Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

Gospel : St. Matthew xviii. 23-35.

AT that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: “ The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt.

But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest And his fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him, and said to him: Thou wicked servant! I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid all the debt. So also shall My Heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not everyone his brother from your hearts.

Q. Of whom are this king and the debtor in the parable figures?

A. As in all the other parables so in this the king is a figure of God, master and judge of the universe; and the debtor represents sinful man, who must render an account of all his actions to the Divine Justice.

Q. Why is this servant represented as being so heavily in debt?

A. It is evident that the Divine Master thus represented him in order to express the enormity of sin, and the immense debt contracted with God by him who commits it.

Q. What fault had the wife and children committed, that they also were to be sold ?

A. This is an ornament of the parable, founded on the practice of certain very singular cases, as can be seen in Daniel. At any rate it may well signify that sometimes a whole family and an entire community must suffer for the sin of a father or of a member, in the same manner as all who were in the ship with the prophet Jonas were in danger of drowning, because he had been disobedient to God. All Egypt was punished on account of Pharao, and three thousand conquerors of Jericho were put to flight near the city Hai by a handful of uncircumcised men, on account of one only, Achan.

Q. How could the poor servant promise to pay so large a sum?

A. Strictly speaking, it was impossible for him to pay such an enormous debt, but this was said to signify that a sinner, although he cannot do anything of himself, can truly promise to satisfy the Divine Justice, relying on the infinite treasure of the passion and merits of Jesus Christ,

Q. How could the king be so easily moved to compassion and forgive so great a debt?

A. From this we should learn how great is the goodness of God, and how willingly He forgives him who sincerely confesses his sins and firmly resolves to amend his life. David and Magdalen are very eloquent examples of this.

Q. Of whom is that servant a figure who refused to have pity on his fellow-servant?

A. In this particular he is a figure of those Christians who refuse to forgive their neighbour, whilst they themselves dare to hope, or have even previously obtained the forgiveness of their sins, which are far more grievous.

Q. What are we to think of him when we see him having recourse to the tribunals to obtain satisfaction?

A. By acting in this manner he is the odious picture of those vindictive persons who make use of all imaginable means to obtain satisfaction for injuries received, and it makes us feel how disgraceful and revolting such conduct is.

Q. Why did his fellow-servants inform their master of the bad conduct of this man?

A. This signifies that the true servants of the Lord are always displeased and sorry for the acts of revenge done by Christians, and that, however just the satisfaction obtained may appear to be, the heavenly Master will always know it, will judge it rigorously, and will discover the secret malice thereof.

Q. But this master did not oblige the servant to cancel the obligations due him from others. Why, then, was he so angry with him?

A. Let us learn from this how angry the Lord will be with us if we exact satisfaction, knowing that He has strictly commanded us to forgive our neighbour from our heart, and that He has repeatedly assured us that we shall be treated by Him in the same manner as we have treated others.

Q. Why did the master deliver that servant to the torturers?

A. The Divine Teacher said this in the parable to let us know that whosoever does not sincerely forgive his enemies will be sentenced to the torments of hell.

Q. What are we to learn from this Gospel?

A. In the first place, we are to learn to acknowledge before God our great debts, that is, our sins, with sincerity and humility of heart. Secondly, we are to learn to have a firm purpose of making good our great debt as far as we can with the assistance of divine grace, by repentance, by receiving the holy sacraments, and by other good works. Lastly, we are to learn sincerely to pardon those who have offended us, and to fear the punishments with which God has threatened vindictive men. 

 

 

 

Sermon for children on praying for parents

 God often makes children little apostles for the conversion of others. A person in Paris gave the following account of his conversion: “I had been brought up,” he said, “in ignorance of the truth, with no respect for religion, and hating the Catholic Church. I had a little child, which was wild, passionate, and stupid. I was cross and severe to this child. Sometimes my wife used to say to me: ‘Wait a little, the child will be better when it makes its first communion.’ I did not believe it. however, the child began to go to Catechism, and from that time it became obedient, respectful, and affectionate. I thought I would go myself to hear the instructions on the Catechism, which had made such a wonderful change in the child. I went, and I heard truths which I had never heard before. My feelings towards the child changed. It was not so much love as respect I began to feel for the child. I was inferior to it, it was better and wiser than I was. The week for the first communion was come: there were but five or six days remaining.

