Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Una Pretiosa Margarita.[1]

Homily for the 17^th Sunday of Ordered Time

24^th of July, 2011 Ano Domini

Parish of Corpus Christi

Round Lake, NY

Rev. Mr. Michael Taylor

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all he had, and bought it. [2]

            How many of you believe in heaven? How many of you believe in hell? Hell seems to be the great stumbling block of our society today. Oh sure, there are some people that we are sure are going to hell. Hitler is in hell. Stalin is in hell. That guy who cut us off on our way to work is going to hell. These are all perfect candidates for hell bound hellions. But if we were to really get down to it, the concept of hell troubles us. And yet, there it is, right in today’s gospel. Jesus warns that the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.[3] How could a loving God do this? How could a good God send someone to hell? Do not the scriptures tell us that God is love?[4]

            I would say that it is precisely because God is love that hell is a possibility. This would seem to be a contradiction, but the truth of this reality speaks to the eloquence of what love truly is. One cannot force anyone to love. It must be freely given and freely received.[5] God loves us, but it is exactly because He hopes that we will love Him in return that He gives us free will.[6] Yet it is this free will which also allows the possibility and reality of sin. We were created in the image of God,[7] created to live with God for all eternity. Yet man has turned away from the Creator so that he might worship the creature. And this was and is a choice, a freely willed act to move away from God. And because man rejected God, who is the source of all life,[8] we found ourselves enslaved to the reign of death[9] through our own fault.[10] Now throughout salvation history, God has continually laid out the path of redemption, the chance to live with Him in glory. Our faith is about decision, about which path we will walk on. Did not Moses tell the Israelites, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore, choose life, that you and your descendents may live? [11] Is it not written in Proverbs, My son, do not walk in the way [of the wicked], hold back your foot from their paths; for their feet run to evil? [12] Does not the Prophet Jeremiah warn, Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the roads and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” But they said, “we will not walk in it.”? [13] Even Jesus advised His disciples to Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the path hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.[14]

            Now we see that we have a decision before us. The guiding principle of our life must be to find Jesus. Where He is, I want to be. In our life, everything is subject to change, and we are left to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.[15] If we seek money, we can find ourselves the lost in a market meltdown. If we seek love, we can find ourselves spurned. Yet if we seek Christ Jesus, we find our bedrock, for it is written that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.[16] Find Jesus. Where He is, I want to be. Every decisions we do then either gets us closer to Him or farther. Every sin turns us away from God, and towards ourselves. See again the decision is yours. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.[17]

However, for many, the choice of the Christian life seems too hard. It seems too difficult. Indeed, the world tells us, that we’re fine just the way we are, that we were born this way, and that we have nothing to be ashamed of.[18] We just need to accept everyone the way they are. Now it would seem that this is a message of great mercy. But what are we actually saying when we say this? It is actually a message of greatest despair. When the world says, you’re fine just the way you are, what it’s really saying is don’t worry trying to be better, cause you can’t do it. When it says you were born this way, it’s really saying that you’ll never be any better than you are. When it says accept everyone as they are, it’s really saying you’ll always be chained to your failures and weaknesses. But that is not the Christian message. The Christian message is that I am not my failures, that my sins of yesterday will not be my sins of tomorrow, that with the grace of God almighty tomorrow’s rising sun will find be a better person than today’s setting sun left me.  Did not our second reading tell us this? Did not Paul write that those whom [Christ] predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified? [19] We cannot remain in sin, for Jesus has said, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.[20] But we know that we are freed from sin, as Saint Paul says, Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.[21]

So, we come to our decision again. Do we want the things of this world, the pleasures of this life, which are here today and gone tomorrow? Or do we want the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ? To do this, we must submit ourselves to the commandments of Christ, the teachings of the scriptures. You see, in sin, we find our will is weakened, and our intellect is darkened. So we find ourselves unable to find the right path on our own. Sometimes, the laws do not make sense to us. Yet we must be obedient to the will of the Father. Jesus shows us how to do this in His agony in the Garden.

