Sunday Within the Octave of Christmas, Dec 26, 2010

Sunday Within the Octave of Christmas – December 26, 2010

The Presentation – Luke 2: 33-40

Just before today’s reading Simeon recites his canticle after taking the Christ Child in his hands: (Luke. 2: 29-32):

“Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace;

Because my eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:

A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

Then Simeon blesses both and turning to Mary prophesies that, “This child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted.”  Understand in these words that there is a harmony in prophesies, because the same God speaks both in the Old Testament Prophets and in the New Testament. That is why we read Isaiah telling believers in his day that the Messiah would be a “stone of stumbling” – a stumbling block as we say today. (Isaiah 8: 14-15) As St. Peter puts it, “a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal,” (1 Peter  2: 8) or a “sign of contradiction” as Simeon put it in today’s gospel. Isaiah, St. Peter and Simeon are telling us that although the Messiah comes for the salvation of all, many will not accept Him and they will be lost due to their own unwise choice.

And what of us who fall into sin? Our Savior has given us the means of our resurrection – the Sacrament of Penance, called Confession. When a lustful person becomes chaste, when a miser becomes merciful, when a cruel person becomes gentle then we have a resurrection, because sin has died and justice has arisen.

The sign of contradiction Simeon spoke of is the cross – that the One who promises eternal life, the One Who is Judge of all, is Himself condemned and dies a horrible death on a cross. This is seen by all, but understood only by those of faith.

Simeon also tells Mary, “Thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” Consider ourselves: if we knew what sorrows were in store for us in the future, would we suffer those sorrows every day or our lives in anticipation of their coming?  God has given us the grace of not knowing our future and therefore not having to suffer in anticipation. He did not grant this grace to Mary. As an  angel revealed to St. Bridget, “That sword of sorrow was every hour approaching nearer to the Blessed Virgin, as the time for the Passion of her Son drew near.”

Mary suffered all the contradictions prophesied by Simeon. The High Priest Caiphas called her Son a blasphemer: “He hath blasphemed. He is guilty of death.” (Matthew 26: 65) He was despised as a peasant: “Is not this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mark 6: 3) He was treated as ignorant: “How doth this man know letters, having never learned?” (John 7: 15) He was mocked as a false prophet when he was blindfolded and struck and they asked Him: “Prophesy, who is it that struck Thee?” (Luke 22: 64) He was treated as a madman: “He is mad, why hear you Him?” (John 10: 20) He was called a drunkard, a glutton and friend of sinners: “Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.” (Luke 7: 34) He was condemned as a sorcerer: “By the prince of devils He casteth out devils.” (Matthew 9: 34) And he was condemned as a heretic and possessed by the evil spirit: “Do we not say well of Thee that Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil?” (John 8: 48) Mary’s Son was considered so wicked that the Jews told Pilate that no trial was necessary: “If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee.” (John 18: 30) She saw Christ’s Passion approaching and these sorrows, taken to her heart and suffered for 33 years, have made Mary the Refuge of Sinners.

In ancient Judea there were cities that criminals could go to for safety and to escape punishment for their crimes. Today there is only one city left. This city, says St. Albert the Great, is the most holy Virgin Mother of God, fenced in with grace and glory. Go there and be silent says the Prophet Jeremiah. We dare not invoke the Lord Whom we have offended. Be silent and Mary will invoke Him and ask for everything we require to return to grace. +++

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Basil of Seleucia¹ (d. c 458-460) encourages sinners, saying,

“O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all thy necessities; call her to thine assistance, for thou wilt always find her ready to help thee; for such is the divine will that she should help all in every kind of necessity.”

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass:

¹ Seleucia, a great city of Greek and Roman times on the Western Bank of the Tigris near present day Bagdhad. It was probably abandoned after the Tigris shifted course.

Christmas Day, Dec 25, 2010

Christmas Day, December 25, 2010

(John 1: 1-14)

           

Christmas is usually thought of as starting today and continuing for 12 days, but Christmastide extends 40 days, from today to the Purification of Mary, February 2^nd. The Church’s Liturgy celebrates the miracle of the virgin birth on each of those days.

            Today’s Modernists make a false claim that we do not know the date of Christ’s birth. They claim that December 25^th was chosen in order to “Christianize” the Roman festival of the sun. In fact, there were no Roman holidays on December 25^th. The nearest one was the drunken festival of Saturnalia which always ended no later than December 23^rd. St. John Chrysostom notes that the public records of births were available to the Church, and it can be easily assumed these records were looked at in order to confirm the birth date of December 25^th.

            The date of December 25^th is also arrived at by noting in Luke 1 that an angel appeared to Zachary on the Day of Atonement in late September to tell him his wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son who is to be called John. Then in Luke 1: 28 the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that Elizabeth is now in her sixth month. Adding six months to late September when the angel appeared to Zachary brings us to late March for the conception of Jesus, and adding nine months to that brings us to late December for the birth of the Lord.

            Why was Bethlehem chosen as the birthplace of the Lord? It was the City of David, where King David came from, and the name Bethlehem means City of Bread. Later, Jesus tells the Jews at John 6: 51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.”

            Pope St. Gregory the Great tells us it is St. Thomas the Apostle, Doubting Thomas we call him, who had more to do with solidifying our faith than the faith of all the other Disciples. We just celebrated Thomas’ feast day on December 21^ST. Thomas thrust his fingers into the Wounds of his Master. He felt, and cried out, “My Lord and my God.” Thomas saw only the Perfect Man before him, but touching Him he believed in the Perfect God which he could not see. Thomas was a witness for us of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He touched Christ’s wounds for us so that we today may believe. The words of our Lord which followed, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed, (John 20: 29) are meant especially for us, who have not seen Christ in the flesh, but believe in his Divinity. We have also not seen the birth of Jesus, but we have many evidences of His birth and life, His death and resurrection, and we believe.

            We are often asleep in sin, asleep with our concerns for the things of the Earth. Use, but do not abuse, the things of the Earth to clothe us and to feed us. Work with our hands and minds to provide these things for us. Enjoy, but do not worship, the beauty of the Earth with our body’s senses. But with our souls, worship God Whom we cannot see, Whom we cannot sense, but Whom we can believe as Thomas touched Him and believed before us. With the whole desire of our souls let us embrace that “true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.” (John 1: 9)

            Reflect  Who it is we receive in the Eucharist today, and Who has received us into Himself. The Lord Jesus by being born has become our flesh, and we by being reborn have become His Body. Therefore, we are both members of the Body of Christ, the Church, and temples of the Holy Ghost, and for this reason St. Paul tells us to “Glorify and bear God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6: 20) While we take Him into ourselves in the Eucharist He says to us, “Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.” (Matthew 1: 28-29)

            A blessed Christmas to you and to your families. +

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass:

4th Sunday of Advent - Dec 19, 2010

4th Sunday of Advent – December 19, 2010

 (Luke 3: 1-6)

            We are now in the last week of Advent, the celebration of the birth of the Messiah is six days away. In the liturgy the Church brings us to the desert and again shows us John the Baptist, preaching the baptism of penance and telling the people of his time, and telling us, to prepare the way of the Lord, and that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”  Let us prepare the way of the Lord by taking stock of who we are and what we have done with our lives this past year.  Have we come closer to God by loving our families and giving of ourselves for the sake of the family?  Have we fasted and abstained as we should on the days set aside for that? Have we prayed for our enemies this past year? Have we prayed morning and night and at every meal?  Have we prayed together as a family?

            We are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1: 26) Let us resolve this Christmas and in the year to follow to act like we are made in His image.  Pope St. Leo the Great, who died in the year 461, wrote that the dignity of the divine majesty appear in us when we imitate God’s will.  We imitate His will by practicing our religion, and so Pope Leo writes: “There are three things that especially pertain to the practice of religion, namely: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. . . . For by prayer we obtain the divine favor, by fasting we extinguish the concupiscence of the flesh, [and] by almsgiving sins are redeemed.” By all three together the image of God is renewed in us, provided we praise Him and seek His grace by our prayers, and that we are eager for our own purity, and always ready to assist our neighbor through almsgiving.

