THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fourth Sunday after Easter 22 May 2011

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Sorrow has filled the hearts of the Apostles because Jesus has just told them that He is to return to His Father in Heaven.

Our lives too are often filled with sorrow when in all truth we should be filled with joy. The apostles should have rejoiced for Jesus, but yet they were filled with sadness for their own perceived loss. Jesus pointed out to them that they were mistaken. They should first of all be happy for Him and for the joy that will be His in Heaven with His Father, rather than so selfish as to only consider their own loss. Next they should find joy in the fact that Jesus was not abandoning them but promised to send the Holy Ghost to them.

So often in our own lives we perceive another’s success or happiness as pain and suffering for ourselves. This selfishness often degenerates into envy for another’s good or sometimes even Jealousy and hatred for those who have received the good. This is a terrible sin and therefore a true reason to be sorrowful.

True love for our fellow man demands that we rejoice for the good that he receives. And if we are faithful in obeying Jesus’ command to love even our enemies then we are to rejoice even in the good that our enemies receive. Very often the good that others receive costs us little or nothing personally and so it should be rather easy for us be happy for others, but even if they receive good at our expense we should still rejoice for them. The suffering of Jesus which was caused by our sins did not engender hatred in His heart for us (the cause of His pain), on the contrary He loved us enough to find joy in the graces that we received because of His suffering.

This is not an easy thing to accomplish. It requires a very strong effort to cooperate with the grace of God. Our fallen nature automatically rebels at even the thought of this supernatural charity for those who hate us or persecute us. This is, nonetheless, the goal that Jesus has set before us. It is a goal of perfection. Jesus desires that we be perfect because our Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus requires of us a profound humility so that we never think ourselves even worthy of the many gifts that we have received, much less worthy of the gifts that others have received. After you have done all things well say that you are unprofitable servants because you have only done that which you ought to have done. He further has taught us to learn of Him because He is meek and humble of heart.

The sadness that we have of other’s good fortune is often enough to rob them of some of the happiness that God planned to give them. In this means our fallen nature finds some perverse satisfaction, but the one that is truly hurt is ourselves, for we have offended God and thus have merited for ourselves greater sorrow in greater pains and suffering. Sometimes though our sorrow is never known to those whom we are envious or jealous of, and in this case it is obviously clear that the only one that is harmed by our sorrow is ourselves.

In our striving for perfection we must teach ourselves to rejoice always. We must find happiness in all that God does or allows. If God chooses to give joy to another because he is weak and needs this support we should rejoice. If God chooses to try us or another with pain or sorrow, it too should be a reason for us to rejoice. God’s intention for us is always the same whether we receive pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow. He always intends our eternal welfare. Therefore all that happens during our pilgrimage here on earth is designed to direct us closer and closer to Him (Our ultimate goal). If we cooperate with Him in all these things we too will one day follow Jesus to be with our Heavenly Father.