No man can serve two masters. The tragic mistake of mankind is to think that he can live a worldly self-centered life and still serve and be pleasing to God.

St. Paul lists in today's Epistle the deeds of the flesh and the spirit. Each is opposed to the other. "The flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh."

We cannot serve the world and the flesh and still serve God. The world and our bodies were given to serve us. We are to be their masters, just as we are to serve God. There is a right order that has been established by God and as we stray from this right order it becomes inverted and far from being the masters of this world and everything in it, we become slaves and servants of the world.

This inversion of right order leads to chaos and eternal damnation. It reaches the point where men now believe that light is darkness and darkness is light; good is evil and evil is good.

When a man gives into his passions, his next temptation is to try and rationalize his sin and make it to really be no sin at all. When he gives into this temptation, he has succeeded in inverting right order. He has justified his sin. And by loving the sin and seeking out ways to accept it, he ends up serving it. His life then becomes a life of servitude to sin. All his time and energy is given over to this service. He must constantly try to rationalize the irrational. In this all-consuming servitude that he has willingly brought upon himself he finds that he has no time for God. He cannot serve God and mammon.

Also, in this inversion of right order man finds that he can not only ignore God but he must actively work against God. He begins by denying the teachings of God. He cannot accept the condemnations of his own actions so he must condemn the very condemnation. And in rejecting the words of God, it next logically follows that one must reject God Himself. In attempting to reject the words of God one in essence calls God a liar. He judges God and thus places himself above God and seeks to be the master of God. Thus we have the complete inversion: God becomes the servant of man, man is the servant of evil passions and whims of this world.

But, this inversion is only apparent. It is an illusion because man is never the master of God. He only imagines or acts as if he was, and this is only for a time. In eternity right order will be invariably established.

The flesh lusts against the spirit. As long as we dwell in this flesh we have a constant battle to fight. To deny this battle is to have given in to the enemy. To cease fighting is to have surrendered. To be completely free from temptation is to have given in to it. When the inversion is complete man becomes the servant of mammon.

But, men attempt to justify themselves saying that we must take care of our bodies. We are commanded by God to eat and watch out for our health, etc. This is true until it is taken to the extreme. We must remember to seek first the kingdom of Heaven knowing that if we do this, all that we need for our bodies will be given to us.

When we establish and maintain a right order in our lives we find that the struggle continues and grows as the spirit lusts against the flesh. The spirit shows us that there is no need for us to be solicitous for the things of this earth. There is nothing we can do about it. "Which of you by taking thought can add to his stature?" Or change his body? Let us not concern ourselves over these worldly things but concern ourselves about the eternal. We can do little to alter ourselves in this world, but there is much that we can do now that has profound effects in eternity.

Let us strive to adorn the soul with virtues and we will not have to worry about adorning our bodies here on earth. When our souls are beautiful it radiates outward through the body, and regardless of the poverty of the attire, we appear beautiful before both God and men. Let us therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and His justice and all that we need for our bodies and this world will be given us also.

St. Augustine compares leprosy to heresy. Just as leprosy cuts a person off from the rest of society, likewise heresy cuts a person away from the Church. Just as it was necessary for the lepers to go to God's priests, so it is necessary that the heretics show themselves to His priests.

God had arranged that one of the lepers was a Samaritan. In this manner, He wished to show us that His desire is to unite all people together as one. He has called us all to become one in His Mystical Body — the Church. The Church and God are as husband and wife. If we offend against one, we automatically offend against the other. The idolater who offends the Father is the same as the heretic or schismatic that offends the Church. If we wish to unite with God, we must become united with His Bride, the Church. All who desire to return to God and to spiritual health, must first return to the Church, by showing themselves to the priests.

It is God who does everything, the priests (the Church) only administer His graces as a wife administers the possessions of her husband. The husband could administer his possessions himself, but he has taken a wife whom he loves and trusts, and all that he has, he entrusts to her. The same is true with God and the Church. God can administer His graces without the Church or even outside the Church. However, He loves the Church, and has entrusted all He has to Her care and administration. The husband and wife are one; and God and the Church are One. To love God is to love His Bride — the Church; and to love the Church is to love Her Spouse — God. Therefore, whoever wishes to come to God, He sends first to the Church.

If we consider leprosy as sin, then we are all in need of healing because we are all sinners. Therefore, we must all come to the Church, by showing ourselves to the priests. Once, we have received the healing graces, we must remember that the grace that came to us through the priests (the Church) is not from men or even from the Bride (the Church), but is from God. We must therefore come to the Church, but we must in doing so always give thanks to God. It is He that has supplied the graces, and it is He that has given us the Church. The human priests are but His instruments. We must be careful. The priests are often tempted to attribute the works that God performs through their hands to themselves; and the laity are often tempted to show their appreciation only to the priests, forgetting that all honour and glory belong to God. The Church is not insulted when we receive God's grace from Her hands and then return to give thanks to God. On the contrary, She is honored all the more by this. Nor, is God insulted when we turn to the Church in repentance so that we may be healed — He is honored and pleased that we love and trust His Bride as well as Himself.

St. Augustine also considers the Church as the hen protecting her chicks. When Our Lord wept over Jerusalem He lamented that: He would have gathered them all together and protected them; as a hen would her chicks, but they would not. The Church as the Bride or Mystical Body of Christ is as this hen. It is under the wings of the Church that we will be safe and secure. The unfledged chick that is without a mother hen is in constant danger from all kinds of predators. The person that is outside the Church is in constant spiritual danger from every kind of evil. Under the wings of the hen a chick is safe and protected; inside the Church our souls are safe and protected.

The Pagan is lost because he has rejected God, the heretics and schismatics are lost because they have rejected God's Spouse — Our Holy Mother the Church. The solution is simple: they must both cry out to God for help. In hearing their prayers, God will send them to the Church. In obeying this direction of God's we are healed, but we are not made whole until we return thanks to God. We should thank Him for the healing of our souls and for giving us His Bride as our Holy Mother. We must not forget God when we enter the Church. Our fallen nature often sees the works of God coming to us through the hands of men and we forget that it is God working through them. We are thus tempted to give the praise and honour to men rather than to God and thus become guilty of idolatry. And some have even become so self-absorbed that they never even think of showing any gratitude for the good things they have received. May we all learn from the Samaritan leper in today's Gospel. We must call out to Christ, show ourselves to the priests (enter the Church), and then return to Christ in humble thanksgiving. Always, we must realise that God works through His Church so intimately that They are One, as the husband and wife are one.

Benedictum nomen Mariae! Deo gratias!

Don't cease your prayers .....

You can add them to a Spiritual Bouquet at the LMS main site here.

Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption on November 1, 1950. This doctrine though newly defined was not a new doctrine, but is truly a part of the deposit of faith received from the Apostles. It states that "at the close of her earthly career, she was taken up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven." By reason of her divine maternity, Our Lady, the Immaculate Virgin, who from the moment of her conception was privileged to escape original sin, could not know the corruption of the tomb.

The Church places before us in the Epistle for today Judith as a type of the Blessed Virgin. In Judith we see a blessed daughter of the Lord the most high God. She saved her people by cutting off the head of the prince of the enemy. Just as Judith is remembered as the woman who saved her people, so the Blessed Virgin Mary is now remembered as the woman who brought salvation (Jesus Christ) to the whole world. Her intimate participation with Christ during His life of sacrifice and in His bitter suffering and death on the Cross, entitles her to a similar participation with Him in His glory in Heaven.

Thus we see in anticipation and preparation for the birth of Christ, Mary was conceived without sin and she preserved her innocence throughout her life. As a reward for her cooperation in the sufferings and sacrifices of the Son of God, she has merited to be assumed into Heaven where she now reigns with Him as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. And even more so what was said of Judith can be said of Mary: "Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel; thou art the honor of our People."

The inspired words of St. Elizabeth are very sweet to the ears of Catholics and can never be too often repeated: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." And in answer we hear Mary's response filled with humility and the grace of God: "My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior; because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name, and His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him."

Just as Christ rose from the dead and is now in Heaven and as Mary was assumed into Heaven, so we too hope to rise glorious with them on the last day. Christ has opened the gates of Heaven and Mary has followed Him through the gates, and they call to us to follow after them into the glories of Heaven that have been prepared for us from all of eternity. Yet, we do not have the sinlessness of Mary so we cannot hope to avoid the penalty of death as she has done, but must lovingly resign ourselves to a punishment that we more than deserve.

We consign the bodies of our loved ones to the earth and prepare for the day when we too will be consigned to the earth with a hope confirmed by faith that we will rise forth from the grave once again complete: body and soul, and will then face Christ as our Judge. He is not only our God, Lord and Master, but He has even become our Brother. He has come to this earth and left us the clear and unmistakable directions as to what we are expected to do in order to follow Him into Heaven. The judgment for or against us will be a supremely just judgment because it is made by God who is also our Brother in the flesh. And there with Him will be His mother and our's the Blessed Virgin Mary.

She who escaped sin and the punishment of sin who has been the refuge of repentant sinners will be there to welcome them into her open arms in Heaven. They who have trusted in her and have loved her during their lives here on earth must find that they will receive a positive judgment from her Son, our: Brother, God, Lord, and Master, Jesus Christ. And we too shall sing the Magnificat with Mary as God has regarded the humility of His brothers and sisters in showing us His mercy.

But, we must draw close Mary our Mother in daily prayer if we are to obtain such mercy and refuge. Let us not let a day go by without a call to our Heavenly Mother in prayer. She is waiting and listening. We should not let her down, for if we displease her we have no hope of ever being pleasing to her Son when He passes judgment upon us.

This Sunday we are presented with the man sick of the palsy lying in a bed. This man symbolically represents every sinner.

It is interesting to note that "Jesus, seeing their faith . . ." heals the man of his sins. It was not the faith of the man who was sick but it was the faith of those who brought the man to Jesus. We see how necessary it is for us to enlist the help of our fellow men when we are in need of God's help. This man received this special grace of God because of the faith of his friends even though he himself appears to have very little faith.

When Christ tells the man that his sins are forgiven we hear nothing of him thanking God for the wonderful gift that he had received. He appears to be just as worldly minded as the scribes who doubted Jesus.

The man's sins were forgiven him because of the faith of those who brought him before Jesus; his body is healed because of the lack of faith of those who witnessed this miracle.

The first miracle _ the forgiveness of sins _ is obviously the greater miracle, but it is doubted or lightly esteemed in the eyes of men. The second miracle _ the healing of the man's body _ is obviously the lesser miracle but is the one most noted by men. "And the multitude, seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men."

We must note that God heals the soul first. As such we see that many of our physical disorders are brought about by the unseen spiritual disorders within us. In order to cure the body it is first necessary to cure the soul. As long as we remain in sin we are sick and there is no amount of medicines that can cure us. The cure to many of our physical ailments must begin with the cure of our souls. To try and ignore the illness of the soul will only lead to further complications in the body and a worsening of the situation of the soul.

The bed that the man was lying on symbolizes the man's sins. He was brought in lying in his bed of sin. The bed is a place of rest, comfort and joy. As long as man looks for his happiness in worldly things his bed becomes heavier and heavier with the weight of his sins. And this bed weighted down with the man's sins becomes a burden to him. This bed that he thought was to be the source of his worldly pleasures now has become his cross. The man was commanded to get up and take up the bed and go into his house. Even though he is now free from his sins and is healed both in body and soul he must still carry the burden of these sins that he has accumulated.

St. Gregory tells us: "In Sacred Scripture, bed or pallet, and also couch sometimes stand for pleasures of the body, sometimes for the refreshment of good works, sometimes for rest in the ordinary sense. For what is meant in the Gospel when the Lord says to a certain man who was healed: Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house but that by the bed pleasure of body is signified? And he is commanded to bear as a healthy man, that on which he had lain as a sick one; for every own who still delights in sin, lies sick in the pleasure of his flesh. But now healed he bears that upon which he had lain sick, because raised from his sins by divine assistance, he must afterwards bear with the assaults of that flesh in whose desires he had before found rest."

The crimes of the sinner continue to torment and tempt him even long after he has repented of them. Though this is a fair and just punishment for our sins it is one that is often not correctly understood. We must bear this burden as a just punishment for our sins and to further humble us. We must fully understand that we are not free from our sins by our own efforts but, only because of God's mercy towards us. We must constantly be reminded of our own weakness to prevent us from becoming proud. We must be reminded of our past to prevent us from proudly and vainly placing ourselves above anyone else.

When we see what we have been and the crimes that we have committed against both God and man, we are much less likely to despise our fellow men, no matter how terrible they may appear. "There but for the grace of God go I." This was the sentiment of St. Francis who once declared that he was more guilty than the criminal going to his execution. His idea is simple enough, If that man had received all the graces that I have received he would probably have put them to better use than I have done. And if I had been in that man's position I would probably have sinned worse than he.

Let us learn from this sick man, to obtain the intercessory prayers of our friends so that God may heal us both in soul and body. Let us go to the priest that God has given His power to and have our sins forgiven first so that our bodies may then recover their health also. And let us patiently and humbly accept the consequences and punishment that is due to us for our sins. If we cheerfully do penance for our sins on earth we may confidently hope for an eternal rest in heaven.

Our Annual General Meeting will take place in Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QW on Saturday, 14th August 2021 at 11.30am (doors open 10.30am). The guest speaker will be Fr Henry Whisenant, priest of the Diocese of East Anglia.

A buffet lunch will be provided for members, which MUST be booked in advance (see below).  To help defray costs, we ask for a £5 donation per head towards the cost, which can be paid here (also accepts credit / debit cards) or by telephoning the LMS Office.

Following lunch, High Mass will be celebrated at the High Altar of the Cathedral at 2.30pm, the celebrant will be the Fr Whisenant; Deacon: Fr Gabriel Diaz; Subdeacon: Fr John Scott. Music, by Westminster Cathedral Choir directed by David Grealy, will include Palestrina’s Missa Brevis. The Offertory motet will be Josquin’s Ave Maria and at Communion Byrd’s Ave Verum.