Sunday Sermon - 7.21.24
LATIN MASS: NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things as they also coveted. 7 Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither do you murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them in figure: and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. 13 Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it.
In this passage St Paul is talking about the Israelites who followed Moses through the Exodus and the 40 year wandering in the desert. St Paul says they were baptized through the cloud and sea in a prefigurement of our Baptism. They also ate and drank of spiritual food and spiritual drink, in a prefigurement of the Eucharist. Yet now notice the warnings he issues. They committed mortal sins over and over again. St Paul says to avoid these sins that they committed because you will suffer their same fate and even worse.
Just because you were baptized and you receive the Eucharist is no guarantee that you will be saved. Spiritual death (damnation) is always waiting for you like a serpent to kill your soul. You must avoid it. Sin, especially mortal sin, is not an accident or something you fall into. It is a willful decision and action that you take. You decide to disobey God and reject the will of the Father. It leads to death.
GOSPEL: Luke 19:41 And when He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying: 42 If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, 44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. 45 And entering into the Temple, He began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought. 46 Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. 47 And He was teaching daily in the Temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy Him:
Mankind did not know the hour of the Visitation of God. Our Lord came down from Heaven to be with mankind and we rejected Him. We chose not to see the obvious signs that were telling us that God was with us. We chose to ignore it. And we chose to ignore it because we wanted our sin instead of Him. This wasn’t a Sherlock Holmes mystery to figure out. The signs were blatantly obvious. The dead were raised, the blind could see, the lame could walk. We chose to ignore it.
This happens every single day in our time as well. Every single day, Jesus chooses to be with us in the Eucharist but look how many people choose not to accept the time of their visitation. They waste away the precious hours of their lives embracing sin rather than Him. Be diligent. Keep yourself ready because our days are always numbered and we get no more. We will be called to account for our lives very soon. Be sure to keep yourself spiritually clean and ready for Him.
NOVUS ORDO: SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Jeremiah 23:1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd My people: It is you who have scattered My flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3 Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. 5 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the Name by which He will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
The Lord is our righteousness. Apart from God, we cannot be good. Holiness, goodness, love, charity and righteousness are only available through God. All of these and life itself flows from Him. Apart from Him you can do nothing.
And a fair warning to all who are shepherds of God’s flock. You WILL be called by the Master to give an account of the sheep in your care. This applies to bishops and priests, but also to husbands and fathers. Your wife and children are in your care and you are required to lovingly care and tend to them as the Good Shepherd tends to His sheep. He will ask you how you cared for His flock under your authority.
NEW TESTAMENT: Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the Blood of Christ. 14 For He is our peace; in His Flesh He has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the Law with its commandments and ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one Body through the Cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Our Lord has reconciled both Jew and Gentile into Himself. He has created just one Body, one Church. All are welcome in the Church. We must never reject those who wish to come into the Church. But always remember, all are welcome but your sins are not. Those must be left in the Confessional.
GOSPEL: Mark 6:30 The Apostles gathered around Jesus, and told Him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As He went ashore, He saw a great crowd; and He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
The spiritual landscape during the time of Our Lord’s ministry was awful. So many people were sick or injured. Many were possessed by demons. The faith of so many was completely gone. Our Lord laments that many times He could find no faith at all among His people.
Yet even with this horrible situation, and even when Christ and the Apostles were weary from all their work from teaching and healing people, Our Lord still had compassion for His flock. Even while exhausted, He gathered together some small measure of strength to continue working to tend the sheep.
Thank you for your wise summation of yesterday’s Mass readings. I reread your work today and will and think about it during my prayers. May you have a blessed week. 🙏