Sixth Sunday after Easter
THIS Sunday is a preparation for the feast of Pentecost. At the Introit of the Mass, the Church sings :
“ Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to Thee, alleluia. My heart hath said to Thee, I have sought Thy face ; Thy face, O Lord, will I seek ; turn not away Thy face from me, alleluia, alleluia. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” Glory be to the Father, etc.
Prayer.
O almighty and everlasting God, grant us ever to entertain a devout affection towards Thee, and to serve Thy majesty with a sincere heart. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.
EPISTLE, i. Peter iv. 7-11.
Dearly Beloved : Be prudent, and watch in prayers. But before all things have a constant mutual charity among yourselves ;for charity covereth a multitude of sins. Using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. As every man hath received grace, ministering the same to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the words of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the power which God administereth : that in all things God may be honored through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Practice.
The virtues here recommended are excellent preparatives for receiving the Holy Ghost, for nothing makes us more worthy of His grace than temperance, prayer, charity, unity, and hospi tality towards our neighbors. Endeavor, therefore, to exercise these virtues, and every day during the following week pray fervently to the Holy Ghost for help in your endeavors.
GOSPEL. John xv. 26, 27 ; xvi. 1-4.
At that time Jesus said to His disciples : When the Paraclete cometh Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony of Me: and you shall give testimony, because you are with Me from the beginning. These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. They will put you out of the synagogues : yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told you.
What kind of sin is scandal?
It is a frightful sin. By it countless sins are occasioned, thousands of souls are carried to perdition, while the loving de sign of God for the salvation of men is frustrated. How, in general, is scandal given?
By saying, doing, or neglecting to do something which be comes the occasion of sin to another.
When do parents give scandal?
When they set a bad example to their children. When they do not correct them for doing wrong, or neglect to keep them from what is bad and to teach them that which is good.
How do employers give scandal?
In much the same way that parents give scandal to their children : when, by bad example or by command, they keep their servants or other employees from divine service, or neglect to make them attend it. When they themselves use, or give to others, flesh-meat on days of abstinence. When they order the commission of sin.
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