CONTRITION, CONFESSION, AND SATISFACTION

A SERMON FOR THE 10th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The picture in today’s Gospel is a familiar one to many of us.  It is the story of two men, one of them a proud and pompous Pharisee, who struts his way to the front of the temple where his prayer to God is nothing more than one big pat on his own back.  “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice a week, I give away a tenth of all that I possess.”  And then a second man – we barely see him at first, as he creeps into the church unobserved and remains hidden in the dark shadows at the back.  No boasting comes from the mouth of this one, only words, prayers of abject humility and penitence: “O God, be merciful unto me, a sinner.”

Our Lord offers these two men to us for our evaluation.  We are asked who we believe to be the better man of the two. Is it the “good man” at the front of the church boasting about all the good deeds he has done during the last week? Or is it the “sinner” at the back, beating his breast in tears at the memory of the sins he has committed during the week?

And indeed, for which of the two do we feel more empathy?  Shouldn’t we be attracted more by the man who has been so dedicated to his good deeds?  Shouldn’t we be drawn to admire him?  And yet our inner nature revolts against doing so.  There he stands at the front of the church in front of everyone, bragging about his good deeds.  And we find that nauseating.  Meanwhile, our true sympathies lie with that poor fellow at the back who doesn’t dare show his face.  He knows what he’s done.  But he still dragged his sorry behind to church to kneel before his God and beg pardon. To tell God how much he is truly sorry for all those bad things he’s done.

Don’t feel guilty that you prefer the sinner over the self-righteous.  “I tell you,” says Our Lord, “this man (at the back of the church—the sinner) went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

And here’s our lesson for the day:  abase yourself, don’t exalt yourself.  Don’t congratulate yourself for anything good you do!  Certainly, don’t seek the praise of other men for your good works!  Nor should you ever look upon the good works of others as less worthy than your own! Notice that the boasting Pharisee sees the sinner at the back of the church, and that, instead of seeing there a reminder to be more humble, he merely sees another opportunity to congratulate himself, that he is “not as other men, or even as this publican”.  Never compare youself with others.  We spoke a couple of weeks ago about the different talents each of us has been given.  Perhaps these other people we’re looking down on  have been given different gifts than us.  Perhaps they are striving harder to accomplish less, while we find it oh so easy to do so much more!  God looks at the efforts, not the results.  

Instead, look to the publican at the back of the church.  He doesn’t even notice the Pharisee, so engrossed is he in begging mercy from his God.  When we come to seek pardon and absolution here in this church, remember that we are kneeling before the immeasurable majesty of God.  We should compare ourselves withhisinfinite holiness!  Remember man, that thou art dust!  Look not on your merits but on your sins, and confess them humbly to God.  “O God, be merciful unto me, a sinner.”  This is the man who will go down to his house justified. This is the man who will save his soul. 

I’ll be you have never been in a Catholic church where the confessional was at the front of the church.  It’s never up here in the sanctuary, is it?  The sinner in today’s Gospel stays at the back of the church to confess his sins to God, and leaves the front pews to the Pharisee to boast from.  When it’s time for confession, you head for the back of the sacristy, and it is there, in the obscurity and the darkness, that you mutter your offences to God.

Confession today is not like it was in the Gospel story.  Our Lord has elevated it into a Sacrament, so that by the outward signs we may receive, infallibly, the forgiveness of our sins. We call these outward signs of a sacrament the matter and the form.  Remember that if either the matter or the form is absent, the sacrament is invalid. That doesn’t bother us so much in other sacraments:  we leave all that theological stuff up to the priest, right?—he’s responsible for saying the right words, and making sure the water is poured over the baby’s head, or that the wine and communion wafers are properly prepared, or whatever.  But in Confession it’s different.  The form of the sacrament is the absolution spoken by the priest, so certainly we can leave that bit up to the priest.  But what is the matterof the sacrament?  In the Sacrament of Penance it is the penitentwho is responsible for the matter of the sacrament.  And if youdon’t prepare the matter of the Sacrament of Penance properly, then your Confession is invalid.  Think about that rather momentous thought for a second!  

You can see, can’t you, how important it is you understand what I’m about to explain.  In order for you to make a valid confession, in order for your sins to be properly absolved by the priest and forgiven by God, you must understand the following and put it into practice.  There are three things necessary for the sacramental matter of Confession.  Make sure you know them.  Make sure you prepare for Confession by reminding yourself that all three must be fulfilled.  By you, the penitent!

The first of the three is Contrition for your sins.  The second is Confession of your sins.  And the third is the Desire to Make Satisfaction for your sins.  Contrition, confession, satisfaction.  Omit any of these, and your confession is invalid.

Of these three things, the most important is Contrition.  Look at the publican in today’s Gospel again.  I don’t know if he listed all his sins to God, and I don’t know if he made reparation for them.  But I do know he was contrite, because the Gospel says so. 

The desire to make satisfaction flows directly from the contrition – if you are conscious of having done something wrong, you will want to make up for that wrong if you’re truly sorry for it. You can’t steal money from someone, and then later be truly sorry for having stolen it, but then just keep the money anyway.  Obviously! Usually, to make satisfaction for your sins, the priest will simply give you a penance to say, generally a few prayers. But other times, especially when your sins go against justice, he will ask you to make reparation—give back the money you stole, or whatever.  You must have the genuine desire and intention to make reparation, whatever the priest gives you to do or say.

The actual listing of your sins, and your repetition of them to the priest is also necessary.  Of course, you’re not likely to forget to confess your sins when you’re kneeling there in the confessional.  Just remember though, it means all your sins!  Or to be more specific, at least all your mortalsins.  Not just the ones that are easy to ask forgiveness for.  Don’t leave out the embarrassing ones!  You know from your catechism that that would make the Confession invalid if you leave out one mortal sin deliberately.  

