Second Sunday of Advent

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120714.cfm

The Mass as the Bridge between the

First and Second “Comings” of Christ

Part II

The figure of St. John the Baptist appears in the gospel today on this Second Sunday of Advent.  What do we know about John?  We know that he comes from elderly parents (an indication of a prophet in line with the prophets of old); he leaps in the womb of St. Elizabeth when Our Lady comes near (who is pregnant with Our Lord); he wears the clothing of a prophet (camel hair) and eats modestly (honey and locusts — yum!); and he comes at a time when many are not expecting the Messiah.  And what is his message?  John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4).

This message is appropriate for Advent because repentance is necessary to greet the Lord Jesus.  However, repentance is also imperative for preparing ourselves to meet the Lord Jesus in every Mass.  The Mass is essentially composed of two major parts, the “Liturgy of the Word” and the “Liturgy of the Eucharist.”  The first part of the Mass is preparation for the second part.  When we come to the church, it is always good to greet our brothers and sisters in the narthex (or the outside patio at St. Leo’s).  However, it is important that we enter the church at least five minutes early.  Once we are in the church proper, we should spend time recollecting ourselves by kneeling or sitting reverently and praying.

When Mass begins, we stand as a sign of respect.  The ministers enter: incense first (a sign of adoration), then cross (the sign of our salvation) sometimes flanked by two candle bearers (the light of Christ), then the deacon carrying the Book of the Gospels (words and works of Christ), and finally the priest who is “in the person of Christ the Head.”  Processions were common in the Old Testament, and as we sing the entrance antiphon or hymn during this procession, we are echoing the people who sang ‘Hosanna!’ at the glorious entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.  When the priest reaches the altar, he and the deacon(s) kiss the altar as a sign of reverence, and the altar is incensed because it is the object used for sacrifice and it represents Christ Himself.

The Mass continues with the Sign of the Cross, a reminder that we are gathered by the Most Holy Trinity and that the Holy Cross is our only hope.  (By the way, only the priest says, “In the Name . . .”; your response is “Amen”.)  The priest then greets the people based on a formula of St. Paul: “The Lord be with you,” etc.  The response “And with your spirit” is a desire that the priest receive peace from the Spirit he received at ordination.  The priest then invites us to acknowlege our sins — to repent (as St. John the Baptist preaches).  We should use the period of silence to think about our sins and unworthiness.  When we say the Confiteor (“I confess”), we need to mean it.  The priest invokes once again God’s mercy after we say this prayer together, and then we chant “Lord, have mercy” in English or in Greek (the language of the NT), Kyrie, eleison.  We sing the Gloria only on Sundays outside of Advent and Lent.  It is based on the joyful hymn of the Angels at the birth of Christ and was formulated as early as the Second Century.  Afterwards, the priest sings or says, “Let us pray,” and gives us another opportunity for silent recollection.  We should really think about what we want in this Mass, and then listen attentively to the words of the prayer as the priest says or chants it — to make his words our words.

If we really focus on paying attention during the first part of Mass and avoid “zoning out,” we will find that we really “get something out of it” and that we will encounter Christ in the readings and preaching of the priest.  To prepare the way of the Lord at the start will help assure a welcome reception of Jesus in the second part of Mass when He enters into our bodies and souls at Holy Communion.

First Sunday of Advent

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/113014.cfm

Advent is the season of “remembering” and “waiting” for the King.  Christ, the Light of the World, has already come, but we are still waiting for Him to come again.  Advent is a type of “bridge” connecting the first and second comings of Jesus Christ.  Like the season of Advent, the holy Mass is also a bridge between the two comings of Christ — but it is a more perfect connection.  This form of Catholic worship was not invented by the Catholic Church.  The Eucharist was instituted by Christ at the Last Supper, ratified by His death and resurrection, and extends His real, true, substantial presence until the end of time when He will return in glory.  History and the writings of the early Church Fathers confirm that the Mass was the way the earliest Christians worshipped God.  Although the form, gestures, and some externals have developed over the centuries, the essentials of the Mass have remained the same.  St. Justin Martyr, writing in the second century, attests that a “proclamation of the word” and a “breaking of the bread” were present in the earliest Eucharistic liturgies.

