THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. MASS. This Sunday's Introit,—which now goes under the name of the Sunday of the widow of Naim, because of the Gospel read on it, gives us a sample of the prayers we should address to our Lord in our necessities. Last Sunday, we heard our Jesus promising to provide for all our wants, on the condition that we would serve him faithfully, by seeking his kingdom. When we present our petitions to him, let us show him the confidence he so well deserves from us; and we shall be graciously heard. INTROIT. Incline thine ear, O Lord, unto me, and hear me save thy servant, O my God, who hopeth in thee: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day. Ps. Give joy to the soul of thy servant: for, to thee, 0 Lord, have I lifted up my soul. Glory, etc. Incline. Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam ad me, et exaudi me: salvum fac servum tuum, Deus meus, sperantem in te: miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad te clamavi tota die. Ps. Lætifica animam servi tui: quia ad te, Domine, animam meam levavi. Gloria Patri. Inclina. The humility wherewith our holy Mother the Church presents her supplications to God, should serve as a model to us. If the Bride herself thus treats with God, what ought not be our sentiments of lowliness, when we appear in the presence of sovereign Majesty? We may well say to this tender Mother of ours, what the Disciples said to Jesus: Teach us how to pray! Let us unite with her in this Collect. Cap. v. et vi. Fratres, Si Spiritu vivimus, Spiritu et ambulemus. Non efficiamur inanis gloriæ cupidi, invicem provocantes, invicem invidentes. Fratres, et si præoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos, qui spirituales estis, hujusmodi instruite in spiritu lenitatis, considerans teipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Nam si quis existimat se aliquid esse, cum nihil sit, ipse se seducit. Opus autem suum probet unusquisque, et sic in semetipso tantum gloriam habebit, et non in altero. Unusquisque enim onus suum portabit. Com Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Galatians. Ch. v. and vi. Brethren: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault, ye, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens: and so ye shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let 1 St. Luke, xi, 1. him, that is instructed in the word, communicate to him, that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he, that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith. municet autem is, qui catechizatur verbo, ei, qui se catechizat, in omnibus bonis. Nolite errare: Deus non irridetur. Quæ enim seminaverit homo, hæc et metet. Quoniam qui seminat in carne sua, de carne et metet corruptionem: qui autem seminat in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam æternam. Bonum autem facientes, non deficiamus: tempore enim suo metemus, non deficientes. Ergo dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Holy Church resumes the lesson of St. Paul, where she left it last Sunday. The Spiritual life, the life produced in our souls by the Holy Spirit, in place of the former life of the flesh,-this is still the subject of the Apostle's teaching. When the flesh has been subdued, we must take care and not suppose that the structure of our perfection is completed. Not only must the combat be kept up after the victory, under penalty of losing all we have won,-but, we must also be on the watch, lest one or other of the heads of the triple concupiscence take advantage of the soul's efforts being elsewhere directed, to raise itself against us, and sting us all the more terribly, because it is left to do just as it pleases. The Apostle warns us, here, of vain-glory, and well he may; for vain-glory is, more than other enemies, always in a menacing attitude, ready to infuse its subtle poison even into acts of humility and penance; hence, the Christian, who is desirous to serve God, and not his own gratification, by the virtues he practises, must keep up a specially active vigilance over this passion. Just let us think, for a moment, on the madness that culprit would be guilty of, who having his sentence to death commuted for a severe flogging, should take pride in the stripes left on his body by the whip! May this madness never be ours! It would seem, however, as though it were far from being impossible, seeing how the Apostle, immediately after his telling us to mortify our flesh, bids us take heed of vainglory. In fact, we are not safe on this subject, excepting inasmuch as the outward humiliation inflicted by us on our body has this for its principle, that our soul should voluntarily humble herself at the sight of her miseries. The ancient Philosophers, too, had their maxims about the restraint of the senses; but, those among them who practised those admirably worded maxims, found them a stepping-stone for their pride to mount up mountains high in self-conceit. It could not be otherwise; for they were totally devoid of anything like the sentiments which actuated our Fathers in the faith, who, when they clad themselves in sackcloth and prostrated on the ground,' cried out from the heart-felt conviction of the miseries of human nature: Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy! for I was conceived in iniquities, and sin is ever before me !2 3 my To practise bodily mortification with a view to get the reputation of being saints, is it not doing what St. Paul here calls sowing in the flesh, that, in due time, that is, on the day, when the intentions of our hearts will be made manifest, we may reap not life and glory everlasting, but endless disgrace and shame? Among the works of the flesh mentioned in last Sunday's Epistle, we found contentions, dissensions, jealousies, all of which are the ordinary out-come of this vain-glory, against which the Apostle is now warning us. The production of such rotten fruits, would be an unmistakeable sign, that the heavenly 1 1 Paralip. xxi. 16; etc. 2 Ps. 1. 31 Cor. iv. 5. Gal. v. 19-21. |