The Battle Between the Spirit and the Flesh
The War Between Spirit and Flesh
One of the things that Saint Paul is pointing out, obviously, is the war that is waged between the spirit and the flesh. What is he is talking about is specifically what happens when we let one master, namely Mammon, win out over the other. So we are divided creatures. We are creatures wounded by original sin, created for God and to serve God. But at the same time, because of original sin in the rules that are inflicted upon our soul, we have a direction. We have an inclination toward evil and desire for things that are not appropriate. And so therefore for our for our status. And so, therefore, what we have to do is we have to wage this war. It isn't enough that we try to make peace, which is the common error that we make frequently. We just look for a little bit of quiet. We just want we don't want all the fuss and mass. We don't want all the problems and all the difficulties that come with actually fighting against ourselves.
Avoiding Spiritual Indifference
So rather, we focus ourselves on just simply being calm and comfortable in a pseudo moderate lifestyle where, yes, we're faithful Catholics, we come to mass, we do everything we're supposed to do. We obey the Big Commandments. We try to avoid mortal sins. We go to confession regularly, communion regularly, and yet and yet we're not really trying to perfect ourselves. We're not really fighting against our most basic inclinations. And there is an issue with that. We need to make sure we need to start really pursuing perfection because that is what God created us for. Now we're not going to achieve it because we're not our Blessed Mother, we're not Saint Joseph. But at the same time, we need to make that effort.
The Enemies of Our Souls
And one of the more important aspects that we must take into consideration is what it is that we are fighting for. It's easy for us to be able to say. Yes, I belong on the side of God. But there's a problem here. We have three enemies who are desperate to make sure that we do not actually fight on the side of God. That is the world, the flesh and the devil. They will do everything in their power to make sure that we do not actually save our souls. And so if they can lower send to some sort of moderate, quote unquote, Catholicism so that we can be more acceptable to the world and the flesh of the devil, they will absolutely let us fall into that trap. They will absolutely do so.
The Danger of Serving Two Masters
But our Lord is pointing out we cannot serve two masters. We cannot feed Mammon and still be faithful servants of God. We have to continue to fight against the lower, the more basic and the more human aspects of our nature. We are supposed to let the noblest part of ourselves win, and that is Christ. Now we can talk about that in general and we can look at the sins that he listed in the same Paul listed in the epistle. And he can say, Do I have any of these? But let's start at something far more basic.
Appreciating God’s Gifts
How do we know if we are fighting for God or if we're not fighting, if we're just at peace and therefore slipping away comfortably and quietly? The simple way is just how do we appreciate everything that God has given to us? Remember, God does not owe us a thing. He created us out of the generosity of his heart. He gave us faith. He gave us grace. He gave us sacraments. He gave us the church out of the goodness of his heart. Not a one of us deserves to be here. But it's never a question of merit or deserve for us. We need to make sure, though, that now that we are recipients of the goodness of God, we learn to appreciate it and that it becomes the single most important and most essential thing that we hold and possess.
Indifference: The Great Sin
The fact that we are Catholics, the fact that we are his sons by adoption, the fact that we belong to him is a grace of unparalleled distinction. We are the envy of the angels themselves. They envy us because we can approach the altar. We can receive communion graces they could never receive. So while we consider this, let's consider a very, very dangerous and important point. What is the crime? What is the sin that is destroying so much of us? Indifference. The indifference of each and every Catholic soul of not putting God first. Not appreciating the love that he has bestowed. And not responding in kind.
Love: The Necessary Response
That is the indifference we're talking about. Because love is the necessary automatic response if we truly understand and appreciate what he's given to us. There is nothing we would hold back in giving back to him. But because we don't truly appreciate it. They become lazy or become distracted or become focused on other things. We let ourselves be distracted by the cares and concerns of the world like our Lord is talking about in the Gospel, and therefore we let sins like the one Saint Paul is talking about. Start to drag us down slowly but surely. We let the look divisions and problems get into the get into our lives and cause us pain and difficulty.
Reflecting on God’s Grace
Rather, we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to really appreciate, understand and appreciate the great gift of God, which is our faith at his grace and his love. That is the goal we have to shoot for. Where do we start? Because this is something that covers our entire lives. Every part of our lives. So where do we start? Let's start right here in church. As I mentioned before, neither one of us deserves to be here. That's just fine. This is God's house, not ours. This belongs to him. This is a consecrated, sanctified space. Specifically for his service, for his dwelling place. We're not doing her favors by coming here. He doesn't need any of us to come in here. But he makes himself so vulnerable in the Blessed Sacrament. And he makes his space so open so that each and every one of us can come into his presence.
Preparing for Mass
He allows it. He wants it. He desires it. Not because it brings him more happiness, because he's perfectly happy. He can't be any more happy. But because it's good for us. But when we recognize the fact that this is his space, we need to appreciate the love and the generosity of God in letting us come into this space of letting us actually be a part of the mysteries that he is performing on the altar. That should be our immediate reaction. Why do we take holy water as we walk in or at the very beginning of mass and the Asperger's? It is precisely so that we can appreciate and understand the fact that we are sinners, and yet somehow God is still letting us in His presence. So I will ask God to cleanse my soul before I approach. That is what the holy water represents a cleansing of ourselves so that we can enter into his presence.
Attentiveness During Mass
Why do we genuflect? It is a recognition, an act of recognition which proves that we know that God is here. We know that this is his house. And we reference his house and we show him respect because he is God and we are not. So we paid homage to him first and then take our spot, which he gives to us. And while we are in church, all of our attention needs to be on him. We are here out of the goodness of his heart. We are here because he is generous and good and because he wants us to save our souls. And so it's only befitting him, only befitting that we give all of ourselves to him while we are in his presence. No playing around. No, they hang around.
The Importance of Reverence
And there's one point in particular I want to bring up, and that is the constant in and out during mass. Now, there are some people, of course, who have medical conditions, and I try not to be a jerk about this just because I know that our situation is complicated with 500 people in one bathroom. It's difficult. I understand. I'm trying to be accommodating to that. But during mass during mass, there should not be so many visits to the bathroom. And some people absolutely. Like I said, they have a medical condition, whatever else. That's fine. That is absolutely fine. I am not going to prohibit the use of the bathrooms for that purpose.
Addressing Distractions
When I see the same five people, every sermon, young people who are healthy, I assume going to the bathroom. There's an issue. That is not a medical need. There's not a medical necessity. It is something that shows that they are bored or they are not paying attention or they don't understand and appreciate what they are doing here. Now. I'm not trying to single anybody out. This is a universal issue. How we dress, how we behave, how we treat each other, how we look at the altar, what we're doing while we're in mass. Are we paying attention or are we focusing on everything else that is going on around us? How much of our attention is actually on the altar? These are questions each and every one of us must ask of ourselves.
The Gift of the Mass
How attentive are we? How much do we give back for this tremendous grace of being able to participate in the holy sacrifice of the mass? What a beautiful thing it is to be in the Mass. We actually are able to approach the very foot of the cross itself and attend Christ while he sacrifices himself yet again. And more than that, he calls on us to actually participate in the sacrifice. He invites us to join ourselves as one with him, as he sacrifices himself to lose ourselves in his sacrifice. That is the goal that he sets for each and every one of us while we are in Mass.
The Call to Active Participation
There should be nothing passive about the mass. Of course, the priest is the one doing all the action, but even he is just an instrument working in the person of Christ. Each and every person who is in the congregation, on the altar, etc., is should be uniting themselves completely and totally with the action of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the goal that we are supposed to set, and that is the labor that we must perform for the hour and a half that we are here. It's not that much time. An hour and a half a week, hour a week. For the single. Most glorious, most perfect, most extraordinary. Gifts that we could possibly ask for.
Reflecting on the Mass
There is no way to quantify the mass. There's no way to quantify the honor of being able to be a part of it. There is no way to comprehend fully and entirely what it means to be a part of the mass. There is no way to appreciate the tremendous grace that is offered by the mass. Each and every one of us must make an act of self-reflection. What am I doing in church? How do I respond to the grace that God has given me? How do I respond to the mere fact that I'm actually in the physical presence of the Almighty himself? How do I respond to the fact that he has invited me to die with him on the altar a little bit more each time? How do I respond to that?
Confronting Indifference
And difference can no longer be the answer. Distraction can no longer be the answer. We have to pay attention. And we have to use the movements and the power and the rituals of the church to enter more perfectly into the mass. And we must bring more of ourselves to the altar each and every time. By doing so, we start to sway that monster of indifference. And by doing so, we protect we choose our side in the battle. We wage war against the world. The flesh and the devil. We stand out and we fight back. And we drive the demon away. Mean discipline, the flesh. And we conquer the world.
The Path to Heaven
But this is the path that we must take for that to happen. Because by turning ourselves to the holy mass, we are now finally truly citizens of heaven. Worthy of the name. Because we are fighting for it. Not just kind of trying to glide into it. We will never take heaven by storm. While we are so weakly responding to the grace that he is giving us for the purpose of conquering heaven. It is not an easy thing to do. But here's where it starts. So all these were in mass, but it's really focus. Afterwards, ask your question to yourself. How did I attend this mass? But first and foremost, give all of yourself to the mass.
The Mass as a Door to Eternity
Tried to focus as much as you possibly can. Join is perfectly as you possibly can because he has given us the door to eternity in the mass. We actually have eternity here present and we can glimpse it. We have that grace, but now we need to utilize it if we want an eternity in heaven. It is through this doorway. It is through this path, and it is only for the violent to take it away. Those who do violence upon themselves discipline themselves to attend the mass with as much devotion as possible and as much love as possible. To receive that love so that we can be eternally in that love, blissfully in heaven.
In the name of The Father and The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.