Sermon, 18th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/30/12

18^th Sunday after Pentecost – September 30, 2012

  Epistle 1 Corinthians 1: 4-6       Gospel Matthew 9: 1-8

            St. Paul urges the Corinthians to remain true in their faith to “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The coming of our Lord is the end of time as we know it and it is close. Even if it’s 3,000 years away it is close because to God “a thousand years is as one day.” (2 Peter 3: 8)  His coming will be accompanied by great violence. St. Peter tells us that the earth we live on will be completely burnt up and everything on it. (2 Peter 3: 9-17) Remember this if you ever want to join the infidels in saying, “There is no God.” (Psalm 13: 1) It is pride and the corruption of sin that causes people to reject the light of reason in denying God’s existence. They misuse reason to try to prove God does not exist, but reason only leads to God and His One True Church and so their lives are folly.

St. Paul gives thanks for the Corinthians who “are made rich in [Christ], in all utterance, and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in” them. This leads Abbot Guéranger to pray that in these days when faith is being greatly weakened that it be kept in full splendor and purity by Christ’s priests. “In spite of all threats, in spite of the noisy passions which are boisterous against any priest who dares to preach the truth, let their voice be what it should be – that is,  an echo of the Word: let it vibrate with the holy firmness of the saints!” (The Liturgical Year, 18^th Sunday after Pentecost)

Abbot Rupert wrote that “pastors of souls should not be ignorant of the reason why they are placed higher than other men: it is not so much that they may govern others, as that they may serve them.” (Rupert, Divine Offices 12: 18) He adds that priests should do what it is their duty to do so that they may afterwards preach with authority. Priests are to bear on themselves the sins of the people confided to their care in order that they all may avert the wrath of God. This is actually the example given to us in today’s Offertory prayer where Moses “made an evening sacrifice to the Lord God for an odor of sweetness, in the sight of the children of Israel,” where the “evening sacrifice” is the life of prayer and contemplation of the priest, and the “odor of sweetness” is the forgiveness of sin.”

From the beginning of the Church heretics have denied that priests had the power given them by Christ of forgiving sin, thereby condemning all those millions who had fallen into sin after their Baptism. However, they can be restored to Sanctifying Grace and to a place in His Kingdom by the Sacrament of Penance. How do we know this? Jesus said to His disciples: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” (John 20: 23)

The paralytic in today’s Gospel represents the human race. His physical cure was also proof of the spiritual cure of his soul which prior to this had suffered the paralysis of sin. What happened to the paralytic then happens to the world today when it receives the Sacrament of Penance, it rises up from its bed of sin, roles it up and carries it into the House of God, the Church. This confounds philosophers and skeptics and devils, as still today we continue rising up from our bed of sin and walking toward heaven. Even angels, who watch this happening, are amazed and sing glory to “God, who gave such power to men.”  

At Apocalypse 3: 15, 16 Christ, through St. John, addresses the Angel of the Church at Laodicea. It is addressed to all the faithful, but particularly to the Bishop of Laodicea, as he is the angel, the messenger, of Christ’s Church. “I know thy works,”  the bishop is told, “that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.” This was a warning to the Church at Laodicea, and it is a warning to all of  us today.  

Are you bad or good or lukewarm and how do we know which category we are in? Consider those who never go to Confession or Communion. These are not lukewarm. They are cold. Also, consider those who want to belong to the world and also belong to God. One moment they’re on their knees before God, and the next on their knees to the things of the world. Promising to give themselves to both God and the world, they finally tire of this impossible task and give themselves entirely to the world. These are also cold.

The faith of a good soul is not content just to believe all the truths of our faith. He loves them and tries to learn what he can about them. The more he hears the Word of God, the more he wants to hear. He trembles at the thought of his judgment, so he seeks to improve himself every day and find new ways to do penance. His hope is firm and his trust in God is never shaken. He never forgets the sufferings of Jesus. He remembers the happiness of those who prefer God above all things. He will do whatever is necessary to avoid the near occasions of sin. He sees himself on the bottom rung of a ladder and knows that there is no time to lose to reach the top. So every day he advances from rung to rung, from virtue to virtue, until he enters eternity. This is a good soul.

The lukewarm soul is not yet dead in the eyes of the Lord because faith, hope and charity are not completely extinguished. However, his faith is without much enthusiasm or devotion. His hope is without much ambition or achievement. His charity is without much generosity or warmth. He is not seriously interested in making himself acceptable to God. If you wish to shake yourself out of lukewarmness, then take your thoughts occasionally to the gates of hell. Listen to the howling and shrieking of the lost souls there and you will get an idea of what suffering they go through because during their lives they neglected their salvation. Raise your thoughts also to heaven to behold the glory of the Saints who during their lives fought the devil at every opportunity, who lived for God, and who loved their neighbors as themselves. Think about how the Saints forgave those who persecuted them,  how they carefully avoided even the smallest sin, and how they shed tears over their past sins. Let us pray with our whole hearts that God will grant us the grace to follow in the footsteps of the Saints and that at the end of life we find ourselves in the state of a good soul and so gain eternal bliss with God in heaven. +++

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass

Sermon, 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 23, 2012

17th Sunday after Pentecost – September 23, 2012

Epistle Ephesians 4: 1-6          Gospel Matthew 22: 34-46)

            St. Paul today urges us to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The strength of this bond of peace is the Holy Spirit Himself. He unites the young and old, men and women, poor and rich into “one body, one spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God.” It is popular today to believe that it doesn’t matter what you believe, if you are good you will go to heaven.  We are not permitted to judge that any person will or will not go to heaven or hell, but we can do and what we must do is preach “Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2: 2) Scriptures do not tell us that it doesn’t matter what you believe. God tells us through St. Paul that there is only one true Church. According to the World Census of Religious Activities (U.N. Information Center, NY, 1989, there were over 23,000 competing and often contradictory denominations worldwide.  As I have said before, we live in an Age of Disobedience. 23,000 denominations is a far cry from the “one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith” that St. Paul urged us to be faithful to.

Just before the incident in today’s Gospel, Jesus silenced the Pharisees about the coin of tribute, telling them to “render to God the things that are God’s and to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Following that, He silenced the Sadducees concerning the widow who married seven brothers, asking in heaven whose wife she will be. He told his tempters that in Heaven there is no marriage so she is wife to none of them. However, the Pharisees approached Him again, this time trying to snare Him with the question of the greatest commandment. This is the way of all teachers of error -- they never stop talking, but they are silent in the face of truth.

            A certain Pharisee and doctor of the law asked our Lord, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Christ gave this gentleman more than he expected. By His own authority, Jesus clearly tells him, and us, that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind.       Jesus did not say, “Fear the Lord thy God.” He said love Him. Fear comes from coercion, having to do things under threat of force. Slaves are in fear of their masters. But love comes from liberty and is the character of a child’s love of his parents.

            To love God with our whole heart means we are to love God more than all other things. To love God with our whole soul means to hold on to the truth we have been given, to be obedient to God and firm in our faith. One who loves God with his whole mind puts all his faculties at God’s disposal; that is, his understanding serves God, his wisdom concerns Godly things, and his thoughts dwell on God’s blessings. You can see from this that God wants us and He wants us completely. If you give yourself to our awe-inspiring God then Psalm 118 v. 99, 100 (KJV 119) will become a part of you: “I have understood more than all my teachers” and have “understanding above ancients: because I have sought thy commandments.” This is the reward in this life of loving God with our whole heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves – an understanding of all of the Law and the Prophets.

            Let’s assume that we have spent our lives loving God and our neighbor. Our charity has been very generous, and through a long life we have accumulated some possessions – a house, a couple of cars, jewelry, investments and such. God finds us acceptable, however, as St. Raphael the Archangel told Tobias and his son, “because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you.” (Tobit 12: 13) Our archenemy, Lucifer, finds a way to incite someone to steal our possessions. Now, Lucifer does this not only to take away our earthly possessions, but also to kill the good character in us. How does this happen? We are robbed. We are victims of a thief and his assault on our possessions. We feel a sudden burst of hatred toward the thief who is our enemy.  If we pause to reflect at this point we will see that we have loved our possessions more than our neighbor, because this thief, who is our enemy, is also our neighbor. Our hidden enemy, Satan, has now won. He has won because he has killed our good character within us. Jesus told his Apostles, “I give you a new commandment: That you love one another, as I have loved you . . .” (John 13: 34) How did Jesus love us? He gave His life for us. He also gave us an example of loving our enemies. As He hung dying on the cross He prayed for them: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23: 34) We are to do as Jesus did.

            The first three commandments deal with the love of God and the remaining seven with love of neighbor. If we do what Christ tells us, we will become “wiser than the ancients.” What this means in a practical sense is that we will be wiser than all the philosophers throughout history who either did not have the advantage of knowing Christ (e. g., Plato, Aristotle) or who have rejected Christ in their own peculiar system of thought (e. g., Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell).

            Our Lord continued in His answer to the Pharisees, telling them that the second commandment is like the first: “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.”  Psalm 10: 6, KJV 11: 5 tells us that one who loves sin hates his own soul. So one who loves sin does not love his neighbor as himself, because he does not love himself. He hates his soul and loves sin. St. John Chrysostom wrote that Jesus added the Second Commandment of His own accord so that the Pharisees would understand that it was hatred that stirred them up to question Him. It is clear from Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan that all men are our neighbors. Jesus also lets us know that He, Himself, is our neighbor because He is the Samaritan who helped the man left for dead on the side of the road. So, a love of God that doesn’t include Christ, our Neighbor, is of no help to our salvation. If we love our neighbors, we love God, because our neighbors are made in his image.

            Jesus did not want to tell these Pharisees that He was the Son of God, so He asked them such a question, that the question itself would tell them Who He was and also that He knew the deceit in their hearts. He asked: “What think you of Christ? Whose son is he?” They answered “David’s” because they thought the Messiah would be only a man, not the Son of God.  Jesus corrects them immediately by quoting the testimony of the Prophet King David concerning the rule of the Messiah and the true nature of His Sonship and the dignity He shares with His Father. He asks them, “How then doth David in spirit call him Lord saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: until I make thy enemies thy footstool?’” (Psalm 109, KJV: 110) This tells the Pharisees and us that Jesus Christ is a son of King David, through his family line, because Christ is a man. It also tells us that Jesus is David’s Lord because Christ is God and Lord of us all. That is how David could make such an odd-sounding statement.

Well, all this was too much for the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading. Later on they tried to explain that David’s Lord was Abraham, but this does not make sense. Read Psalm 109 (KJV 110). Abraham was not begot before the day star, nor was Abraham a priest in the order of Melchisedech. It was Melchisedech, king and priest, who offered bread and wine to Abram (Abraham).

Had the Pharisees asked these questions of Jesus to learn from Him, Jesus would not have put before them this question of what King David meant. But whatever wisdom they possessed was earthly wisdom, not wisdom of the things of God, and so they couldn’t answer our Lord. In fact, they were brought to a halt, and from that time on no one tempted Him or tried to trick Him into blasphemy. +++                    

           

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

16th Sunday After Pentecost – September 16, 2012

16^th Sunday After Pentecost – September 16, 2012

  Epistle Ephesians 3: 13-21. Gospel Luke 14: 1-11)

St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is not the longest of his letters, but it is from this letter that the Church takes most of the Epistle readings through the long period of Ordinary Time, the time between Pentecost and Advent. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, but the chains that held him there could not stop him from preaching the Word of God.

            St. Paul talks about the divine life, and holiness is required to fully reach that. If the path to heaven seems too difficult for us, remember that Paul is offering this to all people, Jew and Gentile and pagan alike. If the path to heaven was open to St. Paul, who persecuted and murdered Catholics, then it is open to all of us. The Church knows this, and since the beginning of the Liturgical Year on the First Sunday of Advent, she has provided guidance at Mass and through the many prayers and devotions available to us to put us on the road to Heaven, and to keep us on that road. If this seems too hard then it’s really our own resistance to God, our own timidity and fear of letting go of the things of this life, our fear of picking up our cross and following Christ into eternal joy. If you have resisted this path – and some of us resist for years - do not lose hope, because on December 2^nd, the First Sunday of Advent, the cycle begins again with the new Liturgical Year. Now is a good time to stop admiring people of Faith and Charity from a distance. Begin your resolve now to accept the Church’s grace in the coming year so that you will live a life of Faith and Charity and by doing so be filled with a blessed Hope for Eternity. +

In today’s Gospel reading the Pharisees held their tongues – but they didn’t have to speak because our Lord knew what was in their minds and hearts. Jesus sat down for dinner with them on this Sabbath day to teach them something.  He took the man with dropsy, which is retention of fluid in the body, and he asked the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. They didn’t answer Him, but He healed the man and sent him on his way. Jesus didn’t pay attention to the Pharisees’ false idea of scandal but immediately pointed out their hypocrisy when He asked which of them would not pull their animal out if it fell in a pit on the Sabbath day.  Of course, they all would pull the animal out, and so they didn’t answer Him.  Our Lord then begins a lesson on humility, telling the guests at dinner to seek the last place at table when they are an invited to a wedding, that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. However, this passage is identified by Luke as a parable. That means it has a mystical meaning.  So when our Lord speaks about being exalted and humbled, He is referring to heaven and hell.

What is it to be humble? The Random House College Dictionary says “not proud or arrogant, modest,” also “humble” and a “feeling of insignificance,” and “meek.” Well, there you have it, meek and humble. “Learn of me,” our Lord said, (Matthew 11: 29) “because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.”  And what is “rest to our souls?” It is joy and happiness. There is one sure way to lose joy and happiness and that is through envy. There is nothing more destructive to our souls than this sin of envy. It does no harm to others, but it slowly consumes and destroys the envious person.

            “Envy is the pain that arises from the good fortune of someone else. And because of this the envious man is never without pain, never without grief of mind.” He does not find rest to his soul. Does his neighbor have a better job than he? Is another person wealthier, in better health, better looking, happier than he is? All these things and more cause pain to the envious person. What really upsets him is that he cannot tell anyone about his suffering. With his head bowed and his eyes downcast he suffers torment. If you ask what is wrong, he is ashamed to tell the truth: “I am envious and bitter. The gifts and talents and possessions of my friends are a torment to me. I grieve at my neighbor’s happiness. I cannot endure the sight of another person’s good fortune.” So not willing to tell the truth, he buries his envy in the depths of his soul where this sin smolders within him and consumes him.

            Unwilling to cure envy by living a life of Faith and Charity, his only pleasure and happiness is in the misfortune of others. He commiserates with those who have suffered a misfortune, not out of tenderness but only to try to make them feel worse. He may praise a neighbor’s son who died, but while the son lived he never had a good word to say about him. He praises a strong body, but only when disease has laid it low. He praises a man’s riches, only after they have been lost. What could be more deadly than this disease which is a corruption of life and a hatred of the things God has given us?

            Was not Satan’s pride fueled by envy over the bountiful gifts God gave to man? Now Satan avenges himself on man because he is powerless against God. We can see this in Cain, who saw his brother Able honored by God, and he burned with so much envy that he murdered his brother. Cain could not attack God, so he turned his hatred towards Able.

            King Saul was another envious one. The greatness of the things David did for him was the very reason for Saul’s war against him. David cured Saul of madness with his music. He delivered him from the insults of Goliath. A woman at that victory celebration proclaimed in a song that “Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (1 Kings 18: 7.  KJV: 1 Samuel 18: 7) Because of this one sentence and because of the truth of it, Saul tried to kill David with his own hands, and then attacked him with treachery, all because he envied David. After Saul pursued him with an army, David spared him twice. Even then Saul did not relent because to show kindness to an envious person is only to provoke them to more bitterness and hatred.

            It was envy that caused Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. They did not want Joseph’s dream to come true, that they would one day bow before their younger brother. However, by selling him into slavery, it came about that they did bow down before Joseph when they came to him for food in Egypt. If a dream is true, what evil craftiness of men can prevent its coming true? And if the dream is false, then why envy the dreamer? He’s just deluded. The best thing to do is nothing, just let it be.

            The envious can be known by their judgment of things, which lacks the ring of truth. For them no work of virtue is worthy of praise. If a famous person stumbles, they are quick to make it known to everyone. They badmouth people of virtue by using the opposing vice. So a courageous person they say is reckless. A temperate or self-restrained person becomes unfeeling. A just man is called harsh. A prudent man becomes cunning. A person of great generosity becomes to the envious a vulgar spendthrift.

There is escape from the sin of envy. First, let us remind ourselves that our highest good does not consist in wealth or glory or even good health --- all this is fleeting. It ends soon. We are called to eternal happiness with God in Heaven. Wealth and glory and health do not in themselves contain happiness. They are tools of virtue to those who use them well. But if someone else’s wealth, glory or health pierces your heart with envy you are misusing the graces given to you, for someone else’s great wealth may be the source of your employment, someone else’s good health may be a role model for you to copy to enjoy good health yourself. And someone else’s glory, for example the glory given to a great preacher, is also your glory, because he preaches for your benefit, for your salvation.  +++

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass

15th Sunday after Pentecost – September 9, 2012

15th Sunday after Pentecost – September 9, 2012

 (Epistle Galatians 5: 25, 26 and 6: 1-10 Gospel Luke 7: 11-16)

               

            Soon after St. Paul preached the Gospel to the Galatians false teachers came. These were Jews who converted to Christ and His Infant Church. They were the spiritual children of St. Peter, who first preached in Galatia [now Turkey], and because of this they taught that those Gentiles who converted had to maintain circumcision and the other ceremonies of the Law of Moses. In this Epistle, St. Paul corrects them and reminds them that four years before this, at the Council of Jerusalem, Gentile converts were exempted from observing the Mosaic Law and that Paul was given the authority to preach that fact to the Gentiles.

            St. Paul also teaches them that “Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice,” (Genesis 15: 6) and reminds them that “they who are of faith, are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3: 7) He further tells them, “That the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus: that we may receive the promise of the spirit by faith.” (Galatians 3: 14) Paul then puts the Law of Moses in its proper historical perspective in Verse 19: “Why then was the law? It was set because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom he made the promise . . .” That seed was Jesus. He tells them that “you are all the children of God by faith, in Christ Jesus . . . And if you be Christ’s; then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.” (v. 26, 29)

            In Chapter 4 St. Paul reminds the Galatians that they are children of the free-woman “by the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free.” (v. 31) In Chapter 5, which concerns the reading today, Paul exhorts them to stand firm in their Christian liberty, which was purchased for them at great price by Jesus Christ. He reminds them of the fruits of the flesh, which is corruption, and of the fruits of the spirit “which is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency” and chastity. And he warns them against vainglory. (v. 22, 23, 26)  In Chapter 6 Paul exhorts the Galatians to practice the virtues of Christ, to accept the burdens of life, even to help others with their burdens, their hard times.

            St. Paul compares those who live by the flesh, with those who live by the spirit.  Those who live by the flesh live only for this life with no thought of eternity.  He compares them to farmers sowing or planting two fields. He warns the Galatians that if they sow in the flesh they will reap corruption, but if they sow in the spirit they will reap life everlasting. Lastly, Paul urges them that while they are alive they should do good to all, especially to those of the same faith. St. John quotes our Lord speaking of this: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” (John 13: 35) +

Yesterday,  September 8^th,  we celebrated the birth of Mary.  Mary’s birth revived hope in a world darkened by sin.  Where Eve said no to the will of God, Mary said yes. No greater praise can be given to her than to say that she was the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. She is presented to us “as a beautiful mirror” in which God Himself “is reflected. She is called the perfect model of all virtues,” by St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars. That is why the Church “looks upon her as her Mother, her protectress, and her powerful helper against her enemies.”

            It is not enough to say we honor Mary, and then do nothing about it. That is like faith without works -- dead. We must also practice her virtues: humility, purity, modesty and her patience, which she showed after Jesus ascended to Heaven, and she waited patiently for the day she would be reunited with her Son.  +

            We read in the Gospels that Jesus raised three people from the dead. The daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was dead but still within her home, not yet brought outside for all to see. The widow’s son in today’s Gospel was out of his house but not yet buried. His friend Lazarus was buried four days before Jesus arrived. There were probably more than three but these three represent three kinds of sinners.

            As to the first kind of sinner, think of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue and consider that there are those who have sin in their hearts but have not yet committed the deed. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5: 28) This person’s soul is dead, but not yet carried forth. But if he should hear the Word of God through the teaching authority of the Church, if he should in this sense, hear Christ say to him, “Arise,” he will condemn his consent to sin and his soul will breathe again in grace and charity. This man rises again and this resurrection of a dead soul takes place within the privacy of his conscience, as within the walls of a house.

            As to the second kind of sinner, consider one who, after giving inward consent to sin, proceeds to the act of sinning, so that what was hidden in the secrecy of his soul is brought forth for all to see, in a sense this is like the widow’s son who was brought forth from his home. But are these people beyond redemption? No, because just as Christ said to the young man in today’s Gospel, “I say to thee, arise,” so also those who have committed sin will be restored to life if they are warned and awakened by the Word of Truth, in other words, rising again at the Word of Christ.

            As to the third kind of sinner, these are those who become so involved in their sin that it becomes an evil habit, a habit so deep it prevents the person from seeing that it is in fact a sin. These people are pressed down by their malignant habit as though they are buried. The power of a habit is like a heavy stone laid on top of a tomb, pressing down on the soul and not allowing it to breathe or rise again.

            The Lord comes to this sinner as He came to his friend Lazarus. In restoring Lazarus to life, Jesus reveals the difficulty we will experience in trying to bring habitual sinners to Christ and His Church. He groans in His spirit, making clear to us that we need to cry out with a loud voice in rebuke, to raise those who have grown hard in their evil habits. In this way, just as Christ crying out “with a loud voice,” the bonds of hell that seemed inescapable are burst apart, and the soul that was dead can now live again in the truth and freedom of Christ.  †††

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass Established in Perpetuity  

by Pope St. Pius V in his Bull, Quo Primum Tempore.