Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
(from our psalm at today’s Holy Mass)
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In Chapter 22 of Book IV of SCG, St. Thomas explains how the Holy Spirit moves us to God.
In Chapter 23, St. Thomas addresses the arguments outlined in Chapter 16, which tried to show that the Holy Spirit is not divine, but a creature.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
We rightly fear the omnipotent One. He made everything out of nothing. His power dwarfs our capacity to conceive it. Everything exists solely by His pleasure. Without His will sustaining us–and sustaining the sky, and the earth, and the air–without His constant gift of existence, everything would crumble, collapse, disintegrate, vanish. [Spanish]
At Sunday Mass, we hear Lord Jesus say, All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone. (Luke 21:6)
The one thing that separates us from chaos and ultimate nothingness is: the divine good pleasure. True wisdom involves acknowledging this. If we find ourselves enjoying good things in life, it’s because God has made them and keeps them in existence, to give as gifts to us.
The wise person fears the awesomeness of this great Giver of all, Who is truly, wonderfully, magnificently good. His power dwarfs us, and so does His goodness. We do not measure up to it. Rather, we receive from His largesse as unworthy beneficiaries. He blesses us so abundantly because His love flows so freely. Not because we have any claim on Him, or any “rights” before Him. He just gives, out of pure generosity.
So we rightly stand in awe of this infinitely powerful and infinitely gracious God. Nonetheless, He makes friendly and intimate promises to us. “Fear nothing,” He says, “because I myself will give you wisdom.”
The God we rightly fear does not choose to tower above us. Rather, in the midst of all the great flux of events over which He exercises sovereign control, He moves toward us and embraces us. By uniting Himself with us in Christ, God Almighty has Personally entered into His own creation, fragile as it all is. He meets us right here, and clasps us to His bosom. He makes us His friends, the friends of the King.
By the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, we participate interiorly in God’s sovereignty over all things. We share His permanent solidity, His serene transcendence.
Material things pass. We human beings are material things that naturally pass, too—at least our bodies are. But, by His grace, God has joined us to His permanent Self. So we do not pass, but rather we endure forever, with Him.
We perceive all this by the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ Himself was the first to have these gifts, in full. He perceived in His human mind the infinite extent of the divine love of the heavenly Father.
Thus the Lord Jesus feared God, in the sense that He would not deviate from the will of His Father. He submitted Himself completely to the mission the Father had entrusted to Him. Christ embraced that mission completely, with tender piety, and with unswerving bravery. Christ understood everything that the prophets had written. He taught the eternal law, to love God and neighbor, and thereby fulfill all human knowledge of created things. Jesus perceived the fundamental cause of creation, and of all the events of history: namely that God would receive the glory of His Christ, crucified and risen. Jesus’ divine wisdom involved His perception of how He would glorify the Father—in Himself, and in all the members of His mystical Body.
Our Lord pours these interior gifts into our souls when we commune honestly with Him. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit move us to repent of our sins, and they heal us interiorly, through God’s mercy.
We live in tough times. The last time we heard the same Sunday readings—three years ago—something pretty stunning had just happened. A certain gentleman had just been elected President of the United States. Now these readings come around again, and we as a nation face a painful impeachment process.
We need the supernatural point-of-view, the point-of-view of Jesus Christ Himself. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit give us that perspective. We need communion with the divine love of Jesus Christ. He offers us sobriety, patience, and confidence in the ultimate triumph of the right.
The Senate will get to judge the impeachment case, if it goes that far. And it appears that it will go that far.
But Christ the Lord will judge the judges. He will judge the judges of this case, and of every case. And, unlike human verdicts, which involve some degree of error, even in the best circumstances; unlike verdicts here below, Jesus Christ’s final verdict will reflect every aspect of the truth.
So help us, dear Lord, to see, live, and love by the Your Holy Spirit. We entrust ourselves completely to Your guidance, through thick and thin. Give us our share in Your all-encompassing wisdom.
We read at Mass: St. Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth. (Acts 18:1)
In Athens, Paul had found reverence for “The Unseen God.” He pointed out: This is the true God, the Almighty, Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. Totally beyond us. Greater than anything we can perceive.
Now, tourists still visit Athens—for good reason. To see the Acropolis, a relic of the sublime aesthetic and intellectual achievements of the ancient Greeks.
But where in the New Testament, in the sequence of St. Paul’s letters, do we find his letter to the Athenians?
Paul had proclaimed to them something that they chose not to believe. The Unseen God has revealed Himself. He became man, died, and rose from the dead in the flesh. What we could never have deduced about the Unseen God, He has taught us Himself–by pouring out His Holy Spirit. The Spirit strengthens us and lifts us up, to believe in Christ.
The unseen God loves us. Loves us as His children. Has a plan for us. Wills to share His own divine life with us.
We do not see Jesus, but we know Him. His Spirit unites us with Him. His Spirit is God, the ineffable Life of all that lives, the ineffable Light of all that beautifully shines. And He mercifully pours that Godliness of God into our hearts. To bring about a friendship that transcends our powers to describe.
The Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything. (John 14:25)
These are the words of our Lord Jesus, to the Apostles, at the Last Supper. He was explaining to them what would happen after He ascended into heaven. [Spanish]
That was the beginning of the Catholic Church. The Lord Jesus had taught the Apostles many things while He was on the earth. He would teach them other things from heaven. As He promised, after He ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide His Church.
In our first reading at Sunday Mass, from the Acts of Apostles, we read St. Luke’s account of the first Church Council. The situation was this: The Apostles had gone out from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel. In the surrounding countries, both Jews and non-Jews came to believe.
Now, some of the first non-Jewish Christians had heard–from somebody–that they were supposed to keep the Law of Moses. The uncircumcised non-Jewish men, who feared God but also feared pain, were not sure that they wanted to. Baptized into Christ, yes. But minor surgery in a particularly sensitive area? Really?
So the Apostles gathered back together again in Jerusalem to try to deal with this honest question. They prayed and debated. Then the Council composed a letter, to be read aloud to confused Gentile Christians in Syria.
As it turned out, the uncircumcised men had nothing to fear. It is not the will of God that adult men who seek Baptism also have to be circumcised. It is not necessary. The Lord Jesus shed all the blood that needed to be shed.
Confusion had arisen because: Someone had told the Gentile converts otherwise. As we heard the Apostles’ letter say, “Some of our number went out without any mandate from us and upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind.”
This is a crucial sentence. The Apostles condemned those who taught their own doctrines without any mandate from us.
To teach the true religion, the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ himself–to teach God’s religion—that requires a mandate. No one can give himself authority to teach the Gospel or preside over the sacraments.
As the Lord Jesus explained, the Holy Spirit governs the Church. And He gives the mandate to teach and preside, through St. Peter and the Apostles, and their successors in office.
Now, a non-Catholic might say “Look here, popish brother. My mandate is this here Holy Bible.” Fair enough. We Catholics love the Bible, too.
But we reply, “Dear Brother, if you please: Open the Bible; give the New Testament a thorough read. Lord Jesus never handed anyone a book. He never handed anybody a Bible and said, “This is your mandate. Set up shop for yourself.” He never did that.
Christ chose His Apostles, consecrated them at the Last Supper, gave them the sacraments, and sent them on their mission. As the Apostles were performing their sacred mission, they wrote the New Testament. The Church came first, the written gospels second.
That said, the New Testament certainly remains our unfailing guide to the true doctrine which originated with Christ. Just like the New Testament would not exist, had not the Church written it, the Church cannot endure without constant, prayerful study of the New Testament. But without the living mission of the Church, the Bible is a dead letter. The New Testament is not an independent book. It is a family heirloom of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
Maybe some will remember two seminarians we had here, back in the summers of 2013 and 2014. Excellent, inspiring young men. On Saturday, bishop will ordain them priests.
Kyle and Dan will become priests in a scandal-plagued Church. I did, too, sixteen years ago yesterday. Takes a certain kind of guts, to become a priest under these circumstances. Or a certain kind of faith. Or a certain kind of lunacy.
We poor priests find ourselves caught between two poles. On the one hand, people who read widely know: the Catholic Church in the U.S. may not survive. The McCarrick Affair has destroyed what little trust we had in the hierarchy.
One the other hand, our bishops and pope basically carry on as if we were at Situation Normal. ‘McCarrick? What McCarrick? What cover-up? What catastrophic betrayal of trust? Who? Us?’
God never promised that any particular parish, or diocese, or even whole nation of dioceses, would survive forever. But He did endow his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church with an indestructible center of gravity, which will survive until He comes again in glory.