One morning the child returned from Mass, and came into the room where I was alone. ‘Father,’ said the child, ‘the day of my first communion is coming, and I cannot go to the altar without asking your blessing and forgiveness for all the faults I have committed and the pain I have often given you. Think well of my faults, and scold me for them all, that I may commit them no more.’ ‘My child,’ I answered, ‘a father forgives every thing.’ The child looked at me with tears in its eyes and threw its arms around my neck. ‘Father,’ said the child again, ‘I have something else to ask you.’ I knew well, my conscience told me, what the child was going to ask. I was afraid, and said, ‘go away now, you can ask me to-morrow.’ The poor child did not know what to say, so it left me, and went sorrowfully into its own little room, where it had an altar with an image of the Blessed Virgin upon it. I felt sorry for what I had said; so I got up, and walked softly on the tips of my feet to the room door of my child. The door was a little open; I looked at the child, it was on its knees before the Blessed Virgin, praying with all its heart for its father. Truly, at the moment, I knew what one must feel at the sight of an angel. I went back to my room, and leaned my head on my hands, I was ready to cry. I heard a slight sound, and raised my eyes—my child was standing before me, on its face there was fear, with firmness and love. ‘Father,’ said the child, ‘I cannot put off till to-morrow what I have to ask you—I ask you, on the day of my first Communion, to come to the holy Communion along with mamma and me.’ I burst into tears, and threw my arms round the child’s neck, and said, ‘Yes, my child, yes this very day you shall take me by the hand and lead me to your confessor, and say, ‘Here is Father.’” 

So this child converted its father. Little child, if you have parents who do not lead a good life, God looks to you for their conversion. But what can you do? The good example of a child speaks to the heart of a parent. Then there is prayer—will God turn a deaf ear to the prayer of a child, praying for the conversion of its father or mother? No; the Hail Mary, which you say every day for their conversion, the prayer you say for them each time you hear Mass, the holy Communions you offer for them, the sighs of your heart, all rise up before God, and are not forgotten by him; and the day will come when God will send down from Heaven the grace of conversion into the heart of your parents.

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

 Gospel : St. Matthew XXII. 2-14.

AT that time: Jesus spoke to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invite: Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fadings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm and another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his servants, and, having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king had heard of it he was angry, and, sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready: but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find call to the marriage. And his servants, going forth into the highways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him : Friend, how earnest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Q. What was the object of this parable?

A. It was to warn the Jews of the danger and of the fatal consequences of their obstinacy in refusing to recognize in Him that Messias Who came to call them in the name of His Eternal Father to partake of the kingdom of heaven.

Q. What does the kingdom of heaven signify, who is the king, and who is the bridegroom ?

A. The kingdom of heaven is the Church, in which God exercises His power over the minds and heart; the royal father who prepares the nuptial feast is the same God Who invites all mankind to enter the Church, and the bridegroom is Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Who is united to the Church by the strongest ties.

Q. What are we to understand by the nuptial feast?

A. That most bountiful feast of eternal life which is received in the Church, whether of doctrine, of grace, or of the merits of Jesus Christ.

Q. Why is such a feast said to be prepared by the royal father?

A. Because the holy Church was ordained and prepared by God from all eternity, and God sent His only begotten Son to become man to complete the great work begun by Him.

Q. Who are the invited, and who are they who did not accept the first invitation?

A. The invited are all the children of Adam, as well of the Old as of the New Dispensation, and those who refused the first invitation were principally the Gentiles, who did not believe in the Christ Who was to come, and did not profit by the example of the chosen people. They were also the Jews, who did not listen to the voice of the prophets, and refused to acknowledge the promised and expected Messias. Lastly, they are all those who did not and do not accept the truths of the gospel.

Q. Who were the servants sent out by the king to give the first invitation ?

A. They were the prophets who invited men to believe and to hope in the Messias, and who announced His coming, His sanctity, His miracles, and all the circumstances of His birth, life, passion, and death.

Q. Who were those sent to renew the invitation ?

A. They were the apostles and all their legitimate successors in the preaching of the gospel, and they are now all the ministers of the altar who announce the divine word and invite the people to drink with joy from the rich fountains of the Saviour.

