Traditional Catholic Teaching - EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. St. Luke 16: 8.

However great the wisdom of this world may be, it proves eventually to be mere foolishness. It is seen to be folly when the worldly-wise man comes to die, and all the possessions that he has accumulated avail him nothing, and when he looks in vain for friends to secure him admission to heaven. The worldly-wise man employs all possible means, even such as are sinful, to acquire earthly wealth, and his folly is manifest, for he barters the grace of God, his greatest treasure, for what is trivial; he gives up what is eternal to gain what is temporal, and sacrifices eternity for a moment of time, so great is his folly. It is folly to have recourse to clever devices to deceive mankind, since God, on whose judgment everything depends, can never be deceived. He alone is truly wise who never forgets that God sees all our actions and knows our secret intentions, and who lives in conformity with this knowledge.

God's eye is more searching than the light of the sun; it sees all the ways of men, penetrates to the depth of their hearts, and beholds all, good and bad, wherever they may be. God is present, everywhere, providing for all His creatures; He observes all our steps, watches over us day and night, and witnesses all our actions, as if, forgetting heaven and earth, He were caring only for each individual amongst us. He regards each individual as if he alone existed; He sees all collectively as if they were but one. He is with us wherever we go, so that He is always the source of our life, and for this reason, because He is constantly mindful of us, we ought likewise to be mindful of Him. Gratitude requires this of us; if the infinitely great God cares for us continually, ought we not to think of Him? He is always looking at us, and we surely ought not to forget Him. It is therefore an excellent thing to accustom ourselves frequently during the day to turn our thoughts to God, and to remember His presence. There is no better way of advancing in virtue. Our good resolutions, made when we pray, avail nothing, if, having finished our prayer, we at once lose sight of God and of the resolutions just formed. We are easily carried away by our passions, unless we are restrained by the thought of God's presence.

His benefits that we enjoy day after day leave us cold and indifferent, and instead of lifting us up, plunge us deeper in the mire of sensuality, unless we think of the Giver. The obstacles in our way, when we try to do right, seem insurmountable, unless we remember Him, by whose aid even what is hardest becomes possible.

God's eye is ever upon us, and the eyes of our mind ought always to be turned towards Him, for then only shall we rightly perceive what we ought to do, and how we ought to do it. We require to know how to act at every moment of our existence. Many have a general idea of what God's will is, but they often fail to notice an opportunity for performing some good action. For instance, they overlook the moment for practicing humility, self-denial or obedience, in spite of having resolved to practise these virtues. Thus they waste opportunities through not recognizing them as such, and are quite self-satisfied, although they ought rather to be dissatisfied with themselves for not having benefited by their opportunity of doing right.

If we look up often to God, our souls will be strengthened and enabled to see these opportunities when they occur. God is ever present with us, and willing to bestow them, if only we are ready to make use of them. Therefore during the course of each day let us often lift up our hearts to Him with a fervent prayer for light to see when we have it in our power to do a good action; let us ask Him to help us not to make the mistake of supposing that good is accomplished only by extraordinary works, but to recognize the truth that the smallest incidents in life supply us with opportunities of showing our love of God.

The thought of God's presence encourages us not only to recognize and use our opportunities of doing good, but also to have the right intention of pleasing God in all that we do, for this is more important than the work itself. Works done without this good intention are like dead seeds that can never produce blossoms and fruit for eternity. Let us always strive to have this intention, because this is what God looks at most.

St. Augustine composed the following beautiful prayer:

"Thou seest, 0 Lord, whence proceeds the spirit that prompts my actions, for Thou weighest the spirits, and Thou, the true Judge, who surveyest my inward thoughts, knowest whether the root of my actions, from which fair leaves appear to grow, be really sweet or bitter; Thou canst penetrate to the very sap of this root; Thou perceivest, in the bright light of truth, not only our intentions, but the most secret depth underlying them, so that Thou art able to requite to each, not merely according to his actions, but also according to his intentions; not only according to his intentions, but also according to the secret depths underlying his disposition.
Thou seest what is the real aim of my efforts when I do any work; Thou knowest what hidden thoughts are in my mind and in what I take delight; Thine ear heareth all things, and Thou listenest, recording them, both good and bad, in Thy book, in order that Thou mayest assign rewards to what is good, and punishment to what is evil when at the last day Thou openest Thy book, and men are judged according to what is written in that record of omniscience and justice."

If we consider these words of the great Doctor of the Church, we must inevitably feel overwhelmed with shame, for we must acknowledge that our actions may often have appeared as fair leaves, but their root has been bitter, for our intention was not pleasing to God or praiseworthy.

At the same time we ought to fear that perhaps in many cases when we believe ourselves to be acting in conformity with the will of God, our actions may not have been pleasing to Him, because we had not the right intention. This fear ought to make us careful about our intentions, but it should not degenerate into scrupulosity, for this would in its turn be a source of many temptations and sins.

Let us examine ourselves to see whether our intentions are good, and if we find them to be more or less faulty, let us try to abandon them at once, doing our best in this respect, but not desponding, if from time to time, owing to our natural weakness, our intentions are not so pure as they should be. The God of all-seeing justice, who always and everywhere surveys our inmost thoughts, is also the God of infinite love, knowing our frailty, and ready, in His infinite mercy, to make good our failures, if only we, poor weak mortals that we are, do our best faithfully and honestly to strive after what is right. Our fear of God should therefore give place to a childlike, trusting love, and we may look up to Him as His loving children, whilst He looks down on us with a father's tenderness. Our weakness may make us stumble, but love lifts us up again after each fall; weakness may lag behind, but love presses forward. May our love of God help us to acquire ever greater perfection in His holy sight. Amen

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