            The time of Christ’s appearance is told by the recording in today’s Gospel of the secular king, Tiberius Caesar, then the Jewish tetrarchs, or princes, Herod, Philip and Lysanias, and by the reigning high priests, Annas and Caiphas. Israel at this time was divided, being under the rule of Caesar and the lesser princes and priests. But John the Baptist proclaimed Him who was both King and Priest, as Melchisedech was in the time of Abraham.  It is interesting to note in Scriptures that when a message is directed only to the Jews, the Chosen People, only the Jewish rulers are mentioned, but when the message is directed at the whole world the secular leaders are also mentioned, because Christ came to save all.

            Christ gave Himself to us beginning on Christmas Day, and this opened the doors of heaven to a fallen human race.  This is the season then for gift giving. Let us give ourselves to God this Christmas as He gave Himself to us. We give ourselves to Him by prayer, fasting and good works or almsgiving.

            What do we mean by a “fallen human race”? That refers to Original Sin. The sin of disobedience that Adam and Eve committed in the Garden of Eden comes down to every human being. Adam and Eve were given certain gifts by God: mastery over their passions, life without death, sanctifying grace and other gifts. Think of God as a king who gives a man an hereditary title. It is given on the condition that the man remains loyal to the King, but if he is disloyal the King can strip him of his title and, because the title was hereditary, this also strips the man’s descendants of all the gifts and rights that go along with it. It’s not that the descendants were disloyal, but because of the original sin of the title holder, they suffer the consequences of his sin of disloyalty. This is what happened in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve were disloyal to God, He stripped them and us of those gifts. That is the effect of Original Sin and that’s why we are a fallen race.

           

            It is the most natural thing for us, the created, to imitate our Creator. What others should see in us is the beauty of the Divine Goodness. This was lost to us by the sin of the first Adam in disobedience to our Father in Heaven. In obedience to His Father Jesus Christ restored Divine Goodness to us. This is why Jesus is often called the Second Adam.

            A blessed Christmas to all. +++

3rd Sunday of Advent - December 12, 2010

Third Sunday of Advent – December 12, 2010

(Epistle: Philippians 4: 4-7)

(Gospel: John 1: 19-28)

           

            St. Paul tells us in today’s Epistle reading to rejoice in the Lord. There is nothing more just than to rejoice in our Lord. Be not solicitous, which means be not anxious or impatient, because the Lord is near, near to His Church and near to our souls. How can anyone be near so burning a Fire and still be cold in their hearts? Let us meet the Christ Child on Christmas morning with our prayers, petitions and with thanksgiving, as St. Paul recommends to us today.

            A few weeks ago we spoke about the end of time and the Second Coming of Christ. In those days false prophets will tell us that Christ is in the desert, and in various other places, but they will not tell you where He really is – in the Church, that Church which maintains the lines of succession from the Apostles and has kept and teaches the True Faith which they gave to us. Christ resides in that Church and that Church is the city of our strength. It is Christ that makes it strong and has led it through the ages against the Caesars and other persecuting emperors, against ungrateful princes who stole from the poor, against heretics who have over time denied every article of His Faith, against the so-called reformers who tried to create a Christianity in which His Church had no part, against the modern philosophers who have set the Church down as just one more system that has been tried and failed and now lies in ruins, and against the followers of Mohammed who try to spread their false faith through terror. All of these have passed away or will pass away, but His Word will not pass away. (Mark 13:31)

            Thank the Christ Child this Christmas for the true Faith that has withstood all attacks. Even as the VaticanII church teaches its many heresies, we can take joy as St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, did in the Fourth Century when the Arian heresy controlled almost all Catholic churches. Athanasius told his flock to take heart “for they have the churches but we have the faith.” That is the state of the Church again today as the Modernist heretics have control of almost all Catholic churches. But take heart for if they have the churches, we have the Faith.