The New Testament. Our Creed. Our sacraments. Our prayers. Our way of life, based on the Ten Commandments.
Back when I studied in the seminary, clinging to the basics of the faith was regarded as backwards, déclassé, retrograde. But I think time has proven the wisdom of clinging to the basics. For dear life.
Let’s cling. And march on.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me!” rejoiced the prophet. “Do not quench the Spirit!” commands the Apostle. Christ came in the Holy Spirit, to give us the Holy Spirit. The day of His birth approaches quickly—Christmas is a mere eight days away! So in Church we pray, Come, Lord Jesus! And meanwhile, the world says: “You better get the Christmas spirit! And quick!” [Spanish]
Now, can we analyze the similarities, and differences, between the Holy Spirit we read about in the Bible and the “Christmas spirit?” The “spirit of Christmas” we read about in books by authors like Charles Dickens, or hear about on the Charlie Brown Christmas Special or on Amazon.com?
First we can say that the Holy Spirit—Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and by Whom the Word was made flesh; the Spirit Who fills us with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, fortitude, and holy fear: He is a divine Person of the Blessed Trinity; He is God.
Meanwhile, “Christmas spirit…” That’s a little more vague. The phrase can mean different things to different people. But everyone more or less agrees: the spirit of Christmas involves kindness and generosity towards family members, friends, associates—towards everyone. It means rejoicing in human goodness and sharing time together, sharing food, and a warm house.
Now, the original event, the thing involving the Holy Spirit: it really did happen. That is, Jesus Christ really was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judea, and shepherds saw angels and rejoiced. That original event is so magnificently lovely, so wonderful, so promising and hopeful for everyone, that we have kept a great feast to commemorate it all these many centuries.
And no matter how much any huckster tries to turn Christmas into just another reason to pull out the credit- or debit-card, the “spirit of Christmas” cannot wither completely into something desiccated and purely secular. Christmas can never become utterly shallow and materialistic.
For about forty years or so now, some Christians have increasingly lamented the secularization of Christmas. But holy Mother Church continues to keep the day as a commemoration of the original most-sacred event. And we will keep doing it that way until the cows come home. The Church will celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25 until well after every credit-card company currently in operation has choked to death on all their chip readers and swipe fees.
When families get together and give each other sweet little gifts, we rejoice. After all, it’s the three wise men who started that tradition, not UPS or Sears and Roebuck. Of course it’s better to go to church first, before the Yule-tide cheer at home. Going to Mass makes Christmas much, much better and more fun. But why fight with anyone about anything on Christmas? Fighting goes against the spirit of Christmas, according to people like Charles Dickens and Charlie Brown. Far be it from us to contradict that, we who worship the babe of Bethlehem as the Prince of Peace.
After all, in the end, there’s no real contest between Jesus and Santa. There’s no contest at all. Jesus wins. Jesus is the divine Child, with the power to govern the sun, the sky, and the stars—right there in His little hands. Jesus makes Christmas Christmas—He makes it holy, joyful, and blessedly quiet. Santa, as we know, started his long career as a bishop in Jesus’ Church. And Santa became popular because he is one of Jesus’ saints.
So there’s no point in picking fights with anyone about the secularization of Christmas. Better just to focus on good will towards men. But we do have a battle to fight—with ourselves. Can we Christian souls stop the frantic motion of our day-to-day lives, and pray and meditate, and maintain perspective? Can we find the interior peace we need to come to the manger and quietly rejoice?
We have come to the right place, if we want the Holy Spirit to help us. On tv, they love to talk about how “magical” Christmas should be. “Magical”—because it snows, or because the kids believe in Santa Clause, or because you spend your money on the right thing.
But there’s really no magic in the spirit of Christmas. The Holy Spirit doesn’t do magic tricks. Yes, there are magi. But believing in Christ and rejoicing in His loving goodness, and finding the sweet peace of Mary and Joseph, and the shepherds and the animals—it’s not “magic.” The enchantment of Christmas is the work of the same Holy Spirit that made the whole thing happen in the first place–the same Holy Spirit that accomplished the Incarnation in the Virgin’s womb. “Magical” is a penny-ante sideshow, compared to God becoming man for the sake of our salvation.
