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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sermon, 24th & Last Sunday after Pentecost, Nov. 20, 2011


24th & Last Sunday after Pentecost – November 20, 2011
(Mt. 24:15-35)

            In the last Sundays after Pentecost the Church concerns herself with death and judgment, but especially on this Sunday. We also will deal with death today, then next week begin the Season of Advent in preparation for Christmas.

            Death alarms those unrepentant sinners who must leave behind their treasures and their pleasures. In their fear of the coming judgment, many will see themselves as abandoned by both God and man. The just person has lived in the light of the Gospel, and has carried his cross and has repented for his sins. The just can look forward to death as the end of all temptation, sorrow, suffering, illness and all earthly desires. The father of a friend, when he was near death, was asked by his doctor if he wanted to be revived if he stopped breathing. “Oh no,” he said, “I’ve been looking forward to this all my life.” Death for the just person is the beginning of his salvation.

Death doesn’t have to be as dreadful as we suppose. It depends entirely on us to make it a happy and beautiful event. Our souls give life to our bodies. The life we live in these bodies is like an apprenticeship. When we have served a good apprenticeship, our souls are released from our bodies, as if we were held captives in a foreign land, and are then free to experience the joy of returning to our homeland, which is with our Lord in His Kingdom. “Deliver my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name,” said King David (Psalm 141: 8, KJV 142: 7) “. . . Give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest.” (Psalm 54: 7, KJV 55: 6)

How happy are Christians when they follow in the footsteps of our Divine Master. And what does the Lord’s life consist of? Three things: Prayer, good deeds and suffering. We know our Lord often withdrew from the public to pray in private, and that He was always active in good deeds, in the salvation of souls. But it is not acceptable today to talk of a life of suffering. We dislike any form of discomfort. However, we also know that in our Lord’s life on earth He suffered from poverty, persecution, humiliation and finally the terror of His passion and death. He said through His prophet, David, “For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty. . . I am become a vessel that is destroyed, For I have heard the blame of many that dwell round about.” (Psalm 30: 11-14, KJV 31: 10-13) Can the life of a good Christian be anything other than that of a person who is nailed to the cross with his Lord? Try standing up for good against public morality, and you will find that life of suffering.

To hope for a happy death is not enough. We must work for this sublime happiness. Among the means  we can use to achieve this, St. John Vianney selected three which, with God’s grace, will lead us to a happy death. We must prepare ourselves for it by (1) living a holy life, (2) by true repentance of our sins and (3) by a perfect union of our death with the death of Jesus Christ.

As a rule, people die as they have lived. Committed sinners die as sinners. Committed Christians die as Christians. Last minute conversions are so few that it prompted St. Jerome to say that death is an echo of life. If we are on the road to hell and we think we can postpone our conversion to the last hours or minutes of our life we are blind because we do not know the day or hour of our deaths. It is not easy to return to our Lord, but if we become filled with a spirit of repentance now, if we begin to live a Christian life today, we will be among those contrite souls who move the Heart of Jesus to shower us with His grace to put us back on the difficult path, the straight and narrow road to heaven. We must always be ready to appear before Jesus Christ to be judged for the life we have lived on earth.

In the Bible we read of Abimelech, who killed his brother who ruled with him. Eventually Abimelech attacked the city of Thebes and attempted to set fire to a tall tower in the middle of the city. A woman in the tower threw a stone at him and broke his skull. He was dying, and told his shield bearer to draw his sword and kill him quickly lest it be said that he was killed by a woman. Why did he do that? Because all his life he lived for the honor and glory of the world. He could not suffer what he considered the dishonor of dying at the hands of a woman. This was more important to him than repenting of his sins, so died as he lived.

The third way to prepare for a happy death is to offer our death in union with the death of Jesus. When a priest visits a dying person he brings our Lord in Communion, but he also brings a crucifix. A crucifix will drive a devil away, but far more importantly, it is brought to serve a model to the sick person to prepare him for death in the same way our Lord prepared for His own death.  In the Garden of Olives, the first thing Jesus did was take leave of His Apostles, as we should take leave of our loved ones on our deathbeds so we can occupy our mind only with God and His salvation. When He was alone, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed fervently, and so should we when death is near to unite our death agony with the death agony of Jesus.

If we live a good Christian life right up to the end, we will have a happy death, and that is what I wish for all of you. Amen. +++


We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass

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