Recent Sermon
Confession and the Desire for Sanctity
Fr. Simons
This week of the liturgical year gives us two great examples of humility and fortitude in the lives of St. Philip Benizi and St. Bartholomew.
St. Augustine explains that the cure of the ten lepers from today’s Gospel is a figure of the sacrament of Penance. The disfiguring of the body cause by leprosy was seen as a visible sign of sin and its invisible corruption of the soul. Every Catholic should know that, although grace will be restored to the soul of a sinner with a single act of perfect contrition, that act includes the promise to confess one’s sins as soon as possible. If we wish to enter eternal life, it is not sufficient to merely avoid sin. Prayer and the burning desire for sanctity is necessary for every Catholic, if we are to walk before God and be perfect. That same command given to Abraham is given to each one of us.
From Our Archives
Love is Superior to Knowledge
Bp. Ward
St. Joseph of Cupertino is almost humorously referred to as the “Flying Saint,” but there are great lessons that every devout Catholic can derive from his life. From an early age he was known to be clumsy, forgetful, and lacking intellectual ability. After failing in his attempts at several trades, he was accepted, out of mercy, into the Capuchin order. Despite his many shortcomings, God rewarded his great love by miraculously guiding him to priestly ordination. When examining his life, we cannot help but appreciate the superiority of love to knowledge in the mind of God. Our Lord does not ask for our mind, He asks for our heart, and when we die we will be judged on love. The ecstasies and levitations witnessed during this saint’s life were so many proofs of God returning his love through the divine embrace of those mystic phenomena.
In the lives of St. Januarius and St. Matthew we are given vivid examples of loyalty, detachment, and docility to the Will of God. We do not worship the god of the deists, who abandons his creation. Our God, through His divine providence, watches over and provides for even our smallest needs. If we seek first the kingdom of God, everything else we need will be given to us.
