Sunday Sermon - 9.22.24
LATIN MASS: EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Christ Jesus, 5 That in all things you are made rich in Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
St. Paul here mentions the grace of God and even mentions the sacrament of Confirmation as the means by which God will grant His grace to us. We must always remember that Our Lord has explicitly given us the channels of His grace, and wants us to frequently go to them. Many people today look for miracles and special manifestations of God’s grace but entirely overlook the normal means that God gives to us to receive His grace. Miracles may or may not come, but by their very nature they are exceedingly rare. The sacraments are omnipresent to us. We don’t need a miracle to find them and we don’t need to wait for them. They are here with us right now. So go to them.
Have a regular schedule for going to Confession. Keep your soul clean all the time and do not wait for it to be filthy before you get it cleaned. You should be going to Confession with your family at least once a month. It should be a regular and scheduled thing that you do. It must be a priority. The sacrament of Confession is what keeps our souls clean and ensures that the graces from the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage and Holy Orders continue to flow into our souls.
GOSPEL: Matthew 9:1 And entering into a boat, He passed over the water and came into His own city. 2 And behold they brought to Him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. 3 And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee: or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said He to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. 7 And he arose, and went into his house. 8 And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.
The multitude glorified God when they saw that God had given such power to MEN. Notice that it doesn’t say “man”, but instead says “men”. Our Lord did not keep to Himself the authority to forgive sins. He gave this authority to His Apostles and commanded them to pass on that authority to other men via ordination. Our Lord wants His Church to have power over sin so that it can continue to free souls from the power of sin through all the ages until His Second Coming.
NOVUS ORDO: TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Wisdom 2:12 “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the Law, and accuses us of sins against our training.
17 Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 18 for if the righteous man is God’s child, He will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 19 Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. 20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
Envy and hatred produces such wickedness in our souls that we are barely human anymore. Notice in this passage that they know this man is righteous, yet they hate him anyway. They do not hate him because he has wronged them. They hate him because he hasn’t. They hate him because he doesn’t participate in their wickedness. Envy corrupts the soul so quickly and viciously that it is hard to describe how terrible it truly is. Instead of loving those who are righteous and good to you, you instead hate them and despise them even when they have done nothing to you. Perform acts of charity and kindness to fight this deadly sin.
NEW TESTAMENT: James 3:16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
4:1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
As mentioned above, where there is envy, there is wickedness of every kind. It causes factions, divisions and hatred for your family and neighbors. It also corrupts your prayers and your relationship with God. Instead of asking for good things from a pure heart, you ask for things because of your disordered passions.
GOSPEL: Mark 9:30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill Him, and three days after being killed, He will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what He was saying and were afraid to ask Him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house He asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then He took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in My Name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not Me but the One who sent Me.”
Each of the Apostles was concerned about what titles and honors he would receive rather than remaining focused on Our Lord and doing the will of the Father. Let Our Lord worry about the gifts He will give to you in Heaven. He knows perfectly what that should be. Instead you keep your focus on the will of the Father and what He wants. Keep your focus on that and everything else will sort itself perfectly. This doesn’t mean hard times will not come, because they are guaranteed to arrive. (Our Lord promised a cross, not a comfortable couch.) It means that while you remain focused on the will of the Father, Christ will at the same time be furnishing you with His grace more and more so that you are capable of doing His will.
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