The forgiveness of sins (Luke 19:1-10)
In the first two chapters of the bible we are presented with the picture of the visible world and of man coming from the creative hand of God. In the third chapter of the bible we are presented with a profoundly important feature of this world. It is the presence of sin, of man’s rebellion against God in its various forms. The inspired text shows us that it did not come from God - it came from man himself. It came from his own choice and decision to give in to the temptation of Satan. The result is that sin is that man, the world’s master, has a fundamental and mortal problem. It is sin. It is the root cause of all his problems. If unchecked it will lead to his eternal damnation.
The modern phenomenon is that people tend not to recognise sin. They see sin in others perhaps, even if they call it by some other name, such as wrongdoing. But sin, specifically an offense against God - this they tend not to recognise. If they do recognise that God is offended by things that we continually do, they tend to think that this does not matter much anyway. We are not sinners, and if we are, well, so what? Sin is not important. There are other things that matter far more. And so modern man tends not to believe or at least not take at all seriously what Christ has told us, and what the Church passes on to us, about the forgiveness of sins. In St Luke's Gospel scene of the conversion of Zacchaeus the senior tax collector (Luke 19: 1-10) we notice that Zachaeus was conscious that he was a sinner: he had a sense of sin. He responded to our Lord’s offer of friendship with him by repenting.
Let us notice that every time we profess our Catholic Faith in the Creed, which we shall all do in a few moments after the homily, we state that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. But let us notice what comes before that. We say that we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, and then, the forgiveness of sins. Belief in the forgiveness of our sins is intimately connected with our belief in the action of the Holy Spirit, who forgives our sins in the ministry and life of the Church. On the very evening of the day he rose from the dead, Our Lord grants to his apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit: especially to forgive sins. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” our Lord said, “whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, whose sins you retain they are retained.” (John 20: 22-23). It was the first task the risen Jesus gave to his apostles on giving them the Holy Spirit. If we believe in Christ, if we believe in the Holy Spirit, if we believe in the Holy Catholic Church, we should believe in the forgiveness of sins - but with real conviction.
At our Baptism, we receive this gift of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles. With this gift comes the complete forgiveness of our sins in a manner so full and complete that there remains in us nothing left to efface, neither original sin nor offenses committed by our own will. Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from the weakness of nature and the proneness to sin that was the effect of original sin. And so our Lord gave to the Apostles the power not only to completely forgive sins committed before baptism, but to forgive sins committed after baptism. This power given to the Apostles to forgive sins committed after Baptism is handed on to bishops and priests and exercised in the Sacrament of Penance. If we are not going to confession much, it could be because we do not have much conviction about the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins.
Let us ask our
Lord to help us gain a new
starting
point in our spiritual lives, which is a real conviction that we are
sinners
and need the forgiveness of God. Let us ask our Lord to help us to be
as
conscious of our sins and as ready to repent as was Zaccaeus when our
Lord
greeted him. Let us resolve to practise a daily examination of
conscience,
daily acts of sorrow for sin, frequent and regular confession, and to
practice
an apostolate of bringing to others the doctrine of the forgiveness of
sins. Let’s make this doctrine a living conviction in our lives.
(E.J.Tyler)
(Further reading:
The Catechism of the
Catholic
Church no. 976-983)
A second
reflection on the Gospel of the thirty first Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Scripture
today: Wisdom
11:22-12:2; Psalm 144;
2 Thessalonians
1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10
I am sure that at least some of you would be able to think of someone
you know who could be described as having a living and very real faith.
God our Lord is real for that person. Now, we notice that God can be
real to a person in the sense that a person could primarily fear God,
or primarily love him. In the history of man and his religions, we see
how God can be primarily feared, due to one’s sense of having sinned,
and expecting due punishment for one’s sins. And for those who do not
know that God has revealed himself to be a God of love, it is very
natural and good to fear God. That is a start. At least it shows that a
sense of one’s sinful reality, and a dim sense of the holiness of God.
But in our secular age and culture man characteristically does not care much about God, while of course many truly love him. Let each of us ask ourselves if as yet we really love God. Love is not just a feeling: it is above all a decision, a matter of choice. We should choose to grow in a real love for God, and take the steps necessary for this. This is what God commands us to do. Our Lord, when asked, said, this is the first commandment, that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and all your strength. The question is, how can we make this choice?
To answer
this question, I suggest that we consider today’s Gospel, and in
particular the figure of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).
Firstly, it is clear that Zacchaeus felt a real need for Jesus. From
what he subsequently said to Jesus, he was aware that he was a sinner.
He climbed down from the tree and told Jesus that he would give his
ill-gotten gains to the poor, and return what he had gained unjustly.
So he had listened to his conscience reproving him for his sins. He
knew he was spiritually sick, and that he needed a doctor. On another
occasion our Lord was criticised by the pharisees for welcoming the
sinners and eating with them. He said that it was not the healthy who
needed the doctor but the sick, and that he had come to call sinners to
repentance, that is, those who recognised they were sinners. If we do
not recognise that we are sinners, we probably will not be very
interested in our Lord. We remember our Lord’s parable of the pharisee
and the publican praying in the temple. The pharisee did not think he
was a sinner, but the publican did. So did Zacchaeus in today’s Gospel
reading. He was a sinner, and he knew it. And while he knew he was a
sinner, he recognised in our Lord a great holiness. His conscience
intimated this. And so he looked to our Lord for something radically
important that he did not have.
