Feast of St Peter and Paul

PETER, formerly called Simon, from Bethsaida in Galilee, was a son of Jonas and a brother of Andrew, by whom he was brought to Christ. After the great draught of fishes, when our Lord said to him and Andrew: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, Peter followed the Saviour constantly, from whom he received the most tender proofs of love. Peter was present when Christ appeared in His glory on Mount Thabor, when He raised the daughter of Jairus to life, and when He sweat blood in the agony on Mount Olivet. Peter was also present at the miraculous draught of fishes, which was a figure of the multitudes which he was to bring, by means of the holy Gospel, to the kingdom of God, for Christ called him a fisher of men, and afterwards, because Peter recognized and professed Him to be the Son of the living God, Christ named him Peter, made him the head of the apostles and of the entire Church, made him His vicar and visible representative upon earth, promising to build His Church upon him as upon a rock, gave him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and commanded him to feed His lambs and His sheep. Peter loved our Lord above all things; because of his love he wished to remain with Christ upon Mount Thabor to prevent Him from suffering, and in his love desired to die with Christ. He certainly showed the greatest courage when Christ was taken, following Him even into the house of Caiphas. But alas, the instability of man! There Peter three times denied the Lord. But the look of forgiving love which Jesus cast upon him, forced from him tears of the deepest contrition. He atoned for his denial by suffering much for Christ. Under the Emperor Nero he was crucified for his faith at Rome, and by his own request with his head downwards, because he did not consider himself worthy to die like Christ.

Oh! that all sinners would seek by such penance to turn their evil into good!

Prayer to St Peter

O God, who from a poor fisherman hast made St. Peter prince of the apostles and head of Thy Church, we beseech Thee through his intercession to make us true lambs of Thy flock. Grant, that we may hear his voice, follow his doctrine, and walk in his steps, until we reach that happy pasture where the Good Shepherd, Thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whom St. Peter represented on earth, reigns with Thee and the Holy Ghost forever. Amen.

Sketch of the life of St Paul.

PAUL, before his conversion called Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was born at Tarsus in Cilicia, and was a pupil of Gamaliel. As he had the most zealous attachment for the Jewish law, he was exasperated against the Christians. However, when hastening to Damascus to persecute them, he was converted by the Lord on the way and called to be an apostle. His unwearied labors in the vineyard of the Lord after his conversion, the sufferings which he endured upon his apostolic journeys, and the dangers and persecutions through which he passed in different countries, cannot be described. The zeal and constancy with which he confessed and preached the faith, though in chains and fetters, though scourged and beaten, in hunger and thirst, and through innumerable dangers, are almost incredible. He was so humble that he regarded himself as the least of the apostles, and thanked God fervently that He considered him worthy to suffer for His sake. After he had fought a good fight and finished his course, having everywhere zealously preached the faith, and still more zealously practiced it, he won the crown of justice. On the same day and at the same place in Rome, in which Peter was crucified, he was beheaded, by command of the Emperor Nero. Thus God tries and rewards true virtue. Paul in his life, as after death, worked numberless miracles; even his handkerchief, like St. Peter's shadow, healed sickness and expelled devils. He had so deeply impressed the name of Jesus in his heart, that it was almost continually on his lips, for "out of the fulness of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Would that we loved Jesus as St. Paul loved Him, then we would, like St. Paul, be ready to do and suffer much for Him.

Picture is by Rembreandt: 'St Peter and Paul disputing'

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The Visitation

When the angel announced to me that I should bear a Son, as soon as I consented, I felt something amazing and inexplicable in me, so that greatly wondering, I at once went up to my cousin Elizabeth to console her in her pregnancy and confer with her on what the angel had announced to me. And when she met me at the well, and we enjoyed each other's embrace and kiss, the infant in her womb, by a wonderful and visible motion, rejoiced. And I likewise was then moved in my heart by unwonted exultation, so that my tongue spoke unpremeditated words of God, and my soul could scarce contain itself for joy. And when Elizabeth wondered at the fervor of spirit that spoke in me, and I not otherwise wondered at the grace of God in her, we remained together many days blessing God. And after this a certain thought began to impress my mind, how and how devoutly I should act after so great a favour bestowed on me. What should I reply, if asked how I conceived, or who was the father of the Son I was to bear; or lest perchance Joseph, instigated by the enemy, should suspect me of evil. While thinking of these things, an angel, not unlike the one whom I had seen before, stood by me, saying: "Our God, who is eternal, is with thee and in thee. Fear not then, He will give thee to speak, He will direct thy steps and abode, he will perfect His work with thee powerfully and wisely." But Joseph, to whom I had been confided, when he perceived me to be pregnant, wondering and thinking himself unworthy to dwell with me, was troubled, not knowing what to do, till the angel told him in the sleep: "Depart not from the virgin confided to thee, for it is most true as thou hast heard from her, for she has conceived of the Spirit of God, and shall bear a Son, the Saviour of the world. Therefore, serve her faithfully, and be thou the guardian and witness of her purity." Then from that day Joseph served me as his lady, and I humbled to his lowest labour. After this I was constantly in prayer, rarely wishing to see or be seen, and I most rarely going forth, unless to the appointed feasts; and I was assiduous in the watches and readiness given by our priests. I had a fixed time for manual labour, and I was discreet in fasting as much as my constitution could bear in God's service. Whatever we had over our daily sustenance we gave to the poor, content with what we had. Joseph so served me, that no scurrilous, murmuring, or angry word was heard from him, for he was most patient in poverty, solicitous in labour when it was necessary, most mild to those who reproached, most obedient in my service, a most prompt defender against those who gainsaid my virginity, a most faithful witness of the wonders of God. For he was so dead to the world and the flesh that he never desired aught but heavenly things. And so confident was he in God's promises, that he would constantly exclaim: "Would that I could live to see God's will fulfilled!" Most rarely did he go to gatherings of men and their councils, because his whole desire was to obey the will of God, and therefore is his glory now so great (Lib VI, c.59).

Picture credit: unknown Flemish artist "Visitation". Text from "Revelations of St Bridget on the life and Passion of Our Lord and the Life of His Blessed Mother".

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God is a jealous lover, but in this divine jealousy He is not like the neurotic human being who makes his beloved unhappy by his unlimited demands of attention and service. Divine jealousy is a love that enriches man.

If we were to regard charity as if it were only a purely human love, we might be tempted to think that charity is a love that makes man poor instead of rich. Or we might think that God is a jealous lover who resents the thought or affection that his friends give to anyone or anything else. In one way God is a jealous lover. He wants men to love Him above everything else, even above themselves. But this divine jealousy is not at all like the painful jealousy of the neurotic human being who makes his beloved unhappy by his unlimited demands of attention and service. Human jealousy, when carried to extremes, is a force that impoverishes the object of its affections. The jealous man will rob his wife of her parents, relatives and friends, her children, her work and her hobbies. He wants her to love nothing but himself. But the divine jealousy is a love that enriches man. God asks for man's love through charity not in order to take any good thing away from man but in order to give all good things to man. For through charity man attains God, and in God he finds all good both in this life and in the next. Charity is a share in divine love. But it is the love of God which is the source of all good in this life and in the next. It is love, the divine love, which has created the world and all good things in it. It is God's love which has made man himself and the world in which man is to seek for and find happiness. When a man loves God more than everything else, he finds everything else in God, everything else that can really make him happy.

Picture is by Gustave Dore

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The growth of the man's love for God in this life will start with the avoidance of sin.

WE might say that the growth of man's love for God in this life will start with the avoidance of sin, go on to the pursuit of good and end with the desire of union with God in heaven. The reckless youth who has been living a dissolute life falls in love with a good woman. First of all his love leads him to turn from his former irresponsible way of living. To gain the approval of his loved one he avoids his former dissolute companions. He struggles against his own intemperance. Then he begins to seek a good way of life. He settles down, goes to work, starts to save money. Finally he seeks union with his beloved in marriage. The story on man's love for God will follow the same path. When a man begins to love God, fist he seeks to avoid sin and the insidious power of concupiscence which would separate him from God. Then he begins to cultivate virtue, to work for happiness. Finally he desires to live with God always.
LOVE is also capable of decline. Purely human love can grow less and less until it perishes altogether. When a man begins to think less and less of his wife, to be less thoughtful of her welfare, to do fewer things to make her happy, then his love for her is failing. When he does something evil to her then his love ceases. Charity - man's love for God - can also fail, though not in precisely the same way. Charity will not fail simply because a man thinks less often of God. It will not even fail through venial sin. Venial sin is concerned only with the means that lead to the goal. It does not destroy man's basic tendency to God in charity. But mortal sin destroys charity completely. Charity is the love of God above all things. But in mortal sin man prefers some created things to God. Hence mortal sin drives charity out of the soul of man. In a certain sense venial sin cam lead to the loss of charity. Since all sin is not in accord with the will of God, the venial sinner is gradually disposing his will to give up God. Because he has not followed the will of God in all things, when some crisis arises in his life, he may give up God for some temporary created good.

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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

How should we sanctify the Lord in our hearts?

By practising those virtues which Peter here recommends, and which he so exactly describes; for thereby we become true disciples of Christ, honor Him and edify others, who by our good example are led to admire Christianity, and to become His followers. Moreover, we thus render ourselves more worthy of God's grace and protection, so that if for justice' sake we are persecuted by, wicked men, we need not fear, because God is for us and will reward us with eternal happiness.

GOSPEL (Matt. 5: 20-24)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: Except your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. If therefore, thou bring thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother bath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming, thou shaft offer thy gift.

In what did the justice of the Pharisees consist?

In external works of piety, in the avoidance of such gross vices as could not be concealed, and would have brought them to shame and disgrace. But in their hearts these Pharisees cherished evil, corrupt inclinations and desires, pride, envy, avarice, and studied malice and vengeance. Jesus, therefore, called them hypocrites, whitened sepulchres, and St. John calls them a brood of vipers. True Justice consists not only in external works of piety, that is, devotional works, but especially in a pure, sincere, self?sacrificing feeling towards God and man; without this all works, however good, are only a shell without a kernel.

How are we to understand that which Christ here says of anger and abusive words?

The meaning of Christ's words are:. You have heard that murder was forbidden to your fathers in the desert, and that the murderer had to be given up to justice: but I say to you, whoever becomes angry with his neighbor, shall be in danger of divine judgment, and he who with abusive words, such as Raca, Villain, gives vent to his anger, using expressions of contempt and insult, as fool, scoundrel, profligate, wretch, is more liable to punishment. These degrees of anger are punished in different ways by God.

Is anger always sinful?

No, anger is sinful only when we wish or actually inflict some evil to the body, property, or honor of our neighbor; when we make use of such insulting and abusive words as injure his character, provoke and irritate him. If we become angry at the vices and crimes of others, when our office or the duties of our station demand that we watch over the conduct of those under our care, to punish and correct them, (as in the case of parents, teachers, and superiors) then anger is no sin. When one through pure love of God, becomes irritated at the sins and vices of his fellowmen, like King David, or if one urged to wrong, repels the tempter with indignation, this is even a holy anger. Thus St. Gregory Says; "It is to be understood that anger created by impatience is a very different thing from anger produced by a zeal for justice. The one is caused by vice, the other by virtue." He, then, who becomes angry for justice' sake, commits no sin, but his conduct is holy and praiseworthy, for even our Lord was angry at those who bought and sold in the temple, (John 2: 15) Paul at the magician Elymas, (Acts 13:8) and Peter at the deceit of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5: 3). Anger, then, to be without sin, must proceed from true zeal for God's honor and the salvation of souls, by which we seek to prevent others from sin, and to make them better. Even in this respect, we must be careful to allow our anger no control over our reason, but to use it merely as a means of doing good, for we are often apt to take the sting of anger for holy zeal, when it is really nothing but egotism and ambition.

Why must we first be reconciled with our neighbor before bringing an offering to God, or undertaking any good work?

Because no offering or other good work can be pleasing to God, while we live in enmity, hatred, and strife with our neighbor; for by living thus we act altogether contrary to God's will. This should be remembered by all Christians, who go to confession and holy Communion, without forgiving those who have offended them, and asking pardon of those whom they have injured. These must know that instead of receiving absolution for their sins, they by an invalid confession are guilty of another sin, and eat their own judgment in holy Communion.

How should reconciliation be made with our neighbor?

With promptness, because the apostle says: Let not the sun go down upon your anger (Eph. 4: 26). But if the person you have offended is absent, says St. Augustine, and you cannot easily meet him, you are bound to be reconciled to him interiorly, that is, to humble yourself before God, and ask His forgiveness, making the firm resolution to be reconciled to your enemy as soon as possible. If he is accessible, go to him, and ask his forgiveness; if he has offended you, forgive him from your heart. The reconciliation should be sincere, for God sees into the heart; it should also be permanent, for if it is not lasting, it may be questioned if it was ever sincere. On account of this command of Christ to be reconciled to our enemies before bringing sacrifice, it was the custom in ancient times that the faithful gave. the kiss of peace to one another at the sacrifice of Mass, before Communion, as even to this day do the priests and deacons, by which those who are present, are admonished to love one another with holy love, and to be perfectly reconciled with their enemies, before Communion.

MEANS OF PREVENTING ANGER

The first and most effectual preventive is humility; for as among the proud there are always quarrels and contentions, (Prov. 13: 10) so among the humble reign peace, meekness and patience. To be humble, meek, and patient, we must frequently bring before our minds the example of Christ who did not sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, (1Peter 2: 22) yet suffered great contradictions, many persecutions, scoffs and sneers from sinners, without threatening vengeance to any one for all He suffered; He say's to us in truth: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. 11: 29). A very good preventive of anger is to think over in the morning what causes will be likely to draw us into anger at any time during the day, and to arm ourselves against it by a firm resolution to bear all with patience and silence; and when afterwards anything unpleasant occurs, let us think, "What will I effect by my anger? Can I thereby make things better? Will I not even make myself ridiculous and injure my health?" (for experience as well as holy Scripture teaches, that anger shortens life) (Eccles.30: 26) Finally, the most necessary preventive of anger is fervent prayer to God for the grace of meekness and patience, for although it seems difficult and almost impossible to our nature to be patient, by the grace of God it becomes not only possible, but even easy.

