Father Paul Weinberger, Pastor
St. William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
August 20, 2006
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This is the Bread that came down from Heaven; unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats THIS BREAD will live forever.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen
In my family I have two older sisters and a brother; we are all fourteen months apart. My parents called my older sister Princess. When the second daughter came along they called her Queenie. It is interesting and they probably got it right because she is the more imperial of the two. Of course when the girls were in trouble for something my parents called them by their first and second names, and they were always in trouble, but not like the boys in my family.
The picture on the front of your bulletin is of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Jan van Eyck. It is a beautiful of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and Earth, so she has a crown on her head.
Click the link below to view this picture.
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//gallery ... mage15.jpg
This calendar I am holding up is one you may have hanging on your wall at home. Last Tuesday was the Feast of the Assumption and I have to say that I am very proud because about 80% of the parish came to Mass on the Holy Day. Of the 20% I didn’t see, I would take it that a good portion of those people attended Mass closer to their homes or to work. Then there is a certain percentage that couldn’t or didn’t come to Mass here or attend somewhere else. But 80% is such a turn out and I am so proud that you came to honor the highest honor of our race.
We live in the buckle of the Bible belt and having this picture on the front of the bulletin as well as celebrating this Holy Day for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is obviously misunderstood by so many who are not Catholic. It is also misunderstood by some Catholics, but mainly by non-Catholics. Someone once said to Fr. Shannon Collins of the Fathers of Mercy,
”That is the problem with you Catholics, you honor Mary too much!”
His sharp reply was,
“That is impossible!”
Fr. Collins gave the correct answer. It is impossible to honor Mary to much. Now, we are accused of adoration and you just saw that at the beginning of Mass I incensed this statue of Our Lady of the Rosary. Some would say we adore Our Lady, but as they say,
“Looks are deceiving!”
Looks are deceiving! We don’t adore Mary because adoration is for God alone. The word we use to describe adoration for God and God alone is Greek, which is latria. The word that we use to describe out love and honor for the angels and saints is dulia, which is a Greek word as well. The word that we use to describe the honor and devotion that we have for the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, someone even JESUS HONORED and HONORS, is hyperdulia. So, latria is for God, dulia is for the angels and saints and hyperdulia, meaning above the love we have for the angels and saints is for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Mother has a special place in the Court of Heaven.
What we have to be careful of is that on this calendar, which said last week that Tuesday was the Solemnity of the Assumption, this week the calendar says Tuesday is the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Well, I would say that they missed an opportunity to make a connection. In praying the rosary, when I get around the the 4th Glorious Mystery, I meditate on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her body and soul taken into Heaven at the end of her earthly life and then I move on to the 5th Glorious Mystery, but I don’t call that meditation the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I could but we are accustomed to meditating on the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
A week after the Assumption is the Feast of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. We have to be very careful as Catholics that we don’t consider the Virgin Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth because that is a “nice thing to say.” She has a crown in this picture and on that statue, we will just call her Queen, the way my parents called my sister Queenie or the other one Princess. That is not it at all. We can look to the Old Testament for some guidance on this. The Old Testament is not the easiest part of the Bible to read; I will grant you that. There are some things that may be confusing but if you are confused, join the club.
In the Old Testament there are two books, First Kings and the Second Book of Kings. In the First Book of Kings in chapter two we see King Solomon. King Solomon was the son of David and his mother was Bathsheba. So we pick up with Solomon in his new role as King of Israel. He had hundreds of wives and hundreds of concubines; therefore he had hundreds of children. This is not allowed anymore, right? We speak of the Wisdom of Solomon and his first act a king was probably to abolish “Mother’s Day”. This way he saved himself millions of dollars a year, right? [Laughter] Anyway, this king had hundreds of wives and concubines so who was his queen?
In First Kings, chapter two, King Solomon is sitting on his throne in his palace for the first time and his mother Bathsheba enters that place. King Solomon stands up and he bows down and does homage to his mother and calls an attendant to bring a throne and place it at his right hand, which is a place of honor. Bathsheba was his mother and his queen. So here we see preparation in the Old Testament for the Queenship of Mary; the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.
