Sunday Sermon - 1.21.24
LATIN MASS: THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
EPISTLE: Romans 12:16 Being of one mind one towards another. Not minding high things, but consenting to the humble. Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 To no man rendering evil for evil. Providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men. 19 Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. 21 Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.
Praying for your enemies. Being humble. Giving charitably to those who hate you. Withholding revenge and giving food and drink to your enemies. The Christian faith is not hard to understand. It is hard to do. It requires giving up your sinful nature and cooperating with God’s grace to do the Father’s will. This can only be done by receiving the sacraments with a humble and penitent heart. Overcome evil with good by going to Him who is goodness itself and asking Him to purge the evil from you.
GOSPEL: Matthew 8:1 And when He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him: 2 And behold a leper came and adored Him, saying: Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. 5 And when He had entered into Capharnaum, there came to Him a Centurion, beseeching Him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. 8 And the Centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed Him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. 11 And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven: 12 But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 And Jesus said to the Centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.
Christ is happily willing to heal us from every sin, if we would just ask Him. Yet how many do not do this? How many do not have faith in Him? Have you gone to Christ in the confessional to be healed recently? If not, then do it now. Do not wait.
As you are going to Confession, make sure you meditate on the words of the Centurion. These words were not spoken by an Israelite who had been raised in a culture and people that experienced the Exodus and Passover. It was not spoken by a member of God’s own people. It was spoken by a pagan who recognized that Christ was different from his gods. He recognized that Our Lord had power and authority and he accepted this truth. He didn’t argue against it like so many Israelites did. He accepted this fact and had the faith of a child. If Our Lord says it, then it happens. When Christ, speaking through His priest, says that your sins are forgiven in the confessional, they are forgiven. End of story.
NOVUS ORDO: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Jonah 3:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change His mind; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed His mind about the calamity that He had said He would bring upon them; and He did not do it.
God is always waiting for us to repent. He offers again and again the opportunity for us to repent. We should repent of our evil and sin each and every day. We should say an Act of Contrition before we go to bed each night. Always be mindful to make sure you have a humble and repentant heart. Take full advantage of the seasons of Advent and Lent to repent. Always keep in mind that our own judgment day grows one day closer each morning.
Just a side note on this passage. It says that God changed His mind, but that is inaccurate in our language to understand it. One of the characteristics of God is that He does not and cannot change, because change would mean He was not infinite in some measure. God did not change His mind but what is meant here is that God had two avenues upon which He would act, depending on the behavior of the city of Nineveh. He had both responses available depending on what the people of that city chose to do. They had free will and chose to repent. So the second avenue of action was taken by God, in that He did not destroy the city. If they had refused to repent, He would have fulfilled His warning and destroyed the city.
Also a second side note, the passage says that Nineveh was a city so big that it took three days to walk across. This doesn’t mean the city was over 100 miles across. It means it took three days for someone to walk through the city and proclaim a message to everyone. This was before any technology and before literacy was widespread. News had to be spoken orally in the city streets. So the prophet Jonah would start in one area of the city and preach his message. He would then go a few blocks over and preach it again. This would repeat for three days so that the whole city heard the message.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Corinthians 7:29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
During the time of the Apostles, the Christians of that day were experiencing some brutal persecutions throughout the Roman Empire. Sure enough the days did become short when the Romans sacked and destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 70AD. They destroyed the Temple just as Jesus had prophesied and as St Paul alludes to in this passage. These same warnings will also apply to those Christians who are living in the time right before the Second Coming of Christ. It also may soon apply to us living today if civilization continues to crumble and fall apart. Always keep yourselves ready and prepared. Spiritual preparedness is the primary aspect of this warning. Keep yourself close to the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist.
GOSPEL: Mark 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 As He went a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed Him.
Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John were all disciples of John the Baptist. They had been listening to him preach and had received his baptism of repentance. They had made themselves humble before God and ready to do His will. When God Himself arrived and offered for them to follow Him, they immediately followed because they kept themselves prepared always.
It’s a comfort to read your post and to begin preparing for Mass tomorrow 🙏