½Å¾Ó°ú ±³¸®

Home > ½Å¾Ó°ú ±³¸® > ¹Ì»ç°­·Ð

Á¦¸ñ ¼±°ú ¾ÇÀÇ ½Î¿ò/The Spiritual Fight in the Faith(2012-09-30)
ÀÛ¼ºÀÚ °ü¸®ÀÚ ÀÛ¼ºÀÏ 2014-07-23


½Å¾ÓÀÇ ´«À¸·Î º¸´Â ¼±°ú ¾ÇÀÇ ½Î¿ò(2012-09-30)


Ä£¾ÖÇÏ´Â ±³¿ì ¿©·¯ºÐ


Áö³­ ´Þ¿¡ ÀÖ¾ú´ø »ç°ÇÀ¸·Î ºÎÅÍ µÎ °¡Áö ±³ÈÆÀ» ²¨³»°íÀÚ ÇÕ´Ï´Ù. ù°, ¼º ¹Ù¿À·Î ¼ºÀβ²¼­´Â ¿ì¸®¿¡°Ô °¡¸£Ä¡½Ã±æ, ¡°±×µé¿¡°Ô õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ »ç¶ûÀ» °¡¸£Ä¡°í ¼±ÇÑ ¶æÀ¸·Î ¸ðµç ÀÏÀ» ÇàÇϵµ·Ï ÇϽÿÀ.¡±µÑ°, ¼º Å丶½º ¼ºÀÎÀº µ¡ºÙÀ̱æ, ¡°ÃµÁÖ²²¼­´Â ¸Å¿ì °­ÇÑ ºÐÀ̽ùǷΠ¾ÇÀ¸·ÎºÎÅÍ ¼±À» À̲ø¾î³½´Ù.¡°¶ó°í Çϼ̽À´Ï´Ù. ¿µÀû »îÀÇ µÎ °¡Áö ÁÖ¿äÇÑ ¿ø¸®¸¦ »ìÆ캸µµ·Ï ÇսôÙ.


ù° ÇÙ½É: ¡°±×µé¿¡°Ô õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ »ç¶ûÀ» °¡¸£Ä¡°í, ¼±ÇÑ ¶æÀ¸·Î ¸ðµç ÀÏÀ» ÇàÇϵµ·Ï ÇϽÿÀ.¡± õÁÖ´ÔÀº ¿ì¸®ÀÇ Ã¢Á¶ÁÖÀ̽ʴϴÙ. ±×¸®°í ±× ºÐÀÌ ¶ÇÇÑ ¿ì¸®ÀÇ º¸È£ÀÚÀ̽ÉÀ» ÀÌÇØÇÏ´Â °ÍÀÌ Áß¿äÇÕ´Ï´Ù. ¡°»ý¸í°ú ¿òÁ÷ÀÓ°ú ½ÇÁ¸¡±À» ÁÖ½Ç »Ó¸¸ ¾Æ´Ï¶ó ¸Å ¼ø°£ ±× ºÐÀÇ ¼Õ ¾È¿¡ ¿ì¸®°¡ ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®´Â ¿ì¸® »îÀÇ 1ÃÊ 1ÃÊ°¡ ±× ºÐ¿¡°Ô ´Þ·ÁÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù. Àüµî(ï³Ôó)°ú °°Áö¿ä. ºûÀ» ÁÖ±â À§Çؼ­ Àü±â°¡ ²÷ÀÓ¾øÀÌ ·¥ÇÁ·Î µé¾î°¡¾ß ÇÕ´Ï´Ù.


