On
this day the Church not only makes mention in the office of the
priest, but also in the Mass, of the two different Advents of Christ,
that by His first gracious advent may be gladdened, and by His last
terrible coming at the day of judgment we may be impressed with
salutary fear. With this intention she cries out at the Introit:
INTROIT
People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the
nations; and the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard
in the joy of your heart (Isaiah 30:30). Give ear, O thou that rulest
Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep (Psalms 79). Glory be
to the Father.
COLLECT
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thine
only-begotten Son: that through His advent we may be worthy to serve
Thee with purified minds; who livest and reignest with God the
Father, in union with the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever. Amen.
EPISTLE
(Romans 15:4-13).
Brethren,
what things soever were written, were written for our learning, that
through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have
hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one
mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one
mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath
received you unto the honor of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was
minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify
God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to
thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And
again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again:
Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and magnify him, all ye people. And
again, Isaiah saith: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that
shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.
What
does St. Paul teach in this epistle?
The
Jews and Gentiles who had been converted to the Christian faith were
disputing among themselves at Rome, in regard to abstinence and the
use of certain kinds of food, reproaching each other severely; the
Jews boasted that the Savior, according to promise, was born of their
nation, thus claiming Him from the Gentiles, who, in their turn,
reproached the Jews for their ingratitude in having crucified Him. To
restore harmony St. Paul shows that each had reason, the Jews and
Gentiles alike, to praise God, to whose grace and goodness they owed
all; that each had in Him a Redeemer in whom they could hope for
salvation; and he warns them not to deprive themselves of that hope
by contentions. By these words the Apostle also teaches that we too,
have great reason to praise God, and to thank Him for calling us,
whose forefathers were heathens, to the Christian faith, and to guard
against losing our salvation by pride, envy, impurity, etc.
Why
should we read the Scriptures?
That
we may know what we are to believe, and do in order to be saved, as
all Scripture inspired by God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to
correct, to instruct in justice (2 Timothy 3:16); that we may learn
from what Christ has done for us, and the saints for Christ, to be
patient in our sufferings, and to be consoled and encouraged by their
example. To derive this benefit from the Scriptures, the Catholic
must read them by the light of that Spirit through whose assistance
they came into existence, who lives and remains for ever with the
Church: that is, the light of the Holy Ghost must be sought, that
their meaning may be read according to the sense of the Church and
not be explained according to the reader's judgment. For he who reads
the holy Scriptures by the light of his own private judgment, must,
as experience shows, of necessity diverge from the right path, become
entangled in manifold doubts, and at last, lose the faith entirely.
For this reason the Catholic Church has very properly limited the
reading of the Bible, not as has been falsely asserted,
unconditionally forbidden it, but she allows the reading of those
editions only, which are accompanied by notes and explanations that
the unity of faith may not be disturbed, and that among Catholics
there may not be the terrible bewilderment of the human intellect
which has taken place among the different heretical sects who have
even declared murder, bigamy and impurity to be permissible on the
authority of the Bible. We are to consider also, that Christ never
commanded the Bible to be written or read, and that not the readers
but the hearers and the followers of the word of God by which is
meant those who hear the word of God in sermons, and keep it, will be
saved!
Further
instruction in regard to the doctrine of faith on this subject will
be found in the "Instruction for Easter Tuesday."
Why
is God called a God of patience, of consolation, and of hope?
He
is called a God of patience because He awaits our repentance, of
consolation, because He gives us grace to be patient in crosses and
afflictions, and so consoles us inwardly, that we become not
faint‑hearted; of hope, because He gives us the virtue of hope,
and because He desires to be Himself the reward we are to expect
after this life.
ASPIRATION
O God of patience, of consolation and of hope, fill Our hearts
with peace and joy, and grant that we may become perfect in all good,
and by faith, hope and charity, attain the promised salvation.
GOSPEL
(Matthew 11:2-10).
At
that time, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending
two of his disciples, he said to him: Art thou he that art to come,
or do we look for another? And Jesus making answer, said to them: Go
and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise
again, the poor have the gospel preached to them: and blessed is he
that shall not be scandalized in me. And when they went their way,
Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What went you
out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But what
went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they
that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But
what went you out to see? a prophet? yea I tell you, and more than a
prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
Angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
Why
was John in prison?
He
was in prison, and lost his life, because he had rebuked king Herod
for his adulterous marriage with his brother's wife (Matthew 14:310).
Truth, as the proverb says, is certainly a very beautiful mother, but
she usually bears a very ugly daughter: Hatred. St. John experienced
that speaking the truth very often arouses hatred and enmity against
the speaker. Let us learn from him to speak the truth always, when
duty requires it, even if it brings upon us the greatest misfortunes,
for, if with St. John we patiently bear persecution, with St. John we
shall become martyrs for truth.
Why
did St. John send his disciples to Christ?
That
they should learn from Christ, who had become illustrious by His
teachings and miracles, that He was really the promised Messiah, the
Savior of the world, whom they should follow.
Why
did Christ say to the disciples of St. John: "Go and say to
John, the blind see, the lame walk, etc."?
That
they should, by His miracles, judge Him to be the Messiah because the
prophets had predicted that He would work such miracles (Isaiah
35:5-6). "Christ," says St. Cyril, "proved that He was
the Messiah by the grandeur as well as by the number of His
miracles."
Why
does Christ add: "And blessed is he who shall not be scandalized
in me"?
Christ
used these words in reference to those who would be scandalized by
His poverty, humility and ignominious death on the cross, and who for
these reasons would doubt and despise Him, and cast Him away; though
"man," as St. Gregory says, "owes all the more love to
the Lord, his God, the more humiliations He has borne for him."
What
was our Lord's object in the questions He asked concerning St. John?
His
object was to remove from St. John all suspicion of failing in faith
in Him; and to praise the perseverance with which, although
imprisoned and threatened with death, he continued to fill his office
of preacher, thus constituting him an example to all preachers,
confessors and superiors, that they may never be deterred by human
respect, or fear of man, or other temporal considerations, from
courageously fulfilling their duties. Our Lord commended also
rigorous penance, exhibited by St. John's coarse garments and simple
food, that we may learn, from his example, penance and mortification.
Why
does Christ say that John was "more than a prophet"?
Because
St. John was foretold by the prophet Malachias as was no other
prophet; because of all the prophets he was the only one who with his
own eyes saw Christ and could point Him out, and was the one to
baptize Him: and because like an angel, a messenger of God, he
announced the coming of the Savior, and prepared the way for the
Lord.
How
did St. John prepare the way for the Savior?
By
his sermons on penance, and by his own penitential life He endeavored
to move the hearts of the Jews, that by amending their lives, they
might prepare to receive the grace of the Messiah, for God will not
come with His grace into our hearts if we do not prepare His way by
true repentance.
ASPIRATION O Lord Jesus, by the praise Thou didst accord to Thy
forerunner St. John, for his firmness and austerities, inflame our
hearts with love to imitate his steadfastness and penance, that we
may never do anything to please man which may be displeasing to Thee;
grant us also Thy grace that we too, like St. John, may have those
who are confided to our care, instructed in the Christian doctrine.
CONSOLATION IN SUFFERING
"The
God of patience and of comfort, the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing" (Romans 15:5,13).
What
gives us the greatest consolation in adversities?
The
strong and fervent belief that each and every thing that happens to
us, comes to us for our own good from God, and that whatever evil
befalls us, is by the will or permission of God. Good things and
evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God (Sirach
11:14). If we have received good things at the hand of God (Job
2:10), saith the pious job in his affliction, "why should we not
receive evil?"
We
should be fully convinced that without the permission of God not a
single hair of our head shall perish (Luke 21:18), much less can any
other evil be done to us by man or devil (Job 1); we should have a
steadfast confidence that if we ask Him, God can and will assist us
in our sufferings, if it be for our salvation. Can a woman forget her
infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she
should forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee
in my hands (Isaiah 49:15-16); we should hope for abundant reward in
the future life, which we will merit by patience in our sufferings,
for that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation,
worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory
(II Corinthians 4:17); we should remember that all complaints and
murmurs against the dispensation of God are useless, and lead only to
harm and shame; Who hath resisted Him, and hath had peace? (Job 9:4)
we should have a vivid remembrance of our sins, for which we have
long since deserved the eternal punishments of hell - hence the
well-known saying of St. Augustine: O Lord, here cut, here burn, but
spare me in eternity. No other way leads to the kingdom of heaven
than the way of the cross, which Christ Himself, His sorrowing
mother, and all the saints had to tread. Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26)
Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts
14:21). And we should not forget that sorrows and adversities are
signs of God's love, and manifest proofs of being His chosen ones.
Whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth, and He scourgeth every son whom
He receiveth (Hebrews 12:6, compare Hebrews 12:7-11).
PRAYER
IN SORROW O almighty, kind and merciful
God! who hast said: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalms 49:15), behold
relying upon Thy word, I take refuge in Thee in my trouble. Give
honor to Thy name, therefore, and deliver me, if it be pleasing to
Thee and beneficial for me, that all may know, Thou art our only
help. Amen.
– Goffine’s
Devout Instructions
