Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, MARTYRS, A.D. 203.
by VP
Posted on Friday August 08, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Cyriacus, Terror of Hell
"ST. CYRIACUS was a holy deacon at Rome, under the popes Marcellinus and Marcellus. He was imprisoned under the Emperor Dioclesian; but being set at liberty, went into Persia, where having converted the Emperor, with several others, to the Christian faith, he returned to Rome. Being seized by order of Maximian, he was drawn in chains before his chariot, and after some days, having suffered the cruel torments of boiling pitch and the rack, was at length beheaded, in the year 303. With him suffered also Largus and Smarag dus, with twenty other Christians.
Admire the constancy of these primitive Christians; and having given God thanks for it, reproach yourself with your own impatience, who, in your ordinary trials, so very inconsiderable, if compared to theirs, shew so little courage in bearing them, and so little submission to the will of God, from whose hand they come. Do you not reflect that all your dejection and melancholy is want of courage, and your great uneasiness want of patience and submission? And how long are you to go on thus ? You often honour the martyrs; but what is this honour, if you do not imitate them, as your circumstances require ? You pray for heaven; but what will your prayers avail, if you do not make use of those means, which God sends you to fit you for salvation, and bring you to him? Do you expect to go to heaven by some extraordinary means, when you thus refuse to accept of the ordinary way of salvation, even that way by which Christ and all his saints have gone? A Christian must fight and labour, and ever proportion his diligence to the difficulties of his work, and to the opposition which he daily meets. Upon these terms he need not doubt of a powerful assistance from above, but may feel secure of having heaven on his side." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
PRAYER IN HONOR OF ST. CYRIACUS:
GOD, who didst grant to St. Cyriacus the grace of heroic charity and trustful resignation to Thy holy will; bestow upon us, through his intercession, the grace to walk before Thee in self-denying charity and to know and fulfil Thy will in all things. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
INVOCATION OF ST. CYRIACU:
ST. CYRIACUS, great servant of God, loving Christ with all thy heart, thou didst for His sake also love thy fellow-men, and didst serve them even at the peril of thy life, for which charity God rewarded thee with the power to overcome Satan, the arch-enemy, and to deliver the poor obsessed from his dreadful tyranny; implore for me of God an effective, real, and true charity. Show thy power over Satan also in me; deliver me from his influence when he tries to tempt me. Help me to repel his assaults and to gain the victory over him in life and in death. Amen.
Source: Mary, help of Christians and the fourteen saints invoked as holy helpers 1909 Compiled by Rev. Bonaventure Hammer, OFM
Saint John Vianney
by VP
Posted on Friday August 08, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Prayer to God to save the Church by Sanctifying His priests who have fallen away
O God, our Lord, we obey without delay
to Thy gracious invitation to pray. Encouraged by Thy desire, we worship
at your sacred feet, crying out to Thee for our guilty priests. Deign
to be reminded, Lord, that Thy priestly Body is Thy crown of
predilection, the splendor of Thy glory, the chosen part of Thy
heritage. We implore Thee to arm Thyself with holy indignation
against Satan, who dared to plant the banner of sin in Thy own
sanctuary, and to chase him away in shame from Thy solemnly dedicated
domain. What would it cost Thee, O Lord, to turn the most
hardened hearts into penitents? Only one simple glance at Peter was
enough to retrieve him from the abyss of a three times apostasy; would
it cost Thee more to touch and convert those who have had the misfortune
to imitate his weakness? O Jesus, our King and Pontiff, we
beseech Thee on behalf of Mary, Thy Mother and ours, save the Church,
save Thy faithful, save Thy blessed honor, by saving priests! Amen.
Source: The Priest according to the Doctrine and the Examples of the Servant of God J.M.B. Vianney, Curé dʼArs." J.H. Olivier, (1870) in French
The Eucharist: offering the Mass, communion, adoration
8. The two Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist remain closely linked. Without a continually renewed conversion and reception of the sacramental grace of forgiveness, participation in the Eucharist would not reach its full redemptive efficacy.(12) Just as Christ began his ministry with the words "Repent and believe in the gospel,"(13) so the Cure of Ars generally begins each of his days with the ministry of forgiveness. But he was happy to direct his reconciled penitents to the Eucharist. The Eucharist was at the very center of his spiritual life and pastoral work. He said: "All good works put together are not equivalent to the Sacrifice of the Mass, because they are the works of men and the Holy Mass is the work of God."(14)
It is in the Mass that the sacrifice of Calvary is made present for the Redemption of the world. Clearly, the priest must unite the daily gift of himself to the offering of the Mass: "How well a priest does, therefore, to offer himself to God in sacrifice every morning!"(15) "Holy Communion and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass are the two most efficacious actions for obtaining the conversion of hearts."(16) Thus the Mass was for John Mary Vianney the great joy and comfort of his priestly life. He took great care, despite the crowds of penitents, to spend more than a quarter of an hour in silent preparation. He celebrated with recollection, clearly expressing his adoration at the consecration and communion.
He accurately remarked: "The cause of priestly laxity is not paying attention to the Mass!"(17) The Cure of Ars was particularly mindful of the permanence of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist. It was generally before the tabernacle that he spent long hours in adoration, before daybreak or in the evening; it was towards the tabernacle that he often turned during his homilies, saying with emotion: "He is there!" It was also for this reason that he, so poor in his presbytery, did not hesitate to spend large sums on embellishing his Church. The appreciable result was that his parishioners quickly took up the habit of coming to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, discovering, through the attitude of their pastor, the grandeur of the mystery of faith. (...)
The Eucharist is the source and summit of all the Christian life."(19) Dear brother priests, the example of the Cure of Ars invites us to a serious examination of conscience: what place do we give the Mass in our daily lives? Is it, as on the day of our Ordination - it was our first act as priests! - the principle of our apostolic work and personal sanctification? What care do we take in preparing for it? And in celebrating it? In praying before the Blessed Sacrament? In encouraging our faithful people to do the same? In making our Churches the House of God to which the divine presence attracts the people of our time who too often have the impression of a world empty of God?"
Source: Catholic Culture. From the Vatican, 16 March 1986, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, in the eighth year of my Pontificate. Joannes Paulus PP. II
Saint Catherine of Sienna, Rev. Fr. Paul Parkerson and Rev. Fr. Philip Tighe
"To draw his people more effectually to the holy Eucharist, the Cure d'Ars had endeavored to communicate to them a taste for all holy things, and his efforts were not in vain. Sunday after Sunday these good people feasted their eyes on beautiful banners and vestments.
("In the minutes of the pastoral visitation held at Ars by the Bishop of Belley, on Monday, June 11, 1838, we read as follows: "After saying Mass and giving confirmation, His Lordship contented himself with giving Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and reciting the prayers for the departed. He deemed it unnecessary to examine the interior of the church, the chapels, vestments and sacred vessels, because everything is so beautiful and so rich that the beholder is filled with admiration" Msgr. Convert. Le Frere Athanase.)
For a long time the saint himself trained the altar boys, and achieved wonderful results. He carried out with gravity, dignity, and the utmost care all the ceremonies of the rite of Lyons, which at that time was likewise in use in the diocese of Belley. Nor was the behaviors of the altar servers less admirable when, in 1849, Frere Athanase undertook the functions of master of ceremony.
He had so fine a liturgical spirit, and he drilled the children with so much precision and good taste, that Mgr. de Langalerie, during a clergy retreat, held him up as a pattern to the clergy of the diocese. "Do you wish to see a church where all the ceremonies are carried out to the letter? Go to Ars; Frere Athanase is a living and unerring ceremonial. His example will show you what you can achieve yourselves if you will only take the means."
There were days when the people of Ars gave special edification to the pilgrims. On Maundy Thursday, in order to commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist, M. Vianney insisted on providing a splendid altar of repose, and his heart rejoiced at sight of the decorations which enhanced the majesty of the tabernacle. The whole of the chancel, which had been considerably enlarged in 1845, was draped with banners. Numerous and tastefully arranged lights transfigured the scene. However, he took every precaution lest these decorations should be a hindrance instead of a help to the interior recollection of the people."Source: The Cure d'Ars, Abbe Trochu
Saint Cajetan, Confessor A.D. 1547
by VP
Posted on Thursday August 07, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"HE was born in Italy, and after his youth spent in virtue and learning, invested with ecclesiastical dignity, and brought into the court of Rome. But soon renouncing this state, he applied himself to the care of the poor and sick. Being desirous to revive the discipline of the apostles, he founded an Order of regular clergy, who depending wholly on Divine Providence, should possess nothing, but live on such alms as were freely brought by the faithful without being asked. In this method he lived many years, charitable in all Christian offices, fervent in prayer, and so rigorous in all manner of mortification, that as he had often professed, so he was resolved to make good that death should never find him but in sackcloth and ashes. At length, an excessive trouble, occasioned by the wickedness of the people, brought his last sickness upon him, of which he died at Naples, in the year 1547.
Pray for all of this Order, that they may live up to the spirit of their founder. Be as charitable to the poor
and sick, as your condition will allow. This was his first step to that
great virtue, which God was pleased to raise him; and you may hope for
plenty of heavenly blessings from the like practice. Imitate something of his mortification; and if you cannot approve of treating your body with his rigors, at least let it not be your daily study
to please it. It is an enemy, and has very treacherous inclinations,
and cannot receive your favors without abusing them to your ruin. Pray
and endeavor to obtain some degree of his confidence in God, and to be freed from all excesses of solicitude.
It is very prejudicial to all Christian duties, and you are bound to
fight against it, as an enemy. This you are called to by Christ himself.
Despise not his advice: he that gave it knew better the extent of this evil than you do. It is hard for some to observe it; but where the difficulty is greater, there must be greater efforts by labor and prayer to stand against it." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
THE ORIGIN OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE PERPETUAL ADORATION AND THE EXPOSITION OF THE FORTY HOURS. A.D. 1517.
Several Fathers of the Theatine Order, taking example by the zeal of their saintly founder, could not endure that our Divine Redeemer, who in His love tarrieth with us poor men in the Most Holy Sacrament under the form of an insignificant Host, should be so little sought, honored, and praised with thanksgiving. The thought therefore occurred to them to found a congregation whose members should undertake in turns to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. All the hours of the year were distributed amongst the members, so that every hour of the year the Most Holy Sacrament should be adored in deepest humility.
Besides the devotion of the perpetual adoration, which was the result of the love of our Lord, the same congregation founded that of the Exposition of the Quarant' Ore, or Forty Hours, in honor of the forty hours during which the body of Jesus lay in the grave. ( Legends of the Blessed Sacrament: Gathered from the History of the Church and the Lives of the Saints, Emily Mary Shapcote Burns and Oates, 1877, p 63)
Prayer to the Most Holy Sacrament for the first Thursday of the Month. (attributed to St. Cajetan)
Look down, O Lord, from thy sanctuary and from the high habitation of thy glory, and behold this sacred oblation, which our great High Priest, thy holy servant, the Lord Jesus, immolates unto thee for the sins of his brethren, and be propitious to the multitude of our iniquities. The voice of Jesus, our brother, cries to thee from the cross; graciously hear it, O Lord! and be appeased. Delay not to show us thy mercy, because thy name is invoked upon this city, and upon thy people!