But the second thing that happened in Zacchaeus’s life apart from the action of his conscience enabling him to recognise his sinfulness and the holiness of Jesus, was his personal meeting with Jesus. He discovered not only that he was a sinner and that he yearned for something better, but that Jesus loved him personally. That meeting brought about the decisive change. He had known he was a sinner, but that alone did not bring about the great change - though it did dispose him for it. But when he met Jesus and saw that Jesus loved him and wanted to dine with him, he completely changed. As our Lord said, this day salvation has come to Zacchaeus. And what changed Zacchaeus? What gave him joy in his religion? What made him dedicated? What turned him honest, and led him to give to the poor? It was to have discovered the love that Jesus had for him in particular, for him, sinner though he was. Jesus stopped, looked up at Zacchaeus, called him by name, asked him to come down and speak to him, and then told him that he would be coming to his house to dine. It is a most beautiful scene.
Zacchaeus felt loved by the best and holiest person of all. He
became a true believer in all that God had revealed and was revealing
in Jesus. The fact that he is mentioned by name would suggest that he
was subsequently known in the Christian community, just as Simon of
Cyrene would have been. Let us follow in the footsteps of Zacchaeus and
discover the love that Jesus has for us, discover it and believe in it.
We must discover it precisely as sinners. Our faith is above all faith
in the love of God for us sinners. When we discover this, our faith is
living and real, and not just an abstract notion. Let us every day
strive to place ourselves, as the sinners we are, in the presence of
Jesus who loves us. St Paul said, Christ loved me and delivered himself
for me. If we appreciate this, and make it the basis of all we do, it
will change us, just as it changed Zacchaeus. Let us then put time into
prayer, resting in the presence of our Lord at the start of the day,
often raising the mind and heart to him during the day, and perhaps
making a real good visit to Jesus in the Church once a week, just to be
with him experiencing his love.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Let us marvel at the
lovable paradox of our
Christian
condition: it is our own wretchedness which leads us to seek refuge in
God, to become “like unto God”. With him we can do all things.
(The Forge, no.212)
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Feast of All Saints (November 1)
On this day the Church celebrates the feast of all the unknown saints who are now in heaven.
We therefore think of a few basic and immensely important facts. Firstly, we think of the afterlife: what will happen after we die. There is a great invisible Reality, God, and secondly those who, in the afterlife, are either in union with him or definitively separated from him. Those in union with him are either directly with him (in heaven) face to face for ever, or are being purified (in purgatory) in preparation for that moment when they will be with him face to face for ever. Those who are definitively separated from him are in hell.
Today we think of all those who are now with God in heaven. Their purification from sin has passed, and they are holy, sanctified, totally in Christ, and are consequently with God and the angels and saints for ever. Their life is utter happiness, happiness without end. They continue their work for us in heaven.
But we also think of this life and its true meaning: it is a preparation for our meeting with God. God made us to know, love and serve him here on earth so as to see and enjoy him for ever in heaven. This is life's meaning. A great psychiatrist of the twentieth century, Victor Frankl, wrote that the secret to happiness especially in the midst of difficulties and suffering, lies in having a sense of the meaning of life. Well, the Christian knows the true meaning of things because it has been revealed to us by Christ, and taught to us by the Church. We have all been called to holiness in Christ. Every day takes us nearer to the moment of judgment, and we will be judged on the degree of love that fills our heart: love for God and love for our neighbour.
Let us pray today that
we will be led on to seek
sanctity
wholeheartedly by the loving fulfilment of our God-given duties in life.
(E.J.Tyler)
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When you have fallen or
when you find yourself
overwhelmed
by the weight of your wretchedness, repeat with a firm hope: Lord, see
how ill I am; come and heal me, Lord, you who died on the cross for
love
of me. Be full of confidence. Keep on calling out to his most loving
Heart.
He will cure you, as he cured the leper we read about in the Gospel.
(The Forge, no.213)
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November 2: All Souls Day
Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed
The Church, after rejoicing yesterday with our brothers who are in heaven, today prays for all who, in the purifying suffering of purgatory, await the day when they will join the company of the saints. The celebration of the Mass, which is the sacrifice of Calvary made present on our altars, has ever been for the Church the principal means of fulfilling the great commandment of charity towards the dead. We can also relieve their sufferings through our prayers, suffrages, and penances. Even after death, links with our fellow-travellers and brothers are not broken. We believe in the communion of saints.
Those in Purgatory are saved, but they are undergoing a painful and loving purification from everything in them that is not the pure love of God. How painful that must be! We have only to imagine what it would cost us in this life to be brought to a pure and perfect love of God. Those in Purgatory can do nothing to hasten this process. They depend on the mercy of God and the prayers of the Church's members in heaven and on earth. We can help them.
Let us remember too
that we ought aim to be
purified
of our sins in this life so as to go to God after death as speedily as
possible. Let us pray, do penance and works of mercy, and try to gain
indulgences
both partial and plenary. Let us think of the last things that will
come
to us all, sooner or later.
