Father Paul Weinberger, Pastor
St. William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 12, 2007
Do not be afraid any longer little flock for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom; sell your belongings and give alms. Provide moneybags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in Heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
Thursday night or Friday morning, the air conditioners at Our Lady of Fatima in Quinlan were stolen. Now, you wonder about people but you know where they are headed; where they are headed, they are going to need those air conditioners. [Laughter] If they get there and plug them in, they might not work, right? Or they will work and the culprit will get the bill and have “hell” to pay. These people are not headed in the right direction. I sent a man over to take out the remaining unit so that the person(s) would not show up the next night and steal that one.
The thief is used by Our Lord in this Gospel to show us the way Jesus will come on a day that we will not expect.
You also must be prepared; for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
This follows Jesus using the image of the thief. The thief comes to steal but Jesus will come to establish His Kingdom for all eternity. The thief however, is an image that grabs us and holds our attention.
This last week has been a very important week. Perhaps you have been to a wedding and the man and woman who are marrying are just perfect for each other. You are very inspired by this couple, who are made for each other; this is really something. However, people today get married by putting on a parachute and jumping out of a plane or putting on scuba equipment and getting married under water. Are the guests supposed to jump out of the plane too? How high do you have to go for the entire wedding party to be present while you take your vows? Do you have to use the space shuttle? It is the same with underwater weddings. These are becoming very common, or you can just do as so many others and go to a Justice of the Peace or Las Vegas. Again, it is a ceremony, supposedly a secular marriage, but according to our faith, it doesn’t exist. It mirrors what marriage is supposed to include but it doesn’t inspire the way that a real marriage, in the eyes of God, surrounded by family and friends vowing their support does. That kind of wedding is tremendous but rare these days, no doubt.
Last week a man from our parish had send off. The Knights of Columbus and the Women’s Guild threw a wonderful farewell party for Aaron Fowler and on Wednesday he left for the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.
You will find a letter on the back of the bulletin that he wrote and the words at the very top are from St. Matthew’s Gospel. They mirror the way this Gospel today begins.
Read Aaron’s Letter here
http://www.semperficatholic.com/page50.html
Aaron could pursue many different things in his life and be successful, but instead he is doing what Our Lord is asking us to do and that is to follow Him, giving up everything in order to possess the Kingdom. Jesus said,
Do not be afraid any longer little flock for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.
Here is the Kingdom, right here! The Kingdom is Jesus Christ, not what but Who. Jesus is the Kingdom of God. He says,
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
It is very inspiring to see a young man with so many possibilities go away and join the Franciscans to follow the example of Christ and St. Francis, who modeled his life on the life of Christ.
Yesterday I went to the Cathedral and many from our parish went as well to see the Ordination of Deacon Jason Cargo, who offered his first Mass today as Fr. Cargo. It was a real inspiration for me to see how a young man in his late twenties could be a success at anything he put his mind to but he chose to receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders willingly. There was not a gun to his head. He willingly begins a life of service, following the example of Our Lord in today’s Gospel. It is the same kind of inspiration that married people would see at the wedding of a man and a woman that were made for each other and are doing the right thing before God and their family members.
At the Ordination yesterday we prayed the Litany of the Saints because we include all our family and not just those who are living right now. The saints are alive in Heaven! The Litany of the Saints mentions saints, one after another. Most of the saints are mentioned one by one, such as St. John Vianney and St. Augustine. There are however, exceptions. St. Peter is always mentioned with St. Paul and St. Francis is always in the Litany linked to St. Dominic. As I mentioned already, Aaron Fowler is going off to be a Franciscan and he just happened by “coincidence” to leave on the Feast of St. Dominic? Again, we see St. Francis and St. Dominic joined.
St. Benedict had begun to civilize much of Europe through the spread of his monasteries and convents. What St. Benedict had in mind was something very different from what St. Francis and St. Dominic had in mind. Centuries before St. Francis and St. Dominic, St. Benedict began to build monasteries and men would flock to them and would live, pray and work. They had a stability of place, staying right there until they had enough men to go out and start another monastery. It was stability, which is a crowned jewel of Benedictine life.
When St. Francis and St. Dominic came along right about the beginning of the 13th Century it was very different. These were desperate times and the Church was in very bad shape. Europe was in bad shape but it didn’t get that way over night. You can say the same thing about Europe today. This book is by Dr. Kevin Orlin Johnson and it titled, “Rosary”.
This book can be found here
http://www.librarything.com/work/584039
This is an excellent book and Dr. Johnson synthesizes what St. Dominic did for the Church at the time of St. Francis. I am going to read some of what he writes because, what St. Dominic was facing was also the same problems that St. Francis was encountering. In the beginning, St. Dominic was focusing on the south of France, where France trickles down and there are those Pyrenees Mountains and the Spain descends from France along with Portugal. It is a beautiful part of France and had been very wealthy, but wait until you hear what happened. There was a heresy named for a city in the area. Albi is the city. If someone is from Texas they are referred to as Texans. If someone were from Albi, in Latin they would be Albigensis. Albigensian is the name of the heresy, because it centers on the city of Albi. This heresy started there and it grew there, touching many.
The heresy was taught around the year 1020. There were people going around preaching heresy (error) but the people of the area caught on real quick. They knew their faith and so what did they do? They arrested these Abligensians preachers, tried them for heresy and convicted them for civil sedition and treason and then burned them. You are probably thinking that this is rather extreme. Just wait until you hear this. Right at one hundred years late in 1119 there was a Duke from the area named Duke William IX. He heard an Albigensian preacher and it occurred to him that, if he adopted the heresy he would be free from the moderating hand of the Church. The Church was cramping his style.
It is kind of like a child who doesn’t like it when mom or dad tell them that they cannot play in the front yard or in the street. When mom and dad aren’t looking the child goes through the gate, makes for the street and they are free. Hopefully their guardian angel is there because they could be hurt or killed in the street; free from the moderating hand of mother and father they can be injured or killed. Duke William had the same idea and this idea appealed to his neighbors as well. He and other noblemen could openly keep mistresses or even have more than one wife.
Dr. Johnson says heresies always begin by trying to demolish the Sacraments. And they would not be bound by any real moral considerations in dealing with the rights of their subjects; they would be free to do as they pleased. Naturally they got more than they bargained for. They were free to carry on as they pleased, raping and burning, but the heresy also taught the laity that they wouldn’t have to bother observing any kind of law at all, moral or civil.
They went about burning Churches and murdering priests. Now you start to see why the people in the year 1020 reacted the way they did when they arrested these heretics. Dr. Johnson makes as excellent point here; this is the real problem with heresy.The heresy tore the whole principal of law out of light and the richest provinces in France were plunged into chaos. Whenever the mood struck them, the people would burst out in raping and burning but violent civil disorders were not the worse part of the chaos.
St. Dominic’s motto for the Dominican Order is Veritas, which means “truth”.The people began to hear not the truth, but muddled teaching
We still have that heresy hanging around; many Catholic Christians and other Christians believe to their error, that all souls end up with God sooner or later and that you are born, baptized, live however one pleases, never consider the Ten Commandments and the moment one dies they are magically transported to Heaven. Whether you want to go or not, you are going to Heaven. You will be shot out of that magic cannon into the arms of Jesus. Again, this is just part of that heresy that is cropping up today.The people began to hear not the truth, but muddled teaching centered on the idea that the Creator, Lord of the world is Satan and he is in constant struggle with the Pure Spirit of the Lord of Heaven. The heresy promoted the idea that Satan created the body and God created the spirit so all souls end up with God sooner or later, while anything having to do with the material body is evil.
This means that we would not really be responsible.The Albigensian Heresy taught that, Satan controls this world and that people are depraved and evil by their very natures.
I am going to read the consequence of this preaching; it seems so long ago and so far away, in the South of France. We are not even in the south of Texas, but in the north of Texas. This seems so remote and occurred centuries ago but listen to how their cities changed. Think about L.A., New York and Philadelphia.
The courts didn’t punish anybody for anything; does that sound familiar?As a result of this heresy being preached far and wide in this rich, thriving part of France, crime was entirely out of hand. Even when there were no riots the police and even the armies were too little to enforce order on the population at large.
A few years ago I went to Philadelphia and I thought,The courts didn’t punish anybody for anything. When you teach that men are by nature depraved, people naturally draw the conclusion that nobody is responsible for his actions; people can’t be punished for something that they are not responsible for. Nobody was safe on the streets or even at home; cities fell into ruin as governments found themselves powerless to maintain order in them.
“When did the bomb go off here?”
Parts of that beautiful city are in ruins. I asked some of the people there if they were thinking of rebuilding and they wanted to know what there was to rebuild. It looked like Beirut! The city of brotherly love had been torn by something that wasn’t brotherly love.
Getting back to France.
That is contra-ception! It was a mess, a sad chaotic mess!Families were ruined as well; with the Sacrament of Matrimony despised, people just coupled at pleasure and then coupled again with other partners, doing all they could to avoid conception and leaving any children to fend for themselves.
St. Dominic lived right across the border, across the mountain range from all of this. He was born and grew up to become a priest and then his bishop was tapped by the king to go on a mission to Denmark, passing through France on business. It concerned a proposed marriage between his son and a princess there. St. Dominic and the bishop had heard a lot of bad things about the Albigensian Heresy, but when they got there they were astonished to see what had happened to the southern French countryside.
The Dominicans are called, “Order of Preachers.” St. Dominic and St. Francis both started an order at roughly the same time. Unlike the Benedictines, staying in one place, they could move about freely. In fact, they were to live as Jesus said in the Gospel and to sell all their belongings, give alms, and to follow Him and to preach the Gospel embracing poverty, chastity, and obedience. This is what Aaron Fowler, who just left here on Wednesday to join the Franciscans is in for. He knows exactly what he is getting into. The incredible poverty, chastity, and obedience that is required of him is something that he is not afraid of. The same can be said of Fr. Cargo.Clearly, no human beings were supposed to live in that kind of devastation, chaos, and moral disorder and there was nowhere they could turn for help. Without the Mass celebrated publicly and regularly, even those people, who would like to remain faithful, could not hear the Word of God in its fullness; they couldn’t receive the Sacraments. The heretics wouldn’t hear Mass even if it were offered. To St. Dominic it appeared to require and extraordinary solution. He saw at once that these people needed urgently somebody to teach Christianity to them as the Apostles had taught Christianity to the pagans. He decided on an order of preachers.
The Franciscans and the Dominicans could move about and preach in a radical way where there was a need and where there was not a Benedictine Monastery. They could find the places that were in need and there preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and tell these people that God, the Father in Heaven was pleased to give them the Kingdom, who is Jesus Christ. They could see by the poverty, chastity and obedience of the men that they were the real deal and they could connect it with the Bible the way Jesus and the Apostles moved about.
This is what changed the south of France from chaos back to order. Isn’t it interesting that they kick the Church out because they want to do as they please and then when the nobility realizes that they can’t get the people to show up for work and the place is a mess, they then call on Holy Mother Church? This is what St. Francis and St. Dominic did in their own way preaching in that area.
Yesterday was the Feast of St. Clare, who was a beautiful example of the appeal that St. Francis had. She heard Francis preaching during Holy Week at a Church in her town and that night she went with her aunt to the Chapel of the Portiuncula and there she made her commitment. St. Francis received her into the Poor Clares. One of the first things that marked this occasion was the cutting of her beautiful long hair. Many women in her position would say that they want to follow Jesus and give themselves completely, but not their hair. St. Clare traded her satin and silk dresses for the rough habit of a Franciscan. She gave up her palace and servants to live in poverty.
Unlike St. Francis, the Poor Clares stayed in one place in order to pray for St. Francis, helping him with her prayers and sacrifices. She would stay and pray with other women, some who were from her own family, who had entered the convent. This began to spread across Europe and the world.
In the 1950s, St. Clare was chosen as the Patron of Television. No, you have not fallen asleep and you are not dreaming; she was chosen as the Patron Saint of television. Why her? St. Clare spent the last twenty years of her life in very poor health. When one lives in such poverty it affects the health. She was confined to her bed for quite a while. Down the hall from her was where the Holy Sacrifice was offered and she longed to be there but could not attend. A miracle occurred. Toward the end of her life, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass would be displayed on the wall of her room. Amazing! St. Clare would be to St. Francis what a good wife is to many a husband. There was nothing carnal between the two. She was chaste and pure. The Catholic encyclopedia mentions that,
He’d thought of giving up the mission and just staying and praying in one place. This sounds to me like many a wife when their husbands retire.Not the least important part of St. Clare’s work was the aid and encouragement she gave St. Francis. It was to her that St. Francis turned when in doubt and it was St. Clare who urged him to continue his mission to the people.
“Oh no! You are not staying here; you get out of this house and I will see you tonight!”
You can just hear St. Clare saying,
“You are thinking about what? No, no, no! You get out there mister!”
She would have done this in a very nice way. St. Clare and St. Francis, along with St. Dominic were to put truth where muddled teachings had been.
Many of you are familiar with a group of Poor Clare nuns if you watch EWTN. Mother Angelica and those sisters at Hanceville are Poor Clare sisters. Fr. Pacwa, Fr. Corapi and so many others present the Catholic faith in a very beautiful way; there are no muddled teachings there. In fact, many times people who think this or that is allowed find out the true faith from this clear teaching. Many have come into the Church because of this work. This Patron Saint of Television has brought so many to Christ and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
When I go to the Missionaries of Charity in Dallas there is a woman that lives right around the corner from them, who will be 96 years old this August. Her name is Mrs. Delarosa. I have been visiting her for years now because she couldn’t get out and go to Mass. Since I am already at the sister’s on Thursdays I just go around the corner and see Mrs. Delarosa. She is a widow and she and her husband wanted children but none were sent. Within the past couple of years her niece has moved in along with her husband to take care of Mrs. Delerosa and she is doing a great job. Up until just a few months ago she could walk around her house but now she is confined to her bed. Before this she would watch EWTN everyday and pray the rosary with Mother Angelica’s sisters in the morning and again throughout the day. When I would visit this woman of tremendous faith she would say to me,
“I don’t know why I am still here,”
My hand shoots up! I know why she is still here! She is still here because as far as someone who prays, she is a warrior; she really prays. She is not too busy to turn to God and receive the Kingdom, Who is Jesus Christ. She complains that when she prays the rosary alone she loses her place but she just starts over again. She doesn’t throw the rosary on the floor; she begins again and continues to pray throughout the day just as the Poor Clare sisters do. She prays along with the sisters and this makes it so easy. For example, there are many people who cannot make it to daily Mass but could easily turn on the TV and watch Mass on EWTN, but we are too busy! Jesus says that we do not know the day or the hour so we need to be strengthened.
“Well, I will pray as I did at nine years old, one minute in the morning and one minute just as I drift off and that will be enough.”
Then you will not be prepared for the Son of Man when he comes. St. Clare, Francis, Dominic and Mrs. Delarosa along with so many others show us that it is possible.
This coming week we will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today’s Collect says,
The picture of the Assumption by El Greco depicts Our Lady being assumed into Heaven.Almighty and ever living God, Your Spirit made us your children confident to call You Father. Increase Your Spirit within us and bring us to our promised inheritance.
Picture of Assumption by El Greco
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... Virgen.jpg
You see the grave below and the Apostles around it, looking up to our Lady, who is looking up. She is going to her promised inheritance at the right hand of her Son in Heaven. She has her eye on the treasure.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
She is our mother and she wants us at her side in Heaven.
On Tuesday there are two Masses in the evening, and on Wednesday there are three Masses celebrated in honor of the Assumption of Our Lady. There are five Masses! As Catholics we understand that what the Church has always taught us is true, that the greatest prayer that anyone can offer to God for any intention is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the day Jesus rose from the dead, which is Sunday. If you look at the calendar there are 52 Sundays every year. What is a Holy Day of Obligation? It is a Sunday. The Church takes this Holy Day and plops it right in the middle of the week and what is the response of most Catholics?
“Oh, a Holy Day of Obligation…I gotta go to Mass!”
You find the same attitude with the statement,
“I gotta get a tooth filled!”
Right? The way we talk about a Holy Day is not very flattering. On the Feast of the Assumption Our Blessed Mother is crossing the finish line and we are not even interested or curious and yet, the Church tell us that we must prepare and we must be prepared.
Sts. Clare, Francis and Dominic had a desire for prayer and especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which we must imitate so that we can grow, be strengthened, and serve Him because nobody gets a pass, not a priest, bishop, nun, deacon, or layperson. No one gets a pass on this one.
“Well Father Paul, I didn’t know I was supposed to be a Catholic and actually DO something! You mean after I was Baptized I had to do other things like pray every day and go to Mass on Sunday?”
You get the idea. Sts. Clare, Francis, and Dominic saw that the world had a hold on the human heart; our hearts should be in Heaven and that is where our treasure should be. These saints could have done anything in the world and succeeded at it but instead, they knew that God was calling them to help others and to train their sights on a treasure, not here but in Heaven.
Jesus says to us,
Do not be afraid any longer little flock for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom; sell your belongings and give alms. Provide moneybags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in Heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen