INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY
by Leonard Goffine, 1871

The Introit of this day's Mass is the sigh of an afflicted, but in God confiding soul: Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge to save me, for Thou art my strength, and my refuge; and for Thy name's sake Thou wilt lead me, and nourish me. (Ps. xxx. 34.) In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded; deliver me in Thy justice and rescue me. (Ps. xxx. 2.)


PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Hear our prayer, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that being freed from the claims of our sins, we may be preserved from all adversity. Through our Lord, &c.

EPISTLE, (i. Cor. xiii. 1 - 13.) Brethren: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: Charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely: it is not puffed up, it is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We now see through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know, even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.


EXPLANATION. In this epistle St. Paul speaks of the necessity, the excellence, and the nature of true charity. He says, that all natural and supernatural gifts, all good works, even martyrdom, do not avail to salvation, if they are not united and animated by the love of God; because that love alone can render our works pleasing to Him. Therefore, though ever so much good is accomplished, so many alms given, prayers, fasting, and good deeds performed but not for love of God, or while not in the state of grace, no reward in heaven can be hoped for. Strive then, O Christian soul, to lead always a pious life in love, and to remain always in a state of grace.

Can faith alone, as the reformers assert, render man just, and save him?

Faith alone, however strong, though it could move mountains, without love, that is, without good works performed for love of God and our neighbor, can never justify or save us. For, when St. Paul says, that man is justified by faith without works (Rom iii. 28.; xi. 6.; Eph.ii. 8.), he means to refer to those works which were done by command of the law of Moses, and which, as they were external and without true charity, were of no avail; he did not refer to those works which are performed in a state of grace with a living, love-inspired faith. Thus the same apostle writes to the Galatians (Gal. v. 6.), that faith only availeth which worketh by charity; to Titus (Tit. iii. 8.): It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee affirm to the faithful constantly: that they, who believe in God, may be careful to excel in good works. These things are good and profitable unto men; and he exhorts the Colossians (Colos. i. 10.) to be fruitful in every good work. This St. James confirms who writes (James ii. 17. 24.): So faith if it have not works, is dead in itself; by works man is justified and not by faith only. That this is the true doctrine of Christ, is evident from His own words, when He says: "Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. vii. 19.) At the day of judgment Christ will demand good works of all men (Malt. xxv. 35.), and will not judge them only according to their faith, but by their good works, which true faith must always produce. (Apoc. xx. 12.; Eccl, xxxii. 24.) Would Christ and His apostles demand good works, if faith alone would suffice? "The devils also believe and tremble" (James ii. 19.), they believe, but they are not saved, and their faith but increases their torments. Therefore, the assertion that faith without good works is sufficient for justification and salvation, is plainly against the doctrine of Christ and His Church, and must of necessity lead man to the greatest debaucheries, as is shown by the unhappy separation of the sixteenth century.


Are good works performed while in a stale of mortal sin available?

Good works performed while in a state of mortal sin, avail nothing in regard to eternal life, writes St. Lawrence Justinian, but aid in moderating the punishment imposed for disobedience and the transgression of God's commandments. They give temporal goods, such as honor, long life, health, earthly happiness, etc.; they prevent from falling deeper into sin, and prepare the heart for the reception of grace; so the pious Gerson writes: "Do as much good as you can even though in the state of mortal sin, that God may give light to your heart."

ASPIRATION. O God of love, pour the spirit of true charity into my heart, that, as taught by St. Paul, I may endeavor to be always in a state of grace, that all my works may be pleasing to Thee, and meritorious for me.



GOSPEL. (Luke xviii. 31 - 43.) At That Time: Jesus took to him the twelve, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he shall be delivered to the gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass, that when he drew nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying: Jesus. Son of David, have mercy on me. And they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.


Why did Christ so often foretell His passion to His disciples?

Because of His great desire to suffer for us, for we speak often of that which we desire; aud because He wished, that His disciples when they should see Him, later, treated as a criminal and martyred, would not think evil of Him, or imagine themselves deceived, but remember, that He had foretold all, minutely, that all happened of His own will, and hence they would not be cast down.


Did not the disciples understand anything of that which He told of His future sufferings?

They may, certainly, have well understood He was to suffer, for which reason Peter tried to keep Him from it (Matt. xvi. 22.); but they did not comprehend why or for what He would suffer, or how He would rise again. All this the Holy Ghost gave them to understand, after it had come to pass. (John xvi. 26.) The light of the Holy Ghost is of so much value, that without it even the clearest doctrines taught by faith, are not understood.


Why here, as in other places, does Christ speak of Himself as the Son of Man?

He wished to show, in the Jєωs' way of speaking, He was also man, a descendant of Adam, that we should be humble, and not look for high titles.


Why did the blind man call Christ the Son of David?

Because, like all the Jєωs, he believed that the Messiah, according to humanity, would be of the house of David, as was promised. (Ps. cxxxi. 11.)


Why did Christ ask the blind man: What wilt thou that I do to thee?

This He asked, not because He was unaware of the blind man's wish, but to enable him to better show his faith and hope, that through Christ he would receive his sight; and that He might show us how He loves to do good to us, and how it pleases Him if we trustfully place our wants before Him. We should learn from this blind man who would not be restrained by the passing crowd, in his ardent and reiterated request, not to pay attention, in the work we have commenced, to human respect, or human judgment, but to persevere, and not allow ourselves to be led astray by the world's mockery or contempt. We should also learn to thank God, and faithfully cling to Him, if He has once opened the eyes of our mind, and healed our spiritual blindness, which is far more deplorable than physical blindness, for nothing can be more miserable than not to see and understand God, ourselves, what is necessary for our salvation, and what is pernicious to it.


Why is this gospel read on this Sunday?

The Church wishes to remind us of the painful passion and death of Jesus, and so impress us by the contemplation, that we may avoid and despise the wicked, heathenish amusements of the carnival, sinful pleasures which the Church has always condemned, because they come from dark paganism, and, to detain the people from them, commands, that during the three days of the carnival the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed for public adoration, sermons given, and the faithful exhorted, to have recourse at this time to the Sacraments of Penance and of the Altar, with the reception of which Pope Clement xiiii. (Breve, 23. June 1765) connects a plenary indulgence. A true Catholic will conform to the desire of his holy Church, considering the words St. Augustine spoke, at this time, to the faithful, "The heathens (as also the worldly people of our days) shout songs of love and merriment, but you should delight in the preaching of the word of God; they rush to the dramatic plays, but you should hasten to Church; they are intoxicated, but you should be sober and fast."


PRAYER: O most benign Jesus! who didst so desire to suffer for us, grant, that we may willingly suffer for love of Thee; that we may hate and fly from the detestable pleasures of the world and the flesh, and practise penance and mortification, that by so doing we may merit to be released from our soul-blindness, to love Thee more and more ardently, and finally possess Thee forever.









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