Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
30 August
2015
“But I say: Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil
the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh...” Gal. 5:16-7
In today’s liturgy, we are given passages
from the scriptures which remind us of the great struggle we have in life
between the flesh and the spirit. In the
Epistle (Gal. 5:16-24), St. Paul tells us that those who give into bodily desires will suffer
the slavery of sin: “Now the works of flesh are manifest, which are immorality,
uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions,
jealousies, anger, quarrels, factions, parties, envies, murders, drunkenness,
carousing, and suchlike.” Gal. 5:19-21 But those who live according to
the spirit and aim at adorning the soul will enjoy the fruits of the Holy
Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faith, modesty and continency.” Gal. 5:22 In today’s Gospel (Mt. 6: 24-33, part of the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters: “No
man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mt. 6:24 These two masters, “God and mammon,” are the
same as the ‘spirit’ and the ‘flesh’; they represent the basic struggle which all men have in life. As
man is made up of body and soul, and as the body knows through the senses
and the soul through the mind, there “arises in each person a double source of
knowledge or appetite, that of the body and its passions which desire that good
from the senses, and that of the soul, which wills the good known to the mind.”
(The
Preacher’s Encyclopedia, p. 106)
Both the Epistle and the Gospel give us the only resolution possible for
those who follow Christ. St. Paul tells
us: “And they who belong to Christ have
crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal. 5:24 Jesus tells us not to worry about the desires
of the body but seek the things of God: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his
justice, and all these things will be given you besides.” Mt. 6: 33
Joys
of the Spirit
For those who live by the Spirit, there are the special joys of
the spiritual life which only the Holy Spirit gives to His beloved spouses. Dom
Prosper Gueranger in his book, The Liturgical Life Vol. 13, comments
on how the Spirit fills His bride with His spiritual fruits: “The
bride, who came from the top of Sanir and Hermon that she might be crowned (cf.
Cant. 4:8), knows not the servitude of Sinai (cf. Gal. 4:24-6), still less is
she under the slavery of the senses. On
the mountain, where her tent is fixed for ever (cf. Is. 2:2), her Spouse, has
broken the fetters of the Jewish Law, and that more galling chain which tied
all people down—the network of sin that covered all the nations of the earth
(cf. Is. 25:7). She the bride is queen;
her sons kings (cf. I Pt. 2:9), the milk whereon she feeds them (cf. Is. 66:
8-12) infuses liberty within them (cf. Gal. 4:31). Filled with the holy Spirit, who is their
glory and their strength (cf. Rom. 8:14, 26),
they have the Lord of hosts looking on them, as they bravely engage in
battles such as princes should fight (cf. Eph. 4:8, 6:12). Satan, too, has beheld their glorious
struggles, and his kingdom has been shaken to its foundation (cf. Jn.
12:31). Two Cities now divide the world
between them (St. Augustine, De Civitate
Dei); and the holy city, made up of vanquishers over the devil, the world
and the flesh, is full of admiration and joy at seeing that the noblest of the
nations flock to her (cf. Is. 60:5). The
law which reigns supreme within her walls is love, for the holy Spirit, who
rules her happy citizens, takes them far beyond the injunctions or prohibitions
of any law. Together with charity, there spring up joy, peace, and those other
fruits, here enumerated by the apostle (cf. Gal. 5:22); they grow spontaneously
from a soil which is saturated with the glad waters (cf. Ps. 64:11) of a
stream, which is no other than sanctifying Spirit, who inundates the city of
God” (cf. Ps. 45:5). Gueranger, p. 329-30.
“Born of the Spirit, they are Spirit”
Dom Gueranger continues with the
true liberty of the spiritual souls: “Flesh and blood have had no share in their
divine birth (cf. Jn. 1:12). Their first
birth being in the flesh, they were flesh, and did the works of death and
ignominy mentioned in the Epistle, showing at every turn that they were from
the slime of the earth (cf. Gen. 2:7); but, born of the Spirit, they are spirit
(cf. Jn. 3:6), and do the works of the spirit, in spite of the flesh which is
always part of their being (cf. II Cor. 10:3). For, by giving them, of His own
life, the Spirit has emancipated them,
by the power of love, from the tyranny
of sin (cf. Rom 8:2) which held dominion over their members (cf. Rom.
7:28); and, having been grafted on Christ, they bring forth fruit unto God (cf.
Rom. 7:4). Gueranger, p. 330-1
Myrrh
of Suffering
Dom Gueranger
reminds us that the joys of the spirit are not possible without suffering. This is why St. Paul reminds us: “And
they who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and
desires.” Gal. 5:24. This is why
Dom Gueranger speaks of the suffering which is offered to the bride by her beloved spouse: “Even when the trials of purification are all over, the place of
meeting is invariably that which the inspired Canticle calls the Mount of myrrh
(cf. Cant. 4:6), which is but another name for suffering. Myrrh is the first
fragrant herb culled by the divine Word
in the mystic garden; nay, it is the only one He expressly mentions. Myrrh distils from the bride’s hands, and her
fingers are full of it (cf. Cant. 5:5); her Spouse is the bouquet she clasps to
her heart, but that bouquet is one of myrrh (cf. Cant. 1:12); and His lips are
as lilies dropping choice myrrh (cf. Cant. 5:18).” Gueranger, p. 335-6 Only those who share in the sufferings of
Christ will share in His glory
“No man can serve two masters.” Mt. 6:24
If we wish to be united with God, as
we have just seen in the Canticle of Canticles, then we need
to serve God alone. If we love the
world, especially money which will bring us this world’s goods in abundance, we
will be serving the world and not God. Dom Gueranger comments on the covetous
man by quoting the Old Testament: “nothing is more wicked than the covetous
man...; there is not a more wicked thing than to love money.” Ecclus. 10:10 Too much solicitude
for this world’s goods shows a want of trust in God. This is what Jesus tells us of when he
says: “Therefore I say to you, do not
be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall
put on. Is not the life a greater thing than the food, and the body than the
clothing. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of much more value than
they.” Mt. 6:25 In order to achieve union with God and the
fruits of the Holy Spirit, even in this life, we need to be detached from everything
in this life which could prevent us from
going to God. “No man can serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God
and mammon.” Mt. 6:24 Those who “have
crucified their flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24) and seek God alone and His kingdom
will be given the fruits of the Holy
Spirit in this life and the kingdom of heaven in the next life: “But
seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be
given you besides.” Mt. 6: 33
How to
attend Holy Mass
“The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the
highest prayer that exists. It is the sacrifice, dedicated by our Redeemer at
the Cross, and repeated every day on the altar.
If you wish to hear Mass, as it should be heard, you must follow with
eye, heart, and mouth all that happens at the altar. Further, you must pray
with the Priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which
Christ says by him. You have to
associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words,
and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens at the altar. When
acting in this way, you have prayed Holy Mass.”
His Holiness, Pope St Pius X
The Five First Saturdays
Our
Lady told Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I
promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for
salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months
go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary
and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries
of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me." If only we would do what Our Lady asks,
we would be assured of eternal salvation.
Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we
keep The
Five
First Saturdays! First Friday, 4 September 2015
Now is a good time to continue (or begin) the devotion to the “Nine First Fridays” of the
Month. The Sacred Heart of Jesus
promised to St. Margaret Mary: "I promise thee in the excessive mercy
of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to
all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months,
the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without
receiving the Sacraments; My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this
last moment." There is no
better way to honour the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus than doing the “Nine First Fridays” every month.
First Saturday,
5 September 2015
Our Lady told
Sr. Lucia in 1925 “…I promise to
assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation,
all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to
confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and
keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of
the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me." If only we would do what Our Lady asks,
we would be assured of eternal salvation.
Our Lady promises us all the graces necessary for our salvation if we
keep The
Five
First Saturdays! Just think that
when you are about to die the Blessed Virgin Mary will be there with
you to help you get to heaven! “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen” How many times have you said these words
in your lifetime?
Mission of the
Immaculate Mediatrix(MIM)
6 December 2014
On the First Saturday of
every month, we will have our monthly formation program for those who
interested in affiliating themselves with the Marian Spirituality of the
Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. The day begins at 9:30 AM and goes until 4
PM and includes two conferences, Holy Mass, adoration and the rosary. (see
flyer on door)
This spirituality is Marian and Franciscan
and includes the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maximilian Kolbe and other Franciscan
saints. “The fundamental aim of the MIM
is the fulfilment of God’s plan for the salvation and sanctification of all
souls through the maternal mediation of the Immaculate to the supreme glory of
the Most Holy Trinity.” (Article 2:
Statute)
It is most important at
this time in our world to come together and learn about Our Lady and her
messages especially Fatima. Pope
John Paul II: On November 9, 1976 said
in the USA as Karol Cardinal Wojtyla: “We are now standing in face of the greatest
historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that the wide circles of
American society or the wide circles of
the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation
between the Church and the Anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-gospel.”
We
hope that all of you will consider joining the MIM and work for your own sanctification
and the sanctification of so many souls
who are in danger of being lost for all eternity in hell as Our Lady said at
Fatima.