But the confession of the sins and the penance the priest gives you, that’s the easy part to remember.  But the contrition?  That’s a different story, isn’t it?  That’s something the priest can’t see or hear, something you can’t see or hear either, so I want to impress upon you today how very important it is.  Indeed it is essential in order that your confession be valid.  It is as essential to the Sacrament of Penance as water is essential to the Sacrament of Baptism.  Without contrition our sins will not be forgiven.

Now you understand, I hope, the necessity of having contrition.  To better understand what contrition is and the type of contrition you must have for your confession to be valid, you should read the front page of today’s bulletin.

In the movie The Passionwe see that after he denies Christ, St. Peter realizes his sin.  Not only does he weep bitter tears for his sins, he goes to the Blessed Mother, he confesses to her what he has done, how he has sinned against her Son and offended him deeply.  Sometimes when you’re finding it difficult to have the right motives for your contrition, before you go to Confession, go first to Our Lady.  Tell her what you’ve done, think of how you have hurt your blessed Mother by offending her Son, by making him sweat another drop of blood in Gethsemane. She won’t be angry.  She won’t turn you away.  She will comfort you.  After all, she is the Refuge of Sinners, the Comfort of the Afflicted.  Always go to Our Lady, and she will help inspire in you that sense of true perfect contrition for your sins, so that you can make a good Confession, and so that you can save your soul.

JUST AS I AM

A HYMN FOR THE 10th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt.
Fighting and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot;
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind,
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

By Charlotte Elliott, 1834

WHAT IS CONTRITION

A MESSAGE FOR THE 10th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The catechism teaches that for the Sacrament of Penance, our sorrow must be 1) interior, 2) universal, and 3) supernatural.  These terms are not difficult to understand.

Interior.
When the priest asks us to say the words of the Act of Contrition, we must be telling the truth when we say them.  It is not enough to rattle off the words. You must believe the words to be true. This is not about emotion:  you don’t necessarily have to be wiping the tears from your eyes as you repeat the words.  But you must at least believe that what you are saying is the truth. That you aretruly sorry for your sins, and for the reasons you give, that you dread the loss of heaven, or because they offend God.  Otherwise, you are simply lying to God, mouthing words you don’t believe.  If your attachment to your sin is so strong that you are actually not sorry at all, don’t bother telling God that you are.  He knows the truth.  Lying to God in the confessional merely adds to your sins, so that you’re worse off when you come out than when you went in.

Universal.The sorrow for your sins must extend to all your sins, at least the mortal sins.  If you’re lying on the battlefield with three mortal wounds, the surgeon must take care of all three.  If he leaves just one mortal wound without treatment, then that will surely be your cause of death.  So be sorry for every single mortal sin you’ve committed, and the venial ones too if you can.  It’s always a good idea to take one or more mortal sins of our past life, and to confess them again, trying to excite fresh sorrow for them.

Supernatural.This is the quality of contrition hardest to understand, and the hardest to obtain.  If we’re to be sorry for anything, we obviously have to have a reason for being sorry.  Now, the reason could be one of any number of things, but it always stems from the consequencesof the sin we commit.  These consequences vary, and therefore give rise to many different kinds of contrition.  For example, the drunkard lies on his bed of sickness, ashadow of his former self.  His habits, his addiction, has led to the injury of his body, perhaps the loss of a job, or the breakup of his family.  And so he’s sorry for his sins of drunkenness.  A prisoner in jail curses his crime because it has deprived him of his freedom.  Other sins undermine the health, weaken the mind, destroy our credit and good name, or cover us with shame and infamy.  Now, if such reasons as these lead us to repent of our sins, causing us even to bewail them with many bitter tears, this is, no doubt, sorrow of a very real and heartfelt kind; but it is a natural sorrow, and, therefore, is not sufficient for the Sacrament of Penance.  Our sorrow must be supernatural.  We must repent of our sins on account of the evil consequences they bring upon us for eternal life.  Sin robs us of sanctifying grace; it deprives the unrepentant sinner of heaven, and casts him into eternal fire; it makes him the enemy of God, and crucifies our Saviour over again.  These consequences of sin have reference to our eternal life, and are therefore supernatural.  You must have this kind of supernatural contrition for your confession to be valid.

ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WEEP

A SERMON FOR THE 9th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

What does it take to make a grown man weep?  I remember, when I was much younger, seeing a grown man weep, and it made a deep impression on me.  He was a member of the church I was attending at the time, and his wife was very sick. He took good care of her, and as the time approached for a church garage sale, he watched her with pride as, with her trembling fingers, she spent hours making the most beautiful little wooden decorations for hanging on the wall, all covered with miniature flowers and little ornaments.  In spite of her illness she was able to make a dozen or more of these exquisite little wall decorations.  She looked forward to selling them at the church sale to make some money for her church and provide a simple treasure made with love for some fortunate home.  Finally, the day of the sale came, and she took her place at her little booth, with the decorations arranged in front of her. But she didn’t sell a single one. People looked at them, they picked them up, they put them down again, and nobody bought them.  At the end of the day, the church didn’t want them either, and they ended up in the trash.  The lady (for she wastruly a lady) put on a brave face.  But her husband wept.

Today we listen to the Gospel and hear how when Our Blessed Lord “was come near unto Jerusalem, he beheld the city, and wept over it.”  What does that have to do with the lady who made the wall decorations for the church sale?  Simply this:  Like the lady’s husband who loved her so very much, Our Lord loved his Father in heaven. He had seen the love with which his heavenly Father had created man so that he may be united with him in heaven. He had seen how man had disobeyed in the Garden of Eden, and how his Father had then done everything possible to prepare man after the Fall of Adam for his restoration to grace.  Our Lord had heard the promise his Father had made to Abraham and his seed forever, the love with which he had blessed Jacob and his twelve sons, the future twelve tribes of Israel, how he had chosen them to be his people, how he had brought them out of the land of Egypt, cared for them in the wilderness for forty years, feeding them with manna from heaven, bringing them to the Promised Land, and vanquishing their enemies.  Our Lord knew the patience with which his Father had put up with the complaints of the Jews, their sins, their idolatry, still loving them as his chosen people, to whom he continued to send his prophets, and finally the fulfillment of their prophecies, a child who was born in the city of David, who dwelt amongst them, who was to be their Redeemer and Saviour, God’s only-begotten Son.  Our Lord knew all the love, the care, the devotion with which his Father had prepared this, his chosen people, to receive him.  And now Our Lord came near unto Jerusalem, and beheld the Holy City, the site of the great Temple of Solomon where was kept the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies.  And he wept. For here, in this Holy City, dedicated to the one, true God of Israel, his own chosen people would betray him. They would return not love and gratitude to his Father in heaven, but would take his Son and mock him, and cry out for his crucifixion.  He “was in the world,” as it says in the Last Gospel, “and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”  God’s greatest gift to man would be crucified, and his Father would be treated with ingratitude and contempt.  And Jesus wept.

