Homily by:
Fr. Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
January 6, 2008
Announcement of Movable Feasts 2008
Know dearly beloved brethren that acknowledging that by the Mercy of God just as we have been rejoicing in the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so also do we announce to you the joy of the Resurrection of our same Savior.
On the 6th day of February, Ash Wednesday begins the fast of the most holy Forty Days (Lent)
On the 23rd day of March, you will celebrate with joy the holy Easter of our Lord Jesus Christ
The 4th day of May will be the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The 11th day of the same month will be the Feast of Pentecost
The 25th day of the same month will be the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
The 30th day of November will be the First Sunday in the Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be honor and glory, forever and ever Amen.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Over the last weeks, if you have purchased this calendar, the one mentioned in the bulletin, the month of January has this large upper portion with flowers and at the top it says, “The Most Holy Name of Jesus” and then across in letters, which are very ornate, “J H S”. You see this mentioned in your bulletin and you can read that later on. You may have seen in art or architecture, “I H S”. People have said that I H S and J H S mean this or that, but it is actually an abbreviation for Jesus, the Name Jesus. Jesus means, “God Saves”, and a shorthand version of Jesus is J H S or I H S.
Running down the side of the page in this calendar is a prayer based on the Holy Name of Jesus. In John 16:23 Jesus says,
Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, it will be given to you.”
It is a very simple prayer following that formula. Then the calendar informs us that January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.
On January 1st we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and the Gospel Reading for that day also included the Circumcision of the Lord and His Name, the Name He had received from the angel before Our Lady conceived Him in her womb. On January 3rd we celebrated the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. This entire month is dedicated to the Name of Jesus.
You may think there is something wrong with my neck; I continue to bob up and down. There is a tradition based on the writing in the New Testament that says,
At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth.
The Church has since shortened that by a reverent bow of the head.
“Oh Father, everybody knows that!”
No, no, they don’t, but it is something for parents and grandparents to consider passing on to your charges, your children and grandchildren, during this month of the Holy Name of Jesus.
You have a letter-sized piece of paper that is not stapled into the others, and it begins, “Paul”, meaning Saint Paul. It is paragraph #5 of Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical that is just weeks old now, “Spe Salvi” or in English, “Saved by Hope”. He includes a quote from St. Gregory about the Three Kings. What he mentions in this brief excerpt is that they gave up astrology when they found Christ, and they reckoned, being wise men, they understood that astrology doesn’t govern everything, but Christ governs everything, even the movement of the stars. Look at the last three words, “We are free.” Yes! We are free to do as we please, and boy…do we do as we please! We have no understanding today of what took place at Bethlehem with these three kings.
Look at the cover of the bulletin; the artist appears to have shoehorned so many figures into that picture. The same picture is here below the Altar replacing the Manger Scene. Surrounding the Altar you can see a variety of colors, plants and textures and in a similar way it is depicted in the picture I am referring to. You will also notice the vast crowd pressing in on poor little Bethlehem.
Tonight we prayed in the Evening Prayer, Revelation Chapter 15.
Mighty and wonderful are your works oh God Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways oh King of the nations.
Everyone who is not a Jew is part of the “nations”.
Who would dare refuse You honor or the glory due your name oh Lord?
I can tell you…ABC, CBS, CNN…. anyway…you know the whole crowd!
Notice the emphasis on the name. Again and again in the Book of Psalms, for example in Psalm 135;
Lord, Your Name stands forever.
In the Old Testament when they begged God for this or that they said,
Lord, for the sake of Your Name.
The Holy Name of Jesus is tremendous in power, unsurpassable; the Name Jesus means, “God Saves.” This is not just a name tacked onto Him; He is Salvation.
Imagine being at home and you have a lamp on your table, the shade is off and there is a light bulb there. The cord is unplugged, so you put the bulb in and plug the lamp in, turn it on, and nothing happens. Your first thought is,
“Oh my, I wonder if the power company burned down?”
No, you wouldn’t think that there was something wrong with the power, but that you are working with something defective. When we consider the Name of Jesus, as if we are honest, we don’t consider the Holy Name of Jesus, we consider it to be so “extra” and yet, it is the power that God has given to us. As the Pope writes,
That name has been given to us to put in a drawer and never use; it was given to us so that we would never refer to it or call upon that name. That is in essence what happens all too often. The indifference of Catholics has to stop. How wise our Church is to give us this Feast of the Holy Name at the beginning of the year.Salvation is a Person, Salvation has a Name and His name is Jesus.
The fact is that the three Wise Men understood, in their wisdom that God has revealed Himself to us. That is step one; now we must adore Him. These three men were free to go anywhere they wanted and they chose to go there. That shows wisdom, wisdom bowing down before Incarnate Wisdom.
January 1st I mentioned that there were those, who early on in the Church tried to say that Jesus “appeared” to take a body. Oh no! You can’t circumcise a ghost; the first blood that Christ shed for us was at His Circumcision, showing us that He had a body, and you can’t nail a ghost to a cross.
Father turns and touches the corpus on the Crucifix
You see what I am displaying to you here; this is “unbroken fidelity” to the Will of God, the Father. Jesus never did anything, but God the Father’s Will, and He is unbroken fidelity, Who has a Name, Jesus. These Three Kings represent the first non-Jews to come into the presence of unbroken faithfulness.
There were four kings beside Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today and they were all part of the Nations and not Jewish. How about King Herod? He was the king of Israel, a descendant of Esau, an Edomite and not a descendant of Israel, yet he was the king of Israel. King Herod wanted to abort this reign of the newborn King and God would not allow it. These Three Kings are our spiritual ancestors and it is for us to begin to consider what they have done and follow in their footsteps.
The prayer that is on the last page of the bulletin is the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus. This is a great way to pray with your spouse, children, and even with Christians who are not Catholic Christians. What would they have to object to…the Name of Jesus? This is a prayer especially for children, who you really have to sneak up on when you help them pray because they get bored so quickly. How many times have I seen kids praying and they are looking all over the place, looking at their nails, etc? That is a child for you. Parents and grandparents using this prayer can assign one child to lead the prayer and then another child.
“You mean I have to pay attention?”
Notice that it is responsorial as well; someone prays the first half and someone prays the second half. Even someone going to Dallas could pray this prayer, the passenger could do the first part and the driver would soon be able to respond without having to read the words. Our children need to be taught about the power that is right at the very tip of our tongue.
This morning as I was making my bed and about to come over for the day, I was remembering how many times my parents had to repeat, “Make your bed!” Like one Saturday morning coming out of my room mom or dad would ask if I’d made my bed and I would say,
“Whaaaa what? Is this something new?”
No, it was expected every day. Children are very unusual and even though they have made their bed every day, all their life, there is that one day when they say,
“Isn’t there a change?”
I remember my parents saying to my siblings and me when we were fighting.
I wish you would treat your brother and sisters the way you treat your friends.”
Well, that is no fun! Right? Well, I say to you, if only Catholic Christians would dedicate half of the time to the Name of Jesus than they do to ….TV
Father Paul uses no words, but makes the sign for TV using his hands to make a T and then a V
You know exactly what I am talking about, right?
“I don’t have time to pray this Litany; when am I going to get that in?”
We don’t have time to pray or invoke the Name of Jesus; we have no inclination to follow Him…admit it! Admit it!
I will conclude with a quote that Pope Benedict had in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth.” There is the Holy Name again, on the front of the book and in all those bookstores. Don’t you know they wanted to shove that one to the back room, right? This quote is on page 33 of the book and he is quoting a Jesuit, Fr. Alfred Delp, who was executed by the Nazis. Whom didn’t the Nazis execute, right? Fr. Delp gives us what is important, then, what is more important, and then, what is most important.
Who is Unbroken Fidelity? Unbroken Fidelity is Jesus Christ. You and I are free to adore Him or not. This prayer, the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus will get us moving in the right direction and to recognize that bread is important, freedom is more important; and adoration and unbroken fidelity is most important.Bread is important; freedom is more important, but what is most important of all is unbroken fidelity and adoration.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Amen