"On avoiding the occasions of sin"

 "St. Paul,"  El Greco

The following is taken from a sermon for the First Sunday after Easter by our Eastertide guide, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church:

"In consequence of original sin, we all have an inclination to do what is forbidden.   Hence St. Paul complained, that he experienced in himself a law opposed to reason.  "But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin." - Rom., vii 23.   Now, when a dangerous occasion is present, it violently excites our corrupt desires, so that it is then very difficult to resist them; because God withholds efficacious helps from those who voluntarily expose themselves to the occasion of sin.  "He that loveth danger shall perish in it" - Eccl., iii, 27.  "When", says St. Thomas, in his comment on this passage, "we expose ourselves to danger, God abandons us in it".  St. Bernardine of Sienna teaches, that the counsel of avoiding the occasions of sin, is the best of all counsel, and as it were the foundation of religion."

St. Alphonsus Liguori, pray for us.

St. Bernardine of Siena, St. Paul, and the Holy Name of Jesus

St. Bernardine of Siena

 
January is the month devoted to the Holy Name of Jesus, and today is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Disciple.  St. Bernardine of Siena (1380 AD - 1444 AD) preached often on the Holy Name of Jesus, and the following excerpt from a sermon of St. Bernardine, in which he praises St. Paul as a great exemplar of devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, seems especially apt for today's feast:

When a fire is lit to clear a field, it burns off all the dry and useless weeds and thorns. When the sun rises and darkness is dispelled, robbers, night-prowlers and burglars hide away. So when Paul's voice was raised to preach the Gospel to the nations, like a great clap of thunder in the sky, his preaching was a blazing fire carrying all before it. It was the sun rising in full glory. Infidelity was consumed by it, false beliefs fled away, and the truth appeared like a great candle lighting the whole world with its brilliant flame.

By word of mouth, by letters, by miracles, and by the example of his own life, Saint Paul bore the Name of Jesus wherever he went. He praised the Name of Jesus "at all times," but never more than when "bearing witness to his faith."

Moreover, the Apostle did indeed carry this Name "before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" as a light to enlighten all nations. And this was his cry wherever he journeyed: "The night is passing away, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves honorably as in the day." Paul himself showed forth the burning and shining-light set upon a candlestick, everywhere proclaiming "Jesus, and Him crucified."

And so the Church, the Bride of Christ strengthened by his testimony, rejoices with the psalmist, singing: "O God from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds." The psalmist exhorts her to do this, as he says: "Sing to the Lord, and bless His Name, proclaim His salvation day after day." And this salvation is Jesus, Her savior.

St. Bernardine of Siena, pray for us.

The Conversion of St. Paul, Disciple

Conversion of St. Paul

 
Today is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Disciple.  The following is from a sermon in praise of St. Paul by St. John Chrysostom (347 AD -407 AD):

Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really is, and in what our nobility consists, and of what virtue this particular animal is capable. Each day he aimed ever higher; each day he rose up with greater ardor and faced with new eagerness the dangers that threatened him.  He summed up his attitude in the words: "I forget what is behind me and push on to what lies ahead."  When he saw death imminent, he bade others share his joy: "Rejoice and be glad with me!" And when danger, injustice and abuse threatened, he said: "I am content with weakness, mistreatment and persecution." These he called the weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from them.

St. Paul, pray for us.