Sermon, 6th Sunday after Pentecost, June 30, 2013

6th Sunday after Pentecost – June 30, 2013

Epistle Romans 6: 3-11              Gospel Mark. 8: 1-9            

           

The Introit prayer in today’s Mass is interesting. “The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of His Christ: save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thine inheritance, and govern them forever.” The first half of this prayer teaches us what it is that gives us our courage. It is our faith - “The Lord is the strength of His people.”  In the second part of the Introit we find a conviction of our own nothingness when we pray, “The Lord is the protector of the salvation of His Christ . . . govern them forever.” We are nothing without His protection.  With our faith we understand, as Abbot Guéranger wrote,  that “All the truth, all the goodness, all the beauty of created things, are incapable of satisfying any single soul; it must have God. So long as man does not understand this, everything good or true that his senses and his reason can provide him with . . . is . . . nothing more than a distraction from the one object that can make him the happy being he was created to be.” The Lord patiently waits for all our human schemes to fail, then He helps us if we permit Him to help.

There is a fundamental lesson in today’s Gospel about who Jesus Christ is. He says to His Disciples,” I have compassion on the multitude.”  We can see the sympathy and pity of human tenderness that shows us Jesus was fully human.  And in the miracle of feeding thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish we see our Lord’s Divinity. Today’s Gospel is a clear presentation to us that Jesus Christ has two natures, one human and one Divine.

Who are those our Lord speaks of who “came from afar off?” Certainly some in that crowd came from a great physical distance, but there is also a mystical meaning here that refers to those who, having repented from their sins, have now come to the service of the Lord. Because the more a man sins, the further away from God he is. Those Jews who knew Jesus to be the Messiah came to Him from close at hand, because they learned about Him through the Law and the Prophets. But the Gentiles who believed Christ, in a manner of speaking, came from afar because no sacred writings from their past had prepared them to believe in Him.

In his Epistle today, St. Paul speaks of how Baptism changes our lives through the forgiveness of sins, “. . . our old man is crucified with [Jesus] that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer,” so that we also reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God.”

Three thousand years ago King David was established for us as a type of confession and repentance, and as a type of one who is “dead to sin, but alive to God.” After his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, David was confronted with these sins by the Prophet Nathan.  Despite his position as king, despite his wealth and power, David did not resent Nathan for chastising him, rather, he made an immediate and complete confession of his sins and wept with sorrow for what he did. How far the mighty fall we say. But it is not might and wealth that makes great men fall.  It’s their pride. King David rejected that pride and made a humble and complete confession and repentance of his sins. What we admire today of David is not his wealth and power but rather his humility of heart and his love of God. That has survived these past three thousand years, and will continue to survive into the future. David’s wealth and power died with him as it does with all of us. +++

THE TERM "XMAS"

It a common misconception that the use of the term "Xmas" instead of

"Christmas" spelled out was started by those who hate Christianity and who

want Christ to be removed from society.  Actually, the term "Xmas" has

religious origins.  It is not some kind of X-ing out of Christ,

removing His name from the season. 

In fact, the X is not a Roman X at all, but the Greek letter chi,

which looks something like the Latin X.

Chi and rho are the two letters in ancient Greek that begin the name

<i>Christos</i> [Christ].  The chi-rho was used on the standards of

Constantine's Roman army when he defeated Maxentius and brought Christianity

into the Roman Empire as its official religion in the early fourth century.

The symbol is often seen on a priest’s traditional Mass vestments.

So, "Xmas" is actually a more ancient form, in a way, recalling to

our minds the origins of our Faith, in which Greek, as well, as Latin, is

paramount in Tradition.

(Thanks to Traditio.com)

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

5th Sunday after Pentecost, June 23, 2013

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost – June 23, 2013

Epistle: 1 Peter 3: 8-15        Gospel: Matthew 5: 20-24

Anger is like fire and smoke. If we don’t check our anger it will destroy everything, like a forest fire. The blood that rushes to our heads when we are angry is like thick smoke, it destroys our reason and keeps us from seeing what is happening. Anger even disfigures our faces so we are hardly recognizable. Imagine how is disfigures our souls.

Anger leads us to resentments, blasphemy, criminal acts, slander and other sins because it darkens our understanding. It can cause us to hate. St. Augustine tells us that hatred is nothing other than anger that we hold onto.

What if our brother does something against us? Christ cautions us not to be angry with him. We can be angry against his sin, but that is not really anger. It is zeal, an enthusiasm that our brother not sin against his neighbor, instead that he love his neighbor and act charitably toward him.

          When we let anger take over, it is accompanied with a desire for revenge. That’s another sin that anger leads to. You might say you have been injured by someone and have a right to your revenge, and if this is a sin, God will have pity on you because you were unjustly hurt. But who is telling you that you have a right to revenge? It is you, you who are angry, and because you are angry you are unable to think straight. God tells us in Deuteronomy, “Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time.” (Deuteronomy 32: 35)  While Ecclesiastes 28 tells us that if we do seek to revenge ourselves, we will find vengeance from God. If we refuse to obey God’s command to forgive our neighbor, how can we expect to receive forgiveness from God for our own sins?

