Rev. Fr.
Leonard Goffine's The Church's Year
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY
In the Introit of this day's
Mass, the Church brings before us one who seeks to be loosed from
his sins, and calls on God for help and assistance. Arise, why
sleepest thou , O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end: why
turnest thou thy face away, and forgettest our trouble? Our belly
hath cleaved to the earth: arise, O Lord, help us and deliver us. O
God, we have heard with our ears; our Fathers have declared to us.
(Ps. XLIII. 23. 25.) Glory be to the Father, &c.
COLLECT O God, who seest that we trust
not in aught we do; mercifully grant that by the protection of the
Doctor of the Gentiles we may be defended against all adversities.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c.
EPISTLE (II. Cor. XI. 19-33; to XII.
1-9,) Brethren, you gladly suffer the foolish; whereas yourselves
are wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man
devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be lifted up, if a man
strike you on the face. I speak according to dishonor, as if we had
been weak in this part. Wherein if any man dare (I speak foolishly),
I dare also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am
I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they the ministers of
Christ (I speak as one less wise,) I am more: in many more labors,
in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths
often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered
shipwreck; a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In
journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in
perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in
the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils from false brethren. In labor and painfulness, in much
watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness; besides those things which are without, my daily
instance, the solicitude for all the Churches. Who is weak, and I am
not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire? If I must needs
glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. The God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knoweth
that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas
the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes to apprehend me; and
through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so
escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed); but
I will come to the visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man
in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in, the body I know
not, or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth): such an one rapt
even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body
or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth) : that he was caught
up into paradise; and heard secret words, which it is not granted to
man to utter. For such an one I will glory; but for myself I will
glory nothing, but in my infirmities. For though I should have a
mind to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I will say the truth. But
I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth
in me, or anything he heareth from me. And lest the greatness of the
revelations should exalt me, there
was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.
For, which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart
from me. And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for
power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Why is St.
Paul mentioned in the Mass of this day, and why is this epistle
read?
Because in Rome the Station
or Church service is held on this day in the Church of St. Paul and
because the Church continues to encourage us to work according to
the example given by St. Paul who, with the grace of God,
accomplished and suffered so much; also because we should labor for
the honor of God and the salvation of our souls and faithfully
cooperate with the grace of God.
Why, an the
beginning of this epistle, does St. Paul say so much an his own
praise?
Not out of ambition for honor
and glory, but to honor God, and for the love and advantage of the
Corinthians, who allowed themselves to be deceived by mercenary
impostors and false prophets; that he might make public the
craftiness of those deceivers who assumed the appearance of the true
apostles, as Satan took the form of a good angel. To shame these,
and to remove the obstacles they had placed in the way of the
gospel, St. Paul was obliged to reveal to the Corinthians the things
he had performed and endured in propagating the holy gospel. -By
trials and sufferings is the true apostle known; the false apostles,
the hirelings, as Christ calls them, only care for their own bodies,
for temporal advantages, not for the salvation of souls. We see this
exemplified in our days by the heretical missionaries who, when
there is suffering, when there is martyrdom, take to flight, for
their eyes are directed only to the present life and a large income,
while the Catholic missionaries rejoice if, for Christ's sake, and
for the salvation of souls, they are permitted to suffer, and made
worthy to endure the cruel death of the martyr.
Of whom does
St. Paul relate such marvels?
Of himself, but from humility
and modesty he does not say so; fourteen years before, forty-four
years after the birth of Christ, St. Paul was rapt to the third
heaven, that is, to the abode of happy spirits; but to preserve him
in humility God permitted Satan to use the concupiscence of the
flesh, which is like a sting in the body of man, as a temptation to
the apostle, and by which he was continually tormented.
ASPIRATION Grant me, O God,. thy grace
that in these evil days of false doctrines I may remain stead fast
to Thy holy gospel which in the holy Catholic Church remains pure
and unchanged; never let me be deterred from obeying its precepts,
neither by the charms of the world nor by the mockery and reproaches
of the wicked.
GOSPEL (Luke VIII. 4-15.) At that time,
when very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of
the cities unto him, he spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to
sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was
trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some
fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away,
because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns; and
the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon
good ground; and being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundredfold.
Saying these things, he cried out: He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To
whom he said: To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God, but to the rest in parables; that seeing, they may not see,
and hearing, they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The
seed is the word of God. And they by the way-side are they that
hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart,
lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock are they
who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no
roots, for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation they
fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard,
and going their way, are choked with the cares arid riche, and
pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good
ground are they who, in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.
Why is the
Word of God compared to a seed?
Because from the word of God
germinates the fruit of good works, as from good seed grows good
fruit; as it is impossible, therefore, for an unsowed field to
produce good fruit, so is it impossible for man without the seed of
God's word to produce good fruits of the spirit.
Why does
Christ cry out an the parable: He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear?
Because of the importance and
necessity of the doctrine which was contained in the parable. For to
hear the word of God is absolutely necessary for salvation, as the
Apostle indicates: How shall they believe him (Jesus) of whom they
have not heard? (Rom. X. 14.) Jesus calls those happy who hear the
word of God and keep it. (Luke XI. 28.) And on this subject St.
Augustine says: "Be assured, my brethren, that as the body becomes
weakened by want and hunger, and wastes to a mere shadow, so the
soul that is not nourished by the word of God, becomes shrunken,
worthless and unfit for any good work."
Whence comes
so much cockle of evil, when the seed of God's word is so abundantly
sowed?
Because, as Christ says, the
seed falls now by the wayside, now upon a rock, now among thorns,
seldom upon good soil, that is to say, those who hear the word of
God are as a highway, over which many distracting thoughts are
traveling which tread down the scattered seed, or, like fowls of the
air devour it; they are like rocks, hardened by their prejudices or
repeated crimes, so that the divine word cannot take root; again,
they are so overgrown by the thorns of worldly cares, the constant
desire for wealth and riches, and sensual delights, that even if
they receive the seed, it is unable to grow and bear fruit.
ON THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD
The word of God is compared,
by the Prophet Jeremias, to a hammer which crushes hearts as hard as
rocks, and to a fire that dries up the swamps of vice, and consumes
inveterate evil habits. (Jer. XXIII. 29.) The Psalmist compares it
to thunder that makes all tremble, a storm-wind that bends and
breaks the cedars of Lebanon, that is, proud and obstinate spirits;
a light that dispels the darkness of ignorance; and a remedy that
cures sin. (Ps. XXVIII. 3. 5., CXVIII. 105.) St. Paul compares it to
a sword that divides the body from the soul, that is, the carnal
desires from the spirit; (Hebr. IV. 12.) the Apostle James to a
mirror in which man sees his stains and his wrongs. (Jam. I, 23.)
the Prophet Isaias to a precious rain that moistens the soil of the
soul and fertilizes it; (Isai: LV. 10. 11.) and Jesus Himself
compares it to a seed that when it falls on good ground, brings
forth fruit a hundredfold. (Luke VIII. 8.) One single grain of this
divine seed produced the most marvellous fruits of sanctity in St.
Augustine, St. Anthony the Great, in St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and
others; for St. Augustine was converted by the words: "Let us
walk honestly as in the
day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
impurities, not in contention and envy." (Rom. XIII. 13.) St.
Anthony by the words. If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shaft have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me." (Matt XIX. 21.) Nicholas of Tolentino was
brought to Christian perfection by the words: "Love not the world,
nor the things which are in the world. (I. John II. 15.)
How should
we prepare ourselves to be benefited by the word of
God?
We must be good, well-tilled
soil, that is, we must have a heart that loves truth, desires to
learn, and humbly and sincerely seeks salvation; we must listen to
the word of God with due preparation and attention, keep the divine
truths we have heard, in our heart, frequently consider and strive
to fulfil them.
What should
be done before the sermon?
We should endeavor to purify
our conscience, for, as St. Chrysostom demands; "Who would pour
precious juice into a vessel that is not clean, without first
washing it?" We should, therefore, at least cleanse our hearts by an
ardent sorrow for our sins, because the spirit of truth enters not
into the sinful soul; (Wisd. I. 4.) we should ask the Holy Ghost for
the necessary enlightenment, for little or no fruit can be obtained
from a sermon if it is not united with prayer; we should listen to
the sermon with a good motive; that is, with a view of hearing
something edifying and instructive; if we attend only through
curiosity, the desire to hear something new, to criticize the
preacher, or to see and to be seen, we are like the Pharisees who
for such and similar motives went to hear Christ and derived no
benefit therefrom. “As a straight sword goes not into a crooked
sheath, so the word of God enters not into a heart that is filled
with improper motives." We should strive to direct, our minds
rightly, that is, to dispel all temporal thoughts, all needless
distraction, otherwise the wholesome words would fall but upon the
ears, would not penetrate the heart, and the words of Christ be
fulfilled: They have ears, and hear not.
How should
we comfort ourselves during the sermon?
We should listen to the
sermon with earnest, reverent attention, for God speaks to us
through His priests, and Christ says to them: Who hears you, hears
me. (Luke X. 16.) We must
listen to the priests, therefore, not as to men, but as to God's
ambassadors, for every priest can say with St. Paul: We are
ambassadors for Christ, God, as it were, exhorting by us. (II. Cor.
V. 20.) "If," says St. Chrysostom, "when the letter of a king is
read, the greatest quiet and attention prevails, that nothing may be
lost, how much more should we listen with reverence and perfect
silence to the. word of
God?"
The word of God is, and ever will be, a divine seed, which, when
properly received, produces precious fruit, by what priest soever
sowed; for in the sowing it matters not what priest sows, but what
soil is sowed. Be careful, also, that you do not apply that which is
said to others, but take it to yourself, or the sermon will be of no
benefit to you. Are you free from those vices which the preacher
decries and against which he battles? then, thank God, but do not
despise others who are perhaps laboring under them, rather pray that
they may be released and you preserved from falling into them. Keep
also. from sleeping, talking, and other distractions, and remember,
that whoever is of God, also willingly hears his word. (John VIII.
47.)
What should
be done after the sermon?
We should then strive to put
into practice the good we have heard, for God justifies not those
who hear the law, but those who keep it, (Rom. II. 13.) and those
who hear the word of God and do not conform their lives to it, are
like the man who looks into the mirror, and having looked into it
goes away, and presently forgets what manner of man he is. (Fam. I.
23. 24.) To practice that which has been heard, it is above all
necessary that it should be kept constantly in mind, and
thoughtfully considered. St. Bernard says: "Preserve the word of God
as you would meat for your body, for it is a life-giving bread, and
the food of your soul. Happy those, says Christ, who keep it.
Receive it, therefore, into your soul's interior, and let it reach
your morals and your actions."
That food which cannot be
digested, or is at once thrown out, is useless; the food should be
well masticated, retained, and by the digestive powers worked up
into good blood. So not only on the day, but often during the week,
that which was heard in the sermon should be thought of and put into
practice. Speak of it to others, thus will much idle talk be saved,
many souls with the grace of God roused to good, and enlightened in
regard to the evil they had not before seen in themselves and in
future will avoid. Let us listen to others when they repeat what was
said in the sermon. Heads of families should require their children
and domestics to relate what they have heard preached. Let us also
entreat God to give us grace that we may be enabled to practice the
precepts given us.
PRAYER How much am I shamed, O my God,
that the seed of Thy Divine word, which Thou hast sowed so often and
so abundantly in my heart, has brought forth so little fruit! Ah!
have mercy on me, and so change my heart, that it may become good
soil, in which Thy word may take root, grow without hindrance, and
finally bring forth fruits of salvation. Amen. |