I profoundly adore thee, O Lord Jesus, really present in the most holy sacrament. I acknowledge thee to be true God and true man; and, by this act of adoration, I desire to make amends for the coldness of the multitude of Christian, who pass indifferently before thy temples, and even before thy tabernacles, showing by their insensibility that, like the Hebrews in the desert, they loathe the sacred manna of heaven. I ardently wish I could repair the tepidity and ingratitude of all creatures, and I beseech thee to receive my fervent desire that "glory, honor, and eternal praise" be given to thee, in the adorable sacrament of thy love. Amen
The Treasury of Prayer; a New Manual of Devotional Exercises. With the Masses and Prayers Used by the Society of Saint Vincent of Paul, and the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holy Days, 1853 page 281
#3 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind
by VP
Posted on Thursday August 07, 2025 at 12:00AM in Thursday Reparation
3. We adore Thee, O eternal Wisdom! And to repair the gross ignorance which has caused us to offend Thee, we offer up to Thee all the knowledge of those most enlightened Spirits, the Cherubim. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine
Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of
the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf
and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by
rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of
performing. Amen
Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday August 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
The Transfiguration by James Tissot
"AN ancient festival of the Church, in memory of the glorious transfiguration of Christ on mount Thabor, in presence of three of his
apostles, when a voice was heard from heaven saying: "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." Pray for a true
sense of this mystery; that as Christ's apostles, by this foretaste of glory, were prepared to suffer, and to regard all troubles of this life as inconsiderable, in comparison of the eternal weight of glory to be purchased by them; so you may conceive this day so true an idea of future happiness, as not to value all the difficulties of this life, so that you may but secure your portion with the blessed. Pray for this heartily; for if you had a true sense of the goods
to come, you would be more diligent in all duties, and less concerned
in all troubles. All your neglect, sloth, and impatience proceed from
this root: and you love this world, because you take no pains to know the next. Endeavor therefore to form a lively idea of that glorious state, which God has prepared for those that serve him, where souls shall be brought to the presence of their God, where they shall be filled with the glory of his majesty, penetrated with the sweetness of his adorable mercy, overflow with the transporting love of his goodness, and see themselves so encompassed with unspeakable comforts and joys on every side, as to be out of all danger of interruption, change or end. If your soul is penetrated with a vigorous and quickening faith of this goodness and mercy of God, and his love to man, this faith will so prepare you for the trials of this life, as to think no suffering hard, which is the way to this happiness. O God, when will the thoughts of future glory so possess our souls, as to make us despise all the goods and evils of this life? Thabor is our encouragement; but Calvary is the way of bliss. Offer yourself with indifference to both; and beseech God to confirm you in this spirit." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Dedication of the Church of Our Lady of the Snow
by VP
Posted on Tuesday August 05, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
The Blessed Virgin Mary overlooking Pope Liberius scrapes the outline of the foundation of the basilica into the snow.
By Italian artist Masolino da Panicale, circa 15th century, Museo di Capodimonte.
"A FEAST in memory of a church built and dedicated to Almighty God, in honor of the Blessed Virgin by a special revelation. The church is called St. Mary Major, or the Greater, because it is the oldest and most important of those dedicated in honor of our Blessed Lady. It is also called St. Mary ad Nives, or at the Snow, from a popular tradition that the Mother of God chose this place for a church under her invocation, by a miraculous snow, which fell upon this spot on this day, when the heat is greatest at Rome, and by a vision in which she appeared to a patrician named John, who munificently founded and endowed this church in the time of Pope Liberius, in 385.
Give thanks to God for all his wonders, and recommend yourself to the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, whom God was pleased to honor this day with so signal a miracle. Pray that her innocence and virtue may be the model of your life. The greatest honor which you can shew her, is in the imitation of her sanctity: and without this, all other acknowledgments are vain. On this dedication, examine your behavior in the house of God. See whether it be always with that decency and reverence which becomes the presence of God. Can you expect blessings from his hands, if you are there affronting him to his face? And what else is your talking and idle gazing about in that holy place? His awful majesty fills the church, and so it ought to do your heart, as long as you are there. If your thoughts or eyes are fixed on any other, is it God whom you then adore? Or may you not fear that you have other gods besides him? Be severe with yourself in this point: banish all manner of levity and disrespect: let a true sense of God command your whole behavior. Be there as a criminal before his judge, as a poor helpless creature before his sovereign Lord. Thus you will honor your God, and render him propitious in hearing and granting your petitions." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
DEVOTION TO BLESSED MARY. - The chief of all the sanctuaries throughout the Christian world dedicated in honour of Blessed Mary, is beyond doubt the church in Rome, bearing the name of St. Mary Major. The tradition relating to its foundation is as follows:-" In the fourth century, during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, the Blessed Virgin appeared to a pious Christian, bearing the name of John, and belonging to one of the first families of Rome, and directed him to build a church in a spot which she pointed out, signifying, as a proof of the reality of the revelation, that on the night following, which was the 5th of August, snow would cover the spot. The church was founded, and bears the name of "Our Lady of Snows.” The devotion of the faithful, upheld by the frequent miracles wrought there, had rendered it, long antecedently to the erection of that of "Our Lady of Loretto," the privileged sanctuary under Her special invocation. In this church is moreover preserved the cradle wherein the Infant Jesus slumbered. This hallowed object had, from the same epoch, attracted the veneration of the most learned and holy personages of the Christian world, among whom may be mentioned the learned St. Jerome.