On Good Friday, as we venerate the Cross, the Choir sings the Reproaches, a veritable litany of what probably went through Our Lord’s mind as he beheld his Holy City of Jerusalem that day.  “I did scourge Egypt with her first-born for thy sake:  and thou hast scourged me and delivered me up.  I led thee forth out of Egypt, drowning Pharaoh in the Red Sea:  and thou hast delivered me up unto the chief priests.  I did open the sea before thee:  and thou hast opened my side with a spear.  I did go before thee in the pillar of the cloud:  and thou hast led me unto the judgment-hall of Pilate.  I did feed thee with manna in the desert: and thou hast stricken me with blows and scourges.  I did give thee to drink the water of life from the rock:  and thou hast given me to drink but gall and vinegar.  I did smite the kings of the Canaanites for thy sake: and thou hast smitten my head with a reed.  I did give thee a royal scepter:  and thou hast given unto my head a crown of thorns.  I did raise thee on high with great power:  and thou hast hanged me upon the gibbet of the Cross.”

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”  Our Lord already knew how his perfidious people would treat him, and he wept.   And he said to his people: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!”  If only the Jews had understood what great and mighty wonders had been done for them, all culminating in his presence now in their midst!  And he warned them that the day would shortly come when the Holy City of Jerusalem, even the whole people of Israel, would be punished for what they were about to do to the Son of God who had come to redeem Israel from all his iniquities, the Son of God who was to be the salvation which God had prepared before the face of all peoples, and to be the glory of his people Israel.  And Our Lord’s tears turned to anger, and he entered the Holy Temple of Sion, and with a whip he drove out the money-lenders who had dared to turn his Father’s house into a den of thieves.

Every Sunday, my dear faithful, we are given a lesson to learn by the Church. Today, we are given an extremely serious warning.  Just as God chose the children of Abraham to be his people, and sent unto them his only-begotten Son, whom they would reject and murder, so too is the Roman Catholic Church today in danger of rejecting that same Son of God who built her upon the Rock of Peter.  He warned us about false leaders, Antichrists, who would spread lies under the silken banners of liberty, equality and fraternity, the motto of the French Revolution, the anniversary of which just passed this week.  Such pleasant words, aren’t they!  Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!  But the libertyto belong to whatever religion we want?  No!  The equalityof a Pope, supposedly the Vicar of Christ on earth, who wants people to “just call him George?”  No!  The fraternityof condoning whatever sins and perversions and lies the people of this world are ready to slobber over next?  No, no, and three times no!  And yet, we let history repeat itself, in spite of all the warnings we have received in Holy Scripture – remember the prophet Daniel’s warning of the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place, for instance? – and in spite of the countless examples of the Chosen People of the Old Testament, who time after time, rewarded God’s love for them with callous ingratitude, and ultimately with total rejection.  “Crucify him, crucify him!”

And if the mighty institution of the Holy Roman Catholic Church can fall into the same dereliction of its duty as the Jews of old, what then of us?  Are we to imagine, that we traditional Catholics have simply been rescued at random from this mass defection from the Faith, so that we can come once a week to our comfortable little chapel here in Cotton Candyville, Ohio, and get our weekly fill of religion, the same way we recharge our iPhones every now and again?  If you believe that, then look into the face of Jesus today, look at the tears streaming down his face as he says to you “Thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

For God is surely coming to visit and judge his people.  And we had better be prepared to be judged when he comes. And how do we prepare?  With the same attitude as we prepare for any important examination.  If the passing grade is 70, do we aim to get exactly 70 and just scrape by?  Or do we aim to get the highest score we can possibly get, to make sure we’re well over the passing grade and in no danger of failing? Life is the same.  Let’s not aim merely to be “without sin”.  We must aim higher.  Once we leave the confessional, we must do everything in our power to make reparation for our sins and the sins of others, to bear our crosses patiently, to expand our practice of virtue, to deepen our love of God and neighbour.   We have to aim as high as we can.  “Be perfect,” said Our Lord, “even as my heavenly Father is perfect.”

And God, of course, gives us every opportunity to do better.  Just as he did with the Jews.  Are we to be like them, who ended up rejecting their God, relying instead on some misguided idea of “tradition” and “law”.  He gave them so much, and today he gives us even more. The Jews were spared the loss of their first-born, by sprinkling their doorposts with the blood of the sacrificial paschal lamb.  We are spared the loss of our very souls by the Most Precious Blood of the Lamb of God. The Jews were fed with manna from heaven.  But that was only a shadow of the Blessed Sacrament, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, with which we are fed in Holy Communion. The Jews were led to their Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, where they were able to live their faith, secure from the enemies around them.  We have been led by grace to the true Church of God, where we can live our faith, and remain true to the values God gave us and the truths God revealed to us.    Are we, like the Jews of old, to give back in return for all these gifts of God, nothing more than ingratitude, coldness, indifference, sometimes bordering even on contempt?

