Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:01 Okay.
Speaker 1 00:02 Saint John Robert was born in Florence 11th century. What happened as a young man, his only brother, Hugo was murdered by a man from that part of the country. And so St John Robert made a fall to avenge his brother's death. If the guy was rich who had killed his brother and seemed out of reach of any kind of law so he wouldn't listen to anything. You're the voice raised in your religion. He, uh, he basically had a vendetta and what's going to kill the man when he got the opportunity? So young night he's riding along and it's Good Friday and Florence and he comes into one of those really narrow European streets and as he comes around, here's his enemy right there. Can't get away. So he jumps off his horse and he draws his sword and he's just about to kill him when his enemy falls down on his knees and holds out his arms in this like a cross and begged a John by the passion of Jesus Christ who died that day to spare his life. It's a moment of great grace and Saint John's life who's struck right then realized, what am I about to do on the day our Lord died. So he grabbed the guy, gave him a hug, picked him up off the ground and said, I can't refuse something that's asked me for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 01:37 Not only will I spare your life, but I've gotta be your friend forever. Pray for me that God may forgive me of my sin, and then he went away to a monastery. There's a lot more to a story,
Speaker 1 01:55 but the point spot to movement of charity, it's miracle of grace. Somebody wanted to kill somebody, had a vendetta out against hey net, a miracle of grace. He stops in today's Gospel. Our Lord is talking about charity, the Great Commandments of charity in order to understand charity clearly let's back up and review. Then we'll take a closer look at this. Remember that God made us all to know him, to love him and serve him in this life and then to be happy with him forever in the next. That's the purpose of our life. That's why he placed us here. But in order to do any of these things, in order to know God, in order to love him, in order to serve him, and certainly in order to be happy with him forever, and heaven requires powers that are completely beyond our natural abilities. Take for example, getting to heaven.
Speaker 1 02:59 We can't even find heaven if we're relying on our natural abilities. Certainly we can't get there. We can't drive there. We can't fly there. We can't shoot a rocket there. We can't come up with a map to get there. And even supposing the barring apostle we could get there. We don't have the ability to live there. If we were to get there, it's completely beyond our natural abilities to get to heaven or to live there where we to get there. So in the beginning, God gave us a whole Gob of gifts that are completely above and beyond our natural powers. He gave us supernatural life so that we can live in Heaven after this life. That supernatural life is called sanctifying grace. It's a created share in God's own life that he places into our soul. And makes us supernaturally alive. It makes us holy, and with this new life, the supernatural life that God places into our soul come a whole host of supernatural powers.
Speaker 1 04:04 These are powers completely above and beyond our natural powers. For example, a man and a state of grace, which is to say a man who is supernaturally alive has the supernatural power to believe what God says, not because the things that God says, Hey, that obviously has to be that way. That's not why you believe what God says. No, the man has a power to believe everything God says just because God said so. That supernatural power is placed in the intellect of the man. It's called faith. A man who's supernaturally live also has supernatural powers infused into his will. For example, he's given the supernatural power to desire to spend eternity with God and at the same time to have complete certitude that with assistance of God's Almighty power, he will indeed spend eternity with God. That supernatural power which is placed in the will of the man is called hope and a man who supernaturally live is also given supernatural power to love. God above all things precisely because God is all good and worthy of all love and to love his neighbors himself for the love of God.
Speaker 1 05:24 This supernatural power is also placed in the will of a man and it's called charity. That's exactly what our Lord is speaking of in Today's Gospel and that's exactly the miraculous movement of which Saint John Quell Bert responded to so well in the beginning. Then Adam was given natural life and natural powers is given a natural life and natural abilities and at the very same time is given a supernatural life and supernatural powers, a whole host of it, and we've only mentioned three. There's a host to him and then what you do, he committed that original sin and as a result, original sin, except you. Of course, our lady and her son were born dead. Supernaturally speaking, every one of us born dead, were born without sanctifying grace and were born without any supernatural powers whatsoever. None of them. Thanks a lot Adam. The real horror here is that no supernatural life means no salvation without supernatural life.
Speaker 1 06:34 There is no salvation, no supernatural life, no salvation, and God does not owe us this supernatural life, supernatural life as a free gift which God offers to mankind, but he does not owe us the supernatural life. Even if none of us ever got this life, it would not be unfair. God is not unfair. Supernatural life is a gift. It's a free gift that God mercifully offers to us, even though by nature, thanks to Adam, we are now born children of wrath and the real horror here is that many refuse it. It's not as if everybody loads up in a pretty pink sailboat in sales off to heaven when they die. The cold reality is we have a problem. It's a problem, a real problem, and supernaturally speaking, the problem is we're all born dead and naturally speaking, there isn't a thing that we can do about it and that's the bad news.
