Sunday Sermon - 1.26.25
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.
Be humble and forgo any revenge. Those are easy things to say, much harder to do. True humility will always lead us to God and to do His will. We want to puff ourselves up and brag on ourselves, yet that is the broad path to destruction. There is also the other side of the narrow path which is false humility. This is when we downplay and deny our true abilities or character. If you are smart, it is not prideful to admit that you are smart. It becomes pride when you put your value as a person into it, or you do not recognize the wisdom of others. It becomes false humility when you deny that you are smart when you actually are. It is attempting to claim false virtue. A good standard to always remember is how holy Our Lord is (to the point we can’t even comprehend) and the wisdom of the saints.
The other command here is to forgive those who commit evil against you. Do not commit revenge against them, and instead leave that to the Lord. This does not mean that they do not have to face justice, because they should and hopefully do. Practice the virtue of meekness, which is NOT weakness. Meekness is power under control. Only a strong and dangerous person can be meek. A weak person cannot be meek. Our Lord has infinite power and could summon ten legions of angels to Himself, but yet remained meek during His Passion. Power under control and forgive those who trespass against you. It is not just a slogan or line from a prayer. It is a command from God Himself. He will have vengeance upon all evildoers. Turn it all over to Him.
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.
The Centurion recognizes authority because he possesses it and uses it. He knows that when the Lord says for something to be done, it WILL be done. This Roman pagan was capable of recognizing God Himself simply by watching what He did. He did not have the Scriptures, nor did he have the oral history of the Israelites to teach him about God. Yet just by watching Our Lord, he recognized Him for who He is.
NOVUS ORDO: THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah 8:1 All the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the Law. 4 The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 So they read from the book, from the Law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
So they read from the book with interpretation. The people needed to be instructed properly in how to understand the commands of God and how to implement them correctly into their lives. It’s almost as if God does not leave His sheep without a shepherd. Everyone acknowledges that the people of God are His sheep, but no one wants to admit that they themselves are a sheep. Sheep are stubborn, dumb animals. They need constant correction and tending. They will get themselves into very dangerous situations simply because they won’t recognize danger even when it is obvious. Our Lord left us the Church so that we can be one sheepfold and all can be tended to by the Church. Even if there are wolves in the Church, listen only for the voice of Our Lord who speaks through the saints and the long witness of the Church.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
14 Indeed, the Body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the Body,” that would not make it any less a part of the Body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the Body,” that would not make it any less a part of the Body. 17 If the whole Body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole Body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the Body, each one of them, as He chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the Body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one Body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the Body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the Body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the Body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the Body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
27 Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the Church first Apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
You don’t have to like everyone in the Church, but you do have to love them. Even those members of the Church that make you upset or get on your last nerve. Those are the ones you must pray the hardest for. We all have different gifts in the Church, and each person can bring something special into the parish and the larger Church. Bickering and hating others in the Church is the opposite of what Our Lord wants. So those in the Church who cause you consternation, try instead praying intently for them. Turn the matter over to Christ.
GOSPEL: Luke 1:1 Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.
4:14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about Him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.16 When He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was His custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”20 And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 Then He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
All of Scripture speaks about Our Lord. All of it in some way points towards Him. He is the fulfillment of the New Covenant that God wants to make with all of mankind. So make sure to thank Him for His gift of the New Covenant and the gift of Himself in the Eucharist. We lowly humans can do something even the angels cannot. We can physically receive God Himself into our own bodies and join with Him. Angels have no body so they cannot do this. Do not take this for granted when you go up to receive Him at Mass.