24th & Last Sunday after Pentecost, Nov. 21, 2010

24^th & Last Sunday after Pentecost – November 21, 2010

(Mt. 24:15-35)

            The past few Sundays we have been concerned with the end of time and the Second Coming of Christ. Today we will continue that theme but with added prayers of desire and praise for our Lord and King. We will end by looking forward to the joy of Christmas time.

           

Christ’s Second Coming will be in judgment, and will be the consummation of His work on Earth and the proof of His triumph. Sinners and the ungodly will then understand how the Lord made all things for Himself (Proverbs 16: 4), and will see His followers at last avenged for that slavery of sin forced upon us by the sin of our first parents (Romans 8: 21).

           

The trumpet of the Archangel, that will ring through the graves of the just will be a signal calling them not to death but to life in their bodies which will then be glorified (Romans 8: 23), calling them to the passing over to the true Promised Land, and calling them back to life to see the destruction of the old enemy, Satan. What joy for those that have by their faith lived in Christ and loved Him without seeing Him! (1 St. Peter 1: 8) Notwithstanding the weakness of the flesh, the just continue Christ’s life of suffering and humiliation, but in His triumph they will be delivered from sin forever, and in their new, immortal, undying bodies they will be carried before Christ’s face to be forever with Him. (1 Thessalonians 4: 16)

            The just will assist on that great day at the glorification of Thee, dear Lord, by the clear demonstration of the power which was given to Thee over all flesh (John 17: 2). Then, O Emmanuel, crushing the head of kings and making Thine enemies thy footstool (Psalm 109, KJV: 110) Thou wilt be seen as the one Ruler of all nations (Psalm 2). Then, O Lord, heaven and earth will bend their knees (Philippians 2: 10) before that Son of Man, when Thou appeared on earth as a slave, were unjustly judged, condemned and put to death between two thieves. Then, Lord, Thou wilt judge the unjust judges, the judges whom you told, even in the midst of Thine humiliating Passion, of Thy Second Coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26: 64). Then, after the un-appealable sentence has been passed down by Thee, the Highest Judge, the wicked shall go to everlasting torments, and the just to life eternal (Matthew 25: 46).

            St. Paul tells us that then, having been proclaimed undisputed King, Thou wilt give to Thy eternal Father this Thy kingdom won through death. It will be the perfect homage of Thee, the Head, and of all Thy faithful members. God will thus be all in all (1 Corinthians 15: 24-28). This will be the perfect accomplishment, Lord, of that sublime prayer which Thou taught mankind to make and which we daily offer up to the Father who is in heaven, saying to Him, “Hallowed be Thy name! Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven!”

            On this peaceful day, Lord, blasphemy will cease, our poor earth will be cleansed by fire from the filth of sin and will be turned into a new paradise! We can thrill at the thought of that last day of time, which ushers in beautiful eternity. Even today we can despise the agonies of our last hour when we remember that our sufferings have really only one meaning: that the Son of Man is close, even at the very doors! (Mark 13: 29)

            Lord Jesus Christ, detach us more every year from this world, whose fashions pass away quickly, where we work for gold which we leave behind, where we seek glory which is soon forgotten in the grave, and where we easily trade eternal joy for a few moments of pleasure. You have foretold that the world will not give any thought to Thy approaching coming, just as in the days of Noe and Sodom when destruction came suddenly. Men will go on with their business affairs, feasting and amusements because in their opinion Christ and His Church are worn-out ideas. Men will persecute Holy Mother Church in ways never before known in history, but they do not realize that their persecutions are an announcement of the eternal nuptials which are close at hand. The Church is the Bride of Christ, and all the trials she goes through will become jewels given to this Bride to complete her beauty at the end of time. The blood of her last martyrs will color her splendid robes with the richness of royal crimson.

            And for us today, Lord? We turn our ears to the echoes of our home above; “and, from the throne of our God, we hear going forth the voice heard by Thy beloved prophet of Patmos, St. John the Evangelist: ‘Give praise unto our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, little and great! Alleluia! For the Lord our God the almighty hath reigned! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory unto Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath prepared herself!’ (Apocalypse 19: 5-7) Yet a little while, till the number of our brethren be made up (Apocalypse 6: 11); and then, with the Spirit and the bride, we will say to Thee . ... ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’ (Apocalypse 22: 17) Come, and perfect us in love, by eternal union, unto the glory of the Father, and of Thyself the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever!” Amen. +++

(Thanks to Abbot Gueranger for today’s sermon)

            Next Sunday, November 28^th begins Advent, the season of hope. It is the time when we prepare for the celebration of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. It will be 28 days until Christmas morning, 28 days during which we can prepare our souls for the Lord through prayer and fasting. Make time to receive the Sacrament of Confession before Christmas. Remember the Holy Day of Obligation on December 8^th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Remember also the Ember Days starting on Wednesday, December 15^th. These are days of fast and abstinence. And remember lastly that the birth of Jesus marks the beginning of the fulfillment of all the promises made by God to His beloved Chosen People: “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” (Matthew 5: 17)

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass:

What's the Story? Morning Glory

(What’s the Story?) Morning Glory                         

Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum

Rachel McAdams carries this movie throughout. She plays Becky, a seemingly flaky girl who wants to be a TV producer but seems to be in over her head. After begging for a job as Executive Producer on a failing morning show she holds her first morning staff meeting prior to air time. Everyone connected with the show is there and they shower a barrage of questions and suggestions at her. She surprises by answering everyone and at the end of the meeting fires an egotistical co-anchor  thereby winning the admiration of everyone.

To replace the one she fired she hires Harrison Ford, a former evening news anchor who himself had been fired because of falling ratings. He is difficult to work with and proves her most difficult challenge

Morning Glory is worth seeing but is marred by gratuitous sex. Her affair with another producer doesn’t seem to go anywhere as their relationship is very shallow.

Rating: **

6th Sunday After the Epiphany & 25th after Pentecost – November 14, 2010

6^th Sunday After the Epiphany

25th Sunday after Pentecost – November 14, 2010

(Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 1: 2-10)

(Gospel: Matthew 13: 31-35)

                St. Paul heaps praise on the Thessalonians for the fervor of their faith, their prayers, their work, their charity toward others, their constant hope for the return of our Lord Jesus. But his praise of the Thessalonians contains a rebuke to us today. They were recent converts from paganism, we are the descendants of 2,000 years of faith. Most of them were baptized late in life, most of us were baptized shortly after birth. The main occupation of the Thessalonians was serving the living and true God by serving their neighbors. Our hope is exactly the same as that which made their hearts so fervent. So why is it that our faith is not like theirs in its generosity? We love this present life as though we think it will never end.

            We pass on to the next generation a very different “Christianity “from that which our Saviour established, which the apostles preached, and which the pagans of the first ages thought they were bound to purchase” and keep even at the cost of their lives. (Guéranger: The Liturgical Year)

            In today’s Gospel our Lord teaches us through two parables what we should believe about His Church. His Church is His kingdom, that begins here on earth and is perfected in Heaven. What is the grain of mustard seed that is hidden in the ground, unseen there, but finally sprouts and grows to become a tree and spreads its branches, and is largest of all the herbs? It is the Word of God, hidden at first in Judea, trampled on by man to the point of being buried in a tomb, but finally rising triumphantly and spreading rapidly to every corner of the world.

            The grain of mustard seed is buried in the ground as Christ was buried in the tomb. The mustard seed appears as the least of all seeds, as Christ appeared as the least of all men, hated by many of His own people, hanging in defeat on the Cross. But the mustard seed blossoms forth from the ground, as our Lord did from the tomb on Easter Sunday. The mustard plant then shoots forth branches and grows into the greatest of all herb plants. Christ also sent forth branches through the preaching that began on the first Pentecost. Barely a hundred years after Jesus was put to death His Church had spread far beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, to become the greatest Tree of Faith in the world.

            During the past two thousand years every effort has been made to uproot the Tree of Christ but without success. In the cold of winter, sap stops flowing through the branches of a mustard tree, but in the Church, whenever one branch grows cold in the faith, the life-giving sap of faith flows into another branch. Even when one branch of the Church has broken off to go out on its own, such as Martin Luther and today’s Modernists have done, another faithful and obedient branch grows in its place. An example of this is found in 13^th Century Italy which was plagued with secularism and lack of faith. The new and faithful branch that sprung up was the Friars Minor, the Franciscans founded by St. Francis of Assisi.

            The birds of the air who come to dwell in the branches of the Tree of Christ are the souls of those who are seeking the eternal goods of a better world. If we are faithful and obedient Christians we will find our complete rest and safety only in the shade of the Tree of Christ, which is the Catholic Church.

            In the second parable, the woman represents the Church, our mother. It was the Church that, from the beginning of Christianity, took the teaching of her divine Master, and hid it in the hearts of men, making it the leaven of their salvation. The three measures of meal which the woman leavened, are the three great families of mankind that came from the children of Noah, Shem, Japhet and Cham, the fathers of the whole human race. It is to our advantage to love the Church, which through the leaven of faith has made us children of God.

            But many of us do not love our Church, and our faith has grown cold. We love this present life as if it is never going to end. St. Paul, in today’s Epistle reading, praises the Thessalonians (Greece, northern end of the Aegean Sea) for the fervor of their faith. Only a short time before Paul wrote this letter to them, the Thessalonians were worshipping idols, but they had become so earnest in the practice of the faith that St. Paul was filled with admiration of them. These people were among the generations that for two thousand years have handed the faith down to us. Christ calls us to hide ourselves among the people of the world. Just as He gave leaven the power to change the dough, He has placed His faithful followers in the world to share their knowledge of Him and by doing this to change the world.

            Twelve Apostles leavened the whole world. Even today, in this age of unfaithfulness, there are enough of us to leaven a thousand worlds. What made the Apostles so great? What was the power they had to leaven the whole world? It wasn’t the miracles they performed. It was their rejection of wealth and their contempt of vain glory, their turning away from the things of this world that drew down on them the grace of the Holy Ghost and this caused others to listen to them and to believe what they said.

            Christ used signs and wonders. He threatened us with the pains of hell, and promised us the Kingdom of Heaven, and He gave us wonderful laws and counsels all to the end that in our lives we would be like angels, that we would be perfect even as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

            We might ask: why don’t we see more miracles today. Well, St. Chrysostom shows us how the beauty of a good life can help others more than miracles. He asks: if Christ gave us a choice between raising people from the dead or dying in His name, what would we choose? Clearly, if we have a strong faith in everything Christ told us, we would choose to die in His name. Yet the first is a miracle, and the second is merely a good work. And what if someone offered us a choice of either turning dirt into gold or, instead, just regarding all gold as dirt? The first is a miracle and would draw people to us who want this power for themselves, as Simon the Magician came to the Apostles, and the love of wealth would be increased in them. But if people see you despise gold as though it were nothing but dirt, they would in part become healed of the disease of loving gold.

            It is from a life that is scrupulously and uprightly lived that miracles arise. He who lives a worthy life draws grace upon himself. The supreme virtues we should strive for are charity, patience and almsgiving. St. Paul said: “Be zealous for the better gifts. And I show unto you yet a better excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12: 31). He did not then go on to speak of miracles, but of charity, the root of every good work. If we have charity, and the wisdom that flows from it, we have no need of miracles; but if we do not have charity, then miracles will avail us nothing. +++

Next Sunday is that last Sunday after Pentecost which brings the Liturgical Year to a close.

The First Sunday of Advent, November 28^th, ushers in the season of hope as we prepare for the coming of the Messiah whose birthday we celebrate on December 25^th.

(Thanks to Abbot Guéranger and St. Chrysostom for today's sermon.)

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

Movie Review: Skyline

Millions on FX.
20 cents on story.
This movie barely has a story. You can read the following spoiler alert without fear of spoiling the story. Aliens invade. They are indestructible. A young couple tries to escape.  The man is caught, his brain and brain stem are taken out of him and placed into one of millions of indestructible ugly thugs. Then the aliens try to take the brain of the girlfriend who is pregnant, but the new thug with the boyfriend's brain starts to defend her, and that's the weak story. However, the story starts where the movie ends and the credits flash on the screen.
I can't believe I sat through the whole movie. It should have been a 15 minute movie (that's a movie rating number) while waiting to find out what this story is about.

RATING: 15 Minutes