17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) - 30 July
30th July 2023
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) - 30 July
“Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven.” - St Camillus de Lellis
A reflection on today's readings by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"'Where your treasure is, there your heart is also’ (Matthew 6:21).
"Let a man look in the mirror of his own heart and he will know the cause of his troubles. The test is what the mind regards as a treasure. By treasure is not meant necessarily money, stocks or bonds, but what each man thinks best or the supreme value of life; that which he strives most eagerly to attain and that which most casts him down when he fails to achieve it. People are often advised: ‘Put your heart into it’ … meaning thereby to make a certain thing their treasure. Analyse dreams as much as you please, study the parental influences on a child, investigate the Oedipus complex and sound the depths of the Electra complex, ferret out the cavernous depths of the id, dig into the cellar of the unconscious mind, and you will not find the explanation of what makes a man the way he is; but find out what a man thinks in his heart, discover the source of his greatest joy when he has it, and his greatest discontent when he is deprived of it, and you will know the man’s god – his treasure.
"There are a thousand little wants of every heart which are like a thousand leaves on a sapling weighted down, with a wire pulling it in a certain direction. When the wire is taken off, the sapling springs to a certain position. So it is with the heart. When all restraints are taken off, where does the desire of the heart take us? Basically hearts tend to three treasures which are false: egotism, or an affirmation of self-will; lust, or inordinate love of sex; avarice, or inordinate love of money and luxury.
"Most of the troubles which affect people come from having their heart set on these things which give no repose. A normal man needs no outside help to discover where his heart is; nine times out of ten times, he will discover it is in the wrong place. Blessed are those whose treasure is in God, desiring His Will in all their ways, thinking Him in all their thoughts. Then, whatever happens to the human heart in this atomic age, it will be as immortal as its treasure. On the contrary, how can any outsider whose heart is not at peace advise another heart? Does the psychoanalyst go to another psychoanalyst? Is he so possessed of true peace of soul that he can direct someone else in the paths of peace? No one can give what he does not have. If his analysis is the way to certain peace, why are there unhappy psychoanalysts? In any case, the Good Lord, in addition to giving us the secret of happy living, also made it possible for more or less normal people to save themselves a lot of money by doing their own psychoanalysing – by simply finding out the treasure of their heart. If they are abnormal and all their wires crossed, then they better go to a psychiatrist, but most people are not as crazy as they think they are. They have their hearts set on the wrong treasures. It is not that God is hard to find; it is only that finding Him means we have to be hard on our egotism and our pride. But once they are crushed, the reward is indescribably lovely."
(Thoughts for Daily Living)
Prayer for the Attainment of Heaven
(St Thomas Aquinas)
O God of all consolation, You Who see nothing in us but what You have given us, I invoke Your help: after this life has run its course, grant me knowledge of You, the First Truth, and enjoyment of Your divine majesty.
O most bountiful Rewarder, endow my body with beauty of splendour, with swift responsiveness to all commands, with complete subservience to the spirit, and with freedom from all vulnerability.
Add to these an abundance of Your riches, a river of delights, and a flood of other goods so that I may enjoy Your solace above me, a delightful garden beneath my feet, the glorification of body and soul within me, and the sweet companionship of men and angels around me.
With You, most merciful Father, may my mind attain the enlightenment of wisdom, my desire what is truly desirable, and my courage the praise of triumph.
There, with You, is refuge from all dangers, multitude of dwelling places, and harmony of wills.
There, with You, resides the cheerfulness of spring, the brilliance of summer, the fruitfulness of autumn, and the gentle repose of winter.
Give me, O Lord my God, that life without death and that joy without sorrow where there is the greatest freedom, unconfined security, secure tranquillity, delightful happiness, happy eternity, eternal blessedness, the vision of truth, and praise, O God. Amen. 💖💐🙏
Food for thought
Do not be impressed by the brilliant and clever sayings of human beings. Listen to Christ’s words, which inflame the heart, enlighten the mind, bring repentance for sin to the heart, and infuse it with many consolations. Reading the Scriptures to appear more learned will not benefit you; but rather study how to overcome your worst faults. This will profit you more than having the answers to difficult questions at your fingertips. The grace of the Holy Spirit ever seeks a humble heart; therefore, learn for Christ’s sake to overcome yourself in all things, and then you will be able to grow in divine knowledge.