Fr. Paul Weinberger
St. William’s Roman Catholic Parish
Greenville, Texas
9 /18/ 2005 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
In going through the autobiography of Winston Churchill again, by Manchester, I noticed there is a note in it about Churchill always being late. He was late for dinner, he was late for Parliament; he was late for just about everything it seemed, but when you are Churchill I guess it doesn’t matter. He and his family arrived at a train station in London and they were five minutes late, the train was pulling away. Evidently the Conductor noticed that it was Churchill so he stopped the train and allowed them to run ahead and board the train. Clementine, the wife of Churchill said to a friend of hers about the situation,
“Winston always likes to give the train a sporting chance to get away.”
[Laughter] He was almost too late.
In the Gospel today we hear about the workers, who were standing there idle, almost too late. The Lord has a vineyard. In fact where it says in the Gospel that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard, a better translation of landowner is head of the family, head of the household, or God, so this ties in very beautifully with what we heard Pope Benedict say upon his election as the Successor of St. Peter, following Pope John Paul II. He addressed the world saying that he was a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. That is not window dressing. He, like the rest of us is a worker in the vineyard of the Lord and the Pope made reference to this Gospel. Our Lord uses the vineyard throughout many of His parables and metaphors. The vineyard of the Lord is vast and getting the word out to all peoples is not just a good idea. These are the last words of Christ.
“Go therefore and teach all nations; baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them everything I have commanded you and know that I am always with you until the end of time”
After Christ said this He ascended into Heaven. That song that we sang at the beginning of the Mass is about the Ascension of the Lord. Where He has gone we hope to follow. Before his Ascension He gave us these direct orders. This mission of the Church is exactly what the Church has to be about; the Church is composed of all of us so we all have to be about the Lord’s work. Some of us come later than others.
On page four of the bulletin for September 20th, which is Tuesday, you see it will be the Feast of St. Andrew Kim, St. Paul Chong Hasang, and the martyrs of Korea. This reference mentions the martyrs of Korea
St. Andrew was beheaded on September 16th and the layman, St. Paul Chong Hasang was martyred on September 22nd in 1846. The evangelization of Korea began early in the 1600s with a group of fervent Catholic lay Christians. At first they were without priests but eventually missionaries from France entered Korea secretly.
The Foreign Mission Society of Paris eventually entered Korea. In the 19th century a lot of missionaries came out of Europe and went to every part of the world, to Asia, Africa, India, and Hawaii. Blessed Damien DeVester from Belgium, the Saint of Molokai went there. The French Foreign Mission Society based in Paris sent people to Korea and when they got there much of Korea had already been evangelized even before the first priest stepped foot on Korean soil. How was this possible? Lay people learned about the faith, taught it to their children, and taught it well. This was no sloppy project; the lay people did this in a brilliant way. In Korea today, that peninsula so near China, South Korea, is almost entirely Catholic. North Korea is communist. You see the same thing with the Foreign Missionaries from Paris concerning Viet Nam.
It is amazing to see in the 19th Century how effective the foreign Mission Society was in getting the work done. Consider that this was in the 19th Century, nineteen centuries after Christ. That is a long time and kind of late getting to the job but they got much done. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 904-905 says,
Christ fulfills His prophetic office not only by the hierarchy but also by the laity. Christ accordingly establishes them as witnesses and provides them with a sense of the faith and the grace of the word.
Lay people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization; that is the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life. For lay people this evangelization acquires a specific property and peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of the world.
