In today’s Epistle, along with many lessons given by St Paul, we are taught the lesson of Gratitude to God. St. Paul, having endured many trials, tribulations and sufferings for his spiritual children, the People of God, thanks God profoundly for the abundant graces that He has bestowed on them in Christ Jesus. And he not only calls the Corinthians to share in this gratitude but calls as well all of those who have been recipients of the grace of God which is for their eternal salvation in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. And so, St. Paul lets us know as well, that we too have been abundantly blest by God for we too have been given what we need to bring our lives to the destiny for which God has called us, an eternal destiny united to Him for ever.
St. Paul reminds us that we are called by God to the true Faith, and by our baptism He has united us with Christ and made us members, living cells, of Christ’s own Mystical Body—the Church. Also, God in His Divine and Gracious Mercy has made known to us the doctrines of His Catholic Church, and allowed us to enter into the depth of wisdom and consolation, which they contain. God has poured out upon us, in us, the wealth of His torrent of graces through the Sacraments, and through innumerable helps of inspiration, strength, and guidance He offers to us each and every day. Like the Corinthians we are lacking in no grace.
And so for all of this treasury of grace and endless mercy we should unceasingly give thanks. But additionally and importantly, along with our profound thanksgiving, we should always add the prayer that He Who has begun in us the great work of salvation might bring it completion in us. While we are too look forward with great confidence and full of hope that we will reach that completion, we must also be on our guard, always preparing and watching for the Day of The Lord, always ready.
So even though full of confidence and hope, St. Paul is exhorting us that we must work out our salvation with holy fear and trembling lest we become complacent and presumptuous, and so allow the one person who can prevent us from reaching our salvation to do so. And who is that one person? Ourselves!!!
Along with this profound gratitude for all that God has given us, never taking it for granted and continually cooperating with it so we reach our eternal salvation, along with this profound gratitude comes again this notion of caring for the eternal salvation of our brother. How can we truly be grateful to God if we are not willing to share what we have with those who are separated from God or struggling to open themselves to the graces He wishes to give them? How can we not be taking our own salvation for granted if we are not working for the salvation of others, especially those within the household of God? And so, how can we say we are cooperating with God’s graces of our own salvation when we are not using those graces to love not only God with our whole being, but to love our neighbor as ourselves for love of God as shown by our concern for the completion of the work of salvation in each member of our parish family.
Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew continues this notion. It is a shorter version of the event as found in the Gospel of St. Mark in which we are told the friends of the paralytic literally ripped away part of the roof in order to lower the paralytic lying on mat before the divine Jesus in human form.
Out of profound gratitude for all that we have been given we too are called be the friends of each paralytic that God puts in our path, for we too have been before paralyzed by our sins and yet helped by so many others to over and over pick up our mat and follow anew after Christ. It can not be said enough that our own salvation actually depends if we, by our prayers, worship and adoration, lift off the roof in order to lower, by our additional words and deeds, the paralytic, each paralytic, before the feet of Christ so that he or she may be healed by the Divine Power of the Incarnate Lord. Again, we do this literally by our Corporal, but especially, and primarily, by our Spiritual Works of Mercy…which are essentials of true Charity.
Many souls, and don’t forget it, many souls’ eternal salvation depends on whether you and I are willing to be solicitous for the salvation of our brother and sisters. There are today, millions, billions who are paralyzed by their sin and the sins of others, and has result are unable to place themselves before Jesus the only One who can heal them through the Sacrament of Confession and by their adoration of Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Like the paralytic they too are afraid of Jesus because of their sins. They need us, you, me, all of us, to help them not to be afraid. Just as we all have depended on others to help us and continue to depend on each other to help us so too do so many need our help. Not only those out there, but even and especially those sinners right here, in our families and especially in our family of St Patrick's. Remember Charity begins at Home, and, so too does our concern for souls, beginning right here at Home in our parish of St. Patrick’s.
We first begin with gratitude. We are sinners ourselves and we have be forgiven of so much, and so healed of so much paralysis in our own life. This gratitude is expressed, must be expressed, by being ever solicitous for cooperating in the salvation of the souls of our parish family members; and by working with fear and trembling in bringing this salvation to completion in each member of this portion of the Mystical Body of Christ. From here our care and concern, united with the members of this parish family, goes out to do the same in our community and in our whole world.
In order to cooperate with our great calling and so cooperate in the gratitude of faith with all that we have been given we must ourselves continuallu place ourselves, assisted by the prayers of one another, place ourselves at the feet of Jesus in Human form and responding to the healing power of His Divine Person. We too must continue to responded to His healing divine power ourselves, by our frequent and properly disposed reception of the Sacrament of Confession and by coming whenever we can in adoration before the Incarnate Lord, God in His resurrected and ascended Body, there begging Him for ourselves and for the whole world His Mercy and the Grace of a full and complete conversion.
Let us ask our Lady to obtain the grace to be open to all the graces that our gracious God wishes to give us today and every day, in order that strengthened in Faith, Hope and Charity, and so with out fear, we will be willing to cooperate in the great work of the salvation souls, by praying and even suffering for those who are prevented, paralyzed from sin, from placing themselves in the healing presence of Christ found in His Catholic Church especially in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Let us pray to Our Dear Heavenly Mother, that she would obtain for us the grace that we will be ready and willing to do or to accept whatever it takes to save souls and so save our own soul in the process, so that when Jesus comes again and questions us about our love, we will be able to answer with gratitude and joy what we did to help get souls to heaven, especially the souls of the members of our own beloved parish family.
Dear Blessed Mother help us to become a Parish of Adorers so that we may become a Family of Love. Amen.
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