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Five Minute Sermon: Love of our Neighbor

by VP


Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons



"This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them."St. Luke xv. 2.

"THIS practice of our Divine Lord is continued by His Church to the present day. We receive sinners; we eat with them, work with them, recognize them as friends and brethren. Outside the Church religious sects act otherwise. They turn sinners out of their organizations, put a ban on them publicly, draw a plain line between the good and the bad. The result is that our sinners are always within easy reach of our words of admonition, our entreaties, our edifying example, and for the most part are finally won back to a good life.

If a man is a great public sinner he is excommunicated-a case which occurs very rarely. If he is but a poor common sinner, he is not torn from our Saviour's bosom, but is hoped for, prayed for, left among the faithful and finally reclaimed.

But, my brethren, if such is the rule in the Church generally, it is nevertheless true that a sinful man's immediate associates are bound by divine charity to let him know that he is a sinner and to endeavor to save him. There are some Catholics who seem to be ignorant of their duty in this respect. To admonish a sinner, to try to make him change his life-this, they think, is a duty which belongs exclusively to the priest. The sins of others are in no sense their concern, it is none of their business to interfere with a sinner unless he violates some of their rights. On the other hand, there are others who have some dim perception of their duty in behalf of these sinners, but are too timid and cowardly, are too much afraid of sneers and rebuffs, too much afraid of giving offence, to say a word for God's honor and their neighbor's soul.

All this is wrong, my brethren; it is un-Christian. For if we are Christians in reality, if we love God sincerely, we must have a deep concern for His honor, we must see to it that others love Him and therefore serve Him. And we can often do this better than the priest. We can in cases reach men more easily, we can talk to them more freely, we can more readily make them feel that we are in sympathy with them and understand their difficulties. It is the precept of fraternal charity that makes us realize that we are all alike children of our Father who is in heaven. It is only by our observance of this precept that we have a right to call ourselves Christians. "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples," says our Blessed Lord, "that you love one another even as I have loved you." The love our Saviour bears for each one of us is the measure of the love we should bear our neighbor; and as He loves us in spite of our sins, as He received sinners and ate with them, so should we manifest our charity in behalf of poor sinners, so should we by our words, our example, and our kindness to them seek to lead them back to their allegiance to Almighty God.

How am I going to do this? I have a friend who never goes to Mass, who has not made his Easter duty for years, who is an habitual drunkard, whose mouth is defiled with profane and filthy words, and who in many ways sets God's laws at defiance; how am I to fulfil my duty of fraternal charity in his behalf?

In the first place, make him love you. There is no influence so strong as love, there is nothing which it cannot accomplish. If you gain a man's love you have a strong hold on him. He confides in you, he will readily listen to your advice, he will be quick to follow your suggestions. In the next place, always show him good example. The strongest words of warning and exhortation are of little or no avail unless you yourself show the truth of what you say in your own life. You cannot preach from a higher platform than your own practice And the first proof of the love we bear our neighbor is the good example we show him. Finally, don't be afraid to talk to him seriously and boldly about the manner of his life. Show your concern for his soul by strong, earnest words of exhortation, of admonition and reproof. Your earnestness will be the proof of your conviction, of your sincerity. He may not like this; it may make him angry, but he will not forget your words easily; they may make him think of his soul in spite of himself, and they may, under God's providence, become the initial grace of his conversion. In any event, you will have done your duty. Yes, brethren, like our blessed Lord, we “receive sinners and eat with them"; we do not exclude them from our prayers, our solicitude, our love. We seek to regain them to Christ, to win them back again to the blessings which His love has purchased for us all." Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost


Authority and Discipline, Saint Peter and Paul

by VP


Posted on Sunday June 29, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons



Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven."-MATT. xvi. 17.

I. The chosen ones of Christ.

2. St. Peter, the pillar of the Faith.

3. St. Paul, the preacher of the Faith.

4. The same blessed Faith bestowed on us; how we should treasure it.

THE Combined festival of Saints Peter and Paul is rightly celebrated as one of the great and important festivals of the year. Rome especially glories in this festival of the Apostles who, by shedding their blood there, consecrated the eternal city to the service of God. But the whole Church, in all lands and in all ages, rejoices on this day of the triumph of the two chief Apostles, who were chosen by God to establish and consolidate His Church on earth. The Church that was destined by God to be universal and imperishable needed divine authority and divine doctrine. And these were given by the Son of God, and entrusted in a special way to the Apostles whose festival we celebrate to-day. The authority of St. Peter was to be handed down in the unbroken line of Sovereign Pontiffs; and the doctrine of St. Paul, divinely revealed to him, was to live for ever in the inspired words of his epistles.

Let us renew our faith by recalling the proofs of this authorization by Christ our Lord, that a poor illiterate fisherman should rule His Church and hold the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven; and how a Pharisee, a persecutor, should be a vessel of election to teach and preach the doctrines of the God of truth. In the gospel we read on two occasions of the great faith of St. Peter. In St. John (vi. 68), when many disciples left our Lord and walked no more with Him, our Blessed Lord said to the twelve: "Will you also go away? And Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art Christ, the Son of God." And in St. Matthew (xvi. 15-19): “ Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I say to thee: Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." This was the glorious commission bestowed on St. Peter, to whom our Lord also said: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not " (Luke xxii. 32). And this authority, given to St. Peter, was destined to be handed down to all his successors, the chief pastors of the Church, the Sovereign Pontiffs, Pope after Pope, in succeeding ages. Invested with this power, their faith should fail not, as the supreme authority in the Church.

"Teach all nations" was the command of Christ, and therefore His Church was endowed with divinely revealed doctrine. And in this regard St. Paul speaks to us with no uncertain voice. "For I give you to understand, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. i. II, 12). Your memory instantly recalls the great truths of religion, with the express testimony of the Apostle regarding them, and how one after the other have been impugned, explained away, or denied, not only by the godless world --the enemy of God—but by those who profess to be Christians, and to believe in the Holy Scriptures.

Take the doctrine of the Resurrection. "For I delivered to you first of all, which I also received, how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4). Doubting, denying this is common in these days; and disbelief in it is so condoned that it does not disqualify from the highest positions in the Church in the land! Should not such men remember and fear these words of St. Paul: "If Christ be not risen from the dead, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins" (ibid. 17)?

And that sweet and blessed doctrine of our Faiththe divine Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Alas, how often denied and blasphemed by various sects in the face of such evidence as this! "I speak as to wise men; judge ye yourselves what I say. The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? And the Bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord ?" (1 Cor. x. 15, 16).

These words, which you know so well, let them not weary you, but glory in them as the great doctrines of our Faith. We hear on all sides that religion is old-fashioned and out of date. Doctrines must be changed, so as to embrace all the variations of modern thought. And do such people think they are something new, something original ? Be not led away with various and strange doctrines," says St. Paul (Heb. xiii. 9). And St. Peter says (2 Peter iii. 3): "In the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers." Can the eternal truth be out of date? "From eternity to eternity Thou art God . . . for a thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday which is past" (Ps. lxxxix. 2, 4).

For ourselves how grateful we should be to God for the Faith which He has bestowed upon us--its authority and its doctrines. Let us pray to those glorious Apostles - who typify this authority and doctrine - to strengthen our faith, that we may live up to it, peacefully yet manfully, humble yet glorifying God by our obedient and holy lives." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr.  Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (Saint Peter and Paul)


Superstition

by VP


Posted on Sunday May 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons


File:Mozes toont de Tien Geboden.jpg

Ten Commandments


Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.”—Exod. XX. 2.

"There are some sinful practices forbidden in these words which it is well to consider to-day, beside fortune-telling and the observing of dreams and omens. These are the use of charms, and the consulting of spirits, or seeking of the truth from the dead.

First, then, with regard to charms, amulets, and the like. Christians are unfortunately to be found, even at the present day, who use, in a superstitious way, and it may be for sinful purposes, things which can have no natural power to accomplish the end desired, but must derive any efficacy which they can be supposed to have from the devil, whose aid is therefore implicitly invoked by those who possess such things. Let every one, then, understand that the use of these charms and amulets, though it might be even for a good object, as the preservation of one's life, is a great sin, and will bring a curse instead of a blessing on any one who perseveres in it. If any one, then, has any such object which he has been told will keep him from danger, give him success in his undertakings, or anything of that kind, let him cast it aside or burn it up without delay. Doubly sinful, of course, is it to keep or use such objects with the hope of working harm to others, or of exciting evil passions in them; and the sin will in no case be avoided by the absurd character of the things employed in this way.

"But how," it may be asked, "about holy things, such as relics, medals, Agnus Dei, gospels, scapulars, and the like? Surely you would not call it superstitious or sinful in any way to keep or wear such things as these, or to think that they might do us some good, not only spiritually but even in the temporal order?" No, you are right about this. It is not sinful even to ask for miracles by the aid of things like those, which are either sacred by their nature or by the blessing of the Church. And the reason why it is not sinful is very plain. It is because God is invoked by means of them, and that any favors which are obtained by them will be for His honor and glory. Still that this should be so, they must be used with piety and devotion. To wear a scapular, for instance, simply as a sort of charm, without any desire or intention of honoring the Blessed Virgin by it, or to invoke her aid to escape from sin, would be not only useless but highly displeasing to her Divine Son. Almost every one feels this; few dare to profane holy objects of this kind by such. use of them; those who have really given themselves up to the devil seldom try to protect themselves in his service by such means.

Well now, to pass to the other subject, that of consulting spirits, or seeking, as the Jewish law has it, the truth from the dead. You see it is no new thing, this spiritism, though the rapping and table-tipping business is rather a new form of it in these days. It has been and is still very common among us, though it may be losing ground somewhat lately. But I do not think that Catholics have at any time been much interested in it compared with some other people. With regard to the next life, we have our faith to instruct us and are not inclined so much as others to ask the spirit-rappers to give us information. But still many Catholics have gone to their meetings, and would have little scruple in going now, just, as they say, from curiosity. They think there is nothing in it; that it is only a more or less clever piece of jugglery. Now, in this they should understand that they are likely to be greatly mistaken. Jugglery and trickery it is sometimes, no doubt; but there is the gravest reason to suspect that in many cases the spirits actually have a hand in the matter. Not, it is true, the spirits of the departed who are invoked, but evil and lying spirits who personate them, and wish by information seeming to come from them to weaken or destroy our belief in the truth of revelation. It is, then, no joking matter, but a very serious and dangerous one, to put one's self in the power and under the influence of these spirits from hell; and this is what one who goes to these spiritual seances, as they are called, may probably do. Remember, then, to have nothing to do with them if you value your immortal soul." Fourth Sunday after Easter Five Minute Sermons by the Paulist Fathers

Resources:

Bishops’ new guidelines condemn Reiki therapy as ‘superstition’ (CNA)

Guidelines for evaluating Reiki and Alternative Therapy (USCCB)

Reiki, not for Catholics. Not now, not ever by Mary Ellen Barrett (Amazing Catechists)

Yoga Isn’t an Exercise, it’s a Spiritual Practice: Why Catholics Shouldn’t Practice Yoga. Jenny Dubay (Missio Dei)

Demonic Possession from Yoga, Reiki, and the New Age with Adam Blai  (Divine Intimacy Radio)

Q. Crystal Energy and Healing Stones? My Catholic Life! A journey of personal conversion!

Can Shamanism Be Compatible With Christianity? (Women of Grace)

‘Intergenerational healing’ has no basis in Catholic doctrine, Spanish bishops affirm (World Report)

Superstition! Healing Your Family Tree (Australian theologian, Fr Peter Joseph)

Korean Bishops Condemn 'Family Tree' Healing Practice (2007, UCANews)


Pleasure in serving God

by VP


Posted on Sunday May 11, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons


File:The Lord is my Good Shepherd.jpg - Wikipedia

Bernhard Plockhorst  (1825–1907)

"Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice."— Phil. iv. 4.

"It has often been noticed, my dear brethren, and we every day come across examples of it, that when things are going well men think very little about God and about the practice of their religious duties. We may almost say that, as things are at present, most men will not perform their duty to God unless they are driven to do so by something unpleasant and hard to bear. It is when a man is taken ill that he sends for a priest and makes his confession and receives the Sacraments; as soon, however, as he gets well it is only too probable that he will return to his old ways.

Now, this shows that the service of God is felt by a great many to be a heavy burden and yoke. And I am sorry to say that this feeling is not confined to those whose passions and low propensities are so strong as to hold them down for a great part of their lives in slavery and subjection to sin and vice. Many even of those who have freed themselves for the most part from this degrading bondage seem far from the possession of that spirit of holy joy with which every one trying to serve God should be filled. Many even of these seem to find the yoke of the Lord a heavy one: and if they do not cast it off, it is chiefly because they are afraid to do so.

Now, I am not going to say a word against the service of God which springs from the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.” The fear of God is not merely good-it is necessary for salvation. But it is only the beginning, not the perfection of wisdom. Moreover, it should not be the habitual dominant and constant motive of our religious life it should serve as a motive to fall back upon when higher motives are not felt. As St. Ignatius says: We should ask of God the grace to fear Him, so that if and when through our faults we grow forgetful of God's love, the fear of punishment may hold us back from offending Him. In other words, we ought, as a rule, to be serving God from love and holy joy rather than from fear and dread.

This is the teaching of the Holy Scripture, and especially of the great Apostle our patron, St. Paul. The text is but a sample of similar injunctions which might be found in every one of his Epistles "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice." Do not be always looking upon the service of God as a heavy burden and yoke to which you must be driven as a fear of punishment, but let that service fill your souls at all times with delight and satisfaction. This is what St. Paul enjoins. Why is it not so with us? Why should it be so?

Well, there are ten thousand reasons why the service of God should be delightful and satisfactory; but I can refer to one only this morning— one, however, of which I think that we can all feel the force. As a rule, the man who is carrying on a profitable and successful business is, so long as everything goes well, tolerably happy. You don't see him going about with a long face, and although he may grumble a little, as most men do, you can see that he does not mean it. Now, if this is the case in the midst of the uncertainties which are inseparable from all human transactions, what ought to be the satisfaction and contentment of a man who has seriously taken in hand the one necessary business? For how does the case stand with such a man? The man who has seriously taken in hand the business of saving his own soul must succeed - for him there is no such thing as failure. So long as he is willing he must be prosperous. And why? Because he has Almighty God as a partner. And God is ready to give him what I hope it is not irreverent to call unlimited credit. In this life he pours into his soul His heavenly grace, and this grace gives to all his actions a value which gives him a right to an eternal recompense. No action from morning to night, from week's end to week's end, but may be made profitable and fruitful, if done with a right intention, and, of course, if there is nothing sinful in it. This is the position in which any and every man may be placed and may remain if he so wills, and of the sense and judgment of a man who is not satisfied by such terms I have but a poor opinion." (Third Sunday after Easter - Five-minute Sermons from the Paulist Fathers)



Bearing Injustice

by VP


Posted on Sunday May 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons


File:Brooklyn Museum - Let Him Be Crucified (Qu'il soit crucifié) - James Tissot.jpg

Let Him Be Crucified (Qu'il soit crucifié) - James Tissot


'Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly."—I. St. Peter ii. 22.

