Roc Homily Part Deux – Twenty-Sixth Sunday Ordinary Time 2016

Jesus addressed, I believe, the mystery of the meaning of possessiveness in the Pharisees – and in our lives as well

I asked the congregation to reflect upon the First Principle & Foundation from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Please read, reflect, and notice points of attraction & aversion.  These will help you know how you are situated before Christ.  Blessings!  (I’ll post the audio file tomorrow.) –roc,sj

First Principle & Foundation

The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by doing so, to save his or her soul.

All other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings in order to help them pursue the end for which they are created.

It follows from this that one must use other created things, in so far as they help towards one’s end, and free oneself from them, in so far as they are obstacles to one’s end.

To do this, we need to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no other prohibition.

Thus, as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for which we are created.