A quote from the Second Vatican Council, Document, Lumen Gentium, The Light of the World, Light to the Nations
The Catechism says it so beautifully. In fact, when the landowner, when head of the house, when God sent workers into his vineyard, He “sent them”, which in Latin is “missio”, the word we get mission from. He “sent them”, they were “sent”. So the Lord sends us into the world to evangelize it but not everyone gets started at the same time. I am sure you have noticed that not everyone starts on time or even gets to work on time. This happens with the work of the Church as well, the mission of the Church. People often forget that the mission of the Church begins at home. When parents have their children Baptized they hear,
You must be the best teachers of your children and so you must begin at home to teach your children about the faith. As I said before, children have an incredible pull on the hearts of their parents; in fact parents are willing slaves of their children. Right! It is obvious that parents are voluntary slaves to their children. There is no one who exerts more influence on their parents, after God, than their children. I think children exert more force on their parents than gravity. It is amazing.And you parents will be the first teachers of this child.
I was talking to a lady in our parish the other day that has eleven children. Last Monday she gave birth to number twelve. They named the baby in honor of the parents of St. Therese’ of Lisieux. The parents of St. Therese’, Zellie and Louis Martin were the parents of nine children and only five of them survived, the other four died as young children. Anyway the couple from this parish had their baby on Monday, which was the feast of The Holy Name of Mary. They named the baby Zellie Louisa Mary Donahue. Mother and child are doing fine.
The Donahue’s are from Michigan and Mrs. Donahue called a friend of hers there. This lady in Michigan had twenty-one or twenty-two children and only one survived. All of the other children were miscarriages. Family members and strangers have said terrible things to this couple and it will have to be told in front of God on Judgment Day. The couple was berated because they wanted to have children. God is in charge of having children and some of us think we are. God is in charge of every life, He has a reason for what he does and does not do.
Anyway these two ladies were speaking on the phone about children and the mother of the twenty-one or two children said to the mother of twelve that the only thing we can take with us to Heaven are our children. That is very beautiful. Some people think that this only refers to living children, who survived. Who is to say that? Who is to tell someone that lost a child before birth that it is not a child. That is the big lie in the abortion movement, right? Some say children aren’t alive until they are born and if you listen to that professor at an Ivy League College, Peter Singer, he thinks you are not a person until you reach the age of five. I still wouldn’t them anywhere near Peter Singer. He thinks that parents ought to be able to return their child if they don’t like them by the age of five. Aren’t you glad our parents didn’t have that option? Biological children are one aspect of this life.
In the second reading St. Paul is talking to the Romans and says,
I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.
St. Paul talks about spiritual children and how, if every one of us reaches the age of maturity and we don’t have spiritual children to our credit that there is something wrong. St. Paul had spiritual children. Of course I am sure that somewhere in the DiVinci Code it says that St. Paul married Mary Magdalene TOO! Or, maybe she had a sister? STOP READING THE DA VINCI CODE, WILL YA? It is garbage! When St. Paul said he had spiritual children, he is referring to people who have been converted to the faith, the Christian faith. These are his spiritual children and anyone who has lived for a significant time in this world is going to acquire spiritual children. The oddest people have been chosen to be spiritual children.
Father hold up a book titled “St. Therese’, which is written in very large letters.
This is not an eye chart. It says “Therese” and you can probably read it from the back row. This is a beautiful book on the life of St. Therese’, whose feast day is October 1st. St. Therese’ chose her first spiritual child and he was a triple murderer. Pranzini was her first spiritual child and do you know why? Because no one else wanted him.
St. Therese’ was only fifteen and about to enter the Convent with special permission from the Pope. This young woman would not see her twenty-fifth birthday. St. Therese’ is a Doctor of the Church, for those who are not familiar with this fact. She chose Pranzini for her spiritual child.
Father holds up the book and shows a picture of the “death mask” of the face of Pranzini
This is the facemask, a wax mask of the face of Pranzini. His case was notorious in Paris because he was caught and admitted what he had done, was tried and wasn’t repentant in the least. Because Pranzini was Catholic they kept offering to him a priest to hear his Confession and he refused. We have a lot of Pranzinis walking around the Catholic Church today.
“Confession? Me? No! Get away!”
Anyway, I will get back to the point. Pranzini went to his execution without having gone to Confession. He murdered three people and there he is in Paris where the crowd is just a mob, typical Paris. He is walking through the mob of Paris where priests are stationed at intervals along the way and he just walks right past them. He gets to the stairs and goes up where there is a priest standing at the top, the last priest, who is holding a large crucifix. Pranzini walks right past him as if he was invisible and walks over to the other side where he is about to be executed.
ST. Therese’ prayed for God to give her a sign that Pranzini would not spend all eternity in Hell. Now remember, she was only fifteen years old and was asking God to allow Pranzini to be her first spiritual child and she asked God to give her a sign that he would not spend eternity in Hell. So there is Pranzini, about to be executed and he pivots and comes back to the priest holding the Crucifix. He bends down and kisses the Crucifix, kisses Jesus.
Pranzini just punched in, he just began working and he just witnessed to that mob in Paris where so many atheistic intellectuals choose to live then and now. He walked over to his place and there he was executed.
“Well. That is not fair that he should get in like that!”
Does that sound familiar? Have you heard that anywhere before? What does it say?
“Am I not free to do what I wish with my money? Are you envious because I am generous?”
It doesn’t mean that Pranzini wasn’t going to spend a loooooooong time is Purgatory, but it meant that he wasn’t going to be in Hell. Look at how generous our Father is. Mothers and fathers, think again about the captivating trance your children put you in. You are voluntarily serving them, right? You would be generous to your children to a fault. God wants us to get to work even if it is the last tick on the clock that rings the bell releasing us from work. Pranzini is a perfect example.
Where did St. Therese’ learn to help Pranzini? She learned from her parents. Her mother and father started their family late and as I said, they had nine children; four of the children died. One of the children born to them wasn’t getting enough nourishment and was not growing. They asked a wet nurse to take him and nurse him. The wet nurse took him but took on other children as well and the Martin’s child succumbed because he lacked nourishment still. St. Therese’ was the last child born into the Martin family and after a while her mother noticed that she was not getting enough nourishment. This was in the 1900s just before baby formula was invented and just after television was invented. Not really, but you know what I mean. Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Martin looked for another wet nurse, someone who had just weaned her child. They found a woman and put Therese’ in the care of the nurse. Therese’ and her mother were separated for a year. If they were alive today, how many of their friends would say to Mrs. Martin,
“Oh aren’t you lucky! You aren’t being awakened at night!”
A knife to the heart, right? Mother and daughter separated for a whole year and then eventually Mrs. Martin died of breast cancer when Therese’ was only five years old. The sacrifice that this couple made for their children bore great fruit in the vineyard of the Lord. In the book Mrs. Martin talks about Therese’ when she was born. It is funny because it says that she was the youngest and she was the most spoiled. Mrs. Martin talks about how Therese’ was on the top of the stairs and was just starting to crawl. Makes one wonder how she got up to the top stair. Parents are always asking questions like that. The answer is always the same, “I don’t know.” Anyway, Therese’ is on the top stair of this two story house and is coming down the steps. Her mother is calling her name and Therese is calling back, “Ma ma, ma ma.” This is French for mama. [Laughter] Yea, I know not everyone speaks French. So as Therese’ came down the stairs she would call her mother and Mrs. Martin realized to herself that she couldn’t go to Therese’ every time she cried out for her and it was tearing her heart out.
I remember many a scenario with my mother, when my brother and two sisters would be crying out in unison, “Mama, mama!” My mother is sitting here in the front row by the way. Many times my mother would answer to no one in particular, “I’m going to change my name!” Things parents have to put up with, just talk to my mother. On second thought, don’t talk to my mother! [Laughter]
St. Therese’ first learned about sacrifice from her parents and she began accepting them and doing penances in her ordinary life. Her “Little Way” is all about accepting the ordinary sacrifices that come our way. She was in the Convent with three of her sisters; the other sister became a Visitation Nun. In the cafeteria or refectory where they ate there were benches all along the walls so the sisters sat with their back to the wall with the table in front of them and the service was from the center. Every sister had a place setting and a jar of cider with a cup turned over as a lid. They would eat in silence and one of the sisters would read from something like the Lives of the Saints or the Rule.
Once you went into the convent you sat in the same place for meals and had the same “neighbors” unless someone died and then you moved over. Saint Therese’ was always sitting next to Sister…well, I guess we could call her “Sister Cider” because she liked her cider. In fact, when she finished hers she just reached over and grabbed St. Therese’ cider. Of course there was no talking but St. Therese’ could have said….Father shakes his finger and then makes a motion as though slapping hands with a ruler, but I guess they don’t do that to each other. [Laughter] St. Therese’ never raised a finger, never said anything. She could have said something or complained to the Mother Superior but she just offered it up.
Now no one likes to waste food but the Nuns are the worst. In those days leftovers could be deadly. There was a piece in the writings of St. Therese’ where she talked about the cook in the convent serving fish and if everyone didn’t like it some of it came back to the kitchen. The cook would keep it because she worried about the sin of throwing it away. We don’t practice this here in the U.S. but we should. Anyway, the sister would serve the fish again and no one would eat it. On the third day she knew that she could serve it to the “garbage disposal” of the convent, St. Therese’. That fish would land in her plate on the third day. And would St. Therese refuse it or even say anything? She would eat it. You have to know that it would cause terrible pain and possibly poisoning. I know this is doing great things for those young people who are thinking of going into religious life, but I can tell you it isn’t like that anymore. Ok? St. Therese’ was offering all of these ordinary and extraordinary things for her spiritual children.
Our Lord understands that the world needs to hear all about Him but he wants to use you and me to get the message out. Maybe we have been working and resting on the shovel or rake and are not doing the work that we use to. Or maybe you are taking care of your biological children and you think that is all you have to do. Uh uh! You have work to do.
Look on page seven of your bulletin. Next Saturday and Sunday, Fr. Tom Sullivan, a Father of Mercy will come to Saint William’s and preach at all the Masses. The following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday he will be giving talks at the Knights of Columbus Hall, which is about a mile past Wal-Mart, on the right. He is going to be speaking on the “Little Way” of St. Therese, taking the ordinary circumstances of life and offering them up to God for the salvation of your children, grandchildren, and adopted children, which are spiritual children. Everyone has spiritual children. Some people have many.
Fr. Tom Sullivan will be preaching here next weekend so bring your friends, Catholic and non-Catholic. These priests are powerful in their preaching. Over at the KC Hall on the four days I
mentioned previously, Fr. Sullivan will be preaching on exactly what St. Therese’ spent her life doing, focusing on her because her feast day is October 1st.
I have provided for you in the bulletin the promise St. Therese’ made before she died, about sending down a shower of roses, and also the prayer to the “Little Rose Queen” in petition to St. Therese’ concerning this promise she made to never let any request made to her go unanswered.
St. Therese’ once heard about a saint while she was in the refectory eating, that every time he preformed a miracle, he would send a rose. St. Therese’ wasn’t bragging because this is true. She said that when she got to Heaven she would send down a shower of roses and that is exactly what the Little Flower has been doing. She has helped missionaries in the Congo and in Viet Nam. This little lady never left the convent and she was a missionary. In fact, she was the patron saint of foreign missions and never left home, never left Lisieux. Think of all of those spiritual children, those missionaries that she was supporting with her prayers and sacrifices. They preached the Word of God, converting people who converted people just like in Korea. All of those are spiritual children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on. There is going to be a reunion but that is at the end of the world.
Right now we have to focus on the work. If you haven’t been a part of this work or if you are coming late to the job, don’t worry. Our Lord wants all of His children working assiduously. St. Paul, in writing to his spiritual children says that he doesn’t know if he should stop working or if he should retire and go to Heaven. He says that if he goes it will be better for him but if he stayed it would be better for them. There you can see the true heart of a parent with his children. As he says so beautifully in his letter to the Romans,
If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen