Latin Mass Notes 5th Sunday After Easter

8/14/2019 Latin Mass Notes 5th Sunday After Easter

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Latin Mass Instructions For The Fifth Sunday After Easter May

17, 2009

In thanks for the redemption the Church sings at the Introit: With the voice of joy make this to be

heard. Alleluia. Publish to the utmost the bounds of the earth: that the Lord hath redeemed his people.

Alleluia. Alleluia (Isaiah 48:20). Shout with joy to God, all the earth: sing a psalm to his name: giveglory to his praise (Psalm 65). Glory be to the Father, &c.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH: O God, from whom all that is good proceeds: grant that Thy people,by Thy inspiration, may resolve on what is right, and by Thy direction, put it into practice. Through

our Lord Jesus Christ &c.

EPISTLE:

But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his owncountenance in a glass.

For he beheld himself and went his way and presently forgot what manner of man he was.But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein, not becoming a

forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed.And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this

man's religion is vain.

Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows intheir tribulation and to keep one's self unspotted from this world.

EXPLANATION:

True piety, as St James here says, consists in fulfilling the divine will heard and recognized; in

subduing the tongue, the most dangerous and injurious of all our members; in love and charity towards

the poor and destitute, and in contempt of the world, against the false principals, foolish customs, andscandalous examples of which we should guard, that we may not become infected and polluted bythem. Test thyself, whether thy life be of this kind. O Jesus! Director of the soul! Give me the grace of

true piety as St James describes its practice.

GOSPEL:

And in that day you shall not ask me any thing. Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father any

thing in my name, he will give it you.Hitherto, you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be

full.

These things I have spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when I will no longer speak to you in

proverbs, but will shew you plainly of the Father. In that day, you shall ask in my name: and I say notto you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me

and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father and am come into the world:

again I leave the world and I go to the Father. His disciples say to him: Behold, now thou speakestplainly and speakest no proverb. Now we know that thou knowest all things and thou needest not that

any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

What is meant by asking in the name of Jesus?


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By this is meant praying with confidence in the merits of jess, "Who,"as St Cyril says, "being God

with the Father, gives us the good, and as mediator carries our petitions to His Father." The Church

therefore ends all her prayers with the words: "Through our Lord, Jesus Christ." It is also meant to

pray for that which Christ Himself wishes to have given us, that is, whatsoever belongs to our soul'ssalvation; for to pray for temporal things merely in order to live happily in this world, is not pleasing to

Christ and avails us nothing. "He who prays for what hinders salvation," writes St Augustine, "does

not pray in the name of Jesus." Thus Jesus said to His disciples: Hitherto you have asked nothing inmy name, "because," as St Gregory says, "They did not ask for that which conduces to eternal

salvation."

Why is it that sometimes God does not hear our prayers?

Because we often pray for things that are injurious, and like a good father, God denies them to us, in

order to give us something better; because he wishes to prove our patience and perseverance in prayer;because we generally do not pray as we ought, for to be pleasing to God, prayer should be made when

in a state of grace and with confidence in Christ's merits, for the prayer of a just man availeth much

with God (James 5:16); we must pray with humility and submission to the will of God, with attention,fervor, sincerity, and with perseverance.

When should we especially pray?

At morning, noon, and night, before and after meals, and as often as the clock strikes; for as God thinks

every moment of us and overloads us with His grace, it is but right, that we should think often duringthe day of Him, with thanks for His blessings. We should also prayer during the Church service, or if

prevented from attending Church, at home; in time of severe temptation; at the reception of the holy

Sacraments; when commencing any important undertaking, and at the hour of death.

How can we in accordance with Christ's teachings (Luke 18:1), pray at all time?

But raising our hearts to God at different times during the day, for which purpose the aspirations, asthey are called, are very useful, these are acts of faith, hope, love, humility, &c., which are aroused in

our hearts; by short ejaculations as: "O Jesus! grant me to love Thee! Thee only do I desire to love! O

be merciful to me! Lord hasten to help me!" and by making the good intention, when commencing ourwork, to do all for the love of God, according to His most holy will.