MORAL REFLECTION.-How comforting is it to the heart of the true Christian to call to mind that this homage paid to the "Mother of pure love and holy hope" is a traditional dogma co-extensive with the Church, and time-honoured as Christianity itself!—(Eccles. xxiv. 24.) Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints, by Fr. Lecanu
St. Dominic, Confessor, A.D. 1221.
by VP
Posted on Monday August 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"A HOLY man, born in Spain, who having applied to learning, was first made a canon, and afterwards became the founder of the Order of Preachers,
from him called Dominicans. He was eminent for his zealous labours in
reclaiming those who had been misled into error or vice; and by himself and his followers he had great success in reviving the spirit of the gospel, and establishing the faithful in the love of virtue and truth. Having for many years been an example to his disciples of charity, humility, and poverty, and to the world a rule of innocence and piety, he departed this life in the year 1221.
Pray for all the religious of this holy Order, that the spirit of their founder may be their rule; that they may edify all by their regularity and strict discipline, and be as so many lights to the world. Pray that you may be exact in all the observances of a Christian life. Living amidst the disorders and solicitude of the world, you have much greater difficulties to overcome than religious, who by retiring from the world, are freed from a great part of the dangers to which you are daily exposed. Ought not then your care and watchfulness to be proportioned to your dangers, and your labours to the difficulties of your life? How can you otherwise hope to overcome? The world is a torrent, and you are bound to stand against it. This cannot be done without perpetual resistance, which must cost you trouble and pains. Be therefore constant in your prayers, watchful over all your inclinations, resolute in self-denials, exact in all discipline. Learn to contemn the goods of this life, and to be solicitous for those of the next. This is the life of religious; and this must be yours, if you expect your portion with them. A life of sloth, self-love, and ease becomes not the followers of Christ and his saints. They are called forth into the field of battle; they have many enemies to overcome, many temptations to resist, and many great duties to perform." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
DEVOTION TO BLESSED MARY.- St. Dominic, born at Osma in 1170, was destined by Almighty God to convert a vast multitude of sinners, as well by his own labours as through the agency of the Order that bears his name. The first efforts of his zeal were displayed in Languedoc, which was then beset by a vast number of heretics, known as the Albigenses. There it was and on that account that he founded the Order of Dominicans, specially charged with preaching in Christian countries, and also with the seeking out or inquisition of heretics, with the view to lead them back to God. The superadding of torture which was subsequently resorted to against such as did not yield to conversion, was in nowise the work of St. Dominic; the Church has never allowed any means to be availed of more urgent than simple persuasion. To his zeal for the conversion of sinners and a great love for the poor, Dominic united a tender piety to the Blessed Virgin. It was he who instituted the devotion of the Rosary, and the custom of saluting Blessed Mary at the beginning of the sermon. He died at Rome in 1221, illustrious for miracles.
