21st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2005

[Fr.Paul Weinberger]

Homily by:
Fr. Paul Weinberger
St. William’s Roman Catholic Parish
Greenville, Texas
8 / 21 / 2005 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I Am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah; for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Amen

We use the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar month. Last Sunday was the Vigil of the Assumption on the Church calendar but the 14th of August this year happened to coincide with the 9th day of Av, the month of Av on the Jewish calendar. It is a day of much sadness and sorrow for the Jewish people. They recall the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem; the one that was built by King Solomon. Centuries later in 70 AD, the second temple was destroyed and the Jews believe that this happened on the same day as the destruction of the first temple. Of course the temple in Jerusalem was the pride and joy of the Jewish people. The Very Presence of God was in their midst, the temple of the Lord in their midst and it was destroyed. What a devastating happening for the Jewish people and so they have it on their calendar.

The ninth day of the month of Av is a day that they recall the very sad events. They also contend that on that day the people were sentenced to forty years in the desert for their grumbling. They also recall the day that King Edward of England and the King and Queen of Spain, in different years of course, ejected the Jews. So the ninth day of Av is a day of great focus on destruction, loss, and death.

For Catholics the 14th of August was the Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hers was not to be the lot of death and destruction. The Apostolic Constitution defining the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother that Pope Pius XII wrote in 1950 declared solidly the Dogma saying that at the end of her earthy life, the Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. Tomorrow we tie it all up with the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. So many people are ignorant of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, of the Virgin Birth, of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother and her being crowned Queen of heaven and earth.

This is ignorance because one can find the teaching. I say it is ignorance because many people do not share our faith speak so disparagingly of the Blessed Mother. Anyone who speaks against my mother is going to raise my hackle and probably my fists. This is normal, right? If someone says something about your mother or her memory you are going to get mad. Deacon Ismeal Guerra who is a deacon here along with Deacon Davis, were talking about this lately. Deacon Ishmael has been going to the prison at Seagoville for years and doing work there. There is not a lot of time for fancy talk at a prison so to get right to the chase, when the Deacon talks about the Blessed Mother and her role he has got to be very succinct. He says,

“You know, if you for your part don’t like it when someone speaks against your mother and you might actually be moved to inflict bodily harm on someone as a result, think of how Jesus feels about it when you willingly get it wrong.”

Pause for coffee, right? But doesn’t it make perfect sense? The Blessed Virgin Mary is so misunderstood. You see, when the angel announced to her that she was full of grace, the Blessed Mother responded,

“I am the handmaid of the Lord”

The archangel declared her FULL OF GRACE. Of course what does an archangel who stands in the Presence of God know? I mean, come on! Right? The archangel declared her FULL OF GRACE, which means NO SIN! The Blessed Mother responded that she was the handmaid of the Lord. The translation, while beautiful, doesn’t really get across the truth and the reality. She just declared herself the servant of the Lord. Still not strong enough, she declared herself to be the Slave of the Lord. Now any mother here will understand very easily what it means to be a slave, a willing slave to her children., right? When the Blessed Mother said,

“I am the slave of the Lord,”

She put herself into God’s hands. She had always been there but she willing put herself into God’s hands. As Deacon Ishmael tells the prisoners at Seagoville,

“Once God uses us, He wants to use us forever and ever and ever.”

So, He is using the Blessed Virgin Mary even down to this very day. You see, the whole Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth is about power, but it is about power in service of others, a mother wanting all of her children to be with her in Heaven. In fact, the Dogma of the Assumption is very necessary today. When I was growing up back in…lets see, I was a child in the 1990s. [Laughter] Oh wait a minute, my mother is here. Hahaha. When I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, many people said the same thing. Remember Vietnam?

“Well, the world is broken and they have made a mess of it. I am just going to tune out of this world. You have messed it up so what am I supposed to do.”

Many young people were saying that an many young people are still saying that today.

“Look what you have done to the world! You have made a fine mess and now you have broken it. Who is going to put humpty dumpty back together again? Nobody can!”

They focus so much on the death and destruction that they feel there is no hope, nothing to lift them up. Yet, the Dogma of the Assumption is the building block upon which we should place out hope because she is the first slave who has made it to where we all want to be. We are here today because we want to make it to Heaven. The first slave, the Lord’s best slave, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is working day and night to get you and me to Heaven. Of course there is no day and night in heaven but you know what I mean. So she is having to work a little extra just to get me into Heaven. You are not on a cakewalk either, but she really has to work hard to get me into Heaven. So many people have never heard of the Dogma of the Assumption and the Coronation and yet, today when it is spoken of it has a freshness, it has a beauty that is timeless.

If next Sunday were not the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time we would be celebrating the Feast of St. Augustine. In book ten of his Confessions, St. Augustine talks about his search for God. As a young man he was a stinker and it is very consoling to all the rest of us that the Church has canonized someone that was formerly a stinker. It give us all hope! He had everything going for him and was tremendously brilliant in every way and yet he wasn’t at peace. St. Augustine is often referred to as “The Restless Heart”. He said,

“O Lord you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

So many young people, who have read the Confessions of St. Augustine identify with this very quickly, the snap of the fingers.

“O Lord you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

In book ten of his Confessions he is talking to God and calls God Truth and Beauty, the transcendental, which can only be applied formally to God. He says to God,

“Late have I loved You O beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved You, You were within me but I was outside and it was there that I searched for you.”

The Confessions of St. Augustine talk about how he used material possessions to search for God and they didn’t lead him to happiness. But you hear him say,

“Late have I loved You O beauty ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved You.”.

This can be said for the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it can be said for the Coronation of Pope John Paul II as the 264th Successor of St. Peter, it can be said of the Coronation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Successor of St. Peter. Our Faith is ever ancient, ever new.

I have to use two hands to pick up this book here. It is George Weigel’s book, “Witness to Hope”, which I have referred to before. On page 260-261, Weigel beautifully takes us on a short walk through the Papal Coronation of Pope John Paul II. He talks about how it used to be done in former times and how it is done today. He says,

“Papal Coronations once began with the new Pope enthroned on the Sedia Gestatoria.”

That was the platform with the chair on which the Pope was seated and men would carry the Pope around. This is before they got the gas powered Sedia Gestatoria known as the Pope Mobile. [laughter]

“Papal Coronations once began with the new Pope enthroned on the Sedia Gestatoria carried above throngs of Romans and pilgrims. The solemn inauguration of the Papal ministry of Pope John Paul II, the 264th Bishop of Rome began October 22, 1978 with the new Pope KNEELING in prayer at the tomb of the Apostle beneath the Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.”

He wasn’t on the Sedia Gestatoria, he was kneeling there before the tomb of St. Peter. He was the Successor of St. Peter and he was kneeling in prayer before St. Peter’s tomb and that is where he started his ministry as Pope. Just over one hundred days ago we saw Pope Benedict kneeling in prayer at the tomb of St. Peter. They both started at the same place but Pope John Paul II did this in 1979 and Pope Benedict in 2005, amazing. Referring again to Pope John Paul II in “Witness to Hope”,

“Around the Dome’s interior in letters six feet high is the Latin inscription,

“TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM. TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM.” ...you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven...."

If I went over to that Papal flag and unfurled it you would see two large keys like the two you see in the stained glass window over there. Jesus says to St. Peter,

“To you I will give the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.”

JESUS said this to St. Peter; JESUS, the Son of the Living God says this to St. Peter! He says also that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it! This is very important and tremendously essential because, even though these words were uttered two thousand years ago they still apply to the Church. One page 261 Wiegel points out what it was like after the Gospel was read. It was the Gospel of Christ the Good Shepherd.

“John Paul II waited until everything was quiet and he began. He began with an Act of Faith in the words of the man at whose tomb he had prayed a little more than an hour before.”

This is how he began…

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” He is quoting Matthew 16:19, ok? “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

That is where Pope John Paul II started as Pope… the words of St. Peter…an Act of Faith. This is an Act of Faith down here at the bottom of the bulletin I have provided for you, but the Act of Faith of St. Peter was the one given to him from above when Jesus asked him the very pointed question,

“Who do YOU say that I Am?”

St. Peter’s answer was,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

Weigel quotes Pope John Paul,

“Anyone assuming the Office of Peter in the Church had to begin this way.” Peter’s Confession of Faith on the road to Caesarea Philippi was born of “deeply lived and experienced conviction.” But it is not an act of his will alone. Faith was a gift and Christ called Peter blessed because, “It was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but My Father in Heaven.” Peter’s successor could only begin his own Petrine Service on this day and in this place with these same words,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

One more thing I will point out here.

“It was the starting point of the Church and at Peter’s Act of Faith the history of salvation took on a new Church dimension, a new ecclesial dimension. The story of the Church, a pilgrim in history was humanity’s story correctly understood.”

So the Church properly understood is seen as a pilgrim. Again and again, throughout his time as Pope, Pope John Paull II referred to himself as a pilgrim.

If you will look at your bulletin there are some exerts from Pope Benedict XVI in Cologne just a few days ago. Now this talk is just one of his many talks. In mentioning all the young people flocking to Cologne, there is one thing certain and that is I am very grateful that I am not in Cologne Germany on this day. I am glad that there are lots of people over there but I am so glad I am not there. They have so much to be thankful for also; that is the fact that I am not over there.

When the Pope first got there one of the first things he did was to get on a boat and go down the Rhine River. The crowds were assembling along the banks of the river. The river bands slope up and so it was like a natural amphitheatre type setting. To me it was instantly reminiscent of Our Lord on the banks of the Sea of Galilee; there were crowds all around so he got into Peter’s boat and pushed out a little and began to teach them. The Word traveled across the water to the people on the banks. We heard that Gospel a few Sundays ago. The Holy Father is doing the same thing here.

Getting back to these exerts, they are taken from the talk that he gave along the Rhine River. The only thing that was missing were neon arrows. The bank of the river was obvious. I thought that this was an odd place to shoot the camera but the boat seemed to be sitting right next to this bridge, a large steel bridge. In the background was the figure of the Cathedral looming, just soaring in the background. The bridge…the pope is called Pontifex Maximus, the Bridge Builder. The…bridge..oh yea, that is neat! In the background is this Temple of the Lord that houses the relics of three pilgrims, the Three Wise Men. I know that the modern translation calls them astrologers. Jean Dixon, call your office! They are not astrologers in the American sense they are Three Wise Men. The Cathedral was a backdrop to the Pope’s addressing the young people along the bank of the Rhine River and they are teaming, they are everywhere.

This was not a happenstance; it is a setting or a context, a milieu, as the Europeans would prefer I am sure, for his service. Oh yes, there is great power in the Pope but, his correct title is Servus Servorium, Servant of the Servants of Christ. If you want to get real technical…The Slave of the Slaves of Christ. When God uses us He wants to use us throughout our life and for all eternity. If we are smart we will let him.

Look at paragraph 1E and 1F. In paragraph 1E the Pope says,

“And now I shall go as a pilgrim to the Cathedral of Cologne to venerate the relics of the Holy Magi who left everything to follow the star, which was guiding them to the Savior of the human race. You too, dear young people have already had or will have the opportunity to make the same pilgrimage.”

He is referring to himself as a pilgrim and as Weigel points out, Pope John Paul II referred to himself as a pilgrim and even though the Church is 2000 years old, She is still a pilgrim today in a fresh way and is seeking the Face of Christ. Look at paragraph 1F.

“The relics (of the Magi) direct toward God Himself. It is He (God) Who by the Power of His Grace, grants to weak human beings the courage to bear witness to Him before the world. By inviting us to venerate the mortal remains of the martyrs and saints, the Church does not forget that in the end these are indeed just human bones, but they are bones that belonged to individuals touched by the transcendent Power Of God.”

Wow! What a beautiful way to describe why that church behind him is so big.

“Gee, why did they decide to build that big church here mommy?”

“Well, I don’t know dear. I guess it looked like a good place for a big, towering, mammoth Church.”

Friedrich Barbarossa took the relics of the Three Wise Men there centuries ago; took them from Milan and placed them at Cologne. Since he was the Emperor and was in charge, no one made a peep. There, over the relics of the Three Wise Men, a beautiful Temple has been built. People have been going on pilgrimage there for centuries. Rome, Compostela, Cologne and the Holy Land are the major sites of pilgrimage in the Church.

Anyway, the Pope is acting as a good host. I could copy the whole talk into your bulletin but in this talk the Holy Father addresses everyone. As a good host he is making everyone feel welcome. He is saying hello to the Catholics, the non-Catholic Christians, (most Christians in Germany are not Catholic) to those who have never been Baptized and to those who don’t believe in God. Wouldn’t it be the style today to say like a Texan, “Hi y’all” and just include everybody, right? But he is saying that we are at different stages in our pilgrimages; there are some who don’t believe in God.

“Yea, they have no place in the Church!”

Look at 1B please. It sounds like I am calling bingo but don’t get excited. The pope says,

“Some of you might perhaps describe your adolescence in the words with which Edith Stein, who later lived in the Carmel in Cologne, described her own adolescence.

She said,

“I consciously and deliberately lost the habit of praying.”

WOW! St. Edith Stein as I mentioned before, was from a very large, conservative, Jewish family living in Germany. Her father died when she was very young and by the age of thirteen she declared herself to be an atheist. In the early part of the 20th Century when no women were going to college, she received a Doctorate at a German University. She still didn’t believe in God. She went to visit some Catholic friends and they had the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and this began her conversion. But by the age of thirteen she had dropped away from God. She said,

“I consciously and deliberately lost the habit of praying.”

She is to the Church what St. Augustine is for men. She searched for God but dropped off the map for awhile. How many young people today are expected to lose their faith? I remember when I was a kid I got the chicken pox. Every mother prays that their children will get the chicken pox when they are little so they don’t get them as an adult, which can cause health issues. In the same way today, people are expecting this same kind of mechanism; children grown up, they finish high school, lose their faith, they come back and they go on. It doesn’t have to be that way but sadly it does happen and there are many good reasons for it happening. But the pope is reaching out in such a special way to the entire world but especially to the young people and hoping to reach them before they consciously and deliberately stop the habit of praying.

Look at paragraph #1A.

“Dear young people, I am delighted to be here in Cologne on the banks of the Rhine. You’ve come here from various parts of Germany, Europe and the rest of the world as pilgrims in the footsteps of the Magi. Following their route, you too want to find Jesus. Like them, you have begun this journey in order to contemplate both personally and with others, the Face of God revealed by the Child in the manger.”

This next sentence is so beautiful!

“Like yourselves, I too have set out to join you IN KNEELING before the CONSECRATED WHITE HOST in which the eyes of Faith can recognize the REAL PRESENCE of the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”

Just as the Three Wise Men knelt in Bethlehem and gazed upon the Face of God in the manger, we can KNEEL in the Presence of the Consecrated White Host where our Lord is present when the words of Consecration are uttered or we can pray and kneel in the Presence of the Consecrated White Host in the Tabernacle; the Reserved Sacrament.

Think about what the Holy Father is saying. It is not too late; you can join in this pilgrimage, just fall into place and come along. The Three Wise Men are pilgrims 2000 years ago, but this Cathedral still reminds us of their pilgrimage. They followed the star to Someone not to something, just as that Cathedral in Cologne is a thing pointing to Someone. Those two spires soar into the Heavens and you just keep looking up…it points you to Heaven.

Look at paragraph 1C. He mentions the questions that most young people have although he left out the one where young people ask when their parents are going to send them more money. [Laughter] Just a little College humor here.

“Where do I find standards to live by, what are the criteria that govern responsible cooperation in building the present and the future of our world? On whom can I rely? To whom shall I entrust myself. Where is the One Who can offer me the response capable of satisfying my heart’s deepest desires?”

Remember,

“O Lord You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Look at the next sentence in 1C.

“Asking such questions also means searching for SOMEONE WHO CAN NEITHER DECEIVE NOR BE DECEIVED.”

Look in your bulletin where the Act of Faith is. It is a beautiful prayer we have all learned but maybe you have forgotten it. I also included the Act of Love and the Act of Hope. These three prayers in the bulletin are beautiful prayers to say after Communion. Notice how the Act of Faith ends.

“I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches because You have revealed them.”

YOU, GOD have revealed them who can neither deceive nor be deceived! When we see the words that Peter uttered,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,”

Jesus makes him the first brick in the Church that He is establishing and in Heaven the Blessed Mother is the FIRST of his flock to make it to the final goal. She made it through life always saying,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

Every decision, every thought, and every word was based not on her will but on God’s Will. Isn’t that the life and the lot of a slave? Her manner of living made her the first slave to enter Heaven. She is still working to get you and me to Heaven. She wants all of her children to be in heaven with her. You see, faith is a gift as the Holy Father points out. Faith was given to St. Peter to be in the service of others. The faith that you and I have been given is to be shared with those who have deliberately and consciously lost the habit of prayer and have walked away from belief in Christ Jesus becoming atheists, pagans or worse. How sad!

We do not focus on the death and destruction, we do not focus on the chaos around us as Peter did and sank like a “rock” in the sea. Instead we focus on the faith of St. Peter; we declare ourselves pilgrims and we focus not on the star in the Heavens that led the Wise Men into Bethlehem but Our Lady there, enthroned in Heaven sitting at the right hand of her Son. With our eyes fixed intently on her we will be pilgrims on our way and bring our brothers and sisters along with us. Jesus says to you, every living person, and me

“Who do you say that I Am?”

Look at the last line of the Gospel, which I will conclude with. Jesus strictly ordered them to tell no one that He was the Christ. His last words of the Gospel…tell no one He was the Christ. What are the last words of Christ before He ascended into Heaven? He rescinded that order and said to tell everybody. That is the job of the Church. To keep them from despair and despondency we are to go and preach to all nations,

“Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teach them to observe everything that I have commanded you and know that I Am with you always until the end of time.”

This way the young people cannot lose their souls!

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Amen