What is the signification of the different ceremonies Catholics use at their prayers?

The general signification is, that God must be served, honored, and adored, not only with the soul but

with the body as well; when we pray aloud, we mean to praise God, not only with the mind but also

with our lips; when we pray with bowed and uncovered head, with folded, uplifted, or outstretchedhands, with bent knees, bowed and prostrate body, we show our reverence and subjection to the

majesty of God, before whom we are but dust and ashes, cannot enough humble ourselves. These

different ceremonies of prayer are frequently mentioned in both the Old and New Testament, and Christand His apostles used them, as for instance, the bending of the knees, falling on the face &c.

What is the best prayer?

The "Our Father," which Christ Himself taught us, and commands us to repeat. It is, therefore, when

said with devotion, the most powerful of prayers (Matt 6; Luke 11).


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SHORT EXPLANATION OF THE "OUR FATHER".

Of what does the Our Father consist?

It consists of an address, as an introduction to the prayer, and of seven petitions in which is contained

all that we should ask for the honor of God, and our own salvation. The address is this: "Our Father

who art in heaven."

To what does the word "Father" encourage us?

To the love of God who made us, by His Son, His children, and heirs of his kingdom; to thankfulness

for the immeasurable grace of our creation, preservation, redemption, and sanctification; to confidence

in the infinite goodness and mercy with which God, the best Father, watches over us; and to the firmresolution of remaining always the good children of this good Father.

What does the word "Our" signify?

That in the communion of saints we should pray for and with all the children of God; that we should behumble and preserve brotherly love towards all men.

Why, since God is everywhere present, is it said, "Who art in heaven?"

T remind us that we are not yet in our fatherland, and that our true home is heaven; to urge us to longwith all desire for heaven, where our Father is, and where He has prepared us our inheritance.

For what do we ask in the first petition: "Hallowed be Thy name?"

That we and all men may truly know, love, and serve God; thus we ask: that all unbelievers may be

converted to God, and to the knowledge of truth; that all heresies and seducing arts may lose theirpower; that all vices may be uprooted, and all sinners brought to true repentance, and the practice ofvirtue; that we ourselves may say, think, do nothing which is unbecoming in a child of God; and that all

Christians may become more and more pious and saintly.

For what do we pray in the third petition: "Thy kingdom come?"

That the Church of God, the kingdom of Christ, may reach over the whole earth, and the kingdom ofsin and the devil may be destroyed; that Christ may reign in our hearts and in the hearts of all; and that

God may deign to receive us, having well ended our course on earth, into the kingdom of heaven.

For what do we ask in the third petition: "Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven?"

We ask for heavenly strength, that the will of God ,may be done by us as cheerfully and joyfully as it is

by the angels and saints in heaven, and that we may humbly resign ourselves to it in all things, howeverhard it may be to do so. We connect this petition of promise, that we will not only be faithful to God's

commandments, but that we will also accept and bear all that His holy providence may impose upon us

or upon others.

In these three petitions we seek, as taught by Christ, first the kingdom of God, that all the rest may be


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added unto us (Lk 12:31).

For what do we ask in the fourth petition: "Give us this day our daily bread?"

For all that we need for the well being of our supernatural and physical life, which is all comprised of

the world "bread": as the necessary daily food, the word of God, the grace to do good, the body of our

Lord in the Blessed Sacrament; herein is included the prayer, that God would prevent lighting and hail,failure of crops, and other damages, but give, on the contrary, fruitful weather.

Why does it say, "this day" and "daily?"

The words "this day" signify, that we should put away all unnecessary cares, placing our confidence in

God who will each day give us the day's necessary food; by the word "daily" we are taught to avoid all

wast of food, and to eat only as much as is necessary; for he who wastes his food, eats not merely hisdaily bread, but the bread of many days.

What do we ask for in the fifth petition: "Forgive us our trespasses?"

We ask forgiveness, as poor sinners, for the debts which we daily make to Bod by our sins, promising

in return not that our debtors, that is, those who have injured us, shall someday be forgiven, but thatthey are already forgiven; those who make this petition and yet live in enmity towards their neighbor,

lie in the face of God, and will not receive forgiveness (Mk 11:25-26).

