Catholic Saints, who have written on the Spiritual Life, suggest that a "remote preparation" is necessary in order to better understand the Word of God.  This includes being a lover of the Truth as well as the practice the Virtues of Humility, Meekness, and Docility to God the Holy Ghost.  "Proximate preparation" includes two prayers:  1) The Act of Contrition; and, 2) The Veni, Sancte Spiritus.

An Act of Contrition

O my God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, because I love Thee above all things with my whole heart and soul.  I detest all of my sins because it was for them and His Love for me that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, my Lord and my God, suffered, was crucified, and died on the cross.  O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee by my sins, faults, imperfections, negligences and carelessness, Who art all good and deserving of all of my love.

I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace, to sin no more, to confess my sins, to do penance, to amend my life, to avoid all of the near occasions of sin, and always give to Thee freely, liberally and generously what is of supererogation and perfection, not only in greater things, but especially in lesser things, so that I may gain beforehand Thy efficacious, superabundant, particular and special Graces and Helps so that I will always be victorious in resisting and overcoming all temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil and his followers.  Grant me those Graces and Helps needed so that my every thought, word and action may be done solely out of love for Thee, Who art Love.  Amen.

Saint John Chrysostom

It was the custom of Patriarch Saint John Chrysostom [b. Antioch, c. 347 A.D. - d. at Commana in Pontus on Friday, September 14, 407 A.D.], Patriarch of Constantinople [Thursday, February 26, 398 A.D. - Thursday, June 24, 404 A.D.], exiled from his See the 2nd time on Thursday, June 24, 404 A.D., Father and Doctor of the Catholic Church, to properly prepare himself and his Congregation before preaching. He taught that unless God the Holy Ghost prepares the minds and hearts of the Preacher and of the Congregation, the Preacher preaches in vain and the Congregation listens in vain.

Therefore, so as not to waste your time, please pray the Veni, Sancte Spiritus, remembering how one Holy Saint was of the opinion that a Sermon is a Sacramental.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created;
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let Us Pray

O God, who didst instruct the hearts of Thy faithful by the light of Thy Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to relish what is right and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary; pray for us.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Catholic Schools, pray for us.

“Now concerning Spiritual things, my brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (EPISTLE of today’s Mass [1 Corinthians 12:1]).

V  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

How many times, when one hears the name of an Epistle, does one really understand the historical context in which that Epistle was written, especially who the people were to whom the Epistle is addressed.

In Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Christian Catholics at Corinth, from which the word “Corinthians” is derived, one finds all kinds of very interesting information. For example, to put this Epistle into some kind of context, and to better understand why it was necessary for Saint Paul to write it, the ancient Greek city of Corinth had been almost totally destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C.

It was 102 years later, in 44 B.C., that Julius Cæsar founded the Corinth of the New Testament era under the name of Colonia Laus Julia Corinthos as the capital of the senatorial province of Achæa.  This city was composed mostly of Italian freedmen but later attracted a large and mixed population from the East, although most of the citizens were probably not Greeks.

Both the previous Greek city and the newer Roman city had large numbers of pagan temples along with a bad reputation as a center of pleasure and vice, so much so that the Greeks had a proverb which said that not everyone should go to Corinth.

It was obviously under the influence of God the Holy Ghost that Saint Paul would have chosen such a den of iniquity for evangelization and his Epistles seem to reflect the character of his congregation there with some allusions which are not found in his Epistles to other places.  On a smaller scale, Corinth tends to remind one of what Saint Paul encountered when he began to evangelize the wild city of Rome.

Saint Paul preached for 1 ½ years at Corinth where he converted large numbers of peoples, some of whom were of the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and some of whom were pagan Gentiles.

The Roman Proconsul of Corinth, Lucius Junius Annæus Gallio, whose original name was Marcus Annæus Novatus, who was a Brother of Seneca, the philosopher and tutor of Nero, refused to hear the charge brought against Saint Paul by the members of the local synagogue whose leader, Crispus, the president of the synagogue, had been converted by Saint Paul.  The synagogue charge against Saint Paul was that he was a teacher of an unlawful religion, despite the hundreds of different pagan religions in Corinth as witnessed by the hundreds of different pagan temples!

Saint Paul left Corinth some time after this and went to the city of Ephesus (Acts 18:18) where he lived for about three years. Saint Paul wrote his first Epistle to the Corinthians in which he covers matters relating to faith and morals as well as  ecclesiastical discipline.  This Epistle was written about 24 years after Christ ascended into Heaven which means it was written in about 51 A.D.

In this Catholic Congregation at Corinth, many of the members had been endowed with extra-ordinary Gifts of God the Holy Ghost which are part of what is called the “Charismata”, some of which Saint Paul mentions in the following verses of this Epistle.  The “Charismata” are frequently found in the Apostolic age of the Catholic Church in various places.

But the “Charismata”, these extra-ordinary Gifts of God the Holy Ghost, became the cause for dissensions among many members of the Congregation who became jealous, one of another.  Some of them envied those who, as they thought, possessed more excellent gifts than did they, while others became proud and exalted themselves above those who did not receive these extra-ordinary favors.

In an overview of today’s Epistle, you see Saint Paul trying to stop this nonsense by teaching the Catholics at Corinth that they have no justifiable reason:

1) to envy each other;
2) to exalt themselves above others.

Saint Paul teaches them that the reason for this is because, while all Spiritual Gifts are undeserved Graces of God, such “Charismata” do not make one Catholic holier, or another Catholic less holy, than any other Catholic, but that instead the “Charismata” are given to individual Catholics for the general good of ALL Catholics.

Although the Catholic Church begins today’s Epistle with verse 2 of this Epistle, the overall theme of Chapter 12 is found in verse 1 which is why verse 1 was cited, and not verse 2, at the beginning of this Sermon which is something seldom done, but in this case was more logical to help you to see this Epistle in its general context.

In verses 2 and 3, Saint Paul indicates that both Paganism and rejected Judaism are destitute of all Spiritual Gifts which are to be found only in the Catholic Church.

Concerning Paganism, Saint Paul appealed to the personal experiences of the converted pagan Corinthians where he writes:

“You know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led” (1 Corinthians 12:2).

The converted pagan Corinthians understood what he was telling them, but exactly what was it?  Saint Paul reminded them how, before they were converted to the Catholic Faith, they were Spiritually blind and did such things as adore wooden and stone images of their false pagan gods who were powerless as well as dumb and dead.

They did these things blindly because God the Holy Ghost did not dwell in them because they were members of one of the may false religions of Paganism at that time.  Instead, they were ruled by the spirit of error and darkness.

Concerning Judaism, Saint Paul says:

“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith Anathema to Jesus. And no man can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Certain Fathers of the Catholic Church, namely, Saint Justin Martyr [b. Sichem, a.k.a. Neapolis, or Flavia Neapolis, modern day Nablus, Palestine c. 100 A.D. - d. Rome, Italy c. 165 A.D.] and Origen of Alexandria [b. Alexandria, Egypt in 185 A.D. - d. Tyre, Phenicia in 254 A.D.], claim that in the early ages of the Catholic Church, the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were accustomed to utter curses and maledictions 3 times a day against Christ and against Christian Catholics.

So here the Apostle is saying that a person does not have God the Holy Ghost who curses Christ, or who speaks irreverently of Christ and of His religion.

A Christian Catholic cannot curse Christ because a Catholic has the Spirit of God and is guided by Him. No one can have the true saving faith, nor profess it, nor think, speak, or do anything salutary, unless God the Holy Ghost operates in that person.

Resolutions

For our Resolutions, let us pray to avoid the dangers into which the Catholics at Corinth fell.  So, whatever Gifts, Graces, or talents God has given to us, whether natural, e.g. the talent of singing, or of drawing, or of writing, etc., or supernatural, let these gifts and talents never be a cause of pride because all we have we owe to God’s unmerited Grace as God the Holy Ghost reminds us through the pen of Saint Paul: “What hast thou that thou hast not received?  And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

Let all reflect that the more Gifts, Graces, and talents we have received from God, the greater will be the strict accounting that we must give to God on the day of judgement!  Why?  Because to whosoever much has been given, much will be required. We must imitate the Saints who humbled themselves the more, in proportion to the favors they received from God.

Let no one envy others for WHO they are and for WHAT they have.  Let each of us be satisfied with WHO we are and WHAT we have, being convinced that God gives His Graces and Gifts with the greatest Wisdom, giving each person only what is helpful for that person to save their immortal soul.

“Now concerning Spiritual things, my brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (EPISTLE of today’s Mass [1 Corinthians 12:1]).

V  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

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