MORAL REFLECTION.- It is to the whole human race in the person of the beloved disciple that the Son of God said, in speaking of Mary: "Son! behold thy mother." - (John xix. 27.) Pictorial Half Hour with the Saints by Fr. Lecanu
Saint John Vianney Feast Day
by VP
Posted on Monday August 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Documents
"Through the character of Sacred Orders, God willed to ratify that eternal covenant of love, by which He loves His priests above all others; and they are obliged to repay God for this special love with holiness of life... So a cleric should be considered as a man chosen and set apart from the midst of the people, and blessed in a very special way with heavenly gifts—a sharer in divine power, and, to put it briefly, another Christ... He is no longer supposed to live for himself; nor can he devote himself to the interests of just his own relatives, or friends or native land... He must be aflame with charity toward everyone. Not even his thoughts, his will, his feelings belong to him, for they are rather those of Jesus Christ who is his life." -- Encyclical of Pope John XXIII on St. John Vianney ( August 1, 1959 )
Prayer for a Pastor and His Parish to St. John Vianney
Saint John Vianney, we pray you to bless
and help our pastor so that he may love dearly in this life and be
richly rewarded in the next. Obtain for him the grace always to be kind
and generous, self-sacrificing and zealous. Watch over the people of our
parish, and keep them free from all evils. Help them to be loyal and
generous in the support of our pastor.
Help us particularly
always to give him the respect and honor due him as a priest. Except for
him we should not have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or Your presence
among us, or the other sacraments that we so dearly love and need.
From
his anointed hands we receive the food of our souls, the most precious
Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ from his lips we hear the word
of God. By the power given to him our sins are forgiven, and we are
given all blessings and it is he who will anoint us when we are dying,
and will offer the Holy Sacrifice for us when we are dead.
Help us, dear Saint, to see Christ in him, and to cooperate with him in all his work for the good of our souls. Amen
Finding of the Body of St. Stephen, THE FIRST MARTYR, A.D. 415.
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"A FESTIVAL in memory of that day, when by divine revelation the body of St. Stephen, the first martyr, mentioned in the Acts, was found at Jerusalem, together with the bodies of Nicodemus, Gamaliel, and his son Abibas, in the year 415, under the Emperor Honorius. Upon the opening of St. Stephen's coffin, the earth shook, and there came from it so agreeable an odor, that no one remembered any thing like it. Seventy-three persons, afflicted with various distempers, recovered their health upon the spot. The sacred relics were removed with great solemnity by the Christians into the church of Sion; afterwards to Constantinople, under Theodosius the younger; and at length to Rome, in the time of Pelagius I. At the removal of this sacred body, God was pleased to work many miracles, by giving sight to the blind, and health to the sick, as recorded by St. Augustin in his book Of the City of God, and by other writers of those primitive times. Bless God in his saints, for all his graces bestowed on them, and for all his wonders wrought by them. Revive this day in your mind the virtues of St. Stephen, his great zeal for the faith of Christ, his patience in suffering, and wonderful charity in praying for his enemies, even those who stoned him. Pray that on this day of miracles, God would work one more o you, by changing your obstinate and rebellious heart, and subjecting it entirely to the impression of his grace and the accomplishment of his holy will. Pray for the zeal, patience, and charity of this saint. Offer yourself to do and suffer whatever your profession of a Christian, and the obligations of your state call you to; for this is the manifest will of God Pardon all your enemies, and pray for them. Depart not from your prayers, till this perfect charity be wrought in you. Admit of no false coloring or pretexts to disguise your passion. Resolve to speak freely to those who seem averse to you, and never permit yourself in discourse, to express any resentments, or dislike of them, If this be hard, the difficulty is from the corruption and pride of your heart: pray for remedy." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Sons of God
by VP
Posted on Sunday August 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
Le Pater, Jacques Tissot
"Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."-ROM. 8. 14.