The Church still teaches that intentionally missing Sunday Mass under normal circumstances is a mortal sin, so we are not to take lightly Sundays and holy days of obligation.  Because we are human (and all too capable of just “going through the motions”), we at times need to be reminded of how important the Mass is.  The rich symbolism of the Mass is meant to help us realize that divine worship is to envelop us — to take us out of time and put us into contact with that which is eternal.  The symbolism of the Mass is also a bridge from the Old Testament to the New.

On Sundays in many parish churches, all six candles are lit and near the altar there is a crucifix, which almost functions as a seventh candle.  This harkens back to the Jewish temple, where a seven-branch candelabra (similar to the menorah of Hanukkah) was placed near the altar of sacrifice.  The beeswax candle is a symbol of Christ: the beeswax signifies Christ’s body (bees obtain wax from flowers like the flesh of Christ was obtained from the Blessed Virgin); the wick signifies the soul of Christ; and the flame signifies the divinity of Christ.  The linens on the altar are a symbol of the burial shrouds used at Christ’s death, which were folded neatly after His Resurrection.  The chalice veil is a symbol of mystery and sacredness.  Holy objects and holy people in Judaism were always veiled.  The objects that will contain the Body and Blood of Jesus are veiled before and during Mass as a sign that we do not truly understand what takes place at the Mass, nor are we worthy.  Incense is burned as a sign of God’s presence in His holy temple and of our prayers ascending to heaven, and it has the effect of engaging our sense of smell during the liturgical celebration.

Over the course of the next three Sundays of Advent, I will write on what each part of the Mass means.  Understanding the Mass will help us to avoid “falling asleep” — both physically and spiritually — and will help us to stay alert at the coming of Christ in every Mass.  “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come (Mk 13:33).

September 21, 2014—Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092114.cfm

Called to be a Worker in the Vineyard

For to me life is Christ, and death is gain (Phil 1:21).  With St. Paul, there is no sense of comfortable Christianity, no “Health & Wealth Gospel” or “Prosperity Gospel.”  For St. Paul, the Christian faith — the living of the “good news” — is not a Sunday religion or something that is merely social like getting together for a community meal.  Faith in Jesus Christ changes everything — so much so that St. Paul writes, I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).  Being a Christian entails a radical transformation, out of my comfort zone and out of doing just what I want so that I can transform the world through my belief, my hope, and my life in Jesus Christ.

In the gospel for this Sunday (Mt 20:1-16a), Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a landowner who saw people standing idle in the marketplace.  We are those who stand about idle in the marketplace.  All of us, in some way, are content with lukewarmness, some form of complacency, some desire to just “stand around” in our faith.  Maybe our tepidity is not wanting to volunteer our time at church (or at all); maybe we are apathetic toward the rights of the unborn (for those who have no voice) because abortion is such a controversial issue; maybe our lukewarmness is that we habitually missSunday Mass for insufficient reasons.  Lukewarmness is always a temptation and easy to slip into (even for priests) and we must be aware of the consequences of such an attitude (see Rev 3:16).  Nevertheless, God (the landowner) is constantly inviting us to labor in His vineyard.  Even if we are late in life (more advanced in years), we can always respond to God’s invitation to labor in His vineyard.

Yes, spreading the gospel in the family and at work is tough, but our efforts do help to build up the kingdom of God in our little area.  Yes, standing up for the sanctity of unborn human life in the LifeChain and in other peaceful Pro-Life activism can get you dirty looks and curses, but lives of the innocent can be saved and mothers’ lives can be changed.  Yes, Sunday Mass can be inconvenient at times, especially when we have worked hard all week and just want to take it easy, but going to Mass anyway is a recognition that God is the giver of time and should be the aim of our hard work and even of our leisure.  Christ is not calling for sleepy, bored Christians.  Our parish cannot just be another sleepy, little church!  Christ is calling us to work for His kingdom here on earth.  And what does He promise?  Eternal life — not a place in the clouds sometime in the future — but now.  The “Landowner” does not wait to give us a daily wage, but He gives us our daily bread quintessentially in the Mass — Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  And as we leave our church this Sunday to accomplish such a mission, we must follow St. Paul’s instruction to conduct ourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ (Phil 1:27).

September 14, 2014—Feast of the Exultation of the Cross

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091414.cfm

To Be Most Like God

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross.  On the liturgical calendar, this feast of September 14th [and its readings] trump the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  (For those of you non-Catholics who read my write-up each week, don’t worry. . . Even practicing Catholics have a hard time figuring out the hierarchy of feasts and our set of Biblical readings called the “Lectionary.”)  The gospel reading we would normally hear this Sunday is a continuation of Matthew 18, a follow-up to the gospel we heard last Sunday on how to reprimand another for his or her sin — the art of “fraternal correction.”  Matthew 18:21-35 is about forgiveness and showing mercy.  Christ our Lord says to St. Peter that we are not only to forgive seven times, but seventy times seven — a number denoting limitless forgiveness and mercy.  To demonstrate the profundity of this teaching, Jesus gives the “Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.”  A king (symbolizing God the Father) forgives a 10,000 talent debt, that is, 20 years worth of wages, when his servant asks for mercy.  That servant represents each and every one of us [sinners].  But Jesus shows how ungrateful this servant is (and how we all can be) when the servant refuses to forgive someone in debt to him — just 100 denarii, that is, 100 days worth of wages — a much smaller debt than what the king had forgiven.  Jesus tells us we will be punished severely if we do not forgive our neighbors from our hearts.

The forgiveness of which our Lord is speaking is not just forgiving someone for leaving their dishes in the sink, or someone being late for an important date, or someone who pulled out in front of you on the road.  It is a call to an attitude of forgiveness, so that when we are hurt badly, we will be able to be generous in mercy — as generous as God is with us.  Without this attitude, how can we forgive a close friend who says something bad about us behind our back?  How can we forgive an unfaithful spouse, or a child abuser, or a notorious murderer on death row?  How can we forgive the terrorists who plotted and executed the attacks on the World Trade Center thirteen years ago?  It is important to highlight that forgiveness does not absolve responsibility; mercy does not negate the demand for justice.  However, forgiveness opens the path to charity and the hope for conversion of the wrongdoer.  It is a submission that ultimate justice is God’s — not ours.  If you are having trouble forgiving someone right now (or some people who have hurt you badly), think about the worst sin you have ever committed against God and remember how God has been merciful to you.  Then in your prayer, thank God once again for his limitless mercy and ask for his help in forgiving the person (or persons) who have hurt you.  Some wounds are so painful that we cannot forgive without God’s grace.  And remember:  When we forgive someone, especially someone who has sinned against us gravely, it is then that we are most like God.  Forgiveness is the most loving characteristic of God, and so when we are forgiving, we are most like God.

August 31, 2014—Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/083114.cfm

Health and Wealth or the Cross?

There is a particularly attractive message preached on television on Sundays, and it is probably preached in some Christian communities near you.  The writer of the book, Prayer of Jabez (Multnomah Books, 2000), is also a proponent of this message.  And the message is this: “If you believe in God and if you trust in Him, He will shower down upon you abundant material blessings. . . God will pamper good Christians and they will never have to suffer.”  This message is called the “Health and Wealth Gospel” or the “Prosperity Gospel.”  It is not completely new, either.  John Calvin, one of the original Protestant “reformers” in the 16th Century, taught that “the Elect” (i.e., true Christians predestined by God) can be distinguished from others by their riches as signs of God’s favor.  Our response as Catholic Christians is simply a question:  Is the “Health and Wealth Gospel” Biblical?  Is it the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

In the gospel passage of this Sunday (Mt 16:21-27), St. Peter tries to stop Jesus from going to His Passion — from being crucified and killed for our sins.  And what is our Lord’s response?  “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mt 16:23).  This is shocking!  Jesus had just called Him the rock upon which He was to build His Church, and now He is calling Him Satan.  And why?  Because Simon Peter is not thinking as God does, but as men do.  Jesus goes on to teach: NOT that if you follow Him you will be rewarded with material blessings; NOT that you will be guaranteed good health; NOT even that you will “assured” of your salvation; but Christ teaches, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24).  So, what does this mean for us as?  First, we must deny ourselves.  We must abstain absolutely from sin, especially mortal sin.  This means, for example, taking seriously purity, holding our tongue lest we speak filthy things, and avoiding excessive eating and drinking.  St. Paul teaches in the second reading (Rom 12:1-2) that we must not conform ourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of our minds.  Second, we must joyfully take up our crosses.  Just because we are faithful Catholics does not mean we will not have crosses.  On the contrary, it means that we must embrace them when they come our way — and when we unite them to the Cross of the Lord through prayer — they are the means of our purification and sanctification.  Yet this is hard.  (As a priest, it so much easier to preach to my parishioners about taking up their crosses rather than actually taking up the crosses the Lord sends me in my life.)  Thirdly, we must follow the Lord — to healing, to teaching, to works of mercy, to Calvary.  Where do we find the strength to overcome our selfishness and sinfulness?  Where can we find the power to take up our crosses?  Mass, Confession and Adoration are the ways the saints show us.  The Mass is Calvary made present in the here and now, and yet at the holy altar, we encounter the Lord Jesus to be refreshed, strengthened, and enabled to take up our crosses and follow Him.  At the holy altar, St. Paul teaches we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, [our] spiritual worship (Rom 12:1).  During the Mass, there are many opportunities to think about your crosses and ask the Lord for help in carrying them.  Let us avoid willful distractions, boredom, and desire for entertainment; and let us ask for the Lord’s grace to follow Him wherever He leads us.

August 24, 2014—Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082414.cfm

What is Papal Infallibility?

When you look at the Vatican flag, you will notice that the two symbols of the papacy are clearly evident in front of the white background.   On top is the papal tiara.  It was never used for liturgy but was worn in civic ceremonies by the pope.  It is shaped like a beehive and contains three crowns symbolizing the authority of Christ the Priest, Prophet, and King.  (Pope Paul VI retired the papal tiara after Vatican II.)  Below the papal tiara is the more prominent image: the two keys.  One is gold to represent the pope’s authority that comes from heaven, and one is silver to represent the pope’s authority over the faithful on earth.  While the “keys” are certainly metaphors for spiritual and ecclesiastical authority, they are not something the Catholic Church invented to justify having a human leader.  On the contrary, the keys are given by Christ Himself — and not to all the apostles, but to Simon Peter alone (Mt 16:19).  Just as the Church is to exist until the end of time, St. Peter’s primacy was not to end at his death but rather to extend to all his successors until the glorious return of Christ.  This is the basis of the Church’s teaching of Papal Infallibility.

There are a lot of misunderstandings about Papal Infallibility.  A common misunderstanding about Papal Infallibility is that it means a pope is unable to sin, that is, that the pope is impeccable.  Well, all you need to do is look at an account of some of the lives of Renaissance popes and you will realize that popes do, indeed, sin (and sometimes gravely).  So, if Papal Infallibility does not mean that popes are perfect, what does it mean?  Papal Infallibility denotes that when a pope teaches solemnly ex cathedra — “from the chair” — on matters pertaining to faith and morals, he is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching error (CCC 891).  The source of this teaching is not human but divine.  In the first reading (Is 22:19-23), we hear about the “Key of the House of David.”  This “key” refers to the power that will be given to the Son of David, to the Christ (Messiah) Himself.  But in the gospel reading, we hear how Jesus Christ deliberately decides to give the “Keys of the Kingdom” (a metaphor for divine authority) to Simon Peter.  Yes, the Keys of the Kingdom belong rightfully to Christ, but He freely chooses to give them to His vicars on earth — the popes, the successors of St. Peter.

Having had “bad popes” does not mean that Papal Infallibility has been proven wrong or that it is merely a human invention.  Rather, we see Christ’s power through the papacy — even in sinful popes and sinful church leaders — because if the Catholic Church was merely a human institution, it would have failed centuries ago.  But it has remained.  Governments and nations have risen and fallen, but the Church still stands and continues to grow!  God’s power is greater than human weakness.  Christ promises us that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church.  He does not say the gates of hell will not touch His Church, but only that they will not prevail against His Church (Mt 16:18).  As Catholic Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ remains faithful to His promise, that He has not abandoned His Church — He never has and He never will.  He has raised up great saints to lead His holy Church like Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope St. Gregory the Great, and Pope St. John Paul II (truly a “Great” of our times) to name a few.  These popes, in their lives and in their teachings, lead us to affirm with St. Peter that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, and the gates of hell will not prevail against His holy Church.

August 17, 2014—Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081714.cfm

The Role of the Catholic Church in Salvation

“It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15:26).  Our Lord’s response to the Canaanite woman is shocking . . . not exactly the sweet and gentle Jesus we have inside our minds.  However, it is important to take into account that Jesus came from the Jews and for the Jews first, and then for the Gentiles.  Nevertheless, because of this woman’s humility, her utter abasement before the Lord and the disciples, and her faith and perseverance, the Lord listens to her and grants her request.  

As Catholic Christians, we hold as true that Jesus Christ chose to found one Church (Mt 16:18) and that this one Church has visible boundaries (Mt 5:14).  There is a related doctrine we hold that is often avoided and at best misunderstood.  In fact, many Catholics simply dismiss it as “unecumenical” without actually trying to understand it.  The name of this doctrine in Latin is: Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, that is, “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (CCC 846-8).  Now, firstly, what does this mean?  It means that membership in the true Church, the Church Christ founded, is necessary for salvation.  St. Paul teaches that the Church has Christ as its head and we are individually members of His body (1 Cor 12).  It is impossible to be joined to Christ without somehow being joined to His body.  Secondly, what does this doctrine not say?  We as Catholics are not saying that everyone else, including Protestant Christians, are going to hell.  We, as members of the true Church, acknowledge the millions of non-Catholic Christians out there who love Jesus Christ and are faithful to their interpretation of the Holy Bible (Vatican II: Lumen Gentium, 15).  However, we lament the fact that they are not in full communion with us and have instead interpreted the Scriptures in their own way — not in keeping with the Sacred Tradition (2 Thess 2:15) and the consistent teaching of the Church’s Magisterium (1 Tim 3:15).

This evaluation of the current state of Christianity in the world is not a condemnation of anyone.  Actually, because we know so many fine, committed non-Catholics, we can hope and pray for their salvation — but not apart from the Church.  If they are saved, they are still saved because of the Catholic Church of which they are members (albeit imperfectly) due to their faith in Christ and through baptism.  Many Protestants, especially Evangelicals, are our greatest allies in promoting the Culture of Life.  We should seek to work together for common goals, without forgetting we have a duty to invite Protestants and the lost sheep (fallen-away Catholics) into full communion with the Catholic Church.  Ecumenical dialogue means we talk about what we have in common as well as our differences.  Evangelization is not opposed to ecumenism because both endeavors seek the same object, that is, truth.  And if truth is what we really seek, we should ask Protestant Christians what is keeping them from Catholicism.  We might be surprised at where this dialogue may lead.