(E.J.Tyler)
A further
reflection on remembering the Souls in Purgatory during November
November: The Holy Souls
The month of November is the month when the whole Church and all her members pray for the Holy Souls of Purgatory. Let us then think of the Souls in Purgatory.
The faithful departed in Purgatory know, and we know, that sooner or later they will certainly be in heaven. This is not something we can say about ourselves or anyone we know who is still living. No parent can say with certitude that any one of her children will certainly be saved. What a tragedy if one’s child were to be lost forever, but one cannot be sure. So it is most important to work hard for the spiritual life of everyone in the family. St Paul says we must work out our salvation in fear and trembling.
But while the souls in purgatory are assured of heaven in the way we cannot be, nevertheless they cannot merit further grace and sanctity. We can improve our stocks. They are there to be purified of the effect of their sins, the selfishness, the attachments, all that is not the total love of God. They can do nothing to hasten it. To be admitted to the presence of God in heaven they have to love God with their whole mind, heart, soul and strength, requiring a tremendous purification of all the effects of the sins that God has forgiven them in Confession or in their acts of contrition and sorrow for sin. This purification from the effects of sins that have been forgiven takes place here on earth, or after death in purgatory.
Now, this purification is very painful, whether in this life or in the next. It is especially painful in Purgatory. The process is described in terms of fire. The fires of Purgatory purify the soul that has been saved. Scripture and tradition invites us to imagine fire, the fires of purgatory, as a way of imagining this merciful purification. Figuratively speaking, they are on fire as gold is purified. Now, the Church teaches that we can do something about their sufferings, and hasten their purification by our prayers, our Masses, our penances, and by the Indulgences both plenary and partial that we can gain for them.
How could we liken it? Imagine if there was someone you knew, someone close to you, a relative perhaps, a parent or an aunt, who was outside your house on fire. Would you not rush to her aid and do all you could to put that fire out? Of course there is a complete difference: for the fires of purgatory improve the state of those who are there, they do not threaten them with death as does ordinary fire - they bring them closer to abundant life with God. But Scripture and the tradition of the Church suggests that we think of Purgatory in terms of fire. What are we doing about helping them, especially during November.
Or let us take another image. A person has a condition, say a tumour which is not cancerous in itself but which if left will lead to cancer. And so he has a major operation to remove the tumour. The operation is a real blessing for future life. In Purgatory, it is a purifying operation taking out what is there so as to lead to abundant life. But after the operation there is great pain, weakness and a long recuperation. He cannot cough without sharp pain. He might describe himself as on fire with pain, but helped along the way by various persons, yet still there is a lot of pain. The doctors and nurses and friends help in all sorts of ways to alleviate the pain and hasten the improvement. So too we can help the souls in purgatory to alleviate the pain and hasten their purification until they are utterly filled with the love of God and ready for an eternity with him.
Let us not
neglect the souls in Purgatory, be
they
persons we have known, or the countless persons who have no one to pray
for them. Let us make friends on the other side of the grave through
our
prayers, Masses and penances, so that when our turn comes we will have
many friends to alleviate and hasten our purification and our entry
into
the presence of God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Trust fully in God and
have a greater desire each
day
never to run away from him.
(The Forge, no.214)
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Wednesday of the Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time II
November 3: St Martin de Porres, religious (1579-1639). Born in Lima, Peru. He lived a life of fasting, prayer, and penance as a Dominican lay brother. He was very devoted to the Blessed Eucharist.
Our salvation (Philippians 2: 12-18)
Over the last two days, we have been thinking of the last things. Yesterday we thought of the faithful departed in Purgatory (All Souls Day), and the day before we thought of all the saints in heaven (All Saints Day). These two days remind us of the all-important issue of our salvation. There is nothing to be compared with it in importance, and our salvation is not simply assured. That is to say, we cannot just take it for granted, although many people do. It is possible to lose our souls, which would be an utter, unredeemable, and unmitigated disaster of eternal proportions.
So then, as St Paul
says (Philippians 2: 12-18),
"work
out your salvation in fear and trembling", which is to say, taking the
whole matter with the utmost seriousness. This we do with,
nevertheless,
the joy that comes from being in and with Christ. This is the will of
God,
St Paul says in another place, your sanctification. So we must, we just
must, take all the steps that are necessary day by day to achieve this
objective.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Virgin Immaculate, my
Mother, do not abandon me. See
how
my poor heart is filled with tears. I do not want to offend my God! I
already
know, and I trust I shall never forget, that I am worth nothing. My
smallness
and my loneliness weigh upon me so much! But ... I am not alone. You,
Sweet
Lady, and my Father God will never leave me. Faced with the rebellion
of
my flesh and all manner of diabolical arguments against my Faith, I
love
Jesus and I believe - I do Love and do Believe.
(The Forge, no.215)
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Thursday of the Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time II
November 4: St Charles Borromeo, bishop (1538-1584). Born in Italy, he was a doctor in Law, a cardinal and Archbishop of Milan. he was one of the chief agents of the successful conclusion of the Council of Trent and the drafting of the Roman Catechism (so widely used in the succeeding centuries, and praised and used by Cardinal Newman). In his diocese, he zealously applied the spirit of the Council, established Sunday schools, houses for orphans and the poor, and renewed the moral life of the clergy and religious. He established diocesan seminaries, for which he wrote rules that became the model.
Our Lord and sinners (Luke 15: 1-10)
Let us notice in Luke 15: 1-10 who were the ones who were "all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say". They were the sinners and the publicans (those regarded as public sinners). Now, it is the Pharisees who in this text tell us that our Lord "welcomes sinners and eats with them." That is to say, our Lord showed his delight that sinners (i.e., those who knew they were sinners) were with him, in his company. He welcomed as one would do with friends, and dined with them. The sinners could see that our Lord's great holiness was manifest and genuine, and at the same time he, all-holy as he was, loved them and was truly happy to have them with them. They knew they were sinners, and they knew that they were loved and would be helped to extricate themselves from their sins.
That gives us a great
clue as to what we in our turn
ought
strive to be aware of - our sinfulness, our moral failures in respect
to
God and others, and at the same time our Lord's great love and
compassion
for us, if we approach him desiring to repent. Therefore in our prayer
with the aid of this text, let us place ourselves in the company of the
publicans and the sinners, knowing we are sinners, wanting to repent,
and
at the same time knowing that Jesus our Lord loves us. Let us resolve
to
use all the means our Lord gives us to grow in humility and in faith in
his love.
(E.J.Tyler)
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With God's grace, you
have to tackle and carry out
the
impossible, because anybody can do what is possible.
(The Forge, no.216)
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Friday of the Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time II
Spiritual astuteness (Luke 16: 1-8)
People put a lot of time and thought into preparing for the future. Parents go to great lengths to make provision for the education of their children because of its importance for their future. They themselves take well considered steps to make adequate provision for their own retirement.
But how many make provision for what will happen after death? Our Lord tells us the parable in Luke 16: 1-8 of the shrewd and deceitful steward to point out how people who are thinking of their own selfish and very temporal interests can be very astute and successful in achieving their worldly goals. Yet those who have been given the true light to see beyond this world and so prepare for it all too often fall far short of worldly people in astuteness in respect to those goals they know are the true ones.
We must be constantly
bearing in mind what should be
our
true goals in life, and determining with the aid of the grace of the
Holy
Spirit and the light of the Church's teaching the means to attain them.
It comes down to following daily in the footsteps of Christ, putting on
his mind, taking up our cross and following in the footsteps of the
Master.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Reject your pessimism
and don't allow those around
you
to be pessimistic. God should be served with cheerfulness and
abandonment.
(The Forge, no.217)
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Saturday of the Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time II
Detachment from things, attachment to Jesus (Philippians 4: 10-19)
St Paul makes a remark in today's passage from Philippians (4: 10-19) we ought reflect on: "full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength." That is to say, whatever be our circumstances, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. So we can be confident in the face of circumstances, which is to say confident that God will not allow us to be separated from him and his holy will by them.
Therefore we ought strive to maintain a detachment from everything except our union with Jesus. Our attachment to things should be an attachment to them in Jesus. We love our family in Jesus, and everything else that we should love in this life - all in Jesus. Whether things are good or bad, we ought turn all our circumstances into opportunities to love Christ the more. This is the grace we ought pray for, and the attitude we ought nourish.
For this we can depend
on the grace of the Holy
Spirit.
As we consider the fact that we do love Jesus (if it is the fact that
we
do), and that despite the course of events of life our love for Jesus
has
endured and grown, this consideration itself ought give us confidence
in
the future action of the Holy Spirit in our regard. He will do the
work.
As is written on the tomb of Blessed Mary MacKillop: trust in God.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Get rid of that human
prudence which makes you so
very
cautious, so - sorry to be so blunt! - cowardly. Let us not be
narrow-minded.
Let us not be infantile men or women, who are near-sighted and lack a
supernatural
breadth of vision. Could we be working for ourselves! Of course not!
Well
then, let us say quite fearlessly: Dearest Jesus, we are working for
you.
Are you going to deny us the material means we need? you know full well
how worthless we are; still, I would not treat a servant working for me
in that way. Therefore, we hope and are sure you will give us all we
need
to be able to serve you.
(The Forge, no.218)
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Thirty second Sunday of ordinary time C
Holiness of all in the Christian family (Luke 20: 27-38)
The question the Pharisees put to our Lord in the Luke 20: 27-38 called into question the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Our Lord’s reference to “those judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection of the dead” ought remind every family to make heaven their common goal. In the Old Testament book of Maccabees we read (2 Maccabees 7: 1-14) how a whole family, mother and her seven sons, suffered martyrdom rather than violate any of God’s commandments. What a family that was! A family of martyrs, all putting God absolutely first before all else. Heaven was their common goal.
There are saints who were married, and whose spouses were not saints. There have been individual parents who are saints and who have had among their children a saint. There have been child saints. St Maria Gorretti was one, not even a teenager. There have been teenage saints, such as St Stanislaus Kostka. There are some married couples who have been beatified and canonized. The pope has said he would love to canonize more married couples.