What do we ask for in the sixth petition: "Lead us not into temptation?"

In this it is asked, that God will avert from us all temptations, either entirely or not abandon us in them,

as we too often deserve, but strengthen us that we may not consent to temptations form the world, theflesh, and the devil; we cannot, indeed, be entirely free from them in this world, they are even

necessary and useful for our salvation: for without temptation there is no combat, without combat no

victory, and without victory no crown.

What do we ask for in the seventh petition: "Deliver us from evil?"

That God will deliver us from the only real evil, sin, and from the occasions of it, also from unprovided

death and from hell, and also that He may keep off temporal evils, such as war, famine, pestilence,

&c.~Excerpted from an EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS FOR THE SUNDAYS,

HOLY DAYS, AND FESTIVALS OF THE YEAR, by Leonhard Goffine.

The following, including the excerpt from the Catechism of the

Council of Trent is taken from A Parochial Course of Doctrinal

Instruction by Charles Jerome Callan.

INTRODUCTION. In the text of to-day's Gospel our Lord refers

to God as His Father, because He is the natural Son of the

Father. But God is also our Father, inasmuch as we are His

adopted children through grace (see outline for Trinity Sun-

day, No. I). Hence in the Lord's Prayer we address God as

"our Father who art in heaven."


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I. God is called Father, 1. He is our Creator, who made us

out of nothing to His own image and likeness. 2. God is our

Ruler and Governor, who with paternal care watches over our

lives and provides for our needs. 3. God has made us in the

Sacrament of Baptism His own sons by adoption: "You have

received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba

(Father)" (Rom. viii. 15).

II. God is called our Father, 1. This shows that God is not

the Father of some particular individuals only, but of all men;

and that consequently we are all brethren one of another and of

Christ. 2. The word our teaches us that we should ask favors

from God for our neighbor as well as ourselves. Hence St. Ambrose

calls the Lord's Prayer the fraternal prayer.

III. God is called our Father who is in heaven, 1. God is

everywhere present. 2. God is said to be especially in heaven,

because there the greatness of His glory is manifested, and be-

cause the words " in heaven " are calculated to raise our mindsand hearts from earthly to spiritual things. 3. As the term

Father is calculated to fill us with confidence, so the words in

heaven are intended to inspire in us awe and reverence for God.

CONCLUSION, 1. We should always pray with filial confidence,

knowing that God loves us as a Father. 2. We should love our

neighbor and pray for him, because God is the Father of all.

3. We should pray with devotion and ask for heavenly things

since our Father is in heaven, and is the source of every good.

From the Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part IV

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven

PREFATORY WORDS TO THE LORD'S PRAYER

As this form of Christian prayer, delivered by Jesus Christ,

is of such importance as to have required the above prefatory

words, which inspire those who approach God piously to

approach Him also more confidently, it becomes the duty of

the pastor to premise a distinct and perspicuous exposition ofthem. The pious Christian will thus have recourse to prayer

with increased alacrity, knowing that in prayer he communes

with God as with a father. 1 To consider the words alone which

compose this preface, they are indeed very few in number; but

looking to the matter, they are of the highest importance, and

are replete with mysteries.

GOD, WHY CALLED "FATHER"


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Father. The first word which by the command and institution

of our Lord we utter in (the Greek and Latin forms of) this

prayer is " Father." The Redeemer, it is true, might have commenced

this prayer with a word more expressive of majesty, such as Creator"

or "Lord" ; yet these He omitted, as they might be associated with

ideas of terror, and chose rather an expression which inspires love

and confidence. What name more

tender than that of Father? a name at once expressive of indulgence

and love.

FIRST PROOF OF THE PROPRIETY OF THE APPELLATION

The propriety of the word " Father," as applied to God, the

faithful may be taught from the works of Creation, Government,

and Redemption. God created man to His own image and

likeness, an image and likeness which He impressed not on

other creatures; and on account of this peculiar privilege with

which He adorned man, He is appropriately designated in Scripture the

Father of all men, the Father not alone of the faithful

but of all mankind.

SECOND PROOF

His government of mankind supplies another argument for

the propriety of the appellation. By the exercise of a special

superintending providential care over us and our interests, He

manifests the love of a Father towards us. But to comprehend

more clearly the force of this argument, which is drawn fromHis paternal care over us, it may be necessary to say a few

words on the guardianship of those celestial spirits whom He

has appointed to watch over and protect us.

GUARDIAN ANGELS, THEIR MINISTRY

Angels are commissioned by Divine Providence to guard the

human race and be present with every man to protect him from

injury. As parents, when their children have occasion to travel

a dangerous way, infested by robbers, appoint persons to guard

and assist them in case of attack, so has our Heavenly Fatherplaced angels over each of us, in our journey towards our

heavenly country, that guarded by their vigilant care and assistance

we may escape the ambushes and repel the fierce attacks of

our enemies, proceed directly on our journey, secured by this

guiding protection against the devious paths into which our

treacherous enemy would mislead us, and pursue steadily the

path that leads to heaven.


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enormities, even to the present hour, yet God retains His love

for us, and still continues His special care over us. To imagine

that He is unmindful of His creatures were insanity, and nothing less

than to hurl against the Deity the most blasphemous

insult. God was angry with the people of Israel because they

supposed themselves deserted by His care: tempting the Lord,

they said, "Is the Lord amongst us or not ?" 2 And again, " The

Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth." 3 The

faithful are therefore to be deterred by these passages from the

impiety of imagining that God can at any time be forgetful of

man. The Israelites, as we read in Isaias, make the complaint

against God; and its unreasonableness God exposes by a similitude

which breathes nought but kindness : "Sion said : the Lord

hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me"; to which

God answers," 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."

Indisputably as these passages establish this truth, yet tobring home to the minds of the faithful an absolute conviction

that at no time does God forget? man, or withdraw from him the

offices of paternal love, the pastor will add to the evidence of

this truth by introducing the example of our first parents, by

which it is so strikingly illustrated. When you hear them |

sharply reproved for having violated the command of God;

when you hear their condemnation pronounced in this awful sentence,

"Cursed is the earth in thy work ; with labor and toil

shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and

thistles shall it bring' forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herbs

of the earth; when you see them driven out of Paradise;when, to extinguish all hope of return, you read that a fiery

cherub was stationed at the entrance, brandishing " a flaming

sword, turning every way"; 2 when you know that to avenge

the injury done Him, God consigned them to every affliction of

mind and body; when you see and know all this, would you not

be led to pronounce that man was lost irrecoverably? that he

was not only deprived of all assistance from God, but also abandoned

to every species of misery? But although the storm of

the divine wrath burst over his guilty head, yet the love of God

shot a gleam of consolation across the darkness that enveloped

him. The Sacred Scriptures inform us that "the Lord God madefor Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them" 3

a convincing proof that at no time does God abandon His creature man.

That no injuries offered to God by man can exhaust the divine

love is a truth contained in these words of David : " Will he

[God] in his anger shut up his mercies?" 4 And Habacuc, ad-

dressing himself to God, distinctly says, " When thou art angry,

thou wilt remember mercy." B "Who is a God like to thee"


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says Micheas, "who takest away iniquity, and passest by the sin

of the remnant of thy inheritance? he will send his fury in no

more, because he delighteth in mercy" 6 When, therefore, we

imagine that God has abandoned us, that we are deprived of

His protection, then in an especial manner does He, of his infinite

goodness, seek after and protect us ; for in His anger He

stays the sword of His justice, and ceases not to pour out the

inexhaustible treasures of His mercy.

THIRD PROOF

The creation and government of the world, therefore, display

in an admirable manner the singular love and protecting care

of God; but among these the great work of redemption stands

out so prominently that this God of boundless beneficence, our

Father, has by this third benefit crowned and shed a lustre on

the other invaluable blessings bestowed on us by His bounty.

The pastor, therefore, will announce to his spiritual children,

and will sound continually in their ears, this overwhelming

manifestation of the love of God towards us, in order that they may

know that by redemption they are become, in an admirable manner, the

children of God. "He gave them power," says St. John,

"to be made the sons of God," who are born of God. 1 There-

fore it is that baptism, which we receive as the first pledge and

memorial of redemption, is called "the sacrament of regeneration";

for thereby we are born children of God. "That which

is born of the Spirit," says our Lord, "is spirit." We must be

born again; 2 and the Apostle Peter says, "Being born again,

not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible," by the word of theliving God. 3 By virtue of our redemption we have received the

Holy Spirit, and are dignified with the grace of God, by which

we are adopted sons of God. "You have not received the spirit

of bondage again in fear," says St. Paul," but you have received

the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry : Abba, (Father.)

Of this adoption, the force and efficacy are explained by St. John

in these words : "Behold what manner of charity the Father

hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be

the sons of God."

RECIPROCAL AFFECTION DUE TO GOD

These truths explained, the pastor will remind the faithful of

the reciprocal affection which they owe to God, our most loving

Father; because by this means they will comprehend what love

and piety, what obedience and veneration, they should render to

their Creator, Governor, and Redeemer, and with what hope and

confidence they should invoke his name.


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GOD LOVES WHILE HE CHASTISES

But to instruct the ignorance and correct the perversity of

such as may imagine that prosperity is the only proof of the

love of God, and that adversity, with which he may please to

visit us, indicates his hostility and the utter alienation of his

love, the pastor will show that when the hand of the Lord

touches us, it is not with hostile purpose, but to heal by striking.

If he chastises the sinner, it is to reclaim him by salutary

severity, and to rescue him from everlasting perdition by the

infliction of present punishment. He visits our iniquities with

a rod, and our sins with stripes ; but his mercy he taketh not

away from us. The faithful, therefore, are to be admonished

to recognize in such chastisements a proof of his paternal love,

to keep in their memory and on their lips these words of the

patient Job : He woundeth, and cureth : he striketh, and his

hands shall heal"; and to adopt these sentiments, and repeat

these words of the prophet Jeremiah, spoken in the name of the

people of Israel : "Thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed,

as a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Convert me, and

I shall be converted, for thou art the Lord my God." Let

them also keep before their eyes the example of Tobias, who,

when he felt the hand of God upon him, visiting him with blindness,

exclaimed, "I bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because

thou hast chastised me."

WE ARE NOT TO MURMUR AGAINST HIS WILL

Here the faithful should guard with the utmost caution

against the error of believing that any afflictions or calamitiesbefall them without the knowledge of God. He Himself assures

us that a hair of our head shall not perish ; they should rather

be cheered by these words, which we read in the Apocalypse:

"Such as love, I rebuke and chastise" ; and all their apprehensions

should be calmed by these words of exhortation ad-

dressed by St. Paul to the Hebrews : "My son, neglect not the

discipline of the Lord; neither be thou wearied whilst thou art

rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth ; and

he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

WE ARE ALL BRETHREN OF CHRIST

Our. When, under the name of Father, we all invoke God,

calling him emphatically "our Father," we are taught that as

a necessary consequence of the gift and right of divine adoption we

are brethren, and should love one another as brethren :

"All you are brethren," says the Redeemer, "for one is your

father, who is in heaven " ; and hence, in their Epistles the

Apostles call all the faithful brethren.


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Another necessary consequence is, that by the same divine

adoption not only are all the faithful united in one common

brotherhood, but also called, and really are, brethren of the only

begotten Son of God, who assumed our nature. Hence the

Apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, speaking of the Son of

God, says, "He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I

will declare thy name to my brethren." This David had so

many centuries before prophesied of the Redeemer; and our

Lord Himself says to the woman mentioned in the Gospel, "Go,

tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see

me." This He said after His resurrection, when He had put

on immortality, lest it should be supposed that this fraternal

relation was dissolved by His resurrection, and ascension into

heaven. So far is the resurrection of Christ from dissolving

this bond of union and love that, from the very throne on which

He will sit on the last day, resplendent with majesty and glory

to judge a congregated world, even the least of the faithful

shall be called by the name of brethren.

But how, possibly, can we be other than brethren of Christ,

called as we are, co-heirs with him? He is the first begotten,

appointed heir of all; but we, begotten in the next place, are

co-heirs with Him, according to the measure of heavenly gifts,

and according to the degree of love with which we prove our-

selves servants and co-operators of the Holy Ghost. By the

inspiration of the Holy Ghost we are animated to virtue, and to

meritorious actions; supported by His grace, we are inflamed

to engage with fortitude in the combat for salvation, the successful

termination of which, and of our earthly career, will be rewarded byour Heavenly Father with that imperishable crownof justice which is

reserved for all who shall have run the same course; "for God," says

the Apostle, "is not unjust, that he should forget "our work and our

love.

THE WORD "OUR" TO BE UTTERED WITH HEARTFELT PIETY

But with what sentiments of heartfelt piety we should utter

the word "our," these words of St. Chrysostom declare: "God,"

says he, "willingly hears the prayer of a Christian, not only

when offered for himself, but for another. Necessity obligesus to pray for ourselves; charity exhorts us to pray for others.

The prayer of fraternal charity," he adds, "is more acceptable

to God than that of necessity."

OUR DEMEANOR TOWARDS OTHERS SHOULD BESPEAK FRATERNAL

REGARD: OUR COMMON BROTHERHOOD

On the subject of prayer, a subject so important, so salutary,


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it becomes the duty of the pastor to admonish and exhort all his

hearers, of every age, sex, and rank, to be mindful of this common

brotherhood, and instead of arrogating to themselves an

insolent superiority over others, to exhibit in their conduct the

bearing and the tone of fraternal regard. True, there are many

gradations of office in the Church of God, yet that diversity of

rank is far from severing the bond of this fraternal relationship;

in the same manner as variety of use and diversity of office do

not cause this or that member of the same body to forfeit the

name or functions of a member. The monarch, seated on his

throne and bearing the sceptre of royal authority as one of the

faithful, is the brother of all who are within the communion of

the Christian faith. There is not one God the Creator of the

rich, another of the poor; one of kings, another of subjects;

but there is one God who is common Lord and Father of all.

Considering their spiritual origin, we see that the nobility of all

is the same. For we are all born of the same spirit, through the

same sacrament of faith, children of God, and co-heirs to the

same immortal inheritance. The wealthy and the great havenot one Christ for their God, the poor and the lowly another;

they are not initiated by different sacraments; they do not expect a

different inheritance. No, we are all brethren; in the

language of the Apostle, "We are members of his [Christ's]

body, of his flesh, and of his bones." "You are all the children

of God by faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have

been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew

nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male

nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus."

THIS DOCTRINE TO BE FORCIBLY INCULCATED BY THE PASTOR

This is a subject which the pastor should handle with all possible

care. On its consideration he cannot expend too much

knowledge and ability, because it is not less calculated to fortify

and sustain the indigent and the lowly than to restrain and re-

press the arrogance of the rich and the pride of the powerful.

It was to remedy this evil that the Apostle so forcibly pressed

on the attention of the faithful this principle of fraternal charity.

IN WHAT SPIRIT WE SHOULD UTTER THE WORDS "OUR FATHER

When, therefore, O Christian, you are about to address this

prayer to God, remember that you, as a son, approach God your

Father; and when you begin the prayer and utter the words

"our Father," reflect for a moment how exalted is the dignity to

which the infinite love of God has raised you. He commands

you to approach Him, not with the reluctance and timidity of

a servant approaching his Lord, but with the eagerness and the

security of a child flying to the bosom of his father. Consider


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also with what recollection and attention, with what care and

devotion, you should approach Him in prayer. You must approach Him as

becomes a child of God. Your prayers and actions must be such as not

to be unworthy of that divine origin with which it has pleased your

most gracious God to ennoble you, a duty to which the Apostle exhorts

when he says, "Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear

children"; that of us may be truly said, what the Apostle wrote to

the Thessalonians, "All you are the children of light, and the

children of the day."

IN WHAT SENSE GOD IS EVERYWHERE

Who art in Heaven. All who have a correct idea of the

Divinity agree that God is everywhere present. This, however,

is not to be understood as if he consisted of parts, filling and

governing one place with one part, another place with another;

for God is a spirit, and is therefore indivisible. Who would

presume to circumscribe within the limits of any place, or con-

fine to any particular spot, Him who says of Himself, "Do notI fill heaven and earth"? Yes, by His power and virtue He

fills heaven and earth, and all things contained therein. He is

present with all things, creating them, or preserving them when

already created; while He Himself is confined to no place, is

circumscribed by no limits, is defined by nothing to prevent His

being present everywhere by His immensity and omnipotence.

"If," says the Psalmist, " I ascend into heaven, thou art there."

WHY SAID TO BE SPECIALLY IN HEAVEN

God, although present in all places and in all things, and, aswe have already observed, circumscribed by no limits, is, how-

ever, frequently said in Scripture to have His dwelling in the

heavens, because the heavens which we see are the noblest part

of the visible world, undecaying in splendor, excelling all other

objects in power, magnitude, and beauty, and moving with uniform and

harmonious revolution. To elevate the soul of man

to the contemplation of His infinite power and majesty, which

shine forth with such splendor in the expanse of heaven, God

therefore declares that His dwelling is in the heavens. He also

frequently declares that there is no part of creation that is not

filled by His divinity and power, which are everywhere present.In the consideration of this subject the faithful will, however,

propose to themselves not only the image of the universal Father

of mankind, but also that of God reigning in heaven, in order

that when approaching Him in prayer they may recollect that

heart and soul are to be raised to heaven. The transcendent

nature and divine majesty of our Father who is in heaven should

inspire us with as much Christian humility and piety as the name

of father should fill us with love and confidence.


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These words also inform us what are to be the objects of our

prayers. All our supplications offered for the useful and necessary

things of this life, unless united to the bliss of heaven

and referred to that end, are to no purpose, and are unworthy

of a Christian. Of this manner of praying the pastor, there-

fore, will admonish his pious hearers, and will strengthen the

admonition with the authority of the Apostle: "If you be risen

with Christ, seek the things that are above; where Christ is sit-

ting at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above,

not the things that are upon the earth."~The Catechism of the Council

of Trent. Continue Reading under the heading: Hallowed be Thy Name.

St Augustine on John 16:23-28

1. We have now to consider these words of the Lord, Verily, verily, I say unto you, If ye shall ask

anything of the Father in my name, He will give it you. It has already been said in the earlierportions of this discourse of our Lords, on account of those who ask some things of the Father

in Christs name and receive them not, that there is nothing asked of the Father in the Saviours

name that is asked in contrariety to the method of salvation.1 For it is not the sound of theletters and syllables, but what the sound itself imports, and what is rightly and truly to be

understood by that sound, that He is to be regarded as declaring, when He says, in my name.

Hence, he who has such ideas of Christ as ought not to be entertained of the only Son of God,asketh not in His name, even though he may not abstain from the mention of Christ in so many

letters and syllables; since it is only in His name he asketh, of whom he is thinking when he

asketh. But he who has such ideas of Him as ought to be entertained, asketh in His name, and

receiveth what he asketh, if he asketh nothing that is contrary to his own everlasting salvation.And he receiveth it when he ought to receive it. For some things are not refused, but are delayed

till they can be given at a suitable time. In this way, surely, we are to understand His words, He

will give you, so that thereby we may know that those benefits are signified which are properlyapplicable to those who ask. For all the saints are heard effectively2 in their own behalf, but are

not so heard in behalf of all besides, whether friends or enemies, or any others: for it is not said

in a general kind of way, He will give; but, He will give you.

2. Hitherto, He says, ye have not asked anything in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive, thatyour joy may be full. This that He calls a full joy is certainly no carnal joy, but a spiritual one;

and when it shall be so great as to be no longer capable of any additions to it, it will then

doubtless be full. Whatever, then, is asked as belonging to the attainment of this joy, is to be

asked in the name of Christ, if we understand the grace of God, and if we are truly in quest of a

blessed life. But if aught different from this is asked, there is nothing asked: not that the thingitself is nothing at all, but that in comparison with what is so great, anything else that is coveted

is virtually nothing. For, of course, the man is not actually nothing, of whom the apostle says,He who thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing.3 But surely in comparison

with the spiritual man, who knows that by the grace of God he is what he is, he who makes vain

assumptions is nothing. In this way, then, may the words also be rightly understood, Verily,verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father in my name, He will give [it] you;

that by the words, if anything, should not be understood anything whatever, but anything that

is not really nothing in connection with the life of blessedness. And what follows, Hitherto ye
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have not asked anything in my name, may be understood in two ways: either, that ye have not

asked in my name, because a name that ye have not known as it is yet to be known; or, ye have

not asked anything, since in comparison with that which ye ought to have asked, what ye have

asked is to be accounted as nothing. In order, then, that, they may ask in His name, not thatwhich is nothing, but a full joy (since anything different from this that they ask is virtually

nothing), He addresses to them the exhortation, Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be

full; that is, ask this in my name, that your joy may be full, and ye shall receive. For His saints,who persevere in asking such a good thing as this, will in no wise be defrauded by the mercy of

God.

3. These things, said He, have I spoken to you in proverbs: but the hour cometh, when Ishall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of my Father. I might be

disposed to say that this hour, whereof He speaketh, must be understood as that future period

when we shall see openly, as the blessed Paul says, face to face; that what He says, These

things have I spoken to you in proverbs, is one with what has been said by the same apostle,Now we see through a glass, in a riddle:4 and I will show you, because the Father shall be

seen through the instrumentality of the Son, is akin to what He says elsewhere, Neither

knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to whom the Son shall be pleased to revealHim.5 But such a sense seems to be interfered with by that which follows: At that day ye

shall ask in my name. For in that future world, when we have reached the kingdom where we

shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,6 what shall we then have to ask, when ourdesire shall be satisfied with good things?7 As it is also said in another psalm: I shall be

satisfied when Thy glory shall be revealed.8 For petition has to do with some kind of want,

which can have no place there where such abundance shall reign.4. It remains, therefore, for us, so far as my capacity to apprehend it goes, to understand Jesus

as having promised that He would cause His disciples, from being carnal and natural, to become

spiritual, although not yet such as we shall be, when a spiritual body shall also be ours; but such

as was he who said, We speak wisdom among them that are perfect;9 and, I could not speakunto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal;10 and, We have received, not the spirit of the

world, but the Spirit who is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of

God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but whichthe Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural11 man perceiveth

not the things of the Spirit of God. And thus the natural man, perceiving not the things of the

Spirit of God, hears in such a way whatever is told him of the nature of God, that he canconceive of nothing else but some bodily form, however spacious or immense, however

lustrous and magnificent, yet still a body: and therefore he holds as proverbs all that is said of

the incorporeal and immutable substance of wisdom; not that he accounts them as proverbs, but

that his thoughts follow the same direction as those who habitually listen to proverbs withoutunderstanding them. But when the spiritual man begins to discern all things, and he himself is

discerned by no man, he perceives, even though in this life it still be through a glass and in part,

not by any bodily sense, and not by any imaginative conception which catches at or devises thelikenesses of all sorts of bodies, but by the clearest understanding of the mind, that God is not

material, but spiritual: in such a way does the Son show us openly of the Father, that He, who

thus shows, is also Himself seen to be of the same substance. And then it is that those who ask,ask in His name; for in the sound of that name they understand nothing else than what the

reality is that is called by that name, and harbor not, in vanity or infirmity of mind, the fiction of

the Father being in one place, and the Son in another, standing before the Father and makingrequest in our behalf, with the material substances of both occupying each its own place, and

the Word pleading verbally for us with Him whose Word He is, while a definite space interposes

between the mouth of the speaker and the ears of the hearer; and other such absurdities which


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Latin Mass Notes 5th Sunday After Easter

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