ONE of the hardest trials, my dear brethren, to which we can be exposed; indeed, perhaps the hardest one of all, is to be condemned unjustly. And the condemnation need not be pronounced in court, and published to the world. It need not even be given by public opinion; no, there may be only a few who share in it, perhaps only one, and that may be one whose judgment is not of much weight; still, to be falsely judged, to be accused of what we have not done, to have even our motives misinterpreted, is a pretty heavy cross to bear. How often will you hear people alleging as a reason for a permanent breach of friendship with someone, that one has belied them? It is of little use to point out that the person who is or seems to be a false accuser, may really not intend to be guilty of falsehood, nor be conscious of rash judgment, but may in his or her heart actually believe the charge, and feel not only justified, but even under an obligation of conscience in making it, and thus be guiltless before God. No, the sting is perhaps even greater, that he should believe a thing about us that we feel is not true, and could not be.

Nor is it enough to say that there are many things which we ought to be judged guilty of, but are not; and that so we can afford to take some punishment that we do not deserve, as we escape a good deal that we do. No, we say to ourselves: "I would not mind it so much if it were true; I would rather take the burden of all the many wrong things that I have done, than of one that I have not." Perhaps that would not really be the fact, but we feel as if it were.

I think, then, that to find a real cure for our heartache about matters of this kind, we must take the one which St. Peter gives us in this Epistle of today. We must take refuge under the shadow of the cross of Him who, as the Apostle says, suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. The Cross of Christ is the only remedy in the last resort for all the pain and misery of the world, as well as for its sins; and we may as well come to it at once as wait till other consolations have failed.

Let us, then, lay to heart our Lord's example in this matter, as St. Peter tells us; let us keep it always by us, to be ready for use at the first moment. Let us consider how slight and insignificant are all the false judgments that can be made about us, miserable sinners that we are, compared with that which was passed on Him, the Saint of saints; on Him who was not merely holy, but holiness itself, the source of all sanctity, the Giver of every virtue that we can have. Let us consider how He was reckoned with the malefactors, how He was condemned not merely to death, but to the shameful death of a criminal; and how not merely one or two, but the crowds of His own people, whom He had come to save, turned against Him and believed all the false charges which His accusers made.

And let us not imagine that, being in truth God, His human nature was made insensible to all this outrageous injustice by its essential sanctity, or by the homage of the angels, or of those on earth who really knew and loved Him and remained faithful to Him. No; it was no more rendered in this way insensible to the pain of the false charges than it was to the sharp piercing of the nails driven through His hands and feet. Indeed, that He could much better have borne. His infinite purity and sensitiveness to sin only made these suspicions and accusations of it the more intolerable; physical suffering was little in comparison.

Yet, as the Apostle says, in this He did not defend Himself. He was willing to drink this bitter chalice to the dregs. When He was reviled, He reviled not again. He neither cleared Himself, which He could easily have done, nor took the poor remedy which we sinners are too apt to take, of accusing His accusers.

Let us then, when thus tried in our poor way, ask Him to give us the grace to do as He did, and even, if it be possible, to rest for a time at least under accusations which we might remove, when the honor of God is not concerned. And let us remember not to be guilty of rash judgment in our turn, but make, as He did, every possible excuse for those who belie us; let us believe that, so far as they are wrong, they know not what they do. And, lastly, let us take the greater pains to abstain from uncharitable thoughts or words about our neighbors, thus exposing them to a trial which we have found so hard to bear." 2nd Sunday after Easter - Five minute Sermons by the Paulist Fathers.


The Epiphany of our Lord.

by VP


Posted on Sunday January 05, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sermons



File:Brooklyn Museum - The Adoration of the Magi (L'adoration des mages) - James Tissot - overall.jpg

The Adoration of the Magi (L'adoration des mages) - James Tissot            


"GIVE thanks this day to Christ our Redeemer, who was pleased to manifest himself to the Gentiles, and thus open the way to salvation. Pray for those Gentiles, who as yet in great numbers sit in darkness, and know not God, that God would please to call them to his faith.

Pray that you may ever imitate the zeal and diligence of the three kings, who were no sooner called but they obeyed; who were not discouraged by the difficulties of the journey, but without delay set forward to find him who called them.

How happy would it be for you, could you thus readily follow where your obligation calls, and not let every pretended difficulty be sufficient to justify you in the frequent omission of duty.

Fall down in spirit, and adore Christ; and with the three kings acknowledge him for your God and Redeemer. Fail not to make your offerings with them. Offer your heart to him, if it be your own, or his. But if it be otherwise engaged, either in riches, pleasures, or excessive troubles, pray for its deliverance. Lay your gold, your frankincense, and myrrh all at his feet; let neither the sweet nor bitter keep you from him; offer all to him, who is Lord of all.

The zeal and courage of the three kings was very wonderful. Being informed of the birth of Christ, by the appearance of an unusual star, they forthwith undertook their journey; neither regarding the discourses of the world, which would charge them with folly and rashness, nor considering the dangers of going to proclaim a new-born king, at the court of a jealous prince; nor apprehensive of those many difficulties, the usual consequences of an uncertain journey, not knowing how far they were to go, nor whether they were ever to return. Whenever a soul comes up to this degree of resolution, there is reason enough to hope that it has overcome the world; since in this very point consists its victory, that it admits of nothing to take place of duty. And this is the test, by which every Christian may make a true judgment of himself. For, whatever his condition be, there is no proposal can be made of seeking Christ, and making any advance to him, but he must be exposed to some of these trials. The world will ever do like itself; it will certainly meddle with what belongs not to it; it will curiously examine, discourse, and its censures. It will condemn whatever departs out of the common road of its loose maxims, as singularity, folly, and vanity; and declare its resentment against every one, who disapproves of its ways by forsaking them. So that whoever pass has not gained this point, to be unconcerned at what the world says, is not yet in a possibility of finding Christ; since there is not one step which he can take, whether in prayer, recollection, fasting, penance, or frequenting the sacraments, but the world by its insults and mockeries will be ever discouraging him from all his pious designs, and will by this means bring him to the trial, whether his concern for what this world says, be not greater than his zeal for duty and justice.

Another difficulty he must meet with in respect to himself. No one can think of going towards Christ, but he will presently discover the way to be long, through the variety of interior contradictions, the apprehension of losing his own ease and convenience, and the obligation of making war against his own inclinations. This war is absolutely necessary, because his nature being corrupt, and strongly inclining him to selflove and the love of the world, he can no other way make approaches to Christ, than by resisting all such interior motions, and obliging them, by a sort of violence to yield, in obedience to the law of God. Now this cannot be effected, but by many uneasy conflicts. Nature itself must be overcome, passions must be mastered, what is pleasing must be renounced, and that made choice of, to which sense and inclination are wholly averse. And this must go on, till by this exercise the soul becomes wholly changed, not desiring now to follow the corrupt principles of the first Adam, but to live by the better maxims of the gospel, even the life of Christ. For he knows that there is no finding Christ, till he finds him abiding within his own heart, and there commanding as his Lord and Sovereign.

This is the way, and these are the difficulties, by which every one is to go to Christ. And there are few, though at the greatest distance from him, through the unhappy state of error or vice, but who are informed, like these three kings, by some providential light, where Christ is to be found: and had they a zeal and resolution like theirs to undertake the journey, would as certainly find him, to receive their offerings, and reward their labours. But here is the greatest instance of human weakness: few follow this light. Only three of all that nation in the East, to which the star appeared, followed it; and, it is to be feared, as few in other nations, in proportion to the great numbers who now see enough of it, to direct them to the truth of Christ. They have light shining upon them in their darkness, enough to awaken them; but, like men oppressed with sleep, they shut their eyes against it, and sleep on. The thoughts of what the world will say, the many inconveniences, as to their business and interest, the displeasure of friends, the difficulties of a change, with a thousand other discouragements, immediately present themselves; and prevail so far on minds unwilling to be disturbed, that on such motives of self-love, they desist from farther enquiry; and contenting themselves with some general principles of education, and the company of others, like themselves, they stifle the light and choose darkness.

The same weakness is, in many others, the occasion of continuing in the practice of very dangerous liberties, and walking on in a way very unjustifiable and unchristian. For though Almighty God often touches their hearts with a sense of their failings, and by an interior light from the gospel, good men or books, lets them see the danger of their state, and the necessity of reforming; yet being unwilling to forsake what pleases, and foreseeing the difficulties of a true conversion, they run for shelter to the example and authority of others, whose learning, position, reputation, and character seem to qualify them for being a rule. They plead that such a one does this, such another does that; if this were not allowable and safe, certainly such as they are, would not permit or practise it; and the like. Thus the example of religious, of priests and prelates, is brought forward; and there is scarcely any kind of vanity, pride, covetousness, levity or excess, but what is warranted and justified under this cover. And what is the ground of all this, but deceit and delusion? What is this, but a vicious partiality of insincere souls, who study how to delude the designs of infinite goodness, and by the treacherous authority of weakness itself, shut out the light of heaven, and harden themselves against all its impressions? It is plain that these are nothing but little subtilties, to put a fair gloss upon an ill cause. Were there any sincerity in them, and zeal for truth and justice, they would carefully attend to that light from heaven, which glancing upon them at all times, puts them upon seeking farther than they yet have done. They would join these sages in finding Christ; and let no human respect, or the example of the errors and infirmities of others, stop them in their way. Such courage would ensure blessing and success to their endeavours; and they would certainly find Christ. Let this thy light, O God of mercy, touch the hearts of all those, who by vice or error, are at a great distance from thee. Give them strength of mind to follow it with constancy and perseverance, that they may never stop till they find their Redeemer, and offer themselves at his sacred feet." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother


Feast of The Holy Name

by VP


Posted on Saturday January 04, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sermons


File:IHS monogram Gesu.jpg

IHS

"When We say the Lord's Prayer, my dear brethren, we pray that God's Name may be hallowed on earth as it is in heaven. So great is God and so worthy of our reverence that everything that belongs to Him or that has been devoted to His service partakes of this reverence. A church dedicated to His service is a holy place; the sacred vessels used in the sacrifice of the Mass are holy things, are set apart, and none but those who are ordained can touch them. Anything that came in contact with our Blessed Lord had a certain participation in His sanctity. At one time it was the mere touch of the hem of His garment that cured a woman of a lingering disease; at another it was His spittle that gave hearing to the deaf. As it is with these things, so it is with His holy Name indeed, much more so.

For His Name to us is representative of all that He has done for us. It is significant of His divinity and of His office as the Redeemer. It was given to Him by the Eternal Father. By the ministry of an angel it was declared that He should be called Jesus, "for He shall save His people from their sins." "For there is no other name under heaven given to men," says St. Peter in today's Epistle, "whereby we must be saved." the same measure as His elevated above all creatures, so is His sacred Name above all other names, "that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow." "From the rising of the sun," says the Psalmist, "until the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise.”

Worthy of praise, my brethren; and yet what is our every-day experience? In all ranks of society, on the street, in the shop, in the home, in the presence of Christ's little ones, men swear, women swear; and little children ere they can use their tongues properly learn to lisp curses and blasphemies. Parents who are God's representatives, and who should love our Lord Jesus Christ and reverence His Name, instead of having a little patience, of acquiring some little control of their temper when anything goes wrong, give loose rein to their tongues and insult our Blessed Lord by their profane use of that Name which is the symbol of His love and mercy. How many there are who bow their head in reverence to that sacred Name in the house of God, and who go to their home or their occupation and use it only to add sin to their soul and give scandal to their neighbors! How often, alas! is that Holy Name dragged through the mire and filth of low, vulgar, and often obscene language.

What a detestable vice this is! How worthy of the demon in its rebellion to God's express command, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain." Let this feast of the Holy Name serve as an occasion for a renewal of our love and reverence for the Name of Jesus. Let us today make some special acts of reparation to Him for the insults He receives in the profanation of that Holy Name. If we are unfortunate enough to be the slave of this dreadful habit, whether through bad example or carelessness, let the gracious promise of our Lord, "If you ask the Father anything in my Name, amen, I say, He will give it you," be an incentive to hope, be a stimulus to pray for the grace of freedom from that slavery. Habit is strong, but God's grace is stronger; His promise of help is never void.  Blessed be the Name of Jesus!"

Source: Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul, 1893


The Golden Arrow Prayer:

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.


Source: Sister Saint-Pierre and the Work of Reparation. Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face


The Divine Praises in Reparation for Blasphemies

    Blessed be God.
    Blessed be His Holy Name.
    Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
    Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
    Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
    Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
    Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
    Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
    Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
    Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
    Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
    Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother,
    Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste Spouse.
    Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.


I salute, adore, and love Thee, O Jesus, my Savior, covered anew with outrages by blasphemers, and I offer Thee, through the heart of Thy blessed Mother, the worship of all the Angels and Saints, as an incense and a perfume of sweet odor, most humbly beseeching Thee, by the virtue of Thy Sacred Face, to repair and renew in me and in all men Thy image disfigured by sin. Amen

Source: Veronica, or the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1871





The Acceptable Time

by VP


Posted on Saturday January 04, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sermons


Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish (Springboro, Ohio)

"THE time to serve God is now, and the place to serve God is right here. Such, brethren, is the lesson of New Year's Day. This day is the starting point of the whole year, and we should appreciate that the day itself, the present time, is of greater value than the past and the future. We should start right. We should get our minds in a proper condition for the labor and suffering, the joy and sorrow, of the coming year; and that means that we should use the present moment for all that it is worth. Of course, brethren, this is the day of big wishes: "I wish you a happy New Year," we all have heard and said many times to-day; and that is a good thing. But good wishes don't put money in the bank, or pay off the mortgage on your home, or even put a fat turkey on the table. They are pleasant and charitable, and, we repeat, they are good things-all the better if, as a matter of fact, they are likely to be fulfilled.

Now, many a one says: "I cannot be as good a Christian as I should wish because I am too busy just now." So you see he takes it out in good wishes by saying, "I wish I could be a good Christian." He is one of those mentioned by our Saviour: "Not every one who says, Lord! Lord! shall enter into the kingdom of heaven"; and He adds, "but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Thus our Saviour shows the difference between the one who says and the one who does the good-wisher and the well-doer. Don't you see that by simply wishing you are putting your business above God? Can't you understand that you think more highly of the guest you entertain to-day than you do of the one whom you. put off till to-morrow? First come, first served : and who comes before God? God the Father created you. God the Son redeemed you. God the Holy Ghost sanctified you. Is any business equal to creation, redemption, and sanctification? But somebody might insist: Father, that is all true, and yet what I say is true. I am too busy to attend to my religious duties, and I cannot help it. My occupations force themselves upon me. must work as I do, or I and my family will suffer. I answer: There must be something wrong about this. Is it really possible that you are compelled to work in such a way that you positively cannot receive Communion a few times a year; cannot say your night and morning prayers; cannot attend at Mass-is this really the case? If so, then you are a slave. There have been classes of men among us so situated, but they are not so now, because they rebelled against it, took effective measures to remedy the evil and succeeded in doing so. Have you tried? Have you asked leave to get off work to attend to your religious duties? Are you willing to lose a day's wages once in a while for the love of God? Think over these questions. Be honest with yourself. Do not blame your employer or excuse yourself until you have made your request and been refused.

The time to serve God is now, and the place is right here. That is the principle upon which our Sunday-school teachers act. They are busy, industrious young men and women. They find time, however, not only to take care of their own souls, but to help parents and priests to save the children of the parish. Much the same may be said of the members of the choir, the gentlemen of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, the Altar Society, and all others who unite themselves with us in the good works of religion and charity in this parish. To such souls, active and practical, every day is New Year's Day. They are always beginning or carrying on some good work for God, their neighbor, and their own souls, and doing it right here and just now.

It is in this spirit, brethren, that I hope all the good wishes of a Happy New Year may be received by you to-day, and that you may be truly happy in body and soul, in your families, and among your friends. Amen." Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year, Congregation of St. Paul 1893


The Circumcision of Our Lord

by VP


Posted on Tuesday December 31, 2024 at 11:00PM in Sermons


"THIS being the first day of the new year, consecrate it all to God. Offer to him your thoughts, words, and actions : beg grace for the exact performance of all your obligations, to be supported in dangers, and preserved from sin.

On this day, Christ our Lord subjected himself to the law of Circumcision. Give him thanks; pray for grace, for the ready compliance with all the laws of God, and resolve to comply, even at the expense of your blood. On this day of his humiliation, was given to him the holy name of Jesus; offer yourself to Jesus; beseech him to make you a true follower of him, in all humility, that you may be of the number of those who are saved by him. Beg pardon for the many times you have abused or profaned his sacred name, and be careful to do it no more.

It being on the day of Christ's circumcision that he received the adorable name of Jesus, or Saviour, we have in this a great instruction given us, of the necessity of a Christian or spiritual circumcision, and that he will be a Saviour to none in whom this is not found. This is the condition of the salvation which he offers. He begins the work by a legal circumcision, and we are to partake of his redemption by circumcision of the heart.

This imports a duty, in the first place, of retrenching all habitual sin; because this is an engagement contrary to the law and will of God; and therefore living in any such engagement, is living in wilful disobedience and contempt of God, and rebellion against his law. Such a state can have no other fruit but destruction, in being eternally separated from God. Secondly, all who design to live as they profess, are obliged to renounce all the immediate occasions of these sins. Because these occasions have such a connexion with the sins themselves, that there can be no sincerity in pretending to admit the one, and avoid the other. It is impossible to conceive that a soul can be truly converted to God, and have a hearty detestation of sin, as the gospel requires, which is pleased with the familiarity of such dangers, as are a violence upon it, and almost inseparable from sin. All the thoughts then of such unhappy sinners, of repentance and returning to God, can be no other than treacherous delusions: whilst they pretend to be sorry for having offended, and yet think nothing of quitting that company, and those practices, which have been the continual occasions of all their past offences. Therefore, the omitting to retrench these, is what excludes them from any part in the mercies of a Redeemer.

Thirdly, they are obliged to free themselves from other more remote occasions of sin. But then, as there are different degrees in these, so there is likewise in the obligation of retrenching them; it being in some more absolute and pressing than in others, according to the connection they have with sin. As this differs according to tempers and circumstances, it must be determined in particular by conferring with spiritual directors. However, sine general rules may be proposed as the obligation which every one has of cutting off whatever helps considerably to heighten those inclinations and passions, which alienate the mind from the love of God, and lead to sin. Hence the good Christian is very careful in the choice of his company and conversation. For since the general discourse of the world is a communication of worldly principles, the effusion of error and pride, and other passions, a soul that indifferently exposes herself to company, is in danger of being infected with all this poison. The same caution the good Christian uses in reading books; because too many of these favour concupiscence and corruption so much, that frequent reading them must make impressions, and insensibly work upon the soul, to the great prejudice of all its spiritual concerns. It is the same, as to all manner of shows and diversions; because he sees the great danger and mischief of these things, inasmuch as they are the common ways by which the devil deludes souls into all kinds of sinful liberties and wickedness. Whatever therefore his affections or inclinations may be, he carefully removes so much of all that, to which these lead him, as he has reason to suspect dangerous to his eternal welfare.

This care of the good Christian extends likewise to whatever considerably disturbs that good order and discipline, which ought to be observed in his own person or family. For though these are not numbered among the virtues, yet they have place among the Christian duties; inasmuch as it is the obligation of every Christian to be watchful in that, which is the best security of a Christian life, and without which it must be exposed to be wholly overthrown. Indeed, it is as great an absurdity to think of maintaining a Christian life without order and discipline, as to support any civil or military government without it. Therefore, though it be often necessary to interrupt the order of praying, eating, working, sleeping, &c., yet whoever loses all regard to this order, and lets every humour and inclination take place of it, it is to be feared, that if he be not already lost, it cannot be very long before he will be so. For this going out of all method involves such variety of neglects, draws so many ill consequences after it, and betrays so great a stock of selflove, and desire of satisfying one's own inclinations, and preferring them to ordinary duties, that it cannot be long consistent with a Christian life.

