Good morning young men and women,
today in the Gospel it says that Jesus drove 7 devils out of Mary Magdalene. That happened when he forgave her her many sins. After she was forgiven, and had turned away from her sins, she followed Jesus all the time, and tried to do anything she could to help him.
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The forgiveness of sins changes a person’s life, they become very happy, and they walk with God, we know this from Confession. After we have told our sins in Confession, and received absolution from the priest, we feel SO good, because we are clean and free of our sins.
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I know that the youngest children here have not yet made their 1st Confession, but most of us all go to Confession every month with our school. One thing is, you can go more often than once a month if you wish; I go every week. Some children go every week or every 2 weeks; our church has confessions on Friday and Saturday afternoons, and if you go to a different Catholic church, they have confession times too, you can just ask your parents when are the times.
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People oftentimes ask me if they can go to Confession – even if it is in the afternoon, or on a Tuesday, or somewhere else, like at the Mall or in the store. They say, ‘Father, could you hear my confession?’ It’s because they want to be free of their sins.
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But the important thing is, that we go to Confession on a regular basis. I hope that you went during the summer, when we were out of school. Confession, sometimes called Reconcilliation, or the Sacrament of Penance – it is where Jesus speaks to us through the priest. Yes, it’s the priest’s voice, but when he gives us forgivness, Jesus is doing that – taking away our sins.
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It is a relief to have a big sin taken away, to tell it; once it is told, well, that was the hard part. Sometimes older kids or students in college have some bad mortal sins; they are SO relieved when they go to Confession, so that they can forget being wicked and start to be good again.
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When we confess, we must tell all the mortal sins since our last confession, and we can tell some of the venial sins that are bothering us also. If a boy goes to confession, and he has a bad mortal sin on his soul – if he is afraid to tell the priest and he conceals that sin, is that a true Confession? No way.
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Sometimes we think a sin is SO bad, that we are afraid to tell the priest, he might be shocked. But that is not true, because we priests understand how the devil can trick people, and so we are very understanding.
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Let us make always a good examination of conscience before Confession, and then be very truthful when we confess. This way, our soul will be clean and beautiful, and this will make Jesus – and us – very happy.
Friends in Christ, in the gospel today, Our Lord slips away to a deserted place as was his habit, to pray. In today’s Epistle of St. Paul says: ‘We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.’ 1 Timothy 2:1 – I urge that supplications, prayers, and intercessions be made for all people, St. James says in his Epistle: ‘Pray for one another.’
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So in these and in many other places in the scriptures, we see that it was typical of the early Christians to pray for each other. Praying for others is an essential part of charity, the most important virtue of a Christian life. If we really love our neighbor, if we really are striving to have charity, even toward our enemies, we must pray for them.
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St. Augustine would likely never have even been saved, much less become a great saint, had his mother not prayed for him every day.
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We teach little children to kneel down and say their bedtime prayers, thanking God, asking help from their angel, to Mary; and inevitably they go through a list of each family member asking God to bless and help them.
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Now we find this to be edifying and even charming, but that is exactly what we are still supposed to be doing: praying for our family members, children, parents, grandparents, the sick, those who have died – by name.
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The great tragedy of our time is that many today, I dare say the majority of people, have no one praying for them. Can we imagine? To have no one at all praying for you? So many of our teens and people out there – not a single person praying for them.
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St. Anthony once prayed for a little girl who had died, she returned to life – because of his prayers. But even greater than praying for such things as physical healing, is to pray for the spiritual welfare and the salvation of those we know and love – and even those who are against us. Praying for others is an essential aspect of true Christian charity.
Friends in the Lord, today we read about these workers who were hired late, but still received the same wage. As with many of the gospels, Our Lord is here revealing a few different things.
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One thing he is referring to, says St. Gregory the Great, is the history of salvation. The morning of that workday represents the early beginning of the world, and so it is the time from Adam up to Noah. The vineyard is God’s kingdom on earth, and the promised payment of the wage represents salvation. God’s covenant with Adam was the agreed-upon wage; but the rest who came later – they had no contract with God and no covenant.
