HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY

A SERMON FOR THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, and as usual, before we say goodbye one more time to the cycle of events in the life of Our Lord and his Blessed Mother, we are hit, right between the eyes, with a strong reminder of what those events are basically all about.  It’s the reason why Christ was born, died and was buried, that man might be welcomed back to his original destiny, union with God for all eternity.  Our Lord reminds us today of man’s final end, both as an individual and as a species.  The end of each of us and the end of all of us.  My death and yours, and the end of the world.

So far, our focus has been on the death of the individual.  The whole month of November has been devoted to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, with the constant ringing in our ears of the solemn notes of the Dies Iraebeckoning us towards the sobering truth of our own mortality.  Today, we conclude this meditation with the even more frightening reality that one day, not only we as individuals shall come to our end, but with us the rest of mankind, and indeed all of creation.

The world began at one definite moment way back in the shadows of time.  In fact, that moment marked the beginning of time. And just as God created the heavens and the earth on that Sunday morning long ago, when light was brought forth out of nothing, to measure time and illuminate space, it is equally certain that everything that God has created will one day cease to be.

And just as the exact date of Creation is shrouded in mystery, so too it is “not given to us to know the day nor the hour” when it will all come tumbling down and all material things shall vanish into the nothing from which they were created. It may be next year or in ten thousand years, or it may be tomorrow.  But one day it will happen.  

There shall come a precise moment in the future when time will stop forever. When the ticking of every clock shall stop and the clock itself shall dissolve into nothing.  And then everything else before our eyes will grow blurry, fading into a misty unknown, as space joins time in coming to an end. The walls of the room will disappear, only to reveal a world of vanishing fields and trees, crumbling mountains and evaporating oceans.  Even the ground beneath our feet shall cease to exist, as the laws of nature, such as gravity or our need to breathe air, will no longer apply or function.

And where does that leave us?  According to St. Paul, it is then that “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  

It seems then that if we are not already dead when the world ends, we will not die, but simply be taken up to meet the coming Judge.  Death shall die, and be no more, as the new Jerusalem we spoke about last week appears in the heavens and both living and dead rise up to meet Christ and be judged by him, and to take their rightful place in eternity (wherever that may be!).  Elsewhere in his Epistles, St. Paul declares that “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”  And those who are alive at the Second Coming shall be death’s victors.

And by the way, this is not what the Protestants describe as the Rapture. The Rapture is one of those heretical doctrines that was invented by men who misinterpret Holy Scripture.  There shall be no Rapture.  It is not just the “saved” who will arise to meet Christ, but all living men.  For Christ shall come again in glory, not just to gather up a certain few out of the population, but as we say every Sunday in our Creed “he shall come again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead.”  Every man who ever lived, including those who are still alive when he returns. The General Judgment of all mankind.

The word “Judgment” has an ominous ring to it, and indeed it is to be feared more than death itself, more even than the end of the world.  For death, after all, is nothing more than a portal, through which we pass in order to be judged.  And the end of the world is basically the same portal, although now it is all men, the quick and the dead, who must pass through it.  But judgment, that is something else entirely.  For although we must all submit to this judgment, every man who ever lived, the outcome of that judgment is not so certain.  It will take us to one place or another, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.  We’ve heard that expression so many times, “the stakes couldn’t be higher”, but really, can you think of anything where the stakes could possibly be higher for us than the result of our Judgment by Christ?

We must resolve to do literally whatever it takes, to ensure the good result of that judgment.  Think of the relief and joy we would experience if our Blessed Lord smiles upon us on that day and allows his angels to transport us into Paradise.  And then think of that sickening thud in the stomach as we are sentenced to an eternity of despair, with no light ever to shine at the end of that tunnel of misery that is hell.  I plead with you today to make whatever resolutions are needed to avoid the possibility that you could die, at any moment of any day, outside of the state of grace, to join the vast majority of mankind whose souls are damned forever.  Most of the time, such a possibility doesn’t bear thinking about.  But today we must think about it, and resolve to do what must be done.

THE LIBERA ME

A RESPONSORY FOR THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Taken from the Absolution of the Requiem Mass

R.  Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that fearful day: *  When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken: * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V.  I am in fear and trembling, until the sifting be upon us and the wrath to come.

