Sermon, Passion Sunday, Mar 25, 2012

Passion Sunday, March 25, 2012

(Epistle Hebrews 9: 11-15 – Gospel John 8: 46-59)

               

Passiontide began yesterday, Saturday, at 3:00 o’clock and runs until midnight on the day before Easter, called Holy Saturday. Lenten fasting continues until 12:00 noon on Holy Saturday.

The first prayer in the Divine Office today, called Matins, is this invitation from Psalm 95: “If today you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your hearts.” Written by King David, these are the words of our suffering Jesus directed at us. We become our own enemies by indifference and hardness of heart. Jesus is about to give us the last and greatest proof of the love that brought Him down from heaven; His death is close at hand. Let us enter into ourselves, accept the grace He gives us and leave our old life of sin and pride behind. The anniversaries of His death and Resurrection have a renovating power that matches the grace that is offered to us. But these anniversaries also increase insensibility in those who let them pass without allowing His grace to work their conversion. Therefore, “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

However, the Synagogue in Christ’s day was obstinate in her errors, refusing to hear and deliberately perverting her judgment. She had extinguished within herself the light of the Holy Ghost, sinking deeper and deeper into evil and falling into the abyss. Today’s sinners are doing the same thing, and what happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago happens again today in every sinner’s heart. While we listen to the Gospels relating the history of the Passion, let’s turn the anger we may feel against the Jews against ourselves and our own sins and weep over the sufferings of our Victim Lord, because our sins caused Him to die.

St. Paul’s Epistle today calls Christ a High Priest Who by His own Blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption. And, if the blood of goats and oxen “sanctify . . . to the cleansing of the flesh; how much more shall the Blood of Christ . . . cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Dom Guéranger writes of this: “It is by blood alone that man is to be redeemed.  And God tells us in Psalm 49: 7-14: “Hear, O My people . . . I am God thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices, and thy burnt-offerings are always in my sight” [but] I need them not. Here God both commands the blood of victims to be offered to Him, at the same time declaring neither the blood nor the victims are precious in His sight. Is this a contradiction? Of course it isn’t. He wants us to understand that it is only by blood that man can be redeemed, but the blood of animals cannot do this. What was needed was the Blood of a God and such was the Blood of Jesus. He came to shed His Blood for our redemption. Let us not harden our hearts today. Let us open our hearts that Christ’s precious Blood may, as Paul says, “cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

With regard to today’s Gospel, this entire Chapter 8 of John takes place in the Temple in Jerusalem and consists of Jesus demonstrating His patience, forgiving an adulteress, and His discourse to His people, the Jews. I want to speak today about His patience. He asks those present in the Temple, which of them can convict Him of sin, and then asks and answers a question: “If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? He that is of God heareth the words of God. Therefore you hear them not.” His enemies took this to heart and in turn accuse Him of being a Samaritan and having a devil. How does Jesus answer this insult? With patience. He does not respond to their charge that He is a Samaritan because Samaritan means Guardian or Watcher, and Jesus is the guardian spoken of in Psalm 126: “Unless the Lord keep [guards] the city, he watches in vain who keepeth it.” Jesus accepts the charge of being a Samaritan as true in that sense.

Jesus says, “I have not a devil: but I honor my Father, and you have dishonored me.” Jesus first told them that they cannot hear the word of God because they are not of God. This was a lesson, but they considered it an insult. So they responded with a greater insult, accusing Him of having a devil. That is how they dishonored the Son of God.

Christ’s lesson in the Temple is also meant for us today. What should we do when someone wrongfully accuses us of something we didn’t do? A patient denial followed by silence. Most people would say that if we remain silent it is an admission of guilt. But in denying the charge we have not remained silent. Following our denial, it is not necessary to respond to a false charge. If we argue about it, then we are really defending our image, defending our ego. Remember, we are called to focus on eternal life, not on our short lives on Earth. After telling his enemies that they had dishonored Him, what were Christ’s next words? “I seek not my own glory.” Neither should we seek glory by boosting our egos or our image. If we are in a state of grace then we already are a perfect image of an obedient child of God. What follows from that is Heaven.

Earlier in this long conversation in the Temple Christ tells the people that, “When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he [the Messiah], and that I do nothing of myself; but as the Father hath taught me, these things I speak. And he that sent me is with me, and he hath not left me alone; for I do always the things that please him.” Upon hearing these words, many in the Temple that day understood who Jesus was and were converted. But many were not converted, and to them He asks, and answers, His own question: “Why do you not know my speech? Because you cannot hear my word.” He tells them that, “You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father will you do.”  He acknowledges that they are trying to kill Him because, as He says, “my word hath no place in you.” Truth, meaning God, does not reside in a soul that is full of pride. Jesus continues, “He that is of God, heareth the words of God. Therefore, you hear them not.” He then promises eternal life to those who keep His word, but his detractors cannot accept this either, and again accuse Him of having a devil because Abraham and the prophets, who were just men, are all dead. The discourse ends with Jesus telling them “before Abraham was made, I am.” Then the Jews picked up stones to kill him with because He used the name of God to describe Himself. This name goes back to Exodus Chapter 3, the second book of the Bible, when God told Moses His name, “I Am Who Am.” This struck Christ’s enemies as blasphemy, which in theology means assuming the qualities of God to oneself. Christ’s time had not yet come, so He “hid himself, and went out of the temple.”

Why did Jesus walk away from the wrath of His enemies? Pope St. Gregory the Great asks: why did Jesus hide Himself if not that our Redeemer tells us some things by His words, and others by His example? What does He tell us here by this example?  That we should humbly turn aside from those who, in their anger worketh pride (Proverbs 21: 24); even when we are able to resist them. For this same reason St. Paul also tells us: Give not place unto wrath (Romans 12: 19).”

If we wish to follow the example of the Son of God when someone insults us, we turn away and we do not defend ourselves. God showed us this example. Why shouldn’t we follow it? If we worry what people will think, this only means that our minds are firmly fixed on our short life on Earth. It is far better to think of our eternal future, to think of pleasing Him who gave us this courageous example of humility. +++

(Thanks to Dom Guéranger for today’s sermon)

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass

Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2012

Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2012

 (Matthew 1: 18-21)

            Until the Son of Mary was recognized as the Son of God, His Mother’s honor had to be protected. Some man had to be called to the dignity of being Mary’s spouse. Today we celebrate this man’s feast, St. Joseph.

        Joseph was not only called to protect Mary, but also to be foster father to the Son of God. As long as the identity of Jesus remained hidden he was called the Son of Joseph and the carpenter’s Son. St. John tells us that Jesus was subject to both Mary and Joseph.

        Can we really imagine the sentiments that filled the heart of Joseph? The Gospel describes him simply as “a just man.” Think of the love and concern that moved his heart and his mind through the principle events of his life: he was a poor man chosen as the husband of Mary; an angel appeared to him and made him the only human confidant of the mystery of the Incarnation by telling him that his virgin bride bore within her the Fruit of the world’s salvation.

        Later there were the joys of Bethlehem at the birth of the Divine Child, then the shepherds coming and the rich magi from the east to adore the Child. Then the fear he must have felt when told to wake up and leave immediately for Egypt with the Child and His Mother, and along with this the hardships of the journey, the poverty they endured. Later, returning to Nazareth in safety and to a life of labor as a carpenter. Imagine his happiness in that home, living with the Queen of Angels and the eternal Son of God – both of whom loved him and honored him as the head of the family.

        Can we fully appreciate the glories of St. Joseph? To do that we would have to understand completely the mystery of the Incarnation, and we cannot. It is no wonder that St. Joseph was prefigured in the Old Testament by the Patriarch Joseph. St. Bernard compared the two: The first Joseph was sold into slavery and led into Egypt, prefiguring our Saviour being sold. The second Joseph led Jesus into Egypt to avoid Herod’s envy. The first was faithful to his master and treated his wife with honor; the second, too, was the most chaste guardian and honored his bride, the Virgin Mother of God. To the first was given the understanding and interpretation of dreams; to the second, the knowledge of, and participation in the heavenly mysteries. The first laid up stores of corn, not for himself, but for all the people; the second received the living Bread that came down from heaven, and kept It both for himself and for the whole world.

        When Jesus was to begin His public life, the role of Joseph was fulfilled. It was time for him to leave this world and to await in the bosom of Abraham that day when heaven’s gates would be opened. When Joseph lay on his deathbed, we can well imagine that Jesus and Mary were there. But can we imagine what words passed between them, as Joseph looked upon the face of the Son of God, who called him father? And can we imagine what great gift of understanding Joseph was given about his role in salvation history?

        St. Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and foster father of the Son of God now reigns in heaven with a glory which, though inferior to that of Mary, is marked with certain prerogatives which no other inhabitant of heaven can have.

        Our beloved St. Joseph is patron of all workers and patron of the universal Church. Call upon him in your needs. Honor him and worship his foster Child. Joseph will surely answer your prayers. +++

               

Sermon, 4th Sun of Lent, 3/18/12 & Feast St. Patrick, 3/17/12

Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 18, 2012

Feast of St. Patrick, March 17, 2012

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they broke the one commandment God gave them, not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were expelled and condemned to earn their food by hard work to bring forth children in pain, and to grow old and die. They were given justice for their sin. They left the Garden of Eden, probably at the point of the Archangel Michael’s sword, and it wasn’t long before one of their children, Cain, murdered his brother, Abel. And it wasn’t all that long after, that the whole human race had become so corrupt that God destroyed all of them by flooding the world, all except for Noah and his small family. God restored mankind and in time He gave his children the Law of the Old Testament and the priesthood of Aaron, but then the majority of His priests and His chosen people again abandoned Him, choosing the pleasures of the world above the Divine promise of Heaven. 

But still God labored in His love for the salvation of His children. His Son, Jesus, humbled Himself to be born a man, to become like us in all things except sin. Jesus gave us His Gospel and as a part of that Gospel He “opened to us a certain way of guarding our soul’s health, so that whatever the stains we may have contracted after our baptism, we may wash them away by the giving of alms.” (St. Cyprian, On Good Works and Almsdeeds) St. Raphael the Archangel tells us in Tobias 12: 8, 9 [KJV, missing] that “Prayer is good with fasting and almsdeeds; for alms delivereth from death, and the same purgeth away sins.” He shows us that prayer and fasting is not enough, and that they are to be assisted by almsdeeds; that prayer alone avails little to obtain what we ask, unless joined to good works and acts of mercy.

Nothing in the life of the Messiah is without a spiritual meaning or without a meaning in salvation history. So let's look at today’s’ Gospel and the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 in that light. This miracle occurred shortly after the murder of John the Baptist and his death ended the Old Covenant and the Priesthood of Aaron and the Prophets. The Old Covenant and the Law of Moses then reached their fulfillment in Jesus, who was the Messiah promised to the Jews, the Chosen People of the Old Covenant. The feeding of the 5,000 is important in salvation history because it marks the passing of the authority of the Law of Moses and the Priesthood of Aaron over to the Apostles in the New Covenant established by Jesus the Messiah.

There are five barley loaves. The five loaves equate to the five books of the Law of Moses. The two fish equate to the preaching of the Prophets and of John the Baptist. Christ is the fullness of the Law and the fulfillment of the Prophets, so when Christ told the Apostles to distribute the bread and fish to the people sitting there He was giving to them the fullness of the Law and the Prophets, (“I have not come to destroy, but to fulfil [the Law.]” Matthew 5: 17) but the fullness is now distributed by the new Priesthood of the Apostles. Spiritually, then, it is through the Apostles and their valid successors that the gifts of divine grace are to be given.

            Let’s move on to St. Patrick, whose feast day was yesterday.  From time to time God raises up in His Church mighty saints and places them aloft, as on a pinnacle, that their sanctity and good works may shine upon His people in all ages. St. Patrick was one of these. Patrick’s mission was to convert a whole nation from paganism to an exact observance of the Gospels’ love. Among his many virtues three stood out conspicuously: His faith and confidence in God, his spirit of prayer, and his spirit of penance. By faith a proud man submits his intellect and will to God, and believes and adores what he can neither see nor understand. St. Patrick was a man of faith from the beginning, having been born of Catholic parents. He never withdrew his intellect or will from God Whom he loved above all else. This is how he was able to see the whole of Ireland converted.

            Patrick’s confidence in God was borne out by many miracles. Patrick accepted all challenges by the pagan priests and magicians. Patrick’s way of life lay in these words: “Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you.” (John 16: 23) Over and over Patrick confounded the magicians with a miracle from God in the presence of kings and princes and multitudes of unbelievers. One famous miracle was when he sent two of his disciples to restore life to the son of Prince Elelius. The kings and priests, princes and bards and the vast multitude of Ireland embraced the Gospel of Christ.

            Patrick’s confidence was the fruit of his prayer. He understood well when Christ said, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 5) For six years he was a captive and slave and made to tend a flock of sheep. During that time he was without the Mass or Eucharist, without the Sacraments, but 300 times during the day he adored God on bended knees and again 300 times at night. He maintained an intimate union with God. To describe his prayer life in detail would be to describe his life, because his whole life was one of prayer. The working of miracles was almost a daily occurrence with him. He gave sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, cured diseases and raised 33 people from the dead in the name of the Holy Trinity.

            St. Patrick’s faith and life of prayer showed forth, but also his many penances. The words of the Baptist constantly rang in his ears, “Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3: 2) Also the words of Christ, “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13: 3) While a shepherd slave Patrick bore with patience periods of cold, hunger and nakedness, all offered as penance for sins and for the conversion of sinners.

            What can we draw from the life of Patrick? First, we can thank God for this illustrious saint. We can venerate St. Patrick and try to imitate him. Above all, we can never waiver in our faith, hold on to the teachings of Christ’s Catholic Church especially the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His divinity which is so attacked today even though it is the most consoling article of our Holy Faith. Put all your trust in God as Patrick did for Jesus told us, “Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Matthew 11: 28) Attend Mass at least on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation, unite yourself to Christ in the Eucharist, bear patiently the troubles of life, perform the small penances that Mother Church assigns to us, thus imitating at a distance at least, the great saint. Lastly, ask St. Patrick to intercede on your behalf so that some day you may appear before the Throne of God with a clean soul. +++

Sermon, 3rd Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2012

Third Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2012

(Luke 11: 14-28)

Today we can thank God for bringing us almost halfway through Lent. Those of us who have observed the Lenten fasts are happy for what we have done. Those of us who haven’t done anything to prepare for Easter are not so happy, but we are not without hope because many days remain to fast in reparation for our sins.

Lent is the time to prepare ourselves for Eternity. We needn’t fear the death of the body. Worry instead about the death of the soul, which lasts for Eternity. Do not look out upon the world with the eyes of your body. Rather, look at the world with the eyes of your soul. Look for those things that can help you gain the happiness of eternity in our Lord’s Kingdom?

In a recent  Gospel reading, Luke 16: 19-31, our Lord tells the story of Lazarus, the poor man who begged at the gate of the rich man’s house, but the rich man had no charity and never gave Lazarus even a crumb. In time they both died and Lazarus was carried up to heaven into the bosom of our father Abraham. The rich man went to hell. Looking up in his torment, the rich man saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham and called to him, asking him to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch it to his tongue to relieve the burning. Abraham responded that between them is a “great chaos” so that no one can pass from us to you or from you to us. The Son of God is telling us in the story of Lazarus that heaven and hell are permanent states, and once we go to heaven or hell, it is forever. Those who are wise prepare in this life for eternity in heaven rather than eternity in hell.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus casts a devil out of a man who could not speak. When the devil was cast out, the man spoke and the crowd marveled at the miracle. However, some in the crowd accused our Lord of casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub -- The Lord of the House, which is a name the Jews used for Satan. But they had seen Jesus raise people from the dead,  give sight to the blind and cure every kind of disability and disease, yet they said He cast out devils by the power of Satan. Saint Bruno wisely asks, since when did Satan ever do such a thing?

Those who scoffed at Him were Scribes and Pharisees according to St. Matthew’s report of this event. Seeing their thoughts Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation . . . And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?” In other words if devils are casting out devils it means there is a civil war in hell, and if hell is at war, the devils have no power over us.

Jesus then asked the scoffers, “If I cast out devils by Beelzebub; by whom do your children cast them out?” These “children” are the Lord’s Apostles, who were given the power to cast out devils by our Lord. The Apostles were also Jews, they believed in the Resurrection, which the Pharisees taught, and they looked upon the Pharisees as fathers and teachers, so in this religious sense the Apostles were their children.

The Lord continued: “But if I by the Finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you.” The Finger of God is the Holy Ghost, also called the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there also is the kingdom of God. So the kingdom of God is with Jesus.

Jesus continuing said: “But when a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him; he will take away all . . . and distribute his spoils.” Here our Lord is saying that the devil is strong, but Christ is stronger. He has come into this world, which the devil has bound and held as his own house – hence the name Beelzebub, the Lord of the House – but Christ has now bound Satan and broken his armor and those he held captive Christ has delivered from bondage. Therefore, the devil is not with Christ, nor does he cast out devils with Him. The devil does not heal men as Christ does, nor does he gather people into Christ’s Church. What does the devil do? He scatters, he harries, he kills, he drags down to death and eternal damnation all that he can.

Our Lord continues with a description of those who are possessed by devils, and in this He is talking about the Jews as a whole and what happened to them when they abandoned the true Faith. Through the faith of Father Abraham, and through the Law as given to Moses and through the priests beginning with Aaron, the brother of Moses, the devil had gone out of the Jewish people. But they corrupted the Law and the priesthood, and so the devil coming back finds his old home empty, and going back into many Jews he brings with him seven spirits more wicked than himself. The seven devils he brought were to oppose the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost: 1^st, Wisdom, opposed by stupidity; 2^nd, Understanding  opposed by revolt and unreason;  3^rd, the Gift of Counsel,  opposed by rashness; 4^th, Fortitude, opposed by fickleness, undependability and fear;  5^th,  Knowledge, opposed by ignorance; 6^th, the Gift of Piety, opposed by impiety, and 7^th, the Fear of the Lord, opposed by contempt and hate. The original devil tempts the man – but these seven kill the soul. It is no wonder that the last state of the man is worse than the first.

Let us finish with a prayer:

May God hold back our tongue today so that we do not engage in gossip or any talk against others especially our enemies. May He close our eyes so that we do not see pornography. May our souls be pure and the sin of impurity find no place in us. May moderation in food and drink wear down our body’s pride. So that when day is done and night returns we will find ourselves free from sin, and we may sing our praises to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. +++

Sermon, 2nd Sunday of Lent, March 4, 2012

Second Sunday of Lent, March 4, 2012

(Matthew 17: 1-9)

            The lesson the Church teaches us today is very important for this holy season, and it is the lesson Christ gave to His three apostles. In Matthew 16, Verse 28, our Lord tells a crowd, “Amen, I say to you there are some of them that stand here, that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” This happened six days later, as the very next verse begins Matthew’s relating of the Transfiguration, which is today’s Gospel reading.

                Jesus wanted His disciples to really know Him. After nearly three years following Him, listening to His words and witnessing His miracles, they believed in Him. One of them, Peter, even told Him, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” But the test to which they were about to be put in His Passion was so great that Christ armed them with an extraordinary grace.  

                By the Transfiguration Jesus desired first to remove from His Disciples the scandal of the Cross; secondly, that the lowliness of His voluntary Passion might not trouble their faith, so He lets them see His hidden glory. By the Transfiguration, Jesus also confirms the hope of the Church, so that we today may know that He was given in exchange for the promise to us of eternal glory with Him. The story of this event came down to us through the Apostles who witnessed it. And Christ Himself tells us directly of the promise in Matthew 13: 43: “Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.”

                Jesus adds a second lesson for the Apostles as Moses and Elias appear with Him, talking to Him. Moses represents the Law, the Church of the Old Testament, and Elias represents the Prophets. In the presence of these two, and  three Apostles, has been fulfilled what was declared in Deuteronomy 19: 15: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.” The Messiah, Who had been promised in mysteries and in types, now stands with His early followers who waited so long for him. The Old and the New Covenants agree one with the other and both proclaim His glory. What could be more stable or more steadfast?  It was because of this that St. John wrote: The Law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1: 17) Jesus is the meaning of what the Law commanded the Chosen People to do while they waited for Him. By His later birth He shows us that the prophecies were true, and by His grace He makes it possible for us to do all that He commands us to do.

                St. Peter, always the enthusiastic one, is seized with ecstasy and says: “Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt let us make here three tabernacles . . .” Jesus is silent at this, not to imply it was an unworthy suggestion, but that it was not in keeping with His divine purpose. The world could only be saved by the death of the Christ, and the Lord’s attitude in this is a challenge to we who believe, reminding us that even though we may not doubt the promises of Christ, yet we must understand that throughout the trials of our lives we must pray for patience rather than glory because the joys of heaven cannot come before the times of our trials. “And you shall be betrayed by your own parents and brethren, and kinsmen and friends; and some of you they will put to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake. . .  [but] In your patience you shall possess your souls.” (Luke 21: 16, 17, 19)

                So, what happened? The Apostles ran when Jesus was arrested. Was this extraordinary grace of God then without power and effectiveness? No, they ran because they were afraid, but all of them returned to Him when He came to them in the closed room. Many of us have run from Jesus and some of us kept running  for many years. But here we are today, we have returned to Him, just like the Apostles, and because we came back we are stronger in our faith than we were before, just like the Apostles.

                A cloud then overshadowed them and the voice of God the Father spoke: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.” These profound words can be better understood if we remember that God does not exist in time. Time and distance do not rule His existence, as they do ours. So in these words then, do we not hear: This is my beloved son Who is from Me, and with Me, before time was? Whose divinity does not separate from Me, nor divide Us. This is My beloved Son, not adopted, but Mine, begotten of Me, not made elsewhere or made like Me from another nature, but born of My Being and Equal with Me.

                This is My beloved Son through Whom were all thing made, and without Whom nothing was made, for all that I make He likewise makes, and whatever I do, He immediately and without separation also does. (John 5: 19) For the Son is also in the Father, and the Father is in the Son: nor is Our Oneness ever divided. (John 14: 10) This is My beloved Son, Who did not seek by robbery the Equality which is His (Philippians 2: 6); but while keeping the nature of My Divinity He bowed down even to the taking on Himself of the nature of a servant, so that He might bring g to fulfillment Our common plan for the redemption of mankind. “Hear ye Him.” Without delay let us hear Him, let us follow Him, and let us patiently await His return, as the Jews of old awaited His coming, and let us no longer run from Him, because His yoke is sweet and His burden light. 

 I mentioned above that “Jesus is the meaning of what the Law commanded the Chosen People to do while they waited for Him.”  With that in mind, let’s look at an event in the life of Jacob, the son of Isaac. Jacob lied to get the inheritance of Esau. But is that all there is to the story? Ours is a revealed religion,  revealed to us by God. So what is God revealing in this event?  Look at it not simply as a lie, but as an allegory. A story that has a meaning different that what is apparent on the surface. Like George Orwell’s Animal Farm is not a story about the life of animals on farms, it is about the evils of communism. C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia is not a fanciful children’s story with talking animals, it’s a story about Christianity’s fight against evil.

Jacob covered himself in the skins of a goat, a deliberate deception, a lie. But since all the Old Testament points to the Messiah, we see that the goat skins are a symbol of sin, and we can see in Jacob one who bears the sins of others.  Later, when Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, thy first born,” we see beyond the lie because we see Christ again signified in the mystical body of His Church.  Concerning the Church of the New Testament Christ himself spoke to those of the Old Testament, saying : “Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.  And there shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God : and, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”  (Luke 13: 28-30)

When Jacob, the younger brother, took away the inheritance and title of the older brother, we understand it is an allegory of Christ and see the Church of the New Testament taking away the inheritance and title from the older brother, the Church of the Old Testament, and succeeding as the heir.  +++

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass