McNamara's Blog
Preached at Catholic Summer School by Father Kennedy
At the Catholic Summer School, Cliff Haven, the Rev. D.J. Kennedy, O.P., professor in the House of Studies of the Dominican Order, Somerset, O. (seen above), recently delivered a striking sermon on “Christian Hope,” in the course of which he said:
“Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not on thy own prudence.” (Proverbs iii: 5) The law of Christ requires of a man sacrifices which are often painful to nature. What is to be the recompense for the sacrifice made when we renounce worldly pleasures and carry a cross, walking in the footsteps of our divine Saviour? Eternal salvation, everlasting happiness, the joys of heaven will be a sufficient reward for the most painful sacrifices. Hope sustains us during the combat against the enemies of our salvation; hope tells of the crown that awaits the victor.
Our end is so sublime that we could not have known had not God deigned to reveal what things are in store for those that love and serve Him. Our end is God, whom we are to possess and enjoy forever in the beatific vision. Of our own strength we cannot attain this end, but our hope rests on the power and goodness of God, to a share in whose benefits we are all entitled, owing to the merits of Christ, who died for all men. Hence we hope to attain everlasting life through the merits of our Saviour.
To obtain the happiness of heaven we must merit it. “If thou wilt enter into eternal life keep the commandments.” (Matthew xix: 17) The observance of the laws of God and the Church is impossible to unaided nature, but the abundance of God’s grace will make us understand the words of the Saviour: “My yoke is sweet and my burden light.”
To avoid evil and so good, to love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves, to steer our course aright amid the conflicting and perplexing dictates of what we owe to God and our Saviour, on the one hand, and what the love of pleasure and of self prompts us to, on the other—these are essential conditions of salvation and God’s grace, not our own strength, will enable us to fulfill them.
These truths will prevent discouragement and despair. Many go to the other extreme and are guilty of presumption, because they live in neglect of their Christian duties and expect to be saved. If they trust to a death-bed repentance, they are presuming on God’s mercy. Our duty is to secure our salvation by good works, hoping to obtain, through the merits of Christ, the grace to merit the crown which the just Judge will give. St. Paul says (Romans xii:2) that in the midst of trials we should “rejoice in hope,” finding comfort in the thought of the better things that await us in the great hereafter. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans xv:13)
The Brooklyn Eagle, August 12, 1902
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