastity, and to a holy Christian life. But what is the language spoken by so many children of the world, over whom the HOLY GHOST descended in the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation? I reply, they speak the language of the devil in derisive discourses on the holy faith; in unchaste conversations and stories; in curses and maledictions; in blasphemies against GOD and everything that is sacred to a Christian; in slander and seducing their neighbor to do wrong. The fiery tongue of the HOLY GHOST, I might almost say, which descended upon them as it did upon the Apostles, even if invisibly, has been exchanged for the poisonous tongue of the devil, and for this reason they only speak the language of the devil, and not the language of the HOLY GHOST.
“Breathe perpetually, O HOLY GHOST, Thy holy work within me, that I may think upon it; move me, that I may do it; persuade me, that I may love Thee; strengthen me, that I may hold Thee fast; keep me, that I may not lose Thee!” -St. Augustine
O Christian, if your heart is so made that it only strives for the treasures and joys of the world; O Christian, if your heart is cold and lukewarm in the service of GOD; O Christian, if your tongue does not speak the language of the HOLY GHOST, but the language of the devil, ah, then, be horrified at the unhappy state of your soul – the HOLY GHOST does not live and operate in your heart! On this holy festival of the HOLY GHOST, therefore, lift up your hands to GOD and pray fervently for your soul: “O my GOD, who hast enlightened the hearts of Thy faithful through the HOLY GHOST, grant that henceforth I shall speak only in this same spirit of heavenly things, that I may pray and work only for that which is heavenly, only accumulate treasures and merits for heaven, so that I may be found worthy one day to reach there where Thou with the HOLY GHOST rules on the throne of heaven for all eternity.” Amen.
“The Following of Christ” (aka Imitation of Christ)——Book 3, CHAPTER 42 BY THOMAS a KEMPIS
CHAPTER 42: THAT PEACE IS NOT TO BE PLACED IN MEN
SON, if thou placest thy peace in any person, for thine own gratification, and for the sake of his society, thou shalt be unsettled and entangled.
But if thou hast recourse to the ever-living and abiding Truth, thou wilt not be greatly grieved if a friend forsake thee or die.
In Me the love of thy friend ought to stand; and for Me is he to be loved whoever he be, that appeareth to thee good and much to be loved in this life.
Without Me, friendship can neither profit nor endure; nor is that love true and pure which I do not bind together.
Thou oughtest to be so dead towards persons beloved, as to wish, as far as thou art concerned, to be altogether without any human fellowship. So much the nearer doth man approach to GOD, as he withdraweth himself the farther from all earthly consolation.
So much the higher also doth he ascend to GOD, as he descendeth the lower into himself, and becometh the viler in his own estimation.
2. But he that attributeth anything of good to himself, hinders GOD’s grace from coming into him; for the grace of the HOLY SPIRIT ever seeketh a humble heart.
If thou knowest perfectly how to annihilate thyself, and empty thyself of all created love, then would I flow into thee with great grace.
When thou lookest towards creatures, the sight of the Creator is withdrawn from thee.
Learn, for the sake of the Creator, to overcome thyself in all things; and then shalt thou be able to attain Divine knowledge.
How little soever it be, if anything be inordinately loved and regarded, it keepeth thee back from the sovereign good and corrupteth the soul.
PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.
THE more we descend into the abyss of our own nothingness, the more do we become exalted before GOD. We should therefore, in the first place, be little and humble, dependent upon the Almighty, and abide only in Him; secondly, the more we experience our own weakness and misery, the more earnestly should we apply to the mercy of GOD; thirdly, the less we find of good in ourselves, the more should we debase ourselves before Him, hoping all things from His bounty; fourthly, we should never suffer our hearts to become attached to anything but GOD, our duties and salvation, love only that which we shall love forever, and thus commence in time what we may hope to continue throughout eternity. All friendship which is not in GOD and for GOD is faulty, because we should love GOD alone with our whole heart. The heart, therefore, should be kept free and disengaged from all things, that it may belong only to Him Who is the center of our hearts, and Who alone can satisfy our desires.
PRAYER.
GRANT, O GOD, that my heart, which was made for Thee alone, may be ever wholly Thine; that free from all undue affection to creatures, it may refer all to Thee, and seek, Thee alone in all things. Yes, my GOD, I know, with St. Augustine, that Thou art the center of our hearts, because Thou art their last end and sovereign good, and that they cannot rest until they rest in Thee. Grant me, therefore, what I now ask, a faithful, sovereign, and constant adherence to Thee. Amen.
All self-seekers and self-lovers are bound in fetters; full of desires, full of cares, ever unsettled, and seeking always their own ease, not the things of JESUS Christ; but oftentimes devising and framing that which shall not stand.
For all shall perish that cometh not of GOD.
Hold fast this short and perfect word: “Forsake all, and thou shalt find all; relinquish desire, and thou shalt find rest.“
Consider this well, and when thou hast put it in practice, thou shalt understand all things.
2. Lord, this is not the work of one day, nor children’s sport; yea, in this short sentence is included all the perfection of religious.
Son, thou oughtest not to be turned back, nor presently cast down, when thou hearest what is the way of the perfect; but be drawn the more onwards towards its lofty heights, or at least aspire ardently for their attainment.
I would it were so with thee, and that thou wert come so far that thou wert no longer a lover of thyself, but didst simply wait My bidding and his whom I have appointed father over thee; then wouldst thou exceedingly please Me, and all thy life would pass in joy and peace.
Thou hast yet many things to forsake, which unless thou give them up to Me without reserve, thou shalt not obtain that for which thou prayest.
I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst become rich—–that is, heavenly wisdom, which treadeth under foot all things below.
Lay aside earthly wisdom—–that is, all human and self-complacency.
3. I have said, buy for thyself things most contemptible for such as are precious and most valued in human estimation. For very mean and contemptible, and almost forgotten amongst men, seems that wisdom which is true and heavenly, not teaching high notions of self, nor seeking to be magnified upon earth; which many praise in words, while in their life they are far from it; yet this same is that precious pearl which is hidden from many.
PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS. WHAT is it to quit all things? It is, first, to renounce and to die to ourselves; secondly, to mortify the senses, the mind, and the heart; thirdly, to detach ourselves from everything that affords us pleasure, and to receive with willingness and submission whatever gives us pain; fourthly, to love our friends in GOD, our enemies for GOD, and to hate only ourselves; fifthly, to attach ourselves only to GOD, to our duties, and to our salvation; sixthly, to direct all the energies of our hearts towards GOD and against ourselves; seventhly, to desire nothing but to please Him, and to fear nothing but to offend Him; eighthly, to make it our happiness and our merit to gain the light of His countenance, and to become worthy of His love.
How easy to say, I desire to quit all and to belong entirely to GOD! But how difficult to perform, unless we withdraw ourselves with fixed determination from everything which does not lead us to Him! A small degree of Divine love makes this dedication and sacrifice of ourselves to GOD possible and easy. We should constantly desire it, and ask for it, and practice it.
PRAYER. SUFFER not my heart, O Lord, which was created to love and to possess Thee, to be attached to creatures or to itself, preferably to Thee. Thou alone canst satisfy it, and make it happy; to Thee, therefore, should it solely and constantly adhere. O my GOD, I can indeed sin without Thee; but I cannot rise again without Thee, nor withdraw myself from anything that would seduce my mind and corrupt my unsteady heart. Succor, support, and strengthen me in the combats which I am obliged to sustain with myself, in my endeavors to renounce all, that in all I may seek and find Thee. How it distresses me to behold myself the slave of my passions, and the victim of my wayward humors! Break asunder my chains, O Lord, and grant that, detaching myself from all things else, I may adhere only to Thee. Amen.
“Blessed are they who hear the word of GOD, and keep it.”-St. Luke xi. 28.
My dear brethren, we read in the gospel that the Redeemer of the world said such wonderful and astonishing things in His sermons to the people, that a woman in the multitude raised her voice and cried out, “Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave the suck;” but JESUS CHRIST answered immediately, “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the Word of GOD, and keep it.” Perhaps it seems to you, my brethren, that JESUS CHRIST teaches us that he who hears the Word of GOD with the earnest wish to profit by it, is more pleasing to GOD than he who receives Him in Holy Communion.Yes, without doubt, my brethren, we have never really understood what a precious gift the Word of GOD is. Ah, my brethren, if we rightly understood it, with what reverence and love should we not listen to it!Let us not deceive ourselves.The Word of GOD must of necessity bear within us either good or bad fruit. The fruit will be good if we are well prepared to receive it, namely, by a real desire to profit by it and to do everything that it prescribes. It will be bad if we hear it with indifference, or perhaps with distaste and dis-esteem.This sacred Word will enlighten us and show us how to fulfill our duties, or it will blind us and make us stiff-necked. So as to prove this more clearly to you, I will show you how great is the Word of GOD.
So as to impress upon you the exalted worth of the Word of GOD, I will specify that the entire extension and progress of the Catholic religion is the work of the Word, joined with grace which is always with it.Yes, my brethren, we can even say that, excepting the death of CHRIST on Mount Calvary, and Baptism, our holy religion gives us nothing that can be compared to the Word.How many persons are there not in heaven who never received the Sacrament of Penance?How many others who have never received the Blessed Sacrament?How many there are in heaven who neither received Confirmation nor Extreme Unction?As far as instruction in the Word of GOD is concerned, it is as hard for us, when we have arrived at the age when instruction is necessary for us, to get to heaven without instruction, as it is without Baptism. We shall find out at the day of Judgment that the greater number of Christians who are lost were damned because they did not know their own religion.
Let us ask the souls of the lost Christians why they are in hell.They will all avow that the cause of their damnation was either that they would not hear the Word of GOD or that they despised it.But, you may ask, what effect has the sacred Word upon us? I say that it resembles that pillar of fire which guided the Jews when they were in the desert, which stood still when the people should stand still, and moved on when they were to move on, so that the people had only to follow it faithfully, to be sure of not taking the wrong road on their way.Yes, my brethren, it does the same in regard to us.It is a bright torch, which enlightens us, and guides us in all our thoughts, undertakings, and actions.It enlightens our faith, fortifies our hope, inflames our love of GOD and our neighbor. It describes to us the majesty of GOD, the blessed end for which we were created, the goodness of GOD, His love for us, the value of our soul, the sublime reward which is promised to us. At the same time, it depicts for us the gravity of sin, the sorrow which it occasions GOD, the misery into which it will plunge us in the next life. It brings us face to face with the judgment which threatens sinners, and we shudder at the awful picture which it conjures up. Yes, my brethren, this Word determines us to believe all the most mysterious truths of our holy religion, without indulging in subtle inquiries, for it confirms our faith.
Tell me, are we not all of the same opinion, that after a sermon our hearts are touched and full of good resolutions, while those who despise the Word of GOD reject and despise all those means of salvation which GOD has given us?Tell me, my brethren, of what did the patriarchs and the prophets, JESUS CHRIST Himself and His apostles, as well as all their holy followers, avail themselves to strengthen and spread our holy religion, if it was not the Word of GOD?For instance, what did Jonas do when the Lord sent him to Nineveh?None other but announce the Word of GOD, by telling them that within forty days the place would be destroyed! Was it not this sacred Word which changed the hearts of the inhabitants of this large city, who, from being great sinners, became great penitents?What did St. John the Baptist do to make the Messiah, the Redeemer of the world, known?Did he not preach the Word of GOD?What did JESUS CHRIST Himself do when He passed through the cities and places where He was always surrounded by a crowd of people, who followed Him as far as the desert – what other means did He make use of but this sacred Word, to instruct the people in that religion which He was going to found?Tell, me, my brethren, what made all the great ones of this world forsake their possessions, their parents, and all of their comforts?Was it not because they had heard the Word of GOD, which opened the eyes of their soul, and showed them the short duration and the perishableness of all created things, and persuaded them to acquire eternal goods, as, for example, a St. Anthony, a St. Francis a St. Ignatius?
Tell me, who can make children understand to honor their father and their mother, and to consider them, indeed, the representatives of Almighty GOD?The instruction which they receive in Sunday – School from those who have charge of their soul, whereby the great reward which they may expect if they are good, obedient children is impressed upon them.What kind of children are those who despise their parents?Alas, my brethren, how many wicked, ignorant children are there not, who, in consequence of their ignorance, are unchaste and disorderly, and who often bring their parents with sorrow to the grave!What causes a neighbor to be kind to his neighbor, if it is not the instruction which he heard where it was made clear to him how pleasing to GOD is the love of our neighbor?Or, at another time, when he heard the terrible condition of the sinner described who falls into the hands of the living God?Listen for a moment, and I will give you a proof of this, which will convince you.
It is related that a French army officer happened to be stationed in a place where a mission was being held by a certain Father Bridaine.Curious to hear the priest who had such a great reputation and whom he did not know, he entered the church, where Father Bridaine was just depicting in awful colors the state of a soul steeped in sin, the blindness of the sinner who remains in his sins, and pointing out how easy it was to give up a sinful life by means of a general confession.The soldier was so touched at this, his remorse of conscience was so great, or, rather, it was so unbearable, that he made the resolution at that moment to make a general confession.He waited for the missionary at the steps of the pulpit, and told him that he desired to confess the sins of his whole life.Father Bridaine treated him with the greatest kindness.“Father,” said the officer, “I will do all that you tell me to do.I have the greatest desire to save my soul.”He made his confession with the greatest piety and contrition which could be expected of a converted sinner.He admitted, indeed, that it seemed to him as if a heavy burden was taken off his conscience each time he accused himself of a sin.His confession ended, he left Father Bridaine, and wept tears of bitter repentance.The people were astonished to see this soldier shedding so many tears, and they asked him the cause of his trouble.“Ah, my friends, how sweet it is for me to shed tears of love and gratitude, I who have lived so long at enmity with GOD!Oh, how blind is man who does not love GOD and who lives at enmity with Him, while GOD loves him so tenderly!”The soldier sought Father Bridaine in the Sacristy, and declared, in the presence of the other missionaries, that he had never in his whole life experienced such unalloyed happiness as he did at that moment when he was in the state of grace:“My Fathers, I do think that my sovereign, whom I have served for thirty-six years, can be as happy as I am.I do not believe, in spite of all the pleasures which surround his throne, that he can enjoy the contentment that I do after having laid down the dreadful burden of my sins by repentance, and having made the firm resolution to do penance for them.I would not exchange my happiness for all the wealth and the pleasures of this world.”With these words he pressed Father Bridaine’s hand, and begged him to pray to GOD for him that he might have the grace to be a true penitent all his life long.
Now, my brethren, what was the cause of this soldier’s conversion?None other than the Word of GOD, which he understood, and which found his heart docile to the call of grace.Ah, how many Christians would be converted if they were so happy as to listen to the Word of GOD with a good intention!What good thoughts and good resolutions would be awakened in their hearts!How many good works for heaven would be accomplished!
He who is not moved by the Word of GOD is lost, unless a miracle should happen, which very seldom does.Oh my GOD! Who could believe that any one could display such indifference at the thought of such endless misery!Meanwhile, before we proceed any further, we will examine into the condition of most of this congregation.You know that sin reigns in your hearts; and you know that, so long as this sin reigns there, you can expect nothing else but an eternity of misery.Oh my GOD, this thought alone should frighten us almost to death!Ah, GOD saw beforehand how few would profit by this Word of life, when He spoke the following parable in the gospel:
“The sower went out to sow his seed.And as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.And some fell upon a rock, and withered away.And some fell among thorns, and choked it.And finally, some fell upon good ground, and yielded fruit a hundred fold.”
You see, my brethren, that JESUS CHRIST shows us that, of all the people who hear the Word of GOD, only a fourth part derive profit from it.It would be a good thing if, among every four persons, there should be one to profit by it.Oh, that the number of good Christians was greater than it is!The apostles were astonished at this parable, and they asked Him to explain it to them.JESUS CHRIST then explained it to them:
The heart of man is like unto a field, which brings forth fruit according as it is either well or badly cultivated.The seed, JESUS CHRIST said to them, is the Word of GOD.It falls by the wayside, when those that hear it do not change their lives, or make the sacrifices which GOD asks of them, so that they might become good and pleasing to Him.They will not forsake the company or the places where they have so often offended GOD; others, again, are restrained by a false fear of man, (we could add here, a false “human respect”) which causes them to waver in all the good resolutions which they formed when they heard the word of GOD.The seed which fell among thorns are those who hear the Word of GOD with joy; but it produces no good results in them: they hear it gladly, but they are not willing to do what it commands.The seed which fell upon the rock are those who have a hard and stubborn heart, who hear the Word of GOD to find fault with it and to abuse it.Finally, the seed which falls on good ground are those who ardently desire to hear it, and who embrace every opportunity which GOD gives them to profit by it as much as possible, and only in these hearts does it yield abundant fruit.And these fruits are:To retrench their worldly life and to practice all those virtues which a Christian should so as to please GOD and to save their soul.You see from the Words of JESUS CHRIST how few persons there are who derive any benefit from the Word of GOD, as, among four parts, only one part yielded fruit.
Now, my brethren, you wish to be that fourth part.Listen, then, with great desire to the Word of GOD; put aside all sin, the world with its pleasures, your inordinate desires and passions; form good solid resolutions, and put them in practice at the first and every opportunity offered afterward, and rest assured you will bear fruit a hundred fold. Amen. Hail Mary…
