SAINT AGNES CATHEDRAL 533 South Jefferson Springfield, MO 65806 EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS: Celebrant Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
September 11th, 2011 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: Gal. 3: 16-22
Gospel: Lk. 17: 11-19
Mass schedule September 12th through September 16th
Monday-Most Holy Name of Mary-NO LATIN MASS
Tuesday-Feria
Wednesday-Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Thursday-Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Friday-SS. Cornelius, Pope, & Cyprian, Bishop & Martyrs
Our goal in this life is to serve God perfectly. We must not only believe in God, but we must also believe in everything that the Catholic Church teaches us. Faith is absolutely necessary in order to be saved. Hope is also necessary in order to have pure and upright motives so that we please God in all our actions. But Charity urges us to love God because He is infinitely good and He deserves to be loved.
What is Charity? It is a theological virtue that God infuses into our heart by which we learn to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. We should pray everyday that we learn to love God above all things, even ourselves. To love God above all things means to be willing to lose fortune, good name, parents, friends children, husband, wife, and even our own life, than to lose God by committing a mortal sin.
Saint Augustine says that to love God perfectly means to love Him without measure, even if there were no heaven to hope for or no hell to fear. Saint Paul knew all too well that to really love God means that neither sufferings, persecutions, contempt, life, or death are capable of taking this love away from us. We owe this kind of love to God.
We were created only for God. God alone is capable of satisfying us and making us truly happy. We are often so blind. We cling to life, to the world and its goods and pleasures. We cling to the very things which make us unhappy. The Saints despised all these things and clung to God alone!
Those who possess Charity do not strive to accumulate the goods of this world. The things of this world are nothing to them. They realize that those who cling to this world’s good’s are unhappy people. They strive constantly to atone for their sins through good works. They are kind to everybody. This is the example that Jesus Christ gives us in the Gospel. In return, He expects that we show our gratitude by treating others the very same way.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
