Sunday Sermon - 8.13.23

LATIN MASS: ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; 2 By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures: 4 And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures: 5 And that He was seen by Cephas; and after that by the Eleven. 6 Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, He was seen by James, then by all the Apostles. 8 And last of all, He was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. 10 But by the grace of God, I am what I am; and His grace in me hath not been void, but I have laboured more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

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“if you hold fast after what manner I preached to unto you”

Salvation is conditional and contingent. Let no one deceive you on this point. Our Lord set conditions on His New Covenant that we must abide by if we want to be saved by Him. Notice the word IF. St Paul is writing to those who are already believers, and yet he warns them that they must obey God and obey the commands of the Gospel to be saved. Salvation is a free gift, but it comes with conditions. We must repent, we must confess our sins, we must obey and love God, we must love our neighbors. We must do good works. (The good works do not save us, but Christ will not save us if we choose not to do those good works.)

Far too many people think that salvation is a one-time event and that they cannot lose their salvation. Scripture is abundantly clear that we can lose our salvation. We must obey and love God.

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GOSPEL: Mark 7:31 And again going out of the coasts of Tyre, He came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring to Him one deaf and dumb; and they besought Him that He would lay His hand upon him. 33 And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue: 34 And looking up to Heaven, He groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. 35 And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. 36 And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it. 37 And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; He hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

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Christ has power over all of creation. He makes all things new. He is ready and willing to heal us in ways we can only imagine, but most importantly He is ready to heal us spiritually. Go to Confession and be healed by the Divine Physician.

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NOVUS ORDO: NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

OLD TESTAMENT: 1 Kings 19:9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your Covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your Covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

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God can and has appeared as a fire, in the form of a dove, in the form of tongues of fire and in several other ways. Yet He most often comes to us in the silence. When we silence ourselves and just be quiet, we can then listen to Him. When we silence everything in our lives, silence all our electronics and our distractions, and spend just a little time with Him, He will speak to us. Spend some time in Adoration or in silent contemplation before the Tabernacle. Be silent with God and just listen and focus on Him.

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NEW TESTAMENT: Romans 9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the Covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them belong the Patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

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St. Paul wishes that he could bring his fellow Israelites to Christ. He wishes it so much because that is the destiny that God offered to them and they refused it. With rhetorical flourish he says that he wishes he could be damned and instead all his people to be saved. Each one of us is offered the same salvation in Christ. What will our answer be?

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GOSPEL: Matthew 14:22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. 23 And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning He came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

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Yet again, the gospels tell us over and over that Christ has all power and authority over all creation. He controls everything. Nothing is outside of His power. And just like Peter, we are saved while we keep our eyes fixed on Him. It is when we turn our eyes towards the rest of the world that we start to sink. Cry out like Peter “Lord save me!” and He will do so.

Keep your eyes always on Christ. Soon you will be standing in front of Him while He is seated on His Judgment Throne. You want to always keep your eyes on Him.