Let’s just stay focused on the babe in the manger, and the glad tidings that He brings, and rejoice in Him, and let Him give us a merry Christmas.
Romans 8:28: Brothers and sisters: we know that all things work for the good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. [por español: click here]
Wonderful. Do we believe it? Do we, in fact, know that all things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose? Let’s ask ourselves two questions.
“We know that all things work for the good for those who love God.” We “know” this. How do we know it?
Let us freely acknowledge that Romans 8:28 is not self-evident. There are a lot of people out there who disagree. Many of our brothers and sisters in this world look around at the way things work, and they despair. They see nothing but selfishness, or the law of the jungle, or the slow arc of inevitable death and dissolution. Some people think that the higher powers calling the shots are unfriendly, or even malicious. And there are the poor souls who imagine there is really nothing except atoms—no angels, no truth, no love, no honor, no glory. Atheism.
Exactly fifty years ago, in 1967, Pope Paul VI convened the first Roman Synod of Bishops of the modern age. The idea was to address the problem of atheism. The contemplative monks of the world sent a message to the Synod, about the great gift of Christian faith. The monks emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit, the experience of the Spirit’s gifts, through prayer and the sacraments.
The Holy Spirit enables us to know that Romans 8:28 is true by the gift of knowledge: our interior perception that God is in charge of everything, that there is a reason behind everything. As Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI frequently pointed out, one doctrine distinguishes true religion: the doctrine that God is reasonable, rather than arbitrary. To be sure, right now our minds cannot quite grasp all of God’s reasons for doing or permitting all the things that He does or permits. So we need to abandon ourselves in faith when our human reasoning reaches its limit. But when everything is said and done, we will understand it all, because God’s entire plan proceeds according to reason. When we get to heaven, please God, we will see it all clearly; we will understand everything completely.
The Lord wills good; He permits evil. His plan is so magnificent, and His power so awesome, that He brings greater good out of the evil which He permits. St. Paul pointed out earlier in his letter to the Romans the supreme instance of God bringing good out of evil: From Satan’s temptation in the garden, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the whole history of human sin, God brought about the infinitely greater good of the mission of His Son to the earth. Jesus Christ—who suffered and died unjustly, then rose again—Jesus is the best possible thing that ever could have happened. His goodness trumps all the evil that has ever been or ever will be; His goodness overcomes it all, and turns all evil into an opportunity for holiness, for good. Suffering the evil that God permits unites us with the Savior who suffered, for us.
So now we can answer our first question: We know what Romans 8:28 says we know because: God became man, lived for us as a man, died for us as a man, rose again and ascended into heaven as a man, and He pours His Spirit out from heaven into our hearts to give us interior knowledge of Himself.
Question #2: Things work for the good of those who love God, and who are called according to His purpose. What is God’s purpose?
The answer is simple and obvious and impossible to fathom. We know from the Gospel that God’s purpose in everything is: that we would share the divine glory forever. Share in the divine glory forever.
Straightforward enough, yes. But: we do not yet see this glorious destiny of ours. As we will commemorate next Sunday, Saints Peter, James, and John saw for a moment the divine glory shining through Jesus, at the Transfiguration. But we have not seen such unique sights. In fact, the prospect of sharing the divine glory forever utterly transcends our capacities to feature. So for now our destiny must remain an interior mystery of faith. Again, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid with a special gift.
Through prayer and the sacraments, the Lord pours divine wisdom into our souls, so that we can savor the sweetness of heaven a little bit now, even before we get there. The sweetness we savor is nothing other than the sweetness of true love. God’s purpose is: to love, and to love us above all. The Holy Spirit lifts us up towards God so that we can have a little share in the divine love even now.
This heavenly wisdom even allows us to savor God’s sweetness in the midst of severe trials and tribulations, in the face of the evils God allows us to have to endure, so that we might grow in holiness. Our pilgrimage is not easy, and we have to fight hard. But through it all, we experience the Spirit’s gifts. Then we know—we even “feel”–that Romans 8:28 is true. All things are working together for our good, even and especially the crosses we have to carry as we follow in the footsteps of Christ.
When we read the gospels, we discover that the Lord Jesus declared one sin to be “unforgivable.” Blaspheming the Holy Spirit.* And if it doesn’t terrify us that the Divine Mercy Incarnate declared one sin unforgivable, it should.