INSTRUCTION ON SACRIFICE
Offer thy gift. (Matt. 5: 24)

In its wider and more universal sense sacrifice comprehends all religious actions by which a rational being; presents himself to God, to be united with Him; and in this sense prayer, praising God, a contrite heart, charity to others, every good work, and observance of God's commandments is a sacrifice. Thus the Holy Scriptures say: Offer up the sacrifice of justice and trust in the Lord. (Ps. 4: 6). Offer to God the sacrifice of praise. (Ps. 49). Sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit; a contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Ps. 1. 19). It is a wholesome sacrifice to take heed to the commandments, and to depart from, all iniquity (Ecclus. 35: 2). "Therefore," says St. Augustine, "every good work which is united in sanctity with God, is a true sacrifice, because it refers to the end of all good, to God, by whom we can be truly happy." As often, then, as you humble yourself in prayer before the majesty of God, when you give yourself up to God, and when you make your will subject to His divine will, you bring a sacrifice to God; as often as you punish your body by continency, and your senses by mortification, you bring a sacrifice to God, because you offer them as instruments of justice; (Rom. 6: 13) as often as you subdue the evil concupiscence of the flesh, the perverted inclinations of your soul, deny yourself any worldly pleasure for the love of God, you bring a sacrifice to God. Such sacrifices you should daily offer to God; without which all others have no value and do not please God, such as these you can make every moment, when you think, speak, and act all for the love, of God.

Strive then, Christian soul, to offer these pleasing sacrifices to God, the supreme Lord, and as you thus glorify Him, so will He one day reward you with unutterable glory.

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In the day of Our Lady we can meditate on her love of God, as she explained it to St Bridget of Sweden.

Early life of the Blessed Virgin

As soon as I understood that there was a God, I was always solicitous and fearful for my salvation and observance. And when I heard more fully that God was, too, my Creator and judge of all my actions, I loved Him intensly, and every hour feared and pondered lest I should offend Him in word or deed. Then when I heard that He had given a law to His people, and His commandments, and wrought so many wonders with them, I firmly resolved in my mind to love naught but Him, and all wordly things became most bitter to me. Hearing after this that this same God was to redeem the world and be born of a virgin, I was filled with such love for her, that I thought of naught but God, wished naught but Him. I withdrew as much as possible from the converse and presence of kindred and friends. All that I could have I gave to the poor, reserving to myself only necessary food and clothing. Nothing pleased me but God. Ever did I long in my heart to live to the time of His birth, if perchance I might be worthy to be unworthy handmaid of the mother of God. I also vowed in my heart to observe virginity if it was pleasing to Him, and to possess nothing in the world. But if God willed otherwise, that His will, not mine, be done; because I believed Him omnipotent and desirous of naught but my good, so that I committed my will absolutely to Him.
As the time approached, when by rule, virgins were presented in the Temple of the Lord, I went up among them in submission to my parents, thinking that nothing was impossible to God. And as He knew that I desired nothing, wished nothing but Himself, He could, if it pleased Him, preserve me in my virginity; if not, His will be done. After hearing all the instructions in the Temple, I returned home, inflamed with still greater love of God, enkindled daily by new fervor and desire of love. I accordingly retired apart from all more than usual, and I was alone night and day fearing most intensly lest tongue should speak or ear hear aught against my God, or eyes see aught delightful. Even in my silence was I timid and most anxious, lest I should be silent when I ought rather to speak. When I was thus troubled in heart alone by myself, and committed all my hope to God, at once it came into my mind to think of God's great power, how the angels and all things created serve Him, and what was His glory, which is ineffable and interminable. For I saw the sun, bot not as it shines in Heaven; I saw light, but not such light as shines in the world. I perceived an odor, not like that of plants or anything of the kind, but most sweet and almost ineffable with which I was all filled, and exulted for joy. Then immediately I heard a voice, but from no human lips. And on hearing it I feared considerably, thinking within myself whether it was an illusion, and forthwith an angel of God appeared before me, like a most beautiful man, but not clothed in flesh, who said to me: "Hail Mary etc". When I heard this, I wondered what this meant, or why he uttered such a salutation; for I knew myself, and deemed myself unworthy of this or of any good. But it is not impossible to God to do whatsoever He willeth. Then the angel said again: "What is born in thee is holy, and shall be called the Son of God ; and as it shall please Him, so shall it be done." Still I deemed myself unworthy, and asked the angel not why or when, but how it should be done, that I, unworthy, should be the Mother of God, not knowing man. And the angel answered me as I said: "Nothing is impossible to God, but whatsoever He willeth shall come to pass, etc." Haring the words of the angel, I felt a most fervent desire to be the Mother of God, and my soul spoke in love: "Here I am, let Thy will be done in me." At this word my Son was instantly conceived in my womb, with unspeakable exultation of my soul and my whole body. And when I had Him in my womb, I bore Him without pain, without any weight or feeling of inconvenience. In all things I humbled myself, knowing that He was almighty whom I bore. And when I brought Him forth, I brought Him forth without pain and sin, as I conceived Him, with such exultation of soul and body, that for exultation my feet did not feel the ground the stood upon. And as He entered all my members with the joy of my whole soul, so with the joy of my whole body, my soul exulting with ineffable joy, He came forth, my virginity untouched. And when I beheld Him and considered His beauty, my soul in joy distilled, as it were, dew, knowing myself unworthy of such a Son. But when I considered the places of the nails in His hands and feet, which according to the prophets, I heard were to be crucified, then my eyes filled with tears and my heart was breaking with sadness. And when my Son gazed into my streaming eyes, He was sorrowful unto death. But when I considered the power of His deity, I was again consoled, knowing that He so willed it, and that so it was expedient, and I conformed my will to His will, and thus my joy was tempered by pain.

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There are many Saints who proved their love of God through examples of heroic virtue. St John of the Cross is one of them. He wrote the most beautiful poems describing soul search for His beloved. It is good to think of him during the month of the Sacred Heart, the beautiful symbol of God's love for us. We will focus today on the period of St John's life that began when he was elected the prior of Discalced friars in Baez. It happened just after Discalced were finally set up as a separate Province. He was the Prior there for two years and after that he was appointed Prior to the Granada foundation of Los Martires. He was far away from his beloved Castile and he felt his isolation deeply. This feeling of isolation was increased after Saint Teresa died the same year. He had reached however, that state of inner freedom when he could truly be himself and not to be forced into a mould of other's making. As Prior and an official in his Order now, he himself had a status that afforded him some dignity, but he refused to be judged by such standards. A high ranking official would be brought to him and be greeted by John just as he was. As he said to one visitor who expressed his surprise, 'After all, I am the son of a weaver'. Later on, his brother Francisco was often with him. Francisco remained what he always was, a poor workman, and John would introduce him with great pride as the greatest treasure he had on earth. To John, earthly rank or attainment did not matter. What did matter was that they were all children of God, and as such, deserving of his respect and love, whatever their rank or lack of it. The Order met for their second Chapter in 1583 and John was reaching the peak of his religious leadership. He was elected 2nd definitor and Vicar Provincial. He completed at that time his major writings, The Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul. From 1585, for the next three years he was almost constantly on the road in his role as Vicar Apostolic, attending chapters, visiting the various foundations, founding new convents and friaries. At one such foundation, that of Cordoba, he nearly lost his life. A stone wall that was being built fell on the cell in which he was working, and the workmen scrabbled frantically to dig him out, fearing he was dead. However, they found him crouched in a corner under a statue of Our Lady that had fallen above him, laughing and saying that it was she who had saved him. To his delight, in 1588 he was appointed prior of the Segovia friary, which meant that he was back in his beloved Castile. A new friary was still being built away from the dampness of the nearby river, so John joined in with the building work. These were to be the last happy moments in his life. He was back in Castile and nearer to his beloved brother who was able to visit him more often. To his brother he revealed an experience he had. Praying before a picture of Christ carrying his cross one day, he heard an inner voice calling his name, and responded inwardly, 'Here I am'. The voice asked him then what reward he would like for all he had done and all he had have suffered. John's response was, 'To suffer and to be looked down upon.' He told this to his brother so that when Francis saw him having trials he would not be distressed, knowing that it was what he desired and that they God's will for him. The time of serious trials was coming for John to prove his love of God and neighbour. God was willing to give him a chance to become a great saint.