How many times do we hear Jesus referred to in the New Testament as the Son of David?
“Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”
He is referred to again and again as the Son of David. King Solomon was the son of David and Jesus is in the line of David so He is referred to as “Son of David.” Jesus is the Son of God, True God and True man and the Blessed Virgin Mary is His Queen, queen in grace. She is the mother of the King and all grace has been placed in her hands.
Now what I just said sounds too good to be true in the natural sense but all things are possible with God so this is true. All grace has been placed in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It seems like we had just gotten back on course when I said that and now we are off into the ditch again, right? We are off into that ditch of “adoring” Mary. So many of our separated brethren would say,
“There you go again, honoring Mary too much!”
I want you to imagine, not pretend, what it must have been like 2000 years ago in Bethlehem. The baby Jesus was born but before that the Blessed Virgin Mary served as a “Tabernacle of the Lord”. Again, this seems too good to be true but it is true! For nine months she held in her virginal womb the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. Just as that Tabernacle over there contains Holy Communion, which is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. Now, Christ could have slid down from Heaven on the side of a lightening bolt; He could have descended on a cloud from Mt. Olympus but He was born and we know His mother’s name is Mary. When He was born she did what every mother does; she took the Child and she held Him close.
Now, before Jesus was born into this world He was King of Heaven and Earth. Notice that the Infant of Prague has a crown on His head. You also see Him in the arms of Our Lady of Victory and He has a crown on His head. Jesus didn’t have to wait until His 21st birthday to be crowned King of the Universe; He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords from all eternity. God has every grace in His Hands and He is King from all eternity.
When Jesus was born the Blessed Mother took the Child in her arms and held Him in her hands. Now, there is no grace outside of Jesus; there is not some factory in Michigan producing grace. All grace is contained in Jesus so when the Blessed Virgin Mary holds Jesus in her hands for the first time, she is holding all the grace in the universe as well as the Author of all grace. This all sounds too good to be true but it is true! You can quarrel among yourselves but if you just go back 2000 years, whom was she holding? She was holding Jesus and He is the Son of God. She is the Mother of God and so she is holding Him, holding every grace in her hands. How did He get there? Was this a mistake? Who put every grace into her hands when Jesus was put into her hands? God did!
Why is this so difficult and such a problem to so many believing Christians? I have no idea but is and let's admit it, it is a problem. It sounds like we are honoring her to much but that is impossible! I will argue that what happened at that moment 2000 years ago when the Blessed Virgin Mary first held Jesus in her hands, was prefigured in the Old Testament with Bathsheba and Solomon and prepares us for what happens to us today and this Gospel, so I will continue in that vein.
There is a beautiful anniversary this year. It will be two hundred years since the birth of St. Catherine Laboure. She was twenty-four when the Blessed Mother began appearing to her in Paris, July 18, 1830. There were different appearances until November 27, 1830. One night Catherine was sleeping in the dormitory and an angel woke her and told her to get dressed and go to the chapel because the Blessed Mother was waiting for her. Catherine got up and went to the chapel, a chapel you can visit today called the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. The Blessed Virgin Mary, in all her beauty, was waiting for Catherine just like the angel had said. She spoke and visited with St. Catherine several times over a period of time.
Many of you have the Miraculous Medal, which the Blessed Virgin Mary entrusted to St. Catherine. She asked Catherine to have that medal struck. Around the medal are th words,
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
In one of the visions, Our Lady was standing before St. Catherine with her hands down at her side. We have all seen the blue and white statue of Our Lady in this position, known as Our Lady of Grace.
Click the link below to view the picture of Our Lady of Grace
http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/book_imgs/MARY.JPG
The reason she is called Our Lady of Grace is because every grace has been placed in her hands by God, ok? As you look at the picture you will see those rays of sunlight streaming from her fingertips. St. Catherine marveled at the beautiful jewels on Our Lady’s hands. They were a lot like the beautiful jewels you see on the picture by van Eyck. Some of the jewels were darkened and they weren’t shinning so St. Catherine asked Our Lady what those were. Our Lady told St. Catherine that from the brilliant shining jewels came the graces that she would give to anyone who asked for them and that the jewels that were dark and not radiant were the graces that no one has requested.
There in the Chapel of the Miracle Medal is the body of St. Catherine Laboure. She is there for anyone to view and she has not been preserved by embalming, but by God; she is incorrupt. She appears to be asleep…kind of like a few of you appear to be asleep right now. It’s ok it’s early. It is beautiful to be able to go there and pray. On the wall in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal is a statue of the Blessed Mother and she appears to be holding a ball.
This statue can be viewed here.
http://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaill ... pic_B3.jpg
Now it is bigger than softball but smaller than a basketball. Our Lady is a girl so it is volleyball, right? No, no it isn’t, it is like what the Infant Jesus is holding and what he is standing on while Our Lady of the Rosary holds him. Was Our Lady of Victory holding Him, just about to open the screen door so He could go out and play soccer? If you look at the statue of St. Joseph holding Jesus, Jesus is again holding that little ball. This is called an Orb, which represents all the power of the King, all the grace of Jesus, the King of King and Lord of Lords.
When you see the statue of Our Lady holding that Orb, we can think of it this way; that God places all graces in her hands. Going back to the Old Testament we can understand the role of the Queen Mother, as she was known in the Old Testament. When the Queen Mother approached King Solomon in First Kings, chapter II, she was there for a reason. It wasn’t a visit from his mom asking how his first day was going, if he was eating his vegetables and all the other things a mother would ask their child. No, she was there for another reason, to intercede for the most wretched in the Kingdom; for the poorest and weakest person in all of Israel. That was the role of the Queen Mother, to intercede for the poorest of the poor.
In the New Testament when the Blessed Virgin Mary goes to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth, which was just after the Annunciation and having conceived Jesus in her virginal womb, the gospel says that the Holy Spirit inspires St. Elizabeth and she exclaimed,
Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
“Mother of my Lord” would ring in the ears of the Israelites as a reference to the Queen of Israel. You see, the Queen Mother was the mother of the King, the “Mother of my Lord.” So when inspired by the Holy Spirit and exclaiming,
Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”,
she is addressing Our Lady as the mother of the King! Our Lady is going to help this woman, Elizabeth, who is in great need. She is of advanced age and about to have child number one so Our Lady is there to help someone who is very poor and in great need. The Blessed Mother always does this.
In our parish it is the same as in any family. Perhaps you have many brothers and sisters and they are all grown now. One is an accountant, one is working successfully here and another there, but you have this one brother and he is always in trouble or in need. When you talk to your mom and ask how things are going she will say that they need to pray for this one poor brother. When you ask which brother, there is only one child in her mind that she is thinking of. Every mother here understands that prayers go out for the one in most need.
“Mom, come on…you have other children!”
“ I know, but your brother needs our help.”
Right? It is universal and so I take great satisfaction and solace that when the Blessed Mother looks upon St. William’s parish, I am first in line. Why? Because I am the weakest and biggest sinner, and the one who has the most responsibility on his shoulders. I am responsible for the spiritual guidance of this parish. I know my own weakness and sinfulness and I take great solace that I am first in line. Our Lady is always looking down and saying,
“Poor St. Williams, I have to help their pastor!”
The Blessed Mother intercedes for the poorest of the poor and this is tremendous because every grace has been placed in her hands.
Let's move forward to this Gospel; Jesus is continuing what He began last Sunday and He is speaking of Himself in very specific terms. He says,
“I AM the Living Bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever. The Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world.”
Of course all Christians believe this. No, we don’t and this is a great sadness; a great sadness for me and a great sadness for Christians. I told you the story about a friend of mine named Debbie, from a Christian church, where she is a minister. When we were studying together in a hospital in Dallas she was asking me what we believe about Holy Communion so I told her. Then I asked her how her church understands the words of Jesus I quoted above. She described their communion service to me and so I asked her what she did with the “leftovers.” She was so excited that I asked and said,
“Well, there is a pond near the church and after the service we take the leftovers and along with the kids, we throw the leftovers to the ducks.”
You wouldn’t take the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ and throw Him to the ducks or give Him to the dogs! The Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ in Holy Communion remain in the leftovers, if you will, is placed with great care and dignity into the Tabernacle. We don’t all believe this and we need to understand that not all Christians understands and believe what Jesus says in St. John’s Gospel. The Jews quarreled among themselves, asking how this man could give them His Flesh to eat. Christians today still dispute that Catholics receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ in Holy Communion. They might say that it all sounds to good to be true and you know why? It is too good to be true but it is true! It is true!
“Amen, Amen I say to you……
Anytime in the New Testament when Jesus says Amen, amen, it is if He is clearing His Throat so they will listen very closely to what He has to say and that it isn’t some off the cuff remark.
color=red] “I mean what I am about to say!”[/color]
When He says Amen, amen, that means He is saying it with the full force and impact of the Word of God.
“Amen, amen I say unto you: Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you.
We don’t believe this. The Church has always taught this and we believe it, but we don’t believe it! I will give you an example. How often has someone invited you over on Sunday and to accept the invitation means that you miss Mass on Sunday. All grace is put into my mouth or hands in Holy Communion. When His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity is placed on the tongue or hand, every grace is contained in that Holy Communion, the Eucharist. How in the world could I choose anything else. How could I choose a visit with the President, the Pope or some world leader over an intimate exchange with the very King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is to our shame that we sometimes do this.
This year I turned forty-seven and for forty years I have been receiving Holy Communion. I look back and, thanks be to God there has never been a week that I didn’t receive Holy Communion. I have never missed Mass on Sunday in the past forty years. Thanks be to God! This doesn’t mean I have been a perfect angel the whole time. To my shame, I say that over the last forty years counting my time in seminary and receiving Christ daily, I have not cooperated totally with every grace. Again, it is to my shame that I say this. Every grace has been placed in my hands or on my tongue and it is to my shame that there have been times after I received the Eucharist, that even though Jesus is in my heart and soul I am thinking about something else. I may have been thinking about what I need to do later or something that I forgot to do. I may have been thinking where we would go for breakfast after Mass. I have often seen this in others, especially the sad aspect of leaving Mass before it is over to go somewhere else and forgetting that Christ is here, where every grace has been given and some don’t recognize it.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, having every grace placed in her hand prepares us for the reality of the Gospel and that God the Father has placed His Son the world and then Jesus has placed Himself in the Eucharist in my hands or on my tongue so I have all the graces in the universe in my hands or on my tongue and look what little I have done with them; look at what is possible and look at what I have done with them.
Take for instance the distressing situation in the Middle East. I hear people say that they wish there is something they could do. Ok, so everyone here can learn Arabic or Aramaic. Or in case you don’t want to do that, how about attending Mass during the week. The first choice I gave we aren’t going to do; that is just flat out not going to happen. But, we could make it to Mass once in a while.
“What’s at Mass? Go during the week? Why?”
We go to receive every grace in the universe contained in Holy Communion. We just sang that beautiful hymn, the “King of Love My Shepherd Is.” Verse number five says,
Thou spreads a table in my sight, Thy unction grace bestowith
The table is a mention of the Altar of the Lord and every grace God bestows upon us. We understand that if we are catholic and are free of mortal sin we should come to Holy Communion to receive every grace from God. Let this Gospel be for us a turning point in realizing that this appears to good to be true because it is only by the grace of God that it is true. God has conspired to get you and me to Heaven by placing every grace in our hands.
Like the Blessed Mother interceding for the poorest of the poor, during those three minutes of silent prayer after Holy Communion, we should be asking God to bless the poorest of the poor like our friends, family members, and children. For a parent to miss Mass on Sunday when they could be here and receive Holy Communion is a mortal sin but it is also missing the opportunity to offer every grace for those children. You know, we only have so many days in this world and not one more so we have to do everything we can for those who need our help. There will come a day that will be our last and we will beg God for one more but it will not be given to us. Parents especially, see this burden upon their shoulders and it is a great burden indeed, but there is a great grace that is place in our hands or on our tongue when we receive Holy Communion.
This is the Bread that came down from Heaven; unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats THIS BREAD will live forever.
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen