Tomorrow is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost already and a beautiful Sunday where we have invoked the Holy Spirit to carry us and to inspire us and may he help us to understand because he speaks tomorrow upon about his own Kingdom, the kingdom of the spirit. It's the mass tomorrow, as you know, gives us a glance of these two realms, the realm of the spirit and the realm of the flesh, or as it is also called in tomorrow's gospel, the realm of mammon. those two worlds between which man is put between the two worlds he has to choose.

[01:11]

And it is sometimes very difficult and at times that we often let In some ways, man accustomed to, say, to take the safest way to be exact, not for the sake of passion, not for the sake of safe will, But for the sake, for example, nowadays many people are burdened by that, by the sake of intellectual sincerity and have a difficult time to lift up their eyes and in some way forgetting

[02:13]

about their inhibitions, about their hesitations, about their desire for absolute exactness in thinking, how they have a difficult time to select the inner ascent of the Spirit take them over and carry them up to the height of a true, solid enthusiasm. One is afraid of enthusiasm if one listens to the book of Arnold Knox that we are just reading in these days. sometimes a little fuller description of the detailed description of the various grotesque, sometimes grotesque forms of an enthusiasm, which after all is considered in itself very small, little petty.

[03:33]

in its dimension, evidently a phenomenon which was destined to come and to pass like a bubble on the sea. But in reading it and in thinking about it, can we understand that enthusiasm too has to be based on truth? There's no doubt about it. It has to have a solid foundation. But on the other hand, I say our entire attitude, which is given to us with the general atmosphere in which we live, the way we are educated, we have been educated, it's a critical one. It's an attitude which hesitates to launch out into the high sea of the spirit.

[04:38]

One feels one loses the ground of that security which the visible and material things are be able to give to our knowledge which is so eager and so anxious to be based on evidence so that every new step we make is clearly, solidly established before we make it. At least that is the way today for so many people in the realm of truth, in the realm of what knowledge or science And that colors very often also our attitude towards religion.

[05:44]

Now today, you see, it is so difficult to to convince or to inspire souls to kind of rid themselves, let themselves go, let them put their anxieties on the Lord and to take with that great gratitude, thankfulness, the gift that the Spirit pours into the souls. Our tomorrow Sunday gives us a taste of that, to say, the inner beauty, radiance of the world of the Spirit in comparison to that of the flesh. What a church really does tomorrow when we gather together here in this chapel and all over the world in various churches is just to let us see.

[06:55]

Let us see the world of the spirit and let us see the world of the flesh. And then the choice is made. I just give you the text to remind you of tomorrow's Detroit. Detroit is taken from the 83rd Psalm. Now that 83rd Psalm, as you know, is perhaps the most beautiful psalm of the soul that has its real home in the house of God. and that sees the beauty of the Lord's house. See that was, let's say, one of the ways in which God with his beauty and his goodness and his grace and his mercy approached man. He did not wait until human reason found its shaky way from the visible things to the invisible.

[08:08]

But he came the invisible one. He came the glorious one. the omnipotent and the infinite one. And he established here on earth, in some way, a habit, a realm in which he showed and manifested the inner beauty of this being. And that was done not only on the first page of Benetigenesis, in Ganting the Dawn of Delight, although I would say that this, by the way, this chapter of Genesis immediately confronts us with God's method where our salvation is concerned. And that method is God starting, working, establishing here on earth

[09:09]

something, now Genesis calls it the Garden of Delight. Indeed, a beautiful name. And that is the way in which God then invites man to find. So that Garden of Delight was later succeeded, after man's sin, by the establishment of the temple. And the temple was to the Jew that visible manifestation, that sign, that symbol in which and through which he or her, he would receive a foretaste of that invisible beauty, the inner beauty of God as he lives in himself. And that is the function of the house of God. This house of God was built according to a pattern which was shown to Moses on the mount.

