INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, by Leonard Goffine, 1871
Introit: The Lord hath become my protector, and set me at large: He has saved me, because He loved me. (Ps. xvii.) I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength: the Lord is my support, my refuge, and my deliverer. Glory, &c.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant us, O Lord, both a constant love and fear of Thy holy name: since Thou never withdrawest Thy protection from those, whom Thou solidly groundest in Thy love. Thro.
EPISTLE, (i. John iii. 13 - 18.) Dearly Beloved: Wonder not if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer. And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth.
EXPLANATION. People who are really pious, have always something to suffer from the wicked world, as Jesus foretold, but they do not cease to love their persecutors as their best friends, and are ready, if necessary, to give their life for their enemies, as did Christ. Thus should all Christians act; for the love of our neighbor and even of our enemies, is a universal command, a law that binds all; it is the life of the soul. Hatred deprives the soul of this life, and makes man a murderer, because hatred is the beginning of murder, and often ends in murder or homicide. By love we know the true Christians. (John xiii. 35.) St. John even considers love the certain sign of being chosen for eternal life, when he says: We know, we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. Alas! how few will be chosen, among the Christians of to-day, because there is so little love among them! With empty compliments, assurances of friendship, &c, love appears only in words, only on the tongue, and such idle, ephemeral, worthless love is found everywhere in this world; but love which is love in truth and reality, which shows charity to the suffering, how rare it is! and yet only to this love is promised eternal life, because it alone rests on the love of God.
GOSPEL. (Luke iv. 16 - 24.) At That Time: Jesus spoke this parable to the Pharisees: A certain man made a great supper, and invited many, and he sent his servant at the hour of supper to say to them that were invited, that they should come, for now all things are ready. And they began all at once to make excuse. The first said to him: I have bought a farm, and must needs go out and see it: I pray thee, hold me excused. And another said: I have bought five yokes of oxen, and I go to try them: I pray thee, hold me excused. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. And the servant returning told these things to his lord. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame.--And the servant said: Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said to the servant: Go out into the high ways and hedges; and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. But I say unto you, that none of those men that were invited, shall taste of my supper.
What is to be understood by this great supper?
The Church militant on earth, in which the true doctrine of Jesus and His most precious flesh and blood are given as food to those who belong to her, and also the Church triumphant in heaven, in which God Himself, in the beatific vision, is the nourishment given. This supper is called great, because God Himself has founded the Church; because the Church embraces heaven and earth, hence many belong and will belong to her; and because having ended the contest on earth, she will last forever in heaven. There the saints of God will enjoy the Highest Good for all eternity, and will have nothing to wish for, since all their desires will be there realized. O, what happiness it is, that we are invited even now to this supper, are even now guests, and are nourished as such here with the teachings of Christ, and with His most sacred flesh and blood.
Who is it that prepares the supper?
It is Christ, the God-Man, who for our benefit has not only instituted His Church, to which He has entrusted His doctrine and the Sacrament of His flesh and blood, but has gained eternal salvation for us by His passion and death, and who has, first by the prophets, who foretold Him and His divine kingdom, and afterwards through His apostles, invited us, and is ever inviting us, through the successors of the apostles, to His supper.
Who are they who excuse themselves?
They are principally the Jєωs who bound by pride and avarice to earthly possessions, and blinded by the pleasures of the world, did not recognize Jesus, and came not to His Church. By him who said, he had bought a farm, are meant in general those who by constant anxieties about the possession of earthly goods and the riches of this world, become indifferent to eternal salvation. By him who had bought five yokes of oxen, is to be understood that sort of busy men, who are so burdened with work and business that they find no time to work for heaven, for they even appropriate Sundays and festivals to their worldly affairs. By him who had taken a wife, and says, without ceremony, that he cannot come, the carnal, impure men are represented, who have rendered themselves by their lusts, incapable of spiritual and heavenly joys. Since all these different sorts of persons do not wish to have part in the heavenly banquet, God has excluded them and called others.
Who are meant by the others, the poor, the feeble, the blind, and the lame, who are called after the first invitations?
The humble and submissive Jєωs, the publicans, also the Samaritans and the gentiles, who did not reject Jesus and His doctrine as did the proud, highminded, carnal Pharisees and scribes, to whom Jesus spoke in this parable. The former faithfully received Him, entered His Church, and became participators in eternal happiness. This is daily repeated, because God excludes from the kingdom of heaven those proud, avaricious, and carnal Christians who are ever invited by His servants, the priests, to the enjoyment of holy Communion, but who reject the invitation, and, on the contrary, welcomes the poor, despised people, the penitent sinners, by separating them, through the inspirations of His grace, and by the adversities which He sends them, from love of the world. Thus, in a measure, He forces them to take part in the spiritual joys of a sincerely pious life in His Church on earth, and in the heavenly bliss of His Church in heaven.
SUPPLICATION. I thank Thee, O most merciful Jesus, that Thou hast called me to Thy Church, permitting me so often to share in the banquet of Thy love, and that by Thy sufferings and death Thou hast obtained the joys of heaven for me. Force me to Thy pleasure, compel me to it by temporal trials, that by the use of these graces I may gain, that my place may not some day be given to another.
MORAL LESSONS CONCERNING THE VICE OF IMPURITY I have taken a wife, and therefore cannot come.-- (Luke xiv. 20.)
From this foolish excuse it would seem as if married life were an obstacle to prevent arriving at the heavenly banquet, although lawful, chaste, Christian marriage is, on the contrary, a means of eternal salvation for those to whom the gift of continency is not given. The excuse of this married person was not grounded in his station of life, but in his inordinate inclination for carnal pleasures, which renders the man who gives way to it, unfit for spiritual or heavenly things, for the sensual man perceiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God. (i Cor.ii. 14.) Unfortunate indeed are they who suffer themselves to be carried away by their sensual lusts, who give away the priceless Jєωel of chastity and purity of heart, which makes man equal to the angels (Matt. xxii. 30.), who for a momentary enjoyment of sinful pleasure lose that white and precious garment in which chaste souls, who preserve it unstained, will shine for ever in heaven before the face of God! And what benefit does the impure man derive from the gratification of vile lust? He gains nothing but intolerable disgust when the sin is consummated, the torment of a remorseful conscience, the anger and contempt of God, and, unless he repents, eternal torments in hell; for the apostle says: Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate shall possess the kingdom of God. (i. Cor. vi. 9, 10.)
It is seen from the examples of the Old Law. how much God hates and abominates the sins of impurity; for why did God regret having created man? (Gen. vi. 6.) Why did He destroy all except a very few, by a universal deluge? (Gen.xi. 17.) Why did He lay the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha in ashes by a rain of fire and brimstone? (Gen. xix.) Why did He punish the two brothers, Her and Onan, by a sudden death? (Gen. xix. 38.) Why did He permit the whole tribe of Benjamin to be extirpated? (Judges xx.) Why? But because of these detestable sins of impurity. And is this vice not indeed detestable, and an object of the just wrath of God? By these sins an impure man disgraces his body which should be a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost--he disgraces his soul, the image of God, purified and purchased by the precious blood of Christ, and lowers himself beneath the animal which, devoid of intellect, follows its instinct; he weakens the power of his body and soul, and ruins his health; he loses the respect of the good, scandalizes his fellowmen, voluntarily separates himself from the communion of saints, deprives himself of the sanctifying grace of God and participation in the merits of Jesus and His saints, and, if he continues like an animal to wallow in this vice, he finally falls into such blindness and hard heartedness, that eternal truths, death, judgment, hell, and eternity no longer make any impression upon him; the most abominable crimes of impurity he considers as trifles, as human weaknesses, no sin at all. He is therefore but seldom or never converted, because the evil habit has become his second nature, which he can no longer overcome without an extraordinary grace of God. This God seldom gives, because the impure man generally despises ordinary means and graces, and therefore despairs and casts himself into the pool of eternal fire, where the worm dies not, and where with Satan and his angels the impure shall be for ever tormented.
Suffer not yourself to be deceived, my Christian, by the words "Love and friendship", with which it is sought to cover this vice, and make it appear a weakness clinging to man. This impure love is a fire which has its origin in hell, and will in hell eternally torment the bodies in which it has prevailed. That which God so much detests and so punishes, certainly cannot be a trifle, a human weakness! Imprint deeply in your heart, that all impure thoughts, desires, looks, to which you consent, all impure words, songs, exposures, touches, jokes, and such things, are great sins which exclude you from the kingdom of heaven, into which nothing defiled can enter. Remember that he who looks at a woman with desire, has already, as Christ says, committed adultery in his heart. (Matt. v. 28.) We must, then, carefully guard against "such trifles" as the wicked world calls them, if we do not wish to expose ourselves to the greatest danger of losing our souls. Although it is certainly difficult for an impure person to be converted, yet he should not despair. God does not cast away even the greatest sinner; Jesus forgave the adulteress in the temple, and forgave and received Mary Magdalen. But such a one must make use of the proper means to prevent a relapse, and to regain the grace of God. Of these means those also may make use, who have not defiled themselves by the sin of impurity. These means are:
1. Constant prayer. The wise king advises to this: As I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, I went to the Lord and besought him. (Wisd. viii. 21.) 2. Mortification of the flesh by fasting and abstinence; for Jesus says of this kind of impure spirits, that they can in no other way be cast out but by prayer and fasting. (Matt. xvii. 20.) 3. The frequent meditation on the four last things, and on the bitter sufferings of our Lord; for there is, says St. Augustine, no more powerful and effective means against the heat of lust than the death of the Redeemer. 4. The quiet consideration of the temporal and eternal evils which follow this vice, as already described. 5. The love and veneration of the Blessed Virgin who is the mother of beautiful love and refuge of all sinners, of whom St. Bernard says, "that no one has ever invoked her in his necessities without being heard." 6. The careful training of the eyes. The pious Job made a covenant with his eyes, that he would not so much as look upon a virgin. (Job. xxxi. 1.) 7. The avoidance of evil occasions, especially the avoidance of intercourse with persons of the other sex. "Remember," says St. Jerome, "that a woman drove out the inhabitants of paradise, and that you are not holier than David, not stronger than Samson, not wiser than Solomon, who all fell by wrong intercourse." 8. The avoidance of idleness; for idleness, says the proverb, is the beginning of all evil. 9. The quick driving away of all bad thoughts by often pronouncing the names of Jesus and Mary, which, as St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, have the special power of driving away wrong thoughts. 10. The frequent use of the holy Sacraments of Penance and of the Altar. This last remedy in particular, is a certain cure if we make known to our confessor, and always if possible to the same one, our weaknesses, and use precisely the remedies he prescribes. The Scripture says in regard to holy Communion, that it is the grain from which virgins spring, and the table which God has prepared against all temptations that annoy us.
THE CHURCHY PRAYER FOR CONTINENCY. Inflame, O Lord, our veins and hearts with the fire of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may serve Thee with pure bodies, and please Thee with clean hearts. Amen.
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Prayer to Mary for the Extirpation of the Habit of Impurity
August Mother of God, universal protectress of the human race! look down on the immense and ever-increasing ruin which hell is occasioning souls by the spread of so much impurity through the internet, movies, television, music, books and writings. For thy sweet pity's sake, pray God, Who loveth thee so well, to give us a remedy for so great an evil. Yes. dear Lady, pray; thy prayers are all-powerful with Jesus, thy Son, Whose pleasure it is to grant whatever thou dost ask.
Prayer to obtain a Victory over Temptations
My God, "cast me not away from Thy face" (Ps. 1. 13). I well know that Thou wilt never abandon me if I do not first abandon Thee. Alas! I fear this misfortune through the experience I already have of my own weakness. Lord, it is for Thee to give me the strength of which I am in need to withstand the assaults of hell. I ask this for the love of Jesus Christ. My Saviour, establish perpetual peace between me and Thee; establish an eternal and indissolvable union. To this end, give me Thy love. " He that loveth not, abideth in death" (1 John iii. 14). It is for Thee, O God of my soul! to deliver me from this miserable death. By that, bitter death which Thou didst endure for me, let me not again lose Thy friendship, O my Jesus! I love Thee more than all else, and hope to remain ever bound to Thee by the chains of love. I hope ever to live bound by them, both on earth and eternally in heaven.
O Mary! thou art the mother and dispenser of perseverance; it is from thee that I ask and hope for this great gift.
Prayer to Avoid Hell
O my beloved Jesus and my Judge! when Thou dost judge me, for Thy mercy's sake condemn me not to hell. In hell I cannot love Thee, but must hate Thee forever; and how can I hate Thee Who art so worthy of love, and Who hast loved me so well? If Thou wilt condemn me to hell, at least grant me grace to be able to love Thee there with all my heart. This grace I do not deserve, through my sins; but if I do not deserve it, Thou hast purchased it for me with the Blood which Thou didst shed with such anguish for me upon the cross. O my Judge! inflict on me every pain, but deprive me not of the power of loving Thee. O Mother of God! behold the peril in which I stand of being condemned to be unable of loving thy Son, Who deserves an infinite love; help me; have pity on me.
Prayer to Obtain Purity of Heart
Saviour of the world! O my only Hope! by the merits of Thy Passion, deliver me from every impure desire which may hinder me from loving Thee as I ought. May I be stripped of all desires that savor of the world; grant that the only object of my desires may be Thyself, Who art the Sovereign Good and the only good that is worthy of love. By Thy sacred wounds heal my infirmities ; give me grace to keep far from my heart every love which is not for Thee, Who deservest all my love. O Jesus, my Love ! Thou art my hope. O sweet words! sweet consolation! Jesus, my Love, Thou art my hope!
PRAYERS TO OBTAIN PURITY
I. O Jesus, Son of the living God, brightness of eternal light, who from all eternity wast begotten most pure in the bosom of the eternal Father, and who in time didst will to be born of a most pure and immaculate virgin: I, thy most frail creature, with all my heart beseech thee to preserve me pure in soul and body, and to make holy purity flourish abundantly in Thy holy Church, for Thy greater glory and the salvation of the souls redeemed by Thee.
II. O Mary ever virgin, most pure and immaculate daughter of the eternal Father, mother of the eternal Son, spouse of the Holy Ghost, august and living temple of the most blessed Trinity, lily of purity, and mirror without spot: obtain for me, O dear mother! from your good Jesus and mine, purity of soul and body; and beg of Him to make this virtue flourish more and more in all classes of the faithful.
III. O most chaste spouse of Mary immaculate, who didst merit at the hands of God the singular honor of being the foster-father of Innocence itself, Christ Jesus, and the spotless guardian of the Virgin of virgins: obtain for me the love of Jesus, my God and Saviour, and the special protection of Mary, my most holy mother; and procure, O holy Joseph, protector of all chaste souls! that thy chosen virtue of holy purity be better loved by me and by all men.
IV. And thou, all on fire with love for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, model of Christian modesty and restorer in your time of piety and good morals, our special advocate and example, S. Bernardino: present our prayers to the Holy Family, and beg of them that, with piety and the fear of God, holy purity in soul and body may reign in all Christian families, and in all who are children of the holy Roman Church, our mother. Amen.
His Holiness, Pope Pius IX., by a rescript of the Sacred Penitentiary, Feb. 27, 1862, granted to all the faithful, every time that, with at least contrite heart and devotion, they shall say these prayers to obtain holy purity:
An Indulgence Of Three Hundred Days. A Plenary Indulgence, once a month, on any day; to all those who, having said these prayers for a month, being truly penitent, shall confess their sins and receive holy communion.
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