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In this life charity is a way to God.

Charity is man's friendship with God based on man's share in the Divine Life, in the happiness of God Himself. But man cannot naturally share in God's own life. Man's participation in the Divine Life is a free supernatural gift which God gives to man. Charity then cannot be  acquired by any purely human effort. It is a gift of God infused in man's soul by God's goodness and generosity. Charity, like the other theological virtues, is a supernatural virtue infused in the will by God Himself. Who can give man a share in the Divine Love except God Himself?

Like all gifts it is measured by the generosity of the giver. God gives charity to men according to His own will.  Since charity is a free gift from God to man, no man can say that his own natural virtues or perfections demand a greater share in God's love than the virtues of other men. As St Paul says, "To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ" (Eph. IV, 7). The degree of charity - the love of friendship for God - depends not on man or his natural virtue but on God's generosity.

But as long as man is in the present world his friendship with God can increase. As long as man has not yet reached that ultimate union with God which is found in the vision of God, he can always approach nearer to God. In this life charity is a way to God. Hence a man's friendship with God can increase. 

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The meaning of true love

Love is one of the words that is most widely preached and mentioned these days; at the same time, it is the word that is mostly misunderstood. Every preacher today shout love as the climax of God's expectation from us. What then does it take to love God? By giving us love as the summary of all the commandments, what does God expect from us? Jesus said: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as your self. On these two commandments hang the whole law, and the prophets too” (Matt. 22:37-40). An important lesson here is that love of God is the key that opens the door for all the graces needed to attain perfection. We must always bear this in mind: the amount of love that one has for someone or something is measured by the amount of sacrifice he offers for what he loved. And a pure sacrifice as we know is always painful to the flesh. Jesus gave us the guide line to understand this fact clearly:- “for God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but may have life everlasting” (Jn.3:16.) God gave His Son who is co-equal with Him in glory to come and share in our nature: eat, drink and work as we do so as to confer merit to all aspects of our life. When Jesus was about to accomplish this work fully, at the Gethsemane garden, He saw all He was about to suffer for poor mortals: insults, rejection, condemnation, hatred, denial, abandonment, scourging, crowning with thorns, carrying the cross and crucifixion. At the same time, He saw all the ingratitude and neglect with which we are to pay Him for the love He has shown to us; He sweated blood. Nevertheless, because of the love He has for His Father and His beloved ones, He accepted to suffer for poor ungrateful mortals so as to recover His Father's heritage: “that the world will know that I love the Father” (Jn. 14:31)

IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS
We cannot say that we love God, if we are not very fearful to the things that offend Him (cf. 1Jn. 5:3). Jesus stated it clearly: “whoever holds to My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me, and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father. Anyone who does not love Me, does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not My own: it is the word of the Father who sent Me” (Jn. 14:21-24). We know that it cost much sacrifices to keep Gods commandments, those things we sacrifice in order to obey Him are the signs of our love for Him; they are the measure of the depth of the love we have for Him. Even if a superior or the public authority issue a command contrary to God's commandments; we are called to say with St. Peter: “We must obey God rather than man” (cf. Acts 4:19).

The Holy Scriptures say: “yes, naturally stupid are all who are unaware of God, and who, from good things seen, have not been able to discover Him, Who is or by studying the works, have not recognized the Artificer. If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken these for gods, let them know how much the master of these excels them, since He was the very source of beauty that created them” (Wis.13:1-5 ). Indeed, miserable fools are those who embraces the good things of this world; and forget to ponder how infinitely good is the one who created them, and the more perfect reward He promised to those who loved Him in this world (cf. 1 Jn.3:2, Jn.14:2-3). All the good things and pleasures that we see in this world: riches, positions of authority, honours, foods and drinks, pleasures of the flesh etc. were created by God with the word of His mouth; He allowed His servant, Solomon to taste all these pleasures to the best of his ability, and he finally gave us a lesson that they are all vanities, and futility, chasing after the wind (cf.Eccl.2). Meanwhile, God allows us to be tested with these things so that we may wisely chose Him, who is the source of infinite goodness and joy; the real happiness that last forever. That is why keeping Gods commandments demands contempt of the world, mortification of the flesh, love of poverty, love of the cross etc. with these weapons, we can fight to contempt all that the world will offer in opposition to Gods commandments.

Here Are The Ten Commandments As Explained By The Holy Roman Catholic Church

I. I AM the Lord thy God: Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.
COMMANDS: faith, hope, love, and worship of God, reverence for Holy things; prayer.
FORBIDS: idolatry, superstition, spiritism, tempting God, sacrilege, attendance at false worship

ii. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
COMMANDS: reverence in speaking about God and holy things; the keeping of oaths and vows.
FORBIDS: blasphemy, the irreverent use of God's name, speaking disrespectfully of holy things, false oaths and breaking of vows

iii. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
COMMANDS: going to Church on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and abstaining from servile work.
FORBIDS: Missing Sunday Mass through one's own fault, unnecessary servile work, public buying and selling; court trials.

iv. Honour thy father and mother
COMMANDS: Love, respect, obedience on the part of children; care on the part of parents for the spiritual and temporal welfare of their children; obedience to civil and religious superiors.
FORBIDS: hatred of parents and superiors; disrespect, disobedience

v. Thou shall not kill
COMMANDS: safeguarding of one's own life and bodily welfare and that of others
FORBIDS: unjust killing, suicide, abortion, sterilization, dueling, endangering life of self or others

vi. Thou shall not commit adultery
COMMANDS: Chastity in thought, word and deed.
FORBIDS: obscene speech, impure actions alone or with others

vii. Thou shall not steal
COMMANDS: respect for the property and rights of others; the paying of just debts; paying just wages to employees; integrity in public officials.
FORBIDS: theft; damage to the property of others; not returning found or borrowed articles; giving unjust measure or weight in selling; not paying just wages; bribery; graft; cheating; fraud; accepting stolen property; not giving an honest day's work for wages received; violation of contract.

viii. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour
COMMANDS: truthfulness, respect for the good name of others; the observance of secrecy when required.
FORBIDS: lying, injury to the good name of others, slander, talebearing, rash judgment, contemptuous speech, and the violation of secrecy.

ix. Thou shall not covet thy neighbours wife
COMMANDS: Purity in thought.
FORBIDS: willful impure thoughts and desires

x. Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's goods.
COMMANDS: respect for the right of others.
FORBIDS: the desire to take, to keep, or to damage the property of other

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LENTEN DEVOTIONS

"Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning. And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil. Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly" (Joel 2:12-15).

"We beg you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled with God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Stations of the Cross - St Alphonsus Liquori
Stations of the Cross - St Francis of Assisi
Stations of the Cross with Carmelite Saints
Pictorial Stations of the Cross
Sacrament of Penance
Guide to examination of Conscience
Sample of Confession
Lent with Our Lady - collection of Marian meditations for Lent

St John Mary Vianney - The Little Catechism of Cure of Ars - Exhortations and Explanations

St John-Mary Vianney, 'Catechism on prayer'

Optional
Lent video collection Read whole post......

St John Vianney, the Cure of Ars "The Little Catechism - Exhortations and Explanations"

For Lenten spiritual reading the Cure of Ars gives us his excellent explanations and exhortations on temptation, sin, last judgment and seven deadly sins - after "The little catechism of the Cure of Ars - from TAN books.

10. ON ANGER

Anger is an emotion of the soul, which leads us violently to repel whatever hurts or displeases us.

This emotion, my children, comes from the devil: it shows that we are in his hands; that he is the master of our heart; that he holds all the strings of it, and makes us dance as he pleases. See, a person who puts himself in a passion is like a puppet; he knows neither what he says, nor what he does; the devil guides him entirely. He strikes right and left; his hair stands up like the bristles of a hedgehog; his eyes start out of his head - he is a scorpion, a furious lion....Why do we, my children, put ourselves into such a state? It is, mind, because we do not love the good God. Our heart is given up to the demon of pride, who is angry when he thinks himself despised; to the demon of avarice, who is irritated when he suffers any loss; to the demon of luxury, who is indignant when his pleasures are interfered with....How unhappy we are, my children, thus to be the sport of demons? They do whatever they please with us; they suggest to us evil-speaking, calumny, hatred, venegeance: they even drive us so far as to put our neighbour to death. See, Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy; Saul wished to take away the life of David; Theodosius caused the massacre of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, to revenge a personal affront....If we do not put our neighbour to death, we are angry with him, we curse him, we give him to the devil, we wish for his death, we wish for our own. In our fury, we blaspheme the holy Name of God, we accuse His Providence...What fury, what impiety! And what is still more deplorable, my children, we are carried to these excesses for a trifle, for a word, for the least injustice! Where is our faith! Where is our reason? We say in excuse another sin. The good God equally condemns anger, and the excesses that are its consequences....How we sadden our guardian angel! He is always there at our side to send us good thought, and he sees us do nothing but evil...If we did like St Remigius, we should never be angry. See, this saint, being questioned by a Father of the desert how he managed to be always in an even temper, replied, "I often consider that my guardian angel is always by my side, who assists me in all my needs, who tells me what I ought to do and what I ought to say, and who writes down, after each of my actions, the way in which I have done it." Philip II, king of Spain, having passed several hours of the night in writing a long letter to the Pope, gave it to his secretary to fold up and seal. He, being half asleep, made a mistake; when he meant to put sand on the letter, he took the ink bottle and covered all the paper with ink. While he was ashamed and inconsolable, the king said, quite calmly, "No very great harm is done; there is another sheet of paper"; and he took it, and employed the rest of the night in writing a second letter, without the least displeasure with his secretary.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - "The seven deadly sins or vices - anger"

9. ON GLUTTONY
Gluttony is an unordinate love of eating and drinking.

We are gluttonous, my children, when we take food in excess, more than is required for the support of our poor body; when we drink beyond what is necessary, so as even to lose our senses and our reason....Oh, how shameful is this vice! How it degrades us! See, it puts us below the brutes: the animals never drink more than to satisfy their thirst: they content themselves with eating enough; and we, when we have satisfied our appetite, when our body can bear no more, we still have recourse to all sorts of little delicacies; we take wine and liquors to repletion! Is it not pitiful? We can no longer keep upon our legs; we fall, we roll into the ditch and into the mud, we become the laughing stock of everyone, even the sport of little children...If death were to surprise us in this state, my children, we should not have time to recollect ourselves; we should fall in that state into the hands of the good God. What a misfortune, my children! How would our soul be surprised! How would it be astonished! We should shudder with horror at seeing the lost who are in Hell....Do not let us be led by our appetite; we shall ruin our health, we shall lose our soul....See, my children, intemperance and debauchery are the support of doctors; that let them live, and gives them a great deal of practice...We hear every day, such a one was drunk, and falling down he broke his leg; another, passing a river on a plank, fell into the water and was drowned....Intemperance and drunkenness are the companions of the wicked rich man....A moment of pleasure in this world will cost us very dear in the other. There they will be tormented by a raging hunger and a devouring thirst; they will not even have a drop of water to refresh themselves; their tongue and their body will be consumed by the flames for a whole eternity....
O my children! we do not think about it; and yet that will not fail to happen to some amongst us, perhaps even before the end of the year! St Paul said that those who give themselves to excess in eating and drinking shall not possess the kingdom of God. Let us reflect on these words! Look at the saints; they pass their life in penance, and we would pass ours in the midst of enjoyments and pleasures. St Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, fasted all Advent, and also from St John Baptist's day to the Assumption. Soon after, she began another Lent, which lasted till the feast of St Michael. She lived upon bread and water only on Fridays and Saturdays, and on the vigils of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin and of the Apostles. They say that St Bernard drank oil for wine. St Isidore never ate without shedding tears! If we were good Christians, we should do as the saints have done. We should gain a great deal for Heaven at our meals; we should deprive ourselves of many little things which, without being hurtful to our body, would be very pleasing to the good God; but we choose rather to satisfy our taste than to please God; we drown, we stifle our soul in wine and food. My children, God will not say to us at the Day of Judgment, "Give Me an account of thy body"; but, "Give Me an account of thy soul; what hast thou done with it?"...What shall we answer Him? Do we take as much care of our soul as of our body? O my children! Let us no longer live for pleasures of eating; let us live as the saints have done; let us mortify ourselves as they were mortified. The saints never indulged themselves in the pleasures of good cheer. Their pleasure was to feed on Jesus Christ! Let us follow their footsteps on this earth, and we shall gain the crown which they have in Heaven.

Picture by Pieter Bruegel the Elder - "The seven deadly sins or vices - gluttony"

8. ON ENVY

Envy is a sadness which we feel on account of the good that happens to our neighbour.

Envy, my children, follows pride; whoever is envious is proud. See, envy comes to us from Hell; the devils having sinned through pride, sinned also through envy, envying our glory, our happiness. Why do we envy the happiness and the good of others? Because we are proud; we should like to be the sole possessors of talents, riches, of the esteem and love of all the world! We hate our equals, because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear that they may equal us,; our superiors, because they are above us. In the same way, my children, that the devil after fis fall felt, and still feels, extreme anger at seeing us the heirs of the glory of the good God, so the envious man feels sadness at seeing the spiritual and temporal prosperity of his neighbour . We walk, my children, in the footsteps of the devil; like him, we are vexed at good, and rejoice at evil. If our neighbour loses anything, if he is unfortunate, we are joyful...we triumph! The devil, too, is full of joy and triumph when we fall, when he can make us fall as low as himself. What does he gain by it? Nothing. Shall we be richer, becasue our neighbour is poorer? Nothing. Shall we be greater, because he is less? Shall we be happier, because he is more unhappy? O my children! how much we are to be pitied for being like this! St Cyprian said that other evils had limits, but that envy had none. In fact, my children, the envious man invents all sorts of wickedness; he has recourse to evil speaking, to calumny, to cunning, in order to blacken his neighbour; he repeats what he knows, and what he does not know he invents, he exaggerates.
Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world; and also through envy we kill our neighbour; by dint of malice, of falsehood, we make him lose his reputation, his place....Good Christian, my children, do not do so; they envy no one; they love their neighbour; they rejoice at the good that happens to him, and they weep with him if any misfortune comes upon him.How happy should we be if we were good Christians. Ah! my children, let us, then be good Christians and we shall no more envy the good fortune of our neighbour; we shall never speak evil of him; we shall enjoy a sweet peace; our soul will be calm, we shall find paradise on earth.

Picture as previously drawn by Pieter Bruegel the Elder "The seven deadly sin or vices - Envy".

7. ON LUST
Lust is the love of the pleasures that are contrary to purity.

No sins, my children, ruin and destroy a soul so quickly as this shameful sin; it snatches us out of the hands of the good God and hurls us like a stone into an abyss of mire and corruption. Once plunged in this mire we cannot get out, we make a deeper hole in it every day, we sink lower and lower. Then we lose the faith, we laugh at the truth of religion, we no longer see Heaven, we do not fear Hell. O my children! how much are they to be pitied who give way to this passion! How wretched they are! Their soul, which was so beautiful, which attracted the eyes of the good God, over which He leant as one leans over a perfumed rose, has become like a rotten carcass, of which the pestilential odor rises even to His throne. ...
See, my children! Jesus Christ endured patiently, among His Apostles, men who were proud, ambitious, greedy - even one who betrayed Him; but He could not bear the least stain of impurity in any of them; it is of all vices that which He has most in abhorrence: "My Spirit does not dwell in you," the Lord says, "if you are nothing but flesh and corruption." God gives up the impure to all wicked inclinations of his heart. He lets him wallow, like the vile swine, in the mire, and does not even let him smell its offensive exhalations....The immodest man is odious to everyone, and is not aware of it. God has set the mark of ignominy on his forehead and he is not ashamed; he has a face of brass and a heart of bronze; it is in vain you talk to him of honour, of virtue; he is full of arrogance and pride. The eternal truths, death, judgment, Paradise, Hell - nothing terrifies him, nothing can move him. So, my children, of all sins, that of impurity is the most difficult to eradicate. Other sins forge for us chains of iron, but this one makes them of bull's hide, which can be neither broken nor rent; it is a fire, a furnace, which consumes even the most advanced old age. See those two infamous old men who attempted the purity of the chaste Susannah; they had kept the fire of their youth even till they were decrepit. When the body is worn out with debauchery, when they can no longer satisfy their passions, they supply the place of it, oh, shame! by infamous desires and memories.
With one foot in the grave, they still speak the language of passion, till their last breath; they die as they have lived, impenitent; for what penance can be done by the impure, what sacrifice can be imposed on himself at his death, who during his life has always given way to his passions? Can one at the last moment expect a good confession, a good Communion, from him who has concealed on of these shameful sins, perhaps, from his earliest youth - who has heaped sacrilege on sacrilege? Will the tongue, which has been silent up to thhis day, be unloosed at the last moment? No, no, my children; God has abandoned him; many sheets of lead already weigh upon him; he will add another, and it will be the last....

Picture credit: Pieter Bruegel the Elder "The seven deadly sin or vices - Lechery"

6. ON AVARICE
Avarice is an unordinate love of the goods of this world.


Yes, my children, an ill-regulated love, a fatal love, which makes us forget the good God, prayer, the sacraments, that we may love the goods of this world - gold and silver and lands. The avaricious man is like a pig, which seeks its food in the mud, without caring where it comes from. Stooping towards the earth, he thinks of nothing but the earth, he no longer looks towards Heaven, his happiness is no longer there. The avaricious man does no good till after his death. See, how greedily he gathers his wealth, how anxiously he keeps it, how afflicted he is if he looses it. In the midst of riches, he does not enjoy them; he is, as it were, plunged in a river, and is dying of thirst; lying on a heap of corn, he is dying of hunger; he has everything, my children, and dares not touch anything; his gold is a sacred thing to him, he makes it his divinity, he adores it...
O my children! how many there are in these days who are idolators! how many there are who think more of making a fortune than of serving the good God! They steal, they defraud, they go to law with their neighbour; they do not even respect the laws of God. They work on Sundays and holydays; nothing comes amiss to their greedy and rapacious hands. Good Christians, my children, do not think of their body, which must end in corruption; they think only of their soul, which is immortal. While they are on the earth, they occupy themselves with their soul alone. So you see how assiduous they are at the Office of the Church, with what fervour they pray before the good God, how they sanctify the Sunday, how recollected they are! The days, the months, the years are nothing to them; they pass them in loving the good God, with their eyes fixed on their eternity....
Seeing us so indifferent to our salvation, and so occupied in gathering up a little mud, would not anyone say that we were never to die? Indeed, my children, we are like people who , during the summer, should make an ample provision of gourds, of melons, for a long journey; after the winter, what would remain of it? Nothing. In the same way, my children, what remains to the avaricious man of all his wealth when death comes upon him unawares? A poor covering, a few planks, and the despair of not being able to carry his gold away with him. Misers generally die in this sort of despair, and pay eternally to the devil for their insatiable thirst for riches. Misers, my children are sometimes punished even in this world. Once St Hilarion, followed by a great number of his disciples, going to visit the monasteries under his rule, came to the abode of an avaricious solitary. On their approach, they found watchers in all parts of the vineyard, who threw stones and clods of earth at them to prevent their touching the grapes. The miser was well punished, for he gathered that year much fewer grapes than usual, and his wine turned into vinegar. Another solitary, named Sabbas, begged him, on the contrary, to come into his vineyard and eat the fruit. St Hilarion blessed it, and sent in to it his religious, to the number of three thousand, who all satisfied their hunger; and twenty days after, the vineyard yielded three hundred measure of wine, instead of the usual quantity of ten. Let us follow the example of sabbas, and be disinterested; the good God will bless us, and after having blessed us in this world, He will also reward us in the other.

5. ON SLOTH
Sloth is a kind of cowardice and disgust, which makes us neglect and omit our duties, rather than do violence to ourselves.


Alas, my children, how many slothful people there are on this earth: how many are cowardly, how many are indolent in the service of the good God. We neglect, we omit our duties of piety, just as easily as we should take a glass of wine. We will not do violence to ourselves; we will not put ourselves to any inconvenience. Everything wearies, everything disgusts the slothful man. Prayers, the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which do so much good to pious souls, are a torture to him. He is weary and dissatisfied in church, at the foot of the altar, in the presence of the good God. At first he feels only dislike and indifference towards everything that is commanded by religion. Soon after, you can no longer speak to him either of Confession or Communion; he has no time to think of those things. O my children! how miserable we are in losing, in this way, the time that we might so usefully employ in gaining Heaven, in preparing ourselves for eternity! How many moments are lost in doing nothing, or in doing wrong, in listening to the suggestions of the devil, in obeying him! Does not that make us tremble? If one of the lost had only a day or an hour to spend for his salvation, to what profit would he turn it! What haste he would make to save soul, to reconcile himself with the good God! And we, my children, who have days and years to think of our salvation, to save our souls - we remain there with our arm crossed, like that man spoken of in the Gospel. We neglect, we lose our souls. When death shall come, what shall we have to present to Our Lord? Ah! my children, hear how the good God threatens the idle: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire." "Take that unprofitable servant, and cast him out into the exterior darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Idleness is the mother of all vices. Look at the idle; they think of nothing but eating, drinking, and sleeping. They are no longer men, but stupid beasts, giving up to all their passions; they drag themselves through the mire like very swine. They are filthy, both within and without. They feed their soul only upon impure thoughts and desires. They never open their mouth but to slander their neighbour, or to speak immodest words. Their eyes, their ears, are open only to criminal objects....O my children! that we may resist idlness, let us imitate the saints. Let us watch continually over ourselves; like them, let us be very zealous in fulfilling all our duties; let the devil never find us doing nothing, lest we should yield to temptation. Let us prepare ourselves for a good death, for eternity. Let us not lose our time in lukewarmness, in negligence, in our habitual infidelities. Death is advancing: tomorrow we must, perhaps, quit our resolutions, our friends. Let us make haste to merit the rewards promised in Paradise to the faithful servant in the Gospel.

4. ON PRIDE
Pride is an untrue opinion of ourselves, an untrue idea of what we are not.


The proud man is always disparaging himself, that people may praise him the more. The more the proud man lower himself, the more he seeks to raise his miserable nothingness. He relates what he has done, and what he has not done, he feeds his imagination with what has been said in praise of him, and seeks by all possible means for more; he is never satisfied with praise. See, my children, if you only show some little displeasure against a man given up to self-love, he gets angry, and accuses you of ignorance or injustice towards him...My children, we are in reality only what we are in the eyes of God, and nothing more. Is it not quite clear and evident that we are nothing more, that we can do nothing, that we are miserable? Can we lose sight of our sins, and cease to humble ourselves? If we were to consider well what we are, humility would be easy to us, and the demon of pride would no longer have any room in our heart. See, our days are like grass - like the grass which now flourishes in the meadows, and will presently be withered; like an ear of corn which is fresh only for a moment, and is parched by the sun. In fact, my children, today we are full of life, full of health; and tomorrow, death will perhaps come to reap us and mow us down, as you reap your corn and mow your meadows...Whatever appears vigorous, whatever shines, whatever is beautiful, is of short duration....The glory of this world, youth, honours, riches, all pass away quickly, as quickly as the flower of grass, as the flower of the field...Let us reflect that so we shall one day be reduced to dust; that we shall be thrown into the fire like dry dust, if we do not fear the good God. Good Christians know this is very well, my children; therefore they do not occupy themselves with their body; they despise the affairs of this world; they consider only their soul and how to unite it to God. Can we be proud in the face of the examples of lowliness, of humiliations, that Our Lord has given, and is still giving us every day? Jesus Christ came upon earth, became incarnate, was born poor, lived in poverty, died on a gibbet, between two thieves....He instituted an admirable Sacrament, in which He communicates Himself to us under the Eucharistic veil; and in this Sacrament He undergoes the most extraordinary humiliations. Residing continually in our tabernacles, He is deserted, misunderstood by ungrateful men; and yet He continues to love us to serve in the Sacrament of the Altar. O my children! what an example of humiliation does the good Jesus give us!
Behold Him on the Cross to which our sins have fastened Him; behold Him: He calls us, and says to us, "Come to Me, and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart.""How well the saints understood this invitation, my children! Therefore, they all sought humiliations and sufferings. After their example, then, let us not be afraid of being humbled and despised. St. John of God (picture on the left), at the beginning of his conversion, counterfeited madness, ran about the streets, and was followed by the populace, who threw stones at him; he always came in covered with mud and with blood. He was shut up as a madman; the most violent remedies were employed to cure him of his pretended illness; and he bore it all in the spirit of penance, and in expiation of his past sins. The good God, my children, does not require of us extraordinary things. He wills that we should be gentle, humble, and modest; then we shall always be pleasing to Him; we shall be like little children; and He will grant us the grace to come to Him and to enjoy the happiness of the saints.

Credits: The upper picture is by Pieter Bruegel the Elder "Seven deadly sins - Pride".

3. ON SIN
Sin is a thought, a word, an action, contrary to the law of God.


"By sin, my children, we rebel against the good God, we despise His justice, we tread under foot His blessings. From being children of God, we become the executioner and assassin of our soul, the offspring of Hell, the horror of Heaven, the murderer of Jesus Christ, the capital enemy of the good God. O my children! if we thought of this, if we reflected on the injury which sin offers to the good God, we should hold it in abhorrence, we should be unable to commit it; but we never think of it, we like to live at our ease, we slumber in sin. If the good God sends us remorse, we quickly stifle it, by thinking that we have done no harm to anybody; that God is good, and that He did not place us on the earth to make us suffer. Indeed, my children, the good God did not place us on the earth to suffer and endure, but to work out our salvation. See, He wills that we should work today and tomorrow; and after that, an eternity of joy, of happiness, awaits us in Heaven. ...O my children! how ungrateful we are! The good God calls us to Himself; He wishes to make us happy forever, and we are deaf to His word, we will not share His happiness; He enjoins us to love Him, and we give our heart to the devil. ...The good God commands all nature as its Master; He makes the winds and the storms obey Him; the angels tremble at His adorable will: man alone dares to resist Him. See, God forbids us that action, that criminal pleasure, that revenge, that injustice; no matter, we are bent upon satisfying ourselves of a moment's pleasure, or give up a sinful habit, or change our life. What are we, then, that we dare thus to resist God? Dust and ashes, which He could not annihilate with a single look....
"By sin, my children, we despise the good God. We renew His Death and Passion; we do as much evil as all the Jews together did, in fastening Him to the Cross. Therefore, my children, if we were to ask those who work without necessity on Sunday: "What are you doing there?" and they were to answer truly, they would say, "We are crucifying the good God." Ask the idle, the gluttonous, the immodest, what they do every day. If they answer you according to what they are really doing, they will say, " We are crucifying the good God.". O my children! it is very ungrateful to offend a God who has never done us any harm; but it is not the height of ingratitude to offend a God, who has done us nothing but good? It is He who created us, watched over us. He holds us in His hands; if He chose, He could cast us into the nothingness out of which He took us. He has given us His Son, to redeem us from the slavery of the devil; He Himself gave Him up to death that He might restore us to life; He has adopted us as His children, and ceases not to lavish His graces upon us. Notwithstanding all this, what use do we make of our mind, of our memory, of our health, of those limbs which He gave us to serve Him with? We employ them, perhaps, in committing crimes. "The good God, my children, has given us eyes to enlighten us, to see Heaven, and we use them to look at criminal and dangerous objects; He has given us a tongue to praise Him, and to express our thoughts, and we make it an instrument of iniquity - we swear, we blaspheme, we speak ill of our neighbour, we slander him; we abuse the supernatural graces, we stifle the salutary remorse by which God would convert us. ...we reject the insiprations of our good guardian angel. We despise good thoughts, we neglect prayer and the Sacraments. What account do we make even of the Word of God? Do we not listen to it with disgust? How miserable we are! How much we are to be pitied! We employ the time that the good God has given us for our salvation, in losing our souls. We make war upon Him with the means He has given us to serve Him; we turn His own gifts against Him! Let us cast our eyes, my children, upon Jesus fastened to the Cross, and let us say to ourselves, "This is what it has cost my Saviour to repair the injury my sins have done to God." A God coming down to the earth to be the victim of our sins! A Dod suffering, a God dying, A God enduring every torment, becasue He has put on the semblance of sin, and has chosen to bear the weight of that Cross, let us conceive once for all the malice of sin, and the abhorrence ikn which we should hold it. ...Let us enter into ourselves, and see hat we ought to do to repair our past sins; let us all together say to Him, from the bottom of our heart, "O Lord, who art here crucified foe us, have mercy upon us! Thou comest down from Heaven to cure souls of sin; cure us, we beseech; cause our souls to be purified by approaching the tribunal of penance; yes, O God! make us look upon sin as the greatest of all evils, and by our zeal in avoiding it, and in repairing those we have had the misfortune to commit, let us one day attain to the happiness of the saints."

Credit: picture is "Sin, Satan and Death" by William Hogarth.

2. ON TEMPTATION


We are all inclined to sin, my children; we are idle, greedy, sensual, given to the pleasures of the flesh. We want to know everything, to learn everything, to see everything; we must watch over our mind, over our heart, and over our senses, for these are the gates by which the devil penetrates. See, he prowls round us incesantly; his only occupation in this world is to seek companions for himself. All our life he will lay snares for us, he will try to make us yield to temptation; we must, on our side, do all we can to defeat and resist him. We can do nothing by ourselves, my children; but we can do everything with the help of the good God; let us pray Him to deliver us from this enemy of our salvation, or to give strength to fight against him. With the Name of Jesus we shall overthrow the demons; we shall put them to flight. With this Name, if they sometimes dare to attack us, our battles will be victories, and our victories will be crowns for Heaven, all brilliant with precious stones.
See, my children, the good God refuses nothing to those who pray to Him from the bottom of their heart. St Teresa, being one day in prayer, and desiring to see the good God, Jesus Christ showed to the eyes of her soul His Divine hands; then, another day, when she was again in prayer, He showed her the whole of His Sacred Humanity. The good God who granted the desire of St Teresa will also grant our prayers. If we ask of Him the grace to resist temptations. He will grant it to us; for He wishes to save us all, he shed His Blood for us all, He died for us all, He is waiting for us all in Heaven. We are two or three hundred [in the Cure of Ars parish] here: shall we all be saved. shall we all go to Heaven? Alas! my children, we know nothing about it; but I tremble when I see so many sould lost in these days.
See, they all fall into Hell as the leaves fall from the trees at the approach of winter. We shall fall like the rest, my children, if we do not avoid them, we do not fight generously, with the help of the good God - if we do not invoke His Name during the strife, like St Anthony in the desert.


This saint having retired into an old sepulcher, the devil came to attack him; he tried at first to terrify him with horrible noise; he even beat him so cruelly that he left him half dead and covered with wounds. "Well", said St Anthony, "here I am, ready to fight again; no, thou shalt not be able to separate me from Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God." The spirits of darkness redoubled their efforts, and uttered frightful cries. St Anthony remained unmoved, becasue he put all his confidence in God. After the example of this saint, my children, let us be always ready for the combat; let us put our confidence in God; let us fast and pray; and the devil will not be able to separate us from Jesus Christ, either in this world or the next.

Credits: first picture is by Lafosse "Temptation of Christ", the second is by Hieronim Bosch "Temptation of St Anthony".

1. ON THE LAST JUDGMENT



Our Catechism tells us, my children, that all men will undergo a particular judgment on the day of their death. No sooner shall we have breathed our last sigh than our soul, without leaving the place where it expired, will be presented before the tribunal of God. Wherever we may die, God is there to exercise His justice. The good God, my children, has measured out our years that He has resolved to leave us on this earth, He has marked out one which shall be our last; one day which we shall not see succeeded by other days; one hour after which there will be for us no more time. What distance is there between that moment and this - the space of an instant. Life, my children, is a smoke, a light vapour; it disappears more quickly than a bird that darts through the air, or a ship that sails on the sea, and leaves no trace of its course!
When shall we die? Alas! Will it be in a year, in a month? Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps today! May not that happen to us which happens to so many others? It may be that at a moment when you are thinking of nothing but amusing yourself, you may be summoned to the judgment of God, like the impious Baltassar. What will then be the astonishment of that soul entering on its eternity? Surprised, bewildered, separated thenceforth from its relations and friends, and, as it were, surrounded with Divine light, it will find in its Creator no longer a merciful Father, but an inflexible Judge. Imagine to yourselves, my children, a soul at its departure from this life. It is going to appear before the tribunal of its Judge, alone with God; there is Heaven on one side, Hell on the other. What object presents itself before it? The picture of ite whole life! All its thoughts, all its words, all its actions, are examined.
This examination will be terrible, my children, becasue nothing is hidden from God. His infinite wisdom knows our most inmost thoughts; it penetrates to the bottom of our hearts, and lays open their innermost folds. In vain sinners avoid the light of day that they may sin more freely; they spare themselves a little sham the eyes of men, but it will be of no advantage to them at the day of judgment; God will make light the darkness under cover of which they thought to sin with impunity. The Holy Ghost, my children, says that we shall be examined on our words, our thoughts, our actions ; we shall be examined on our words, our thoughts, our actions; we shall be examined even on the good we ought to have done, and have not done, on the sins of others of which we have been the cause. Alas! so many thoughts to which we abandon ourselves - to which the mind gives itself up; how many in one day! in a week! in a month! in a year! How many in the whole course of our life! Not one of this infinite number will escape the knowledge of our Judge.
The proud man must give an account of all his thoughts of presumption, of vanity, of ambition; the impure of all his evil thoughts, and of the criminal desires with which he has fed his imagination. Those young people who are increasingly occupied with their dress, who are seeking to please, to distinguish themselves, to attract attention and praise, and who dare not make themselves known in the tribunal of Penance, will they be able still to hide themselves at the day of the judgment of God? No, no! They will appear there such as they have been during their life, before Him who makes known all that is most secret in the heart of man. We shall give an account, my children, of our oaths, of our imprecations, of our curses. God hears our slanders, our calumnies, our free conversations, our worldly and licentious songs; He hears also the discourse of the impious. This is not all, my children; God will also examine our actions. He will bring to light all our unfaithfulness in His service, our forgetfulness of His Commandments, our transgressions of His law, the profanation of His Churches, the attachment to the world, the ill-regulated love of pleasure and of the perishable goods of earth. All, my children, will be unveiled; those thefts, that injustice, that usury, that intemperance, that anger, those disputes, that tyranny, that revenge, those criminal liberties, those abominations that cannot be named without blushes...

Credits: the picture is "Last Judgment" by Hieronymus Bosch

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