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The third hour of the day, is the period from Noah up to Abraham, the sixth hour, is from Abraham up to Moses, and the ninth hour is from Moses to the coming of Christ. So the workers at the third, sixth, and ninth hours represent the ancient Jewish people, chosen in the beginning to serve the Lord in the vineyard.
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But at the eleventh hour the Gentiles are called, and that is us. Now these Gentiles for so many ages of the world did not labor for the Lord, they stood by idle. But notice what they say to the Master: ‘No one has hired us; and it is true: neither the Patriarchs, nor Abraham, nor Noah, or the prophets had ever come to the Gentiles to invite them. The Gentiles say: ‘No one has preached to us this way of life; so finally the Gentiles are sent also, into the vineyard.
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When the time of payment comes, this is the end of the world. And so the Lord said to the steward, that is, to the Holy Spirit, ‘Call the labors, and give them their wage. Now it turns out that they are all able to obtain the same wage, that is, salvation. Thus says, St. Gregory the Great.
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Most of us were called to work in God’s vineyard from childhood, in our baptism. But we should keep our eyes out for those we might know, who are late in life, still searching for God. RCIA begins this fall. It is an opportunity for Catholics to review their faith, or for people to complete their sacraments; but it is also a chance for those who want to learn more about becoming Catholic. So let us keep our eyes open, and maybe invite someone into the kingdom.
Friends in Christ,
today Our Lord speaks of the little mustard seed that becomes a great tree; and of yeast, which though barely seen, can transform the whole mass of dough. He is speaking of the big effects of a Christian life through seeming small actions.
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In the year 404AD there lived a holy monk called Telemachus. He was a hermit of the desert, a man of prayer, but at one point he felt compelled to go to Rome. There, the gladiator games were continuing – the source of blood-lust and evil in which people reveled. The Catholic faith was by this time, legal, but it was evident that many were still pagan.
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When Telemachus saw the horror of the gladiator games, men fighting each other and killing each other to the roar of the crowd – he was horrified. He jumped from his seat right into the arena, and stood between the gladiators. He was tossed aside, but he went back again, and then a sword appeared and he was dead.
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But there was a hush. the enormous crowd was silent. A holy man was dead. something happened that day in Rome, for there were never any gladiator games any more.
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Jesus speaks today of the tiny mustard seed and the yeast, which by themselves seem insignificant, but which can produce a great effect. This is how he wants our life to be. He wants us, by doing what is right daily, standing for the faith, choosing good over evil in a hundred little ways – like Telemachus – St. Telemachus – Our Lord wants us to be the catalyst for good in our own circles of influence. And we do this by daily prayer, and choosing the path of holiness at every step.
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We don’t know where each step will lead us, but in this way, the Lord will be able to make great use of us to build up the kingdom of God.
‘Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.’
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Friends in Christ, for our reflection today, I thought it might be informative to hear what St. John Chrysostom has to say about this passage. He says, we are sheep that are sent out into the world, as among the wolves. Jesus says to us, ‘don’t be upset by this. I could have done things differently; I could have sent you to be fierce lions and you would not suffer at all. But the way I have chosen is right. It will bring you greater praise and also manifest my power.
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That is why he told St. Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, because in weakness my power is made perfect.’
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Now even though the Lord’s grace will be working in us, he wants us to contribute something. Therefore he says, be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. What does he mean? A snake will surrender everything and will put up no great resistance even if its body is being cut to pieces, as long it can save its head. The Lord is saying, that when enemies are against you, you should surrender everything: your money, your body, even your life itself, but not your Faith.
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Christ insisted on the cleverness of the snake, but also on the innocence of the dove; innocence, so that we would not seek revenge on those who injure us. This teaching is not beyond your power. The Lord knows that when we are attacked, moderation, not a fierce defense, beats back the attack.
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Some thoughts from St. John Chrysostom.
Friends in Christ, today our reading from Genesis shows us this strange wrestling match between Jacob and a mysterious figure. It says that they wrestled until the break of dawn. Jacob would become wounded, but it seems that he was winning, because this person said to Jacob, ‘Let me go.’ He replied, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me.’ Jacob named the place Peniel, which means ‘I have seen God face to face.’
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God is pure spirit – you can’t see God. In order for Jacob to see him, and to wrestle with him, this means that either God put on flesh at that time, or that an angel as God’s messenger, temporarily assumed a human form. The fathers of the Church have wondered about this strange event. Was it an angel that Jacob wrestled with, or what?
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St. Justin and St. Ambrose think that this was the Son of God, the Word, who made an early appearance in the world. St. Leo the Great says that this appearance was a type, a sign, that beautifully foretold the coming of Christ, who would take a true human nature.
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This event which lies often unnoticed in the Old Testament captures very well, in it’s essence, the wrestling that we do with God sometimes in life. People of faith often experience this ‘wrestling match’ with God. ‘I got mad at God,’ someone will say in confession. ‘I was angry and I told God that I wasn’t going to pray to him anymore, because he won’t help me.’ ‘I felt that God was not with me, I asked him where he was.’
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These are very human feelings, feelings we can have out of frustration or anger because we feel that the Lord could help us in the way that we need, but nothing is changing. But then we go back and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘I didn’t trust you.’ This is to wrestle with God, like Jacob. Asking the Lord’s help, crying to him, shouting – contending with God all day in conversation and aspirations – this is a good kind of wrestling with the Lord.
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The Son of God DID come in the flesh, so that he is not distant, but so that we can really ‘wrestle’ with him in our problems. But the Good News is, that if we hang in there and don’t give up, even if we are wounded, like Jacob, we will win. And in the end, he will bless us.
Friends in Christ, today is Independence Day. We point to this day as the founding of our country. Compared to many other countries, ours is young. As a Democracy, it has been viewed as an experiment.
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The French Revolution of 1789, was an attempt at some kind of democracy, but it’s violence and instability resulted in failure. A different kind of experiment was taking place across the ocean however, started in 1776, and it seemed to have promise: the United States.
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For this reason, the Frenchman, Alex de Toqueville, a political historian, made his famous travels to the United States to study us. He recorded his observations in his book ‘Democracy in America.’ In his writings, he makes many astute observations about our country, as it was in the early 1800’s. He analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of everything. It is obvious, that in the back of his mind, is the question: can this Democracy last. He says some things that might be a bit disturbing to us.
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For example, he says that no nation has ever constituted so great a Judicial power as the Americans; the very existence of the Union is vested in the hands of 7 Federal Judges. (now there are 9) ‘This appears to me to be the most serious attack upon the independence of the States. The President may err without causing great mischief; congress may decide amiss without destroying the Union; but if the Supreme Court is ever composed of imprudent or bad men, the Union may be plunged into anarchy or civil war.
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De Toqueville has a number of warnings in his book, which seem quite timely, but today I’d like to address something else he says; it is regarding religion. He says that although there are many different religious groups here, and all worship in their own way, they all preach the same moral law in the name of God. Although no religion makes the laws or controls politics, he says that there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains greater influence over the souls of men than in America.
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For example, he says, there is certainly no country in the world where marriage is more respected than in America. In Europe, almost all the disturbances of society arise from the irregularities of domestic life. But when the American retires from the turmoil of public life to the bosom of his family, he finds in it the image of order and of peace.
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Because of the influence of Christianity, he says that no one has dared to advance the idea that ‘everything is permissible.’ De Toqueville says that he was in a courtroom, and when the witness admitted that he did not believe in God, the judge refused to admit his evidence on the ground that he had lost the confidence of the court. And the newspapers reported this without any comment.
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Friends in Christ, it is obvious that there has been a drastic change in the last 150 years; we have a vital role to play in the fight for the soul of America; but it must begin with ourselves. We must live like true Christians, and teach others to do the same.
Friends in Christ, today we read this rather strange account about Abraham and Sarah. Abraham had been promised by God that he would be the father of a dynasty, but instead of waiting for God’s time, his wife Sarah, in her impatience, induces her husband to have a child with her Egyptian slave, Hagar. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. But this was not God’s plan and His angel told them so.
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But then when Abraham and Sarah were quite old, they DID give birth, to a son: Isaac. He was the heir, through whom the promises of God would come. It is from Isaac that would come Jacob, and David, and Jesus, the Savior.
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So what is the real, spiritual meaning of all of this strange story? Well, in this case, we needn’t speculate. St. Paul himself explains it.
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He writes: Abraham had two sons, the one by a slave-girl and the other by a free woman. The son of the slave-girl was born according to the flesh, but the son of the free woman, in virtue of the promise. These, he says, represent the two covenants. The one of bondage which is Hagar, which corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem, and the other is the child of the Promise, of the New Jerusalem which is above, in heaven, and is free.
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Notice too, yesterday, the birth of John the Baptist, – he was born naturally. John the Baptist represents the end of the Old Covenant. This is contrasted with Christ, who is born to a virgin – a supernatural birth, not according to the flesh.
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The Old Covenant represents living with the heart set on the things of THIS world; but children of the New Covenant of grace, live with our eyes set on the Heavenly Jerusalem, our Mother. The path to the New Jerusalem, in which we participate now, this is the path of freedom and grace.
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An ancient Talmudic tradition said that Ishmael often treated Isaac badly. St. Paul uses this to explain that those who live for this world according to the flesh, often give trouble to Christians who live according to the Spirit. Let us therefore, walk not in the flesh, which means sin and slavery, but let us walk in the Spirit, as children of the Promise.
Friends in Christ, today in the Gospel Our Lord teaches his Apostles the best way to pray. He teaches them the Our Father.
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The Lord’s Prayer should be said many times a day, it is the privileged prayer of the Church, because it was given by Jesus himself. Emeritus Pope Benedict, in a book he wrote called ‘A New Song to the Lord’ (p. 170), he recalls a story of two philology students who had never had any kind of religious instruction, but they attended a sermon by Helmut Thielicke at St. Michael’s church in Hamburg. What impressed them most was the Our Father that was prayed together at the end, which everyone knew.
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Being without any religion, they had never heard it before. Since everyone else seemed to know it, they were ashamed to ask anyone where this prayer came from, instead, they went on a search for this text themselves. Their attempt to find it in the public library failed. They could not find the text in the library of the school of theology either.
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The matter became ever more baffling until they finally hit upon an idea: they would watch religious services – the Mass – on television, and listening carefully, they were able to write down the Our Father as it was being prayed. They wrote about this experience: ‘Thus we finally had a copy of the Our Father in the bag!,’ they said. This episode eventually would lead them to enter the Catholic Faith.
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It is easy for us to take for granted this beautiful prayer given to us by the Son of God, in Person. St. Teresa of Avila advocates saying this prayer very, very slowly, and meditating on each phrase. This is a way, she says, to converse with God.
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This is a prayer with power; it can even convert a person to Christ, and save their soul.
Friends in Christ, today Our Lord warns us not to give alms to win the praise of others, not to pray in a showy way, so that others notice, and not to fast so as to attract attention.
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One of the most shameful vices is to be a show-off, or to be a braggart – always looking for attention and talking about oneself.
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Boasting, says St. Thomas, is to make false claims in praise of one’s own qualities or accomplishments. It is an attempt to make oneself seem bigger or above, what one really is.
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Doing things to attract the attention of others, so that others will rave about us, is really a form of immaturity. A person who is seeking even in a minimal way to walk the life of Christ, surely knows that what matters is God’s impression of us; after all, he sees the heart.
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If we do something meritorious before God, some good thing, and then go around bragging about it, we lose the merit of that deed. The Lord says today, if you do things for the praise of others, then you have had your reward.
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Bragging can occur for two reasons: It could be out of arrogance or out of vanity. Boasting because a person is arrogant has its root in pride, St. Gregory the Great says that boasting is a form of pride with the goal of vainglory.
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People will be braggarts about the amount of money or investments they have, the kind of house they have, or even their looks or their hairstyle. But as Our Lord says, this kind of vainglory can creep into even our spiritual life, in which case, alms-giving, fasting, and our prayers can become actions in search of only the attention of others.
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We should therefore conduct our life with decorum and restraint, and do everything, not for the eyes of others, but for the glory of God.
