Traditional Catholic Teaching - FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

Now I go to Him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: 'Whither goest Thou?'

John l6: 5.

Our Lord announced to His disciples the approaching completion of His work of redemption. "Now I go to Him that sent me," – I am about to die, and after My death I shall return to My Father, rejoicing at having accomplished the work which I was sent into the world to do. You do not realize that this fulfilment of My task is fraught with happiness for you; you are only sad because I am leaving you, and therefore you do not ask whither I am going; you do not consider that I shall be in heaven where I am destined, as Man and Redeemer, to sit at My Father's right hand and make intercession for you.

As Man and Redeemer Jesus has fulfilled His destiny, and how much this ought to encourage us to attain to ours!

Many people live on, year after year, without ever asking: "Whither are we going? What is our allotted task?" It is, however, man's privilege to know what his task is, and to exert his free will in order to accomplish it. We ought always to keep our end in view, so that each day, hour and minute of our life may carry us onward towards the glorious goal for which we were created. We are destined for an eternity of happiness. "God will have all men to be saved" (I. Tim. 2: 4), says the Apostle, and the happiness that we are to enjoy is so great that "eye path not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God bath prepared for them that love Him" (I. Cor. 2: 9). For such eternal happiness it is surely worth while to abandon and renounce the trifling delights of this world, in as far as they are sinful. If we could see heaven and all the joys awaiting us there, We should ask ourselves, "Why do you care so much about what appears pleasant on earth? Why are you discontented when things here do not go according to your desires? Cannot you do without a few things and deny yourself a little for the sake of obtaining such unspeakable bliss? The pleasure that sin affords is a pitiful thing, soon passing away and leaving behind it nothing but remorse and shame, and would you barter for it an eternity of happiness? Your love of comfort, your lukewarmness and indolence are mean, miserable things. Why do you care nothing for your everlasting rest? You think more of a despicable piece of selfishness, or a ridiculous display of vanity, or even of indulgence in bad temper, than you do of the joys of heaven. You fancy that it is impossible to resist this or that craving, and no sooner have you yielded to it than you feel, with bitter sorrow, that you have forfeited Paradise for a brief, deceptive pleasure. Would that heaven and all its joys, would that the happiness for which we are destined, were ever before our eyes! We should not sin so recklessly, or yield so readily to earth's allurements, but we should here in this world enjoy peace of mind and a good conscience.

We are destined, as St. Paul says, one day to see God face to face, and to know even as we are known, but we shall never be worthy to behold Him, unless even now the most ardent desire of our heart is to know Him aright. Faith teaches us to know God, and without faith no one can hope to go to heaven. May our faith remain sacred to us until we draw our last breath. May all that we learn and experience be regarded by us in the light of faith, i. e., may we refer it all to God, and employ it in learning to know Him better. Let us never waver in our faith, and never be infected with the spirit of worldliness, which cares for everythingbut God. Let us cherish a firm and steadfast faith in God, for thus we shall become worthy one day to behold Him and, as the Apostle says, to enjoy Him, to find unspeakable happiness in loving Him whose love alone is able fully to satisfy the heart of man. This is man's destiny, this is the highest possible bliss, but this love must at least begin on earth, for only a heart that has lived for God in this world will live in Him in the world to come.

Love of God is displayed in obedience to Him. The better we love Him, the more ready and joyful will be our obedience. If He one day asks us whether we had loved Him on earth, we shall answer with gladness proportionate to the humility and fidelity with which we have done our duty, to the number of good works that we have performed, and to the amount of self-restraint that we have practised out of love of Him. The genuineness of our love will be proved in this way and by the solidity of the virtues that we have acquired; not by the number of fine speeches that we have made, or of pious books that we have read. We ought to love God not only in word and with our emotions, but in deed and in truth. We are destined some day to join the company of those blessed spirits, who stand before the throne and never cease their worship of God. Let us now prepare ourselves to fulfil this glorious duty by means of prayer, for prayer alone will furnish us with the grace of faith, will strengthen us to disregard the things of earth and to overcome temptations to sin, and will help us to be faithful in good works. Thoughtful prayer, proceeding from hearts earnestly desirous of salvation, brings us even now closer to God, and will some day unite us for ever with Him. Therefore let us pray without ceasing, as the Apostle bids us, but pray with a heart full of good will really to accomplish the task, for which our prayer obtains us strength.

We know whither our Lord has gone; He is in heaven, preparing a place for us. We know, too, whither He wishes us to go – also to heaven, to be happy with Him for ever. When in the commonplace round of our everyday life we are tempted to forget our high calling, let us ask ourselves, "Whither ought I to go?" The answer will be, "To heaven, by faith, avoidance of sin, a life of virtue and incessant prayer." Amen.

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