Given from the Catholic Broadcasting Station 2SM Sydney Australia
Choose a topic from Vol 2:
Because they owe to God the definite, regular, and publicacknowledgment of their indebtedness to Him by the practice oftheir religion, and because the Sacrifice of the Mass is thehighest act of worship in their religion.You must remember that religion is a form of justice, by whichwe render to God what we owe to Him. Catholics are compelled tofulfill the duties of their religion just as honest people feel compelled to pay their justdebts to their fellow men. Honest people want to discharge theirobligations. And the fact that they have real obligations does notaffect the fact that their fulfillment of them is voluntary. Godexacts religious acknowledgment. He tells us to remember to keepholy the Sabbath day; and that is not permission to forget. NowCatholics don't want to be unjust to God, and their Churchtells them that they will be unjust to God unless they attend Masson the days appointed. They are glad to know their obligations, andattend Mass on those days rather than be guilty of seriousinjustice towards the One to Whom they owe so much. As a matter offact, God is good in Himself; He has been good to us; we have notbeen very good to Him; and we need His constant help. So we owe Godadoration, thanksgiving, expiation of our sins, and theacknowledgment of our dependence on Him by offering prayers ofpetition. And all four obligations are fulfilled by ferventassistance at Mass. The wisdom of the Catholic Church in appointingdefinite times for the fulfillment of these obligations should beevident. A general obligation never to be fulfilled at anyparticular time is often not fulfilled at all. So we see manynon-Catholics omitting duties of religion altogether; or fulfillingthem when they happen to feel like it, or turning to God only whenthings go wrong. But Catholics say, "It's not a matter ofwhat is pleasant, nor merely of what is useful; it's a matterof what is right." Religion is a debt to be paid regularly. Wewant to pay that debt regularly. The Church is there to tell us howregularly we should do so, and we are grateful to her for giving usthe information. And, in a spirit of justice to God and obedienceto our Church we feel compelled to fulfill the obligations of ourreligion. I hope that clears the matter up for you.
Because the Catholic Church, to which God said, "Whateveryou bind on earth is bound in heaven" says that any Catholicwho culpably neglects to sanctify Sunday by attendance at Mass isguilty of a mortal sin, refusing to pay his debt of religion to Godand violating a strict law of the Church.
People who have no notion of the faith and love and sense ofjustice towards God which the Catholic religion inspires are givento saying things like that. But we must be patient with them. Theysimply do not understand.
I have never said that. People have often said to me thatCatholics go to Mass on Sundays only because they are taught thatthey commit mortal sin if they do not. The sin is against God, andpunishment by the Church does not, and did not enter into thequestion. In reply to the suggestion I have said that it is mortalsin for a Catholic to miss Mass on Sundays through his own fault;that mere fear of committing that mortal sin, where the majority ofCatholics are concerned, is supplanted by their love of God andpositive desire to fulfill their religious duties to Him; but that,if any individual Catholic went to Mass only because he feared tocommit mortal sin, that would certainly be better than not going atall. For undoubtedly it is better to do right through fear to dowrong, than to do wrong.
He is not. Hypocrisy is a lying pretense at a goodness one doesnot possess. The man we are considering possesses a genuinereverence for God at least to the extent of being unwilling tooffend Him seriously. And that unwillingness to offend God takes him to Mass. That there are higher motives, I admit.But I deny that the man has an evil motive. His motive is good asfar as it goes, even if it does not go far enough.