2nd Sunday after Pentecost

Dear faithful,

This Sunday follows the great feast of Corpus Christi, the feast which celebrates Our Lord preparing for us the banquet of His very own Flesh and Blood. Today, in the Gospel, we read likewise of Our Lord preparing another feast, the feast which is but a fulfillment of what the Blessed Sacrament promises and accomplishes in us, namely eternal life. Our Lord invites us to enjoy an eternal communion with Him in heaven. Our Lord, having ascended into heaven, has prepared for there a place for us: the feast is prepared, and he bids many to enter. Our Lord is the Lamb of God, the lamb sacrificed the evening before the Pasch, who gives His own body to be eaten that we might be saved from the avenging angel [Ex 12,22.] in the day of judgement.

In this feast which Our Lord invites us, there are three classes of men who cannot enjoy eternal life, or rather there are three who refuse to enter into the joy of Our Lord [Mt 25,34] and who will be rejected from paradise.

The first of them say to Our Lord: I have bought a piece of ground. These are those who are attached to the things of this earth. The piece of ground signifies government, possession, and all the pride that follows it. Notice that it does not signify need or necessity, for the invited one does not say that he must work the land, but rather that he must go and see it. Thus pride is the first vice reproved, just as the first man did not wish to have a master and was thrown out of paradise, so likewise the proud cannot enter into the eternal banquet of Our Lord. His excuse is to occupy himself with possessions, whereas Our Lord had already said that there is but one thing wanting: sell all whatever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me [Luke 18,22].

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. The five yoke of oxen are firstly the five senses of the flesh, which yoke us to the sensible things of this world. By concupiscence the senses are not so much servants as masters of the carnal man, keeping his eyes fixed only upon the ground to earthly labors like oxen. Such men do not use their senses for that which God designed them, namely to pursue the good, the eternal good, but only for the fleeting pleasures of this life. They do not feed their senses on things that are beautiful or true, but only for the vanity of earthly pleasure. And thus these men do not excuse themselves from necessity, that they might feed their oxen, but rather that they may prove them, namely just for curiosity.

And lastly there are those whose curiosity has lead them so far that they become attached to sin. The affections of the soul have become bound to sin, or namely they have espoused the state of sin. Thus this man does not even ask to hold himself excused, but rather states: I cannot come. Just as he who was at banquet without the wedding garment [Mt 22,11] was thrown out of the kings wedding feast, so also the soul that has espoused sin cannot enter into the banquet of Our Lord.

These three classes of men cannot enter the banquet of Our Lord because they are those who have succumbed to the concupiscence of the eyes, concupiscence of the flesh and the pride of life. The pride of life, those who pride themselves on their property, who have bought a farm. The lust of the eyes, those who have trained their senses to only earthly things, who have yoked themselves like oxen to the earth. The lust of the flesh, the most binding of the concupiscences, are those who have joined themselves to the flesh, married to pleasure and not to the good.

These three classes of men are also excluded from the supper: the Gentiles, the Jews and the heretics. The Gentiles are those who are tied to the earth, like the pagans, knowing no god but the material things of this world. The Jews on the other hand received the law, and were yoked to the Mosaic precepts engraved on two tables of stone. These five yoked are the five books of Moses which put upon the people of Israel the burden of the law: a yoke which St. Peter said that none of them could bear [Acts 15,10]. A yoke that was carnal and earthly, materialistic. And lastly those who have had their affections swayed by the seductions of error and have abandoned the truth to marry themselves to error are those who have taken a wife that will not lead them to heaven.

And so the servant returns to the master informing him of these things, that these had refused to call to enter into his joy, the master becomes indignant and angry. When we say that God is angry of course we do not mean that God suffers or somehow changes because of the will of man, but rather when we speak of His anger we refer to that operation of punishing that is akin to that of a man in anger. None of these that were called will enter into His feast, so God has sworn in His anger.

Yet this refusal of the proud is curiously enough also a grace, a grace for those who were not invited at first. Just as the refusal of the Jews was the occasion for God to call the gentiles to the truth, so also the refusal of the proud and the important is the occasion to call the poor, the needy, the blind and the lame.

The poor are those detached from the things of this world. The feeble are those whose works are yet imperfect and yet the can gain strength by carrying the Cross. The blind are those who have not heard the truth, but once they receive it with joy, can enter into the feast. Because the proud refused to come, the poor are chosen. Those that confided in themselves, who thought themselves strong, are cast aside and the weak, or those that do not trust in themselves, are called in their stead. The wise of the flesh, the worldly and tried in the five senses and knowledge did not come, so the blind, those who mortify themselves of their senses, are chosen instead. Those who have married the life of sin could not come, and so God calls the free, those who have espoused the good life.

And notice that the master commands them to be brought it, and says that they should even be compelled. They should be compelled meaning that they will not come unless they are somehow forced. They are forced by the word of God. For who shall believe unless it is preached to them? [Rm 10,14]. The are moved by the persuasion of truth, for truth of its very nature moves us and pushes us to acceptance. Whereas lies make us slaves of iniquity, truth makes us servants of justice. [Rm 6,19] Truth is compelling because it excludes error, it excludes all other wayward opinions.

And the Lord of the household begs not only that the blind and lame and the poor be brought in, but even those in the highways and hedges. Those in the highways are far from the city of God, and those in the hedges are those who stand as it were between two camps. These two can be converted and brought to the Kingdom of Our Lord, the first by bringing them closer, the others by giving them the balm of mercy. And God wants Heaven to be filled. His house will be filled with many souls who will enjoy His feast for all eternity.

And yet the other three classes of whom we have already mentioned receive a terrible curse: that none of these men that were invited shall taste of my supper. They will be with those who are cast without, in the exterior where there will be the wailing and gnashing of teeth [Mt. 8,12].

Those that are without, that have no part in the joy of Our Lord, are nonetheless unhappy and jealous of the good that we have through grace. And this is why there is joined to the Gospel of today the lesson of St. John, that we should not wonder if the world hate us. The world, those that have no part with the banquet of Our Lord, and thus starving of their own will and own malice, will naturally hate those that enjoy the confidence of the master.

And so, my dear faithful, let us then take head of the warnings of Our Lord in this Gospel of today, that we not be counted amongst those who refuse to enter into His joy and His banquet. Let us follow the teaching of St. John, that we love one another, in that love which Our Lord shows us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where all eat of the same bread as we are all members of the One Mystical Body of Our Lord, who liveth and reigneth world without end, Amen.

Corpus Christi

Sermon for Corpus Christi 2010

Dear Faithful,

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the eve of the His Passion, Holy Thursday, said to His disciples whom He loved: “O how long have I desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15). So great was the desire of Our Lord to give Himself entirely for love of us. So great was this desire that Our Lord predicted, prefigured and even wrote history itself in order to teach us the greatness of this sacrament.

We read in the book of Genesis, of how God planted a tree in the garden of Paradise. In fact there were two trees especially created by God: one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the other the Tree of Life [Gn 2,9]. Adam and Eve, created in the state of grace, were destined to eat of this tree of life in order to preserve their immortality. The fruit of the Tree of Life was not forbidden, on the contrary it was necessary for them, as it gave them life and immunity from corruption. It was the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that was forbidden, as it’s fruit led to the destruction of innocence and sin.

And alas, as we know, our first parents did not obey and instead of eating from that tree that was to give them life, they chose to believe the lies of the devil and lost their innocence. With their fall from grace they lost also their right to eat from the Tree of Life. The gates of paradise were closed, and mankind at enmity with God, subject to pain, suffering, sickness and death. God threw them out of paradise, that they should not eat of the tree of life lest they live forever [Gn 3,22].

And yet a promise was made, that there would be One who would come to restore this life once lost by sin. Our Lord, in the fullness of time, assumed our humanity and dwelt amongst us. And yet to restore this order that was lost by eating of the fruit of the tree, He Himself underwent suffering, pain and death, as they hung Him upon a tree. On the tree of the Cross Our Lord hang as a victim, and yet also as a teacher, showing us by example the true knowledge of love. Upon this tree Our Lord reestablishes friendship between mankind and God. Upon this tree Our Lord rules in His Kingdom, a Kingdom richer than paradise ever was. Upon this tree Our Lord offers Himself as victim, and it is from this tree that we are to eat if we are to receive eternal life.

And we read later in the book of Genesis, how the fruit of the tree would be given to us. The Patriarch Abraham would receive the visit of three guests under the shade of a tree [Gn 18,4]. These guests would speak of his son Isaac whom he would offer on that same mountain where Our Lord carried His Cross, the tree of life. Abraham had already made war against the people of Sodom and took all their substance away [Gn 14,11], and Melchisedech offered in thanksgiving for this victory a sacrifice. Being the King of Salem, that is the King of Peace, Melchisedech the priest of the most high God, brought forth bread and wine, and blessed Abraham. Our Lord, as a fruit of that victory over sin and death, offers for us upon this altar a sacrifice of His very own Body and Blood under the species of bread and wine.

And so my dear faithful, we honor today this great sacrament which is the fulfillment of all the promises of Our Lord. Our Lord is present in this sacrament: His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, real and substantially present though hidden under these signs. These signs of bread and wine are at once a symbol of their power to nourish our souls. They are also a sign of God’s infinite love for us, who had used these signs throughout history to announce the coming of this one sacrifice renewed upon our altars.

Thus after the Mass we will adore this sacrament, as therein Our Lord, true God, dwells amongst us. Our Lord is there, present, as a source of light and grace for us all. Each and every holy communion we make, dear faithful, is an enormous fountain of grace and also a promise, a promise that if we eat of the tree of life we will live forever, world without end. Amen.