St. Joseph's Catholic Church

Weekly Bulletin and Mass Intentions

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

By the Fathers of the Church

ST GREGORY, POPE AND DOCTOR

This is My Commandment: That you love one another

See how the elect of God subdue the flesh, grow strong in spirit, command demons, shine with virtue, despise things present, and proclaim with their life and with their tongue their true home. They love it even in dying for it; and come to it by the way of torment. They can be slain; but not made to bow the knee [to false gods]: strengthened exceedingly is their dominion. In the very passion in which they died in the body, see how sublime of soul they were. Where did this come from, if not from the strengthening of the power of their dominion?

But you, you think to yourself, souls such as these are few? Hear then what follows: I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand. Look, brethren, look at the whole world. It is filled with martyrs. We who see them are scarcely as many as we have witnesses to the Truth. Their number is known only to God. To us they are multiplied above the sands of the sea: for how many they are is beyond our power to know.

But whoever comes to this dignity, that he is called a friend of God, let him look within himself and note that the gifts he sees, have been added to him. Let him attribute nothing to his own merits; lest of a sudden he become an enemy of God. Because of this the Lord continues: You have not chosen me; but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go and bring forth fruit (v. 16). It is I have sown you in grace. I planted you, that of your own will you may go, and labouring bring forth fruit. I said, that of your own will you may go: for to will to do something, is already to go in the mind.

He goes on to say what kind of fruit they should bring forth: And your fruit shall remain. All that we toil for in this world lasts but till our death; and then death coming separates us from the fruits of our labour. But what we do for eternal life, the fruit is preserved for us even after death; and then begins to appear, when the fruits of bodily labour begin to be seen no more. Where these last end, there that other reward begins. He therefore who has already come to the knowledge of eternal things, in his soul the fruits of this world become valueless. Let us labour for the fruit that remains. Let us labour for the fruits, which, when death makes an end of all things, have their beginning from death. That the harvest of God has its beginning from death, the Prophet bears witness who says: When he shall give sleep to his beloved: behold the inheritance of the Lord (Ps. cxxvi. 2, 3). Every one who sleeps in death, loses his inheritance. But when God has given His beloved sleep, this is the inheritance of the Lord; for it is after they have come to death, that the elect of God shall obtain their inheritance.

Then follows: That whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it to you. See how He here says: Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name he may give it to you. And in another place, He again says through the same Evangelist: If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you. Hitherto, you have not asked anything in my name (Jn. xvi. 23, 24). If the Father gives us all that we ask for in the name of His Son, how was it that Paul thrice besought the Lord, yet did not receive what he prayed for; but rather was told: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity (II Cor. xii. 9)? Did not this mighty preacher ask in the Name of the Son? Why then did he not receive what he asks for? How then can it be true that whatever we ask the Father in the Name of His Son, the Father will give us, if an Apostle asked in the name of the Son, to be delivered of an angel of Satan, and yet even his prayer was unheard?

Now since the name of the Son is Jesus, and since Jesus signifies Saviour, or also, Salvation, he therefore asks in the name of the Saviour, who asks for what relates to the true health of his soul. Should he ask for what is not expedient for salvation, he does not ask the Father in the name of Jesus. So the Lord says to these same still unconfirmed Apostles: Hitherto you have not asked the Father anything in my name. As though saying simply: You have not asked in the name of the Saviour, because you did not know to seek for eternal salvation. For the same reason Paul's prayer also was not heard: because it was not to the profit of his soul's salvation that he should be delivered from temptation (II Cor. xii. 9).

Dearest Brethren, we see in what numbers you have assembled for the solemnity of the martyr. You kneel down, you beat your breast, you raise your voices in praise and prayer to God, your faces wet with tears. But think within you, I beseech you, of the petitions you offer. Think whether you are asking in the name of Jesus; that is, if you are asking for the joys of eternal salvation? For in the House of Jesus you do not seek Jesus, if in the temple of eternity, you ask for the things of time. This one in his prayers seeks a wife, another a house, another begs for clothing, another to be given food. And in our need we should ask these things from Almighty God. But we must also be ever mindful. of the commandment we received from this same Redeemer: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you (Mt. vi. 33).

But we do not err when we seek these things from Jesus: provided we do not seek them beyond due measure. But there is a certain thing that is far more serious, namely, that someone should ask for the death of an enemy; striving to obtain by prayer what he cannot secure by the sword! And though he lives on when someone has cursed him, nevertheless, he who uttered the curse is already guilty of his death. God commands us to love our enemies; and we dare to ask God to slay our enemy! Whosoever prays in this manner, even in his very prayers is at war with his Creator. For this it was said (in a figure of Judas): And may his prayer be turned to sin (Ps. cviii. 7). And in truth that prayer is turned to sin which prays for what God to Whom we pray has forbidden.

And so He Who is Truth tells us: And when you shall stand to pray, forgive, if you have aught against any man (Mk. xi. 25). We shall show you this virtue of pardon more clearly if we put before you one example from the Old Testament. When Judea had sinned against the justice of her Maker by her deliberate offences, the Lord, forbidding His prophet to pray for them, says: Do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them (Jer. vii. 16). If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people (ib. xv. 1). What does it mean that, passing over many of the fathers of old, Moses and Samuel only are brought before us, their wondrous power to intercede made known to us, while at the same time we are told that not even they can intercede for this people? As if the Lord said simply: I shall not listen even to these whom, because of their great merits, I cannot despise. Why then are Moses and Samuel more powerful in prayer than the other fathers, if not that in the whole of the Old Testament only these two are said to have also prayed for their enemies? One was stoned by the people (Ex. xvii. 4), yet he prayed to the Lord for those who stoned him. The other was removed from his leadership, yet when asked to pray for the people he declares: Far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you (I Kings xii. 23).

If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people. In other words: I shall not listen even to these men praying for their friends, whom I know, because of their great goodness, pray even for their enemies. The true power of prayer therefore depends on the depth of your charity. And so each one will receive what he rightly prays for so long as his soul is not darkened by hatred of an enemy. And often we triumph over a resisting spirit, if we pray also for our enemies. And when our lips move in prayer for them, God grant that love may also have its place in our heart. . . .

Domingo Décimo Séptimo después Pentecostés

Palabras de los Padres de la Iglesia

SAN GREGORIO, PAPA Y DOCTOR

Este es mi mandamiento: Que se amen los unos a los otros

Ved cómo los elegidos de Dios someten la carne, se fortalecen en el espíritu, dominan a los demonios, resplandecen en virtud, desprecian las cosas presentes y proclaman con su vida y con su lengua su verdadero hogar. Lo aman incluso al morir por él, y llegan a él a través del tormento. Pueden ser asesinados, pero no obligados a doblar la rodilla [ante dioses falsos]: inmensamente fortalecido está su dominio. En la misma pasión en la que murieron corporalmente, ved cuán sublimes eran de alma. ¿De dónde provenía esto, sino del fortalecimiento del poder de su dominio?

Pero tú, que piensas para tus adentros: «¿Acaso son pocas tales almas?», escucha entonces lo que sigue: «Los contaré, y se multiplicarán más que la arena». Mirad, hermanos, mirad el mundo entero. Está lleno de mártires. Nosotros, que los vemos, somos apenas tantos como testigos tenemos de la Verdad. Su número solo Dios lo conoce. Para nosotros se multiplican más que las arenas del mar, pues conocer cuántos son supera nuestra capacidad.

Pero quienquiera que alcance esta dignidad de ser llamado amigo de Dios, que mire en su interior y reconozca que los dones que contempla le han sido concedidos. Que no atribuya nada a sus propios méritos, no sea que de repente se convierta en enemigo de Dios. Por eso el Señor continúa: «No me habéis elegido vosotros a mí, sino que yo os he elegido a vosotros y os he destinado para que vayáis y deis fruto» (v. 16). Soy yo quien os ha sembrado en la gracia. Os planté para que, por vuestra propia voluntad, vayáis y, trabajando, deis fruto. Dije «para que vayáis por vuestra propia voluntad», porque querer hacer algo es ya ponerse en camino con la mente.

Prosigue diciendo qué clase de fruto deben dar: «Y vuestro fruto permanecerá». Todo aquello por lo que nos afanamos en este mundo dura solo hasta nuestra muerte; y entonces, al llegar la muerte, nos separa de los frutos de nuestro trabajo. Pero el fruto de lo que hacemos para la vida eterna se conserva para nosotros incluso después de la muerte, y comienza a manifestarse precisamente cuando los frutos del trabajo corporal dejan de verse. Donde terminan estos últimos, allí comienza aquella otra recompensa. Por tanto, para aquel que ya ha llegado al conocimiento de las cosas eternas, los frutos de este mundo carecen de valor en su alma. Trabajemos por el fruto que permanece. Trabajemos por los frutos que, cuando la muerte pone fin a todas las cosas, tienen su comienzo precisamente en la muerte. Que la cosecha de Dios comienza con la muerte lo atestigua el Profeta al decir: «Cuando Él dé el sueño a sus amados: he aquí la herencia del Señor» (Sal 126, 2-3). Todo aquel que duerme en la muerte pierde su herencia terrenal; pero cuando Dios otorga el sueño a sus amados, eso constituye la herencia del Señor, pues es tras llegar a la muerte cuando los elegidos de Dios obtienen su herencia.

Luego sigue: «Que todo lo que pidáis al Padre en mi nombre, Él os lo conceda». Ved cómo aquí dice: «Todo lo que pidáis al Padre en mi nombre, Él os lo conceda». Y en otro lugar, vuelve a decir por medio del mismo evangelista: «Si pedís algo al Padre en mi nombre, Él os lo dará. Hasta ahora no habéis pedido nada en mi nombre» (Jn 16, 23-24). Si el Padre nos concede todo lo que pedimos en nombre de su Hijo, ¿cómo es que Pablo rogó tres veces al Señor y no recibió lo que pedía, sino que más bien se le dijo: «Mi gracia te basta, pues el poder se perfecciona en la debilidad» (2 Cor 12, 9)? ¿Acaso este gran predicador no pidió en el nombre del Hijo? ¿Por qué entonces no recibió lo que pedía? ¿Cómo puede ser cierto, pues, que el Padre nos dará todo lo que pidamos en nombre de su Hijo, si un Apóstol pidió en nombre del Hijo verse libre de un ángel de Satanás y, sin embargo, su oración no fue atendida?