Tag: St. Jean-Marie Vianney

Children of the HOLY GHOST and Children of the World

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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.

Sermon on the Word of God by St. John Vianney for Sexagesima Sunday

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THE WORD OF GOD
“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…