Lord, we beg You in Your mercy to deliver us from ever even facing such a temptation! Deliver us from such perilous danger! May we never even know what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit!
Now, we know that St. Peter did a pretty daggone rotten thing. At table with the Lord, He had declared, “I will die with You, Master, rather than deny You! See, I’m brave and consecrated to the truth, just like You!”
Then, when push came to shove, and the Jerusalemites recognized Peter’s rustic seaside accent, the fisherman said, “Oh, yes. Indeed, I am a Galilean. But I have no dealings with this fanatic rabbi, whom they now rightly condemn as a lawless miscreant. Please excuse me while I go about my business, which most certainly does not involve following this lunatic as one of his disciples!”
Wow.
Rotten. Weak. Cowardly. Small. Faithless. Heartless. What kind of friend is this? An ungrateful, wicked, self-deluding one.
But: None of this involved blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Not at all. Jesus spread out His arms on the cross and gave up His Spirit precisely so that we rotten, weak, cowardly, small, faithless, heartless, ungrateful, wicked, self-deluding sinners could be forgiven.
Christ never expected us to be good before He died to redeem us. We sinners need to behold the Lamb of God, crucified out of love for us, first. Then, we can find the strength to examine ourselves and face the truth.
St. Peter never came close to blaspheming the Spirit which Christ breathed into the world by redeeming us on the cross. When his Lord was crucified for him, faithless, weak, self-deluding Peter loved Christ more than ever before. Peter’s own confused and sinful heart broke with love for his Jesus, crucified for him.
No. The one who blasphemed the Holy Spirit wasn’t Peter. It was… Judas. And betraying Christ to the Sanhedrin did not itself involve blaspheming the Spirit. We know that the Lord Jesus would have forgiven Judas’ betrayal just as freely as He forgave Peter’s.
No, Judas blasphemed the Divine Mercy not by betraying Jesus, but by despairing. Judas blasphemed the Holy Spirit when he made his own evil the ultimate sovereignty of his little life. When he hardened his heart and closed himself off completely from the merciful gaze of the gracious Father.
Lord, we beg You: Pour out Your Spirit upon us, to soften our hearts and illuminate our souls, with the warm light that shines from the face of Christ crucified—Christ crucified for us.
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* Matthew 12:31, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10
When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, in order that He might continually sanctify the Church…He is the Spirit of Life, a fountain of water springing up to life eternal.
…The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful, as in a temple. In them He prays on their behalf and bears witness to the fact that they are adopted children.
The Spirit guides the Church in the way of all truth. He unifies Her in communion and in works of ministry…By the power of the Gospel He makes the Church keep the freshness of youth. He renews Her and leads Her to perfect union with Her Spouse. The Spirit and the Bride both say to Jesus, the Lord, ‘Come!’
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council extolled the Holy Spirit with these words.
Inspiring words. But what about paintings? Let me confide in you that I have never found a painting of Pentecost that I like. Eminent sacred artists have produced impressive renditions of Pentecost. And, of course, our own Stephen Brailo, of St. Andrew’s in Roanoke, has done for us a beautiful new baptismal mosaic, in honor of our former pastor. Msgr. Miller will visit next week at the 11:30 Mass for the dedication.
No offense to any of these artists. Of all the events depicted in Christian art, Pentecost poses the greatest challenge. For an obvious reason: The subject of the work of art is
Invisible.
“It is better for you that I go,” said the Lord Jesus. “Rivers of living water will flow from within the one who believes in Me.”
The one who believes. Faith. In the invisible.
Christ made the invisible God visible, by becoming a man. But then He ascended to heaven, out of our sight. From the true Temple above, He pours grace out of His own human Heart, upon the whole earth. It is better for us that He went.
That’s the thing about paintings of Pentecost: Jesus isn’t in them. He had completed His earthly pilgrimage by then.
The great artists have painted Christ, in the various events of His pilgrim life, so as to depict visibly the invisible life within Him. But painting the third divine Person, Who comes as a gentle wind, a breath, tongues of flame, a dove, an anointing, an interior inspiration… Well, I’m no artist. But I do know that painting something invisible is downright difficult. I think our Stephen Brailo deserves a lot of credit!
The Holy Spirit does make Himself perfectly visible in one way, though. By filling the hearts of the people He makes saints.
The Invisible shows Himself whenever a Christian bears witness to the hope that is in us. The unimaginable Spirit comes into view when someone has the courage to reach out in love. The gentle Spirit speaks when a parent or teacher or friend gives good advice, or soothes the pain, or encourages.
In other words, the invisible Holy Spirit is as visible as the living, breathing Church. The Church, consecrated in truth, burning with divine love, marching with certain hope towards the glory that awaits us.
How about this, dear artists? The third Person of the divine Trinity left Himself so difficult to paint, because He Himself is a painter. The Master Painter.
He painted the adorable natural world, using a brush that could make a universe out of nothing. He painted the unique beauty of the High Priest of all creation, Jesus Christ. And now He paints us—whenever we allow His holiness to overcome our sinfulness, and we do something good for God.
John 14:23-26: Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. (gospel for Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit)
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The earth has her many cultures, her many languages. To my mind, it does not make sense to speak of “culture” as something abstract, as if anyone could understand the idea of “culture” without having a commitment to one form of culture in particular. “Catholic culture” is not some abstract thing. Catholic culture is the way we try to live our lives, striving to obey God. And of course a Catholic culture is a “Culture of Life,” a culture that embraces the gift of life for what it is: something sacred, to be venerated with religious devotion.
We have our languages. No matter what vernacular language I try to say Mass in, there will always be plenty of people who don’t understand what I am saying. So having Mass in Latin is the “great equalizer:” no one understands.
The important thing is that we believe in Christ, in His promise to send the Holy Spirit. The idea that people who don’t speak the same language very well could actually make up a living spiritual family, working together, praying together, loving each other—that would be hopeless, if it weren’t for one thing: Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit, His living Church.
People say that the international language is the language of love. That’s perfectly true, provided that what we mean by ‘love’ is: The Mass.
When people use the word ‘culture,’ my eyes generally glaze over immediately. Instead of talking about it, let’s just build our lives around the Mass.
Anyone who centers his or her life around the Mass really shares the same fundamental culture, the culture that we have all received as an inheritance. That is, being Catholic. Different vernacular languages are secondary; socializing is secondary. Praying comes first; praying truly unites. We have that in common. Hoc est enim corpus meum.
“You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” (Luke 11:44)
Maybe you remember how we talked about this a little two years ago. All existing reality is divided into three sections: The holy, the clean, and the unclean.
God is holy and the source of life, vitality. Clean means adjoining God; it means vigor and the full-flowering of the gift of life; cleanness allows growth. Unclean means separated from God, squelching life, making growth difficult or impossible, impeding and thwarting the unfolding of God-given vitality.
Now, we are not talking about Ebola here. Though let’s certainly pray that the Lord will help everyone suffering from the disease, and that those who have died will rest in His peace.
What we are talking about is the severity of the imprecation that the Lord leveled against the Pharisees: Woe to you who spread the vigor-killing uncleanness of your self-righteousness, by covering it over with a cloak that makes it look clean!
St. Paul put it so beautifully: Against love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control there can be no law. None of these can be found in any unclean tomb; none of these can impede life. To the contrary, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are the sign of the greatest vigor, the cleanness of union with God.
Apparently, something came out in Rome on Monday, while I sat in the woods reading Merton, eating pb&j’s, and trying to pray a little. I think we should remember that the things the Church stands for don’t change at a Vatican press conference.
Problem is, there may be whitened sepulchers of self-righteousness both to the right and to the left, as we continue to tread the path the Lord has laid out for us in AD 2014.
–There can be no divine law against faithfulness and chastity. Kinda suggests that there is a divine law against both unfaithfulness and unchastity.
–By the same token, there is no divine law against patience and gentleness. Which kinda suggests that there is a divine law against both impatience and rudeness.
Breathless journalists tend to forget: there is only so far away that people can run from their consciences. Sooner or later, our consciences can and will do their work–if not in this pilgrim life, then at the moment we step into the next. And the human desire to make peace with death will keep the Church in business until way after USA Today folds.
The Lord Jesus ferociously imprecated the Pharisees for trying to burden other peoples’ consciences with burdens that they themselves couldn’t carry. Let’s make it our business to accept the rightful burdens that our own consciences legitimately put on us, and to help others carry the burdens that their consciences legitimately put on theirs.
And of course the best way to pursue this business is to go to Confession every month.
Father Mark White Blog 