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Thoughts for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost

9/28/2014

 
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  The Sin of Pride

“Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled” (Luke, 14:11)

We must not have the idea that only transgressions concerned with material things such as dishonesty, drunkenness, impurity, etc., are grave sins. One of the most dangerous and malicious sins pertains to the spiritual order, the sin of pride. It is this sin that Our Lord condemns so severely in today’s Gospel, saying that everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled.


To understand properly these words of Our Divine Redeemer we must have a correct concept of the sin of pride. Pride is an exaggerated esteem of one’s own excellence. It is not pride to recognise one’s abilities and gifts and to rejoice in them. The man who is a successful business administrator does not have to regard himself as stupid, if he would avoid pride. The woman who is favoured with beauty is not obliged to convince herself that she is ugly. But when a person claims qualifications which he knows he does not possess and in consequence acts arrogantly, he is guilty of pride.

Above all, it is a sign of pride to attribute our good qualities and our success to ourselves rather than to God. It sometimes happens that a person who is very fortunate in some field of human endeavour--in business or politics or scholarship-forgets that all his abilities come from God. People of this type become overbearing and harsh toward others. They exaggerate their own importance, they ridicule those who have not succeeded as well as themselves. In the designs of God such proud persons often have a rude awakening. The day may come when they encounter a situation that baffles their intelligence and ability, and then they meet a tragic failure.

It is a sad way for these persons to learn that their own cleverness and skill were indeed very limited, as are all human perfections. Sometimes such persons will recognise their fault and humbly acknowledge that they relied too much on themselves. Then God will readily forgive them. But frequently they spend the rest of their lives in bitterness and despair. In them the words of Christ are fulfilled, “Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled.”

If we would avoid this sin of pride we must ever be deeply conscious that all that we are and all that we have come to us from God as gifts of His love and generosity. If He so wills, He can take away all that makes us esteemed and honoured in the eyes of our fellow-men. And when we do encounter some failure in life we should accept it as coming from God to give us the opportunity of practising the noble virtue of humility.

Practical Application

Frequently thank God for all the benefits, natural and supernatural, He has bestowed on you. This practice will remind you that you are entirely dependent on Him for all your good qualities and abilities.


Thoughts for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost

9/20/2014

 
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  The Resurrection of the Soul

“I say to thee, arise” (Luke, 7:14)

It must have produced a tremendous impression on the people of Naim to witness the miracle related in today’s Gospel. In a small town all the people are intimately acquainted with one another; the sorrows of one family are felt in all homes. So, there must have been deep sorrow in the hearts of all the kindly people of Naim when they heard that their neighbour, a poor widow, had lost her only son by death.

We can presume that practically all the inhabitants of the village attended the funeral, and consequently beheld the wondrous miracle that took place when Our Lord said, “Young man, I say to thee, arise,” and he that was dead sat up.

When we lose a dear one by death, to what lengths we would gladly go to have him restored to life If Jesus Christ were still on earth in visible form, we surely would approach Him and ask Him to use His miraculous power and restore this loved one to life, as He did the youth of Naim. And we know that the power of Christ is as great today as it was nineteen centuries ago; if He willed, He would bring this person back to life.

However, nowadays it is ordinarily not God’s plan to have miracles of this extraordinary nature take place, as it was when Christ was proving His divine mission. But there is a miracle of spiritual resurrection which Our Lord is ready to perform, not as something rare and extraordinary, but as an ordinary and frequent phase of the Christian life.

This takes place whenever a soul is freed from mortal sin. For when a person possessing the state of grace commits a mortal sin, death enters his soul. The bright and beautiful image of God conferred by sanctifying grace is obliterated; the soul becomes more hideous in the sight of God than a corrupted corpse. Only God’s power can restore that soul to life. But God’s power is at our disposal if we have recourse to Him.

The great and consoling means a our disposal to obtain this spiritual resurrection from sin is the sacrament of Penance. When the sinner, no matter how far he may have gone on the way of iniquity, makes a good confession with true contrition of heart, he is restored to the life of grace, and his spiritual mother, the Church, embraces him joyfully, as the widow of Naim embraced her son brought back from death by the power and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Practical Application

If you have the misfortune to commit a mortal sin, do not remain in that sad condition. Remember that while you are in mortal sin your soul is dead, unable to acquire heavenly merit, deserving of eternal punishment.

Come back to God by a good confession and in the meantime seek restoration to grace by an act of perfect contrition with the intention of receiving the sacrament of Penance.


Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

9/12/2014

 
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This feast was established by Pope Innocent XI in 1683, that the faithful may in a particular manner recommend to God on this day, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, the necessities of His Church, and return Him thanks for His gracious protection and numberless mercies.

What gave occasion to the institution of this feast was the desire of all Christendom for a solemn thanksgiving which would commemorate the deliverance of Vienna, obtained through the intercession of Our Lady, when the city was besieged by the Turks in 1683. An army of 550,000 invaders had reached the city walls and was threatening all of Europe. John Sobieski, King of Poland, came with a much smaller army to assist the besieged city during the octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and made ready for a great battle. This religious prince began by having a Mass celebrated, which he himself desired to serve, his arms in a cross. After receiving Communion with fervor, he rose at the close of the sacrifice and cried out: "Let us march with confidence under the protection of Heaven and with the aid of the Most Holy Virgin!" His hope was not disappointed; the Turks were struck with a sudden panic and fled in disorder. From that time the feast day has been celebrated during the octave of the Nativity of Our Lady.

Saint for Today - St Stephen of Hungary

9/2/2014

 
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SAINT STEPHEN
King of Hungary
(977-1038)

The fourth Duke of the Huns of Hungary, by the name of Geysa, was converted to the Faith and baptized with his wife and several ministers. With the Christian missionaries, he labored to convince his pagan subjects of the divinity of this religion. His wife saw in a vision the protomartyr Saint Stephen, who told her they would have a son who would perfect the work already begun. This son, born in the year 977, was given the name of Stephen.

The little prince was baptized by Saint Adalbert, bishop of Prague, who preached to the Hungarians for a time, and was educated under the care of that bishop and a pious count of Italy.

When he was fifteen years old, his father gave him the commandment of his armies, seeing his virtue and Christian ardor. Already Stephen was beginning to root out idolatry and transform the pagan customs still existing among the people. At twenty years of age, he succeeded his good father, who died in 997. He suppressed a rebellion of his pagan subjects, and founded monasteries and churches all over the land. He sent to Pope Sylvester, begging him to appoint bishops to the eleven sees he had endowed, and to bestow on him, for the greater success of his work, the title of king. The Pope granted his requests, and sent him a cross to be borne before him, saying that he regarded him as the true apostle of his people.

Saint Stephen's devotion was fervent. He placed his realms under the protection of our Blessed Lady, and kept the feast of Her Assumption with great affection. He established good laws, and saw to their execution. Throughout his life, we are told, he had Christ on his lips, Christ in his heart, and Christ in all he did. His only wars were wars of defense, and in them he was always successful. He married the sister of the Emperor Saint Henry, who was a worthy companion for him. God sent him many grievous trials amid his successes; one by one his children died.

He often went out in disguise to exercise his charities; and one day a troop of beggars, not satisfied with the alms they received, threw him down, tore out handfuls of his hair and beard, and took his purse. He prayed to the Lord and thanked Him for an insult he would not have suffered from enemies, but accepted gladly from the poor who, he said to Him, "are called Your own, and for whom I can have only indulgence and tenderness." He bore all reversals with perfect submission to the Will of God.

When Saint Stephen was about to die, he summoned the bishops and nobles, and told them to choose his successor. He urged them to nurture and cherish the Catholic Church, which was still a tender plant in Hungary, to follow justice, humility, and charity, to be obedient to the laws, and to show at all times a reverent submission to the Holy See. Then, raising his eyes towards heaven, he said: "O Queen of Heaven, August Restorer of a prostrate world, to Thy care I commend the Holy Church, my people, and my realm, and my own departing soul." It was on his favorite feast day, the Assumption, that he died in peace, in the year 1038.


Saint for Today - St Giles

9/1/2014

 
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SAINT GILES
Abbot
(640-720)

Saint Giles, whose name has been held in great veneration for many centuries in France and England, was born in the year 640 in Athens, and was of noble extraction. Certain remarkable works of medicine and poetry are attributed to him, but his knowledge was primarily that of the Saints.

When as a young man he met a poor beggar who was sick and half-naked, he was moved with compassion and gave him his splendid tunic; the moment the beggar put it on, he found himself in perfect health. By this miracle, Giles understood how pleasing almsgiving is to God, and shortly afterwards, he distributed all his goods to the poor and entered upon a life of poverty, suffering and humility. But Jesus Christ did not let Himself be outdone in generosity, and soon miracles multiplied so greatly in his wake, that the admiration of the world surrounded him. It became impossible for him to profit in his own country from obscurity and retirement, which he desired above all else. He therefore went to France and chose for his hermitage the open spaces of the south, near the mouth of the Rhone.

Soon he was known there, too, by the miracles his kindness brought down from heaven. He moved again, and this time Providence brought him near a hermit of Greek origin like himself; then the two rejoiced in a common life of the love of God. For two years they remained together, until the invasion of their solitude caused Giles to migrate to a deep forest of southeastern France, in the diocese of Nimes.

He passed many years in this intense solitude, living on wild herbs or roots and clear water, and conversing only with God. He was nourished there by a doe of the forest. One day, being pursued by Visigoths hunting in the forests, she fled for refuge to the Saint and lay down at his feet. Moved to tears, he prayed God to spare the life of the innocent animal. An arrow the hunters had sent in her direction came and lodged in his hand, making a wound which would never heal. When the hunters found the animal there and saw the bleeding wound of the gentle hermit, they begged his pardon on their knees, and the chase was ended. The Visigoth king, hearing of this, came to visit this holy hermit, accompanied by the bishop, who afterwards ordained Giles a priest.

The reputation of the sanctity of Saint Giles increased constantly by his many miracles, which rendered his name famous throughout France. He was highly esteemed by the pious king, but could not be prevailed upon to leave his solitude. He accepted several disciples, however, and established excellent discipline in the monastery which the king built for them. Destroyed during the invasions of the Moslems who had entered Spain, it was rebuilt during the lifetime of the founder and his disciples, when they returned after the torment. In succeeding ages, it became a flourishing abbey of the Benedictine Order, which bore his name.




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