Our Riches

+

J.M.J.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Today, again, as at last Sunday, St. Paul, in the Epistle of the Mass (Rom. 8.12-17), compares the two lives which always struggle within us: the life of the old man, slave to sin and the passions, from which come the fruits of death, and that of the new man, the servant, or better, the child of God, producing fruits of life. If you live according to the flesh, you shall die, but if, by the Spirit, you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. The Traditional Sacrament of Baptism has begotten us to the life of the spirit, but it has not suppressed the life of the flesh in us; the new man must always struggle against the old man, the spiritual must fight against the corporeal. Baptismal grace does not excuse us from this battle - contrary to the un-Scriptural teaching of the 'Bible-only' sectarians who claim they were already saved - but it gives us the power to sustain it. We must be thoroughly convinced of this so that we will not be deceived or disturbed if, after many years of living a spiritual life, certain passions, which we thought we had subdued forever, revive in us. Unfortunately, to the perdition of so many in the "New 'Order'", driven as they were by their very own pastors corrupted, if not outrightly perverted, in the school of the so-called "New 'Catholic THEOlogy'" this battle has been de-Catholicized by way of 'appreciation' of the Masonic school of 'naturalism' (anathematized by Pope Leo XIII in his volley against the partisans of the Synagogue of Satan, the Encyclical Humanum genus).

But this battle is our earthly condition: The life of man on earth is a warfare (Job 7.1), so much so that the Lord and Savior said: The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence (Mt. 11.12). But this continual struggle should not frighten us; for grace has made us children of God, and as such, we have every right to count on His paternal help. You have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, says St. Paul, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father. To increase our belief in this great truth, he adds, The Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God - not conformed to the principles and maxims, tastes and fashions, hopes and aspirations, delights and consolations of this world (Rom. 12.2). The Spirit of Truth, our greatest Treasure being the "Highest Gift Divine," is in us who entertain not the delusion of becoming a part of Satan's reign - the Novus Ordo or the "New 'Order'", whether secular or Vatican II-sponsored.

Today's Holy Gospel (Lk. 16.1-9) teaches us by means of a parable - which at first sight seems a little disconcerting - how to be wise in administering the great riches of our supernatural life of grace. When the Lord and Master spoke this parable, He certainly had no intention of praising the conduct the of the unjust steward - a figure of the Neo-Catholic and Neo-SSPX pastors - who, after wasting his master's goods during his stewardship, continued to steal even when he learned that he was to be discharged. However, the Sovereign Lord and Master did not praise him for the clever way he made sure of his own future. The lesson of the parable hinges on this point: The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. And I say unto you: Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. The Saviour exhorts the children of light not to be less shrewd in providing for their eternal interests than the children of darkness are in assuring for themselves the goods of the earth.

We also, like the steward in the parable, have received from God a patrimony to administer, that is, our natural gifts, and more importantly, our supernatural gifts, and all the graces, holy enlightenment and inspirations, and promptings especially to the Truth in the domain of "Catholic Resistance" which demands going that extra mile of sacrifice to the mountains (Mt. 24.16), to our modern 'catacombs': as the Apocalyptic eagles (Mt. 24.28) who possess that very keen eye for Him Who Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14.6), gathered together... wheresoever the Body shall be (Mt. 24.28). The hour for rendering an account will come for us too, sooner or later, and we shall have to admit that we have often been unfaithful, negligent, and stubborn in insisting for our narrow human ways of 'processing' in trafficking with the gifts of God, in making the treasures of grace fructify in our soul. 

How can we atone for our mis-, rather, maladministration? We must pay our debts to God by charity for Sacred Writ teaches us, Charity covereth a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4.8). This does not mean material charity alone, but also spiritual charity and not in great things only, but in little ones too - yes, even in the very least things for the honor and glory of God and the eternal salvation of souls. These little acts of charity are the riches by which we pay our debts and put in order "our stewardship."