/lit/ - Literature

Sermon 16~ Second Sunday of Lent ~ On Heaven

” Lord, it is good for us to be here.” MATT. xvii. 4.

In this days gospel we read, that wishing to give his disciples a glimpse of the glory of Paradise, in order to animate them to labour for the divine honour, the Redeemer was transfigured, and allowed them to behold the splendour of his countenance. Ravished with joy and delight, St. Peter exclaimed: ”Lord, it is good for us to be here.” Lord, let us remain here; let us -.never more depart from this place; for, the sight of thy beauty consoles us more than all the delights of the earth. Brethren, let us labour during the remainder of our lives to gain heaven. Heaven is so great a good, that, to purchase it for us, Jesus Christ has sacrificed his life on the cross. Be assured, that the greatest of all the torments of the damned in hell, arise from the thought of having lost heaven through their own fault. The blessings, the delights, the joys, the sweetness of Paradise may be acquired; but they can be described and understood only by those blessed souls that enjoy them. But let us, with the aid of the holy Scripture, explain the little that can be said of them here below.
According to the Apostle, no man on this earth, can comprehend the infinite blessings which God has prepared for the souls that love him. ”Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor. ii. 9.) In this life we cannot have an idea of any other pleasures than those which we enjoy by means of the senses. Perhaps we imagine that the beauty of heaven resembles that of a wide extended plain covered with the verdure of spring, interspersed with trees in full bloom, and abounding in birds fluttering about and singing on every side; or, that it is like the beauty of a garden full of fruits and flowers, and surrounded by fountains in continual play. ”Oh! what a Paradise,” to behold such a plain, or such a garden! But, oh! how much greater are the beauties of heaven! Speaking of Paradise, St. Bernard says: O man, if you wish to understand the blessings of heaven, know that in that happy country there is nothing which can be disagreeable, and everything that you can desire. ”Nihil est quod nolis, totum est quod velis.” Although there are some things here below which are agreeable to the senses, how many more are there which only torment us? If the light of day is pleasant, the darkness of night is disagreeable: if the spring and the autumn are cheering, the cold of winter and the heat of summer are painful. In addition, we have to endure the pains of sickness, the persecution of men, and the inconveniences of poverty; we must submit to interior troubles, to fears, to temptations of the devil, doubts of conscience, and to the uncertainty of eternal salvation.

St. Alphonsus Maria a Ligorio

On Bad Thoughts (audio):

http://traditionalcatholicsermons.org/index_files/StAlphonsus_EighteenthSundayAfterPentecost_OnBadThoughts.mp3


"In the gospel of this day it is related that a paralytic was presented to Jesus Christ that he might heal him. The Lord healed not only his body, but also his soul, and said to him: ”Be of good heart, son; thy sins are forgiven thee” (verse 2). Some of the Scribes, as soon as they heard these words, said in their hearts: He blasphemeth. But our Saviour soon let them know that he saw their evil thoughts, saying: “Why do you think evil in your hearts. ” Let us come to the subject of this discourse.

"God sees the most secret evil thoughts of our hearts; he sees and punishes them. Human judges forbid and chastise only external crimes; for men only see what appears externally. ”Men seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart.” (1 Kings xvi. 7.) God prohibits and punishes bad thoughts. We shall examine, in the first point, when bad thoughts are sinful; in the second, the great danger of bad thoughts when indulged; and in the third, the remedies against bad thoughts.

>>14063040
God sent the deluge which destroyed all of humanity aside from a few individuals, and destroyed countless cities time and again for sins against purity. Burning a few people at the stake, is nothing in comparison, so for you to be alarmed at this, shows you understand neither God nor his law, nor His abhorrence of these sins, which by rejecting the immutable good, are an infinite insult, and no earthly punishment would ever oblate for their grievousness which is why eternal hell hereafter is the only remedy. You're also wrong, many would have been burned at the stake for something as vile as pornography production, such a practice was common for sodomy which included sodomincal heterosexual acts which most pornographic material falls under. Pornography is worse than all of that, because it naturally involves scandal, and forgiveness of scandal is only ever possible if the sinner saves as many people as he has condemned to hell, which would be a greater miracle than raising the dead to life. Christ, says far worse of the scandalous and rejects their salvation entirely.

In the words of St. Alphonsus.
>Can you, who say that the vice of impurity is but a small evil can you, I ask, deny that it is a mortal sin? If you deny it, you are a heretic; for as St. Paul says: “Do not err. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. vi. 9.) It is a mortal sin; it cannot be a small evil. It is more sinful than theft, or detraction, or the violation of the fast. How then can you say that it is not a great evil? Perhaps mortal sin appears to you to be a small evil? Is it a small evil to despise the grace of God, to turn your back upon him, and to lose his friendship, for a transitory, beastly pleasure?