Walk As Children of the Light
For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light. Ephesians 5:8
The Introit from this morning’s Holy Mass is from the 24th Psalm, a prayer of grace, mercy and protection from our enemies: Look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities (Psalm 24:16-17). St. King David, the poet and prophet, composed this Psalm with great supplication and humility.
In his commentary on this Psalm St. Robert Bellarmine teaches us: "As he (St. King David) is always looking to God, he justly asks to be looked upon by Him. Such was his silent prayer when he had his “eyes ever toward the Lord,” hoping He may regard with mercy his loneliness and his poverty. He says he is “alone,” lonely and desolate, or (which is better) because he had in spirit detached himself from the whole world, and attached himself to God alone. He calls himself “poor,” because in his humility he looked upon himself as destitute of all virtues and merits."
St. Bellarmine continues: "I am more inclined to think the temptations of sin are referred to here, rather than temporal troubles. David was one of those who, with the Apostle, in Romans 7, groaned and said, “But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.” “The necessities,” from which he seeks to be delivered, seem to be those most troublesome motions of concupiscence, which, in spite of us, will sometimes torment us, and even lead us to sin."
Man is plagued by sin, but this plague is of his own making. When we have been freed from Original Sin by the laver of regeneration at Holy Baptism, the actual sins we commit thereafter are of our own choosing and participation, or rather, cooperation with sin by an act of the will. This makes us enemies of Christ because we choose sin, which is filthy, over Our Blessed Lord and King. We become no better than the rabble that clamour crucifigatur (cf. St. Matthew 27:22-23)!
Praise Our Lord and King Who hears our pleas of mercy, and if we be sincere, humble and contrite He will pour that mercy and grace upon us from His throne of the Cross; the Tree of Redemption. The Apostle, teaching the faithful in Ephesus, and us, reminds us that we are called to the company of the saints, to walk in love, and to avoid fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather giving of thanks. For know you this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols), hath inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God (Ephesians 5:3-5).
We are clearly taught to avoid sin, because it harms the Mystical Body of Christ, the members of the Church. We must therefore submit to God and make use of His great mercy, which endures forever (cf. Psalm 135:1).
The Holy Gospel of this morning leads us to this mercy when Our Lord casts out the devil from the dumb man, who is then able to speak, and when the multitudes marveled some of the hard-hearted accused Him of casting out the devil by calling upon other devils. Our Lord rebuked them, of course, but He also gives them, and us, a severe warning about safeguarding ourselves from the return of evil and wickedness: When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first (St. Luke 11:24 – 26).
I wish to offer an additional consideration to this point of Our Lord: He speaks of our soul as a house, that is, a dwelling place. After confession and Sacramental Absolution, the wicked spirit is expelled and grace once again reigns and the house is clean and beautiful again, perhaps not only restored but improved. Our soul becomes a fitting dwelling place for the Lord our God and His grace, as we are reminded in the Communion Verse from Holy Mass this morning: The sparrow hath found herself a house, and a turtle a nest, where she may lay her young ones: Thy Altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King, and my God: blessed are they that dwell in Thy House, they shall praise Thee forever and ever (Psalm 83:4 – 5).
Be ever vigilant and keep the home of your soul swept and garnished (cf. St. Luke 11:25). With the warning of the Apostle to the church in Ephesus about sinful behaviours and Our Lord’s admonition of building strong defenses against sin, it would be opportune to again remind all about the importance of making a proper and thorough Confession, most especially during Lententide.
Continue all the good habits you are building to overcome your attachment to sin and disorder: God is ever pleased by your great efforts at conversion and will reward you the strength of His grace and enlighten your heart and mind to higher things that will lead your soul to a greater sanctification, as the Apostle reminds us, all things were created by Him and for Him (cf. Colossians 1:16).
Sermon from Monsignor Sebastian for the Third Sunday of Lent, Society of Christ the King, Oratory Chapel of St. Francis
