THE GREATEST IN HEAVEN

A SERMON FOR FIRST COMMUNION SUNDAY

If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak first to our first communicants today.  To you who are receiving Jesus today for the very first time.  It’s an important day for you, like Christmas or a birthday.  But Christmas comes every year.  And every year you have another birthday.  But you can only receive your First Communion once.  Today then is a very very special day in your life.  One that you will never have again. 

And why, do you think, we make such a big fuss of making your First Communion?  Because of what Communion is.  For the very first time, you’ll be receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus himself.  You know who Jesus is.  He’s the Son of God.  He is God.  You know that he created us out of nothing, you know that we must know him, love him, and serve him in this world, so that we can be happy with him forever in the next, after we die.  And you all know by now, I hope, exactly what it means to love and serve God.  Jesus himself told us what it means, so let’s listen to his exact words—it’s a good reminder for us as we receive him today in Holy Communion, and start this path of loving and serving him.  He said: “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments.”

You’ve learned the Ten Commandments.  You know what they command you to do and what not to do.  Now comes the hard part, when you’ve got to obey those commandments.  If you do obey, the reward is huge: you’ll go to heaven one day.  If you refuse to obey, the punishment is also very great, and you don’t need me to tell you what it is.  But it’s something you have to remember now, as you pass from being innocent little children, and slowly start to become grown-ups.  Because now, you know the difference between right and wrong, and you have to choose very carefully every time you want to do something or say something or even think something—whether it’s a good thing to do, or say or think; or whether it’s a bad thing that will make God displeased with you.  So choose wisely from now on. 

Always remember that God loves you very much, so try to love him as much as you can in return.  Just as you love your mom and dad because they love you, you should love God too.  Because he’s your Father in heaven, that’s the prayer, isn’t it, that we say all the time, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” And he loves us just as much—more than even our own mom and dad.  Don’t ever do anything that will make him disappointed in you.

 So you be thinking about that for a few minutes while I talk to your moms and dads and the other moms and dads in church today.  Because what I’ve just told you is something they learned when they made their First Communion, and unfortunately that was a long time ago and some of them might have forgotten.  So today is a good time to remind them of these very basic truths which they need to save their souls just like you do.

You grown ups are very fortunate today to be able to witness the First Communion of these innocent children.  It’s a great and wonderful milestone in their lives, and one which marks the passage from innocence to responsibility, from the angelic sinlessness of their early childhood to a far more difficult state where they will have to choose for themselves between good and evil.  As parents and grandparents, you will continue to guide them in their choices, and bring them through that difficult time of adolescence and on to adulthood where, hopefully, they will do a better job than any of us have of leading godly and upright lives.

Let’s remember what our Lord said when they asked him who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  The Gospel tell us that “Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  We have here an example of God’s little children as they come to our Lord at the communion rail.  They are naturally humble, naturally innocent.  Our job as parents and teachers is not to make them grow up to be more like us.  Our job is to become more like them.  Let’s never forget that. 

When Adam and Eve bit the apple, they became aware of the difference between good and evil.  Our own awareness of this difference stems from the time we reached the age of reason, which these children today have proved they have done.  From that moment on, we are on ‘the path’.  The path that we can either climb up, or slip down.  Since we reached the age of reason, we have all done some good things that merited God’s grace and a heavenly reward.  But we’ve also done a barrel full of bad things, which deserve an altogether different kind of reward.  It’s been a difficult path for all of us, so by all means let’s do our best to guide these children so they don’t make the same mistakes.  Your guidance is essential in their lives, and a humble acknowledgment of your own spiritual status goes a long way in allowing them to do good and avoid sin.  If you’re a saint, then pull them up after you.  If you’re a sinner, then push them up from behind.  Let them learn from your good example, and let them learn from your mistakes.  Meanwhile, we ourselves must learn from their example of innocence, their absence of guile, their sincerity and sense of justice.  Most of all, copy the complete love and trust they have for you, by having the same for God. 

