Sunday Sermon - 10.29.23
LATIN MASS: FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
EPISTLE: Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks to God the Father, Who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 In whom we have redemption through His Blood, the remission of sins; 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For in Him were all things created in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and in Him. 17 And He is before all, and by Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy: 19 Because in Him, it hath well pleased the Father, that all fullness should dwell; 20 And through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace through the Blood of His Cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in Heaven.
The Apostle Paul had such a deep and holy understanding of the theology of the Gospel, that he can teach in such a way that we can read the same letters over and over, and learn something new each time. Of course he was guided by the Holy Spirit in these writings.
When you really ponder over the fact that God invites us lowly humans into His family and to have complete communion with Him, it truly staggers the mind. The Creator of all things, who by His act of His will continuously will the existence of every atom of your body, also continuously wills the existence of every atom in the universe. If for any moment God stopped willing your existence, you would vanish from existence. He always and eternally wills for you to exist. He also invites you into His family and to spend eternity with Him.
GOSPEL: John 18:33 Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him: Art thou the King of the Jews? 34 Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me? 35 Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered Thee up to me: what hast Thou done? 36 Jesus answered: My Kingdom is not of this world. If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My Kingdom is not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said to Him: Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth My voice.
Christ is King of all the universe and King of all creation. There is nowhere that His Kingdom and dominion do not exist. We should always remember that He is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is not our “buddy” Jesus that we hang out with on the weekend. He is King and we should always treat Him as such. Approach His altar at Mass with humility and reverence. Receive His Body in the Eucharist with utmost care and holiness. Never receive the Eucharist with mortal sin on your soul. He is King and we should always remember that and keep our reverence towards Him.
NOVUS ORDO: THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Exodus 22:20 Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.
21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. 23 If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; 24 My wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.
25 If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; 27 for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to Me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.
There is no god but the Trinity. God is God alone. There is no other. He commands us to care for those who are vulnerable and those who are weak. We must care for those who are orphans and in need. This does NOT mean that our country cannot have borders or that our country cannot maintain law and order. If your priest attempts to say so, make sure you confront him over this falsehood.
We are to care for the poor and vulnerable, but that does not abdicate the responsibility of the poor and vulnerable to obey our just laws.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Thessalonians 1:4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that He has chosen you, 5 because our message of the Gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
The faithful who live out their Christian faith in humility and in good works will spread the word of the Gospel far better than any preacher. That does not mean we are not to share the Gospel with everyone. We absolutely must. But we must live out our faith at all times so that others can see the Gospel radiating through us.
GOSPEL: Matthew 22:34 When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. 36 “Teacher, which Commandment in the Law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first Commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.”
Always remember these two are the greatest commandments, as God Himself says. Also we need to remember that the first commandment is greater than the second commandment. Love of God always comes before love of neighbor. If we have the love of God in our hearts, minds and souls, then the love of neighbor will flow from that. Love of neighbor can NEVER supplant love of God or to negate the love of God.
🙏 thank you.