Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
by Leonard Goffine, 1871


EPISTLE. (Ephes. m. 13.-21.) Brethren: I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth: to know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God. Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: to him be glory in the Church, and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations world without end.


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EXPLANATION


In the epistle of the following Sunday St. Paul tells us, that he was at the time of writing this letter in prison at Rome, whither he was brought upon the false accusations of the Jєωs. From prison he wrote to the Ephesians, whom he had converted to Christianity, and who zealously obeyed his counsels, in order to confirm them in their zeal and to console them with regard to his sufferings which he bore for Christ's sake. These sufferings which I bear, he writes, redound to your honor, since I, your spiritual father, am considered by God worthy to suffer like His Son; yes, I thank the Father of your Lord Jesus for it, and beg Him on my knees, that He will vouchsafe to strengthen you with His Holy Spirit, so that you may overcome your evil inclinations and passions, cleanse your hearts more and more, and sanctify your souls, that if you live thus according to your faith, you may be made the habitations of Christ. He begs God also to give them a well grounded charity, which not only loves God on account of the reward, but also on account of our sufferings, thus to become like to Christ, the Crucified. By this constant love for Jesus, even in adversities, we only comprehend with the saints the greatness of the love of Jesus, the Crucified, its breadth, since all the members of His body, all the powers of His soul were tormented with all sorts of tortures, on account of the sins of all men; the length, since He had all these sufferings for thirty three years before His eyes, and bore them in His soul; the depth, since these tortures surpassed in intensity all which men ever suffered or will suffer; the height, since Christ on the cross saw, with the most perfect knowledge, the awful malice of each single sin, and the terrible insult offered to the sublime Majesty of God, and He bore the punishment for them in Himself, and did penance for them.

Other holy fathers say, that by these words the whole mystery of our redemption is to be understood, and, indeed, the breadth thereof is, that it is for all men; the length, that it lasts for all centuries, and reaches into eternity; the height, that its contemplation takes us away from the earth and raises us to heaven; the depth, that it even penetrates down to the kingdom of the dead. By contemplating these mysteries we learn to know the infinite love of God, to love Him more and more, and thus make ourselves partakers of God's graces. Obey the teaching of this holy apostle, contemplate the suffering Saviour and His love, endeavor to become like to Him by suffering, and when you see, how the Church, her ministers, the bishops and priests, are persecuted and in tribulation, be not disheartened, but consider that the discipleship of Jesus consists particularly in suffering, that, therefore, the Church and her ministers must suffer, since their head, Jesus, has suffered. The holy Church has borne the crown of thorns of Jesus for eighteen hundred years and drank from His chalice; but like Jesus, her Head, she will triumph over all her enemies, and whilst these are hastening to destruction, she will continually live victorious until the end of time, and will triumph eternally in heaven.


GOSPEL. (Luke xiv. 1 -- 11.)At That Time: When Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees on the Sabbath-day to eat bread, they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? But they held their peace. But he taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And answering them, he said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit; and will not immediately draw him out on the Sabbath-day? And they could not answer him to these things. And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him; and he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee, give this man place, and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place: that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee, friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee: because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.




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 Why did Jesus dine with the Pharisees?

To take occasion from this, as St. Cyril says, to instruct them, that it is allowed to heal the sick on the Sabbath, and to show, how those who give invitations to a supper, and those who are invited, should conduct themselves. The Pharisees' invitation to Jesus was not actuated by kindness, but by the desire to find something in His actions, which they might criticise; but Jesus approaches them with meekness and endeavors to inspire them with a better intention. Beware of the spirit of criticism, and like Jesus make use of every occasion to do good even to your enemies.


Who may be understood by the dropsical man?

The debauchees and misers; for as a dropsical person always wishes to drink more, the more he has already drunk, so the debauched always wish more and more for the shameful gratification of their lusts, the more they have indulged in them, and the miserly for goods and riches, the more they have. And just as the dropsical are hard to cure, so the debauched and miserly are hard to convert.


Why is covetousness classed among the seven deadly sins?

Because it is the root of all evil (i. Tim. vi. 10.), for it leads to usury, theft, to the employment of false weights and measures, to the suppression of justice in courts, to perjury, to the oppression of widows and orphans, nay, even to the denial of faith, as was the case with Judas. Therefore the apostle says: They who would become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition; and admonishes us: to fly these things, and pursue justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness, (i. Tim. vi. 9, 11.)

A powerful remedy against avarice is to consider, that we are not owners of what we possess, and shall not take the least thing with us in death, and shall have to render a strict account of the use to which we put our riches, (i. Tim. vi. 7.)



INSTRUCTION ON KEEPING SUNDAY HOLY
Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? (Lukex xvi. 3.)

Why did Christ put this question?

Because the Jєωs, particularly the Pharisees, were so very superstitious in keeping the Sabbath, and because they would not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, because He healed on the Sabbath, which was a really good work. But if the Jєωs were so conscientious, through superstition and hypocrisy, in keeping the Sabbath, and considered the performing of an external good work on this day as a sin, some Christians, on the contrary, blinded by avarice and worldly pleasure, place themselves heedlessly, nay, insolently above the commandment to keep holy the Sunday, and do not consider those things sins, which are sins, sometimes even very grievous sins.

Bonsider, my dear Christian, you serve your body the whole week, you use all your powers for temporal business, to support yourself and your family, and God blesses you, if you work with a good intention. Now God chose one day in the week, Sunday, and in the year several other Holidays, which you should devote wholly to His service and the salvation of your soul--is it, therefore, not the greatest ingratitude, when you steal these days from God and your soul, and employ them for the gaining of a transient good or for the indulgence of vain, sinful pleasures? At certain times man gives rest to irrational animals, and you give the powers of your body and soul none of the rest they would and should find in quiet devotion, in prayer and meditation, in attending divine service, in receiving the holy Sacraments, &c. And if you enquire, whence these shameful violations of Sundays and Holidays come, you will find, that there is no other reason than love of gain and avarice, sinful love of pleasure, and often complete want of faith and confidence in God's providence. We wish to become rich by all means, and we do not reflect that this will not happen without the blessing of God, and that wealth is a net, in which thousands entangle themselves to their eternal perdition. We wish to live merrily and do ourselves good, but we do not consider, that our life-time is only a time of penance to attain that eternally blissful rest, of which Sunday is an emblem. We spend Sundays and Holidays in idleness, finery, vain conversations, buying and selling, servile work, or in still worse things, without experiencing the slightest scruple. But God will cover the violators of His sacred days with confusion and shame (Malach. ii. 3.), and permit all sorts of temporal evils to come upon them, as daily experience shows. For never can the blessing of God rest upon those who never care for it, but rather make themselves unworthy to receive it, by violating days, consecrated to God. Let this be a warning to you.


PRAYER. O best Saviour! how meekness and wisdom shine through all Thy words and actions! O, grant, that we may regulate all our actions in such a manner, that they will be acceptable to Thee and tend to the edification of our neighbor. Give us the grace to employ all Thy days, consecrated to Thee, for Thy honor and our salvation, that we may never raise ourselves above others, but follow Thee in all humility.






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