¸¸¾à Àü·Â°ø±ÞÀÌ Áß´ÜµÇ¸é ·¥ÇÁ´Â ºûÀ» ¸ø ³À´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®°¡ Á¸ÀçÇϱâ À§Çؼ­´Â ²÷ÀÓ¾øÀÌ ÃµÁÖ´Ô²² ¡°¿¬°á¡±µÇ¾î¾ß ÇÕ´Ï´Ù. õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ ¼Õ±æÀÌ ´êÁö ¾ÊÀ¸¸é ´«À» ¶á´Ù ´øÁö, ¼Õ°¡¶ôÀ» ¿òÁ÷Àδ٠´øÁö, ¼ûÀ» ½®´Ù ¶ó´øÁö ÀÌ·± °ÍµéÀ» ¾Æ¹«°Íµµ ÇÒ ¼ö ¾ø½À´Ï´Ù. ±×¸®°í õÁÖ²²¼­´Â ¿ì¸± µ¹º¸½ÃÁö¸¸, ƯÈ÷ ¿µ¼¼ ¹ÞÀº õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ ÀÚ³àµéÀ», ¿ì¸®¿Í °ü·ÃµÈ ¸ðµç °ÍÀ» µ¹º¸½Ê´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®¿¡°Ô ÀϾ°í ÀÖ´Â ¸ðµç °ÍÀ» ¾Æ½Ê´Ï´Ù. ¶ÇÇÑ ±× ºÐÀº ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ¼±À» À§ÇØ, Áï, ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ¼ºÈ­(á¡ûù)¿Í ¿µÈ¥ ±¸·ÉÀ» À§ÇØ ÀÌ ¸ðµç °ÍÀ» Á÷Á¢ÀûÀ¸·Î ¿øÇϽðųª Çã¿ëÇϽôµ¥, ¿Ö³ÄÇÏ¸é ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ¸¶Áö¸· ¼±, ±Ã±ØÀûÀÎ ¼±À̶õ ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ¿µÈ¥ ±¸·É, õ±¹À» ¾ò´Â °ÍÀ̱⠶§¹®ÀÔ´Ï´Ù! 


õÁÖ´ÔÀº ¿©·¯ °¡Áö ´Ù¸¥ ¹°°¨, Å©±â°¡ ´Ù¸¥ º×À» »ç¿ëÇÏ¿© ¾Æ¸§´Ù¿î dz°æÀ» ±×·Á ³»´Â È­°¡¿Í °°½À´Ï´Ù. õÁÖ²²¼­´Â ¿©·¯ »ç°Ç°ú ¿ì¸®ÀÇ °Ç°­ ¿ì¸® ÁÖº¯ÀÇ »ç¶÷µéÀ» »ç¿ëÇÏ¿© ¸ðµç ´öÇàÀ» ½ÇõÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖµµ·Ï ¿ì¸®¿¡°Ô ºÎ¿©ÇÏ°í ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù.


´öÇàÀ» ½ÇõÇÒ ¶§, ´öÇà¿¡ °ü·ÃµÈ ¡®¿ì¸®ÀÇ Àǹ«¡¯¸¦ ÇàÇÒ ¶§¿¡ ´ö¼º(Óìàõ)ÀÌ ¼ºÀåÇÑ´Ù´Â °ÍÀ» ÀÌÇØÇØ¾ß ¸¸ ÇÕ´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸® ½Å¾Ó»ýÈ°¿¡¼­ ÀÌ¿Í °°Àº ±âº»ÀûÀÎ ¿ø¸®¸¦ ¾ó¸¶³ª ÀÚÁÖ Àؾî¸Ô´ÂÁö¿ä! ¿¹¸¦ µé¾î ³» ÁÖº¯¿¡ ÀÖ´Â »ç¶÷µéÀÌ Ä£ÀýÇÏ°Ô ´ëÇØ ÁÖ¸é ¿ì¸®°¡ ÂüÀ»¼ºÀÌ ÀÖ´Ù°í »ý°¢ÇÏ´Â °ÍÀº ½¬¿ì³ª, ¾î¶² »ç¶÷ÀÌ ¿©·¯ºÐÀ» È­³ª°Ô ÇÑ´Ù¸é ¿©·¯ºÐÀÌ Àγ»½ÉÀÌ ÀÖ´ÂÁö ¾ø´ÂÁö ȤÀº ÂüÀ»¼ºÀÌ ºÎÁ·ÇÑÁö ¿©·¯ºÐÀÌ Àß ¾Ð´Ï´Ù.