With God’s help, let each of us pray today that our efforts may be blessed by God, and that we may never fail him like his chosen people the Jews, or like those who have taken over the Church he founded.  We must expect further attacks from God’s enemies, and particularly from the greatest and most dangerous enemy of all, that perversion of angelic beauty, Satan, who controls this world and will do all in his power to thwart our every effort.  It will not be an easy task, but there is no greater reward in this life or the next than to have the opportunity to work for God, to suffer for him, and if so called upon, to die for him.  But whatever the price, we must be prepared to pay it.  The cost is to ourselves.  In time, in spiritual energy, in the effort of having to disrupt our routine and do something new and different.  That’s the cost.  But in return, we are promised that we will receive a hundredfold.  That’s what Our Lord promised to those who leave their home, their wife, their children, their fields, even for a short time.  Do we want to increase in virtue?  Then let us follow God’s commandment to love him and our neighbor.  Are we in need of special help or favors?  Then let us pay for God’s help by sacrificing our time and efforts to him as a demonstration of that love.  Or are we simply sinners who just want to save our souls?  Then let us at least strive to confess our sins and do better in future. 

Whatever the state of our soul, it will be helped a hundredfold by the prayers and sacrifices we make.  We can be assured that our efforts will not be in vain, like those of the lady who made the wall decorations.  Our efforts will be carefully weighed, not thrown in the trash.  But they willbe weighed.  Let’s not be found wanting.  Let’s not be content with aiming for just the passing grade, but higher, always higher, towards the perfection to which God calls us.  To him that giveth more shall more be given.  Let’s give of ourselves, with generosity, back to the God who has given us so much.  Or must Jesus weep again?

ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

A HYMN FOR THE 9TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

1 All creatures of our God and King,
lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

2 Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
ye lights of ev'ning find a voice!
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 And all ye men of tender heart,
forgiving others, take your part,
O sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
praise God and on Him cast your care!
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

4 Let all things their Creator bless
and worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, Three in One:
O praise Him, O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

By St. Francis of Assisi, 1225, paraphrased by William H. Draper

KNOWING THE TIME OF OUR VISITATION

A MESSAGE FOR THE 9th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Choosing the right moment is usually something we learn by experience.  The more often we barbecue, for example, the better we get at knowing when to take the steak off the grill so it will be perfectly medium rare.  There are other times, however, when we need perfect timing for something we may have never done before, like choosing the perfect time to propose to one’s girlfriend, for instance.

From these two examples alone, we can see that choosing the right moment can be a trivial matter or something far more important. And now and again, there are times in our life when it is essential for our eternal salvation to know when it’s time to act. These rare occasions are what our Lord calls the time of our visitation.

Just what are these times of our visitation, and how can we recognize them when they come along?  When we find ourselves before a life-changing choice that will make the difference for us between heaven or hell, salvation or damnation, this is our visitation from God.  He may intervene directly in our lives to place the choice before us (think of St. Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus), or more often, he may use a human instrument such as a priest or parent to explain to us the danger we face if we continue on our present course.  Sometimes signs present themselves in the things around us, or the circumstances we face. But no matter who or what shows us that all-important choice, then it’s up to us, NOW, to make that choice and make the right one.

We won’t have any difficulty recognizing the moment when it comes.  We all have a conscience, and it will direct us to do the right thing.  And if we make the wrong choice, our conscience will persist in reminding us of our mistake, hopefully pushing us to regret it and correct it.  But we shouldn’t count on that.  The time of our visitation may come only once, as it did in the case of the Jews. Our Lord was born, he lived, and he died among them.  But they made the wrong choice, refusing their Messiah, and turning their temple into a den of thieves.  

Let’s not make the same mistake.  If we are visited by God and given a chance to amend our ways, let’s clasp the opportunity as a drowning man grasps on to a life raft.  Chances are that it’s our only chance.

A TALENT FOR DOING GOOD

A SERMON FOR THE 8th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Today’s Gospel for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost always leaves us feeling a little uneasy, doesn’t it?  It’s the story of the unjust steward, who has been caught by his employer wasting the goods with which he had been entrusted, and because of this, has been fired.  But first his employer wants an accounting of his stewardship.  This gives the unjust steward a bit of time to come up with a plan. He knows he is going to be unemployed soon, but he can’t dig, and to beg he is ashamed.  He is going to need another job.  So what does he do?  He “adjusts” the debts which people owe to his master.  He fixes the numbers, lowers the payments, fiddles the books, makes it easier for them to pay off their debts.  He figures this way, they will owe him when he’s let go, and might employ him by way of reward.  It’s a pretty effective plan when you think about it, and yet it does make us a bit uneasy. And it should.  It’s illegal and immoral!  After all, these debtors owe what they owe, and by lowering their debts on paper, the steward is actually just stealing even more from his employer.

So the next words of the Gospel come as a bit of a surprise:  “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.”  What’s going on here?  Is God commending someone for stealing?  Is it okay to commit an immoral act for a good purpose?  The answer to these questions is a resounding “No!” However, that’s not what is happening here.  First of all, when the “lord” commends the unjust steward for having acted wisely, let’s remember that this “lord” is not “The Lord”, as in “God.”  It is the employer, the lord of the unjust steward. So his opinion that the steward acted wisely does not come with an awful lot of weight in and of itself.  Let’s take a look though at the next comment of our divine Saviour:  “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” So here, you see, is the real picture: the children of this world, worldly people, sinful people, take a lot more care about themselves than we who are supposed to be followers of Christ.  Or to put it another way, they put a lot more effort into taking care of themselves and their bodily needs, than we do taking care of our souls. AND, what’s worse, so do we.  We too spend more time worrying about our natural needs and vanities, than we do cultivating virtue and avoiding sin.

Do you remember, there was a politician who was running for president in the Democratic primaries back in 2008, and he was famous for spending $1250 for a haircut?  He put such care into his wavy locks, and was forever brushing them back self-consciously, so very proud of his hair.  At the same time, while his wife was suffering from terminal cancer, he was busy having an extramarital affair.  The Gospel today is a stern rebuke to this type of behaviour.  Not only when it is this extreme, but in other cases, cases perhaps that we can recognize in ourselves.  Are we so busy, ladies, preening ourselves in the mirror on Sunday morning that we’re late for Mass?  Or men, do we spend so much time working out at the gym than we forget the family Rosary, or even our own few decades?  Time to examine the conscience again, isn’t it!  Time to see where our ownpriorities lie!  That is—if we will makethe time!  If we’re not too busy doing something “more important”…

So when Our Lord points out the “wisdom” of the unjust steward, he is not commending his dishonesty.  He is rather commending the wisdom and foresight of the steward in preparing for his future.  This is what we are exhorted by Our Lord to do also.  We must act as the unjust steward, but only in a certain sense. Not in the sense of being dishonest of course.  But in preparing for our future.  

We are all stewards.  A steward is someone who is entrusted with the care of something. And what have we been entrusted with? What has God given to each of us, all differently, all in our own individual way?  All our natural gifts and talents!  And like the unjust steward, we must use the things that our own Lord has given us in this world.  What is our equivalent of the oil and wheat given to the unjust steward in today’s Gospel?  Our own material possessions.  We must use them wisely and for our own salvation, and even more so those material things or talents which God has given us – a talent perhaps for writing good stories, or painting beautiful pictures, a talent for helping people in their difficulties, or arguing a legal case, or a talent for making money. Physical beauty perhaps, or a good memory, or strong muscles, or mechanical aptitude.  These are all gifts from God.  Whatever the particular talents God has given us, we must use them! Don’t waste them like the steward in the Gospel today wasted his master’s goods.  But figure out a way to use your gifts to prepare a good outcome for yourself.  Take the time, like the unjust steward, to figure out how these talents can help secure your future in heaven.  

Because these talents are our very own “mammon of iniquity”.  They can, oh so easily lead us into sin.  Again, look at today’s “unjust steward.”  He used his talent of providing for his own future by defrauding his master of what was owed to him.  He used his talent for self-preservation in order to commit sin.  We must be careful not to do the same.  How many girls abuse their physical beauty to make themselves immodest, leading others, as well as themselves, into sin?  Or physical strength perhaps?  The temptation to pride and vanity that athletic young men might experience, thinking the size of their biceps somehow make them better people than the less endowed.  The talents given us by God, these are our strength, certainly, but they are also our weakness, always there to drag us into the sin of pride, making us think we’re better than the rest.  They’re our very own personal mammon of iniquity!  

And yet today, Our Lord tells us to make ourselves friendswith the mammon of iniquity, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.   This is our task today, given to us by our Lord himself.  To make friends with the mammon of iniquity, to use our talents for the purpose God gave them to us.   So let’s look very carefully in the mirror to assess honestly what talents we have. Then befriend those talents.  Whatever they might be— intelligence, physical beauty, leadership qualities—any of these talents, even though they were given to us by God, can lead us so very easily to hell.  Our talents are truly the mammon of iniquity – all those hidden talents we have, and which, instead of using for the purpose God gave them, we’ve been using for our own entertainment and self-gratification.  From now on though, let’s make friends with them, let’s become friends with the mammon of iniquity.  Let’s use them now for the good of others, for the promotion of God’skingdom.  And if we think at all about using our talents for ourselves, let it be for the salvation of our soul.  

So girls, do you consider yourself attractive? Fine, but use this gift of God properly, and throughyour outward appearance, attract men to the shining soul within you, so that they may be inspired to become better persons themselves.  Don’t compete with others, even in your own mind—those who are less “pretty” are no less pleasing to God, no less virtuous.  Are you intelligent?  Apply your abilities to learning and teaching the things of God.  And don’t look down on the more simple-minded, who may be closer to God than you.  Are you a good lawyer?  Use your legal skills to promote true justice, and mercy where there should be mercy, arguing against the oppression of the poor and the destitute.  Are you a good singer?  Join the church choir.  Are you good at making huge amounts of money?  Please see me after Mass and bring your checkbook.  Together there’s no end to the benefits we can bring to this sad world if we use our own individual talents wisely.  And if we all pool our talents, if everyone uses his or her talents for the common good, then we have the solution to turning this sad world into a better world.  God gives each of us as individuals to the means to save our own souls.  But when we put all these individuals together to become the Mystical Body of Christ, when we cooperate as the true Church of Christ to perform the mission entrusted to us, then we have not only our talents, but the grace of God within us, and with that, the means to save the whole world.

NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD

A HYMN FOR THE 8th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Now thank we all our God, 
with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, 
in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms 
has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God 
through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts 
and blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace,
and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, 
in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God 
the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns 
with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, 
whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, 
and shall be evermore.

By Martin Rinkart, 1647

KEEPING THE BOOKS

A MESSAGE FOR THE 8th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

It’s true that in life, we tend to judge a book by its cover.  The world values very highly the cover, with its names, titles and endorsements.  But the world makes very little of the contents of the book, and nothing at all of the last page.  When weare judged on the other hand, God pays no attention to the cover; his searching eye goes through the whole contents most carefully, noting all we have done, and all we have failed to do. He then makes his final judgment based solely on the very last page.  The state of our soul as we pass into the world beyond, and our book is closed forever.  This is our Book of Life—the one we hear spoken of in the Dies Iraeof the Requiem Mass, when we hear the words “Liber scriptus proferetur”—“a written Book shall be put forward”.  This book contains every single moral and immoral act we shall have performed in the course of our life, everything on which we shall be judged. 

This Book of Life is therefore something we need to keep under extremely careful control.  It is our account-book, and to keep it balanced, we should go regularly—once a month at least—to confession.  We need this frequent opportunity to humble ourselves and be sincere in our self-accusation, so that we might have nothing to fear from our future Judge.  As St. Augustine so nicely puts it: “Accuse yourself and you will be excused.  Excuse yourself and you will be accused.”  If we have debts to pay, let’s make restitution now while we still can.  And if we have debtors, let us write off those debts, forgive them that trespass against us, so that our own debts, often neglected and forgotten, may also be forgiven.  Let’s resolve today to do this more frequently, to make a daily examination of conscience and add an act of contrition to our night prayers.  This way, when God calls, and tells us “thou canst be steward no longer,” we may be received into the everlasting dwellings.

THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH

A SERMON FOR THE 7th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Back in the days before the Industrial Revolution, most people worked on the land.  In every nation, the natural rhythm of the four seasons determined the work that was to be done—the planting of the crops in spring, the harvest in the fall. Summer naturally became a time when a little relaxation could take place between planting and harvest time, and this concept has continued into our modern age, with the long summer break for the children and thoughts of vacations, outings and picnics for the adults.  And then, of course, there was the opposite side of the annual cycle, the winter.  The poor farmers and peasants of yesteryear had no source of food and nourishment during the cold, harsh winter months, nothing to eat other than what they had set aside from their harvesting earlier in the year.  Their very survival depended on the yield of their harvest.

Naturally, agricultural and farming analogies abound in Holy Scripture, and today’s readings are a prime example.  Both the Epistle and the Gospel talk about “fruit”.  Simple lessons, but profound.  Simple lessons, and yet when they are applied to our own lives, how easily we neglect them.  Or disregard them altogether…  Or worst of all, deliberately reject them.

Here’s the first lesson for us: “Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”  If we want to have good fruit, so that we may survive the long, harsh winter, we had better go to the good tree and not the corrupt tree and gather up the fruit there.  We had better center our lives around good people, follow good teachers and mentors, surround ourselves with good friends, because they will help us survive this life.  “Show me your company, and I’ll show you who you are.” But how do we know whether our company is good or not?  Because of the fruit they produce.  If they are truly good, then surely goodness and mercy shall follow them all the days of their life, and they shall be blessed of the Lord.  They will follow the commandments, and lead others to do the same.  They will love their holy religion, and draw others to it.  They will love God and their neighbor, and be ready to sacrifice their own happiness for the good of others.

Surround yourselves with such people.  Be one of these people yourself.  For these are the good trees that bring forth good fruit.  “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”  It’s so very obvious, isn’t it, in the context of the apple orchard?  And yet, how often we stray towards the corrupt trees, those persons who entice us with temptations to satisfy our own desires, those who would draw us away from God and into a permanent search for more pleasure, more material possessions, more money, more power.  St. Paul sums it up perfectly when he says “The wages of sin is death.”  No matter how hard we work, if we’re working to cultivate a corrupt tree, then at the end of the day, when it’s time to reap what we have sown, at harvest time, what will be the fruit of our labor?  “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.”  We would have a very bitter winter to look forward to.  In fact, the corrupt tree that we have planted, cultivated, and cared for, oh so diligently, will suffer the fate of “every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit.”  It shall be “hewn down and cast into the fire.”  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what that means…

Our blessed Lord never fails to remind us that, although he loves us more than life itself (and he proved that by giving up his life for us), there is still an awful place that will last eternally for those who disregard or reject his teaching.  Here today is his teaching—avoid bad company.  “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  Sure, they seem like they’re interested only in helping us to be happy, in providing us with all the pleasures of this life so we can satisfy and gratify ourselves through them.  But not through God.  They cater to our lowest senses of appetite and emotion, manipulating our “feelings” so that we want that which we should not want, and are bored or even repulsed by the nobler aspirations of the human soul.

There is a modern word which describes such people.  It is the “Millennials.”  No one can help when they’re born, and certainly it is not a sin to be a millennial in the strictest sense of the term.  But there is a certain truth to the stereotype of the millennial as being someone who is self-centered to the point of narcissism, who rejects all concepts of authority and duty.  They don’t honor the military or the clergy or the genuine Christian, because they have contempt for the sacrifices of others—first, they don’t understand why they sacrifice, and secondly, because it shows them up for being the selfish creatures they are.  The millennial attitude is shown in so very many things today that it would take all day to just list them.  So I’ll mention just one, and that is their attitude to patriotism.  It was the Fourth of July this past week after all. But watch the liberals: their respect for our military veterans and for the fallen is given begrudgingly, if at all; they prefer their heroes to be athletes who refuse to give honor to the flag; they want to abolish the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, any public displays of patriotism; and most telling of all, they want to remove all mentions of God from the national scene, whether it be images of the Ten Commandments in our courthouses, “In God we trust” on our coins, manger scenes at Christmas, and crosses at our war memorials.  This is all part of the same contempt for what should be held dear—God and country.

As a result, this country is on the precipice of a great fall into socialism. Socialism—perhaps the most obvious example ever of a corrupt tree, which has never failed to bring forth evil fruit, from the Soviet Union to Cuba, from Venezuela to Vermont.  And let’s not forget the “National Socialists” or “Nazis.”  But this is the natural goal of the Millennials, and we must beware these false prophets.  Wolves more ravening than Hitler and Stalin would be hard to find.

I’ve mentioned the false prophets in our own lives, those so-called “friends” and “mentors” who would lead us astray.  I’ve mentioned the false prophets on our national scene who are hell-bent on taking our country to the brink of destruction.  Should I mention too the false prophets of our Church?  Can we think of any false prophets in sheep’s clothing who have been leading souls astray since Vatican 2?  Enough said, I think!

Just remember these stinging words of our Lord, that “not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”  It’s not enough, he’s telling us, that we have faith in God, nor even that we acknowledge him as our Lord and Savior, as the Protestants do. We must do his will.  We must obey his commandments.  “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments,” says our Lord. You won’t just do whatever you want, but what I want.  You will not offend me by pleasing yourselves, but will do my will.  You will accept your responsibilities as Christians and follow me.  As St. Paul tells the Romans, “Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end of everlasting life.”

So the message is clear, whether you be a millennial or not, if you want the reward of eternal life, if you want to avoid being hewn down and cast into the fire, you must avoid bad company in your private life, and take care that your public life does not take you into equally dangerous company in your politics. “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”  No, and why would you?   Seek out the good trees and become one yourself.  Gather the good fruit of others, and produce good fruit yourself. For the warning is plain, and the wages of sin is death.

OFT IN SORROW, OFT IN WOE

A HYMN FOR THE 7th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Oft in sorrow, oft in woe,
Onward, Christian, onward go:
Fight the fight, maintain the strife
Strengthened with the bread of life.

Onward Christians, onward go,
Join the war, and face the foe;
Faint not: Much does yet remain,
Dreary is the long campaign.

Shrink not, Christians will ye yield?
Will ye quit the painful field?
Will ye flee in danger’s hour?
Know ye not your captain’s power?

Let your drooping hearts be glad:
March in heavenly armor clad:
Fight, nor think the battle long,
Victory soon shall be your song.

Let not sorrow dim your eye,
Soon shall every tear be dry;
Let not fears your course impede,
Great your strength, if great your need.

Onward then in battle move,
More than conquerors ye shall prove;
Though opposed by many a foe,
Christian soldiers onward go.

By Henry K. White & Frances S. Fuller-Maitland, 1827

SHEEP'S CLOTHING

A MESSAGE FOR THE 7th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

We are warned in today’s Gospel to beware of false prophets, “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  It’s basically the same caution we receive when we are told not to judge a book by its cover.  Things are not always what they appear to be, and the moral of the story is not to jump to conclusions.

There is a reason for such caution.  Simply said, we often make mistakes when we try to judge our neighbor. We tend to regard as enemies those who don’t agree with our own faith, or political positions, or opinions.  And yet, so many of them are not enemies at all, simply mistaken individuals who are sincerely trying to understand the truth but who have taken a wrong path on the way.  They are not wolves in sheep’s clothing, but simply sheep who have lost their way.

Sometimes, they may even be right.  Sometimes it is weourselves who have come to the wrong conclusion, and we should be considering the words of St. Matthew’s Gospel (7:3), “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”  A good deal of humility is required when attempting to judge our neighbor, and quite honestly it should rarely be done!

In order to know for certain that we are dealing with a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and absolutely, before publicly acknowledging someone as such, we must first of all limit our judgments to the external forum.  This means, simply, that we must confine ourselves to judging a person’s words and actions, and never his thoughts or his perceived motivation, which we can never know.  Only God sees the heart of man.

Secondly, we must go beyond just words and actions.  They are often spoken or performed by people who don’t know better, for example, by the sincere Protestant who has been brought up to believe certain falsehoods, and so, with a genuine love for his neighbor attempts to convert someone to his own way of thinking.  This is not a wolf, someone who must be hunted down and silenced forever.  It is merely a lost soul, a sheep who is not of Christ’s pasture, but who needs to be gently drawn back by the power of the truth and our own charity, which is supernatural and therefore greater than his.

So how can we base our judgments on more than words and actions?  By obeying Christ’s advice, and looking at their fruits.  Anyone can make a mistake, but when they persistunder the guise of sincerity in producing fruit that are obviously rotten, here you have a ravening wolf.  The popes and prelates of Vatican II are a prime example, and so are the growing number of socialists who want to repeat the mistakes of Marx in spite of their infallible record of disaster.  Beware these men, for they have evolved from lost sheep to being predators whose mission is to destroy us all.

A NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT

A SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

In the course of history, that is, in all the time since the creation of the world, God has made but two covenants (or testaments) with man.  The first covenant, or Old Testament, was the promise of a Redeemer, a Messiah, who would save the people from their sin. The second, or new covenant, is none other than the most Precious Blood of Christ that we are celebrating today. Why do I say that?  Because these were Christ’s own words at the Last Supper, when he took the chalice of wine into his sacred and most venerable hands, and having given thanks unto God, he gave unto his disciples, saying: “Take ye and drink ye all of this, for this is the Chalice of my Blood, the new and everlasting Covenant: the mystery of faith, which for you and for many shall be shed unto the remission of sins.” The Old Testament, in other words, was the promise of a Redeemer, the New Testament was the Redeemer himself, and the act of Redemption he performed by shedding his Blood for us.

God wanted to prepare man for this extraordinary transition from the Old to the New Testament, from the promise to the fulfillment of our Redemption. He built into our very nature, our human nature, the notion that our willingness to sacrifice is the yardstick by which our love is to be measured.   Whether the object of our love is another human being or God himself, we show our love by giving up some of what we want for them.  We show them that they are more important to us even than our very own selves.  Love seeketh not her own, but is unselfish, giving. This is true love, not the emotional, sentimental stuff of Daniel Steele novels and Lifetime for Women movies.  

The highest measure of love is shown by our willingness to give up that which we cherish most, our very lives.  This is what Abraham Lincoln referred to as the “last full measure of devotion,” and what our Lord confirmed as the greatest act of love: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  And who are the friends of Christ?  At the Last Supper, which was the first Mass, he himself told us: “Henceforth, I call you not servants… but I have called you friends.”  This Last Supper was the transitional moment between the sacrifices of the Old Testament and the New.  This very first offering to God of the Chalice of Christ’s own Precious Blood was the signal that the sacrifices of the Old Testament were no longer acceptable to God, but only the new sacrifice, that of Christ, who, the very next day, would shed every last drop of his Blood.  For us, his friends.

In fact, those sacrifices of the Old Testament, although they may have been acceptableto God before the Last Supper, had never really been sufficient.  After all, how could the blood of animals ever balance out the infinite wickedness of just one offence against God.  And yet, God revealed to his patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament the importance of blood sacrifice.  

Before God sent his Only-Begotten Son, animal sacrifice was the only way the chosen people had to show love and respect for their God.  In return, God confirmed that these sacrificial actions were acceptable to him, providing, of course, that they were the best they had to offer.  When God sent his avenging angel to kill all the firstborn in Egypt, he gave explicit instructions that the sacrifice they were to offer, the paschal lamb, must be “without blemish”, in other words as perfect as it could possibly be.  After all, it was to be a foreshadowing symbol of the perfect Lamb of God, who would take away the sins of the world.  

But woe betide the man who did not give of his best.  Let’s not forget the sacrifices of Cain and Abel.  Abel offered the blood of the first-born of his flock, and this was acceptable to God.  Meanwhile, Cain offered merely the “fruit of the ground” which was notacceptable.  Only blood sacrifice was suitable to prefigure the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Abel’s sacrifice of the firstborn lambs of his flock also prefigure Abel’s sacrifice of his own life at the hands of his jealous brother Cain.  Thus, Abel, the first-born son of the first man Adam, became the first man to die at the hand of another, foreshadowing the death of God’s own First- and Only-Begotten Son.  And we are reminded that like Cain, we have shed the blood of our fellow Son of Man, our “brother”, Jesus Christ.

In the second prayer after the consecration at Mass, the priest prays that God will accept the sacrifice of the New Testament just as he accepted the offering of Abel: “Vouchsafe thou also, with a merciful and pleasant countenance, to have respect hereunto; and to accept the same, as thou didst vouchsafe to accept the gifts of thy righteous servant Abel…”  The priest then mentions two other types of sacrifice mentioned in the Old Testament, the first being that of Abraham, and the second of Melchisedech.  So all together three types of Old Testament sacrifice are recalled, all of which point to the New Testament.

The second sacrifice mentioned by the priest is that of Abraham, who was asked by God to offer up the blood of his only begotten son Isaac.  As we call to mind the image of Isaac carrying the wood up the mountain for his own sacrifice, we foresee our Lord carrying the wood of the cross up the hill of Calvary.  We are giving the fleeting possibility for a moment that perhaps human sacrifice would be sufficient, or at least less insufficientthan animal sacrifice, to make reparation for the sins of mankind. Obviously though, such a thing would be abhorrent and contrary to the will of God.  Redemption was to come through the sacrifice of his own Son’s. God could hardly save us by killing us. And so God, as we know, ultimately refused to permit the sacrifice of Abraham’s son.  Instead, he repaid Abraham’s willing submission and generosity by allowing his own divine and only-begotten Son to be sacrificed.  Here was a sacrifice that was beyond merely human. Here was the infinitely sufficient sacrifice of a God-Man.

Finally, in the prayer of the Canon, the priest recalls the third type of sacrifice in the Old Testament, that of the undefiled host, the bread and wine, offered by the priest-king Melchisedech.  This prefigures of course the bread and wine offered by Christ himself at the Last Supper, and offered in Christ’s name by the priest at the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass.  The bread and wine is miraculously transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, the supreme priest and King of Kings, whose bloody sacrifice of Calvary would thereby be continued in an unbloody manner.

None of these three Old Testament sacrifices are sufficient in themselves.  Animal sacrifice is not enough.  Nor even would human sacrifice have been enough.  Mere bread and wine alone certainly could never suffice as an offering to satisfy for all the sins of the world.  But if we consider all three elements, we see that we have three of the essential components of the Sacrifice of Calvary and Mass prefigured here.  There is lacking only one other component to render this Sacrifice holy and sufficient and abundantly pleasing to God, an essential component that makes all the difference between the Old and New Testament sacrifices.  That component is the divinityof Christ.  The Chalice of his Blood is infinite in its power to satisfy for all of men’s offences against an infinite God.  Today, we commemorate that which rendered perfect what until then had been imperfect, which provided the missing element necessary to placate God’s wrath, and which transformed the insufficient into something infinite and by itself enough to save all our souls, the Holy and Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, our new and everlasting covenant with God.

GLORY BE TO JESUS

A HYMN IN HONOR OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

1 Glory be to Jesus,
who, in bitter pains,
poured for me the life-blood
from his sacred veins.

2 Grace and life eternal
in that blood I find;
blest be his compassion
infinitely kind.

3 Blest through endless ages
be the precious stream,
which from endless torments
did the world redeem.

4 Abel's blood for vengeance
pleaded to the skies;
but the blood of Jesus
for our pardon cries.

5 Oft as it is sprinkled
on our guilty hearts,
Satan in confusion
terror-struck departs.

6 Oft as earth exulting
wafts its praise on high,
angel-hosts rejoicing
make their glad reply.

7 Lift ye then your voices;
swell the mighty flood;
louder still and louder
praise the precious blood.

By Fr. Edward Caswall, 1857

THE FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND

A MESSAGE FOR THE FEAST OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

As we celebrate this feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, we should not neglect today’s proper Last Gospel.  As always happens when a feastday happens to fall on a Sunday, the Gospel of that particular Sunday is read instead of the usual Last Gospel at Mass.  Today, we read the Gospel of St. Mark and his description of our Lord’s feeding of the four thousand in the desert.

It should always be our endeavor to compare the message contained in these proper last gospels with that of the feastday we are celebrating.  Rarely is the association between the two so close as it is this Sunday.  The image of the multitude of believers following Christ into the wilderness and finding themselves without food, only to be fed by our Lord is reflected precisely in the spiritual nourishment provided by his most Precious Blood.

We who are his people, who have followed him into the apparent wilderness of this post-conciliar world, who find ourselves without the comfort of the Church’s sacraments at our local parishes, and who have had to travel from afar this Sunday to be here today—here we are fed with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our living God, really present in our midst. We are fed, by our faithfulness to the truths and liturgy revealed by our Lord himself, with all the graces that flow from that Precious Blood, spilled for us on Calvary, and continued today in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered on our altar.

And when we have partaken of the Bread of Angels, we are left with the seven baskets gathered by the apostles and which represent the seven sacraments.  The Precious Blood of Jesus flows not only through our reception of the divine Eucharist, but through our participation in the other six sacraments of the Church too, always available as they are needed.  It is the first and foremost duty of your pastor to provide you with all these sacraments, and your own duty to demand them of your church.  

If Rome will not give them to you, if your local church’s version of these sacraments is doubtfully valid, or even a mockery of the solemn sacramental rites to which you are entitled, you may demand them here at St. Margaret Mary’s.  These sacraments are your birthright as Catholics, and so long as you remain loyal to the faith of your fathers, you have a right to receive them.  For this, Christ died.  For this, he spilled his last drop of Blood.  We should all revere this sacrifice he made for us, and demandthat Rome restore the graces that flow from the valid, traditional sacraments it was given the noble task of protecting and transmitting to us.