My grace is sufficient for thee 2 Corinthians 12:9
Call it what you will, the Traditional Mass - the Mass of the Ages - the Latin Mass or call it by the newer term, the Extraordinary Form, this Holy Mass has the best sermons I have ever heard. Today was no exception. Father started his sermon by telling us that even though God has reserved a place for each one of us in heaven, not everyone present here today will make it to heaven. That got my attention right away! After years of hearing how much Jesus loves me and what a good friend I have in Him Who will shower me with His mercy, it is refreshing to hear some hard truths that serve to make me think about what I am doing to earn my salvation. (With fear and trembling work out your salvation. Philippians 2 12)
Back to today's sermon - Father went on to explain that God grants us all sufficient grace to attain eternal salvation, but it is what we do with that grace - whether we ignore it or act on it - that determines whether we merit heaven or hell. He told us that God continually attempts to steer us in the right direction when situations arise that could lead us to sin, and without imposing on our free will, He will send us little promptings of actual grace to encourage us to do the right thing, thus avoiding the pitfall of sin that Satan has set up in our path.
To explain this further, Father used an analogy that made many people giggle (it is not often one will hear giggling in the Traditional Mass). He gave a scenario where a parent is working in their garden pruning the tomato plants, and dwelling on a particularly hard sermon the priest had made where he told the youth that Facebook can be an occasion of sin for them, and their use of it should be restricted by their parents. At this moment, the parent looks up from their task and sees the priest walking by, piously praying his Rosary, and the parent is faced with the temptation to pelt him with tomatoes, but God sends the parent a prompting to offer the priest some freshly-picked tomatoes instead.
Father went on to say that those who habitually ignore the promptings of God and choose to waste the grace that is given to each one of us in sufficient amounts for our salvation are the ones who will end up in hell.
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6 comments:
I just love hearing it like it is! It is truly a blessing!
he is correct. he is absolutely correct. our priest gives the same fiery homilies as well. especially about hell.
not alot of priests want to discuss hell, but ours does.
and he does it in a way that you are absolutely focused on the homily. everyone goes away thinking about what he said. it often stays with you. it does for us.
M., they're called sermons in the Traditional Rite!
Those little promptings of grace are so easy to ignore, but so rewarding when followed. It has taken me years to learn how to listen to and act upon them.
Sermons are excellent especially in the EF...but then again, at my parish I'm spoiled by having the Carmelites who give excellent sermons in the OF.
I was at a Mass Today-Novus Ordo, with Chant in Latin:
I believe that it was The Intention of The Council Fathers to preserve Latin in The Liturgy;
It was Truly Catholic-felt NOTHING like a Protestant Service, like most Novus Ordo Masses.
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