¿ì¸®°¡ ¹ÝÀÀÇÏ´Â ¹æ¹ýÀÌ ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ´öÇàÀÇ Á¤µµ¸¦ ¸»ÇØÁÝ´Ï´Ù. ¸¸¾à È­¸¦ Àß ³»¸é, ¿ì¸®°¡ Àγ»½ÉÀÌ ¾ø´Ù¶ó´Â °ÍÀ» µå·¯³À´Ï´Ù. ȤÀº ¿ì¸® °èȹ´ë·Î, ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ÀÇÁö´ë·Î ¸ðµç ÀÏÀÌ ÀßµÇ¸é ¿ì¸®°¡ ¼ø¸íÇÑ´Ù¶ó°í »ý°¢Çϱ⠽¬¿ì³ª ¿ì¸®º¸´Ù ³ªÀº ¾î¶² ±ÇÀ§¸¦ Áö´Ñ »ç¶÷ÀÌ ¿ì¸®°¡ Çϱ⠽ÈÀº ÇÕ¹ýÀûÀÎ ÀÏÀ» ÇضóÇÏ´Â ¿ä±¸¸¦ ÇßÀ» ¶§¿¡ ¿ì¸®°¡ °ú¿¬ Áø½Ç·Î ¼ø¸íÇÏ¿´´Â°¡ »ìÆ캸¾Æ¾ß ÇÕ´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®¿¡°Ô ¸í·ÉÀ» ³»¸° »ç¶÷¿¡°Ô Åõ´ú°Å¸®°í, µÞ¸»ÇÏ°í, ±×·¯¸é ¿ì¸®°¡ ¼ø¸íÇÏ´Â °Ç°¡¿ä? ¸ðµç ´öÇà¿¡ °ü·ÃÇÏ¿© ±×¿Í °°ÀÌ ¿©·¯ºÐÀÌ ¿©·¯ºÐ ÀÚ½ÅÀ» °ËÅäÇØ º¼ ¼ö ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù. ÀÌ·± Àú·± ´öÇà¿¡ ½ÃÇè ¹ÞÀ» ¶§¿¡ ¾î¶»°Ô ¹ÝÀÀÇմϱî? ¿ì¸®´Â ¿ì¸® Àڽſ¡°Ô Á¤Á÷ÇØÁ®¾ß ¸¸ ÇÕ´Ï´Ù!


ÀÌ°ÍÀÌ ¼º ¹Ù¿À·Î ¼ºÀβ²¼­ ¡°±×µé¿¡°Ô õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ »ç¶ûÀ» °¡¸£Ä¡°í ¼±ÇÑ ¶æÀ¸·Î ¸ðµç ÀÏÀ» ÇàÇϵµ·Ï ÇϽÿÀ.¡±¶ó°í ¸»¾¸ÇϽŠÀÌÀ¯ÀÔ´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®°¡ ¸¹Àº ½Å¾Ó°ú ¡®½Å¾ÓÀÇ ´«¡¯À» °®°í ÀÖ´Ù¸é, ¸ðµç ÀÏ¿¡ À־ »ç°ÇµéÀ̶óµçÁö, °Ç°­, ÁÖº¯ »ç¶÷µé, ±â»Ý, °íÅë µî, ´öÇàÀ» ½ÇõÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â ±âȸ¸¦ °®´Â °ÍÀÌ°í õÁÖ²²¼­ ¿ì¸®°¡ ±× ÀÏÀ» °ü¿©ÇÏ°Ô µÊÀ» º¸´Â °ÍÀ̸ç ÁÖ´ÔÀÇ »ç¶û ¾È¿¡¼­ ¼ºÀåÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖµµ·Ï ¾î¶² ¡®ÀÓ¹«¡¯À» ¿ì¸®¿¡°Ô Áֽô °ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù.


ÀÌ ½ÇÁ¦ÀûÀÎ °á·ÐÀº ¿ì¸®°¡ °Þ¾ú´ø ÃÖ±ÙÀÇ »ç°Ç - ¿ì¸®°¡ °Þ¾ú´ø ¸¸Å­ÀÇ °íÅëÀº ¿ì¸®°¡ ´öÇà ¼Ó¿¡¼­ ¼ºÀåÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖµµ·Ï µµ¿ÍÁÖ¾ú°í õÁÖ´Ô²² º¸´Ù ´õ °¡±îÀÌ ´Ù°¡°¡°í ±× ºÐÀ» ´õ »ç¶ûÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖµµ·Ï µµ¿ÍÁÙ °Ì´Ï´Ù. õÁÖ²²¼­ ÀúµéÀ» Çã¿ëÇϽŠÀÌÀ¯°¡ ¹Ù·Î ±×°ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ¼±°ú ¿µÀûÀÎ ¼±À» À§ÇÑ °ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù.


µÎ ¹ø° ÇÙ½É: õÁÖ²²¼­´Â ³Ê¹« °­ÇϽùǷΠ±× ºÐÀº ¾ÇÀ¸·ÎºÎÅÍ ¼±À» ²ôÁý¾î ³»½Ç ¼ö ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù. ¾ÇÀÌ ÀϾµµ·Ï Çã¿ëµµ ÇϽʴϴÙ. ±× ºÐÀÇ ¿µ±¤À» À§ÇÏ¿© ÀÌ¿Í °°Àº ÀϵéÀ» º¯È­½Ãŵ´Ï´Ù. ÀÌ´Â ¾ÆÁÖ ½Åºñ·Î¿î °ÍÀÌÁö¿ä. ¿¹¸¦ µé¾î Çѱ¹ ¹Ù·Î ÀÌ°÷¿¡¼­ 1800³â´ë¿¡ ¿Ö ÁÖ´Ô²²¼­ ¼º ±³È¸ÀÇ ¹ÚÇØ(ÚÞúª)¸¦ Çã¿ëÇßÀ»±î¿ä? ¼ö õ¸íÀÇ ¼±·®ÇÑ ³²³à ³ë¼Ò, Çѱ¹ °¡Å縯 ½ÅÀÚµéÀ» Á×ÀÎ ²ûÂïÇÑ ¹ÚÇØ ¸»ÀÔ´Ï´Ù. ÁÖ´Ô²²¼­ ¸»¾¸ÇϽñæ, ¡±Ä£±¸¸¦ À§ÇÏ¿© ¸ñ¼ûÀ» ÁÖ´Â °Íº¸´Ù ´õ Å« »ç¶ûÀº ¾øµµ´Ù¡±¶ó°í ÇϽʴϴÙ. ±×·¡¼­ ÀÌ ¸ðµç Çѱ¹ ¼ø±³ÀÚµéÀÌ Ä¡¸í(öÈÙ¤)À» ´çÇÔÀ¸·Î½á ±×µé »î ¼Ó¿¡¼­ °¡Àå À§´ëÇÑ »ç¶ûÀÇ ÇàÀ§¸¦ ½ÇõÇÑ °ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù. 


Æò¹üÇÑ ½Ã±â¿¡, ÆòÈ­·Î¿î ½Ã±â¿¡´Â °áÄÚ Çس¾ ¼ö°¡ ¾ø½À´Ï´Ù. õÁÖ²²¼­´Â ÁÖ´Ô¿¡ ´ëÇÑ ±×µéÀÇ »ç¶ûÀ» ½ÃÇèÇÏ°íÀÚ, õ»ó¿¡¼­ ¿µ»ýÀÇ ¸é·ù°ü(Øôײή)À» ¾µ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â ¼ö õ °¡Áö ¿Ïº®ÇÑ »ç¶ûÀÇ ½ÇõÀ» °ÅµÎ¾î µå¸®±â À§ÇÏ¿© ¹ÚÇظ¦ Çã¿ëÇϽŠ°ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù.


¸ð¼¼°¡ »ç¸·¿¡¼­ 40³â°£ ¹æȲÇÑ ³¡¿¡ ¿ä´Ü°­À» °Ç³Ê·Á ÇÒ ¶§¿¡ È÷ºê¸®Àε鿡°Ô ¸»Çß½À´Ï´Ù. ¡°ÃµÁÖ´ÔÀ» »ç¶ûÇÏ´ÂÁö ¾È ÇÏ´ÂÁö ¾Ë¾Æº¸±â À§ÇØ ÃµÁÖ´ÔÀº ¿©·¯ºÐµéÀ» ½ÃÇèÇغôÙ.¡± ±×¸®°í ¸¸¾à ¿©·¯ºÐµéÀÌ Åäºñ¾Æ¿Í ¶óÆÄ¿¤ ´ë õ½ÅÀÇ À̾߱⸦ ±â¾ïÇÑ´Ù¸é, ¼º ¶óÆÄ¿¤ÀÌ ´«ÀÌ ¸Õ »óŸ¦ Ä¡·á¹ÞÀº ÀÌÈÄ Åäºñ¾Æ¿¡°Ô, ¡±³×°¡ õÁÖ´ÔÀ» ±â»Ú°Ô ÇÏ·Á Ç߱⠶§¹®¿¡ ÁÖ²²¼­ ³Ê¸¦ ½ÃÇèÇÏ°íÀÚ À¯È¤À» Çã¶ôÇϽþú´Ù.¡± ¹Ï±â ¾î·Á¿î ³î¶ó¿î ¸»¾¸ÀÌÁÒ. ¡±³×°¡ õÁÖ´ÔÀ» ±â»Ú°Ô ÇÏ·Á Ç߱⠶§¹®¿¡ ÁÖ²²¼­ ³Ê¸¦ ½ÃÇèÇÏ°íÀÚ À¯È¤À» Çã¶ôÇϽþú´Ù.¡±


³ª´Â Áö±Ý ÀÌ°ÍÀ» ¿©·¯ºÐ¿¡°Ô Àû¿ëÇÏ°íÀÚ ÇÕ´Ï´Ù. ¡±¿©·¯ºÐµéÀº õÁÖ´ÔÀ» ±â»Ú°Ô ÇÏ·Á Ç߱⠶§¹®¿¡ ÁÖ²²¼­ ¿©·¯ºÐµéÀ» ½ÃÇèÇÏ°íÀÚ À¯È¤À» Çã¶ôÇϽþú´Ù.¡± ÀÌ°ÍÀº ÀÌ Á¶±×¸¶ÇÑ ¼º´ç¿¡¼­ ÀϾ´ø ÃÖ±ÙÀÇ °íÅ뽺·± »ç°ÇÀ» ¾î¶»°Ô ÀÌÇØÇؾ߸¸ ÇϳĴ °Ì´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®´Â °Å·èÇÑ Èñ»ý ¹Ì»ç¿¡ ¿ì¸® ÀÚ½ÅÀ» ÇÕÄ¡½ÃÅ°°íÀÚ ÀÌ°÷¿¡ ¿Ô½À´Ï´Ù. ÀÌ°ÍÀº »ç½ÇÀÔ´Ï´Ù. ±×·¯³ª °Å·èÇÑ ¹Ì»ç Áß¿¡ ±âµµ¿Í °°Àº ¸¹Àº ¿©·¯ ¹æ¹ýÀ¸·Î½á °Å·èÇÑ ¹Ì»çÀÇ Èñ»ýÁ¦»ç¿¡ ¿ì¸® ÀÚ½ÅÀ» ÀÏÄ¡½ÃÅ°°í, »Ó¸¸ ¾Æ´Ï¶ó °Å·èÇÑ ¹Ì»çÀ̱⠶§¹®¿¡, °Å·èÇÑ ¹Ì»ç ¼Ó¿¡ ÀÏÄ¡½ÃÅ°´Â °¡¿îµ¥ °Å·èÇÑ ¹Ì»ç¸¦ À§ÇØ °íÅëÀ» °Þ¾î¾ß µÈ´Ù´Â °ÍÀ» ¹Ýµå½Ã ±â¾ïÇØ¾ß ÇÕ´Ï´Ù.


'½Å¾ÓÀÇ ´«¡¯À» °¡Áö°í ¼º¸ð´ÔÀ» »ç¶ûÇÏ°Ô²û ÇØ´Þ¶ó°í ¼º¸ð´Ô²² °£Ã»ÇսôÙ. ¿ì¸®°¡ ÁøÁ¤À¸·Î õÁÖ´ÔÀ» »ç¶ûÇÑ´Ù¸é, ÀÌ¿Í °°Àº õÁÖ´ÔÀÇ »ç¶û °¡¿îµ¥ ¿ì¸®°¡ ¼ºÀåÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖµµ·Ï, ÀϾ´Â ¸ðµç ÀÏÀ» ÀÌ¿ëÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â °ÍÀÔ´Ï´Ù. ¿ì¸®°¡ Ç×»ó ´çÀå ÀÌÇØÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖ´Â °ÍÀº ¾Æ´Õ´Ï´Ù. ±×·¯³ª ½Ã°£ÀÌ Áö³ª °â¼Õ°ú Àγ»½ÉÀ» °¡Áö¸é ¾î¶»°Ô õÁÖ²²¼­ ÀÏÀ» ÇϽôÂÁö, ¾î¶»°Ô ±× ºÐ²²¼­ ÀϾ ¸ðµç ÀÏÀ» ÁÖ´ÔÀÇ ´õ Å« ¿µ±¤À» À§ÇØ ¹Ù²Ù½Ã´ÂÁö ¾Ë°Ô µË´Ï´Ù. À̴ õÁÖ´Ô°ú ¼º¸ð´ÔÀÇ ÀÚ³àµé¿¡°Ô À־ °¡Ä¡ÀÖ´Â ÀÏÀº ¾Æ´Õ´Ï´Ù. ¿ÀÈ÷·Á ¿ì¸® ÁÖ´Ô²²¼­ ÇϽŠ°Íó·³ ¹Ýº¹Çϼ¼¿ä. ¡±¼ººÎ¿©, ÀúµéÀÌ ÇÏ´Â ÀÏÀ» ÀúµéÀÌ ¸ð¸£±â ¶§¹®ÀÌ´Ï, ÀúµéÀ» ¿ë¼­ÇϼҼ­.¡±


¼ººÎ¿Í ¼ºÀÚ¿Í ¼º½ÅÀÇ À̸§À» ÀÎÇÏ¿© ÇϳªÀÌ´Ù. ¾Æ¸à.     


´Ù´Ï¿¤ Å¥Ãò¾î ½ÅºÎ(¾Æ½Ã¾Æ °ü±¸Àå)



Sermon for September 30, 2012


My Dear Faithful,
I would like to draw two lessons from the events of the last months: firstly: St Paul teaches us that ¡°To them that love God, all things work out for good¡±, and secondly, St Thomas Aquinas adds: God is so powerful that He draws good out of evil.  Let us look at these two capital principles of the spiritual life.


First point:  ¡°To them that love God, all things work out for good¡±.  God is our Creator, and it is important to understand that He is also our Providence.  Not only does He give us ¡°life, movement and being¡±, but He holds us in His hand at every moment, we depend on Him at every second of our life.   It is like an electric lamp: in order to give light, electricity must constantly go into it.  If the power supply stops, the lamp stops giving light.  For us, to exist, we need to be constantly ¡®connected¡¯ to God: we cannot do anything, such as to open an eye, to move a finger, to breathe, unless God holds us in His hands.


And so, He cares for us, particularly for those who are his children by baptism, and for everything that concerns us.  He knows everything that happens to us, and He either wants it directly or permits it for our good, that is, for our sanctification, for our salvation, because our final good, our ultimate good is our salvation, it is to get to Heaven!  He is like an artist who uses different colors of paint, different sizes of paint brushes, to draw a beautiful landscape.  God uses events, our health, people around us to oblige us to practice virtue, all the virtues.


You have to understand that a virtue grows when we practice it, when we do ¡®our homework¡¯ on that virtue.  How often we forget that basic principle of our Christian life!  For example, it is easy to think we are patient, when everyone around us is kind to us.  You really know if you are patient or not, or not enough, when someone irritates you: the way we react then tells us the degree of our virtue!  If we are quick to get angry, that reveals to us that we are not very patient!  Or it is easy to think we are obedient, when everything goes according to our plans, to our own will.  But if someone who has some authority over us asks us something legitimate which we don¡¯t like, then we see if we are really obedient.  Do we murmur against the one who gave us an order, do we talk back, or do we simply obey?  You can examine yourselves like that on all the virtues.  How do you react when you are tempted on this or that virtue?  We must be honest with ourselves!


This is what St Paul means when he says: ¡°to them that love God, all things work out for good.¡±  If we have enough faith, if we have the ¡®eyes of faith¡¯, in everything, events, health, people around us, joys, sufferings, and so on,  we will see an occasion to practice virtue, to find God putting us to work, giving us some ¡®homework¡¯ in order to grow in his love.  The practical conclusion of this is that the recent events we have lived - as painful as they have been -- must help us to grow in virtue, must help us to grow closer to God, and to love Him more!  That is why God has allowed them. It is for our good, our spiritual good.


Second point: God is so powerful that He can draw good out of evil, that means, He will allow evil things to happen, and He will turn these same things for His glory. This is very mysterious.  For example, right here in Korea, why did He permit the persecution of the Church, in the 1800s, these terrible persecutions which killed tens of thousands of good Korean Catholics, children and adults, men and women?  Our blessed Lord said: ¡°there is no greater love than to give our life for our friends¡±.  So, all these Korean martyrs, by being put to death, made the greatest act of love of their lives!  They would never have done it in ordinary, peaceful times.  God allowed the persecution to test their love of Him, to harvest tens of thousands of perfect act of charity which will be crowned for all eternity in Heaven!


Moses said to the Hebrews when they were about to cross the Jordan after 40 years of wandering in the desert:  ¡°God tried you to see whether you loved Him or not.¡±  And if you remember the story of Tobias and the Archangel Rafael, St Rafael told him, after he cured him from his blindness:  ¡°Because you were pleasing to God, God allowed the temptation to test you.¡± Incredible words: ¡°Because you were pleasing to God, God allowed the temptation to test you.¡±


I apply this now to you: ¡°Because you were pleasing to God, God allowed the temptation to test you.¡±  This is how we must see the recent painful events that have happen to our little chapel.  We come here to unite ourselves to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  This is true.  But we must remember that we can unite ourselves to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in many ways such as by saying our prayers during the Holy Mass, but also, by suffering for the Holy Mass, in union with the Holy Mass, because of the Holy Mass.


Let us ask Our blessed Lady to have like her the ¡®eyes of the faith¡¯, to see that, if we really love God, we can use everything that happens to us to grow in this love of God, that, if we really love God , we know that God allows painful things to happen to draw good out of it.  We don¡¯t always understand this right away, but with humility and patience, after a while, we can see how God works, how He turns all things for his greater glory.  So, let us not have any resentment, any bad feelings, any spirit of revenge at this moment.  That is not worthy of the children of God and of Our Lady.  Rather, let us repeat like Our Divine Savior:  ¡°Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing¡±


In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.


Fr. Daniel Couture