Sunday Sermon - 11.12.23
LATIN MASS: RESUMED 5TH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
EPISTLE: Colossians 3:12 Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: 13 Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. 14 But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: 15 And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one Body: and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. 17 All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Christianity is not a Sunday religion. It encompasses all of the week. It must direct and influence every day of your life. It must guide and form how you act, speak and live. We must constantly be working on our own salvation and the salvation of others. Your behavior must radiate with Christian love and charity. We must forgive others freely and leading others to Christ. If your Christianity is limited to one day a week, then you are not a Christian.
GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24 Another parable He proposed to them, saying: The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field. 25 But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way. 26 And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. 27 And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? 28 And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? 29 And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. 30 Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.
There will always be enemies of Christ in the Church. They Catholic Church is the Kingdom of Heaven and there will always be weeds with the wheat. Sometimes we do not recognize those who are enemies in the Church, and sometimes they are easy to see. But always keep faith even when it becomes frustrating and demoralizing to see so many enemies of God in the Church. It is especially tough when those enemies are in positions of authority. Have courage, we are to fight against them and remember that they will ultimately lose.
NOVUS ORDO: THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Wisdom 6:12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. 13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. 14 One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate. 15 To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, 16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.
The two biggest obstacles to wisdom are pride and sloth. Wisdom is easily found by those who wish to find her. Wisdom cannot be found by those who refuse to look and by those who refuse to accept her when they find her. Pride stops us from accepting wisdom because it means we have to admit we were wrong. Sloth keeps us from ever looking for her. Be diligent in searching for wisdom. God gave you an intellect and a will. He gives you these gifts so that you can know Him better. So use them.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from Heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
This passage is one of the foundations of the false Protestant doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. They believe that before the Great Tribulation, which is the seven years of horrors prior to the Second Coming of Christ, the true believers of Christ will be taken away (raptured) and will escape these horrors. This doctrine was invented in the 17th century and really exploded in popularity in the 19th century. It’s not true on multiple levels.
First, Christ promises a cross. He doesn’t promise us earthy delights and comfort. He explicitly warns His followers to run for the hills when they see the impending doom coming. Second, this doctrine rests on the rapture being a silent event, when the passage itself says it will be extremely loud. Third, this doctrine was unknown for many centuries in Christian history. Any new doctrines are wrong.
So what DOES the Church teach on this passage? It teaches that this rapture we see in 1 Thessalonians is part of the events that will happen at the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgement. These events are what happens AFTER the Great Tribulation. Christ promised a cross, not a dinner cruise.
GOSPEL: Matthew 25:1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
No one knows the exact moment and time of their death, so we must always be ready. We must always be prepared for when the Bridegroom (Christ) comes for us. We must keep our souls free of sin and be in a state of grace. Go to confession at least once a month. Always be ready for your judgment before Christ.
We do no know when our own judgement day will happen, but I can promise you that today you are one day closer to it than you were yesterday. And tomorrow you will be one day closer to it than you are today. Every day you wake up, you are one day closer to your death and final judgement, so always be ready.
Thank you 🙏. I am learning to read each of your comments to the last word! No dinner cruise here.