Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Uh, most of what falls is just an extended meditation on some thoughts from Saint Alphonsus and father Dion. We'll start this morning with a thought experiment. We can imagine that we're camping out West in some unbelievably beautiful state in the Rocky mountains, probably a place just like Montana. Anyway, we're up there in the Rockies and we've been invited, admiring all the beautiful mountains. And at night you just lay out and look at the stars and that clear mountain air, you can see jillions of them and you lay it out there. Looking at those kinds of things, the beauty of the stars and the mountains, and this time of year seeing the Northern lights flickering can be pretty overwhelming, but that whole range of mountains, even the moon and stars and all the billions of galaxies stretching from here to the very end of creation, all those things are far, far less in order of being than a little clump, a bunch grass growing there by our tent.
Speaker 0 00:01:02 Why is that? Why is that little old clump of bunch grass far higher in the order of being it's in all the stars, all the planets, all the galaxies, all the Rocky mountains and so forth. The reason is, is because that bunch grass is alive. Mountains. Just sit there unless we mind them. Stars just burned silently and the vastness of space, the Northern lights just dance around up there in the air. But that little clump, a bunch grass is a lie. It's a lie. It can grow, can take in light and carbon dioxide nourish itself. It can reproduce itself.
Speaker 0 00:01:45 So little, little clump, a bunch grass is alive. That's for sure, but still there are limits to the kind of life it has. It can't get up and move to move to a better part of the meadow where there's better sunshine. Can't go from one side of the, or the other. It doesn't have that kind of life, right? But now here comes a big old bull elk and starts grazing on that grass. That big old bull elk is far higher on the order being that clump of bunch grass, he can do everything the grass can do. He can nourish himself grow, reproduce, but he can also see, he can hear, he can smell. He can taste, he can touch. He can move around. He can move around from one side of the meadow to the other from one side of the mountain range to the other, that all bull elk is a whole lot higher on the order of being than the grass, right?
Speaker 0 00:02:37 But there's still limits the kind of life that he has. There are things he can't do. He can't decide, Hey, this year during hunting season, I think I'll take a vacation, go to town, sit in the bar, read a little Shakespeare, do things like that. That's not possible for a boil to do. He doesn't have that kind of life. There are limits to the of life that elk have. Now here comes a hiker. He's much, much higher on the order of being than that bull elk. He can do everything the plant can do. He can take a nourishment. He can grow, he can reproduce. He can do everything that else can do, right? He can see, he can hear, he can smell. He can taste. He can touch. He can move around. But because he's got a different life principle than the grass, because he has a different life principle than that bull elk.
Speaker 0 00:03:28 There are things that he can do beyond that. He can know spiritual realities, like the ideas of goodness or truth or justice or beauty. He not only can he know those spiritual realities, he has a will, so he can love goodness. He can love truth. He can love beauty. He can love justice. We're so used to this that we may not really realize how amazing these abilities are that we have, obviously that hiker is much, much higher on the order of being than the elk or the grass. And just like the hiker. We're all born that same kind of life. And that's just the problem. Why is that a problem father? Because that kind of life is not enough for us. It's not enough for us. There are limits to that kind of life. What do you mean with the most serious limit is that we've been created to know, and to love and to serve God in this life and to be happy with him forever in the next we've been created for that.
Speaker 0 00:04:36 And yet every last bit of that, every speck of that is completely beyond our abilities. Naturally speaking, we don't have that kind of life. So just as a clump, a bunch grass, doesn't have the life principle to move from one side of meadow to another, just as an elk, doesn't have the kind of life principle to take a vacation during hunting season or read a little Shakespeare. It's totally beyond the power of grass to get up and move. It's totally beyond the power of an elk to take a vacation or study anything. So also we don't have the kind of life principle with the power to enable us to know and love and serve God in this life and to be happy with him forever. And the next that's totally completely and utterly beyond all our natural abilities to fulfill the very purpose for which we've been made. So if all we've got is a life with which we were born, we're in trouble. All we got is this life alone. We can't do it. We just can't do it.
Speaker 0 00:05:48 We need another kind of life. We need another life principle, a completely different kind of life. We need abilities beyond our human nature and far, far beyond our human nature, in order to know, and love and serve God in this life and to be hacked with him forever. In the next, we have to have another kind of life, a life above and beyond our human life. We need supernatural life. We need to have supernatural life. In fact, this is why our Lord became man. As he himself told us, I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. What did he mean? He meant that he came to give us the supernatural life. Our Lord came to give us supernatural life. He came to give us sanctifying grace sanctifying. Grace is a new kind of life, far beyond our natural life. Sanctifying. Grace changes our being.
Speaker 0 00:06:52 It changes the way we are. It gives us the ability to know and to love and to serve God in this life and to be happy with him forever. In the next with satisfying grace, we actually become adopted sons of God. Satisfying. Grace is actually a created share in God's own life that he places in our souls. It's a created share in God's own life, that he places in our souls. This gives us a new life, supernatural life, and that makes us Holy. This is what Saint Peter's referring to in second, Peter, one four, when he writes of us becoming partakers of the divine nature,
Speaker 0 00:07:32 Partakers of the divine nature. Now stop and consider what that implies about our dignity. We saw that little clump of bunch grass was far, far greater in the order of being in the Rocky mountains or even all the stars in the entire universe, because that bunch grass is alive. We saw the elk was far, far greater than the grass because it had a higher life principle. And the hiker was far greater than elk because he had a higher life principle, right? Just think of the immense difference between the hiker and a rock that he's climbing over. No sane man would compare the dignity of a man to a rock. But it's that difference is in a certain sense, measurable because both a rock and a manner in the natural order of things, right? So in certain sense, it's measurable, but the gap between a natural man, like someone who's never been baptized and a supernatural man, a man in a state of grace, that distance is infinitely greater than the gap between the natural man and the rock it's infinitely greater. And it's immeasurable because one is natural and the other is supernatural.
Speaker 0 00:08:48 We don't see this clearly enough, but it's an absolute truth. And it's stunning when we think about it for a natural man, his nature is closer to a rock than it is to a baptize baby. It's stunning. It's absolutely stunning partakers of the divine nature. When we're in a state of grace, God has actually placed, it created share of his own life into our soul. And it completely penetrates our soul totally filling with holiness. And at the same time, he also gives us power supernatural powers to do things far, far beyond our natural abilities. Like for example, getting to heaven when we die or to take another example, we all believe that there are men who can take Pete say certain words to pieces of bread. And that bread becomes a man. And that man is God.
Speaker 0 00:09:44 We all believe that we have to believe that to be saved, but that's not obvious. That's not obvious at all. We don't believe that with natural powers, no one can, no one can believe those natural powers. We believe that because we've been given a supernatural power called faith, and this gift of faith gives us the ability to believe that, to believe things that people, without the gift of faith just simply cannot believe it takes faith. A lot of faith, supernatural faith, to believe in the mystery of the most blessed sacrament. Only the supernatural man with a gift of faith can believe that no one else can partakers of the divine nature. Think of the value of this incredible gift, this gift that makes it possible for us to get to heaven. Think of the value of Saint Alphonsus says that it is an infinite treasure.
Speaker 0 00:10:48 Say Thomas says that the gift of grace surpasses every gift that a creature can receive partakers of the divine nature. Think of just what it costs to give us this amazing gift, nothing less than the passion death, our Lord, Jesus Christ on the cross. It costs the death of God, the son, partakers of the divine nature. Once we see that we've been given a new life, a supernatural life that we're alive with the created share in God's own nature. This God life of sanctifying grace within our souls. Once we see that, but it's easy for us to see why Christ established the Catholic church. The entire purpose of the Catholic church is to continue Christ's work throughout time undoing the damages of original sin by bestowing, restoring graces to men's souls. Every single thing that a man does as a priest is concerned with this one thing, grace, be stowing it, increasing it, protecting it, restoring it.
Speaker 0 00:12:02 That's why God put priests in the world. Not only that, the point of all the rules and regulations comes into focus. What's the point of all the rules and regulations to guide us. So as to protect and increase this God life of sanctifying, grace that we receive when we're baptized the purpose of Christ church, the Catholic church is to continue our Lord's work throughout time to undo the damages of original actual sin by restoring or bestowing supernatural life to men's souls. The point of all of these rules and regulations of the church is to guide us. So as to protect and increase this God life of sanctifying grace, we received a baptism. Everyone needs to burn this into his mind. The point of all the rules and regulations, the church is to guide us. So as to protect and increase the God life of sanctifying grace, we received a baptism partakers of the divine nature.
Speaker 0 00:13:08 Saint Alphonsus says, quote, out of innumerable creatures, which he might've made. God has chosen you and placed you in the world. Again from the midst of millions of heretics and infidels, he has chosen to place you in the true church is made you a Christian and a Catholic. How many millions are deprived? The sacraments of sermons, of the examples of good companions and of all the other helps of salvation, which are found in the true church. And God has resolved to give all these great helps to, without any merit on your part. And even with the foreknowledge knowledge of your demerits from when he thought of creating you and be stolen, those graces upon you, he foresaw the insult, which you would offer to him, close quote, partakers of the divine nature. How can we ever thank God for such a great gift, Saint Alphonsus ass?
Speaker 0 00:14:12 What fitting Thanksgiving can we miserable? Creatures offered a God. If the Lord had one, what what's shown us, a single Mark of affection, he would even then deserve an infinite Thanksgiving from us. Since that affection is a gift and a favor of an infinite God. But see he has given us a way of thanking him worthy, namely, by offering to him Jesus in the mass in this way, God is fully thanked and satisfied. One single mass, one single mass gives more honor to God, then all the prayers and penances of the saints, all the labors of the apostles, all the torments of the martyrs and all the burning love of the Serafin and of the divine mother, all that they have given him or will give him clothes quo one single man. And he allows us to offer this sacrifice or to assist at it, not just once in a lifetime, but even weekly or daily partakers of the divine nature.
Speaker 0 00:15:26 When we have this kind of life, this supernatural life and our soul, when we're in the state of grace, the most blessed Trinity God, the father, God, the son and God, the Holy ghost comes to dwell in the depths of our souls, but he only dwells there by invitation. When we were babies, our godparents stood up for us and invited them in on our behalf. And then when we reached the age of reason, we confirmed that invitation. But unfortunately just like Adam, we do want to have one natural power. In this regard, we have the power to withdraw that invitation at any time, how by committing a mortal sin and God will respect that and leave the most terrifying part of that is if we've evicted him, he's under no obligation to return
Speaker 0 00:16:25 Partakers of the divine nature. The great Catholic author, Frank she'd commented that supernatural life is given to man in this life. And what man does with it is the primary story of his life. Everything else is incidental on the fringe of no permanent importance. When we come to die, we are judged by the answer to that one question, whether we have the supernatural life in our soul, if the answer is yes, then the heaven we shall surely go for the supernatural life is the power to live the life of heaven. If the answer is no, and we cannot possibly go to heaven for, we could not live there. When we got there. If we die with supernatural life, we can go to heaven. If we die without supernatural life, we can't go to heaven. Which means that our soul will plunge into hell.
Speaker 0 00:17:23 We were all born without supernatural life. We're born without sanctifying. Grace. Thanks a lot, Adam, naturally speaking there. Isn't a single thing we can do about this, but in order to live the life of heaven, we have to have supernatural life. We have to have sanctifying grace. If we die with Sante, find grace, we can live the life of heaven. If we die without sanctifying grace, we can't live the life of heaven. Okay? Pure and simple. Everybody needs to burn this point into their mind. The most important thing I'll ever do is die. If I die with supernatural life, I can live in heaven, but I, without it, I can't. When we come to die, we're judged by the answer to that one question. One question, whether we have the supernatural life in our soul, our whole eternity hangs in the balance partakers of the divine nature.
Speaker 0 00:18:21 Once we get a glimpse of incredible data data, which has been called, becomes clear what an absolute disaster mortal sin is that drives out the supernatural life of grace. A soul turns man, into an enemy of God and a slave of the devil and puts him under a sentence of eternity in hell. Santa Gustin says that if a Christian loses a valuable item, he will weight over the loss and neither eat nor sleep. But when he loses the grace of God, eats and sleeps and sheds, not a single tear st. Francis to sail says that where the angels capable of weeping, they should shed tears of pity at the sight of a soul that commits mortal sin and loses the divine grace. But as Saint Alphonsus points out, the greatest misery is that the angels would, if it were in their power weep and the center weeps, not partakers of the divine nature because it's soul, the state of grace has it created share of God's own life.
Speaker 0 00:19:27 It has it created share in God's own unspeakable beauty. Saint Bridget used to say that a man could not behold the beauty of a soul in the state of grace without dying from joy. Saint Catherine of Sienna did survive after seeing a soul in the state of grace. But she said that she would willingly have given her life to prevent that soul from losing such unspeakable beauty. In fact, Saint Catherine used to kiss the ground on which priest walked because through them souls obtain this beauty that is worth dying for the grace of God, partakers of the divine nature. Saint Alphonsus says, quote, the saints that have very little to give their life and all things for the love of. So loving a God, how many nobleman, how many princes how's that relatives, riches countries, and even kingdoms to shut themselves up in a cloister in order only to live to the love of Jesus Christ, how many martyrs sacrificed their life? How many tender virgins, renouncing marriages with the great mighty have gone with joy to death in order, thus to make some return for the infection of a God who died for their sake. And you, what have you done thus far for the sake of Jesus Christ, who has died for you? What do you intend to do with the remaining days of life? Which God gives you, that you may love you close quote, what have you done so far for the sake of Christ who has died for you?
Speaker 0 00:21:15 What do you intend to do with the remaining days of your life? Which God has given you. You may love him at the least, at the very least pray for the grace to prefer to lose your life.
Speaker 3 00:21:35 <inaudible>
Speaker 0 00:21:37 Vindaloo is such beauty that God has granted you by making you a partaker in his divine nature.