But what of the idea of not only both parents being saints, but all the children too? What of the ideal of the whole family, parents and children, seeking and attaining heroic sanctity sufficient for canonization? This is clearly the ideal of God’s plan and the Church’s teaching, because the Church teaches that every baptised person is called to holiness of life. All members of a Christian family are called to that same holiness together. The Pope would love to canonize a whole family. Whether or not a particular family is canonized, in fact it is the will of God that all members of every family seek sanctity, and seek canonizable sanctity, even if in the providence of God that whole family is not canonized by the Church. All members of the family should seek holiness. The family ought be the training ground for great holiness.
Now, a powerful help to gain and then maintain the very desire for union with God and personal holiness here on earth is the very thought of heaven. Heaven - what our Lord refers to in the Gospel. How will we as a family get to heaven, and a high place in heaven? By seeking that holiness that comes from the love and service of our Lord. This should be the goal of every married Christian couple, and it should be the goal that they have for all their children. But how many families have this as the stated, commonly understood goal of the family, spoken of and agreed to? Every family has a model of family holiness, holiness lived by all in the family. That model is the Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The prize is heaven with God.
Companies and various corporations have commonly agreed goals. I invite you to put real thought into how you could make holiness and the generous love of God the commonly understood goal of your whole family. Start with the thought of heaven as the goal for all in the family, and make the Holy Family the daily inspiration for all. Resolve together as a family to do God’s will every day, at home, or wherever you are, at school, at work, in the parish, wherever. Seek to please God as a family, whatever the cost. There is no reason why that cannot be the great and agreed goal of the family, rather than just a private hope of one or two in it.
Every married
couple, every member of every
family,
ought take to heart the vocation common to all, which is personal
holiness.
The Christian family is a domestic Church. It should therefore be the
home
of Christian holiness, where all learn to know, love and serve God here
on earth with their whole mind, heart, soul and strength. Let us
resolve
to make that the family’s goal, with heaven the common prize, and the
Holy
Family the constant inspiration and model. The whole family is
called
to holiness.
(E.J.Tyler)
Further Reading:
The Catechism of the
Catholic
Church, no.1621-1654
A second reflection on the Gospel of the thirty second Sunday
of Ordinary Time C
Scripture today: 2 Maccabees
7:1-2.9-14; Psalm 16; 2
Thessal 2:16-3:5; Luke 20:27-38
Our Gospel scene today (Luke 20:27-38) opens up with the Saducees putting to our Lord an objection
to the doctrine of the resurrection. They maintained that there was no
resurrection, and our Lord proceeds to teach that there is in fact a
wonderful resurrection. I invite you to think of what a difference this
doctrine should make to our lives. In the history of man and his
religions, I think we can say that most have believed that there is
some kind of afterlife, shown, for instance in their prayer to and
worship of their ancestors. But in many religions the afterlife has not
had much significance, and certainly very few have imagined anything
like the extraordinary happiness which God has planned for us after we
die, provided we obey him and provided we are reconciled to him at our
death. The reason why man had no idea of this is that he had no idea of
how much God loves him and, on the basis of this, how important it is
that we love God. As St Paul says, eye has not seen nor ear heard all
that God has in mind for those who love him. Heaven will be just that,
knowing at first hand and seeing and experiencing directly, the
boundless love of God for us.
In heaven we shall see God face to face, the great, infinite God
who is boundless power, kindness, tenderness, and mercy. He is
almighty, but as St Thomas Aquinas taught, his might and his power are
shown in his mercy. His beauty is unlimited, as is his wisdom and
goodness. In fact everything about God is boundless. When we think of
what God has revealed of himself and of what he is like, it is not hard
to understand why for ever and for ever we shall be utterly happy in
his presence, without a trace of unhappiness or dissatisfaction. We
have no experience of the degree of happiness which will be the eternal
lot of those who are saved. So, what a tragedy it would be to lose
one’s soul. And eventually all of this happiness will be experienced
also in our very bodies. I say “eventually” because as every Catholic
knows we are reunited with our bodies at the last day, on the day of
the general judgment when this world as we know it comes to an end and
is renewed in glory together with us. All will then be caught up in the
glory that will come from God.
The point is that we should live in the light of this great
fact, the fact of our true future. Many think and act as if this world
is all that there is to live for. We should live for this world in the
sense that the duties that spring from our life in this world should be
fulfilled extremely well. But our motive for dedicating ourselves to
the building up of this world should be the thought of the world to
come. The fact is that every bit of good we do here on earth will
receive its reward in the world to come, unless we neutralise our
efforts by choosing to do evil instead. Think of the mother and father
raising a large family for love of Jesus, at great cost and suffering
and depriving themselves of many things they could have had otherwise.
They will have their reward in the afterlife, and, indeed, our Lord
says that they will have it even here too. But it is this afterlife,
our life in heaven with God which the Gospel invites us to think
of today. The person who in his daily work in the office, at his trade,
at his or her studies, at home, or if he is out of work then serving
God in some other way such as in the parish and for the Church, works
such that God will be glorified and honoured, that person will have his
reward.
We should think of heaven often with great expectation. We were made by
God to serve and love him here on earth so as to see and enjoy him for
ever in heaven. Heaven is our true goal, our true homeland. God has
given us a longing to be with him in heaven where every tear will be
wiped away, where we shall be with all those who are saved for ever and
for ever. We all have something wonderful to live for: it is heaven.
This should also be a reason to engage in the apostolate of bringing
the faith and the knowledge of these things to those who do not know
them. There are many in the life of the Church and in different
movements and organisations who are endeavouring to do this. What a
tragedy, a catastrophe, for someone to lose their soul. And what a
tragedy if through indolence and inactivity, we ourselves have some
responsibility for this loss. So then, Heaven! Heaven!
(E.J.Tyler)
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An act of faith:
Nothing can prevail against God.
Nothing
can prevail against God’s people. Don’t forget it.
(The Forge, no.219)
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Monday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
Fulfilment of our responsibilities (Luke 17: 1-6)
I remember watching on television an interview with the actor Charlton Heston. He believed that one of the most serious deficiencies of people these days is a lack of a sense of responsibility.
Whatever about that as a general judgment it is obvious that we ought strive to gain a lively sense of what we are responsible for, and a determination to meet those responsibilities. There are tasks in life laid on each of us, and the welfare of many is dependent on doing all we can to fulfill them. There will be consequences for those people and for ourselves if we do not meet those responsibilities. Our Lord gives us two examples in Luke 17: 1-6. We are never to lead astray any of the little ones, and we are to correct the person who is doing something wrong. "It would be better for h im to be thrown into the sea with a millstone put round his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!"
One modern saint (St
Josemaria Escriva) pointed to
the
donkey tied to the water wheel. The donkey's sole task was to go round
and round the water wheel ensuring the water got out to the crops. The
donkey did not see the point of it and its work was simple routine. But
so much depended on that donkey's daily task. We must fulfill our
God-given
responsibilities with love for God and dedication, no matter what might
seem to be its routine and its pointlessness. Thus will our work be
sanctified,
and we and others will be sanctified.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Don't lose heart. Carry
on! Carry on with that holy
stubbornness
which in spiritual terms is called perseverance.
(The Forge, no.220)
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Tuesday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
(November 9) Feast of the dedication of the basilica of St John Lateran
The Lateran basilica
is the cathedral of
Rome.
It was built in the time of Constantine and was consecrated by Pope
Sylvester
in 324. This feast became a universal celebration in honour of the
basilica
called "the mother and mistress of all the churches of rome and the
world"
as a sign of love for and union with the See of Peter.
Significance of the cathedral of the see of Rome
Today we celebrate the
dedication of the basilica of
St
John Lateran. Two things immediately occur to us.
Firstly, this cathedral church is of significance for
the entire Catholic Church because it is the cathedral from which the
successor
of Peter exercises his ministry. It is because he is the bishop of Rome
that he has universal jurisdiction and teaching authority, because the
bishop of Rome is the successor of St Peter. In and through his
ministry,
Christ ministers to his faithful. So in celebrating the dedication of
this
cathedral we renew our acceptance and appreciation of the apostolic,
the
hierarchical, and the Petrine constitution of the Church that Christ
founded.
But we also think of the ministry of sacrament and word which is carried on in this cathedral, and in every cathedral and Catholic church in the world. That is to say, we think of Christ himself giving his own person to us together with a share in his risen life and holiness. This he does in and through the sacraments and the ministry of the word, and the cathedral is the locus and symbol of this presence and activity of the Lord.
So we celebrate in this
feast day the very life of
the
Catholic Church age after age, including our own. Let us renew our
faith
in Christ and his Church, and resolve to unite ourselves to him in the
Church of which he is the head.
(E.J.Tyler)
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My Lord, you always
come to meet our real needs.
(The Forge, no.221)
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Wednesday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
(November 10)
St Leo the Great,
pope and
doctor of the Church (died 461).
During his pontificate, the Council of Chalcedon (451)
defincd that there is in Christ one divine person and two natures,
divine
and human. It was a confirmation of his Epistola Dogmatica (Tomus) to
the
Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople. He vigorously defended the unity
of
the Church and insisted on the universal role of the successor of St
Peter.
He pushed back the onrush of the barbarians under Attila.
The new evangelization (Titus 3: 1-2)
St Paul tells Titus (Titus 3: 1-2) that he should remind his people "that it is their duty to be obedient to the officials and representatives of the government, to be ready to do good at every opportunity; not to go slandering other people at every opportunity; or picking quarrels, but to be courteous and always polite to all kinds of people." That is to say, they are to live out their Christian faith in Christ, with all its obligations, right there in the midst of the world in which they live, every minute of every day.
It was this sort of directive to the ordinary lay Christian, specifying the duties so inherent in the Christian life, which led eventually to the victory of the Christian faith over the Roman Empire, nearly three centuries later after so much persecution. It was because the humble ordinary lay Christian endeavoured to carry Christ and his teaching to their everyday life of work and family and society that the Faith spread.
This is the key to a
new evangelization of our
postmodern
society and culture. In this sense ours is the age of the laity: each
member
of Christ's faithful must bring his love and message to the world by
bringing
it to the whole of his own everyday life. Thus will the world be
evangelized
from within.
(E.J.Tyler)
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You are not getting
worse. It is just that now you
have
more light to see yourself as you really are. You must avoid even the
lightest
hint of discouragement.
(The Forge, no.222)
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Thursday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
(November 11) St Martin of Tours, bishop (316-397). Born to pagan parents in Hungary, he was first a soldier before he was baptized. He founded a monastery in France and later became Bishop of Tours. He sent missionaries to evangelize the country and to educate the clergy.
Treat others as we would Christ (Philemon vs. 7-20)
Consider St Paul's letter to Philemon, especially verses 7-20. In this brief and very personal letter, a letter concerned with a very particular matter to a particular person, St Paul, we must remember, is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the Holy Spirit speaks to us too as we read this letter. St Paul asks his reader to receive Onesimus as he would receive him, Paul himself.
Now this reminds us of the spirit which ought prevail throughout the Christian community. It is said that the pagans of the early centuries at times remarked of the Christians: how they love one another! There is plenty of evidence in the letters of St Paul that many Christians were not especially noted for their love for one another, but his words in this letter to Philemon remind us all that we should. We should treat others as we would treat Christ - and our Lord regards as being done to him whatever we do to others.
Let us appreciate our
responsibility to bear witness
before
the world to the love of Christ, in the way we treat one another.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Along the road that
leads to personal sanctity we
can
at times get the impression that we are going backwards instead of
forwards,
that we are getting worse instead of better. As long as there is
interior
struggle this pessimistic thought is only an illusion, a deception to
be
rejected as false. Persevere and don't worry. If you fight with
tenacity
you are making progress and are growing in sanctity.
(The Forge, no.223)
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Friday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
(November 12) St Josaphat, bishop and martyr (1580-1623). Born in Ukraine (Russia) of Christian parents, he became a Catholic and a Basilian monk. Chosen bishop, he worked faithfully for the unity of the Church until he was martyred by a mob.
Love and obedience (2 John 4-9)
One of the surprising things about many people with years of life behind them is their contentment with their own moral state, thinking and saying that they are good people who do no harm to anyone. I am thinking in this instance of those who on their own admission have neglected important religious duties.
St John in his second letter insists that we are to love one another. But let us notice that he says "to love is to live according to his (God's) commandments." That is to say, loving God involves obedience to him, no matter what the cost. Obedience to God will nourish a true love for him, and a true love for him will manifest itself in a careful obedience to him. And so part and parcel of a love of God will be a sense of sin, a sense of our own sinfulness and of the ugliness of any disobedience towards God.
Let us ask God to help
us to be determined to love
him
by being obedient to him, and let us fight against sin and thus grow in
love for him.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Interior dryness is not
lukewarmness. When a person
is
lukewarm the waters of grace slide over him without being soaked in. In
contrast, there are dry lands which seem arid but which, with a few
drops
of rain at the right time, yield abundant flowers and delicious fruit.
That is why I ask: When are we going to be convinced? How important it
is to be docile to the divine calls which come at each moment of the
day,
because it is precisely there that God is awaiting us!
(The Forge, no.224)
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Saturday of the thirty second week of ordinary time II
Faith and persistence in prayer (Luke 18: 1-8)
We understandably have considerable respect for people who, as we say, are able to get things done. But there is so much in life that seems to be beyond the control of anyone - except God, of course. This is why those are most special who through their prayers are able to get done so much of what is beyond our control. What is the secret to effective prayer?
Obviously, at root it is humility before God. There must be genuine love for him. But in our Gospel passage for today (Luke 18: 1-8) our Lord mentions two qualities. Firstly in our prayer we must truly believe that God has the power and the goodness to hear us. If this belief is real, we will persist in our prayer despite his apparent delays. Why does God delay? We do not know, but our Lord's teaching is that we ought not give up praying simply because God delays. If we do give up - and generally we do! - it will be due to a lack of faith.
Let us ask our Lord for
the grace of great faith
that
will enable us to pray with persistence, and so by our prayers bring
down
the blessings of God on so much that looks hopeless.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Be clever, spiritually
clever. Don't wait for the
Lord
to send you setbacks; go out to meet them with a spirit of voluntary
atonement.
Then you'll receive them not so much with resignation (an old-sounding
word) as with Love - a word which is forever young.
(The Forge, no.225)
Thirty Third Sunday of ordinary time C
Scripture today:
Malachi 3:
19-20; Psalm 97; 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12;
Luke 21: 5-19
It has been said that one result of the widespread and horrific terrorism of our time is that there is a greater sense of uncertainty and insecurity everywhere. Whether or not that is the case, we ought remember that there is nothing in this life that is ultimately secure, except for God and what he has revealed. Our Lord in today’s Gospel looked on the great Temple of Jerusalem, which at the time was one of the very great buidings of the world, and he said that the time would come when not one stone would be left on another. Everything would be destroyed. For the Jews at the time, that could hardly be imagined. But it certainly happened - a mere generation or so after our Lord. God is our security.
And so we must think of what will finally be permanent, the lasting things we should live for and work for. Life is short, eternity long. Time is short, eternity long, and God has made us for eternity. Every day we speed on towards that day which will last forever. Speed on we must, for we have no choice. Life speeds on, taking us with it whether we like it or no. The question is, where is it all heading, or rather, at what destination are we choosing by our daily choices. It is very wholesome to think of the end, of the last and final things. It is very wise to take stock of our lives and to ask ourselves if our life is really on the right path. Are we on the way to life eternal? So then, as St Ignatius Loyola invites us to ask, What have I done for Christ, what am I doing for him, what will I do for him?
Our Lord in the Gospel warns of disasters, and we think of recent disasters, and he warns of persecutions, and martyrdom (Luke 21: 5-19). But notice that after he spoke of his followers being hated on account of his name, he said, not a hair of your head would be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives. Does not that show that what happens to us physically is only for a brief moment by comparison to eternity. God will raise our bodies forever. By patient endurance we will save our lives for eternity. St Thomas More just before he was beheaded, said, though I lose my head I’ll come to no harm.
Blessed John XXIII, when he was a boy, memorized the words, “Nothing is more certain than death, nothing more strict than the Judgment, nothing more delightful than heave.” And that is exactly what God has revealed, what Christ has taught, and what the Church constantly insists on. St Augustine once wrote that we can’t escape hell simply by not believing in it. We can escape it by believing it, and acting accordingly. St Ignatius of Loyola urged us to meditate on hell so that if love for God doesn’t keep us from going there because of sin, at least fear of hell will. I don’t know whether you have read Lucy’s account of what our Lady revealed of hell at Fatima. It is horrifying. St Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises advises us to picture the souls in hell being burned by their own wickedness, the screams and blasphemies against Christ and the saints, the corrupt stench of sin, the bitter remorse of conscience, the hatred of all that is good and holy, the cursing of God, and the refusal to repent. He wants us to remember that this earthly home God has placed us in for a brief time is the opportunity we have to begin again, to begin again every day, to repent, to turn to god and to ask for his mercy, and set ourselves in the direction for eternity.
In the Gospel of today (Luke 21: 5-19) our Lord tells us that on this earth there will be sufferings, and that nothing is secure. But by bearing all things patiently in the way God wants, and by striving to do his will, every day repenting of our sins, our endurance will win us our lives, our lives for ever in heaven. We are to fear sin, not suffering and death. Sin is the true peril, the true death. Sin separates us from God. Sin brings the ultimate death, whereas mere physical death is the gate to heaven. So today let us take stock, thinking of these last things. Let us keep them before us and order our daily lives accordingly.
(E.J.Tyler)
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Today, for the first
time, you had the feeling that
things
were getting simpler, that everything was “sorting itself out”. At last
you see an end to the problems that were worrying you. And you
understand
that they are more thoroughly and better resolved the more you abandon
yourself into the arms of your Father God. What are you waiting for to
start behaving always as a son of God? This should be the driving force
in your life.
(The Forge, no.226)
Christ the
King (C)
Scripture
today: 2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Psalm
121; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23: 35-43
Today
we have before us the thought of Jesus, King of kings and Lord of
lords, hanging on the cross. There from the cross he invites us to take
our part with Him.
Today, as
sinners in need of
redemption, we recognize Jesus as our King, Jesus who redeemed us on
his cross. And in today’s gospel we have a marvellous model in the Good
Thief. He has popularly been given the name of Dismas. I invite you to
meditate on Dismas turning to Jesus as his King. There Dismas was on
the cross, suffering for his sins. He said to the other criminal that
the two of them deserved what they got. So he was humble. He feared
God. And between them was Jesus who had done nothing wrong, also on the
cross, but suffering unimaginably more than they. He was suffering for
the sins of Dismas himself and for the whole world.
But notice this:
Dismas recognized that Jesus
was the Messiah. And he turned to him as his King. How did he come to
do this? Our Lord said on one occasion, “No one comes to me unless the
Father draws him.” And we remember what our Lord said to Simon Peter on
another occasion: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my
Father in Heaven.” Dismas was led to Jesus by God the Father, who led
him by a grace to which he responded. So he turned to Jesus.
And what a wonderful request this dying criminal then made. He said to him “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He recognized that Jesus, dying on the cross, was the long awaited messiah, the King, who would establish God’s kingdom. And he recognized that this dying Messiah was about to enter his Kingdom! And he also witnessed to the greatness of Jesus in what he said to his fellow criminal. Then turning to Jesus he asked him to remember him when he came into his kingdom. He asked for the gift of salvation from Jesus. We heard the sequel. Jesus said to him, “Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
By contrast, the
other criminal joined in the
abuse of Jesus. Dismas rebuked him saying, “Have you no fear of God at
all? You got the same sentence as He did, but we deserved it: we are
paying for what we did.” Lacking a sense of sin and a true fear of God,
the other criminal did not recognize Jesus as the Redeemer, nor did he
ask for salvation. We do not know whether he was saved, but we are
absolutely certain that Dismas was.
Today on
the feast of Christ the King,
let us think of Jesus our King nailed to the cross, winning for each of
us a place in his kingdom. Let us turn to him like Dismas, acknowledge
that we are sinners, and asking him to lead us to holiness and to a
place in his kingdom. Let us daily struggle for Jesus against the
world, the flesh and the devil, and reach heaven in company with all
others whom God places in our way. Let us make Jesus our absolute
King.
(E.J.Tyler)
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