Q. What do the animals that were killed for the feast signify?

A. All this food, which indicates the wealth and sumptuousness of an earthly table, signifies the abundance and the excellence of the food which God has prepared for our souls in the Church.

Q. How do we prove this abundance?

A. If we consider the promises of God made to the patriarchs, the predictions of the prophets, the figures of the sacrifices and of the legal ceremonies, and the foreshadowings in the events and in the famous personages of the Hebrew nation, we shall see with what abundance God prepared the nuptial feast of Jesus Christ ; that is, how many lights and how many means He prepared, in order that the promised Saviour might be known when in the fulness of time He should appear among men.

Q. Does this abundance stop here ?

A. Certainly not. If we consider the doctrines of Jesus Christ, His miracles, His example, His death, His merits, and His sacraments, the preaching of the apostles, the constancy of the martyrs, the prodigies which signalized the promulgation of the faith and the constant assistance of the Holy Ghost, we shall comprehend how abundantly God has provided food for our souls, for our faith, our hope, our charity, our perfection ; in a word, for the nuptials of the Church with the heavenly Spouse.

Q. Who are they who maltreated the servants?

A. First, they are the Jews, who stoned the prophets and crucified Christ. Secondly, they are the persecutors of the Church, who condemned the promulgators of the gospel to all kinds of torments ; and lastly, they are those who persecute the priests because they are the ministers of God and the teachers of religion.

Q. How was the revenge of the angry king realized in regard to the Jews?

A. You find the answer in the ruins of the city of Jerusalem, and in the Jews themselves, scattered over the face of the earth without throne or temple.

Q. Who are they who were called from all parts and partook of the marriage-feast?

A. They were the Gentiles and the people of every nation who, called by the apostles to the profession of the gospel, embraced the holy faith and filled the Church of Jesus Christ.

Q. Of whom was the man a figure who had not on a nuptial garment?

A. He was the sad image of all those who are indeed in the Church because they have been baptized, but who have not the nuptial garment; that is, who have not justice and sanctifying grace, because they are in the state of mortal sin.

Q. Why did the king call that man a friend?

A. From this we may learn that God hates sin, but not the sinner; because, although he is His enemy by sin, still he is His creature, created unto- His likeness, and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ; therefore He is inclined to treat him in a friendly manner whenever, accepting the invitation of His grace, he will ask pardon for his sins and provide himself by repentance with the nuptial garment, which he has not when in the state of sin.

Q. Why, then, did he sentence him to be punished?

A. In order to warn us that the sinner who is mute and does not confess his guilt and ask for pardon, as this man in the Gospel, will be banished from eternal joy, and will be sentenced to be cast out of the kingdom into eternal pain.

Q. What are we to learn from this parable of the Gospel ?

A. We are to learn principally three thingS: first, not to despise divine grace: second, to be sure that we have the nuptial garment, which is sanctifying grace ; and lastly, that it is not enough to be in the Church and to bear the name of Christian in order to be saved, as it was not sufficient for that man to be seated at the nuptial banquet, from which he was ignominiously banished.

  Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

 

 

 

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 Children's sermon here

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Gospel : St. Matthew IX. 1-8.

At that time: “Jesus, entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into His own city. And behold they brought to Him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the scribes said within themselves:  He blasphemeth. And Jesus, seeing their, thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the man sick of the palsy:) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men. ”

Q. What city was that which Jesus went to?

A. It was the city of Capharnaum, on the west bank of the river Jordan, a little before it flows into the Sea of Tiberias, also called the Lake of Genesareth and the Sea of Galilee. This was a rich commercial city, and the emporium of all Judea on account of its great population, its extensive trade, and the concourse of strangers.

Q. Why does the Evangelist call Capharnaum the city of Jesus, saying: “He came into His own city”?

A. The home of Jesus was Nazareth, but St. John Chrysostom and many others are of the opinion that He cherished a special affection for Capharnaum, so that St. Matthew called it His city. In Capharnaum there was a house where Christ was accustomed to meet with His apostles, and in this city He began to preach the kingdom of God, to correct the prevailing- vices, to teach virtue, and worked many astounding miracles.

Q. What miracles did Christ perform in Capharnaum?

A. He healed the paralytic mentioned in the Gospel, He restored sight to two blind persons, and healed the deaf and dumb man who was possessed by the devil, of which mention is made in the Gospel for the third Sunday in Lent. He also cured the servant of the centurion, the woman who was suffering from a loss of blood, and the son of Regulus, who was dying of fever. Besides these, He recalled to life the daughter of Jairus.