For this reason, the good Christian, ever apprehensive of being insensibly carried out of the way, is not only careful to prevent it, by keeping up discipline, and observing good order in himself and family; but is likewise very watchful in retrenching whatever he perceives of this world apt to possess his heart and likely to turn it from God. And this, not only in respect of sinful objects, but also of all love of the world, love of temporal or secular things, in a word, of all love of creatures. This he undertook in baptism, when becoming the child of God, he promised to renounce all those inclinations, which he brought with him into the world, which naturally and violently carry him to sin, to earth, and to creatures; and solemnly engaged to follow those new impressions which he then received, which lead him to the love of God, to religion, and to the search of heavenly things, by a separation from creatures. Though, from that corruption which is in him, he cannot follow the new impressions, without violence to nature; yet having taken this obligation upon him, he considers it his duty ever to use this violence. This is his exercise, as long as he is in this life. He finds in it great difficulties; but he who undertook to be his Redeemer, has taught him that he is not to expect any part in this redemption without trouble and difficulties. Therefore, encouraged by his example, he resolutely offers himself to all these, and looks for them as part of his portion to which he is called. Though frail of himself, he yet hopes, through the grace of his Redeemer, and the assistance of his holy spirit, to hold out to the end, with cheerful submission, and untired patience, till that happy hour comes when he may say: All is finished. For this end, he puts himself this day under the covert of the sacred name of Jesus, hoping under that protection daily to receive a constant supply of courage and comfort; that he may go on in the practice of a spiritual circumcision, in the same spirit with him who taught it. Grant us, O Jesus, this thy holy spirit, that we may ever remember this lesson, and duly practise it. And whenever our corrupt nature is carrying us to sin, to the love of this world, or of creatures, powerfully check our inclinations, and say to our souls: I am thy salvation." The Catholic Year for Rev. Fr. John Gother


RETROSPECT.

by VP


Posted on Saturday December 28, 2024 at 11:00PM in Sermons


"BETWEEN remembering the old year and looking forward to the new year, this day should be a busy one for the Christian. It ought to be a day of examination of conscience. Good Christians examine their consciences in some manner or other daily, and some are so vividly in God's presence that they scrutinize every act of their lives; and this is what it is to be thoroughly conscientious. Conscientiousness when cultivated is nothing less than habitual consciousness of the Divine presence. We know, to be sure, that some persons are overparticular in examination of conscience, and these are called scrupulous. But most of us are not scrupulous enough. The cultivation of the conscience tends to a constant realizing of the Divine presence, and when this becomes habitual the soul becomes perfect.

There are two kinds of examination of conscience, both of which are good. One is done at fixed times by some arrangement with one's self honestly adhered to. The other kind of examination is spontaneous. In this latter case the conscience won't let you pass an hour, or even a minute, without undergoing scrutiny. In the former case you examine your conscience, and in the latter your conscience examines you. I have met numbers of persons who need never examine their consciences when preparing for confession : they live habitually in the Divine presence and are ready at all moments to perform the highest spiritual duties. I think it was one of the St. Catharines who was kneading dough to make bread for the community when the bell rang for Communion; she went up and received our Lord with the dough sticking to her hands and then went back to her batch of bread and she was excellently well disposed for Communion. St. Francis of Sales, from the evenness of character which he attained, must have had this gift of consciousness of the Divine presence in a high degree.

Brethren, I wish all of you had something of this high gift. But for most of us I may truly say that the examination of conscience which will benefit us will be that made at set times; of course, at confession. But no practice will produce better results for persons of good sense than having fixed times at which we shall go over the actions of the day. And on New Year's Day, of all day's in the year, we should take account of our conduct towards God and our neighbor and ourselves, and make good resolutions for the future. The fact is that on a day like this the old year rises and demands examination. Sometimes we say, "The past is gone." But in truth there is no such good luck as that. It would be a very good thing for some of us if the past could be politely bowed out with the old year. But there it is, fixed for ever. The past year is an account book turned over to God's court to witness for or against us; let us try and get a favorable balance out of it. At any rate, let us know the truth about it.

Let us face about, therefore, brethren, and look back over the past twelve months, and question the seasons of the old year. How did I begin the old year and how did I behave myself last winter? Did I make my Easter duty last spring? Did I attend Mass regularly and worship God through the summer, or did I make the Lord's Day one of carousing and picnicking and drinking? Have I used my tongue for blaspheming, my body for lust, my soul for slavery to the evil one? Have I unjustly gotten any of my neighbor's property? Have I been brutal to my family? These sound like ugly questions. But there's no happy New Year for you or me till we have answered them and many others besides, repented of our sins and make good resolutions for confession and Communion, and for a good life for the future." Five minute Sermons, Congregation of St. Paul 1893