Jesus says, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done.[22] Jesus, being fully divine, knew what He must suffer. Jesus, being fully human, did not want to die, for man was not meant for death, and all human beings recoil at the thought of their mortality. But Jesus also knew that He came to do the will of the Father.[23] He was willing to do the will of the Father, because the will of the Father was to glorify the Son[24] and that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life.[25] And so in Christ’s obedience to the Father, the Son is glorified, and in His name we are saved.[26] For thus did the Apostle write, that Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not deem equality with God, something to be grasped, but rather emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was found to be of human form, and thus He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even death upon a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him the name above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is Lord.[27]

So let us be obedient. Let us put on the new nature, created after the [image and] likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.[28] Do not yield your bodies to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your bodies to God as instruments of righteousness.[29] We must remember the high price that was paid for our salvation. For Peter wrote, You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.[30] And now here is the great mystery of our faith.

We know that for us, Jesus is the pearl of great price, the great treasure which is worth selling all we have so that we might be close to Him. But have you ever stopped to consider that you are His pearl of great price. On the cross, Jesus gave up everything He had so that you might be saved from your sins. Jesus would rather die for you than live without you. You are His pearl of great price. You are the lost sheep that the Good Shepherd goes out into the cold of night to find.[31] You are the lost coin the owner turns their house inside out to find.[32] You are His pearl of great price. Turn to Him and He will run to you.[33] Reach out to Him and He will pull you out from the depths.[34] Call His name and He will proclaim your name to the highest heavens.[35] This is our call. This is our glory. This, our dignity. Christian, remember your dignity! [36]

Let us now cast off the chains of mediocrity which have dulled our faith. Let us spurn the tepidness with which our hearts have become enamored. Rather, let us stoke the embers within our soul, to have our faith be as a burning fire set upon the hill as a light to the world! [37] Let all you meet see the joy that is the life in Christ. Let all who know you see the freedom which is found in service to God. Let everyone know the source of our happiness. “You were baptized into His name; confess His name!” [38] For if we do not spread the source of joy to those around us, then for them who have lost this pearl of great price, this treasure of great worth, the agony of what has been lost will be for them an everlasting torment.[39]

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[1] Matthew 13.46: “A Pearl of Great Price.” In this case, Margarita comes from the Greek Μαργαριτα (literally, the same word in Greek characters) which means pearl, rather than referencing an iced fruit cocktail containing tequila popular in North America. Oddly enough, the two are more associated than people realize. The drink was named after Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain who reigned from 1599 to 1611. The first cocktails made from local fruits with the Indian liquor now known as Tequila were named in her honor. Margaret as a name though comes from the same Margarita meaning pearl.

[2] Matthew 13.45-46 [From the Gospel Reading of the Day]

[3] Matthew 13.49-50

[4] I John 4.8

[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1033: “We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him.”

[6] Saint Ephrem [Doctor of the Church]. On Admonition and Repentance. §1: “Not of compulsion is the doctrine; of free will is the word of life. Whoso is willing to hear the doctrine, let him cleanse the field of his free-will that the good seed fall not among the thorns of vain inquiries. If you would heed the word of life, cut yourself off from evil things; the hearing of the word profits nothing to the man that is busied with sins. If you will to be good, love not dissolute customs. First of all, trust in God, and then hearken to His law.”

[7] Cf. Genesis 1.25-26

[8] Cf. Psalm 36.9

[9] Cf. Romans 5.14

[10] Cf. Psalm 51.4

[11] Deuteronomy 30.19

[12] Proverbs 1.15-16; SEE ALSO Proverbs 4.14 and Psalm 139 [138].23-24

[13] Jeremiah 6.16; SEE ALSO Isaiah 35.8

[14] Matthew 7.13-14

[15] Shakespeare. Hamlet. III.i

[16] Hebrews 13.8; Ephrem. On Admonition and Repentance, §19: “Take refuge in God who passes not away nor is changed. Restrain laughter by suffering, and mirthfulness by sorrow. Console suffering by hope, and sadness by expectation. Believe and trust, you that are wise, for God is He who guides you; and if His care leaves you not, there is nothing that can harm you.”

[17] Colossians 3.17; SEE ALSO I Corinthians 10.31

[18] Cf. Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies, Book IV, ch. 28: “For as, in the New Testament, that faith of men [to be placed] in God has been increased, receiving in addition [to what was already revealed] the Son of God, that man too might be a partaker of God; so is also our walk in life required to be more circumspect, when we are directed not merely to abstain from evil actions, but even from evil thoughts, and from idle words, and empty talk, and scurrilous language: thus also the punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, and despise His advent, and are turned away backwards, is increased; being not merely temporal, but rendered also eternal. For to whomsoever the Lord shall say, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire (Matthew 25:41) these shall be damned for ever; and to whomsoever He shall say, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity (Matthew 25:34), these do receive the kingdom for ever, and make constant advance in it; since there is one and the same God the Father, and His Word, who has been always present with the human race, by means indeed of various dispensations, and has wrought out many things, and saved from the beginning those who are saved, (for these are they who love God, and follow the Word of God according to the class to which they belong,) and has judged those who are judged, that is, those who forget God, and are blasphemous, and transgressors of His word.

[19] Romans 8.30; SEE Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1037: God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willing turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.”

[20] John 8.34

[21] Romans 6.22

[22] Matthew 26.39

[23] Cf. John 4.34: Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work.”

[24] Cf. John 8.54: Jesus answer, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you that He is your God.

[25] John 6.40

[26] Cf. Acts 2.21: And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

[27] Philippians 2.6-11

[28] Ephesians 4.24

[29] Romans 6.13

[30] I Peter 1.19

[31] Cf. Matthew 18.12-14; Luke 15.3-7

[32] Luke 15.8-10

[33] Cf. James 4.8

[34] Cf. Matthew 14.28-30; Psalm 130

[35] Cf. Matthew 10.32

[36] Cf. Saint Pope Leo the Great, Sermo 21: De Nativitas Christi: “Christian, remember your dignity! Having become a partner in the Divine nature, refuse to return to the old baseness by degenerate conduct.”

[37] Cf. Matthew 5.14-16

[38] Saint Ephrem, On Admonition and Repentance, §2

[39] Cf. Matthew 25.31-46; Catechism of the Catholic Church §1033: “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called ‘hell’.”

Important Verses from the Bible (Part I)

The Pentateuch

The First Five Books of the Bible were considered to be from Moses. While modern scholars note that there are at least four distinct contributing influences, for Orthodox Jews, these books hold pride of place in the Jewish canon of scriptures as the Mosaic Law, or Torah. It is from these books that the Pharisees drew their quotes concerning "the law" in the New Testament. It is against this obedience to all the prescriptions and adaptations of the law that Paul warned the community in Galatia about following (cf. Gal.3.1-24). Yet this law should not be considered to be void (cf. Mt. 5.17) nor should it be seen as sinful and harmful to the gospel (cf. Rom. 7.7-12). It was from these Sacred Scriptures that Jesus drew His strength to defeat the temptations of the Devil (cf. Mt 4; Dt. 8.3, Dt. 6.16, 6.13). The Mosaic law is where the Church finds her foundation of moral theology, and indeed, the core laws (the Ten Commandments in Ex. 20 and Dt. 5) all have their affirmation in the teachings of the Apostles (cf. Eph. 4, Gal. 5,  Jas. 4.2-4, I Pt. 4.1-3). Furthermore, these books set the foundation of the covenant God made with a certain people, through the faith of Abraham, whose act of faith justified him (cf. Rom 4). It is from here that we have the institution of the Passover meal (Exodus 12.1-14), a foreshadowing of the sacrifice (Gen 22.6-8) that would be sanctified and glorified in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God (cf. John 1-2). 

The verses included here have served as inspirations for the Church Fathers on into early times. The selection from Genesis lay the foundation for Blessed Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. The selection from Exodus has provided the philosophical basis for Theologians ability to speak of God as being itself, rather than the divine being perceived as an anthropomorphic manifestation. This profound statement of God as Being would precede Plato's concept of a transcendent being that is all good by 1500 years. The selection from Leviticus is familiar to most Christians as a form of the second half of the two greatest commandments mentioned by Jesus (Mt 22.39). This again serves to remind us that the Old Testament was not negated by Jesus but rather was fulfilled and perfected. The selection from Numbers illustrates how the people of God have complained, but also show a prefigurement of Christ in the Eucharist (cf. Jn 6..32-35) as well as Jesus' crucifixion (cf. Jn 3.14-15). The selection from Deuteronomy is perhaps one of the oldest prayers in the Jewish faith, and certainly for the Christian faith. It is known as the Shema from the first words of the Scripture. This prayer is repeated by Orthodox Jews five times a day, and it is the verse of scripture that they have in the tiny black boxes that they bind to their arms and their foreheads when they pray. The Catholic Church to this day has continued a version of this prayer by having every priest, religious brothers and sisters, pray these verses every Saturday night for Complines (or Night Prayer). It is known to most people as the basis for the Greatest Commandment of Jesus (Mt. 22.37-38).

The First Book of Moses, Genesis

Genesis 1.26-27: Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in His own image; male and female He created them.

            

Related Verses; Genesis 2.23-25; Psalm 8.3-9; Matthew 19.4-6; Mark 10.6-9

The Second Book of Moses, Exodus

Exodus 3.13-14: Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.”

Related Verses; Genesis 1.1-2; Isaiah 45.5-6, John 1.1; John 4.25-26; John 6.48, 51; John 8.58-59; John 10.11

The Third Book of Moses, Leviticus

Leviticus 19.17-18: You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I AM the LORD

Related Verses; Genesis 4.9-12; Matthew 5.22-24; Matthew 22.39; Luke 10.25-37; I John 2.-8-11

The Fourth Book of Moses, Numbers

Numbers 21.4-9: From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, we loathe this worthless food [the manna]. Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

            

Related Verses: Exodus 16.1-36; Numbers 16.1-32; John 3.14-15; John 6.31-33; I Corinthians 10.10;

The Fifth book of Moses, Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6.4-7: Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord! Therefore you shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon thy heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Related Verses; Matthew 22.37-38; Mark 12.28-30; I Corinthians 8.6; Ephesians 4.5-6; I Colossians 1.15-17; Timothy 2.5; James 2.19

Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Qui Habet Aures Audiendi, Audiat.[1]

Homily for the 15^th Sunday of Ordered Time

10^th of July, 2011 Ano Domini

Parish of Corpus Christi

Round Lake, NY

Rev. Mr. Michael Taylor

Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and the snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it. [2]

            How many of you love Jesus? Now, how many of you read scripture every day? I would be so bold as to say that if you are not reading scripture regularly, than you do not know the one whom you love. Saint Jerome noted that ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ, and this is surely so. Now I know what many of you are thinking. But deacon, Catholics don’t do scripture! We leave that for the Protestants. We know this, Protestants know this, everybody knows that Catholics don’t do scripture.

            Now this is a problem. In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah writes that the Lord will send out His word and it shall not return to me void. So many times however, Protestants will come along, and start quoting chapter and verse, and Catholics will feel overwhelmed. Many will be like, well, if it’s in the bible, then it must be correct. But we should not just throw up the white flag and say “you win!” During my senior year of college at the University of Georgia, some army friends and I were about to do some grilling. A friend of mine and I needed to pick things up at the local store for the cookout. Now, we’re walking through this store, and we come across a man in his forties handing out some samples. His name tag indicates that he’s an associate manager for the store, and in the course with talking with him, it comes out that he’s a minister at a nearby non-denominational church nearby. Now, by this point I had already been accepted to the diocese to begin seminary the next year. When my friend heard that this man was a minister, she, mistakenly believing that all Christian clergy members get along with one another, said, “Oh, my friend here is about to go study to become a Catholic priest!”

            The next words out of this man’s mouth were words which I have come to dread. “Oh, I used to be Catholic.” Now at this point, I know that I’m going to be subjected to his litany of problems with the Church. So, I decide to pre-empt him. He says, “Oh, I used to be Catholic” I interrupt him and said, “that’s okay, I used to be Protestant.” This throws him off guard. People don’t become Catholic. People grow up Catholic. Then when they find out better, they become Evangelical (remember this is the South). But the man recovers and begins to challenge me on my faith, assuming that I don’t know the scriptures. So he mentions the Eucharist, to which I respond with John 6, where it says, For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.[3] He then quickly alters course and tries going on about how it’s faith alone, to which I point towards James 2, in which it says, faith without works is dead.[4] So then he tries for the trump card, the papacy. He starts going on about how the Pope is the antichrist and there is no biblical foundation for it. I ask him about Matthew 16, where Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.[5] At this, the man says, “Oh, now. You see when Jesus said, ‘upon this rock I will build my church’ he was talking about himself. Jesus is the rock.” Now, it was for this reason that I had decided to take two years of Greek in college. I wanted to know what the actual text of the New Testament said. And I had read Matthew 16 in Greek. So I was able to tell the man, “I’m terribly sorry sir. You see, in the original text, Jesus says, συ ει Πετρος [nominative], και επι ταυτῃ πετρᾳ [dative] οικοδομησω μου την εκκλεσιαν.[6] Now any Greek scholar will tell you that when a nominative is later used alongside a dative form, that dative becomes a dative of instrument, meaning that Peter (meaning rock) is the instrument upon which Jesus will build His Church.” The man’s eyes got really big. He just looked at me as if thinking, “Oh my God! I picked the wrong Catholic to mess with! He knows his bible!” Our conversation quickly ended after that.

            You see, I didn’t become Catholic because I didn’t know the bible. I became Catholic because I did know the bible. You see, when I had started looking into the Catholic faith, I began reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You would probably be surprised to see how much scripture is quoted throughout the Catechism on all sorts of things. But when I came to looking into these things called “sacraments,” I began to notice something odd. You see, in James 5.14, it says, Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders [priests][7] of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. I looked around my church at the time, and said to myself, ‘I don’t see any priests and I don’t see any anointings.’ Then I kept reading, and in James 5.16 it says, Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. I then went and looked at John 20.22-23 where Jesus Christ himself says to the Apostles, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. And I looked around my church, and I didn’t see anyone confessing anything, and certainly not being forgiven of anything. And speaking of Apostles, in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he speaks of bishops and deacons,[8] and I didn’t see any bishops and deacons running around. Come to think of it, in the Acts of the Apostles, it talks about the first deacons having the apostles lay hands on them,[9] as an ordination, and I didn’t see any ordinations going on. Then there is of course the whole thing about the Eucharist being the actual body and blood of Christ as mentioned in Matthew,[10] Mark,[11] Luke,[12] John,[13] I Corinthians[14] and I John,[15] and I knew we didn’t have that. Now for Protestants, the battle cry so to speak is, “we’ve got to go back to the early church. We’ve got to go back to the church of the apostles. We’ve got to go back to how it was in the bible!” Well my brothers and sisters, if you want a bible believing Church, look around! You’ve found it! Look and see the anointing of the sick and the sacrament of confession as mentioned in James and John. Look and see the bishops and deacons mentioned by Paul. Look and see the priests spoken of by Peter. Look and see the body and blood promised by Jesus Christ Himself!

            You see, this book, this bible, cannot be used against us. It is our book. We put it together! The first record of the books of the bible being composed together into one volume occurs with the Council of Rome in 382 AD.[16] Yet this is not to say that these books were randomly assigned. Saint Paul writes to Timothy saying, I know the one in whom I have believed.[17] The Church fathers looked at the various letters, gospels and writings being used in the Church at the time, and saw the one whom they knew, the Christ who was made present every time they gathered. In the second letter of Saint Peter, the Prince of the Apostles writes, First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophesy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoken from God.[18] If we believe the words of Jesus that the Holy Spirit will be with His Church,[19] then the same Holy Spirit which inspired these Sacred Scriptures is also able to inspire the Church to speak about these Scriptures.[20] Without the Sacred Scriptures, the Church has no authority, yet without the Church, the Scriptures have no meaning.[21] Without the Scriptures, the Church has no story, yet without the Church, the Scripture has no community within which life is breathed into it. The bible becomes just an ancient collection of texts.[22] We are not a people of the words of God, but of the Word of God made flesh,[23] within whom all divine revelation was pleased to dwell.[24]

            Yet there is more to be learned here, and that is found in today’s gospel. Notice what Jesus is saying. It is one thing to hear the words of God. The seed of the parable is the Word of God. It is another thing altogether to have them give life to you. Consider the parable. Jesus says, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he that received the seed by the way side.[25] Now this has two meanings. The first is for us. How many of us hear a message on any given Sunday, and then walk out, having forgotten what just happened. It would be like going to a doctor every month, but then forgetting what medicine he told you take. What good then is your going? The second meaning is for those who are not part of our faith. How many of them hear that Jesus is God,[26] that He has come to forgive sins,[27] and that Christians are to live holy lives,[28] and then that same person sees us living just like the rest of the world? That person would conclude that there is no life to this faith, and that good news that was planted there now has no ground in which to grow. Woe to us who do not show the fruits of our faith, for Jesus Himself said, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.[29]

            The second example Jesus gives is him who received the seed upon stony ground, is he that heareth the word and immediately receiveth it with joy. Yet he hath not root in himself, but is only for a time; and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the Word, He is presently scandalized.[30] Again, there are two meanings. The first is for us. How many of you have gardens? If you spent only one hour a week on your garden, would it thrive? Then why should we expect that our faith will thrive with only one hour of prayer a week? If we would but read the scriptures, we would be prepared for the tribulations. Now, there are two reasons for all tribulations. The first is that a man has done something evil and evil begets evil, sin begets sin. It is as David says to God in I Chronicles, Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house; but let not the plague be upon thy people.[31] Again in the Letter to the Hebrews, it is written, For the Lord disciplines him whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom His father does not discipline? [32] And yet, there is another type of tribulation, that which is gained because of our faith. Did not Jesus Himself say, Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets before you.[33] If we do not know the scriptures, then when we come to a time of tribulation, we will be left wondering what has happened, what is the meaning of all this. Yet if we know that suffering will occur because of our faith, then we can say with Saint Paul, now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the, Church.[34] Now if we are assured of our faith, knowing the promises contained from Christ in His Word, why do we act as if we have no hope? Because the rest of the world looks and sees us acting with the same anxiety and despair at the experience of suffering and the approach of death. Either we are a people of hope or we are not?

            This leads to the third patch of seed, which was thrown into the patch of thorns. Jesus says, he that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chocketh up the word, and he becomes fruitless.[35] How many of you have ever tried to quit smoking? Did it not seem that first week you could smell a cigarette a mile away? Or how many of you gave up chocolate for Lent and it seemed like everyone and their grandmother started offering you chocolate? That’s how temptation works, and that’s how the spiritual life works. In the first letter of Peter, Saint Peter warns, be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.[36] The devil does not want you to succeed. He will throw every temptation at you. But if we know scripture, we can fight these temptations. Notice how when the devil comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, the only words Jesus says to him are from scripture. When the devil tries to get Jesus to turn the rocks into bread, Jesus says, No, For it is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.[37] When the devil tries to get Jesus to leap off the temple to see if God will protect Him, Jesus says, Again it is written, you shall not put the Lord thy God to the test.[38] Finally, when the devil tries to get Jesus to worship him, Jesus responds, Get away Satan! For it is written; The Lord thy God shall you worship, and Him alone shall you serve.[39]

Often time, the temptation will seem like something good. If you have a good friend whose doing something wrong, but you’re afraid if you say something you’ll lose them, so that when they ask you what you think you say, “oh, I think you’re doing the right thing.” Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.[40] Or when the kids are offered the chance to go to a weekend tournament but they’ll have to miss mass. And you’ll think, “Oh, but they’ve worked so hard. Surely once won’t matter.” Thou shalt remember the Lord’s day, and keep it holy.[41] Or if we’ve been fighting with a family member for years, for a legitimate reason, and you would rather chew broken glass than to talk to them, remember that it is written that Jesus said, But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.[42]

            We must understand that to create good soil, soil which is deep enough to sustain roots of faith takes time. We need to have the scriptures wash over us, to sink into our hearts where it will dwell, to grow when the time is right. But this is hard. You don’t just crack open the bible at Genesis 1.1 and start reading. I guarantee you, you’ll hit I Chronicles with its these are their genealogies: the first-born of Ishmael, Neba’ioth; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Ked’emah. These are the sons of Ish’mael. The sons of Ketu’rah… and you’ll call it a good day ne’er to pick up the bible again. The bible is a collection of books, meant to be taken in its respective parts, each with a style and form of their own. Poetry (Psalms, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes) is not the same as a history (I-II Samuel, Ruth, I-II Maccabees) which are not the same as gospels (Matthew, John) which in turn are different from letters (Romans, I Timothy, Hebrews).  So to help, there are some verses I’ve made available (to follow this post) which will help get the ball rolling. They’re some of the most important verses in scriptures, verses that help put our faith into perspective.

            Secondly, we don’t read scriptures by ourselves. Scriptures get their life from the Church and the faith community which passes along these treasures from generation to generation. My favorite gospel is John. I’m a huge nerd, and the Greek used in combination with the theological and philosophical implications are right up my alley. But in seminary, one of my classmate’s favorite gospel is Mark. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus sees a problem, and He fixes it. You’re sick, now you’re healed.[43] You’ve got sins, they’re now forgiven.[44] What’s next? What problem do you have? I got this. I would not have gotten that insight if I had not talked scriptures with a brother in faith. So let’s gather together and spend time learning the scriptures. Let us begin to study the scriptures so that when Protestants start quoting chapter and verse, we’re not afraid. Let us come to see in these words of God the Word of God made flesh.

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[1] Matthew 13.9: He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

[2] Isaiah 55.10-11 [The First Reading of the Day]

[3] John 6.55

[4] James 2.24: You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

[5] Matthew 16.19

[6] Matthew 16.18

[7] In the Greek, the term is πρεσβυτερους/presbuterous which is where the Church gets the term “Presbyterate” which is the order all priests are ordained into in the Catholic Church.

[8] Cf. I Timothy 3; see also I Peter 5.1-5

[9] Acts 6.6: “These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.”

[10] Matthew 26.26-28

[11] Mark 14.22-24

[12] Luke 22.19-20

[13] John 6.53-69

[14] I Corinthians 10.16; I Corinthians 11.23-30, especially vv29-30: For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

[15] I John 5.6-8

[16] Incidentally, this list contains all the books [Judith, Tobit, I-II Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom, and Baruch] that the Protestants would later remove saying they’d be added at the Council of Florence in the 13^th century, some nine centuries after they’d already been accepted by the Council Fathers as well as saints such as Jerome and Augustine.

[17] II Timothy 1.12

[18] II Peter 1.20-21

[19] Cf. John 14.16-18

[20] Council of Toledo (400 AD) §32: If anyone either believes that any scriptures, except those which the Catholic Church has received, ought to be held in authority or venerates them, let him be anathema (cursed).

[21] Catechism of the Catholic Church, §80: “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out of the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal” [II Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, §9] Each of them makes present and fruitful the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with His own always, to the close of the age [Mt. 28.20].

[22] Catechism of the Catholic Church, §82: As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from Scripture alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence” [II Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, §9].

[23] Cf. John 1.1-14; Cf. Pope Benedict, Address to Regensburg University, 2006.

[24] Cf. Colossians 1.17-19: He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the first-born of the dead, that in everything He might be pre-eminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

[25] Matthew 13.19

[26] Cf. John 1.1

[27] Cf. John 3.16-19

[28] Cf. Leviticus 19.2; Matthew 5.48; I Peter 1.14-16

[29] Matthew 18.6

[30] Matthew 13.20-21

[31] I Chronicles 21.17

[32] Hebrews 12.6-7; cf. Judith 8.25-27

[33] Matthew 5.11-12

[34] Colossians 1.24

[35] Matthew 13.23

[36] I Peter 5.8

[37] Matthew 4.4; Deuteronomy 8.3

[38] Matthew 4.7; Deuteronomy 6.16

[39] Matthew 4.10; Deuteronomy 6.13

[40] Exodus 20.16; Deuteronomy 5.20

[41] Exodus 20.8-11 ; Deuteronomy 5.12-14

[42] Matthew 22.5

[43] Cf. Mark 5.25-30

[44]Cf. Mark 2.1-9

The Metaphysics of Marriage

The New York Senate and Governor within the past 24 hours have just ratified legislation that will allow men to marry men and women to marry women. A couple of thoughts have occurred to me as I’ve considered what this means. First of all, it seems to me that we have been using the wrong terminology to explain this, at least from a Christian point of view. Note that I did not describe the legislation as allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The problem with using this language is that it reduces people down to an identity of sexual attraction, and even more so, to a sexual act. If all I am as a human being is an act, and you deny me my ability to engage in that act, then you are denying my ability to be fully human.

As Christians, we do not accept that view of anthropology. A Christian anthropology would argue that we are not our acts, and that the sum of our acts does not make us any more or less human. We are human beings by nature and acts, while they can add to or detract from the essence cannot alter that essence. To put it another way, it is not cogito ergo sum but rather sum ergo cogito, I am therefore I think (or even better, I act).

This brings up what is actually at the basis of the debate, at least from the Christian perspective. Fundamentally, Christians are working from a different set of propositions then the rest of the world. This has led to an increasing inability to discuss matters of morality, even within the Church herself. Whereas before, we dealt with a metaphysical system that had been in place since Plato and Aristotle, the modern world operates off the existentialism whose intellectual lineage contains Descartes, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Jean-Luc Nancy. Christians have slowly began trying to construct arguments that appeal to the existentialism that drives society, but has found it sorely lacking in causing intellectual conversion. David Carlin, writing for Crisis magazine, notes this discrepancy within the debate for gay marriage.

We as Christians need to understand that the debate about gay marriage cannot be won on the standards of the world. It will never convince people that gay marriage is wrong because it is sociologically unstable, bad for the raising of children, or, like the rest of fruit of the sexual revolution, will prove equally rotten in its consequences. While all these are true, they will not convince. We only win if we can convince that homosexual acts are immoral and immoral acts should be avoided. Immoral acts damage the human person and prevent them from living in harmony with God and man. When one person kills another person, it damages the murderer, hardening their ability to value human life (including their own), and wounds other people’s ability to rely on the murderer to do what is good for society. When one person commits adultery, they wound their ability to love and they destroy the ability of their spouse to trust. Sin is bad not because of a list that says it’s bad. That would be like saying arsenic is only bad because a label says it’s bad. No, sin is like arsenic. It is a poison upon the human being. Thus, a society, if it is concerned with creating an healthy environment where people can live out their rights and duties, then it ought to outlaw that which poisons humanity. That is why murder, larceny, fraud, assault and bigamy are outlawed. It was realized that these things are morally unacceptable and thus should be legally unacceptable. The problem for our society is quickly becoming the inability to recognize right from wrong. For this reason, gay marriage will continue to gain support as long as Christians fail to recognize the metaphysical crisis that lies at its foundation.