Sermon, Sun within Octave of Sacred Heart & 3rd Sun after Pentecost

3rd Sunday after Pentecost – July 3, 2011

Sunday Within the Octave of the Sacred Heart

(Luke 15: 1-10)

            Last Friday was the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 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 earthly possessions. Into this world the Holy Ghost brought the Heart of Jesus, which is like a ladder between man and God. It is the way we ascend to God and God descends to us. Jesus saves us because He loves His Church. His human heart could not love His Church without His Divine Heart being moved to mercy, and here we have the doctrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 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 wounded Him or stabbed Him, but opened His side.  Christ’s side was like the door of life. Out of His side poured the Sacraments (the Mysteries) of the Church. This event was prefigured by the door that Noe was commanded to make in the side of the Ark. Into the door of the Ark went every living creature which was not to be destroyed by the flood, and the Sacraments that come out of Christ’s side lead, not to destruction, but to life.

            In today’s Gospel reading for the 3^rd Sunday after Pentecost, the publicans and sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him. These are people who knew they were sinners and who worried about their eternal salvation. The Pharisees and scribes were unrepentant sinners. They murmured against Christ, saying he receives sinners and eats with them. This shows us that Jesus Christ, who is true justice, feels compassion, but the false justice of the scribes and Pharisees shows only scorn. Why do the scribes and Pharisees represent false justice? Because they perverted the Law of Moses and the Commandments, twisting them to enrich themselves with worldly possessions. The accumulation of wealth is not the reason we were created.

            The scribes and Pharisees were so sick with sin that they didn’t even know they were ill, but Jesus as the Heavenly Physician treats them with a soothing ointment in the form of the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. The number 100 represents all the rational creatures subject to God. The one that was lost is mankind; the 99 left behind are all the choirs of angels. The 99 were not in need of repentance and salvation, but mankind was.

            When the Shepherd finds the lost sheep, He doesn’t punish it; He places it on His shoulders, as Christ placed the burden of our sins upon His shoulders. Upon returning home, which is to Heaven, He calls together His friends and neighbors, meaning all the choirs of Heaven, to, “Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.” Today foolish people might change that to read: “Rejoice with the sheep that has been found,” but this creates a false religion that makes mankind into a false God. The sheep are subject to the shepherd, just as we are subject to God. But when the sheep starts thinking he is the Shepherd, he is truly lost.

            In the second parable, the woman lost a coin, on which an image was impressed. God tells us in the Book of Genesis that we are made in the image and likeness of God, hence the coin represents mankind.  But in the Garden of Eden our first parents fall for the temptation of the devil. Adam and Eve, who are the sheep, start thinking they are the Shepherd. This original sin closed the Garden of Eden to them and closed the Gates of Heaven to all men until in the fullness of time the promised Messiah came.

            The woman in the second parable is the Church, whose task it is to search out those who are lost and when found, to place them on her shoulders and bring them Home. The Church through the sacraments shows us the way back home to Paradise. The road to Paradise, however, is narrow, and when we sin, we fall into the ditch along the road. If we are blessed with humility, we repent of our sins, and through the Sacraments find our way back onto the road.

            The parables in today’s Gospel reading end with our Lord saying that there will be joy among the angels of God when one sinner does penance, and I want to talk about the angels now. We know from Scripture that there are nine orders of angels. The tenth order of rational creatures is man. The nine orders of angels are Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim.

            Before discussing the nine orders, a word about the fallen angels. The Prophet Ezechiel says to Lucifer, the angel who was first created, “Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” He doesn’t say, “Made in the likeness of God,” but rather “the seal of resemblance” because the purer his nature, the clearer was the image of God stamped upon him. Ezechiel then goes on to describe Lucifer’s beauty: “Every precious stone was thy covering; the sardius, the topaz, and the jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and the carbuncle and the emerald.” The naming of these nine precious stones also relates to the nine orders of angels.

            Ezechiel continues in telling Lucifer that, “Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day of thy creation, until iniquity was found in thee.” And, “thy heart was lifted up with thy beauty,” which is a reference to Lucifer’s vanity, and continuing, “thou hast lost thy wisdom in thy beauty, I have cast thee to the ground,” and “I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, to devour thee, and I will make thee as ashes upon the earth in the sight of all that see thee.” This is the position of Lucifer, reduced from the most beautiful of all angels to a pile of ashes. See Ezechiel 28: 12-18 for these remarks which on the surface were directed to the king of Tyre, who was a prideful man, but it is generally agreed they are directed at Lucifer, the king over all children of pride.

            The orders of angels are given their names by the work they do. An Angel is one who announces lesser things; an Archangel is one who announces things of greater importance. The Virtues are those through whom signs and wonder are seen from time to time. The Powers have received this gift but more powerfully than the Virtues, so that hostile Virtues are curbed and shall not tempt the hearts of men. Principalities are placed over the good angels, ordering the tasks that angels are given to do. Principality means to stand first among the rest. Dominations are given powers that surpass the powers of Principalities. Dominations means to have powers that surpass all the others, therefore Dominations is that order of angels to whom all the rest are subject. Thrones are those upon whom God is forever seated to give judgment. They are so filled with the grace of Divinity that the Lord is seated upon them, and through them makes known His judgments. Cherubim means fullness of knowledge. Contemplating more closely the glory of God, Cherubim are filled with a more perfect knowledge of Him. The closer they draw near God by reason of their rank the more they know all things. Finally, those choirs of holy spirits who because of their special closeness to the Creator burn with an incomparable love are called Seraphim. The closer they are to Him the more vivid is their perception of the glory of the Divinity and the more ardently do they burn with His love.

            The order among mankind closely corresponds to the order among these citizens of Heaven. Those who understand small things yet never cease from devoutly announcing these to their brethren correspond to Angels. Those who understand and speak of the highest heavenly secrets correspond to the Archangels. Those people who work miracles and perform great signs and wonders correspond to the Virtues. Those who drive out devils from the possessed correspond to the Powers. Those who receive so many graces as to surpass even the elect and are placed over them correspond to the Principalities. And those who have so overcome vices within themselves that by the merit of their purity they are called gods among men in the sense that Moses was appointed “the god of Pharaoh” (Exodus 7: 1), these correspond to the order of Dominations. Those who rule themselves with watchful care, holding fast to their fear of God, receive as a reward their ability to judge others justly. God rests upon them as upon a throne while He examines the actions of men, and from where He orders all things. These people are numbered among the order called the Thrones of God. There are some men so filled with the love of God and neighbor that they rank among the Cherubim. Lastly, there are some who are set on fire by heavenly contemplation. They breathe in only the love of God and cast away the things of this life. When they speak, they inflame others to burn with the love of God, and these rank with the Seraphim.

            Let us then reflect upon the gifts we have received and let our hearts long for a share of the love of God. Let us grieve if we see nothing in ourselves of the grace of these gifts. If we lack a share of these gifts, remember that they are available to us if we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. This is nothing other than being obedient to God and to His Church. +++                       

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

Sermon, Sunday Within Octave of Corpus Christi, June 26, 2011

Sunday Within Octave of Corpus Christi – June 26, 2011

(2^nd Sunday after Pentecost)

(Luke 14: 16-24)

            Last Thursday was the Feast of Corpus Christi. The term means Body of Christ. This feast was first urged by St. Juliana of Belgium who had a great love of the Eucharist and wanted a feast day for It. The feast was first established by the Bishop of Liége in 1247 and made a universal feast throughout the Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. In the Gospel reading for that day Jesus says that He is “the bread that came down from Heaven.” and “He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.” (John 6: 56-59) Jesus, in His life and death, has united all mankind in Himself. He is God and Man and High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is the glue of that holy religion that fastens all things to the Creator in the unity of one same act of homage to God, and that is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus gave us the miracle of the Eucharist so that we may continue His sacrifice of Himself to his Father forever. Let’s talk about that sacrifice so we can better understand how it is continued in the Church.

            God has a right to His creature’s  homage – our homage. A king on earth can demand from his subjects that they recognize his sovereignty, that is, his right to rule over everything. The homage that we as subjects give our Lord God implies that whatever rights or property we have come from our Lord. So when we subject ourselves to the Creator we acknowledge Him as the Lord of all things and the author of life. Moreover, if we violate His rules and we deserve death as a punishment, yet we continue to live, then we must acknowledge our guilt and the justice of his punishment because it is only through His mercy that we continue to live.

This is the true notion of sacrifice and it can only be offered to the one true God. It is the acknowledgement of the Creator’s sovereign dominion and of the glory that belongs to Him. It is essential to religion, because religion, whose object is the worship due to God, demands sacrifice. How do we know this? Jesus, Who was without sin, carried on His shoulders all the sins of the world and then offered Himself on our behalf to God His Father. In the Garden of Eden the sacrifice would have been adoration and thanksgiving, and the physical part would have been the fruits of the garden. When man fell, then sacrifice became the only means of making God favorably disposed towards us. Luther and the false reformers excluded sacrifice from religion and took away its very basis.

“It is by sacrifice that God attains the end He had in view by creation, that is, His own glory.” But in order that the universe might offer a homage in keeping with the magnificence of its Creator, what was needed was one leader who would represent all creation in his person, and then offer all of creation along with himself to the Lord God. And this is what God has done for us. He gave us His Son. The homage of the inferior nature of mankind takes to itself the dignity of God in the Person of Jesus Christ, who is both God and Man. He makes the offering, and the honor He pays to His Father then becomes truly worthy of the supreme Majesty of God. From a universe made out of nothing God has joined His Son Jesus with human nature and produced a fruit of infinite worth. Without the Eucharist at the altar our homage is too poor to be offered to God’s Majesty, but when we join it with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, it puts on the dignity of Christ Himself.

Many today say that there is no need to attend Mass. They tell us they pray every day privately and that is sufficient. They eventually ignore the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which contains the very essence of religion. It is by the Sacrifice of the Mass that we understand that our true social life, our family, our jobs, our politics, our economy, is founded upon God. What brings all the parts of society together by bringing them back to their Creator? It is religion. And Sacrifice is the fundamental act of religion. It is Jesus, the God-Man who offered to His Father the perfect sacrifice on Calvary, and just before He did this, He showed us how to continue offering this perfect sacrifice in every true Mass. This is so important to our personal salvation that the Church has ordered us to attend Mass every Sunday.   

I  want to read a description of the Mass given by St. Justin Martyr. He was born in 100 A.D. At 30 years of age he converted, and died a Martyr at age 65. He writes: “And on the day called Sunday all . . . come together at one place, and the Memories (Gospels) of the Apostles, or the writings of the Prophets, are read. Then when the Reader has ceased he who presides instructs us by word and exhorts us to the imitation of these beautiful things. Then we rise together and pray, and when our prayer is ended, bread and wine mingled with water is brought, and he who presides, with all fervour, offers up prayers and thanksgiving, and the people present say, Amen. And then there is a distribution to each one . . . For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these: but . . . we have been taught, that the food which is consecrated by the prayer of His words, and by which our own flesh and blood . . . is nourished, is the Flesh and Blood of that Jesus Who became Flesh and Blood.” That was the Mass 2,000 years ago. It is the same Mass we have here today in this little chapel, the unbloody re-creation of the sacrifice of our Lord. It is heartbreaking that with the false mass of Paul VI, Rome has thrown away the Body of Christ and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and replaced them with a community meal and a plain piece of bread.  

            How can the piece of bread and cup of wine on the altar become the Body and Blood of Christ?

Doesn’t human reason have a right to find fault with what looks like the wishes of our hearts causing us to fool ourselves? Let us see. Every living being thirsts for happiness and this thirst causes creatures to reach out for all the good that they are capable of. We can be fully happy only if we have all the good we are capable of. We are the only creature on Earth which can conceive of God, and we want to possess Him in His own substance. We want to see His Face, to enjoy life with Him Who alone can satisfy all our desires.

            If human reason alone judges this talk of seeing God, of living with God, of a Divine Banquet at Mass at which God Himself is the food we eat, reason says this is our fanciful imagination because there is a deep separation between God and man. What is there in man, who was once nothing, that would induce God to stoop so low as to allow a union between man and God? That is the language of human reason.

            But Who was it that made the heart of man so ambitious that no creature on Earth can fill it? A dog can realize all the happiness it is capable of, and a bird and a fish, too. Is man to be the only creature destined to failure because he cannot fulfill his highest ambition? That is not reasonable. “God is love,” St. John tells us, and love is a knot that human reason cannot untie. Human reason cannot solve the problem of man’s desire for the Infinite. The wonder in all this is not our longing for God, but that God should have loved us first, for we at one time were nothing. At the Eucharist here this morning we join Christ in His continuing perfect sacrifice to God, and He makes His abode in us. God is love and love must have union. It is union that makes the one like the other. That is our happiness. +++

               

We Celebrate the Tridentine Latin Mass

Sermon, Trinity Sunday, June 19, 2011

Trinity Sunday, June 19, 2011

Matthew 28: 18-20

There is much to be learned from today’s reading, which is taken from the last three verses of Matthew’s Gospel. Christ tells eleven disciples to baptize people “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” This is the clearest statement of the Trinity in Scriptures. We are told in Deuteronomy 6: 4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,” but we begin to see the Trinity in Genesis 1: 26, “Let Us make man to Our image and likeness.” Together these two statements clearly indicate there is more than One Person in One God.  

It is with the appearance on earth of the promised Messiah, Jesus the Christ, that we have the key to understanding these Scriptures. Where is the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?  Solomon uses grand expressions in speaking of Him who is Eternal Wisdom, and the divine essence of this Wisdom. Isaias heard the voices of the Seraphim around the throne of God singing, “Holy! Holy! Holy! Is the Lord.” (Isaias 6: 3) The world did not understand these passages until the Father sent His Son to teach us Who this Eternal Wisdom is, and why the triple Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy. Today the meaning of these Old Testament Scriptures is clear: there is a Father, there is a Son and there is the Holy Ghost – and the name of this Trinity is “One God.”

“All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28: 18) All power comes from God through Christ, Who is both man and God. In virtue of His power, Christ commissions His Apostles and their successors, to teach all nations and to baptize them. This is a stumbling block to some Jews, who thought that the Messiah would come for their salvation only. Notice also that our Lord gives his Apostles an order of doing things: first, teach all nations; second, baptize them; and third, teach them all things they must do in obedience to Christ. To teach is to teach the faith. If we say, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty,” that is an act of faith, but if we go to Mass on Sundays, that is what we must do. Attending Mass is an act of obedience to a rule given us by our Lord’s Church.

Some may infer from the words “teach all nations” that faith alone is sufficient. But Christ continues His instructions, telling the Apostles to teach “them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” This is a command to teach people what they must do to live a holy life. And among all the things we must do to live a holy life is charity, good works, which St. Paul tells us is foremost: “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13: 13)

The Lord also tells His Apostles, “Behold I am with you, even unto the consummation of the world,” These instructions must be extended to their lawful successors then until the end of the world. Jesus makes good His promise by always dwelling in the hearts of the faithful, by His presence in the Eucharist and by His care and protection of the Church.

Bishop Bossuet of France (1627 - 1704) wrote that today's reading clearly demonstrates the infallibility and indefectibility of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. These two big words mean pure and lasting and incapable of finding error in faith and morals. If ever a doctrine is changed, if ever holiness of life is not present in the Church, then it can be said that Christ has abandoned those who have abandoned Him.

There are many heresies seen today and many within the Catholic Church, both in the so-called Vatican II churches and in traditional chapels and societies. In the 4^th Century the Arian heresy took control of most of the church dioceses in the East and many in the West, but the true Catholic Church and the True Faith survived the power of the Arians, just as it will survive the fleeting power of today’s so-called Modernist heretics. Pope Pius IX called Modernism the “synthesis of all heresies.”

Christ has abandoned today’s heretics, as He abandoned His Chosen People, to “their own inventions.” (Psalm 80: 12, 13. KJV 81) The Jews referred to in Psalm 80 were disobedient and refused to listen to God’s counsel, but they remained His Chosen People even though God withdrew His grace from them. It is the same today. Baptized Catholics remain Catholics, even if they abandon the True Faith and follow Modernist heresies.

Our Lord's words at the end of Matthew's Gospel tell us that Jesus will live forever and that He will never abandon those who believe in Him and, further, that there will always be those who are worthy of being a fit and holy place where God will take up His abode.

In the Gospel for the First Sunday after Pentecost, which is also today, our Lord says, “Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Give and it shall be given to you.” (Luke 6: 37, 38) St. Augustine says these are the two works of mercy which free us. “Give and it shall be given to you” is the promise of receiving God’s favor. “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven” is the promise of pardon. We have all hurt others and would like to be forgiven for what we did, and we have all been hurt by others, and we gladly forgive that.

With regard to God’s favors, think of people who beg from us. When we pray, we are beggars to God. What does a beggar ask of us?  Bread. And what do we ask of God but that Christ, who is the Living Bread that came down from heaven, to take up His abode in us. If you wish to be forgiven, then forgive. If you wish to be pardoned, then pardon. If you wish to receive, then give and it shall be given unto you. +++

 (Thanks to St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Bede, Bp. Bossuet, Dom Guéranger,

Dr. Robert Witham of Douai, Estius, and Rhabanus Maurus for today’s sermon.)

We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass: The Mass of the Ages

Sermon, Pentecost, June 12, 2011

Hope this touches your soul:

Pentecost, June 12, 2011

The Birthday of the Catholic Church

John 14: 23-31

             “And my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.” Suppose the governor was coming to visit us. Would we not clean up our house before he came? God Himself comes to our home, our souls, in the Eucharist, but many of us quickly forget what we cleaned up, what we repented of, and we turn right back to former sins. For those who truly love God, the Lord does make His abode with them – He stays with them because the love of God has so penetrated these people that in time of temptation they will not turn their backs on that love.

          The Lord continues: “He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words.” Let none of us fool ourselves, we do not truly love God unless that love is confirmed by good works. If our love of God does not result in good works, it is not love because “faith without works is dead,” (James 2: 17)

          Our Lord also tells His Apostles “the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.” Paraclete is a Greek word that translates as Advocate or Comforter. He is called Advocate because he pleads with the mercy of the Father for us. As St. Paul puts it: “The Spirit himself asks for us with unspeakable groanings.” He is called Comforter because he uplifts our soul when we are dejected and depressed.

          The Holy Ghost appeared as tongues of fire on this, the birthday of the Church. What we can learn from this sign is that Holy Mother Church, filled by this Spirit, shall speak with the voice of every nation. In Babel, long ago, they tried to build a tower against God, and lost the language they then had in common. But in those who humbly fear God, all tongues are made one, “one Lord, one faith, one Baptism.” (Ephesians 4: 5)  In Babel, their pride brought confusion. But with the Spirit of God, lowliness merits power, the power to be free even when living under tyranny, and the power to be full of joy even during persecution.

          Why did the Holy Ghost appear as tongues of fire above the Apostles and appear as a dove above the Lord when He was baptized by John? The Lord sends fire on Earth when, by the breath of His Holy Spirit, he sets fire to the hearts of unspiritual men. And the Earth begins to catch fire when our hearts put away the desires of this life and become inflamed with the love of God. In every heart that the Holy Spirit enters, He drives out the coldness of apathy and ignites in us a desire for Eternity in heaven.

          Why then did the Holy Spirit appear as a dove above the L ord? He did not want to crush sinners but to draw us to Himself through mildness and patience, which are represented by a dove. We could not bear His justice if He had searched into our sins with harsh exactness. He humbled Himself to become like us in the person of Jesus, and revealed himself as a gentle God.    That the Holy Ghost appeared in fire above men and as a dove above our Lord teaches us that through our own zeal for justice, we should search out our own sins, which the Lord bears in great patience, and then we are to consume them in the fire of the penances we perform.

          Job wrote that “His Spirit hath adorned the heavens.” (Job 26: 13) These adornments of heaven are the virtues that St. Paul lists in (1 Cor. 12: 8) as wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues, what we call the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. We know how lacking the Apostles were in these gifts before the coming of the Holy Ghost, but look at what these men were like after His coming.

          In the courtyard of the High Priest Caiaphas, a young maid accused Peter of being one of the followers of the Lord, and three times Peter, whom Christ called the Rock, denied Him. Contrast this with Christ’s crucifixion when a common thief confessed Him and asked Jesus to remember him. But after Pentecost, Peter and the Apostles were scourged by the Jewish authorities and were ordered not to preach in the name of Jesus any more. Without hesitation Peter responded, “We ought to obey God, rather than men.” (Acts 5: 29) The Apostles then left that place “rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.”

          We have a prayer to the Holy Ghost: “Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created and Thou shalt renew the face of the Earth.” This prayer comes from Psalm 104, v. 30. This same Spirit inspired a youthful harpist and created the psalmist, who was King David (1 Kings 16: 18). He moved the soul of a “herdsman plucking wild figs: and made him a prophet,” (Amos 7: 14). He entered a young boy who was disciplined in the spirit, and made him a judge (Daniel 13: 45).  He entered into a fisherman and made him a preacher of the Gospel and head of His Church, St. Peter (Mt. 4: 19). He filled a persecutor of the Church and made him the Doctor of the Gentiles, St. Paul (Acts 9). He filled a publican and made him an Evangelist (Luke 5: 27,28). This is how the power of the Holy Ghost renews the face of the Earth, by inflaming people with the love of God, and these people in turn doing God's work in the community. The Apostles, who before were afraid of their enemies, now under the influence of the Holy Ghost, dominate them with their authority.

          Many don't know the Holy Spirit and are limited to worldly thinking, and so they ask: How can I love someone whom I cannot see? We can agree with them. A mind that is taken up with visible things only cannot see the invisible. However, we can see God by looking at a metaphor from nature. We cannot watch the sun directly as it rises, but if we turn to the west, we can see the beauty of the sun on the face of the earth. God is like that. We can see His beauty in His saints; we can see His beauty in our good works, because His beauty is like sunlight shining upon the earth. +++