Friends in Christ, when Cortez and his men had reached Mexico, he urged his men to be brave and push into the country and fight, but they felt afraid and unsure and dreamed of returning to Spain. So Cortez burned all of their ships; he closed off the path to a return, so that they would put their heart into the job ahead.

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Our Lord today urges his followers to be prepared to give up everything in order to follow him. Often this passage is applied to the call to a priestly or a religious vocation, and rightly so: ‘He who gives up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children for my sake will receive a hundred times more – and eternal life.’ St. Luke’s gospel adds ‘a wife’ as something else to give up. So it is true, that Our Lord calls some to this renunciation literally.

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But he is speaking here to all of his followers, all of us. People who become Catholic sometimes are given a lot of hassles by their family or friends, Our Lord is saying, push on, keep going! A young girl was in our RCIA class; her mother was against her becoming Catholic, but she continued and was baptized. We must sacrifice in order to follow Jesus.

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But Christ is speaking too, about daily life. In each of our lives there is some nemesis, some weakness or fault – if we identify our primary fault, we have identified our path to heaven – fighting that fault. Every day there are things in our life that we must renounce:  bad companions, bad places, bad thoughts, – there is something that each of us must continue to say ‘no’ to, in order to follow Christ. It might be gossip, it might be impure desires, it could be greed or endless television-watching…. It could be an adulterous relationship which must be permanently destroyed. It could simply be fear, which is keeping us from taking a step we know in our life what the Lord is asking us to do.

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When I was unsure of my own vocation, I heard a Religious Sister say, ‘ Don’t count the costs.’ In other words, don’t sit and weigh benefits to this vs that, but do what the Lord wants, whatever the cost. Well this is true in even our daily struggles; we must be like Cortez who burned the ships and destroyed the path of return; as St. Paul said: ‘Forgetting what lies behind, I strain forward to what is ahead, I press on towards the goal, life on high in Christ Jesus Our Lord.’

Friends in Christ, these weeks we have returned to what is called ‘Ordinary Time.’ This is from Latin which really means ‘Counted time.’ Vestments and the veils, are green.

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Green is for growth. Plants grow, trees grow – so do souls. This is time for us, having finished the seasons of Lent and Easter, having meditated on the marvels God has done for us – this is now a time to return to the day-by-day effort to become better Christians.

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St. Paul often compares the Christian life to that of an athlete, competing in the Olympics. My nephews and niece are also really into sports. They have had their intense trainings for games and meets this past year, and the glory of the tournaments and even trophies; but now summer comes, and for them it is a period of toning up and polishing their skills: Jogging and swimming to develop themselves, so that next year they might compete at a higher level. So too Ordinary Time in the spiritual life.

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Christmas was the birth of Christ, Lent was Christ’s life of suffering, Easter was Christ’s time on earth in his resurrected body, until his Ascension. But then comes the period of his Mystical Body, the Church; now the Spirit of Christ lives in us, and in this time after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit wants to work in us, to coach us; not building a pre-fab mansion in us in a week, but rather a gradual growth, like a plant, which becomes a tree. 

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Ordinary Time is the growth of the Church on earth and growth of holiness in us. The only way this can happen is by our daily prayers. We rise and offer our day to God. Lord: ‘I offer everything today to you, for your glory.’ We pray each time we eat, and we think about the Lord during the day. The Angelus at noon, try to say the Rosary. At night, we kneel and thank God, confess our faults; ‘Help me to give you more glory tomorrow Lord.’

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Today, Christ tells the young man to follow him, totally. That man could not do it. But the Lord’s invitation remains, for each of us. Ordinary time is a time to do just that: follow Christ, especially in the day to day details of ordinary life. But there is nothing ‘ordinary’ about Ordinary time. 

Friends in Christ, today Our Lord gives his clear teaching on the sanctity of Holy Matrimony. ‘He who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery’

Many in the world consider marriage to be a throw-away convenience. But Mother Church has always praised this vocation of marriage. In his book, Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales has advice about marriage: He calls marriage the ‘nursery of Christianity’ because it peoples the earth with faithful souls who will become the elect of heaven.

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Writing in the year 1609, he says that the protection of marriage is of the highest importance to society, because married life is the foundation & source of society itself. (These words are applicable today, 400 years since he wrote that.) He says that he wishes Jesus and Mary would be invited to every marriage as they were at the wedding at Cana, but too many times Adonis and Venus are invited! Too many marriages begin without God.

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If instead of worldly love, God would be the love that binds marriage, it would really be an indissoluble union. When two pieces of wood are joined together with glue, it is easier to break them, than to separate them. But Christ unites husband and wife not with glue, but with his own blood.

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Regarding husbands, he says they should follow the example of St. Louis, who was so austere with himself, denying himself all sorts of comforts, yet he was often accused of being too lavish with the love and affection he showed to his wife.

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St. Francis goes on to give advice to wives: The woman should guard her good reputation jealously, he says. Fear anything which might soil your reputation. Be suspicious of anyone who praises your beauty or charm, because those who praise what is not for sale, are usually tempted to steal it. If anyone criticizes your husband do not stand for it. St. Francis does not have a problem with women wearing earrings; after all, he says Isaac sent earrings to Rebecca. He thinks that earrings are a mystical sign of a husbands love. They signify that her ears are her husband’s possession, and that they are carefully guarded from anything except pure words; just as poison of the body enters through the mouth, poison to the soul enters through the ears.

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Man and woman today must protect their marriage from the secret traps of so many enemies. And if they do, Holy Matrimony is a beautiful vocation on earth.

Friends in Christ, in the first reading from St. James, there is a warning to the greedy: ‘Come now you rich, you have stored up treasures, you withheld wages from the workers, but their cries have reached the Lord of Hosts.’

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We see here the evil of greed in the heart; the one who has this sin, so obsessed with posessions  his own wealth, refuses to pay his workers a fair wage. There is a direct connection between the 10th commandment and the 7th. ‘Thou shall not covet’ warns us, because if we covet, then we need to hear ‘Thou shall not steal.’

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There are many ways that we steal; sometimes outright: a child taking money from the mother’s purse, or a person shoplifting, switching tags on merchandise. Many today are not afraid of going against God, they think only of what they can get away with, and if that means stealing, they do it. They think God does not see.

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If a person cheats on his taxes, (Rom 13:7) or a student cheats on a test, he is guilty of theft – theft from the government and theft from his neighbor. To waste time on company hours is stealing from our employer, and it is also theft to refuse to pay back our debts. St. Paul says, ‘Do not be deceived: thieves will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.’ (1 Cor 6:10) And this is echoed by the psalmist today, who says that such people will not see the Light, and will end in the ‘nether world.’

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This sin CAN be forgiven by God – we must repent and confess our sin; but something more is then needed. We must make restitution – return what was taken. If a person stole something and is not able to return it to the owner, then he should give the money or its equivalent to charity. He may not keep it.  Also, if we find something that has been lost, (Lev 6:2) before we keep it, we must try to find the rightful owner. and of course we also may not buy goods that we suspect are stolen.

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In parts of Europe, whole families are thieves, and work together to pick pocket people on the trains and buses. Around here I know a father and daughter team who go around town robbing. A person who teaches a child to steal, according to Jesus, is in big trouble. Our Lord today warns against leading innocent people into sin; he says it would better for them if a huge stone were tied to their neck and they were thrown into the sea! It is a big sin to lead others into evil.

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When does theft become a mortal sin? In two cases: If the thing taken is of significant value, or, if when taking it, it causes sadness or hardship for the other person. Taking someone’s writing-pen normally would not be a mortal sin; but if it was the treasured pen of a grandfather, it could be a serious sin.

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Let us therefore fight against our greed and covetousness, and especially teach young people never to be cheaters or thieves.

Friends in Christ, today in the Epistle of St. James we read: ‘for those who know the right thing to do, and do not do it – it is a sin.’

Here, the Holy Scriptures refer to what we call ‘sins of omission.’ In the Confiteor at Mass, we say: I confess to Almighty God, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do. ‘What I failed to do’ – these are the sins of omission.

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If a person feels that they are living a good life and can’t think of any sins they might have, this is the place to look: sins of omission. These are sins we commit, not by doing some sinful action, but by failing to act. All things being equal, a sin of omission is usually less serious than a sin of action. So when the cashier wrongly gives you a $5 discount, and you keep quiet, this is a sin. It is not as bad as intentionally stealing $5, but it is a sin.

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Parents commit serious sins of omission in not bringing their child to mass, or by not teaching them their religion. Lies can be told by what is NOT said. Aging parents can be neglected by what one fails to do, and we can sin by being silent when the True Faith must be defended or explained.

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Sometimes we feel prompted to do or say something, and we hesitate, we are afraid, and this leads to a restless conscience. If we pay attention to our conscience, we will start to notice the guilt from things we should have done. Our conscience will be peaceful however, if we always act so as to have no regrets over what we failed to do.

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There’s actually a poem called, THE SIN OF OMISSION (by Margaret Sangster)

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It isn’t the thing you do dear,

It’s the thing you leave undone

That gives you a bit of heartache

At the setting of the sun.    

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The tender word forgotten,

The letter you did not write,

The flowers you did not send, dear,

Are your haunting ghosts at night.

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The stone you might have lifted

Out of a brother’s way;

The bit of heartfelt counsel

You were too hurried to say;

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life is all to short, dear,

And sorrow all too great,

To suffer our slow compassion

That waits ‘till it’s too late.

Friends in Christ, a book that I like to read every few years is called ‘Spiritual Combat.’ If we ourselves are reflecting much on our lives, we know that we each have some sort of spiritual combat going on. Everyone has some ‘Achilles heel’ that presses us, or tempts us.

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Whether it is anger, or lust, or greed, or gossip, or – whatever – it is that ‘thing’ that, if we fail in it, we feel defeated or sad or disgusted with ourselves. Often our particular problem is a passion, and St. James refers to this today in his Epistle: ‘Where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?’

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Passions are different for each person, usually depending on one’s temperament. For the Choleric, anger is usually his challenge. For the Phlegmatic, sensuality, food, lust can be his challenge. Whatever the passion, we must fight, and this is the spiritual combat of our lives.

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St. James gives us a plan for this combat: When a passion arises, call on God in an act of humility, and then turn your attention to something else; in this way we defeat the devil’s temptations. ‘Submit yourselves to God,’ he says. ‘Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.’

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Acknowledging our dependence on God’s help, admitting that we are sinners in need; this brings the Lord’s power to us, that we can conquer any enemy. ‘Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.’ So, if resentment starts to build in our mind, or lust is making it’s way into our heart, pray, fix your mind on something else, get busy, and in this way you will defeat the devil. But it takes humility to admit that we need the Lord.

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Francisca del Valle says, (p. 69-72) in Satan’s battle against us, God often seems to remain silent; he allows the Enemy to attack, even prepares the way for it. As if hiding, God allows us to directly confront the Enemy, especially in our passions; but if we call out for assistance, we find God’s power secretly within, and then when Satan is crushed and defeated in humiliation, our victory is the more glorious. And that is how God wants it. He wants to give his glory to us. So let’s give God some victories this week.

Friends in Christ, C. S. Lewis, the great spiritual writer once said that evil does not only occur with famous criminals; it is also found in clean, carpeted, offices by quiet men in suits. Hell, he says, is probably more like our modern office complexes, where relationships are for personal gain, friendships are pretended alliances, and to be stabbed in the back, is commonplace.

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One of the least confessed, but yet most common sins, is jealousy, or envy. In the Epistle of St. James today, St. Paul says that jealousy and selfish ambition is from the devil, it is ‘demonic.’  

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The jealous person is sad over another person’s good. When someone else enjoys success, jealousy rears its ugly head. When a person is the jealous type, if they fail at something, they pout, and sulk, and are disgruntled that other succeed, like the Grinch who stole Christmas, who is angered every time someone else is happy.

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St. John Chysostom says, that as a moth gnaws at a garment, so does jealousy consume a man from the inside.’ There is an ancient Jewish story which tells how an angel visited a shopkeeper and offered him anything he wished, with one condition: whatever he would wish for, his main rival, the other shop owner, would get twice as much. What to do? In his envy, he finally came to a request: he asked to be blinded in one eye!

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Envy and jealousy detest that someone else should be blessed or succeed. It is not wrong to see a friend own a nice car or a nice dress, and wish to have the same, one day. Or to desire a promotion, or an honor, or a higher salary, for good reasons. But if we desire the downfall of another, or resent someone’s honors, or choose to get ahead by stepping on another – this is jealousy. Jealousy is rooted in pride, and comes to full flower in hatred.

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Today we see Our Lord curing this man who is oppressed by some kind of spirit or psychological malady; such afflictions are emblems for the poison of sin that wreaks havoc on us, and jealousy is one of those, for which we must pray the Lord to free us. We should heed the advice of St. James today: ‘Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy and good fruits.

Friends in Christ, tonight we conclude this 4 part series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This Paraclete, this Consoler, is very much on our minds as we prepare for Pentecost. We have spoken before about how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit work in us, as divine inspirations, movements in the soul, which in a moment give us an idea, or a strength, or the desire that we need, all at once.

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Maybe at times we’ve experienced these passing wisps of grace, an inspiration while on a visit to the Blessed Sacrament or on a retreat, a sudden courage to say or act – or an unexplained burst of fervor and love.

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Today we wish to speak of how to draw more of these Gifts down upon us – how to cultivate the Gifts of the Spirit in our life.[i]

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The Gifts are present in the soul whenever we are in the State of Grace. They exist there as supernatural faculties. It is incredible that there are some people who, during long periods of their life do not access them. In order that we might come to a full supernatural development, we need these Gifts to be actualized in our soul.

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St. Thomas says: ‘The moral virtues precede the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in order to acquire the docility which the Gifts confer, we must conquer our passions and vices and form habits of prudence, humility, obedience, meekness, chastity – we must be living the moral life. One cannot follow the inspirations of grace, if a person is troubled by anger, or lust, or stubbornness.

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Before being led by the motions of grace, one must be observing the commandments and have triumphed over pride. This is the teaching of St. Teresa and so many others as well. Cajetan says, a person must tame his passions, cultivate meekness, patience and humility in order to rise to the contemplative life.

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So in other words, accessing Gifts of the Spirit in our life, requires first, a good person, to build on. We must be a good – a virtuous person first, in order to bring alive in us the great Gifts of this Holy Spirit.

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[i]  see Tanquerey, pp. 612-614.

Friends in Christ, in preparation for Pentecost, we have spoken recently about the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Gifts are different from the virtues, and this is something we can speak about today.

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Father Tanquery, in his famous book on the spiritual life[i] says that God can act in us in two ways: One way, is to accommodate himself to our human mode of action. This is what he does in the case of the virtues. Here, WE take the initiative in doing good actions, and as we know, if we do a certain good action over and over, it becomes a habit in us, and this is a virtue. So if we act with courage, again and again, we can develop a virtue of being courageous. But in developing such virtues in ourself, God leaves US to take the initiative, although we still act under his grace.

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But in the case of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, God takes the initiative. Before we have had the time to reflect or ponder, he sends us divine intuitions, and inspirations. Unlike the case of the virtues, we do not plan these actions, but instead we suddenly receive promptings, and invitations to act. By consenting to these Gifts of God, these movements in our soul, well, we are being led by the Holy Spirit, just like the saints.

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In the case of the virtues, we reflect and make choices. But under the influence of the Gifts we allow ourselves be led by a divine inspiration which suddenly and without any reflection on our part, urges us and empowers us, to do or know such and such a thing. To practice virtue is like rowing in a boat. To use the Gifts, is to sail along by the wind.

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The spiritual masters say this: ‘A child who walks slowly, with help from his mother is like the practice of virtue helped by grace. But when the child is taken up in the mother’s arms and travels most rapidly, this is to be carried by the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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The harpist who strikes the strings of the harp is like the work of virtue. But when the Holy Ghost himself touches the strings of the heart, the soul is then under the wonderful influence, of his Gifts.

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[i] Tanquery, p. 610-11

Friends in Christ, again today, in the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Holy Spirit is guiding the early Church. St. Paul says, ‘Compelled by the Holy Spirit, I go to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, except that in one city after another the Holy Spirit has been warning me.’

We wish today to continue our study of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Having covered the 3 Intellectual Gifts of Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom – today we wish to discuss Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and Fear of the Lord.

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The Gift of COUNSEL gives us a certain ‘instinct’ to make the right decision in difficult circumstances. While normally we have to reason out our decisions, by the Gift of Counsel, the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart, and in an instant, makes us understand what we must do. Fr. Tanquery[i] tells us, by the Gift of Counsel, the soul is able to see the way; it goes with confidence up steep and daunting paths, and it knows how to wait for the acceptable time.

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Then we have the Gift of Fortitude. This Gift gives a supernatural impulse to the will, enabling it to do great things joyfully and fearlessly despite obstacles. Unlike the virtue, also called Fortitude, Fortitude as a Gift of the Spirit is not the result of our effort, but rather, the Spirit takes hold of the soul and acts. It also enables us to persevere in difficult activity.

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The Gift of PIETY helps us to love God as our dear Father, to have a child-like trust in his Providence, and to obey him because we love him. Living the Gift of Piety means that our tasks and duties of life, however difficult, are done with the joy of pleasing our Heavenly Father. This Piety leads us also to a trusting, faithful love for holy Mother church, for the Blessed Virgin and the saints, who are all part of the family of God.

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The Gift called FEAR OF THE LORD is not a fear of God’s anger or of hell. Fear of the Lord is a Gift of the Holy Spirit, who does not want us in any way to dread our Dear Father in heaven. Fear of the Lord is the wholesome fear that a child has who loves his Papa very much, and would never dream of disobeying him or displeasing him. If you hear a person say, ‘well, its only a venial sin, go ahead….’ you are hearing a person who does not have this Gift at all. Acting on the Gift of Fear of the Lord means wishing to never displease God in even the smallest way.

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So let’s pray in these coming days, and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us a special grace. 

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[i] see The Spiritual Life, by Tanquery, p. 624-629