Sunday Sermon - 4.28.24
LATIN MASS: FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
EPISTLE: James 1:17 Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration. 18 For of His own will hath He begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of His creatures. 19 You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger. 20 For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God. 21 Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
This is a beautiful passage. Every beautiful and perfect gift is from Heaven above. God has not even one ounce of shadow or darkness. There is nothing unclean or sinful in Him. He is pure light and goodness itself. And God has given us the gift of begetting us by His Word through our baptism. James is telling the first century Christians that He gave them this gift so they may be the beginning of His creatures in the New Covenant, His own creations. This isn’t talking about our birth, but about our second birth in baptism. He created us a new creatures so we can bring even more creatures to Him to be reborn.
But to do that, we must emulate Him. We must be slow to speak and slow to anger. We must be pure and must behave as He wishes for us. We must throw away all uncleanness and avoid all sin. We meekness, we must receive His Word so that we might be saved. (Remember that meekness is power under control. It is not cowardice nor weakness.)
GOSPEL: John 16:5 But I told you not these things from the beginning, because I was with you. And now I go to Him that sent Me, and none of you asketh Me: Whither goest Thou? 6 But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. 9 Of sin: because they believed not in Me. 10 And of justice: because I go to the Father; and you shall see Me no longer. 11 And of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. 12 I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when Me, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; and the things that are to come, He shall shew you. 14 He shall glorify Me; because He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it to you.
Catholicism is the religion of both/and rather than either/or. Christ is going away from the Apostles AND He is with us until the end of the age. Both are true. He has ascended to the Father, yet He is here with us in the Eucharist. He gives us a level of supernatural gifts that are beyond human comprehension. We have the Second Person AND the Third Person of the Trinity with us now. The Son is with us in the Eucharist and the Holy Ghost is with us in the sacraments, especially Baptism and Confirmation.
Never grow accustomed to these incredible gifts. Never allow familiarity to breed contempt or to take this for granted. The angels in Heaven cannot participate with the Trinity like we can, so remember that be thankful always that God has given to us these gifts of Himself.
NOVUS ORDO: FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
NEW TESTAMENT: Acts 9:26 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, brought him to the Apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the Name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the Name of the Lord. 29 He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 Meanwhile the Church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Trust but verify. The Church did nothing wrong to be patient and cautious with the conversion of Saul/Paul. They were rightfully concerned and did not take his claims at face value. They allowed his actions to speak for themselves. And once they saw and received evidence of his conversion, they slowly brought him into their trust and welcomed him. Loving our neighbor does not mean that we turn off our brains or that we don’t verify the truth of what someone tells us. As Christ says, we must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
EPISTLE: 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him. 23 And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. 24 All who obey His commandments abide in Him, and He abides in them. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit that He has given us.
Many people today believe that obeying Christ and following His commands is optional. Many people including entire denominations proclaim that we can/will be saved no matter what we do or whether we obey Our Lord or not. This is not true at all. Read this passage again. Because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him. The requirement to obey Christ is what your salvation will hinge upon.
GOSPEL: John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in Me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples. 9 As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 I have said these things to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
Faith alone will not save you. No matter how many people try to claim it will, Scripture and Jesus are absolutely clear on this. You MUST produce fruit or Christ will NOT save you. Some will respond to this and say that those who don’t produce good fruit were never really saved in the first place. But Jesus refutes that claim. He says that these branches are IN HIM. Our Lord is not confused or fooled. He knows EXACTLY who is and who is not in Him. Those who are in Him are saved.
Yet Our Lord warns that those who are in Him must still produce good fruit. Those branches that do not produce good fruit and cut off from Christ and thrown into the fire. He warns this because some will choose to not produce good fruit.
Thank you 🙏. I’m happy to see you are back. Your observations on the Scriptures for Traditional and NO are food for the soul.