Homily by:
Father Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
April 27, 2008
Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
There is a beautiful picture on the front of the bulletin depicting the Feast that is this coming Thursday,St. Joseph the Worker. There he is in the days before Home Depot. This image of St. Joseph gives us an example of love. Why St. Joseph would work so hard should be seen in our parents. I remember seeing my father get up every day to go to work. I also remember him stating as we do today that everything is going up in price and it is so expensive. My father would get up and go to work whether he had been up all night or if he was sick. He still went to work. I know why he did that; it was out of love and obligation and in such situations that won’t even get you around the block even if the bills are stacking up. Love is what urged my father to do that. With St. Joseph, the Foster Father of Jesus having a Feast this week, it helps us to understand what so many in the world do not understand.
Before the homily I made those two announcements about the Mass and the obligation to attend Mass and when this obligation is not fulfilled. It is ashamed that the announcement is needed but it is sorely needed to reaffirm to each and every one of us and to teach those who have never heard it before.
I remember last Sunday someone came to Mass about twenty minutes early, and in Church with others around her she took out her cell phone and placed a call. I could see someone making a call in Church when no on else is around if they were having a heart attack or something like that. This was not the case with this woman. She and her husband knew what they were doing and so I spoke to them about it. I told them that they knew what they were doing was wrong when they did it. They both denied it. They have been here about six weeks and, God bless them and help them to see through the fog.
It is probably very similar to what I remember as a kid. I told my father and mother once that I didn’t know Mr. “So and so” had a hearing aide. They told me that he didn’t have one. Come to find out he had a transistor radio and he was listening to the game during Mass. You can fool a lot of people and you can fool a kid but you can’t fool HIM. I guess soon we will have to say before Mass that it is now time for you to put your laptops away. What is this, an airplane?
This is not an indication of vitality in the faith. It kind of reminds me of what I have been hearing about over the past few weeks. It is spring and with so many birds appearing, people have said that they have had the unusual occurrence at home of birds flying into windows. They can’t tell that there is a window there, except on the rectory because I need to clean the windows. Most homes keep their windows clean so the birds fly right into the glass and fall down. This kind of glass ceiling is indicative of the spiritual life that is not progressing, that is held back.
This book I am holding is called Lukewarmness, the Devil in Disguise by Francis Fernandez Carvajal. It is as if this author has been following me around. Here is something that he writes concerning the subject of lukewarmness.
Like we say in Texas, “I gotta do this…I gotta go to Mass. I gotta say the Rosary” The “gottas”, right?When the soul falls into lukewarmness its vision of Christ becomes blurred. He does not appear the same as He did before. The soul loses its former clarity of purpose and the life of piety becomes an ongoing nuisance, something that has to be done.
The glass ceiling is there and the soul is unable to make progress because of this lukewarmness, not cold, not hot, but lukewarm. Right now we are reading the Book of Revelation in the Divine Office. Placed on the lips of Jesus in the Book of Revelation by St. John is this statement.Religious devotions are emptied of their true content and become hollow shells. Sooner or later religious devotions will be abandoned. They are dead works, a boring waste of time that drives the soul away from its former union with God.
I will have you hot, I will have you cold, or I will vomit you out of My mouth.
This is rather graphic, understandably, but this is the consequence of lukewarmness. Being lukewarm means being far from Christ. Again, the author continues.
I am amazed to see people driving while looking in their rear view mirrors and they always have a cell phone attached.Perhaps one still talks about God but no longer talks with Him.
”Hey! That guy almost cut me off! Wait a minute, THAT IS FATHER PAUL!
They are telling someone on the phone everything that is going on.
”Now I am walking into the kitchen. Look, someone made a mess. Now I am walking into…….”
There is this desire to communicate everything and that is good; what is bad is the desire to communicate with another fallen human creature. This desire is most fitting when we communicate with Our Lord. The lukewarm soul talks about God but no longer talks with Him. How can anyone justify this parallel? We have a constant desire to text-message or to communicate electronically with others but not with God. We just don’t have time; it is that glass ceiling again. The author says,
On page six of the bulletin you will find a whole list that is always ready at hand after Communion. What this author writes is so true because receiving Holy Communion without thinking about these intentions listed in the bulletin and so many others, is to make of receiving the very Son of God into my soul and heart, just something I “gotta” do for some reason.A lukewarm person has no great devotion to God in the Holy Mass. Communions are typically accompanied by a great coldness due to lack of love and personal preparation.
When the Holy Father was here in the USA recently, proclaiming “Christ our Hope”, again and again he underlined how we must have a personal friendship and relationship with Christ. Now, we must admit that our protestant brothers and sisters promote this personal relationship with Christ. This goes back to about 500 years ago. But, it wasn’t invented there. It goes back to Our Lord Himself, who in the Gospel today says,Communions are typically accompanied by a great coldness due to lack of love and personal preparation. These are not symptoms of spiritual dryness; these are symptoms of spiritual emptiness. Personal prayer is full of distractions and self-seeking; there is no real friendship with the Lord
If you love me you will keep my Commandments.
The Holy Father is right to underscore this absolute right to have Christ as our friend, in whom we wish to communicate everything, and that we have this burning desire like the Seraphim burn with the desire to adore the Lord in Heaven. St. Francis, the Seraphic Doctor of Assisi burned with love for Christ and desired to pray in front of a very beautiful and large Crucifix. He spent much time praying there and once, as was his custom, went up and placed his arms around the waist of Christ, meditating on Christ. He wasn’t thinking about where he could be other than there. Anyway, he was praying in this fashion when he felt the
arm of Christ come down and encircle his body. This is what happens in prayer when there is not spiritual emptiness or the self imposed glass ceiling.
We find so many ways and give ourselves permission to back away from the Commandments, not following this Commandment or that one because it is inconvenient. I have seen many times a child born into a family and that child makes a great change in a mother or father, brother or sister. How many times have I seen that last child make a difference with the first child? There is some grace that God has shed on this family to make it so. But, when people decide not to follow the Commandments and give themselves permission to not accept children, this is to not follow the Commandments. It is saying “no” to the love that God is extending to the family. There are so many ways in a day we can say “no” to the Commandments, and in doing so we are saying “no” to the love of Christ, thinking that Commandments are obligation and that somehow are separated from the Person of Christ Himself. Christ makes this personal connection.
Next Sunday we will hear the Readings from the Ascension of the Lord. Ascension Thursday is this week, but its celebration has been moved to Sunday. The last words to us from Jesus before He ascended into Heaven were,
Full authority has been given to Me both in Heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them everything I have commanded you; know that I Am with you always until the end of the world.
These are the last words coming from the mouth of the very Son of God so His Commandments are to be taken very seriously, and they are to be our every day joy, not only to live them but also to teach others all that He has commanded us. The spiritual life support that we somehow give ourselves permission to exist on is not what Christ has in store for us. He wants us to show Him our love through living the Commandments, and this love is shown for Him and for our neighbor.
Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.”
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen