Christ the King - 2019

Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It was only a few years since the end of the catastrophic First World War. The minds of many were in search of answers as to how such an evil had overtaken the world. In his encyclical, instituting the Feast of Christ the King, the pope said this - In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church, We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.  Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. Pope Pius XI in 1925: The Pope barely had finished identify the real cause of humanities failures which lead to the First World War than an even greater catastrophic Second World War broke out; which was followed by the Cold War in which the very existence of humanity lay teetering on the threat of all-out nuclear war. Has the world finally learned the lesson the Pope articulated in his Encyclical Letter? To answer this question let us listen again to the dialogue in today’s Gospel Reading. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"  One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Do we not hear the same challenges being hurled again Christ and His Church today? The words used to attack may be different, but they harbour the same cynical contempt. Now we hear - and where is the proof that there is any such God let alone that this man Jesus, even if he actually existed, was some kind of god?  And in mockery - you who worship this Jesus, what are you smoking, what are you drinking – a cocktail of make-believe?  And in derision - look at all that science and technology has done to save lives, who’s life has your religion saved lately? And that other voice heard now speaks;  “Lord, judge us not for such blasphemy hurled against you. Teach us the ways of your Kingdom of truth so that we make bring peace to our broken World.”  And the voice of Lord reply's: “I am with you always, and my truth has set you free. Remain in Me as I remain in you.” So ends this liturgical year and the choice put forward at the Cross of Jesus remains no less true for us today. The words of Pope Pius XI remain ever true; that the evils in the world are due to the fact that the majority of people have thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there will be no real hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations or a person’s own life.  To who’s kingdom will we bind our hearts, the kingdom man’s futility or God’s Kingdom of Light and Peace? A new year is about to unfold before us. May our choice be certain, one without compromise.

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True Light of Christmas

As we begin to light our homes with Christmas lights, let us not loose sight of who these lights represent, who is the true Light of the world. He is coming who is everywhere present and pervades all things; he is coming to achieve in you his work of universal salvation. He is coming who came to call to repentance not the righteous but sinners, coming to recall those who have strayed into sin. Do not be afraid, then: God is in the midst of you, and you shall not be shaken. Be enlightened, be enlightened, we cry to you, as holy Isaiah trumpeted, for the light has come to you and the glory of the Lord has risen over you. What kind of light is this? It is that which enlightens every man coming into the world. It is the everlasting light, the timeless light revealed in time, the light manifested in the flesh although hidden by nature, the light that shone round the shepherds and guided the Magi. It is the light that was in the world from the beginning, through which the world was made, yet the world did not know it. It is that light which came to its own, and its own people did not receive it. Saint Andrew of Crete - Office of Readings, Tuesday, November 19/19

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Thirty-third Sunday - 2019

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Thirty-third Sunday, 2019 Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

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Thirty-second Sunday - 2019

Sadducees were one of the leading parties of the Jewish people in the first century AD. – small group, but they were very powerful and influential – people of high level, high ranking, very powerful, Jewish priests—who were functionaries in the temple, but who were also wealthy aristocrats in the city of Jerusalem. Now these Sadducees denied certain beliefs that were common to the Jewish people—the first one being the resurrection of the dead – they did not believe in any form of afterlife – once you died, that was it. You ceased to be. (Sound familiar?) They also did not believe in the inspiration of certain books of the Bible. They only accepted the first five books of the Bible, commonly called the books of Moses or the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And they didn’t accept what we refer to today as the historical books, or the writings of the prophets—like Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jesus is teaching that there is to be a resurrection of the dead – a new eternal life to come. However, the resurrection Jesus is proclaiming is far beyond the notion of resurrection that the Pharisees believed and taught, or what the Sadducees understood as resurrection. So here the Sadducees are trying to entangle Jesus teaching by pitting it against the teaching of Moses. "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus answers straight forwardly (. . . the resurrection we believe in today) Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection”. Today our belief in the resurrection of the dead is being challenged and denied, not by Sadducees but a more virulent and dangerous group – the secular atheists of today; their argument is rooted in a new kind of scientism – seeing is proof – you say you believe where is your scientific proof. Like the argument of the Sadducees the argument of scientism is hopelessly narrow – admitting only one source of knowledge – empirical science. For us gathered here today we may not feel adequate enough to take on this debate. Fortunately, we have the support of the Church and therein are many who are more than capable of dealing with scientism and all the other deniers out there. However, we must be careful about where we get our information, even that which claims to be that of the Church. In the “wild west of the internet” there are plenty who claim to be speaking in the name of the Church – as well as some who attack the teaching of the Holy Father. Satan is real and his method is “divide and conquer”. Just look at the political scene today. Hear again: “You are Peter and upon this rock I build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18, as well as 1 Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20, 1 Pet. 2:5–6, Rev. 21:14).

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Thirty-first Sunday - 2019

Reading 1 Wisdom 11:22-12:2 Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance  or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.  But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;  and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.   For you love all things that are  and loathe nothing that you have made;  for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.  And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;  or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?   But you spare all things, because they are yours,  O LORD and lover of souls,  for your imperishable spirit is in all things!   Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,  warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,  that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

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