INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
by Leonard Goffine, 1871
At the Introit of Mass pray with the priest with a confiding and humble heart: Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am alone and poor: see my abjection and my labour, and forgive me all my sins, O my God. (Ps. xxiv.) To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: "In thee, O my God, I place my trust: let me not be ashamed. Glory, &c.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. O God, the Protector of those who hope in Thee, without whose aid nothing is strong, nothing holy: increase Thy mercy towards us; that under Thy direction and conduct, we may so pass through the blessings of this life, as not to lose those which are eternal. Through etc.
EPISTLE, (i. Peter v. 6 -11.) Dearly Beloved: Be you humbled under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation. Casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of you. Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist ye, strong in faith; knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you, and confirm and establish you. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.
EXPLANATION. As God resists the proud, but gives His grace to the humble, urges St. Peter us to humble ourselves, being aware of our sinfulness and nothingness, before the powerful hand of God, who holds with three fingers the whole weight of our earth; He admonishes to distrust ourselves, think nothing of ourselves, then will we be elevated at the time of visitation, that is, at God's last judgment. This necessary humility shows itself in us by our giving ourselves and all our cares up to the almighty providence of God, who, as St. Augustine says, takes care for one man as for all, and for all as for one. We should not fail, however, to be sober and watchful, to keep at a distance and not think ourselves secure from the lusts of the world. For the devil like a lion seeking prey, and therefore ever on the watch, desires the ruin of our souls, tormenting us by temptations and afflictions, whom we should and can resist, however, by faithful confidence in God's help, all the more when we see how others suffer even as we, and when we consider the hope we have that Jesus will strengthen us during our trial, and crown us with eternal glory at its end, to whom be glory, and empire, for ever and ever.
MORAL LESSONS CONCERNING DRUNKENNESS
Be sober and watch. (i. Peter v. 8.)
Sobriety is the mother of vigilance; intemperance, especially in regard to drinking, is the mother of sloth and many other vices, which cast many souls into the jaws of the devil who, like a hungry lion, goes about day and night seeking for prey. Woe, therefore, to those who because of their drunkenness live, as it were, in constant night and in the permanent sleep of sin! How will they feel when suddenly they are awakened by death from their sleep, and if they then find themselves laden, before the judgment of God, with innumerable sins which they knew not, nor wished to know! For who can count the sins committed in a state of intoxication, sins for which the drunkard cares nothing, for which he has no contrition, and has not confessed, because he is generally in a state in which he has no reason and does not know, therefore, what he has thought, said, or done.
But will the divine Judge find no sin in such persons? Will He permit the shameful deeds committed while intoxicated, the curses, blasphemies, sneers, detractions, outrages, and scandals remain unpunished? He, who demands an account of every idle word, will He demand no account of the time so evily spent, of the money so badly squandered, of households neglected, Church service unattended, education of children omitted, and of the other great sins committed? They will indeed excuse themselves, pleading that these sins were committed involuntarily, or as a joke, when they were intoxicated; that their intoxication was excusable, as they were not able to stand much.
But will God be content with such excuses? Will they not tend the more to their destruction? This is to be punished, this, that they took more than they could bear of the intoxicating drink, deprived themselves of the use of reason, and thus voluntarily made the occasion of all the sins they committed while in that state.
What, then, can they expect? Nothing less than the fate of the rich man in the gospel, who on account of his debaucheries was buried in hell, where his parched tongue receives during all eternity not one drop of water to cool it. (Luke xvi. 22.) Yes, this will be the place of those unconverted drunkards of whom St. Paul says, that they will not possess the kingdom of God. (i. Cor. vi. 10.) From this place of torment nothing but a true conversion will save them. But how rare and how difficult is the conversion of a drunkard, because with them as with the unchaste this habit becomes a second nature, and because they generally abuse the remedies: the holy Sacraments of Penance and the Altar.
This should certainly keep every one from the vice of drunkenness; but those who are not thus withheld, may consider the indecency, the disgrace, and the injury of this vice, which may perhaps better fill them with disgust for it.
How disgraceful it is that a man endowed with intellect and reason, created for heaven, should take to the beastly love of drink, degrading his mind, his intellectual spirit, the image of God, rendering it like the brute beasts, yes, even making it inferior to the animals. For what animal having taken enough, can be forced to take more than it can bear? "Are not the drunkards far worse than the animals?" says St. Chrysostom. Indeed yes, if only on account of their drunkenness, but far more because of the shameful position of their body, their manners, their speech, their behavior. How disgracefully naked lay Noah, although he was intoxicated without his own fault, exposed in his tent to the ridicule of the impudent Cham! (Gen. xi. 21.) Even the heathen Spartans held as so disgraceful the vice of drunkenness, that they were in the habit of intoxicating a slave, and bringing him before their children that they might be disgusted with it.
Finally, that which should deter everybody from this vice, is its injuriousness. It ruins the body as well as the soul. By surfeiting many have perished (Eccl. xxxvii. 34.), and it has ruined the health of many more. Who hath woe? Whose father hath woe? Who hath contentions? Who fall into pits, who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups. (Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.) Daily observation confirms this truth of Scripture, and the miserable old age, accompanied by innumerable weaknesses and frailties, of one given up to drink, is a sufficient testimony of the injuriousness of this vice.
GOSPEL. (Luke xv. 1 - 10.) At That Time: The publicans and sinners drew near unto him to hear him. And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And he spoke to them this parable, saying: What man of you that hath a hundred sheep; and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing, and coming home call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what woman having ten groats: if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently, until she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost? So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.
What moved the sinners to approach Jesus?
The goodness and benevolence with which He met the penitent sinners. Do you also humbly and trustingly approach Him, and you may rest assured that, even if you are the greatest of sinners, you will receive grace and forgiveness.
What is Christ's meaning in the parable of the lost sheep and groat?
He expresses by this His desire for the salvation of the sinner, and His joy and that of all heaven when a sinner is converted. Moreover, He shows the Pharisees who in vain selfjustification avoided all intercourse with acknowledged sinners, and who murmured at the goodness of Jesus, that the sinner, being truly unhappy, deserves our compassion rather than our anger.
Why do the angels rejoice more over one sinner who does penance than over ninety-nine just?
Because the places of the fallen angels are thus refilled; because the angels see how the good God rejoices; because they find their prayers for the conversion of sinners granted, as St. Bernard says: "The tears of the penitents are wine for the angels;" because, as St. Gregory says, "the true penitents are usually more zealous even than the innocent".
ASPIRATION. I have erred like a sheep that has lost its way; but I thank Thee, O Jesus, my good Shepherd, that Thou hast so carefully sought me by Thy inspirations, admonitions, and warnings, and dost now bring me back to true penance, that I may be a joy to the angels. Amen.
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Topic: Instructions for Third Sunday After Pentecost (Read 391 times)