Holy Thursday - Bishop Bonaventure, OFM

 

And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; [35] And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed. 

Luke 2:34-35

A prophecy of the passion of Christ. 

 

[1] Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? [2] And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: [3] Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. [4] Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. [8] He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. [9] And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. [10] And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand.
[11] Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors. 
+Isaiah 53: 1-12
 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals The Resurrection of Our Lord 31 March 2013

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Once again we are left speechless as we contemplate the greatness of God’s gifts (graces) to us. Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, has suffered and died for us that we might live. He has risen that we might rise.

Since the fall of our father Adam we have been condemned to a dual death – death in sin and death in body. Adam was told when he ate of the forbidden fruit that he would perish. He ate but continued to live in his body. Something did die in him – sanctifying grace. We often speak of sin as the death of the soul, but the soul technically cannot die. The soul lives on forever – either in Heaven or in Hell. The death of the soul refers to the separation of the soul from God and His grace. In much the same way that physical death is the separation of the body and soul, likewise spiritual death is the separation of God and His graces from the soul. As the soul gives life to the body so God gives life to the soul. This separation in either case we call death. The soul that continues forever without God suffers tremendously because it is forever lacking in the one and only thing that can satisfy it, or make it happy and bring it peace.

We each have to die a dual death. We were conceived in sin and therefore in death, and we must die the physical death of the separation of our bodies from our souls. Christ has died once and all for us so that we may be restored to life. Christ has risen from the dead that we might rise twice from the death of the soul and of the body.

In the Sacraments, Jesus has given us all that we need to have life, to preserve life, and to restore life if we ever have the misfortune to lose it again. All of these wondrous gifts are spread out before us as we rejoice in Our Lord’s Resurrection. There is only One Faith, One Baptism, One Lord, etc. We celebrate the physical Resurrection of Jesus as well as what this means for us spiritually – the resurrection of our souls from sin. By His suffering and death, Jesus has merited for us the gift of Sanctifying Grace; and has offered us the opportunity to rise with Him spiritually from the death of sin to the life of grace. Let us not forget that at the end of time our bodies will rise from the dead to be united with our souls forever.

Knowing that Jesus has merited these tremendous gifts (especially the spiritual life) for us, does not yet apply these gifts to us individually. Something else is required on our part for these gifts to be applied to our souls individually. The Protestants and other heretics, would have us think that all that we must do is believe. This is a terrible misrepresentation. It is true if we understand “believe” to include acceptance and conformity with all that Christ has commanded us but, it is utterly false, if they wish us to understand that it does not require any active participation on our part.

Jesus has made it very clear more times that we can say that we must do certain things. A few examples should be enough for us to see and understand.

“He who believes and is baptized, will be saved” (So baptism is necessary.); “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you.” (So reception of the Holy Eucharist is necessary.) “Take up your cross daily and come follow Me.”; etcetera.

St. Paul also declares that he is bound to preach Christ Crucified. “Woe to me if I do not preach.” St. James will tell us that if we have none of the charity and works of Christ our faith is dead. “Faith without works is dead.”

While it is a time for rejoicing in the annual celebration of these wondrous gifts that Jesus has merited and given to us, it is also a time to remind ourselves that we must do our part also. It is a time to examine ourselves and see if we are doing our part to complete these works of Christ in our own souls. Are we “filling up within ourselves that which is lacking in Christ Jesus”? Have we put off the old man (sins confessed and absolved in the Sacrament of Penance) and put on the new man (life of Jesus that we receive in the Holy Eucharist)?

If the resurrected life of Jesus is not within us, but is still somewhere outside of us there can be no real joy and celebration in our hearts on this day. Let us resolve to obtain this joy, and if we have received it this past season of Lent let us resolve never to allow it to depart from us. May we live this day forward and forever in the One life of our Resurrected Jesus Christ.

 

Palm Sunday - Bishop Giles, OFM 

Palm Sunday - Bishop Bonaventure, OFM 

St. Bonaventure (1260): “He who neglects the service of the Blessed Virgin will die in his sins. He who does not invoke thee, O Lady, will never get to heaven. Not only will those from whom Mary turns away her eyes of mercy not be saved, but there will be no hope of their salvation. No one can be saved without the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Palm Sunday 24 March 2013

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

Let us consider today a mystical interpretation of the ass and her colt. Some of the Fathers of the Church inform us that these animals represent to us the different nations. The ass who was accustomed to the harness represents to us the nation of Israel. Her colt that had never been ridden was as yet still wild and unbridled represents to us the gentile nation.

The Israelites have been harnessed by the Law of Moses and was broken to the halter and as such should have been ready to receive Our Lord, but they were not. It is they that rejected Jesus even though He came to them first. The second to be invited supplanted the first. Christ rode upon the colt that had never been ridden before and its mother naturally followed behind. The gentile nations carried Our Lord and left the Israelites to follow.

We see manifest the power of God when the Apostles were sent to bring the animals. The owners were as Christ had predicted willing to let the animals go with the Apostles simply at their word that the Lord needs them. It is a rather unusual situation. Owners of things of this earth usually do not allow their property to depart from them as easily as the owner of these animals did. God was able to inspire these men to freely give these animals for His use. It might be compared to someone coming to take your car and when you ask them what they are doing they tell you that the Lord has need of it and you let them take it away. God can and does change men to accomplish His will. It is therefore already a manifestation of God’s power in predicting and disposing these men as He wishes. He likewise inspires us very often with a detachment from the things of this earth, but sadly most of us refuse to let go of the things of this earth or to allow them to be used for the purposes of God. In clinging to these things we deprive ourselves of a very great reward. We must be certain that the man who gave of these animals to God is even now rejoicing over the good that he was able to help accomplish.

If God is able to inspire men with these things, we might ask, why did He not motivate the Israelites to love Him instead of crying out for His Blood? God can and does inspire and move the hearts of men, but at the same time He always recognizes and considers their free will. When man opposes his will to God’s then God is likewise able to use their evil wills so that good may come from it. The devils inspired the people to hate Jesus and to force His crucifixion, but in doing this they actually were helping to bring about the redemption of the world. So we see that an evil spirit is made to assist and bring about good in spite of itself. All those devils and those who have aligned themselves with the devils reject God and seek the destruction of God and all who would follow Him, but the ones that they harm are only themselves.

Ultimately God is still in Heaven and still in charge and there is nothing that any or all of the demons in Hell can do about it. God’s Divine Will will ultimately be brought to fruition. Those opposed to It, will only be made to conform to It against their own perverted wills, and will only bring death and destruction upon themselves. God will not be harmed in the least nor will His Divine Will. Those of evil dispositions are only harming themselves and causing greater and greater misery for themselves.

As Christ enters Jerusalem upon these beasts of burden, they conform to His will either willingly or unwillingly as the ass and her colt. The colt willingly allows Jesus to ride upon his back, but the ass only follows her colt. One conforms to God’s will directly and the other indirectly. The Israelites follow the Gentiles in the spiritual realm, but only from material reasons. In this world we still find these two peoples: those who willingly seek out to do the will of God and those who ultimately end up following the will of God not for spiritual motives but for worldly ones. The one will be rewarded eternally; and the other that helped to accomplish the Divine Will, even against her own will, will be eternally punished in Hell.

As we carry our blessed palm today may we consider which of the two we are. Do we find ourselves counted among those who rebel against God and in spite of ourselves are forced to accomplish His Divine Will, or are we to be counted among those who willingly seek to do and fulfill the Will of God? May this Holy Week find us welcoming Jesus upon His entry into Jerusalem as well as find us weeping beneath His Cross. And may we also, pray for the enemies of God as Jesus did upon the Cross: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” In their rebellion and hatred they are fulfilling the Divine Will against their own will, and at the same time they think in following their own will that they will find happiness, when in reality, all they will find is eternal suffering.