Sunday Sermon - 9.29.24
APOLOGIES FOR DELAY - HURRICANE HELENE RELATED
LATIN MASS: NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST / DEDICATION OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
EPISTLE: Apocalypse 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to make known to His servants the things which must shortly come to pass: and signified, sending by His angel to His servant John, 2 Who hath given testimony to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen. 3 Blessed is he, that readeth and heareth the words of this prophecy; and keepeth those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand. 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from Him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne, 5 And from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, Who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own Blood
Too often we skim over the introduction to many of the books of the Bible, and we should pay more attention. This greeting and intro from Revelation contains a multitude of declarations that really can give depth to our faith. The Son is eternally begotten by the Father and so has all knowledge that the Father has. Our Lord then gives some of this knowledge of things to come to His angels to transmit to mankind. The Apostle John makes sure to tell the readers of Revelation that not only must they hear the words of this book, but they must be DOERS of the words of this book.
John then transitions to greeting seven of the localities/churches in Asia that Our Lord is sending a message directly to. These churches are not actual separate churches, but dioceses of the one Catholic Church. They are under the authority of the Apostle John. Then he sends the grace and peace of Christ to them that comes from the Blessed Trinity, but also notice that it comes from the “seven spirits” before His throne.
There are a couple of interpretations that we can apply to this, and both are valid interpretations. The first is that it is referring to the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. The second is that it could be referring to the seven Archangels, one of which is St. Michael whose feast it is today. As we know from Scripture, there are seven of these Archangels and we know the names of three of them (Michael, Gabriel and Raphael). It is a wonderful spiritual exercise to contemplate both of these interpretations.
Tobit 12:15 I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord.
GOSPEL: Matthew 18:1 At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest Thou is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto Him a little child, set him in the midst of them, 3 And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 And he that shall receive one such little child in My Name, receiveth Me. 6 But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. 8 And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in Heaven always see the Face of My Father who is in Heaven.
One of the most pernicious lies in our culture today is the idea that Our Lord is a pacifist, a hippie or our buddy. So many today focus on the unending fountain of mercy that Our Lord contains, but they completely ignore that Our Lord is also perfectly just. They imagine a false Christ, who is never upset and never demands we live holy lives. This is just not true.
Here Our Lord makes abundantly clear what His thoughts are about sin. Sin is no small matter. It in fact is horrifically evil and putrid. Sin is so vile that it is better if we were maimed rather than sin. It is better to suffer unspeakable torture or death rather than sin. So remember these words from Our Lord the next time you face temptation or the near occasion of sin. And especially remember these words from Him about leading others into sin. It is bad enough to send your own soul to hell, but the punishment for those who lead others, especially children, into sin will be a multitude worse. Their Guardian Angels are always watching over them and they will not be pleased with you if you tempt them into hell.
NOVUS ORDO: TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OLD TESTAMENT: Numbers 11:25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again. 26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!”
God can bestow His blessings and gifts upon anyone He chooses. We should never object or complain when He does so, especially if He bestows gifts onto those we don’t think should normally have those gifts. But do notice one small thing about this reading. These men were given the gift of prophesy, but they were not given leadership over the people of God. Just because someone is given a gift from God, that they are also given authority as well. Those can be two entirely different gifts from God.
NEW TESTAMENT: James 5:1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the Righteous One, who does not resist you.
Our vices will be used as testimony against us at our judgment day. In this passage, the rich are not condemned because of their wealth, but because some of their wealth was the result of stealing/withholding the wages of the workers. Using their power, they did not give these workers their full entire pay. Always remember that your own deadly sins will be giving testimony to accuse you at your judgment day. Go to Confession, but also fix what you have broken and return what you have stolen if you are able. This is an important part of the sacrament where we make penance for our sins by fixing what we have broken. This is also why we have to be cleansed in Purgatory for those sins that we did not fix or atone for while on earth.
GOSPEL: Mark 9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your Name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in My Name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the Name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
Notice as well here that just like the first reading, these people who are separated from Our Lord and His Church are given certain gifts. God has His reasons for doing so in His plan of salvation. But just as before, these people are not given authority over the people of God. They were able to perform a good work (exorcism) but they were not made into bishops. We must still reach out to those who are separated from God to welcome them into the Church.