Fr. Bill Casey, CPM: The Greatest Sin and How to Defeat It

okay uh let's begin with a reading from the letter of saint paul to the philippians though he was in the form of god and jesus did not deem equality with god something to be grasped at rather he emptied himself and took the form of a slave being born in the likeness of men he was known to be of human estate and it was thus that he humbled himself obediently accepting even death death on a cross because of this god highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every other name so that at jesus name every knee must bend in the heavens on the earth and under the earth and every tongue proclaimed to the glory of god the father jesus christ is lord the word of the lord of god please stand the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to matthew on one occasion jesus spoke with us father lord of heaven and earth to you i offer praise what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children father it is true graciously willed it so come to me all you are weary and fine life burdensome and i will refresh you take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me for i am gentle and humble of heart your souls will find rest my yoke is easy and my burden light the gospel of the lord well um people who know me know that i am a student of history and i especially like anything to do with the civil war i'm a big civil war buff so i thought i would begin tonight with a little story uh in may of 1863 when the civil war was at its peak the union and confederate armies had converged on the town of chancellorsville in northern virginia and at that time the union army had a new commander a controversial commander general joseph hooker they called him fighting joe fighting joe hooker now gerald hooker was a proud man he had a reputation for being profane vain arrogant and ambitious hooker was a heavy drinker a notorious womanizer a blasphemer a braggart he had a violent temper and a foul mouth hooker allowed every kind of immorality to go on inside and outside of his soldiers camp you always let a small army of gamblers and prostitutes and hucksters follow the union army wherever it went hooker was a thoroughly godless man and everybody knew it the night before the battle at chancellorsville general hooker gathered his generals together for a war council and at that meeting he spoke with this typical bombast he bragged about what he was going to do to his enemies the southerners he said that he would show them no mercy he said let god have mercy on them because i'll have none then he made this statement that shocked them all he raised a hand pointed a finger toward heaven and he said almighty god could not stop this army from winning the victory tomorrow later that night one of his generals general hancock went back to his tent and wrote a letter to his wife he said how can we ever hope to win under a commander who would dare to utter such blasphemy well general hooker planned to attack the confederates but the next day he got the surprise of his life because general lee attacked him and fighting joe hooker was taken totally by surprise caught completely off guard and all the shock and confusion of battle the officers on his staff that a kind of paralysis came over him hooker became almost paralyzed with fear and indecision a number of hours went by before hooker ever came out of his headquarters to direct the battle but by that time it was too late the rebels had pulled off one of the most spectacular franking movements in all of military history and they gave the federal army a bloody beating for the north chancellorsville was a humiliating defeat president abraham lincoln sacked joseph hooker and hooker fell into disgrace he had lived with the shame that defeating that blasphemy for the rest of his life his very name his name itself became disgraced because after chancellorsville his name was forever associated with the infamous profession of the immoral women he allowed to follow his camp it's kind of an extreme example but this is what happens to the proud and the arrogant you know the punishment for pride is in some way some mysterious way built into the order of god's creation whether it comes in this life or in the next it always comes jesus said whoever exalts himself will be humbled whoever humbles himself will be exalted the understand why it is that pride is such a mortal danger to the life of the soul and why it is that pride is the most deadly of the seven capital sins pride was the sin of lucifer and the fallen angels who said i will not serve got themselves kicked out of heaven pride was the sin of adam and eve who wanted to be like god and decide for themselves what is right what is wrong what is true what's false what's good what is evil without reference to god adam and eve wanted to exert their independence from god this is the essence of sin first comes pride sin follows pain suffering misery and death came into the world pride is the sin of the theological dissenters of our time who think they know better than the holy spirit they always get it wrong and every year they are more far out than they were the year before the bible calls pride the reservoir of all sin in the book of proverbs it says when pride comes disgrace comes but with the humble there is wisdom it says pride goes before the fall and god will repay to the full those whack with pride so what is pride the latin term is hubris pride is that exaggerated self-love that inclines us to see ourselves as being superior better than others pride is that insidious desire for self-exaltation that desire to be a big shot over others