Speaker 1 07:40 By nature, born children of Wrath, think flames. Think devils, thank eternity. That's the bad news and it's bad. Bad News that helps it make clear where we get the word Gospel. Gospel means the good news, and it certainly the very best news that our lord has come to redeem mankind from slavery to Satan, slavery to sin, and to give us this supernatural life. It all comes from him. There's no supernatural life except from Christ. There's no forgiveness except from Christ. There's no salvation except from Christ. No forgiveness, no supernatural life, no salvation except from Christ. It all comes from him. Okay? That's the review. We all know that. So the question is then, why is this commandment the commandment of charity there? Lord speaks of today. Why is this the greatest of the commandments? Well, what does charity give us the power to do? It produces a loving movement in our will towards God because he's all good and he's worthy.
Speaker 1 08:55 Our love charity fills us then with a desire for union with God and a desire to please him. We're filled with a loving desire that his will be done. Once we see this, we can see why that's the greatest commandment because it aligns our will with God's will. It brings the creatures will into alignment with the Creator's will. That's how we get uniformity with the will of God. This is where holiness comes from. That's the role of charity is to drag our will into alignment with his will and it's disordered thanks to Adam, but this brings it back around, right compass heading. The fact that we're filled with a loving desire to do God's will and all things means in turn that at the most basic level that because we love him, we're very careful about keeping the 10 commandments, all of them as a great pope and doctor, the church, Saint Gregory, the great puts it quote, the proof of our love is shown in our works close quote, the proof of our love is shown in our works in the first place.
Speaker 1 10:02 Then we keep the commandments because that's what God wants and we love him. After all, what did he say? If you love me, you'll keep my commandments and second place we keep the commandments because it's absolutely necessary. If we want to be saved again, what did he say? Not everyone that say it to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that does the will of my father who is in heaven. Any serious violation here means instant loss of sanctifying grace. It means the instant loss of supernatural life. No supernatural life means no salvation if we're keeping a 10 commandments and living in a state of grace as we grow and charity, as we become evermore filled with this love of God, we find it easier and easier to see his loving hand in the daily anoints and troubles alive. We find it easier and easier to see his loving hand behind the cross as he sends us.
Speaker 1 11:02 Let's turn then quickly to charity with regards to love our neighbor. Why? Besides the fact that God commands us, which is certainly in itself more than a sufficient reason, why should we love our neighbor after all, some of our neighbors are pretty unlovable fact of Saint John Gilbert. We have somebody kill your brother. That's extremely unlovable, but we can think of our own instances. Basic reason is pointed out by Saint Paul and Ephesians five is shortly after today's Epistle, quote four no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it as also Christ to the church because we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. Close quote, inspired in their word of God bless it, Don Marmion comments on this passage quote, if we are a part of flesh and his bones does not, this mean that we are truly one with him.
Speaker 1 12:00 The father sees us in his son as members of his son's body. That is why the Father Shows Us Mercy and bestows upon us the riches of His grace. When God grants us, pardon draws us to him, sanctifies us. It is really towards his son that he's exercising his immeasurable goodness. What's the practical effect for us of this identification with Christ? It is this, when we devote ourselves to the service of each other, it is Christ whom we love and serve and his members. This is how we look on things in our daily life. If I have a sore finger and you bandage it, it is on me, on my person that you bestow your care. Because my finger is part of my flesh. The same applies to the members of Christ. They're one with him. Christ has United them to himself, and he says to us, all that you do for your brethren, you do for me. God has established this law and his love for us and we cannot presume to change it on the Day of Judgment. The final sentence will be pronounced in accordance with the manner in which we observed or have not observed the precept of charity towards our neighbor. Close quote. Bless it, Don Marmion.
Speaker 1 13:34 Two brief thoughts. First, we should be struck with importance and the power of deliberate acts of charity. See, as we've performed deliberate acts of charity, this virtue of charity is power. The supernatural power will grow in our soul. So what? Well, as a virtue grows, it displaces vices. It overpowers them in the place of vices. You have a virtue, has charity grows. Then it frees our souls from impatience, from anger, from unkindness, from coldness, sarcastic speech, sinful ambition, grumbling, complaining, and unhappiness. When each one of us like to be completely free of these afflictions, of course we get closer and closer to that freedom which only occurs finally in heaven. The closer and closer, the more the charity grows in us. Here's a simple way for each one of us here to grow on charity towards his neighbor. Think of the people or you can even make lists of the people you see regularly, the people you see on a basis that you know you're going to see each day.
Speaker 1 14:53 Don't just do it random because it's harder until you get the habit, but the people that you know that you're going to see each day then make a sincere effort everyday to do at least one deliberate kind act for each of these people everyday. Not because you feel like a particularly, you might work with some real grumps that you don't feel like doing anything. It's not your feelings that matter. You're doing it because you love God and you want to show him that love and your neighbor. How hard is that? How hard is that? And Charity starts at home. You can do with the members of your family. How hard is that and people here, I've been thinking a lot about this. I've mentioned before, we've been praying for this poor possessed person and the exorcist has said, we've mentioned this from the pole with the extra has said, what's necessary is to make up for the lack of love in this person's life right now.
Speaker 1 15:47 And our prayers are surrounding this person with that atmosphere, love. And he says that it's growing very close to completion. It's a longterm process evidently. And this is, but what we're doing, we're surrounding them with charity, by praying to God for someone we don't know, but out of love, a god to have mercy on this suffering soul. And I heard a recording of an exorcism and uh, I'm not going to go into all the gory details, but one part that was very, very apropos to note for today, it's a particular devil, was just, I mean, you want to step on their, his, but you can't, you know, just listen to the thing. You want to get a big hammer and play that a game and go whack it back into hill. But it was, uh, it was, it was going off in a ridiculous voice, you know, and it was talking about how bad it hated the fact that this person would be kind to other people and how much it torch.
Speaker 1 16:47 And he goes, I hate it. I hate, I hate it. I hate it. And it's, it just goes on like this. And with the invoice like that, and it kept going on about he's being kind do a nice thing. I hate that. I hate it. And the whole time he's going on like this, and you just listen to this of thing, you realize what a power kindness has, what a protective power, kindness as it torments the devils. When we're kind, if we can put a shield around somebody by praying for them, we can put a shield around our family, our friends and the people we come around and ourselves. But exercise in this kind of kindness in this charity. Think of a world where Catholics in general, we're striving to be kind. There's still be sin. We'd still have confession. You don't get out of it.
Speaker 1 17:41 The Garden Eden's over thanks to Adam, but that's where Christendom comes from. That's where Catholic culture comes from because people stepping outside their selfishness and doing things cause they love Christ, not because they feel like it because they love Christ and they want to show that love to the person closest to them and we can do that. How hard is that? So first thought, explicit acts of kindness every day you grow on charity and that drags other virtues along with them. When you grow in a virtue, they all grow like the fingers on a hand. They go together. Charity is the one that determines our holiness. Second, God has commanded us to love our enemies. Does that example of Saint John K. Albert on a stick with us. Each one of us needs to carefully examine his conscience and make absolutely sure that you're not harboring a grudge, a secret hatred or contempt. Bernie resentment towards anyone. Anyone at all, including a spouse, a parent, child, sibling, relative, a neighbor, teacher, boss, a coworker, politician, parish council,
Speaker 0 19:13 a priest, audition,
Speaker 1 19:19 a council of bishops,
Speaker 0 19:21 the pole
Speaker 1 19:25 for harboring any ill will, any grudges, any secret hatreds or contempt or any burning resentment towards anyone, anyone. No matter what they've done to us, we must furnish, repent and forgive them. That's not the same as saying that we approval what they do. You think Saint John Guava approved of his brother Hugh being murdered? Hardly, but we must forgive them. That's true. Some people may find that virtually impossible. I'll address that in just a minute. If we're harboring any ill will, any grudges towards anyone, we must first repent, forgive them and then we must ask God to forgive us. Just like Saint Shout Gobert and confess our sin. And then whenever we find ourselves in the presence of a painful memory or of a painful person, we say this little prayer, God, make him happy in this life and the next or God make her happy in this life, in the next.
Speaker 1 20:27 So God make him happy in this life, in the next or if he's already in the next life, if he's already dead, we just say most Merciful. Jesus granted his poor soul, eternal rest, painful memory or painful person. God make him happy in this life, the next or most merciful Jesus creators poor slowly turn risks. Our feelings may be going well. We feel like hurting someone. We may really feel like hurting them, but charity isn't the will, not the feelings. Love is in the will. It's not in our feelings. Everybody knows sad. Everybody loves their teenagers, but they don't always like I'm like is in the feelings. Love is in the will. The willing, the best charity is in the will. This little prayers, an act of charity. It's an authentic supernatural act of love. We couldn't say it if we didn't will it? It's an act of charity.
Speaker 1 21:22 God making happiness life. The next most merciful Jesus grant is poor, solely Torres. Okay. What about the people that something so traumatic happen to them that they simply can't find in themselves to forgive? We've talked about this quick review though. If we have something like that and this does happen sometimes you invite our Lord into that whole memory, that event say, Lord, I can't forgive these persons or this person but you do it for me. I'm turning over to you and you do that for me. So if you really can't find it, you ask him to do it and you ask him in there everyday and they'll come a day when you can forgive them yourself cause he'll rearrange that part of your emotional life. He'll heal that damage and you'll be able to forgive him. And that's one of the reasons we do the blessing with the relic of the true cross is to heal those kind of things.
Speaker 1 22:12 Cause that will do it Christ to stand outside time with that blessing, he can heal those sort of things and you bring it before. And when we do that blessing after the high mass today and that will help in that department. Okay. Finally, charity can drive up the survival spirit of fear that so many people are afflicted with. Want to talk about fear and the two aspects. It's not uncommon to meet people that are leading really good lives. They're in a state of grace, but somehow their operative understanding of God is under a fearful, terrible thing. Like he's waiting to throw him into hell. This may be because of the way they grew up. It may be because they had kind of a rowdy life and then they had a conversion and they've never really thought about it because too much and readjust their idea gut because it is true.
Speaker 1 22:56 If we're living a wildlife, that's attitude we ought to have cause that'll help us get out of that life. Huh? Cause we should have that fear. If we're living a bad life, that is a very appropriate fear because hell is something. If you're not afraid of hell and you're living a bad life, you know somebody needs to smack you upside the head because you're just not thinking clearly. All right, but if a person's leading a good life at that point, you know God, it'd be an infinite. We can think of them under different headings. We got to change the way we think about it and why should we be afraid of God if we're leading a good life? Look at the love he showed us. Look at the love he showed us in the manger. Why should we be afraid of God? Become a little baby? How can we be afraid of a baby? Because I love he shows us on the cross, a bloody mangled corpse dead to save us. What love that is. Saint Paul cries out he loved me and delivered himself up for me.
Speaker 1 23:59 That's the love of the cross. How can we be afraid of someone that loves us that much? Look at the love he shows us in the church. He sets up the church to pour down the supernatural life into the hearts of sinners. This life he won for us on the cross. How can be afraid of someone that loves us so much? These sets up a church to save his enemies. Look at the love he shows us, especially in most blessed Itzhak. I'm one of the altar. Just consider what he does that he hides under the parents of bread. Think how much love that is. How can we not love someone that feels himself out of love for us? What do I mean? If he wasn't veiled like that, just a glimpse of his glory would incinerate all of us. A glimpse of his beauty would incinerate all of us. A glimpse of the burning love he has would incinerate all of us. So he hides that I have respect for the weakness of our condition and he puts himself at our disposal. He puts himself at our disposal and there he is and he's alive. He's right there right now and he's alive
Speaker 1 25:21 and he's not there for his benefit. He's there for heart benefit. He wants to give us peace that we can't get from this world. He doesn't want to take away the cross. B wants to give us peace in Barrington, he wants to pour out his love and compassion and his little flock. He wants to heal the wounds in our hearts and souls. When we go to communion, we ought to be filled with spiritual joy. We know the good news. We know that he's alive. We can receive him and then once to receive and he's living in us and we're alive with his life and he's saving us and we're safe. As long as he's living in us, we're be filled with a feeling of peace, of love, of warmth, of solace, of strength, of comfort, of security, of spiritual joy. If we're leading good lives, if we're living this state of grace, if we're keeping the commandments, if we're receiving our the most <inaudible>, we don't need to be terrified of a god who loves us so much.
Speaker 1 26:29 He sent his son down to die for us. The fear we ought to have of God is a loving fear of disappointing of father. That's that good to us. One other kind of fear for leading good lives. If we're the state of grace for keeping the commandments. If we're receiving our lord most blessed sacrament, we can be sure that any other fears that strike us fears the future. Fears of sickness or suffering. Our six society, these fears are not of God. Remember the inspired words of the song. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for thou art with me. Even though I walk to the Valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for thou art with me.
Speaker 1 27:31 If he's living in us, how could he be any closer? He's with us. The supernatural life of Christ brings peace and joy. We know the good news. We've been given supernatural life. We're alive and we received him and he's living in us and he's alive and he's saving us and so we need fear. No evil for he is with us. He's alive and he's given us a supernatural strength to keep the commandments. He's alive and he's given us a supernatural strength to live the life of heaven. He's alive. He's given us a supernatural strength to love God above all things and to love our neighbor as ourself.
