Vol 8 Issue 32  ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
August 8, 2015 ~ Our Lady on Saturday

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (28)
2. Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
3. St John Vianney
4. Christ in the Home (3)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

Sunday the Church reads of the deaf and dumb man who Our Lord cured and is able to hear and speak afterwards. The faith in Christ’s words was unwavering and led to his being healed. But that faith was not merely one of believing in a miracle worker, it was faith that Christ was the Promised one sent to heal Israel. The Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary on the following Saturday. She believed the words of the Angel Gabriel that the Promised one was to come and her question asked only how she, a lowly handmaid of the Lord, could accomplish it without defiling the tabernacle where the Christ would dwell for nine months. Saint Paul presents the arguments to convince the pagans that it would be wrong to disbelieve what he presents. But it is Christ who both gains the grace and bestows the miracle of grace to hear the Truth and profess the Faith. Living the Faith brings one to living a good life. Denying the faith brings one to living an evil life. This argument is not based on a dead faith, but a living Faith. It is also contradictory to the faith of those who accept evolution. Their faith is in chance—which they create and deny creating at the same time. No one lives by chance. No one knows by chance. Nothing happens by chance. Yet, the votaries insist chance exists, even though there is no evidence. Put it this way: If things happened by chance, then what I know is by chance and it was only by chance that I know that I know that it was by chance and that this was only by chance that I would know that I would know that I would know, ad infinitum. In other words, how can someone know that something will happen by chance if it hadn’t happened? But the ears are closed to hearing faith and the mouth is thereby dumb to speaking Truth. May faithful Catholics always give thanks that God opened their hearts and minds to His Word and can live life.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit.—The Editor

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Baptism

Means of Salvation

Preparation for Grace

Introduction (c)

Justification, Righteousness and Sanctifying Grace (2)

Martin Luther did not discover justification by faith alone, rather he tweaked it to address his self-reliance that led him to sin and yet excuse his weakness when he did sin. Instead of believing that Original Sin is the Sin of our first parent Adam, and all men participated in that sin through Adam, and all men are guilty of that sin through Adam, and all men come into the world deprived of the gifts of God’s grace which all men would have had if Adam had not sinned, Martin Luther taught that the bodily drives, or concupiscences, themselves were the original sin—the origin of sin; but these concupiscences were a necessity of the natural life and therefore there was a necessity to sin to live a natural life. Christ offers Himself in place of sinful man. Faith in Christ makes His merits the possession of the believer, covers the believer’s sins in the garment of righteousness and stands before the Father in place of the believer. 

Be a sinner and sin on bravely, but have stronger faith and rejoice in Christ, who is the victor of sin, death, and the world. Do not for a moment imagine that this life is the abiding place of justice: sin must be committed. To you it ought to be sufficient that you acknowledge the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, the sin cannot tear you away from him, even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders” (Enders, “Briefwechsel”, III, 208 as quoted by Sollier, Redemption).

One can imagine the consequences of such a theology of salvation. One has only to read the historical accounts of the results of preaching such a doctrine: Anarchy and revolt. One has only to look at the many sects that immediately sprang up: Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, Zwinglians, Presbyterians, and Socinians. These further broke up into various sects, such as from the Anabaptists sprouted the Mennonites and Abecedarians and from the Socinians the Unitarians. The Peasants’ War (1524-25), instigated by the Innovators, brought about the death of over 100,000 farmers and completely destroyed economic, social and political stability within the German territory for centuries.

The doctrine would lead to the predestination theology of Calvin, where free will is denied and God has already chosen who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. The Sacrifice of the Mass will be rejected because Christ has already saved the world (i.e, those are to be saved). Meritorious works will be rejected because everything a person does is a sin and what is sinful cannot be meritorious. Today their so-called services are mere entertainment and engagement so as to arouse the “spirit”, i.e., emotions, to be strengthened in fellowship and fulfilling the words of Christ: “Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt. 18:20) Prayers would not be for salvation, but for material possessions. Reading of Scripture would be more a charism (a gift of the “gab”).

How, then, is justification defined by the Protestants? Pohle, in his article, Justfication, provides the following:

[J]ustification is, as the Formulary of Concord (1577) avows, a mere external pronouncement of justification, a forensic absolution from sin and its eternal punishments. This absolution is based on Christ’s holiness which God imputes to man’s faith. Cf. Solid. Declar. III de fide justif., sec. xi: “The term justification in this instance means the declaring just, the freeing from sin and the eternal punishment of sin in consideration of the justice of Christ imputed to faith by God.” (Catholic Encyclopedia)

As with Faith, the Council of Trent applied itself to give a true understanding of Justification as the following decree outlines:

Justification itself follows this disposition or preparation [by grace], which is not merely remission of sins [can. II], but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man through the voluntary reception of the grace and gifts, whereby an unjust man becomes a just man, and from being an enemy becomes a friend, that he may be “an heir according to hope of life everlasting” [Tit. 3:7]. The causes of this justification are: the final cause indeed is the glory of God and of Christ and life eternal; the efficient cause is truly a merciful God who gratuitously “washes and sanctifies” [1 Cor. 6:11], “signing and anointing with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance” [Eph. 1:13f.]; but the meritorious cause is His most beloved only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, “who when we were enemies” [cf. Rom. 5:10], “for the exceeding charity wherewith he loved us” [Eph. 2:4], merited justification for us [can. 10] by His most holy passion on the wood of the Cross, and made satisfaction for us to God the Father; the instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is the “sacrament of faith,” [St. Ambrose, De Spiritu Sancto, 1, 3, 42 (ML 16, 714). St. Aug. Letter 98, to Boniface 9 ff. (ML 33, 364). Innoc. III (see D 406, 413)] without which no one is ever justified. Finally the unique formal cause is the “justice of God, not that by which He Himself is just, but by which He makes us just” [can. 10 and 11; cf. St. Augustine, De Trin., 14, 12, 15 (ML 42, 1048)], that, namely, by which, when we are endowed with it by him, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and not only are we reputed, but we are truly called and are just, receiving justice within us, each one according to his own measure, which the “Holy Spirit distributes to everyone as he wills” [1. Cor. 12:11], and according to each one’s own disposition and cooperation. (D 799)
For although no one can be just but he to whom the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet this does take place in this justification of the ungodly when by the merit of that same most holy passion “the charity of God is poured forth by the Holy Spirit in the hearts” [Rom. 5:5] of those who are justified, and inheres in them [can. II]. Hence man through Jesus Christ, into whom he is ingrafted, receives in the said justification together with the remission of sins all these [gifts] infused at the same time: faith, hope, and charity. For faith, unless hope and charity be added to it, neither unites one perfectly with Christ, nor makes him a living member of his body. For this reason it is most truly said that “faith without works is dead” [Jas.2:17], and is of no profit [can. 19], and “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by charity” [Gal. 5:6; 6:15]. This faith, in accordance with apostolic tradition, catechumens beg of the Church before the sacrament of baptism, when they ask for “faith which bestows life eternal,” [Rit. Rom., Ordo Baptismi note 1 f.] which without hope and charity faith cannot bestow. Thence also they hear immediately the word of Christ: “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” [Matt. 19:17; can. 18-20]. Therefore, when receiving true and Christian justice, they are commanded immediately on being reborn, to preserve it pure and spotless as the “first robe” [Luke 15:22] given to them through Christ Jesus in place of that which Adam by his disobedience lost for himself and for us, so that they may bear it before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ and have life eternal [Ibid. n. 24]. (D 800)

At this point, one may ask: How does one become justified? What is the process? It cannot be perceived as merely a mystery since on it depends salvation? It cannot be all God’s work; but it cannot also be one’s own personal merit or work.

When it concerns adults, Scripture places justification in the scenario of a bride and groom. The groom is seeking the bride, but the bride is also seeking the groom (cf. Canticle of Canticles). As it is a relationship, there must be an attraction and a knowledge of the other. If God does not attract the individual person, there will be no attraction. If God sees no attraction in the human, He also will not be attracted. God cannot force the human to come to Him, nor can the human force God to come to one. It appears to be a dance between God and the human, where God makes Himself known to the human individual first.

Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love thee. (Canticles 1:3)

No man can come to Me except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him. (John 6:44)

Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. [Isa. 40:1-3]

As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee. A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. (Mark 1:2-3)

God seeks the individual’s attention, wooing through His creation:

O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded. What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour: And hast set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea. O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth! (Ps. 8:2-10)

And sending His prophets and lastly His Son:

And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the former; and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent to them his son, saying: They will reverence my son. (Matt. 21:34-37; cf. Mark 12:2ff.)

A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. And he sent his servant at the hour of supper to say to them that were invited, that they should come, for now all things are ready. And they began all at once to make excuse. The first said to him: I have bought a farm, and I must needs go out and see it: I pray thee, hold me excused. And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them: I pray thee, hold me excused. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. And the servant returning, told these things to his lord. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant: Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame. And the servant said: Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said to the servant: Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. But I say unto you, that none of those men that were invited, shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14:16-24; cf. Matt. 22:2ff)

And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day. (John 6:40)

[T]hese are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)

For the scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in him, shall not be confounded. For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. How then shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed? Or how shall they believe him, of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear, without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent, as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of them that bring glad tidings of good things! But all do not obey the gospel. For Isaias saith: Lord, who hath believed our report? Faith then cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ. But I say: Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the whole world. But I say: Hath not Israel known? First, Moses saith: I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a nation; by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Isaias is bold, and saith: I was found by them that did not seek me: I appeared openly to them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith: All the day long have I spread my hands to a people that believeth not, and contradicteth me.

Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. (Mark 16:16; cf. Matt. 28:19)

The seed is sowed (cf. Matt. 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8) and now the individual must give a response to that prevenient grace. In this sense the Council of Trent, decreed:

[T]hat in adults the beginning of that justification must be derived from the predisposing grace [can. 3] of God through Jesus Christ, that is, from his vocation, whereby without any existing merits on their part they are called, so that they who by sin were turned away from God, through His stimulating and assisting grace are disposed to convert themselves to their own justification, by freely assenting to and cooperating with the same grace [can. 4 and 5], in such wise that, while God touches the heart of man through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, man himself receiving that inspiration does not do nothing at all inasmuch as he can indeed reject it, nor on the other hand can he [can. 3] of his own free will without the grace of God move himself to justice before Him. Hence, when it is said in the Sacred Writings: “Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you” [Zach. 1:3], we are reminded of our liberty; when we reply: “Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted” [Lam. 5:21], we confess that we are anticipated by the grace of God. (Sess. VI, cap. 5; D 797)

(To be continued)

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Week of Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Benedict Baur, O.S.B. 

Our faith

1. “And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His fingers into his ears . . . and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened” (Gospel). The Church recalls gratefully that moment when the Lord, approaching her children, endowed them, as it were, with a new and spiritual ear, that they may perform acts of supernatural faith. Without this mysterious Ephpheta we never would be able to truly say, “I believe”; nor could we ever reach Christ, our salvation.
2. “I make known unto you the gospel which I preached to you, . . . by which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you” (Epistle). With these words of the Apostle the Church today addresses us, her children. The faith which she preaches to us is the starting point: “the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. . . . Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11: 1, 6) and to come to the sonship of God and to be partakers of the divine life (Council of Trent, Sess. VI, chap. 8). Faith unites us with Christ, making us partakers of the life of the body of which Christ is the head. Through acts of faith we move towards Christ, the head, mysteriously joined to Him in such a way that we, being members of His body, are enabled to partake of the life of the head. Through faith and baptism together we become members of Christ.¹ If the body of Christ, the Church, is to be continually formed anew through the acquisition of new members for the mystical body of Christ, faith together with the sacrament of baptism is essentially necessary. For Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3: 17). Only by faith in the revealed word of God, as proposed to us by the Church of Christ, do we have life in Christ. Only by faith and the gospel which the Church received from Christ and His apostles, and which she preaches without error, can we be saved. The Lord planted this faith in our souls that by believing we may be joined to Christ and His salvation. “And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His fingers into his ears and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened.”

   ¹The operation of grace differs in the case of a child and in that of an adult who is being baptized. The child becomes united with Christ through the sacrament of baptism, and as it grows older the child perfects this union through acts of faith. When an adult is baptized, the act of faith constitutes the beginning of the union with Christ. In this case it is perfected through the sacrament of baptism.

“Hold fast after what manner I preached unto you” (Epistle). The Apostle means to tell us that the only thing that matters is that both in spirit and in practical life we hold fast to our faith after the manner he and the Church continually preach it to us. Our spiritual point of view has to become ever more like that of the mystical body, the Church. We must accept her faith and her moral doctrines, and join her in prayer and sacrifice, realizing that we are one with Christ, the head, united with Him in a true communion of being, sustained by His strength, and permeated by His life. From this consciousness our faith gains strength and vitality. The greater and more lively is our faith, the more intimately we become united with Christ and His Church. The more this faith is the guiding principle of our thoughts and struggles, the more deeply we grow into Christ, the head, and the more profoundly the life of the body flows down into us, the members. It is, therefore, our most urgent duty to “hold fast [to the gospel] after what manner I [the Church] preached unto you.”

3. “God in His holy place; God who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house; He shall give power and strength to His people” (Introit). “He hath done all things well; He hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak” (Gospel). With such sentiments of gratitude we address God today. We thank Him sincerely for the grace of baptism and the gift of faith. Today we must gratefully acknowledge and confirm our faith, which the Lord freely gave to us, together with the other members of His Church.

When we for the first time came in contact with our Holy Mother the Church, she asked us: “What dost thou ask of the Church of God?” We answered: “Faith.” “What doth faith bring thee?” the Church asked again. We replied: “Life everlasting.” “If then thou desirest to enter into life, keep the commandments. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

PRAYER

I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me and has not made my enemies to rejoice over me. O Lord, my God, I have cried to Thee, and Thou hast healed me. Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell; Thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit. Sing to the Lord, O ye His saints; and give praise to the memory of His holiness. (Ps. 29:2 ff.)

Our faith

1. “I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven. . . . And last of all He was seen also by me” (Epistle). This apostolic sermon is simple, strong, and clear. The central theme is the fact that Jesus, the son of man, is the Son of God, and that He was sent into this world for our redemption and sanctification, as a victim for our sins.
2. “He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). In this life already God’s wrath abides on him who does not believe in Jesus, His Son. Belief in His Son is considered a matter of highest concern in the eyes of God. “For God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” And as an explanation the Evangelist adds: “For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him. He that believeth in Him is not judged. But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God” (John 3: 17 ff.). In vain will he try to save his soul if he does not believe in Jesus, the Son of God.

One truth is clear: the first condition for sharing in the divine life and for being saved is the belief in the Son of God, “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,” who died for us and rose again. Three times the Father announced to mankind that Jesus is His Son in whom He is well pleased (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). The Father gives this testimony of His Son before men that they may believe in Jesus. To verify this testimony, the Father gave Christ power over the elements, over sickness and death, and raised Him from the dead on the third day. Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him has life everlasting (John 6:40). All revealed truth is contained in the testimony of the Father: “This is My beloved Son.” Our whole faith, likewise, consists in our acceptance of this testimony of the Father. If we believe in Jesus, the Son of God, who became man for us, we believe implicitly in the entire revelation of the Old and New Testaments, in all the teachings of the apostles and the Church. Our faith is simply the development of the Father’s testimony: “This is My beloved Son.” Our supernatural life is based on our vivid realization of Christ’s divinity.

“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God, which is greater, because He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the testimony of God in himself. He that believeth not the Son, maketh Him a liar; because He believeth not in the testimony which God hath testified of His Son. And this is the testimony that God hath given to us, eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son, hath life” (I John 5:9-12). The life of the Father is this, that in one eternal act He begets His Son, giving Him the fullness of His perfections. By this act the Father expresses Himself, His essence and being, in this one eternal Word. Every testimony which the Father manifests to the world when pronouncing, “This is My beloved Son,” is but the audible reproduction of this interior life of the Deity: “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee” (Ps. 2:7). “He that believeth in the Son of God, hath the testimony of God in himself.”

3. The Church firmly believes in the testimony of the Father. Her entire life and being is a realization of her creed: “I believe in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. . . . He rose again from the dead.” She steadfastly testifies to the divinity of Christ. We must remain faithful to her testimony and her faith in Jesus, the Son of God, who became man for our salvation.

To be a Christian means to believe in Jesus and in all that He taught and did for our salvation. The more courageously we confess our adherence to the teaching of Jesus, to His example, and to His Church, the more the kingdom of God and His life will take roots in our souls. The profound persuasion that Jesus is God and that He became man for our salvation is the foundation and essence of our entire spiritual life. It makes us bow down our head in reverent adoration and devotion to Him and His holy will.

Do we not perhaps give too little importance today to this teaching of the Apostle, and preach and emphasize truths and doctrines, which though perfectly sound, are not placed in the proper subordination to that fundamental truth “Jesus Christ is the Son of God”?

Should we not perhaps adhere more closely to the mind of the praying Church? This close adherence to the mind and feeling of the Church would contribute much to the unity and vigor of our spiritual life.

Prayer

O almighty and eternal God, who in the abundance of Thy loving kindness art wont to give beyond the deserts and desires of those who humbly pray; pour down upon us Thy mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and granting us those blessing which we dare not presume to ask. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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AUGUST 9

St. John Mary Vianney, Confessor

1. John Vianney was born of simple, pious parents on May 8, 1786, at Dardilly in France, shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution. Matthew and Mary Vianney’s child understood the meaning of prayer by the time he was three having already a tender devotion to the Blessed Mother. The boy tended his father’s little drove of cattle and sheep until the pastor of Ecully offered to help him get an education. John was a poor student; only the thought of becoming a priest kept him from yielding to discouragement. Called to military service in 1809, he was soon released because of the precarious state of his health. He returned at once to his studies and was ordained to the priesthood on August 9, 1815. After serving as assistant at Ecully for several years he became pastor of Ars in 1818. This parish was in a pitiable condition as to religion and morals, but before many years had passed his prayers and preaching had reformed it. He listened to all who came to him with troubled consciences, and before long people were arriving from every part of France, to the number of twenty thousand a year. The Cure received them all at the cost of heroic mortification and charity; his austere life, amiable disposition, and a supernatural power that went out from him attracted people powerfully. He died on August 4, 1859, and was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 31, 1925.
2. “Right reason is on the good man’s lips; well weighed are all his counsels” (Introit). Men were amazed at the towering wisdom of the simple, unscholarly pastor of Ars. Divine light served him for learning. A saint has said: ‘What purifies the eye of the heart and disposes one to elevate himself to the true Light is contempt for worldly affairs, mortification of the body, compunction of heart, contemplation of God’s admirable being and His pure truth, fervent and trustful prayer, joy in God, ardent longing for heaven.” According to this formula St. John Vianney possessed powerful spiritual vision. From his youth he had stayed near the true Light, and it flooded his soul. He opened his heart in prayer, and God filled it with divine light.

Through his transparent personality this light was diffused upon souls, particularly in his catechetical instructions. His very language seemed to be other than human, and all classes of hearers found themselves hanging on his words, charmed by his pleasing voice, the vividness of his picturesque illustrations, the holy fire. How was it that this extremely inept student, who could not pass examinations, eventually became a master of the word of God? How could he charm the people so that they believed as he did, loved as he did, and, at his word, completely changed their lives? “Thou hast hidden all this from the wise and prudent, and revealed it to little children” (Matt. 11:25). The spirit of God inspired him to know and to teach; the whole sum of his learning was faith; his book, Jesus; for, when asked who had taught him theology, he would say: “The same one who taught St. Peter.” The divine wisdom decreed: “My faithfulness and mercy shall go with him; as my champion he shall rise to greatness” (Offertory).

“Blessed is the man who lives unreproved, who has no greed for gold, puts no trust in his store of riches. Show us such a man, and we will be loud in his praise” (Lesson). Such a man was St. John Mary: he had neither bag, nor money when he arrived at Ars in Lent of 1818. He had to store his wood in the rectory parlor. In his own room were only a poor bed, table and prie-dieu. The church was his living-room: here he stayed for hours without moving—bathing, he used to say, in the flames of love. Reducing his own needs to a minimum, he spent most of his income and all gifts in repairing and adorning his church. God and souls were his riches.

St. John spent many hours in the confessional, even late at night. ‘Whatever time remained at his disposal was devoted to prayer, by means of which he could effect conversions and miraculous cures. But he complained: “I see only my sins, and I do not even see all of them.” Repeatedly tortured by this self-disgust he would cry: “I am drying up with discontent on this earth,” and, “If I had known what it means to be responsible for the welfare of my neighbor, as a priest, I should have buried myself in a desert,” Indeed, “Here is a life to wonder at. . . . His treasure is safely preserved in the Lord’s keeping, and wherever faithful souls are met, his alms-deeds will be remembered” (Lesson).

3. Some sayings of the holy Cure: “Those who make no effort to overcome themselves and bring forth fruits of penance are like trees in winter: they have neither blossoms nor fruit, and yet they are not dead.”

“The Cross is a key which will open heaven for those who love and understand it.” “Virtue alone has the power to gain for us the most magnificent of all goods, peace of soul and hope of obtaining everlasting life.”

Collect: Almightly and merciful God, who didst make ·blessed John Mary remarkable for priestly zeal and constant fervor in prayer and penance, grant, we pray Thee, that his intercession and example may enable us to win the souls of our brethren for Christ, and with them to attain everlasting glory. Amen.

CHRIST IN THE HOME

BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.

(1951)

MARRIAGE

BEFORE EMBARKING

WHOEVER desires to marry ought to prepare himself for that great step:

…

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