In Jeremias 1, God asks the prophet, “What do you see, Jeremias?” He answers, “I see a rod waiting to inflict punishment.” God asks him again, “What seest thou?” and he replies, “I see a boiling cauldron.” That cauldron is us when we are boiling mad. When we are in that state we are threatened with a rod, that is, with the vengeance of God.

How do we keep our anger in check? By meekness. This is the virtue of our Lord,  Jesus Christ, the virtue of the Lamb of God, Who bore all the pain and sorrows of His passion and crucifixion without anger or complaint. We won’t be completely free of anger in our lives, but we tame it, we control it, through meekness. “Learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart,” our Lord tells us at Matthew 11: 29.  St. Paul tells us specifically to “Put on the bowels of mercy, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another . . .” (Colossians 3) If we want others to put up with our defects and forgive our faults, we have to do the same for them.

St. John Chrysostom tells us there is nothing better to draw people to God than if they see a Christian meek and happy when they have been injured or insulted. “Blessed are you when they shall revile you and persecute you,” Christ tells us in Matthew 5: 11. But you might say, “I cannot bear this injustice.” Christ answers us, “Love your enemies, Do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.”  (Matthew 5: 44)  So, do not respond with an insult the next time you are insulted or slandered. If you do, your enemy gains a victory over you. Instead, pray for that person, do something good toward them. Visit them if they are in the hospital, send them a birthday card. Help them in any way you can. Is this hard to do? Yes, it is, because we all know some people who deserve a good kick in their backside because of the nasty things they do. But following Christ is not for the weak, it’s for the strong, for such is the power of God’s grace, that by being meek and humble of heart like Jesus, each and every one of us can overcome the world.  +++

(Thanks to St. Alphonsus de Ligouri.)

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass

4th Sunday after Pentecost, June 16, 2013

4th Sunday after Pentecost – June 16, 2013

Epistle,  Romans 8: 18-23          Gospel, Luke 5: 1-11

            We should note that among the group of fishermen, Jesus addressed Peter first. Peter was already they leader of their group. We know he was also a humble man because he told Jesus that they had fished all night and caught nothing – “But at thy word we will let down the net.”

          Peter’s reward was a haul of fish so large that his net started breaking. He must have recognized the miracle because he fell on the knees of the Lord saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”  And a greater reward followed immediately as Jesus made Peter a disciple, “From henceforth thou shalt catch men.”

           In Matthew 8: 23-27 there is another incident in a boat, where Jesus wanted to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We are told that “his disciples followed him,” which indicates that all were present, including Peter and Judas.

Peter’s boat, or the Barque of Peter, is a symbol of the Church. In this incident  Peter’s Barque was tossed about in a stormy sea. Pope Pius XII makes reference to the term in his 1947 Encyclical on St. Benedict, Fulgens Radiatur:  Pius wrote, “But when enemies assail the Christian name more fiercely, when the fateful barque of Peter is tossed about more violently and when everything seems to be tottering with no hope of human support, it is then that Christ is present . . . and raises up fresh champions to protect Catholicism, to restore it to its former vigor.” Today many Judases are in positions of power in the Church and the Barque of Peter is being tossed about as violently as it ever was.

In today’s Gospel we are told that two boats were at the shore. Our Lord gets into Peter’s boat and the other is left behind. The Barque of Peter is taken out into the deep because that is where the great catch – the catch of souls -- is to be made. The one left behind represents is the synagogue, holding on to earthly things.  What is so profound, what is so heaven-bound as that which Peter later said to our Lord: “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God?” And what is more earth-bound than that which the Jews later said of the Lord, “Is not this the Son of Joseph the carpenter?” (Luke 4: 22) Peter comment was inspired by Heaven, as our Lord confirmed when he said, “Because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.” But to those Pharisees who corrupted the Law of Moses He says, “O Generation of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas you are evil?” (Matthew 12: 34)

“Launch out into the deep,” Peter is told. Even today the Barque of Peter floats upon the deep of the world. It sails across our present time and keeps safe from harm all the faithful who are in it.  Like the sin of Judas, it is by the sins of the traitors in the Church today that we are put in danger. Be on guard against these faithless ones who have abandoned the one and true faith and replaced it with dogmas of their own invention.

Let us hold fast to the ancient faith of our Fathers, because where faith is true, there we will find our Savior – teaching, watching and rejoicing - and there we will find rest, peace and healing for all men. But where heresy becomes mingled with faith, there Christ grows drowsy and sleeps, and there we will find storms, fear and danger to all, just like in Peter’s boat when Judas was aboard.  +++

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

Sunday Withn Octave of Sacred Heart (3rd after Pentecost) June 9, 2013

Sunday Within the Octave of the Sacred Heart

(3rd Sunday after Pentecost) June 9, 2013

Epistle: 1 Peter 5: 6-11          Gospel, Luke 15: 1-10)

           

           

Last Friday was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and today’s Mass commemorates that feast.  We begin to see our Lord’s Sacred Heart prefigured in the very first Book of the Bible at Genesis 6: 16, where God told Noah, “and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side.” When the great flood receded and the ark settle on dry land, out of that door poured forth the life of the earth for the continuation of the human race and the many animal species in the ark. Going even farther back, we see the Sacred Heart prefigured in Adam and Eve. Eve was formed by the Hand of God from a rib taken from the side of Adam when he was asleep.  Adam took her as his spouse and gave her the name Eve which means mother of the living.  Jesus was the second Adam and when He died, or fell asleep, on the cross, His Heart were pierced and opened and the water and blood that poured forth was the Church, which He took as His spouse. The opening of Christ’s side was prophesied by Zacharias 500 years before Christ: “And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced . . .” (Zacharias 12: 10)  Christ’s blood and water also represent the Sacraments of the Church. By the Sacraments we obtain the “spirit of grace” that Zacharias wrote about.  Without Christ’s Sacraments there is no life.  We read in John 6: 54,  “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you shall not have life in you.”

            The adoration of the Heart of Jesus goes back to St. John, who rested his head on the breast of Christ at the Last Supper (John 13: 23, 25)  John surely heard our Lord’s heart beating and experienced the depth of the love of Christ for His children.  John and the two Mary’s were also present when Jesus’ side was pierced, and that was the actual birth of the Church. We celebrate that birthday on Pentecost Sunday, the day when the Holy Ghost inflamed the hearts of His followers, the day when the work of the Church began.

When we hear the word “heart” we think of the physical heart beating in our chest. But we also use the word “heart” symbolically in connection with our moral and emotional lives. In this way we use expressions like, “Have a heart,” or when we speak of an athlete who has great heart. Even in the Divine Office there is a short prayer: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (Proverbs 23: 26)  The Church teaches that devotion to the Heart of Jesus is entirely directed to this symbolism and recalls the love of Jesus, and His emotional and moral life.

When our Lord appeared on earth mankind had forgotten how to love because he had forgotten what true beauty is. Human hearts were caught up in a false love of themselves and of earthly possessions. Into this world the Holy Ghost brought the Heart of Jesus, which is like a ladder between man and God. His human heart could not love His Church without His Divine Heart being moved to mercy. The devotion is as old as the Church because it rests on the truth that Christ is the Spouse and the Church is his bride.

            The Gospel reading for the Feast tell how a soldier opened Jesus’ side with a spear, not that he stabbed Him or wounded Him, but he opened His side. This opening in Christ’s side was prefigured by the door that Noah was commanded to make in the side of the Ark. Into this door went every living creature that was not to be destroyed by the flood. Christ’s side is also the doorway of life. In His Heart is everything necessary for eternal life, and out of His side poured the Sacraments and the Church. The Sacraments give grace, and lead, not to destruction but to life.

            The Prophet Isaias foretold the benefits of the water and blood that poured forth from the side of Christ: “You shall draw waters [meaning grace], with joy out of the Savior’s fountains. (Isaias 12: 3) These fountains are the Sacraments. But God says later in Jeremias, “For my people have done two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have” dug wells “ that can hold no water.” (Jeremias 12: 13) How does God respond to this sin of His children? He overlooks it. He is touched at seeing them, and us today, trying to quench our burning thirst for immortality by idolizing beauty and wealth – things of this life that are like a mirage in the desert. We see them, then poof! They’re gone. God sent His Son to straighten us out. Jew and Gentile alike, we have met Jesus, the Christ. He is our companion on the way through life. He is God and He has become Man, that for the good of our souls He might draw us to Him with the cords of Adam (Osee 11:4), that is, by the love of His Heart of Flesh He may lead us to what we were created for – eternity with Him in His Kingdom. That burning thirst for immortality continues in us today, and so  Jesus taught us in the temple, “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me . . . out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7: 37, 38)

            The wound in Christ’s side is the doorway to His Church. Eve was taken from the side of Adam to be his wife, in a prefigurement of the Church.  The fulfillment of this is the opening of Christ’s side so that His Bride, the Church, might come forth. Although no trace of the wound that produced Eve exists today, Christ’s Church will continue forever. We can think of the wound in His side and be reminded that we only have to go to His Sacred Heart where we will find the living water of His grace. This will make us immortal, and this is what we need for our eternal happiness and salvation.

Today’s Gospel is the Parable of the Lost Sheep and of the Lost Coin.

When the Shepherd finds the Lost Sheep he does not punish it.

He places it on His Shoulders, just as Christ placed the burden of

Our sins on His Shoulders when He picked up the Cross.

When we are dried out from our sins we go to the Confessional

Where we drink of His graces.

When we leave the Confessional, we are back on His shoulders.

+++

Thanks to Fr. Demets, FSSP, for parts of today’s sermon.

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass