5th Sunday after Easter 10 May 2015 Sermon

5th Sunday after Easter 10.5.15 Union with God

There are certain things which Catholics do which are believed to guarantee salvation. For example, the nine first Fridays, the five first Saturdays, and wearing the scapular.

We understand that these practices do not work in isolation of our general attitudes and behaviour.

So, for example, if I wear a scapular that does not mean I can then go around and rob banks and still expect to go to heaven.

The way it works is that if I wear a scapular the grace which comes from that will move me to become a better person, and therefore more likely to be saved.

One still has to battle with temptations; still has to strive for holiness. It will not come by itself, but we will be assisted in our endeavours.

We are saved if we love God with our whole heart and mind. This is the endpoint of all our activity.

We are not saved by technical observances, but rather by what is in our hearts.

It is not just how many prayers we pray or how many Masses we attend. Generally the more of these things the better, but there has to be a change in us – such that the sin goes out and the grace of God comes in.

We are saved if we love God; if we live and die in union with Him.

And this union we achieve through a combination of prayer, sacraments (especially the Mass), good works, sorrow for sin, generally learning as we go.

The way we live, the way we pray – it all has to be with this understanding that we are united with God.

This is the message Our Lord is conveying to us in the Upper Room discourse (John, chapters 13-17).

If we have Jesus we also have the Father and the Holy Spirit.

If we have all three we lack nothing, and can afford to look life in the face with no great difficulty.

As to the way we pray: whatever we ask for we will receive because when we have a deep union with God we will always ask for the right thing, and in the right way.

God's will for us is better than our own will, so if He overrules us it will be for our greater happiness. If we do not get what we want we will want what we get!

St James tells us in today’s epistle: we can relate to God in such a way that it is like glancing in a mirror. We do not allow ourselves the time to get to know Him in depth, to come to an understanding and acceptance of His holy will.

The likelihood of our prayer succeeding will rise or fall according to the depth of our relationship with God.

With depth our requests are going to be more considered, and delivered with love.

One of our prayers has to be that we can pray properly; that we have in us the desire to know God more fully. He will grant that prayer certainly.

The way we pray and the way we live will both become better and easier, more like a natural expression of what is in us than an effort to do something alien to us, or beyond us.

This is how the devotions, such as first Fridays and first Saturdays work. Those devotions will save us insofar as they will help us to keep and increase union with God.

We lose ourselves in that greater reality, which is God Himself. We no longer measure out the prayer or the good deeds as though it is a great effort. It all becomes a joy and a privilege, instead.

Today many demand that the commandments be made easier. Instead of changing the commandments what about changing ourselves, allowing God’s grace to lift us to greater heights? That is a much better idea.