Sunday Sermon - 2.11.24
LATIN MASS: QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY
EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; 5 Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. 12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.
13 And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.
One of the most widely-used passages in Scripture for weddings. Yet so many people get completely misunderstand this passage. One of the reasons for this is that the word “agape” is commonly translated as “love”. In the D-R translation though, it translates agape as “charity”. The word “love” is a perfectly fine translation if the reader knows the true meaning of love. Sadly most in our world today do not.
Most people today think of “love” as an emotion and a feeling. But that’s the emotion of eros (romantic or physical desire) or philia (brotherly love or affection). That’s not what agape means. Agape is an act and a verb, not an emotion or feeling. The highest form of agape is Christ on the cross sacrificing Himself to reconcile mankind back to God. Agape is sacrificial giving of ourselves to others. That’s why “charity” is a better translation for our times so that people recognize better what St. Paul is saying here.
Read verse 4-9 again. All those things that love/charity/agape does, those are actions, not emotions. They are the things we do, not how we feel. True love is shown in our actions towards others. Whether you love someone or not is not based on your emotions but on your actions. We must DO the will of God, not just feel it.
GOSPEL: Luke 18:31 Then Jesus took unto Him the Twelve, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. 32 For He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: 33 And after they have scourged Him, they will put Him to death; and the third day He shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said.
35 Now it came to pass, when He drew nigh to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the way side, begging. 36 And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. 37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto Him. And when he was come near, He asked him, 41 Saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. 42 And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. 43 And immediately he saw, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Our Lord lays out directly and explicitly to the Apostles what is going to happen to Him, yet they still could not understand or comprehend what He was saying. The word was hidden from them. Do not think you yourself are better than them. How many times have we done the exact same thing? Rather than listening to God and His word, we do what He forbids and then act surprised when it plays out exactly as He says it will.
Just as the blind man in this passage, we are in darkness. We will remain in that darkness until we have the humility to turn towards Our Lord and beg His mercy. We will remain in blindness until we ignore the rest of world and focus all of our attention on Him.
NOVUS ORDO: SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Leviticus 13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests.
44 he is leprous, he is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean; the disease is on his head. 45 The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
The rules regarding disease and uncleanness in the Old Covenant were a typology and prefigurement to how Our Lord wants us to worship in the New Covenant. Just as all typologies in the Old Covenant are only shadows of the true realities in the New Covenant, the typology for disease and worship is the same. In the Old Covenant it was focused on the physical diseases, but in the New Covenant it is focused on our spiritual disease and uncleanness. Jesus even tells us that before we offer our sacrifice at the altar, we must be reconciled first with our brother. (Matthew 5)
God wants our worship of Him to be pure and without disease. He wants us clean before we worship Him. So forgive your enemies and anyone who has sinned against you. Go to Confession. Say an Act of Contrition. Get your soul clean and pure before worshipping Him.
NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.
11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Scandal is horrifically serious and causes the loss of many souls into hell. St. Paul asks us to imitate him as he imitates Christ. He wants to model the perfect behavior of Our Lord so that no one will be scandalized by him and turn away from God. Some people will still choose hell, but it will not be because of something St. Paul did and hopefully not because of something we did.
This does not mean that we are to be silent or be timid. Rather it means that we should speak boldly the truth about Our Lord, but with charity always and with gentleness when possible.
GOSPEL: Mark 1:40 A leper came to Him begging Him, and kneeling he said to Him, “If You choose, You can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 After sternly warning him He sent him away at once, 44 saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to Him from every quarter.
We worship a loving and merciful God. He is not capricious nor is He fickle. He doesn’t ask us to move mountains but to do the simple tasks of asking Him for His healing. As Our Lord said, His burden is light. Our Lord doesn’t play games with us. If we come to Him in humility and with faith, He will heal us. And when He says we are clean, we are. What He says, actually happens.
Thank you. I am so grateful for your interpretations of the weekly Scriptures. I take these thoughts to Mass and find they enrich my OP’s preaching. 🙏📿for your Catholic works.