Cdl Burke in London: ‘Never cease to centre your lives in the Sacred Liturgy’ full text

This is the full text of the homily preached by Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, at the London Oratory on the Solemnity of St Philip Neri on May 26:

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and for ever. Amen.

The Parable of the Vine and the Branches expresses the intimacy of our communion with Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Indeed once we have received the sevenfold gift of divine truth and love into our hearts, we belong totally to Christ. He lives in us, and we live in Him. Once we have received the gift of Christ’s life within us, Christ must become our all. Christ becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves; in Him alone do we come to know our true self and to live in accord with that truth.

Christ tells us in unequivocal terms: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Christ goes on to promise, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” His promise does not signify some sure formula to attain the fulfillment of capricious desires but rather the assurance of the grace to live coherently and fully in Christ in all things and so to accomplish what is truly the deepest desire of every human heart, that is, the love of God with all our heart and the love of our neighbor without boundary.

continue at UK Catholic Herald