Q. Of whom was this paralytic a figure?

A. He was a figure of the human race, which was sick on account of the sin of its first parent. This paralytic was in a pitiable condition; he could not take a step, or even stand. He could not use his hands, and he was incurable by natural means. In like manner the human race was reduced to a most deplorable condition; it could not withstand the power of the passions, it could not take a step or do anything by which to gain heaven, and no one could help it but Jesus Christ alone.

Q. Why did Jesus say to the man: “Be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee”?

A. The health of his body would have been of little account to him if he had not received with it the health of his soul; therefore Jesus first gave him the most necessary grace, that is, the health of his soul, and then that of less importance, the health of his body.

Q. What are we to learn from this?

A. We are to learn that when we are sick our first thought should be to place ourselves in the grace of God, thus healing our soul first, because diseases are very often a punishment for sins committed; hence a cure can scarcely be hoped for if the cause has not first been removed by repentance.

Q. What are we to think of those who said that Jesus blasphemed when He said, “Thy sins are for-given thee”?

A. We need not be surprised at this. Ignorant people call all things they do not understand blunders and folly; so also do unbelievers and the wicked call blasphemy every truth of faith which they do not comprehend or which they do not like. Those scribes did not know, or did not want to know, that Jesus was God, and when He said that the sins of the paralytic were forgiven him, these words seemed to them to be a horrible blasphemy. How many Christians also accuse the ministers of the altar of rigorism, scrupulosity, and ignorance, when they announce truths that are not according to the taste of their corrupt hearts, or which appear new to them, because they never learned their religion as they should.

Q. Why did Jesus rebuke their secret thoughts?

A. This appears to be a rebuke, but in reality it was for them a great charity, because, as God alone can penetrate the secrets of the heart and mind, Jesus, by showing that He knew their secret thoughts, gave them a convincing proof that He was truly God. Sinners also may learn from this that no matter how much they strive to hide themselves before men, God always knows them, for He searches the innermost recesses of the heart.

Q. What else did Christ show in this case?

A. By the fact itself He showed that, on account of His divinity and the merits of His passion, He had the power of forgiving sins and of assisting sinners by His grace to obtain the victory over their passions and to walk on the road to heaven, like the paralytic who arose healthy and sound, took up his bed, and went into his house.

Q. Of what, therefore, was the paralytic a figure on this occasion?

A. He was a figure of mankind restored to grace by Jesus Christ, risen again from the weakness to which it had been reduced by the sin of its first parent, fortified against its passions, and rendered able to walk on the way of salvation toward its home, paradise.

Q. Of what was he more particularly an image?

A. St. Gregory says: The bed upon which the paralytic lay prostrate and unable to move signified the carnal passions in which the soul of a sinner lies abandoned and unable to do any good. The paralytic, in carrying his bed and going into his house, is a figure of the sinner who, being converted and placed in the state of grace, rises from the mire of his passions, carries triumphantly the weight of temptations, strives in works of penance, walks in the path of justice, and returns to that house which is prepared for him in heaven by the merits of Jesus Christ.

Q. What are we to learn from this Gospel?

A. The miserable condition of the paralytic teaches us to fear the misery to which our sinful passions can reduce us. The kindness with which the Divine Redeemer treated the sick man invites us to have great confidence in God, and to trust in His mercy even if we are great sinners. The greatness of the miracle causes us to admire the great power conferred by Jesus Christ on the priests in order that they may use it in a spiritual manner in the sacrament of penance; and the whole history teaches us to fear, to give thanks, and to glorify God, and Him Whom He sent to dwell among us, Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

 Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

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SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

 Gospel : St. Matthew xxii. 35-46.

AT that time, the Pharisees came nigh to Jesus: “And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked Him, tempting Him: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: What think you of Christ? Whose son is He? They say to Him: David's. He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord : Sit on My right hand until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son? And no man was able to answer Him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions. ”

Q. In what sense was the question of the Pharisee a temptation?

A. To understand the force and the malice of this question of the Pharisee, which the Gospel calls a temptation, it is necessary to know that in Christ’s time there was a question which was the greater obligation: to love God or to offer in the temple the sacrifices commanded by the law. Many were of the opinion that the first and greatest commandment was that of offering sacrifice in the temple. On this account the doctor of the law asked Jesus Christ which was the greatest commandment of the law, with the intention to induce Him to decide the question, with the danger to Himself of displeasing one or the other party, if He did not support His assertion by undeniable proof.

Q. What was Christ’s answer?

A. He answered that the first and greatest commandment was to love God above all things, with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength.

Q. What do you think of this precept?

A. There is nothing more reasonable and just. God is perfection itself, the fountain and the source of all good; therefore He must be loved for what He is in preference to all other things, and He must be loved with our whole heart and with our whole soul, cost us what it may. God has created us for the sole purpose that we may love Him, and hereafter enjoy Him for all eternity as a reward of this love; therefore we are bound by the law of nature to love Him. God is the absolute Lord of our life and of all we have on this earth; therefore we are bound in justice to love Him. God has bestowed on us innumerable natural and supernatural benefits, and continues to do so; therefore we are bound to love Him out of gratitude, and if man would not love Him He would be worse than the brute animals, that show themselves grateful to those who feed them.

Q. Why did Christ say that the precept to love God is the first and greatest commandment?

A. Because charity is the greatest of the virtues, the root, the support, and the crown of all the others. Without charity, all the acts of devotion are nothing; without charity, patience, generosity, meekness, chastity, and all other good qualities avail nothing; without charity, we are objects of hatred in the sight of God. Hence St. Paul says: “If I should speak with the tongues of angels, if I possessed all knowledge, if I should distribute all my goods to the poor, if I worked miracles, if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, I am nothing more than a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal ” (i. Cor. xiii.).

Q. Which is the second great commandment?

A. Christ has told us what it is. It is to love our neighbour as ourselves; that is, we must love him sincerely, ardently, and effectively, but always for the love of God.

Q. How are we to practise this love?

A. The same divine Teacher taught us the way to practise it, when He said: “Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.” Hence St. Augustine, explaining this maxim, says: “Whatever good we wish for ourselves, the same we must procure for our neighbour, and the evil that we fear we must prevent from befalling our neighbour. ”

Q. Does he who treats his neighbour kindly and generously, but without reference to God, fulfil the commandment?

A. God has commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves, but always for love of Him, in regard to Him, with eyes fixed on Him alone. Therefore he who loves and gives abundantly to his neighbour through human sensibility, through natural goodness of heart, or through philanthropy, would not satisfy the precept. He would deserve the praise and the gratitude of men, but he would merit no supernatural reward.

Q. Why did Jesus say that “on these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets” ?

A. He said this because all the other precepts of the law and the teachings of the prophets, that is, of those who speak to us in God’s name, are founded on the commandment of the love of God and of our neighbour, and all flow therefrom in such a manner that he whose heart is animated by charity observes the whole law; but when this virtue, which constitutes the essence of a Christian, is wanting, the whole law is transgressed.

Q. After Christ had taught such a wholesome lesson, what else, according to the Gospel, did He do?

A. Wishing to render good for evil, He took the occasion to enlighten and to lead His tempters and His enemies to behold in His person the promised Messias, by asking them what they thought of Him Whom they all expected, and whose son they believed He was to be.

Q. Did the Pharisees give a correct answer when they said that the Christ was to be the son of David?

A. They answered correctly in part, but not in full. The Messias was true God and true man, and hence they should have said: As God, the Christ was the son of the Eternal Father; and as man, He was a descendant of the house of David. But the Pharisees either did not know or did not want to believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ; therefore they gave only a partial answer. The Divine Master, however, did not omit to place this great truth before them, and convinced them in such a manner that no one was able to answer Him a word.

Q. With what argument did He silence them?

A. By showing them that David, inspired by the Holy Ghost, called the Christ his Lord, thus giving Him a title which he would not have given Him if he had not known Him to be greater than he himself, because He was the Son of God, Who was to make His enemies His footstool. In this way He proved His divinity and showed them the triumph which He was to have over them.

Q. What are we to learn from this Gospel?

A. We are to learn that our first and greatest duty is to love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves. We are to learn further not to question of cavil with God on the maxims of religion. Lastly, we are to learn how great our confusion will be, if, like the Pharisees, we dare to impugn anything that redounds to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

 

 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

Gospel: St. Luke xiv. I-II.

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 everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ”

Q. How could Jesus accept the invitation to the table of a Pharisee?

A. It is true the Pharisees were bad men, but Jesus Christ did not refuse to enter the house of this man, who was one of the most distinguished among them, because He wished to take this opportunity to benefit them by His doctrines and miracles; thus teaching us not to repel or avoid sinners as long as there is any hope of doing them good.

Q. What miracle did Christ work, and what doctrines did He teach on this occasion ?

A. The Gospel relates that on this occasion He healed a man who had the dropsy, and He taught those present as well as us also that it is not forbidden to heal the sick on the Sabbath-day. Besides, He showed that we must avoid pride and cultivate humility.

Q. Of whom was the man that had the dropsy a figure?

A. St. Augustine says that he was a figure of the rich miser who the more he has the more he wants, after the manner of dropsical patients, who the fuller they are of water the more they want to drink.

Q. Is this man a figure of anything else?

A. According to St. Augustine, the dropsy of this man signified any other predominating passion of a sinner. Any passion, when it takes possession of the heart, becomes insatiable, and the more it is gratified the worse it becomes, like the thirst of one afflicted with dropsy. If we notice a drunkard, a proud man, a libertine, an ambitious woman, a miser, we see that the habitual debauch, the beastly excesses, the most extravagant fashions, and the greatest gain do not satisfy their desires, and, much as they may gratify their whims, they never have enough.

Q. How did Jesus prove that it was not forbidden to heal the sick on the Sabbath-day?

A. He proved it from the example of the Pharisees themselves, by saying that if they did not scruple to draw from the pit an ass or an ox that had fallen into it, because their interest required them to do so, much less should there be any difficulty in curing a sick person for charity’s sake and for the glory of God. Those Pharisees were impious men, says the venerable Bede. Through avarice they would violate the law of the Sabbath, and at the same time they accused Christ of violating the Sabbath because He cured a man through charity.

Q. Were the Pharisees convinced by this reasoning?

A. As the Gospel says, they felt that they were silenced, and held their peace. Yet, instead of being enlightened, they became more obstinate in finding fault with Christ, and, as St. John relates, they persecuted Him, telling the people that He was not a friend of God, because He did not observe the Sabbath.

Q. What else worthy of remark took place on this occasion ?

A. That happened which often happens in our day. The Pharisees who had been invited were full  of self-conceit. Each one of them had a high opinion of himself; each fancied that he was greater than the others, and each sought to be preferred and to have the first seat at the table.

Q. And what did Jesus Christ do then?

A. Jesus Christ, knowing the ambitious desires of their hearts, gave them the important advice to select the lowest place, so as not to expose themselves to the shame of being obliged to give up the highest place by the command of the host, who had destined it for one who was superior in merit.

Q. What did Christ mean by this counsel?

A. He wished to correct those proud men, by making them understand how improper their ambitious behaviour was in selecting the best places; at the same time He taught all future Christians to close their eyes to their own merits, not to exact attentions, and to believe themselves inferior to others, by always with sincerity of heart choosing the last place for themselves.

Q. With what promise did Christ confirm this lesson?

A. He confirmed it by saying that he who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

Q. Before whom will the proud be humbled and the humble exalted?

A. Before God and men. Even the world despises the proud, and when it can humble them it does it with pleasure. On the other hand, it loves, esteems, and praises the truly humble, and is pleased when their merit is appreciated. God, says St. Hilary, will humble the pride of the ambitious and glorify the humble, if not in this life, certainly and forever in the next.

Q. In what does true humility consist?

A. It consists in considering ourselves as nothing before God and men, for indeed we are nothing, and all we have, in the order of nature or in the order of grace, comes from God, as also all we do, great or small, depends on His help and goodness.

Q. What are the degrees of Christian humility?

A. They are as follows: To know ourselves, our insufficiency, our natural misery, and hence to have a low opinion of ourselves. Secondly, to bear patiently and with fortitude humiliations, wherever they may come from. Finally, to rejoice in these humiliations and to say with David: It is good, O Lord, that Thou hast humbled me.

  Taken from Analysis of the Gospel of the Sundays of the year. From the Italian of Angelo Cagnola.  By Rev. L. A. Lambert, LL.D.

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Sermon for Children Here