1. This glorious title "sons of God" fails to touch so many hearts.
2. They prefer the world, which is the enemy of God.
3. They object to being "led": fatal mistake.
4. What follows from being sons? Heirs also.
"WHAT joy and enthusiasm should be enkindled in our souls by the announcement of this truth, that St. Paul declares to us, that we are destined to be "the sons of God; and if sons, heirs also; co-heirs with Christ." But, alas! this announcement awakens no echo in the souls of so many. They are in this world; they raise their eyes to nothing beyond, but find occupation, pleasure, contentment in the fleeting joys of the present. What a misfortune to disregard the glorious destiny to which they are called, and to content themselves with the world" which passeth away." They give no heed to the warnings of the Scripture: "Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world" (1 John ii. 15); and that other, “The friendship of this world is the enemy of God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world becometh an enemy of God' (Jas. ii. 4).
An enemy of God! and they are called to be the sons of God. It is all-important, then, that we watch ourselves, and do not make the fatal mistake of becoming an enemy, whereas we are called to be sons. And it is easy and natural to make this mistake, deluded and misguided by self-love and self-sufficiency. Witness those of whom our Blessed Lord speaks, as claiming heaven because they have prayed and done miracles in His name: but they had been ruled by self, and not led by the Spirit of God. Therefore the gospel continues, "And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you that work iniquity" (Matt. 8. 23).
How can we explain this? Alas! in all that they had done, it had not been the Will of God they had sought to do, but their own will. They had not been "led by the Spirit of God." This is the test by which we make sure of our calling. "Whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." It is the word "led" that is the stumbling-block! A man has faculties and intelligence: he determines to go by them, imagining that they are all-sufficing. He forgets their limits; of how much he is ignorant; how prone he is to evil; the insidious enemies around him. He chooses his own way.
A fatal mistake, indeed, to imagine we can choose our own way and be independent. Our own way! Blind men choosing their own way, and refusing assistance and guidance. Our own way! Forgetting that we are prone to evil; that we have deceitful enemies around us, leading us to destruction-enemies, who craftily conceal the dangers and the evils under the guise of pleasure and freedom and independence. Our own way! And yet we cannot shake ourselves free from the thraldom, for we are slaves to our sins. Such a man forfeits the grace and help of the Spirit, and is powerless of himself. For instance, some Sunday he may hear some word of our Lord in the Gospel that is a rebuke to him; he knows that he should change and repent, but no, he clings to his own opinion or to the habit he has formed. He thinks he is free and independent, yet in reality he is a slave, enthralled in his evil ways. Warnings are given; even a bad conscience can be stricken by fear of some evil that seems impending. He is powerless to change, though he dreads the consequences. Aided by the tempter, he stifles the voice of conscience, and remains a miserable slave of sin. Thus, from the practices of a good Christian life, he is led astray and, sooner or later, the tempter leads him from the Faith... Good practices he has abandoned; next some doctrine or precept of the Church annoys him, persistently rebukes him. Will he be humble enough to obey, or rebel and choose his own way and cling to his own will? Alas! he thus falls from the Faith! For what is a heretic, but a chooser, as the meaning of the word implies; and one that clings obstinately to his own opinion in defiance of the Church? He becomes one of those of whom the prophet speaks: "They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own will, and in the perversity of their wicked heart" (Jer. vii. 24).
But how different all is, thank God, for those who lovingly yield themselves to be "led by the Spirit of God." They are “partakers of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit dwells within them, as St. Paul tells us, and securely in His strength and under His guidance they tread the path of life. Their faith, received at Baptism, strengthened within them at Confirmation, beams down upon their path of life, enlightening them day by day to fulfil their duties to God and man. Walking in the light of this divine Faith, there is no hesitancy, no doubt, no difficulties in following the road that leads to eternal life. Faith points out the way; hope sustains them in the journey, both the gift of that divine Spirit by Whom they are led. The hope that they are thus the sons of God inspires them with courage to bear their cross, to dare and do whatever the Spirit bids them. This hope bids them also remember that, if they are the sons of God, they are "heirs also, heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." Let us pray, then, for the Holy Spirit to endow us with wisdom and understanding to give ourselves to be led by Him, and not by the false maxims of the world, of self, of the evil one. Pray that He may teach us to set a right value on the means to salvation; to relish the things of God; to be ever ready to follow His leading and His guidance, for then we shall be "the sons of God."
Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (8th Sunday after Pentecost)