it leads us to seek our own honor and glory a part in the honor and glory of god pride sees the self as the center of all things the measure of all truth the measure of all reality the standard of all morality you know we are no longer living in a society that is characterized by judeo-christian values this has long since cease to be a christian society we are now a culture a society that is dominated by paganism what is paganism the essence of paganism is idolatry and the worst the most insidious kind of idolatry is the worship of the self the exaltation of the self over god a while back i was driving on one of the interstates through illinois and i got behind a car with one of those personalized license plates and the plate said i am god capital i capital m g o d i saw that i said to myself there it is there it is there is the prevailing mindset of the modern world hmm pride pride sets the self in opposition to god's wisdom and will pride sets up the self as the judge over god's word and god's law the judge over everything and everybody pride will always seek to be the center of attention pride has always got to have its own way pride will always seek to control dominate and manipulate when we examine our consciences and look back in our past lives invariably we see that so many of our worst moments worst humiliations bad behaviors biggest blunders embarrassing falls broken relationships professional failures life's most bitter regrets and memories can be traced back to our own foolish foolish pride if we were in a baptist church right now this would be the point where all of you would say amen you know it's true it's always been true in my life that's for sure pride can be a monster pride is the great destroyer of marriages stumbling block the holiness of life it's an obstacle to grace and repentance mental block to forgiveness peace and reconciliation it's a source of endless self-deception vanity folly through pride comes the lust for power it can be the starting point the catalyst for anger violence and war pride unchecked so often leads to family breakup it is the biggest home wrecker of them all and if you give it free reign if you let pride rule your life it will always be for you a disaster in the making an accident waiting to happen because it always backfires on us in the end and there's only one cure there's only one antidote for pride it is humility humility we say the tendency the pride is overcome only by its opposite corresponding virtue the virtue of humility the root and the foundation of all virtue without which no other virtue can grow very much in your life you see for all of us there is a simple rule in the spiritual life that's why i'm starting tonight with this subject here's the rule no humility no sanctity big head weak soul no humility no merit in your good works in the sight of almighty god pride even though it may be secret hidden pride in the form of selfishness or ulterior motives will cancel out the meritorious nature of your good works in the sight of almighty god in other words you can't store up much treasure in heaven if your treasure is poisoned by pride pride so what is humility here's a simple rule to keep in mind saint therese of avila doctor of the church said humility is truth humility is truth what truth it's the truth about us the truth about ourselves that is to say humility is the moral virtue by which we have a correct opinion of ourselves and see ourselves more the way that god sees us it is a true recognition of what we are and what we are worth in the eyes of god and in the sight of others humility is the virtue that restrains us it holds us back in our unruly desire for personal glory and helps us recognize the fact that there is an infinite distinction between the creature and the creator and god without whom we are nothing and can do nothing with jesus christ as our perfect model we can say that humility is a self-emptying and emptying of self that allows god to work in us with his grace now the word humility comes from the latin word hummus hummus which means earth soil dust dirt the word humility reminds us of god's word to us in the book of genesis the words we hear and ash wednesday remember o man that you are dust and to dust you shall return some of the newer translations say remember that you are dirt and the dirt you shall return you know every time ash wednesday comes around we always have to laugh not because it's funny but because it's pathetic you come to mass and ash wednesday morning and you receive the actions on your forehead and the sign of the cross but this never seems to fail at mass on ash wednesday you will see people typically will rush into mass people who haven't darkened a church door since the year began people nobody is seen at mass in months they'll be in there getting their free ashes they can rush out again and so they think look holy for the rest of the day like people are going to see them and say oh he must really be holy he's got the black spot on his head right you know when you receive the ashes on your forehead the church is not saying oh you're so holy and you're so holy you're so holy the church is saying this is what you're going to look like this is what you're going to look like this is what you're going to look like ashes to ashes dust to dust we're all gonna die it's supposed to fill us with a sense of our mortality a sense of humility humility humility reminds us that every good thing we have every good gift we enjoy every grace and blessing every talent we can use comes from god and not from within ourselves the apostles saint paul put it like this second corinthians chapter four