Father Paul Weinberger
Saint William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 15, 2006
Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever
wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last week I mentioned the altar here at St. William's, that the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet represent Christ. He is the First and the Last.
This a quote from the Book of Revelation, Alpha and Omega
The symbol in the middle of the alpha and the omega is also a symbol for Christ. Around
the second stained glass window you can see the halo around the Dove. That is the Holy
Spirit window. Across from that window is another showing the Hand of God coming
down from Heaven and you can also see a halo as well. The Pelican in between the
Alpha and Omega on the altar also has a halo.
I mentioned last week that in every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that Christ is the Priest, the
Altar and the Lamb of Sacrifice. Just look at the first reading today. The first reading
says, Because of His affliction He shall see the light in fullness of days;
through His suffering, My servant shall justify many, and their guilt He shall
bear. and before this it says, If He gives His life as an offering
for sin, He shall see His descendants in a long lifeChrist is the Victim. He is
the Offering. Look at the second reading, Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of GodHe is the Priest, the Altar and the Lamb of Sacrifice.
This altar was dedicated many years ago and it has a beautifully executed mosaic of a
pelican on it. This symbol of Christ that was placed there as it has been done for
centuries on altars. Everything is completed in Christ.
The pelican, centuries ago, before the television series Animal Planet, and being able to
get up close and investigate the habitats of animals and how they live under ground or
crawl under rocks and things like that. They should just go to Washington! (laughter)
Back then nobody knew how pelicans fed their young. It appeared that they were nipping
at their own bodies. The legend of the pelican came about that if the pelican fell on hard
times that the pelican would nip at his own body, drawing blood and that the young
would feast on the blood of the pelican's own body which is a symbol of Christ. We eat
His Body and drink His Blood. So the symbol of the pelican is a symbol for Christ. It
shows the sacrifice. That is why it is more exact to describe the Mass as the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass.
If you turn in your bulletin to page 7, at the very top, you will see a quote that I saw on
EWTN,
Prayer joined to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Most Perfect SacrificePrayer joined to Sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human
history
and the Most Perfect Prayer gives us the Most Powerful Force in human history Who is
Jesus Christ. That is THE REASON we come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on
Sunday. You can notice that it says "prayer joined to sacrifice."
In today's Office of Readings, St. Augustine said about prayer that
So prayer is the beginning. Prayer sustains us andGod wants us
rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what
He is preparing to give us.
prayer is that which will see us to the very end. Prayer joined to sacrifice is an unbeatable
combination.
A saint who down through the centuries has been a symbol of prayer, someone venerated
by Catholics and non-Catholics, Christians and pagans alike is St. Francis. This is a
collection of sources on the life of St. Francis. (Father Paul shows us a book.), put out by
the Franciscans themselves. It is interesting to see just the beginning of St. Francis' life of
prayer and sacrifice. Prayer and sacrifice brought about a great renewal at the end of the
12th century and the beginning of the 13th century. It is interesting because here we are
approaching Halloween. At Halloween in 1517, there was an Augustinian priest in
Germany who wanted to renew the Church in a different way. His name was Father
Martin Luther. On Halloween 1517 he had 95 complaints that he tacked to the door of
the Cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. People championed this as a way to reform.
Now compare the way of St. Francis to Father Martin Luther. That was his title before he
left the Catholic Church. St. Francis was not a priest and we see the genius of St. Francis
begins in prayer, is sustained and guided by prayer and terminates in prayer. We can
learn much from his approach. The Church is in need of reform in EVERY AGE. I
mentioned last week that St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross reformed the
Carmelite order and that so much of the Church has benefited from their reforms.
The reason that the Church is in need of reform in every age is because she has members
in every age of people like me and like you. So she has to be in constant need of reform
because we are in constant need of reform.
St. Bonaventure, a Doctor of the Church, a Franciscan, wrote an authoritative, official
biography of St. Francis.
Like last week he is contemplating the Face of Christ.Christ Himself was the Only Guide of Francis during all of this time and now in
His Goodness Christ intervened once more with the sweet influence of His Grace.
Francis left town one day to meditate outdoors and as he was passing by the Church of
San Damiano which was about to collapse with age, he felt the urge to go in and pray.
There as he knelt in prayer before a painted image of Christ Crucified, he felt greatly
comforted in spirit and his eyes were full of tears as he gazed at the Cross of
Christ.
Then all of a sudden he heard a Voice coming from the Cross telling him three
times. Francis, go and rebuild My House! You see it is falling down. [/b
It is interesting that the pope at the time had no idea who Francis was. There were no
polls or charts that predicted the rise of St. Francis and his order. In fact he was a
complete surprise to everyone except God. This same pope had a dream a while later
where he saw that the Church was falling down. And he saw one man who was holding it
up with his prayers and that man was St. Francis. Later St. Francis approached him and
asked him to recognize his order and it was granted.
So the Voice coming from the Crucifix in San Damiano said to St. Francis three times,
Francis, go and rebuild My House! You see it is falling down. Well Francis was
alone in the Church and he was terrified at the sound of the Voice but the power of It's
message penetrated his heart and he went into an ecstasy. Eventually he came back to
himself prepared to obey the command he had received. He was quite willing to devote
himself entirely to repairing that ruined church at San Damiano, although the message
really referred to the Universal Church which Christ won for Himself at the Price of His
Own Blood as the Holy Spirit afterwards made Francis realize and he himself explained
to his friars. So at first he thought that God wanted him to repair the little Church of San
Damiano.
It is interesting that San Damiano is named for St. Damien. More on St. Damien later.
Making the Sign of the Cross he laid his plans immediately. He went to his
father's home and he took some bales of cloth for the market, went straight to town where
he sold them along with the horse on which he was riding. (Father Paul interjects, "Only
one problem here, he didn't get dad's permission and it was dad's horse. Dad's in every
age kind of like it when you pass things by them, whether it is Italy or Greenville) So
then he made his way back to Assisi, into the Church he was told to repair. There he met
the poor priest in charge, greeted him respectfully, offering him the money for the repairs
to the Church and to the poor. He also begged to stay at the Church. The priest agreed to
let him stay but he wouldn't take the money. St. Francis took it and placed it on the
window sill. The priest knew that the money had been obtained in a less than direct
manner.
The father of St. Francis heard about it and he hit the roof. He was very upset and hurried
to the Church without delay. When Francis heard the threats of those looking for him and
realized that they were drawing near he hid in a secret cave nearby. He was new to the
service of Christ and he wished to avoid his father's anger. So he remained in hiding a
number of days praying, imploring God continuously in a flood of tears to deliver him
from the hands of his persecutors and enable him in goodness to fulfill the desires He
Himself had inspired.
(In a high pleading voice Father Paul says, "All I want to do is repair Your Church!")
Eventually he was filled with overflowing joy, fell to reproaching himself as a
coward, lacking in determination. With that he laid aside his fear and left his hiding place
taking the road toward Assisi. When the people of the town saw his haggard looks and
the change which had come over him they thought he had gone mad, crazy. And so they
threw stones and mud from the streets, shouting insults after him as if he was a lunatic.
Francis was deaf to it all. No insult could break or change him. When his father heard
about the uproar he immediately rushed after him to crush him not protect him.
Throwing compassion to the winds he dragged Francis home trying to persuade him first
with words then with blows before he finally put him in chains. But that only made
Francis more eager more determined because he was suffering persecution for the sake of
the Gospel. Shortly after this his father had to go away and his mother who had never
approved of her husband's actions turned him loose and let him go free. She saw that
there was no hope in breaking his inflexible determination. Francis gave thanks to God
and went back where he had been before. When his father came home he heaped abuse
on his wife and then went after Francis in a storm of rage. He wanted his money back.
He got his money back. He found it on the window sill and then he wasn't satisfied.
Now that he had recovered the money he arranged to have Francis brought before the
bishop of the diocese where he would renounce all his claims and return everything he
had. St. Francis went immediately to where the bishop and his father were, in the plaza.
He took off his clothes and gave them back to his father right there in the plaza. Then it
was discovered that under his fine clothes he wore a hair shirt. (a hair shirt is one of the
most miserable pieces of clothing one could put on because it is worn on purpose to make
one itch and uncomfortable) So they understood that Francis was serious about this new
way of life that he was living. He even took off his trousers in his fervor and enthusiasm.
He stood there naked before them all. And then he said to his father, "Until now I have
called you my father from now on I can say without reserve Our Father Who art in
heaven."
No he didn't say, "I hate you. You can take your lousy clothes." No instead he gave these
back to his father and affirmed a higher calling. It is interesting that he quotes those first
words from the Lord's Prayer. Remember how we got those words. The apostles
approached Jesus and asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. Just as join taught his
disciples how to pray. And Jesus said, "When you pray pray in this
manner..Our Father Who art in heaven..
So Francis is sustained and guided by prayer after he started in prayer.
The bishop
when he heard all of this, he stood up and gave him his cloak to cover himself and then he
ordered the men to bring some clothes for him. They brought him an old tunic that
belonged to one of the bishop's farm hands. So Francis personalized it. He took a piece
of chalk and drew a cross on it with his own hand making it a worthy garment for a man
that was crucified and a beggar. And so the servant of the Most High King was left
stripped of all that had belonged to him that he might follow the Lord Whom he loved
Who hung naked on the cross. He was armed with the cross the means of salvation that
would enable him to escape from a shipwrecked world.
And again into the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth century is described
by St. Bonaventure as a shipwrecked world. A world in need of repair. Every age is the
same. So now of course he(St. Francis), is free. He is free to pray, free to follow God.
He has a really easy life from here on out. Not at all!
He left the town sought at a place where he could be alone without a care in the
world. (Father jokes that St. Francis moved to Texas.) There in solitude and silence he
would be able to hear God's secret revelations. Then as he was walking through the forest
joyfully singing in French and praising God. (At first I(Father Paul) thought, "Oh St.
Francis, you traitor, then I remembered that prayer needed to be joined to "sacrifice" and
what language would be the greatest sacrifice to sing in, FRENCH!") And robber jumped
him. They threatened him, asked him who he was and he replied, "I am the herald of the
Great King." They beat him up and threw him into a ditch full of snow telling him, "Lie
there rustic herald of God." They went off. Francis jumped up out of the ditch, full of joy
and made the woods reecho with his praise of the Creator of all. Eventually he reached a
neighboring monastery where he begged for alms. They did not recognize him. He went
on to the next town where an old friend recognized him and gave him an old coat. After
that in a love of true humility he devoted himself to the lepers and lived with them,
waiting on them for love of God.
Lepers have leprosy, Hanson's disease. And I mentioned earlier that the church that all of
this began in was San Damiano, St. Damian's. Blessed Damien of Molokai of the 19th
century was the saint of Hawaii who cared for lepers. It is interesting how St. Damien
keeps popping up with lepers.
So St. Francis in true humility he sought out the lowest of the low. He devoted
himself to the lepers, he lived with them, waiting on them all for love of God. He washed
their feet, he bound up their sores drawing off the puss and wiping them clean. (Father
Paul notes that this is graphic.) He was extraordinarily devoted to them and he kissed
their wounds. He who was soon to play a worthy part of the Good Samaritan in the
Gospel.
Parent should find this very familiar. Parents do exactly the same thing to their children.
Parents are voluntary slaves of their children so of course they put themselves at the
service of their children. Children don't understand this. Even into their older years
many adults never can comprehend what sacrifices their parents have made for them. So
St. Francis is caring for these lepers like a mother or father would care for a child that is
ill.
As a reward God gave him such power to heal that his influence over soul or body
was miraculous. There was a man for the neighborhood of Spoletto who suffered from a
disease that had eaten away his lips and even his cheek. The doctors could do nothing for
him. (This disease would expose the entire oral cavity to outside air. It would make his
life terrible and he would look horrific, sound horrific. Could you imagine hearing
someone breathing through the side of their face. If they would throw stones and mud at
St. Francis because they thought he was a lunatic you could imagine what they would
think of this man and call him a monster.) So the man went to the doctors and they could
do nothing for him. He made a pilgrimage to Rome asking the intercession of Sts. Peter
and Paul. On his way home he saw St. Francis walking ahead of him. The man bent
down to kiss the ground where St. Francis had just walked. (When you are that sick you
are going to be focused on prayer and sacrifice.) St. Francis would not allow him to kiss
the ground which he had just walked. St. Francis kiss him on the mouth. In his
compassion St. Francis touched the horrible sore with his own lips and immediately the
disease disappeared and the sick man was restored to health. It is hard to say which we
should admire most his wonderful condescension at such a gesture or his exceptionally
power in performing such a miracle.
It was probably cancer that had eaten his lips away. You know that when they treat
cancer the therapy is almost as bad as the disease. You almost have to kill the person to
kill the cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation is very difficult. What was worse? The man
having to live with his face so disfigured or to bend over and kiss this man so disfigured?
It is almost as if St. Francis in all of his faith, in all of his joy, in all of trust in God, in all
of his generosity, was reversing the betraying kiss of Judas. Remember Judas betrayed
Our Lord in Gethsemane with a kiss. Instead St. Francis put all repugnance aside and
affirmed his love for Christ.
Prayer joined to sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in history. We have to
focus on prayer if we are going to follow Christ. Start with prayer. Prayer is that which
will sustain us and see us to the end.
Yesterday was an anniversary. My mother's only sister, my Aunt Mary, passed away 5
years ago. God rest her soul. In 1999 my Aunt and I went to France. We went to Lisieux
where St. Therese lived and died. We went to Paris where Our Lady appeared to St.
Catherine Laboure in 1830 asking that the Miraculous Medal be struck. We went to
Lourdes for a few days. It was great traveling with my Aunt in 1999. The first and only
time we had ever done that because just months later she would be dead. Cancer had
ravaged her.
After we got back my Aunt Mary, a widow, had to go visit her stepson Butch. Butch was
a veteran and he hadn't be making good use of his time. He was in the wrong place at the
wrong time. Butch was a Baptist, not a Catholic but my Aunt wanted to go see him. He
had a little too much to drink and he had gotten into a fight. The men who beat him up
nearly killed him. So our country is so great to veterans they put him in a warehouse by
Temple near Waco, Texas and they were warehousing him. Butch could move only his
eyes. We figured that one blink meant yes and two blinks meant no. But we really didn't
know for sure if he knew what was going on. Every bodily function of Butch's had to be
attended and Butch was in his forties and had been is this terrible shape for months.
When my Aunt Mary decided to go visit Butch I offered to go with her. I knew that if I
didn't she would just cry all the way back and she did but at least she wasn't driving.
It is always easier to visit the sick in cases like this if there are two people going. What
do you talk about with somebody that can't talk? How do you lift their spirits? Oh come
on it is not that ba.....d... With two people there it is easier to be company for someone
who is absolutely incapable of helping themselves in any way. So my aunt and I talked
about the glories of Temple, Texas, the weather, and things like that for two to three
hours. That was all we could take. Butch was still in as bad a shape. We were about to
leave and I had a Miraculous Medal on my coat. Our Lady asked that the Miraculous
Medal be worn near the neck. So I took my medal off and remember Butch is Baptist so I
said, "Butch, this is the mother of Jesus. If you want her to help you she will but you
have to ask her. Would you like me to pin it on you?" He gave me signal for yes. So I
pinned it on him and we left. Butch's condition up until this point had been static or
deteriorating.
Two or three months later my Aunt Mary get a phone call. It is Butch. He is in
California. He has got a job. He is driving. He called to let her know that he was doing
much better and to thank her for the visit. I don't know if he is doing better you know
since he moved from Texas to California. (laughter) At least he didn't go to France. He
moved to California; he could walk; he could talk; and he could work. I guess you would
think that Butch is now a Catholic. No probably still a Baptist. Our Lady doesn't help
someone to get something. She is a mother. Mothers don't help their children to get
something from them. They help them because they are mothers. And the Blessed
Mother is the best of mothers. Butch also remembered me. He sent me a jar of nuts.
That is what he thinks of me. (Father laughs loudly...)It is just amazing to see the miracles
connected with this Miraculous Medal.
On Friday afternoon I had to take one of the phones from the office into Mesquite to the
Sprint store at Towneast. They were going to fix it and they said it would be ready in an
hour and ten minutes. I had a 5:15 p.m. Communion Service here and that would give me
just enough time to get back with the traffic. I told them that it better be ready. I decided
to go into the Jason's Deli right next to Sprint. I walked in, it's Friday so I thought that
they had to have something with tuna fish in it. YOU KNOW ABOUT FRIDAYS,
RIGHT? I sat down with the menu and a man walks up to me that I never met and he
said, "Are you a Catholic priest?" I wasn't dressed like this of course. These are the
vestments for Mass but I've got my black suit on with my collar. I said, "Yes." So he sat
down next to me. His name was Larry Neighbors. He said that his wife Dianne was in a
nearby hospital just starting chemotherapy on a tumor in her lungs that was inoperable. It
couldn't be operated on. He was asking me if I would pray for Dianne. Well I always
wear the Miraculous Medal on my suit coat or on my vest. I just took the medal off and I
explained to him about Butch. Larry introduced himself to me as a Baptist and I didn't
know how Larry would take it but I said, "Larry, this is the mother of Jesus, give this to
Dianne and ask Dianne to ask the mother of Jesus." I told him about the first miracle that
Jesus performed at Cana. Larry just grabbed that medal. There was no coaching about it.
He was glad. I know Our Lady is helping Larry and Dianne already. And I know that just
by hearing about it you will send up prayers for Dianne and Larry.
You see on page 6 of the bulletin. This is something you will have to return to during the
week. During every week you will see this list and the number one intention that I am
asking prayers for are for the sick. It always helps when we can identify a relative, a
friend, a parishioner, a veteran, a former teacher, but too often we show God great
disrespect by praying in this manner. "God just help all of us. Amen." Well that is a
prayer, but a very slight prayer. But when we get specific what happens is that we begin
to participate in great works and miracles. Miracles that we may never see until we see
God in the Face. You look through this list and you see so many people in need, the
world. The Church is falling down in every age and in this age too. Our prayers like the
prayers of St. Francis can help support it.
The Blessed Mother is so eager to be invoked. God wants to hear our desires so that we
are enlarging our hearts getting them ready for what He wants to give us. All of this
focus by James and John they are all hyped up about going to heaven. "I want to sit on
Your Left and he wants to sit at Your Right." Jesus says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Before
any of that is settled let Us talk about who is going to be the servant of all."
Because Jesus says, "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your
servant. Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all."
And I guarantee you that if we start praying for these people God will start directing me
and you to some of these people in some way known only to Him and He will start
working through me, through you. It was only after I came back to Greenville yesterday
that I realized that the Miracle at the Deli while waiting for the telephone to be fixed was
only hours away from the fifth anniversary of my Aunt Mary's death. This story of Butch
means nothing without a connection to her. The tremendous power of prayer when joined
with sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human history.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.