Traditional Catholic Teaching - THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Jesus, answering, said:
'Were not ten made clean? and where are the nine?'

St. Luke 17: 17.

By asking what had become of the nine who did not return to thank Him for curing them, our Lord showed plainly His displeasure at their ingratitude. He has often conferred upon us a spiritual benefit analogous to that which He bestowed upon the ten lepers. At our baptism He cleansed us from the leprosy of sin and although He repeatedly restores to us the grace that we have lost, we do not all return to Him, with real efforts to correct our faults. He seems to say: "I have shown mercy to many, why do they not come back to me? Why do they not even take one step towards Me by trying to do right?" The only possible answer is that many never deny themselves at all, and especially never practise any inward mortification, without which no one can draw near to Christ.

If we wish to be truly mortified, we must wage war incessantly upon the egoism to which we are so prone, and upon every form of selfishness, for this is one great reason why we fall into sin. Even if a man refrains from obviously sinful wishes and desires, he is still restless and disturbed, inclining now in one direction, now in another, as long as he refers all his aims and objects solely to himself. His nature is so undisciplined that he regards as good only what pleases him. If things occur in accordance with his wishes, he is proud and gives way to exaggerated delight; but if his hopes are frustrated, he gives way to excessive sadness, bad temper or even despair. In all these ways does selfishness manifest itself; it often lurks behind specious pretexts and alleges motives that seem excellent, but in reality a selfish man aims only at the gratification of his own tastes, whereas a truly pious man aims at peace with God. A selfish man complains of everything, a good man sees God's will everywhere. A selfish man has recourse to all possible means, though they may be sinful, of acquiring what he wants; a good man makes use only of such methods as are pleasing to God. A selfish man is always wondering if he feels happy; a good man inquires first of all what will conduce to God's honour and his neighbour's welfare.

An egoist idolizes self; he considers nothing but his own tastes, which guide him in all his actions and stand between him and God, obscuring all that is higher, preventing him from even desiring heaven and thus causing him to be excluded from it. He who seeks nothing but himself will only find evil on his way through life; and even on his deathbed, when it is too late, he will have only himself, and a knowledge of his own heart. It was in this sense that our Lord said: "He that loveth his life shall lose it" (John 12: 25). Is a selfish man happy in this world? He may be successful in all his undertakings and perhaps consider himself happy, but no one with higher thoughts and aspirations would agree with him. One who is completely self-centred, and concerned only with earthly pleasures, loses all taste for what is noble and honorable; in course of time he forgets God altogether and cares for men only in so far as he can use them for his own advantage; he may feel comfortable after his own fashion, but he knows nothing at all of the ardor and enthusiasm inspired by religion and virtue, nor of the sweet, consoling intimacy with God, that raises us far above this world with all its petty triviality. He never rejoices at the prosperity of another, nor sympathizes with his neighbor's sorrows. It happens, however, far more frequently, that an egoist suffers misery, even on earth, and has no temporal comfort. He strives to gratify desires, and at the moment when he seems to have succeeded they prove worthless. He feels solitary and forsaken, because he does not cling to God, who alone can never deceive or abandon him; He is embittered against God, himself and the world, and suffers from the deception for which he only is to blame. Many an aching heart is tormented by these results of selfishness, and the egoist resembles a madman, who turns his weapons against himself. How many must acknowledge that they would have occupied a different position and led a different life, if, in their egoistic folly, they had not interfered with the wise designs of God, undermined their own happiness and brought misery upon themselves!

We ought to try with all our might to rid ourselves more and more of all self-seeking; and the way in which this may be accomplished is stated very simply but forcibly by Thomas a Kempis (Book I, ch. 3): "He, to whom all things are one, and who referreth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may be steadfast in heart and abide in God at peace." This then ought to be our aim — to keep in view the one thing for which we live and move and are, namely, God's holy will. All that we do or avoid, all our joys and sorrows, must harmonize with His will, which we ought to see in all things, so that it becomes the guide of our actions, the reward of our exertions, encouragement to suffer and hope of compensation.

In this way we shall always be at peace with God. Conformity with His will is, according to Thomas a Kempis, the weapon with which we can overcome selfishness. He does not mean the sort of resignation which, in a defiant though discouraged manner, submits to God's will without cooperating with it, and lets itself be borne along, like an empty boat by the waves; nor does he mean that false resignation, which manifests itself only in words, and resents the slightest opposition to one's own will, but he refers to the Christian submission that asks at every step: "What does God wish me to do?" and when His will is known, works zealously and unweariedly in union with it, enduring
whatever enduring comes day by day, however painful it may be, with uncomplaining patience. Perhaps the most beautiful petition in the "Our Father" is, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If we really meant this prayer, we could not fail to improve; but it is not enough to express a desire in words — we must show our good resolution in all our actions and in our whole behaviour, and then it will be God's will for us to be happy forever in heaven. Amen.

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