verse seven this treasure we possess in earthen vessels to make it clear that surpassing power comes from god and not from us now it's important to understand what humility is not that true humility should not be confused with timidity or mediocrity or lack of initiative or self-loathing defeatism pessimism or the like true humility does not deny the real gifts and talents and abilities that god has given to us it means we don't claim those as our own but is truly coming from god knowing that god wants and expects and demands that we use those gifts those talents with right intention with the help of his grace to build up his mystical body the church for his greater honor and glory and for the salvation of souls no excuses in my years in the priesthood i've known people who have a very distorted concept of what humility is people who claim humility as an excuse a lame excuse to do little or nothing for the church or for anybody for that matter people never fail to bury their talents in the ground people have plenty of time and talent but they won't use it you try to get them involved in some kind of an apostolic work or a charitable cause or a ministry of service and you may hear something like this and i use this as a negative example because i have heard this before right oh father who am i i'm nobody what can i do i'll never amount to anything little old me good for nothing i'd like to do more but you know i am just so unworthy i just can't i could never oh no not me don't come to me go to the other guy go to the other gal leave me alone don't bother me now this is a bubble brain wrong-headed notion what it means to serve god in humility you see the virtue of humility and trust in god go hand in hand you're going to find many times in your life god is going to call on you to do things and accomplish things that are far far beyond your natural abilities the grace of god helps you to do all those things you cannot hope to do by human strength alone this is especially true when it comes to fighting off temptation avoiding sin jesus says my grace is sufficient for you my power is made perfect in weakness so the point that i'm leading up to is this being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself it means thinking less about yourself so you can think more about others more about god god working through you and you're going to accomplish far far more in your life when you know that god has got your back his grace will not fail you now this has got to be understood to be a little soul a humble soul in god's sight does not mean the christian is called to be a doormat a pushover or a wimp in serious matters especially when it comes to standing up for the truth defending your faith defending your family um if i would ask you to give me a good working definition of love in a christian sense could you do it would you know one one of my favorites a very simple one comes from the great theologian saint thomas aquinas saint thomas aquinas taught that love means effectively willing the good of your neighbor effectively willing your neighbor's good the key word is effectively in other words not just wanting what is good for your neighbor but doing what you can do to make it happen bring it about love means wanting what is truly best for your neighbor so what could be better than god what could be better than heaven perfect eternal happiness in god's heavenly kingdom that is why the first most essential thing god wants spouses to do for each other and for their kids is to help them get to heaven pray for each other because the greatest love of all is concerned for your loved one's eternal salvation remember that it is not mercy it is not charity it is not humility to affirm people in their sins or just keep your mouth shut in the face what you know is wrong that is the most merciless thing that i can think of hmm look at the lives of the saints the saints were great in humility but at the same time they were courageous tenacious audacious defenders of truth and opponents of evil a great example in our time was mother teresa saint teresa of calcutta one time mother teresa was invited to go to russia to moscow to receive an award for her humanitarian work in the old soviet communist government and mother reluctantly accepted the invitation not because she was seeking worldly honors or human praise he liked dirt and then after we were married after they were married guess what things got worse um what a surprise the guy treated her like dirt for all that time and she married him how crazy can you get do you want to know a sure fire way to wreck your life do you want to be truly miserable in your life if you do marry someone filled with pride and arrogance that will do it there's an old saying the man who is in love with himself will have no rivals in the end such a person will have no rivals now here's a question for you how can you detect how can you discern the movements of pride within yourself i have a little diagnostic test for you here before i close and let me ask you these questions question number one in your heart of hearts do you see yourself as being better than others because of who you are what you have or what you know when you're in conversation with others do you always seem to call the subject back to do you always seem to talk about yourself your own interests your own affairs is it all about you all the time are you overly concerned about what other people think of you are you always in some way trying to make yourself look good build yourself up in the sight of others are you always ready to stretch the truth lie in other words if that's what it takes to do it are you one of those people who's always got to be right can't stand to be contradicted do you stick like glue to your own opinions even when they are proven definitively to be wrong do you always have to have the last word hmm how about this one do you find it easy to dissent or deny the teachings of the church and matters of faith and morals do you think that you know better than the holy spirit the holy scriptures the whole church the whole company of the saints are you ready to bet your immortal soul on that that is a sucker's bet that's the worst pride of all are you someone who is ultra sensitive to criticism are you so touchy that you can't even accept a mild fraternal correction in charity from somebody close to you are you a gossip you know the one sin we most often tend to commit against other people is the sin called detraction detraction what is detraction detraction we say is unnecessarily revealing the hidden faults of other people um do you find it easy to gossip do you take pleasure in tearing down others do you take satisfaction and hearing somebody's good name being torn apart do you jump on every chance to point out the faults and the mistakes of others i'll never miss a chance to criticize are you overly concerned or even obsessed with your physical appearance always worried about your looks for example how much money do you spend on clothes shoes your hair cosmetics and the like do you go overboard with all that knowing there are people don't even have the necessities of life do you find it hard to forgive even the slightest offense when somebody offends you when somebody hurts you you always feel this instinctive need to get even strike back ready to hold a grudge mother teresa used to say to forgive takes love but to forget takes humility lack of forgiveness is inherently self-destructive it will eat you up on the inside it will fester in your soul it will steal the peace and joy from your soul it will disrupt wreck not only your relationship with other people but ultimately with god i've heard it said that lack of forgiveness is the sulfuric acid of the soul what does sulfuric acid do it burns and it disfigures everything it is splashed on and in the end it eats away the container that holds it i've heard it said that holding a grudge spiritually speaking is kind of like drinking poison and expecting the person that you're mad at to die it doesn't work very well right about this is it true to say that a lot of what you do tends to be done for the sake of appearances when you do something good do you tend to do it feeling a need to be noticed you always seem to be somehow motivated by a desire to win the praise of others like the pharisees of old who perform all their good works to be seen and prefer the praise of men to the glory of god you know the holy spirit wants no part of that does a lot of this sound familiar doesn't strike a nerve in you if it does these are the movements of pride now there's a positive sense in which we can use the term pride for example um in being conscientious dependable responsible in doing things well doing things right for example taking pride in your work taking pride in your family taking pride in your community those kind of things that's not what i'm talking about here here i am talking about the capital fault of pride inordinate self-esteem conceit in all the life here's the last question how do we get the virtue of humility like any virtue that you need first thing to do pray for it pray for it the humble soul prays all the time we say in radical dependence on god second remember that ordinarily ordinarily god humbles us by means of humiliations and little humiliation seem to come our way all the time don't they we should accept them as coming from god permitted by god for our sanctification third have a sense of humor don't take yourself so seriously be a joyful person the humble soul is at peace in the hands of god saint theresa used to say god save us from sad-faced saints and finally imitate the one who is always the perfect model of humility jesus christ the son of god jesus who said blessed are the poor in spirit theirs is the kingdom of god jesus who humbled himself to share in our humanity jesus who taught his disciples to take the lowest place wash the feet of the apostles came to serve and not to be served and said come and learn of me for i am meek and humble of heart jesus christ the eternal word made flesh the second person of the holy trinity the king of kings and lord of lords allowed himself to be spat upon abandoned betrayed denied scourged mocked and crucified for love of us and for our salvation gave himself up to a shameful public death and that my brothers and sisters is the humility of god amen all right now we'll just take a couple minutes uh to set up for exposition of the blessed sacrament and our period of silent adoration and benediction and i will begin hearing confessions right away thanks for coming tonight

Channel: Father J. Marcel Portelli

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Keywords: catholic, church, marcel portelli, priest, mass, sacrifice, worship, praise, praise and worship, praise & worship, communion, eucharist, sacraments, sacred heart, st. athanasius, saint, st., pope, bishop, vatican, saginaw, latin, chant, chanting, baptism, confirmation, confession, reconciliation, blessed sacrament, holy orders, sacrament of the sick, extreme unction, last rites, marriage, wedding, matrimony, liturgy, divine liturgy, preaching, homily, holy, apostolic, easter, altar, catholic mass, catholic hymns

Id: wvDPlNtvnc0

Length: 31min 41sec (1901 seconds)

Published: Thu May 06 2021