Today, children, is a great day in your lives.  Stay as innocent and pleasing to God as you are today, listen to your parents and grandparents, your teachers, and all the grown-ups you know. Pray hard for them that they make God as happy as you do, as you worthily receive in your bodies and souls this morning the most blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the real presence of God himself.

SPOTLESS ANNA, JUDA'S GLORY

A HYMN FOR THE FEAST OF ST. ANNE

by Henry Formby, 1842

Spotless Anna, Juda's glory,

⁠Through the Church from east to west

Every tongue proclaims thy praises,

⁠Holy Mary's mother blest!

Saintly kings and priestly sires

⁠Blended in thy sacred line;

Thou in virtue all before thee

⁠Didst excel by grace divine.

Link'd in bonds of purest wedlock,

⁠Thine it was for us to bear,

By the favour of high heaven,

⁠Our immortal Virgin star.

From thy stem in beauty budded

⁠Ancient Jesse's mystic rod;

Earth from thee received the mother

⁠Of the eternal Son of God.

All the human race benighted

⁠In the depths of darkness lay,

When in Anne it saw the dawning

⁠Of the long-expected day.

THE PRAYER OF ST. ANNE

A REFLECTION FOR THE FEAST OF ST. ANNE

Today is the Feast of St. Anne, the mother of the Mother of God.  She was married to St. Joachim, whose feastday we will be celebrating in a few weeks from now.  This loving couple were happily married, but sadly, in their old age, still had no children, despite their unceasing prayers and penances.  It seemed as though God was not going to answer St. Anne’s supplications; nevertheless, she persevered and was finally rewarded for her patience, being blessed with a child.  Not only did God give her the child she wanted, but a child “such was never none like, nor never shall be,” the most glorious, most blessed Virgin Mary.

We should desire today to have the same patience and perseverance as St. Anne.  We should want to conform our own will to that of Almighty God, and be pleased by his answer to our prayers, even though that answer might be “no.”  For God is our Father, and “Father knows best.”  With his infinite knowledge of all possibilities, God chooses for us the path which will be the best not only for us, but for the common good of all men.  He answers our individual prayers according to his divine plan for us all, and we should never attempt to second-guess him as to what we truly need.  If only we could show the same trust in God’s will, surely God will not be outdone by our generosity and love, but will reward us beyond our wildest imagination, perhaps here on earth, but certainly in the hereafter.

Has God not answered your prayers yet?  He knows whether we are praying for something that will lead us into salvation or into temptation.  He knows best when to say “no.”  But he also knows when is the best time to say “yes.”  Perhaps not today, not this week, not this year.  If he chooses to keep us waiting, we should remind ourselves that he knows better than we do when is the right time to give us a favorable answer.  If we don’t have it yet, let us give thanks to God anyway, that he is keeping something from us that don’t belong having yet.  For those who love God and do his will, everything works out for the best.  Follow the patience and perseverance in prayer that St. Anne shows us.  Don’t give up.  The answer to our prayer may be just round the corner. 

Our Lord, says the Gospel, was born “in the fulness of time.”   God answered the prayers of St. Anne at just the right moment so that our Blessed Lady might be born to be at the right age to conceive the Messiah at exactly that fullness of time.  It all worked out perfectly to fit in with the Divine Plan for our Redemption.  The key to the timing lay in God’s answer to St. Anne’s prayers, so as we in our turn await our own answers, we must have trust in God that he will show us the same grace as to grant those prayers at the appropriate time where it will have the best possible effect.  So let’s keep praying, and leave it up to God.

FRUIT UNTO HOLINESS

A SERMON FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

There’s an awful lot of awful things going on in the world around us.  I’ve mentioned this before many times, and before you groan and think I’m obsessed with the horrors of the world, I’d like to bring your attention today to something positive that is happening amidst the gloom. 

This congregation is well informed about the latest news and events in the Church, and so I’m sure I’m not going to create gasps of surprise when I mention the name of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.  Briefly, for those of you who haven’t heard of him, Archbishop Viganò was appointed by Benedict XVI to be the Papal Nuncio to the United States in 2011, a position he held until 2016.  During that time, he was responsible for bringing to light the crimes of Cardinal McCarrick of Washington, at the same time accusing Pope Francis of covering up McCarrick’s abuses and making him a “trusted counselor.”  He thus exposed both Cardinal McCarrick and Bergoglio as two of the ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing mentioned by our Lord in today’s Gospel.

More recently, Archbishop Viganò has written a powerful letter to President Trump, warning him that the current crises over the coronavirus pandemic and the George Floyd riots are a part of a spiritual struggle between the forces of good and the forces of light—whom he refers to as the children of light and the children of darkness.  In the past couple of weeks, Viganò has gone so far as to condemn Vatican 2, saying that it has led to the creation of a parallel and false church, and that it should be dropped from the history books and forgotten altogether.  Strong stuff coming from one of the most influential and powerful men in the conciliar Church!

Can we place hope in this man? Or is he destined to become part of today’s so-called “cancel culture”, where the careers and lives of those who speak out in defense of the truth are destroyed by the frenzied mob of social media?  Only time will tell, but for now at least, we should at least listen to what he has to say.

In condemning the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Viganò is simply repeating the words of our Lord in today’s Gospel: “A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”  Vatican 2 is a corrupt tree, and must be consigned to the fire.  We know it is corrupt, because since Vatican 2 we have had nothing but chaos, lies, and immorality being preached by the Church’s shepherds, “false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.”  We in this small chapel in the Midwest of America have had the grace to recognize the tree of Vatican 2 by its fruits, and we have done what we can to save our souls.

What should we do now, in light of the current crisis in our society?  Simply continue.  Not just by saying “Lord, Lord,” as our Lord warns against, in other words, by mindlessly mouthing the words of our infrequent prayers and doing the very minimum to stay out of trouble.  But by doing God’s will at all times, wherever that may take us.  It’s an individual path to heaven that each of us have, and we must continue to walk it as God wills. Pray to him for direction towards that path, guidance on that path, and protection against the wolves who would lead us from that path.

As simple priests and laymen, it is not our task in life to worry about the validity of popes, the re-defining of dogmas, or the high theological discussions that are the domain only of those who have the credentials and authority to take part in them.  As we say in Psalm 130 at Vespers, “O Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters or in things too high for me.  But I refrain my soul, and keep it low.”  Ours is a modest task, and I can do no better than describe it in the words of Archbishop Viganò himself:  “Let us pick up the Catechism of Saint Pius X, return to the Missal of Saint Pius V, remain before the Tabernacle, not desert the Confessional, and practice penance and mortification with a spirit of reparation.  Above all, let us do so in such a way that our works give solid and coherent witness to what we preach.”

By becoming servants to God in this manner, St. Paul assures us in today’s Epistle that we have our “fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

LOVING SHEPHERD OF THY SHEEP

A HYMN FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

by Jane Elizabeth Leeson, 1842

1. Loving Shepherd of Thy sheep,
Keep Thy lamb, in safety keep;
Nothing can Thy power withstand,
None can pluck me from Thy hand.

2. Loving Savior, Thou didst give
Thine own life that we might live,
And the hands outstretched to bless
Bear the cruel nails’ impress.

3. I would praise Thee every day,
Gladly all Thy will obey,
Like Thy blessèd ones above
Happy in Thy precious love.

4. Loving Shepherd, ever near,
Teach Thy lamb Thy voice to hear,
Suffer not my steps to stray
From the straight and narrow way.

5. Where Thou leadest I would go,
Walking in Thy steps below,
Till before my Father’s throne
I shall know as I am known.

A PRAYER BY ARCHBISHOP VIGANO

A PRAYER FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Prayer for a Resurgence of Christianity in America

And the Re-Election of President Donald J. Trump

By Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

Almighty, Everlasting God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords: graciously turn thy gaze upon us who invoke thee with confidence.

Bless the citizens of the United States of America; grant peace and prosperity to our Nation; illuminate those who govern us, that they may commit themselves to the common good, in respect for thy holy Law.

Protect those who, defending the inviolable principles of the Natural Law and thy Commandments, must face the repeated assaults of the Enemy of the human race.

Keep in the hearts of thy children courage for the truth, love for virtue, and perseverance in the midst of trials.

Make our families grow in the example that our Lord hath given us, together with his most Holy Mother and Saint Joseph in the home of Nazareth; give to our fathers and mothers the gift of Strength, to educate wisely the children with whom thou hast blessed them.

Give courage to those who, in spiritual combat, fight the good fight as soldiers of Christ against the furious forces of the children of darkness.

Keep each one of us, O Lord, in thy most Sacred Heart, and above all, him whom thou hast placed at the head of our Nation.

Bless the President of the United States of America, so that, aware of his responsi-bility and his duties, he may be a knight of justice, a defender of the oppressed, a firm bulwark against thine enemies, and a proud supporter of the children of light.

Place the United States of America and the whole world beneath the mantle of the Queen of Victories, our unconquered Leader in battle, the Immaculate Conception.  It is thanks to her, and through thy divine Mercy, that the hymn of praise doth rise to thee, O Lord, from the children whom thou hast redeemed through the Precious Blood of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

BE YE ALL OF ONE MIND

A SERMON FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

A belated Happy Independence Day to all you rebels.  It’s a long time since 1776, and time, as they say, heals all wounds.  Happily, our two countries today enjoy a strong alliance that has seen us through a couple of World Wars and will hopefully continue long into the future.  There’s a scene in Mel Gibson’s movie The Patriot where the commander of the British forces, Lord Cornwallis, admonishes his somewhat over-zealous cavalry officer, reminding him that both sides of the Revolutionary War were essentially of the same stock, and that after the war they would be trading partners once again.  This proved to be true, despite the outcome of the war not being what Cornwallis had been expecting.  It’s a typical and very good example of politics overcoming the baser aspects of human nature—one of the better effects of politics perhaps…

The fact is, it benefits us nothing if we continue to bear grudges.  If we are fighting with someone today, it does not necessarily imply that we will be fighting with him tomorrow.  If it’s in our best interest to make up and make nice, then it becomes ‘politic’ to do so.  Our use of reason, in other words, subdues our emotions.  Our self-interest rejects our underlying hatred.

Believe me, there’s an awful lot of hatred going around right now.  The mood of the nation on this Day of Independence is not that of optimism and confidence that we had just a year ago.  What happened?  An enemy has been introduced into our midst.  Without going into all the conspiracy theories about who did what and why, let’s at least all acknowledge the results.  Life has altered dramatically since the beginning of 2020.  We started out with impeachment hearings, then suffered the global catastrophe of Covid-19 with all its medical, social and economic implications.  And now we descend into a nightmare of national lawlessness whose only motivation seems to be the utter destruction of the society that was so carefully crafted by the Founding Fathers after 1776.

Our reaction must be, of course, to fight to defend that society.  But there are ways of fighting that are good and there are ways of fighting that are not good.  Our enemies in this war seem to have a big advantage, in that they have no qualms of conscience, no moral compass, to guide them as they set out to destroy.  The devil has no morals at all, we know this, so why would we expect his representatives on earth to have any either?  But we cannot allow ourselves to descend to the level on which they fight.  We cannot use evil to overcome evil.  Our battle must remain on the higher level of morality and human decency, is spite of the fact that the other side will surely see this as a weakness and attempt to use it against us. 

In reality though, it is not our weakness but our strength!  “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil”  Today’s Epistle, written by St. Peter, whose feastday we also celebrated this past week, surely puts the present crisis into its true perspective.  “Who is he,” St. Peter writes, “that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”

So if we’re fearful, “be not afraid of their terror” because God is on our side, and that makes all the difference in the world!  There is no possible mistaking who is on the right side in this particular war today.  This battle isn’t about relatively minor political considerations, like taxation without representation.  When people who openly worship Lucifer are marching in the streets in support of Antifa, Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Party, it shouldn’t take long for us to decide which side we need to fight on.  But as we fight, we must do so “not rendering evil for evil… but on the contrary, blessing.”  Our Lord himself tells us: “Bless them that curse you.”  He tells us to “judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”

So while it might seem difficult to love our enemies as God commands, we should find it a little easier if we realize that it is truly in our own best interests.  It is ‘politic’ and our reason dictates to us that we should overcome our lower tendencies for hatred, revenge, violence, so that we in our turn, will not eventually fall victim to the judgment and condemnation of God.

So by all means defend our society and the laws of our nation.  Die for these things if necessary.  But don’t die with hatred in your hearts, because that would be a disastrous waste of your time and would profit you nothing.  On the contrary!  Forgive your enemies and God is on your side.  “Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts.”

THOU WHOSE ALMIGHTY WORD

A HYMN FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

by John Marriott, 1813

Thou, whose almighty word
chaos and darkness heard,
and took their flight;
hear us, we humbly pray,
and, where the Gospel day
sheds not its glorious ray,
let there be light!

Thou who didst come to bring
on thy redeeming wing
healing and sight,
heal to the sick in mind,
sight to the in-ly blind,
now to all humankind,
let there be light!

Spirit of truth and love,
life-giving holy Dove,
speed forth thy flight!
Move on the waters' face
bearing the gifts of grace,
and, in earth's darkest place,
let there be light!

Holy and blessèd Three,
glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, Love, Might;
boundless as ocean's tide,
rolling in fullest pride,
through the world far and wide,
let there be light!

OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW

A REFLECTION FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

We are all aware that there are Ten Commandments.  We learned them by heart for our First Communion, and unfortunately we’ve been breaking them ever since.  There’s a saying that rules are meant to be broken, and that is correct only in a certain sense.  The fact is that God understands our human nature because he created it.  He knows us inside and out, even our fallen human nature to which the sin of Adam reduced it.  The tendency of this nature is to do whatever it wants, and this inclination to sin would be our ruin.  And so for this reason, God gave us the Law.  The Ten Commandments.  Rules which he knew we would break because our human nature leads us to break them and merit eternal punishment for doing so. But God doesn’t want us to be punished eternally, and so he gave us the gift of the Commandments to remind us at least to fight our natural inclinations.   The Law is there to keep us out of trouble.

For this reason, our old enemy Satan hates the Law.  He hates it because it succeeds in preventing us from doing whatever we want and joining him in hell.  His attack on the Law has been constant throughout history, and at certain times, like the French Revolution and today’s mob activity, he seems to succeed for a time.  Without the law, by definition we have chaos, lawlessness—anarchy, and this is exactly what he wants.  He encourages us to want it too.  After all, the devil’s most attractive feature is in taking the side of our own fallen nature, encouraging the lowest desires and most sordid emotions that stir within us.  He seeks to turn these things into something not only desirable but attainable, and he holds them in front of us like bait, hoping we’ll do what Eve did and take a bite.

God, on the other hand, seeks to protect his children from the inevitable fate that would be ours if we do not control these appetites.  He sets our moral compass towards the goal of heaven, by listing our lower instincts and placing the words “Thou shalt not” in front of them.  He didn’t just make up rules for the sake of showing us who’s the boss.  The Ten Commandments are our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil, against the world and its allurements, and most of all, against ourselves.

God has entrusted his deputies to promulgate and enforce his laws.  These deputies are our civil governments, our Caesars, whoever they may be.  Whether Kings or Congress, Emperors or State Governors, they have the civil responsibility for giving us laws that prevent us from harming the common good.  So long as the laws they give us conform to the Ten Commandments, to the Law of God and to the Laws of the Nature which God created, we must obey them, for the authority of these laws ultimately comes from God.  Only when our governments go against these laws are we permitted to disobey them.  If Caesar ever tells us we must sacrifice to his pagan gods, we must disobey even if it means death.  We may not give unto Caesar what is not Caesar’s.  But we are morally obliged to keep those laws if they are God’s laws.  Chaos is not an option for the Catholic.