            In today’s Gospel reading, priests and Levites came from Jerusalem to see John the Baptist. This is an indication of the high esteem in which they held John. On other occasions they sent emissaries to question Jesus, because He was the Son of a lowly carpenter. But John was one of their own, a member of the priestly cast and whose father, Zacharias, who was a prince among the priests of the Old Testament. St. John knew their doctrines and their hypocrisies in twisting the Law of Moses to suit their own financial welfare. They asked John if he was the Christ. John told them, “I am not the Christ.” The Jews, like we, expect the return of Elias, so they asked John if we was Elias. John clearly said, “I am not.” They then asked him, “Who are thou . . .” John answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.” (Isaias 40: 3) John fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias when he said this.

            There is an seeming contradiction in Scriptures about who John the Baptist was. He said clearly that he is not Elias, but Jesus said in Matthew 17: 10-13: “And his disciples asked him, saying, why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first? But he answering, said to them: Elias indeed shall come and restore all things. But I say to you, that Elias has already come, and they knew him not . . . Then the disciples understood, that he had spoken to them of John the Baptist.” Also at Matthew 11: 14, Jesus says, “And if you will receive it, [John] is Elias who is to come.” How can it be that John says he is not Elias while the Son of God says he is?

            It is not a contradiction, of course. Look in Luke 1: 17. The Angel, the messenger of God, tells Zachary, “And he [John the Baptist] shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias,” so that John came not as Elias in person, but in the spirit and power of Elias. The spirit and power of Elias is the Holy Ghost Who was in both Elias and John, because what Elias will be to the Second Coming of the Lord, John was to His first coming, “to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people,” and “to make straight the way of the Lord.”

            St. Augustine asks who will believe this? And he answers: those who imitate the humility of John and who understand the great majesty of the Lord. John’s humility is shown in this passage. He could have said, “I am the Christ,” and the priests and Levites were ready to believe him. But he humbled himself before God and said, “I am not the Christ.” We can imitate John’s humility by abandoning our personal opinions about what is truth. We can acknowledge to ourselves that our opinions and the opinions of false religious teachers are irrelevant. We can acknowledge that what is important is what Christ’s Church teaches. We can acknowledge that we are not our own little church, we are not our own little philosophical empire but, rather, we are either members of or invited to become members of the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church. We, along with our opinions, shall pass away, but His Word, which is found in His Church, shall not pass away. (Matthew 24: 35)

            In a passage following last week’s Gospel reading Christ says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” (Matthew 11: 12) How can someone commit violence against Heaven? The violence that our Lord is talking about is the violence against ourselves. Fast and abstinence is a violence against ourselves. Jesus is telling us to do what John the Baptist did in order to gain the Kingdom of Heaven. Pope St. Leo the Great says that fasting is the food of virtue, because from abstinence comes chaste thoughts, honorable decisions and helpful advice. By voluntarily suffering through fasting the sting of the flesh is lessened, that is, we think less of our bodies while our souls become strong in virtue

            This coming week is Ember Week, a time of fasting and abstinence. When you fast you are denying yourself a pleasure and you will feel uncomfortable. That is called mortification of the body. When you offer that uncomfortable feeling to God you will be rewarded with the grace of God that will bring you closer to Him. It will help you stand fast against the devil and will defeat the sinful vices which lead you away from Heaven.

            For those aged 18 to 59, inclusive,  Ember Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are days of fast (one full meal, two smaller meals, liquids only between meals) and, for all aged 7 or over, partial abstinence from meat (meat, meat gravy, or meat soup at the main meal only) on Ember Wednesday and Saturday; total abstinence from meat on Ember Friday, as on all Fridays of the year.

            Make the Ember Days even more meaningful by depriving yourself of little luxuries like desert and by praying for Catholic priests, who are in great need of your fasting and prayers.

+++

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass:

2nd Sunday of Advent, Dec. 5, 2010

2nd Sunday of Advent – December 5, 2010

(Matthew. 11: 2-10)

(Parallel Gospel: Luke. 7: 18-27)

            John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the One to come or should they look for another. But John was a cousin of Jesus. At the River Jordan, John told the crowd, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world.” It's true that John knew who Jesus was. So why did John ask “art thou he that art to come”? Well, he didn't ask it. John knew that he was about to die so he sent his disciples to ask this question of Jesus. This was for the benefit of his disciples, so that they would know and believe in Jesus after John was dead.

            Jesus did not tell John's disciples, “Yes, I am he.” If He did, they might have accused Jesus of giving testimony of himself, or in our modern words, they might have accused Him of blowing His own horn, as the Pharisees accused Him at John. 8: v 13. Instead, Jesus tells them to tell John what they have heard and seen; the blind see, the crippled walk, the deaf hear, lepers are cured, the dead come back to life and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

            John knew that it was important that these two disciples he sent learn about Jesus firsthand and come to believe that He is the Messiah. These two disciples were offended and scandalized by the things they heard about what Jesus was saying and doing. How do we know that? Because Jesus, knowing their hearts and their thoughts, rebuked them secretly, and at the same time forgave them, when he said, “blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me.”

            There were many who were scandalized when, after seeing Jesus perform so many miracles, they later saw Him dying on the cross. This was difficult for many people at that time, and that is why St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. 1:23: “We preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to the Jews.”

            After John's disciples left to tell John what they saw and heard, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John the Baptist. He asked them: “What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind?” A reed bends with the wind, and signifies a person who changes his mind about something as often as the wind changes directions. John was certainly not like a reed in the wind, and Jesus proves that by asking the crowd why they abandoned the comforts of the city to go out into the arid desert, unless they were expecting to see something great, something unchanging.  John was unchanging and fearless. To the sinners of his day he said, “You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell? (Matthew 23: 33) John did not mince words.

            At the end of today's reading Jesus says John is more than a prophet. “For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.'” This is from Malachias 3:1. But John the Baptist was a man, not an angel as we know of angels in heaven. The Greek word for messenger is angelus. John was called an angel because he was a messenger of Christ. John announced the coming and then the arrival of the Messiah promised to the Jews.

            How was John greater than the other prophets? The other prophets also announced the coming of the Lord, but John was also to prepare the way for His imminent arrival. Imminent means coming soon. By preaching penance and by baptizing, John prepared the hearts of those who would soon hear Christ speak and see Him perform miracles.  That is why Jesus called John an angel, just as Malachias had predicted. In Greek the word is angelus, in Latin nuntius, in English messenger. That is St. John.

            What are we to make of the coming of the Christ? He gives us perfect freedom, freedom from sin, freedom from error, freedom from the wealth of this world, which always rusts away. St. Patrick gives a simple description of our situation as humans in The Book of the Three Habitations. There are three abodes, or places to live, all subject to God: Heaven, this present world and hell. Heaven and hell are completely opposed to each other. There is no bond between them. The middle abode, our present lives, has many resemblances both to Heaven and hell. In our lives we see and experience light and darkness, health and sickness, good and evil, love and hate, hunger and fullness, wealth and poverty –  an endless list – and all of these has either a resemblance to Heaven or to hell. In Heaven all are good and no one is evil.  In hell all are evil and no one is good. Each place is filled with the souls of we who pass through our lives on earth. The coming of the Christ opened the gates of Heaven for us. We choose what we want our eternity to be like, perfect happiness without end or perfect hell without end. +++

           

A Prayer from Jeremias: 23: 5,6

(Prophetic life: 627-585 B. C.)

“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name

that they shall call him: The Lord, our just one.”

We are the new Israel. We have the inherited  the Old Testament.

We have accepted the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, and believe His Gospel,

and we live confidently now in Faith, Hope and Charity. +++