R.  When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken.

V.  Woe is me, for the day of wrath, calamity and misery, the great day of exceeding bitterness.

R.  When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V.  Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

R.  Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death in that fearful day: *  When the heavens and the earth shall be shaken: * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

A MESSAGE FOR THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

God’s creation of light brought about the first motions through time and space that allowed us to exist.  With that light came time and space.  And when that light is extinguished, it will mark the end of time and the end of space.  This outer darkness will be as the world before Creation, a world that time will forget, and that will exist only for the damned souls who suffer within it.

One day the light of creation will dim and be extinguished forever.  On that day, we will find ourselves either in the darkness of the deep, or in the presence of the Light of the World, that “True Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).  This Light will enlighten the obscurity and disperse the clouds of confusion that prevent us from comprehending the glories of heaven and the love of Him whom we shall see, finally, face to face.

As the light of creation dims, the elect of God will be bathed with a new light, one that will enable them to see God directly by the beatific vision of “the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.  Amen” (I Tim. 6:16).

This human expression of seeing God face to face simply means that in heaven we shall see God as he is.  In heaven God will give us what is called by theologians the lumen gloriae, the “light of glory”, which enables our soul to look into the very nature of God, to penetrate into the depths of his divinity: we shall see all mysteries hidden in God from all eternity, and all the mysteries of his love and mercy.  Until that time, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (I Cor. 2:9).

“And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever (Apoc. 22:5).  Nothing will ever again hinder or distract us from the contemplation of our Maker, as his Light illumines our immortality with all the graces and truths necessary to open the eyes of our soul to the eternal beatific vision.  The Word who was made flesh shall now truly dwell amongst us and we shall behold his glory, “the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

When the dim light of creation goes out, it will be replaced by the Light of Glory, by which the elect will see God.  But for the rest, who love not God, there will be nothing but darkness.  Only their love of God will separate the elect from the damned.  Without light there is only the absence of light, which is darkness.  Without good there is only the absence of good, which is evil.  Without love, there is only the absence of love, which is hell. 

AND DEATH SHALL BE NO MORE

A SERMON FOR THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF SS. PETER & PAUL

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

The past few weeks have forced us to focus a great deal on death.  The month of October began with the tragic death of a child, and ended with the death of a bishop.  November, the month of the Holy Souls, has already seen the death of another bishop, and then the remembrance last Sunday of all our military dead, the fallen of our many wars.  This constant emphasis on death and reminder of our own mortality is becoming heavy on our consciousness this year, and God in his mercy gives us today the promise of relief.   “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more…” This is not instant relief—we are still dwellers of this vale of tears, we have our sorrows, and we shall most certainly die.  But it’s a promise, it’s in the future tense.  This end to death and suffering willhappen.

Today’s promise contains a truth which must never be lost on us.  A truth which is of enormous importance, that goes far beyond the coming and going of individual souls to and fro in this world.  Today’s promise is meant for each and every one of us.  It’s a personal promise.  St. John the Evangelist is speaking of a new Jerusalem, where there shall be no more sorrow, no more death.  He is speaking of eternal glory, and of a time to come when all the elect, reunited in heaven, may sing together God’s praises, united again, for ever and ever.

It is the promise that Death is not an eternal loss.  It is merely a transformation from one state of our existence to another.  A simple doorway from one side of the veil to the other.  One which has been planned for all of us by our loving Saviour.  It is not something to be feared, not a thing of dread if your soul is pure.  Merely the coming of our Lord into our midst to take unto himself, under the shadow of his wings, the soul of one amongst us.  Live a godly life, and he will come for you too one day.  He will gently take our hand and say to us “Arise”, and we will stand up and follow him, we will be surrounded by all the angels and saints, including all those we love so much who have gone before us.  And the Mystical Body of Christ shall be whole and entire.

Let us pray on this feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saint Peter and of Saint Paul, that these two great saints, patrons of Christ’s Mystical Body the Church, who were so important to her foundation on earth.  Let us pray to them that they will keep each of us within the folds of that Mystical Body here in this life, in the firmness of an unshaking faith, in the holiness of our actions, and most of all in the fervent love of God and neighbor. Let us pray to these two apostles that nothing will ever take us outside of that Mystical Body, to that awful place where there is darkness and gnashing of teeth. That we may one day unite with them in that Mystical Body, along with our dear departed souls who formed such an important part of our own life and who are no longer with us.  And that our eternity may be spent in their midst, and in the comforting arms of our loving Saviour who loves us all so very much. For this, today, is his promise: “Behold, I make all things new.”

JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN

A HYMN FOR THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH

By Bernard of Cluny (12^thcentury), translated by J.M. Neale, 1851

1 Jerusalem the golden,
with milk and honey blest,
beneath your contemplation
sink heart and voice oppressed;
I know not, O I know not
what joys await us there,
what radiancy of glory,
what bliss beyond compare!

2 They stand, those halls of Zion,
all jubilant with song,
and bright with many an angel,
and all the martyr throng;
the Prince is ever in them,
the daylight is serene;
the pastures of the blessed
are decked in glorious sheen.

3 There is the throne of David;
and there, from care released,
the shout of them that triumph,
the song of them that feast;
and they, who with their Leader
have conquered in the fight,
forever and forever
are clad in robes of white.

4 O sweet and blessed country,
the home of God's elect!
O sweet and blessed country
that eager hearts expect!
In mercy, Jesus, bring us
to that dear land of rest,
who are, with God the Father
and Spirit, ever blest.

MATINS READING FOR DEDICATION OF BASILICAS OF SS. PETER & PAUL

A MESSAGE FOR THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF SS. PETER & PAUL

Among the hallowed places which have from of old time been held in honour among Christians, the most famous and sought after were those where the bodies of the Saints were buried, or where there was some trace or token of the Martyrs.  Among these spots so hallowed hath been ever among the most noteworthy that place on the Vatican Hill which is called the Confession of St. Peter.  Thither Christians do come from all parts of the earth as unto the rock of faith and the foundation-stone of the Church, and surround with godly reverence and love the spot hallowed by the grave of the Prince of the Apostles.

Thither came the Emperor Constantine the Great upon the eighth day after his Baptism, and, taking off his crown, cast himself down upon the ground, and wept abundantly.  Then presently he took a spade and pick-axe, and began to break up the earth, whereof he carried away twelve baskets-full in honour of the twelve Apostles, and built a Church upon that spot, appointed for the Cathedral Church of the Prince of the Apostles.  This Church was hallowed by holy Pope Sylvester upon the 18th day of November, in like manner as he had hallowed the Church of the Lateran upon the 9th day of the same month.  In this Church did the Pope set up an altar of stone, and pour ointment thereon, and ordain that from thenceforth no altars should be set up, save of stone.  The same Emperor Constantine likewise built a very stately Church upon the road to Ostia, in honour of the holy Apostle Paul, which Church also was hallowed by the blessed Sylvester.  These Churches the Emperor enriched by grants of much land, and adorned with exceedingly rich gifts.

The Basilica of St. Peter upon the Vatican fell in course of times to ruins, and having been rebuilt from the foundations, enlarged and garnished, by the zeal of many Popes, was solemnly consecrated anew by Urban VIII, upon the same day, in the year 1626.  The Basilica of St. Paul upon the road to Ostia was almost entirely consumed by fire in the year 1823, but was rebuilt in a more splendid form, and, as it were, raised from the dead, by the unwearied zeal of four successive Popes.  In the year 1854 Pius IX seized the happy occasion when the doctrine concerning the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which he had just set forth, had drawn together to Rome a great multitude of Cardinals and Bishops from all quarters of the Catholic world, solemnly to dedicate this new Church in their presence upon the 10th day of December in the year aforesaid; but he decreed that the yearly Feast in honour of that dedication should be kept upon this day, being the same as that of the Dedication of the Church of St. Peter.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

A SERMON FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

There’s a story told about the legendary Australian chaplain of World War I, William “Fighting Mac” McKenzie.  Fighting Mac, despite being a very strict Salvation Army Padre, was loved by his soldiers because he was always with them in danger. Though often ordered back, he would always reappear at the front line to encourage the living and minister to the dying. During one particularly savage battle, he came across a badly wounded soldier, who was obviously beyond help. The soldier was Catholic and knew he wasn’t going to make it, but there was only this Salvation Army chaplain to turn to as he lay dying.  But the soldier cried out in his anguish, “Padre, do you know a Catholic prayer?” And Fighting Mac replied with great tenderness,“I think I do, my boy.  Say this after me, son: ‘God be merciful to me a sinner... I now lay my sins on Jesus.’” With great difficulty, and obviously in pain, the boy nevertheless whispered the words as the Padre Mac held his hand, and with the peace of God upon his face the young soldier passed away.

The number of deaths in World War I was beyond our imagination.  Total deaths, military and civilian, are figured at somewhere between 15 and 19 million, making World War I one of the deadliest conflicts in history.  It was known at the time as the War to End All Wars, and the horrors of that conflict should surely have made it so.  But then came World War II, and so it went on.  Our military are still dying in appalling circumstances overseas, as man’s inhumanity to man goes on unabated.  So many men in uniform, leaving mothers and sisters and sweethearts behind, to march bravely through the ages into battlefields of terror.  Today we remember those men.  We should never forget them, nor the horrors they witnessed, nor the mental and physical suffering they endured.  We will remember them.  

Our Catholic soldier who was ministered to by the Salvation Army Padre was one of the lucky ones of World War I.  He died relatively quickly and, thanks to the kind words of a Protestant Chaplain, hopefully in the state of grace.  Many, however, died suddenly, without the opportunity of repenting.  Today, we commend their souls also to God, hoping in his mercy for those who died for their comrades and their country.  Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori – “It is a sweet and honorable thing to die for one’s country.”  And ‘greater love,” says our Lord, “hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends.”  May God have mercy upon them all.

We who have never fought in war can never begin to imagine what it must have been like, the experience of deliberately exposing our poor frail bodies to hundreds of bullets hissing by, shrapnel flying through the air cutting through limbs like knives through butter, fiery gasoline sprayed from flame throwers and igniting us like human torches. 

In the First World War there was the additional horror of poison gas.  What went through a soldier’s mind when he saw the green clouds of poison gas slowly advancing on his position in the trenches?  They knew its terrible effects, and quickly learned how best to avoid it.  The men who stayed in their places suffered less than those who ran away, as any movement worsened the effects of the gas. The lower to the ground you stayed, the worse it was, as the gas was denser near the ground.  The worst sufferers were the wounded lying on the ground, or on stretchers, and the men who moved back with the cloud.  But if you didn’t manage to put on your gas mask before the green cloud reached your mouth and nose and eyes, it meant terrible suffering and one of the most painful deaths imaginable.

The first poison gases used were chlorine and phosgene, which attacked the lungs, filling them with a bubbling mass of burning acid that choked the victim.  But the most deadly and effective weapon devised by the Imperial German Army was mustard gas.  It actually wasn’t a gas at all, as it is not actually vaporized, but dispersed as a fine mist of oily liquid droplets.  When it contacted the skin, these oily droplets caused burning blisters, victims’ eyes became very sore and clogged to the point of blindness, and they began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful. Fatally injured victims sometimes took four or five weeks to die of mustard gas exposure. It’s estimated that about 93,000 soldiers were killed by poison gas.

One nurse, Vera Brittain, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."

So awful was the suffering caused by poison gas that it was forever banned by international agreements after the war.  Today, we can look back at this most shameful episode in human warfare. War is already bad enough, but the horrors of World War I surpassed the limits of tolerance of even the most hardened generals and politicians.  The Armistice, signed a hundred years ago today, was meant to be a contract between nations that would prevent any repetition.   When we hear rumors of wars, let us remember the casualties of war.  Let’s put a face to just one of those poor soldiers gasping for air for weeks on end from the effects of the poison gas, waiting for that final struggle as their throat closes over one last time.  The face of your son perhaps, or your grandson.  Or your own face.  And let us pray for peace.

I VOW TO THEE MY COUNTRY

A HYMN FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And around her feet are lying the dying and the dead;
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns;
I haste to thee, my mother, a son among thy sons.

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.

By Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, 1921

CALL TO REMEMBRANCE

ORDER OF SERVICE FOR THE FALLEN

Call to Remembrance

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the guns fell silent on the Western Front, to bring to an end the First World War. Our nation and her people have recalled that moment through our Armistice and Remembrance events down the decades, decades during which the men and women of our armed services have continued to pay the ultimate sacrifice. 

And so 100 years later, we stand here today to remember lives sacrificed in the service of our Country, and those traumatized and injured in conflict. May we have such a devotion to justice and freedom that the heroism of all who fought, and still fight, may continue to be remembered in a nation of service and in a world of peace.

 ACT OF REMEMBRANCE 

Let us remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping: those who have died for their country in war; those whom we knew, and whose memory we treasure; and all who have lived and died in the service of mankind.

They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
ALL RESPOND:  We will remember them.

When you go home, tell them of us and say,
for your tomorrow we gave our today.

Let us commend to the mercy of God those who have fallen in the service of their country.

Almighty and everlasting God, unto whom no prayer is ever made without hope of Thy compassion; we remember before Thee our brethren who laid down their lives in the cause wherein their Country sent them: Grant that they who readily obeyed the call of those to whom Thou hast committed authority upon earth may be accounted worthy of a place among thy faithful servants in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

O God, who makest wars to cease in all the world, and by whose mighty aid the violence of our enemies hath been restrained: Guide, we pray thee, at this time by thy Holy Spirit the minds of those to whom thou hast committed the government of the nations, and prosper all counsels which make for a rightful and abiding peace; that we and all thy people, being set free from the perils of war, may serve thee henceforth in godliness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Unto God’s gracious mercy and protection we commend our spirit. The Lord bless us, and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and vouchsafe to us his peace, both now and for evermore. Amen. 

THE FULFILLING OF THE LAW

A SERMON FOR THE 24th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Those of you who attended Mass both last Sunday, which was the Feast of Christ the King, and then again on Thursday, which was All Saints, will have noticed that the two sermons were really just two installments of the same story.  On Christ the King, we learned how the devil seeks to entice us into sin by giving us only one law, which is that we should always do what we want.  On All Saints Day, we learned the full truth of Satan’s incomplete and fallacious law.  We learned that we must first love God, and only then are we free to do what we really want, which after all, if we love God, would be to want only the things that are in accord with the divine will, in other words, nothing sinful.

By either pure coincidence or divine Providence, our readings this Sunday act as a conclusion to this series of sermons.  We began by establishing what is the true first commandment of God, to love him first and foremost.  The Epistle today extends that first of all commandments by reminding us that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  All the other commandments that pertain to our neighbor (thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, steal, bear false witness, and so on) can be reduced to this single commandment “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Loving our neighbor is something we all try to do, I hope.  Of course, it’s not always that easy, as so many of our neighbors are not that lovable.  But we must remember that love is not just a silly feeling, but a theological virtue. In fact, it is the highest of all the virtues, and the only one that will continue to be practised even in heaven. There, we will not need the other virtues:  faith will be replaced by the beatific vision—we don’t need faith to believe what we can see; hope will be fulfilled, and there will be nothing left to hope for. But love, that’s something we will do for all eternity.

And what, in heaven, will be the object of our love?  The same as here.  God and our neighbor.  The only difference is that in heaven we will all be perfectly united together with each other and together, with God.  All faults and imperfections will have been purged from our neighbors, and so then maybe they won’t be so difficult to love!  We will all be as one, forming together the Mystical Body of Christ, united forever with the Godhead.

This unity already exists amongst the saints of heaven of course, and we commemorated our fellow-members of the Church on the Feast of All Saints.  It’s no accident that on the very next day, we have the opportunity of putting our love of neighbor to the test by praying and sacrificing for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  What is more natural than after celebrating our union with the Church Triumphant on All Saints Day, we should immediately descend into the cleansing fires of Purgatory to visit the poor souls who endure their chastisement as members of the Church Suffering.  The union that exists between them and us could not be stronger—they are our departed loved ones, and just as we loved them in this life, there is no essential change in our relationship once they pass from us.  We continue to love them, and they us.  The only difference is that we can show them our love by helping them get through their suffering in Purgatory, while they, alas, are no longer to help themselves.  They rely on us for the comfort of our prayers, and we offer those prayers and other sacrifices, freely and with love, like little drops of cool water in the overwhelming heat of their torments.

Today, St. Paul draws us back to this side of the veil, where we who dwell together in the Church Militant must continue our difficult struggle to love our fellow man. He reminds us that we must love our neighbor with the selfsame virtue of charity, as we do God, his saints and the Holy Souls of Purgatory.  And really, when you think about it, it’s no less difficult, and no less easy either. For love is always measured by the willingness we have to sacrifice for the one loved.  The more we love, the easier it is to curtail our own will for the benefit of that person.  

The real test is loving the people we don’t like.  It’s not a contradiction, according to our Lord.  It’s a simple act of forgiveness, made with our intellect and exercised by our will.   It’s not a silly emotion, whereby we “feel” we have to hate and wish terrible things on people we don’t like.  Christ’s teachings are diametrically opposed to this approach, and if we find ourselves falling into that trap, it is for us to alter our own disposition rather than question the ways of our blessed Lord.  Forgiveness is a big thing with God!  Don’t forget, if we love God and then do what we want, then surely we’ll want to love our neighbor no matter how he treats us.  “Love” our neighbor, not “like” our neighbor necessarily.  We must force ourselves if necessary to wish salvation and not damnation upon those we dislike the most.

We can have no better example placed before us than our blessed Lord himself. Observe his actions on the ship in today’s Gospel.  He allows his sleep to be disturbed so that he may calm the troubled waters and bring peace to his panic-stricken apostles.  If enough of us follow his example, perhaps we too may restore peace to this stormy world, replacing the ever-spiraling hatred with Christian love and a true unity in God.

PRAISE MY SOUL THE KING OF HEAVEN

A HYMN FOR THE 24th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

By Henry Francis Lyte, 1834

1. Praise, my soul, the King of heaven; 
To His feet thy tribute bring. 
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, 
Who like me His praise should sing? 
Praise Him, praise Him, 
praise Him, praise Him, 
Praise the everlasting King.

2. Praise Him for His grace and favor 
To our fathers in distress. 
Praise Him still the same forever, 
Slow to chide, and swift to bless. 
Praise Him, praise Him, 
praise Him, praise Him, 
Glorious in His faithfulness.

3. Frail as summer’s flower we flourish 
Blows the wind and it is gone 
But while mortals rise and perish 
God endures unchanging on 
Praise Him, praise Him, 
praise Him, praise Him, 
Praise the high eternal One

4. Fatherlike He tends and spares us; 
Well our feeble frame He Knows. 
In His hands He gently bears us, 
Rescues us from all our foes. 
Praise Him, praise Him, 
praise Him, praise Him, 
Widely as His mercy goes.

5. Angels help us to adore Him; 
Ye behold Him face to face; 
Sun and moon, bow down before Him, 
Dwellers all in time and space. 
Praise Him, praise Him, 
praise Him, praise Him, 
Praise with us the God of grace.

LORD OF ALL CREATION

A MESSAGE FOR THE 24th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

After celebrating the Kingship of Christ last Sunday, it should come as no surprise to see our Blessed Lord’s authority put to use in this week’s Gospel.  For Christ is King, not only of men’s hearts and souls, not only of every individual nation, but even of the very elements of nature itself.  As Creator of all things, “by whom nothing was made that was made” it is a simple task for our Lord to rebuke the winds and the sea, and bring tranquility to the great waters.  

This was not the first time the oceans had been made to obey the commands of God.  We have only to remember the parting of the Red Sea to allow the passage of Moses out of the slavery of Egypt’s land, and the subsequent drowning of the Pharaoh and his army of chariots.

The oceans are a dangerous place, and countless thousands have been lost in their stormy waters.  The raging seas and mighty waves of the sea are in many ways similar to the passions of our own soul, and when our Lord calms the troubled waters in today’s Gospel, he is also restoring calm to his panic-stricken apostles.  We would do well to offer our supplications not only for those in peril on the sea, but for our own souls , that God may deliver them from the dreadful peril they too face in the tempestuous lives we all lead. The words of the 106^thPsalm offer an appropriate subject of meditation in times we are in danger of being overwhelmed:  

“They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.  For at his word the stormy wind ariseth, which lifteth up the waves thereof.  They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep; their soul melteth away because of the trouble.  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.  So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, he delivereth them out of their distress.  For he maketh the storm to cease, so that the waves thereof are still.  Then are they glad, because they are at rest; and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.”