[10:20]

That means which was a gift to a contemplating human mind wrapped up in the vision that God was granting him. And in this way became the mediator. The mediator to those who were at the foot of the mountain. They are waiting then for the sign which would lead them into God's glory. And that is the temple. And that's the house of God. For the Israelite, that visible place, that visible world, established, clearly established by God's positive ordinance here on earth, so that we may enter into it, and that there we may see, perceive, what is of the inner, the glory of God's mercy, and the goodness of his ways with us.

[11:28]

That is the time. And therefore, that is the way in which, say, the Israelite finds or seeks His inner confirmation in his unique connection with God. He doesn't look around only here in this universe and then speculate to find a first cause. But he follows the invitation and singing the songs of Asset, the songs of the great psalms, he goes up from station to station, as it is so beautifully Given here in Psalm 83, from station to station, and that means from power to power, he wanders in the pilgrimage until he reaches the mountain where God dwells, where God's house is.

[12:34]

And there, seeing it, drinking it in, he perceives what is and what are the intimate thoughts of God's heart concerning man, concerning his salvation. There he finds his way into his heavenly Father's thoughts. So therefore, O God, our shield, look on the face of your Christ. For better is one day in thy courts above a thousand. And how lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, by so long a and fainted for the courts of the Lord. That is the inner desire, that single longing that is in man for the world of the Spirit.

[13:36]

And he finds this world of the Spirit in the Old Testament in that temple, in the world of the temple, built according to God's pattern. In the New Testament, we know this new world, this temple, which God has put upon this earth as a starting and manifestation of his glory, is a living. It is the world, son of God, made flesh. And there in him and through him we see his glory. So there is the temple. There is the word of the Spirit given to us, built to us by God, his gift, the word of the Spirit. The word made flesh and we have seen his glory.

[14:37]

So it is Christ, Christ in his sacred humanity, Christ as he wandered here on earth, and the risen savior who then fills his church with the fullness of the spirit. And this, or this spirit, is then in the epistle compared with the word of the flesh. What brethren walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You see, I would say right away, there again, you have the same law of the divine power. Here, what does he do? He does not say, you shall never fulfill the lusts of the flesh. He does not leave us with this world and leave us alone. It's different just as in our search for God.

[15:43]

God does the first step. He reaches out, or he descends from this inaccessible height, and he builds here on earth a manifestation of the divine world of the Spirit. So also he does when he meets man in his struggles and in his striving. Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So he does not leave man with his sensual appetites and says to him, you have to overcome me. No, he pours into him the wealth of the Spirit, and he asks him, invites him, walk in the Spirit, and that which you shall not walk in the ways of the flesh.

[16:51]

Walk in the fullness of the Spirit. That is the beauty, of course, of the whole sacramental world. That's the principle of the liturgy. And that's the principle of that piety, practical Christianity, which is based on the liturgy. because the liturgy is simply the, again and again, repeated epiphany, manifestation of the Father's love in Christ the Son, who appears before us in the full radiance of his Holy Spirit. And we receive him as our fruit. And in that way I am able then to walk in the Spirit. Only what one has to do is have the courage, have the confidence, have that inner faith that really the fullness of the Spirit is given to us.

[18:00]

And then joyfully taste and see how sweet that Spirit is. It's that old principle that St. Augustine recommended when he said, Amadeus et facquotis. Love God and then do what you want. Because what is then your will? It is the love of God. If you love God, God is your will and you can do what you want. So that is the new, that is the new spirit, that is the principle of Christianity. Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. For these are contrary one to another so that you do not the things that you do.

[19:01]

But if you are led by a spirit, You are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, impotency, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmity, contentions, emulations, wrath. quarrels, dissensions, sex, enemies, murders, drunkards, rebels, and such like. of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. Is there not absolute inner evidence to that? Are we not acquainted with that world of the flesh? Do we not realize that those who do them will not enter into the kingdom of God?

[20:07]

So we need our evidence there. And evidence which isn't really less than, let us say, the scientific evidence of the little steps that we make in the world of visible things based on evidence. The evidence of the senses is to me, it seems, is the evidence of the spirit. And that is the evidence of the inner man. And that is the evidence of the best in man. Only what man has to do is open himself to it. Do and take the courage and walk in the spirit. And that then, this walking, or let us say, this path, this kingdom, this house of God, that has in itself and shows itself in itself, it's in our right, it's peace. Peace is the fruit of it. And therefore, St.

[21:08]

Paul continues and he says, now if you turn the fruit of the Spirit, just look at it, open your eyes, God has made the first step. God has built the house of the Spirit for everyone to look at. And that house of the Spirit is Christ the Lord. The risen Savior. Just look at it. The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, long-aminity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. So again, just the inauguration, just the manifestation, just pointing to it, look at it. What is it?

[22:08]

What are the fruits of the spirit? And you read it and you say, charity. Do I doubt? Do I hesitate? To ask myself, oh, maybe I'm making a mistake in trusting in charity. Who makes a mistake? Who can't make a mistake in trusting in charity? Take the next one, joy, joy. Can I trust joy? Am I allowed to have joy? Maybe I have too much joy. Infinite joy. Yes, amen. Buster. Peace. Peace. What can be wrong with peace? So I can say again, quietly, not only quietly, very definitely, clearly, cheerfully, peace, yes.

[23:10]

Patience. What is wrong with patience? You can ask again. Patience, patience, that womb, you know, which caps really future. That womb which is such a tremendous beautiful promise. That womb which life needs that it may unfold here in this earth. Patience. That eternal love. That being able to wait. Even the poor creatures here and now cannot keep the pace. Patience is there and gives a chance to every lame and to every blind and to every beggar and to every sinner in this world. Bless patience, benignity, goodness. Longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity, each one, yes, amen.

[24:19]

That is it. That is salvation. That's light. Is it not right to call it light? And is it not right to say darkness? When we think of fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, quarrels, enemies, murders, drunkenness, darkness. So then with that inner conviction, joy, liberty of the spirit, we say our yes, our amen. we throw away anxiety. And we, as the graduate says, after we have heard this message, the graduate says, and we sing. Do we sing? It is good to confide in the Lord rather than to have confidence in man.

[25:24]

It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in praises. So there is no other way in which God, our Heavenly Father, wants to convince us to draw. It is the realm of the Spirit, for that matter, is simply a statement. And that statement is, it is good. It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in him. It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in praises. And therefore come, let us praise the Lord with joy. Let us joyfully sing to God our Savior. See, that is therefore the way in which, in the round of the Spirit, one begins the day.

[26:31]

Venite exuge unslob. And that same spirit, and I think in that spirit, in that light also, the gospel, tomorrow's gospel should be understood, which again so often is a scandal. A scandal, you know, especially to, now let's say, the Nordic people who live in an environment in which one has to safeguard one's existence, keeping up cold, so today, oil in the winter, and all these things. And then they say, oh yes, now that is easy, maybe in Palestine or in Egypt or a place like this, but here we live in another world. But I don't think

[27:33]

that Jesus the Lord, in tomorrow's gospel, wants to give us economic advice. But what he wants, you know, is to give us a taste, I would say, an experience of the world of the Spirit. In difference to the world of the now. But what he says, is not only, you know, a nice poetic expression, or, let us say, a simple laissez-faire, or this dolce fargiente of the Mediterranean temperament, but it is based also on solid grounds. He asks us now, can every one of you act And now what is it here? His centimeter to his measure, to his stature.

[28:37]

And it is true, if we think about it, We cannot, out of our own power, say how big we are going, or add something and say, now, I am really too small. I have to add to my situation. There may be some high heels, but they don't reach very far. They don't change the ascension situation, only accentuate what is not there. So in the... It is, you know, another proof that we are really, in that way, put into God's measure, that we are put into there. We do not make ourselves. And that, indeed, is an essential experience. And through that experience, we have every just solid evidence, very solid evidence,

[29:39]

At this time Jesus said to his disciples, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will sustain the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God enough. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they? And which of you, by taking thought, can attest that you are one cute? And for raiment, why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They labor not, neither do they spin. But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.

[30:43]

Now if God so clothed the grass of the field, which is today and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more you, O ye of little faith, be not solicitous, therefore saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or where shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathen seek. For you will follow them, though that you are in need of all these things. Seek ye therefore the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Death is not quieted. Father, it implicates It indicates an essential decision. It indicates an inner attitude. This putting things out of your hands, putting them into the hands of God. The reality of the world of the Spirit.

[31:46]

as a world of God's charity, God's mercy, of God's creativeness, of a spontaneous life in abundance that you do not have to squeeze it out of yourself. But it is poured into you. And what the Lord wants is to urge us to take that as a reality in the whole realm of our spiritual life. Therefore, it points to that confidence, that trust, trust in the Spirit, that courage that we should have, those who say yes to the realm of the Spirit, really then also to and long for the beauty of the house of God. To believe that God will bring us there through his own, in his own way and through his own power.

[32:53]

In the way it is the offertory there. In such a beautiful way it puts it before us. The angel of the Lord shall encamp you round about. Shall encamp round about those that fear him. And he shall deliver them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is here. You see, it's an invitation, it's a promise, it's a statement. Here it is, taste and see and taste that the Lord is sweet. A statement, the angel of the Lord shall encap you round about like a sheep. And in this, make that inner decision, yet this hand I accept. If the Lord kneels down before me and says, again following the same method, let me wash your feet, that I do so.

[34:01]

And that is in Holy Communion and all thunder. When we receive the body of the Lord, then we say, seek first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you, says the Lord. But what is this, seeking first the kingdom of God? It is nothing but an act of simple, absolute faith in the Lord of heaven and earth, who has shown his presence, putting before our eyes the temple, and building before our eyes Christ the Lord, showing him to us. It is very strange how few people in these our days, you know, sitting guard, and trying, let us say, to struggle for some proof for his existence.

[35:08]

And of course, as soon as you go on the way of proving the existence, in some way, spiritually speaking, you are already on the way of the flesh, a priora. You are in some way on the way of none. You are doing it somehow yourself, You want in some way trust only in yourself. You want to be absolutely assured. You don't want to take a risk. But the way of God is different. He approaches us, and it is strange how few people in our days really take advantage of this divine method. And one must say, Christ existed. He died and he rose from the dead. He has poured his spirit into many thousands of souls. He has built the church. He gives us the letter to participate in his mysteries.

[36:13]

There he is. And I think that this whole world, which is built around the mysteries of Christ, The little grid of this chapel does not have a very definite evidence in itself the goodness of the Spirit. But that also then is our great, our great responsibility. Walk in the Spirit. And if we have that courage to walk in the Spirit, The lusts of the flesh lose their power and their dominion. They are uprooted. But then we also, as individuals, we enter as instruments, as living instruments, into that divine paradox. We become then, in some way, a part of the garden of delight.

[37:17]

He become in some way one of the courteous of the tip, a little place like this. He become then in some way, he become belong to those and the people may point to it and say, see there the lilies of the field and how beautifully the Lord has created them. See there the poor ones of the Lord and behold, They don't understand anything about finances, and the Lord feeds them. So in all these ways, you know, quite a ways, because we also can convince through meekness, through goodness, through benignity, through peace, through joy, and enter into this way in which our Heavenly Father wants to portray the hardness of the house, which sometimes even the more solid logical argument is not able to penetrate, and was then to make us part of his wonderful basic statement.

[38:31]

Walk in the Spirit, and the lust of the flesh will have no power over you.

[38:38]

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