Lessons from Homilies

posted December 22, 2008

Ah, you know, I am not sure why I go to Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The 10 a.m. Mass is always packed, the music, sights, sounds, and pageantry are all truly wonderful. But almost inevitably there arises disappointment and anger when the homily is recited. So today, the Fourth Sunday of Advent I just could not bring myself to go.

In all fairness, I should mention that one priest, a Fr. Chamberlain, who is also a member of the infamous CSC order, gave one of the best homilies I ever heard. It was All Souls’ Day, November 2, of this year. He spoke of death, judgment, heaven, and hell. You could have heard a pin drop during his homily because he had the attention of everyone. People listened because they heard something they seldom hear at Notre Dame – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

On the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King, November 23, the Rector of the Basilica said Mass and of course gave a homily. The Gospel passage was from Matthew 25:31-46 which is Christ’s description of the Judgment of the Nations. As you may recall, this is the portion of the Gospel in which Our Lord separates the sheep from the goats – the holy from the unholy. To the sheep, who are placed on His right and who are brought into heaven, He says "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." In response to the question by the righteous as to when it was they did these things for Him, Christ responds: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Christ gives the same response to the goats who are sent into the eternal fire: "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me."

Fr. Rocca’s explanation of this beautiful, and important passage, was that simple acts of kindness are the best way to go to heaven, and that we have to reach out to people in need. The Rector of the Basilica went so far as to say that is all we have to do so as to get to heaven, and so he indicated not too obliquely that even a lack of sexual restraint is not enough to block one from getting to heaven. The priest ignores the warnings of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima and the countless denunciations of fornicators, homosexuals, adulterers contained in the New Testament by the likes of St. Paul.

And if that is not enough, here comes the really insidious part – the rector never explains just who is "one of these least brothers of mine". Well, scholars may discuss the extent of who the least brothers are but it is certainly a matter of wide agreement, and fair interpretation and understanding of this passage based on the plain meaning of the words written, that "one of these least brothers of mine" refers to the Christians who spread the word of God about the world. This is also the interpretation given in the The New American Bible version of the Holy Bible – this is the interpretation, in other words, of the Catholic Bible.

Why would the homilist not explain this? Why would he ignore it? What effect does his silence have?

Well, one effect of this silence is to convince this writer that Fr. Rocca either does not know the Faith or that he does not love the Faith for he seems to have another agenda. You see, when you don’t teach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you really cease to be a teacher and become an advocate for one world view or another. Now these world views that are only partially correct are necessarily at the service of man for the benefit of some men. Hence arises the City of Man.

It benefits the wealthy and powerful in society to have Roman Catholics believe that they have to help everyone regardless of their faith and beliefs just because they are human beings. Preaching a Gospel that says we are to help those who are Jesus’ brothers (remember, He also said that those who do His will are his brothers, and mother) would tend to make people who are hearing the Gospel, and who have a hearkening to being Roman Catholic, to look out for their own and to take a justifiable view of the need of a community that supports and protects Roman Catholicism, the Faith, and the Church.

When the specialness of being Christ’s brother, or sister, or mother is diluted or downplayed or ignored, the result is that we all just remain what most of us are in America – Americans. And Americans are Masons by another name, really. The spirit here is one of the glory of the family of man and the importance of serving man first and foremost. When the specialness of being Christ’s brother is ignored, then the missionary zeal of the Roman Catholics is dissipated and we all just become another socially conscious, charity giving, helping the poor group of church-goers whose only difference is that on Sunday we take a wafer after standing, sitting, kneeling, singing, and speaking out loud.

In other words, to deny the specialness of being the spiritual brother of Christ is to deny Christ.

So at place like Notre Dame where a Protestant or pagan can get one step closer to becoming a Roman Catholic (but not quite a Roman Catholic), error is perpetuated. But we learn from this error.

We learn that the enemies of Christ are crafty and subtle. One of their most favorite techniques in pulling souls away from Him is to use the technique practiced on November 23, 2008 by Fr. Rocca – the Rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. That technique is to focus on, or emphasize, only part of the Truth. They direct your attention to part of the equation, so to speak, and not to the whole thing. You are asked to look at a corner of the picture instead of the entire panorama.

Oh, there are other techniques of subverting the Faith. Probably too many to list but a couple that pop up at many homilies are the ones which involve talking about Bible history or talking about doctrines of the Faith which have little real meaning to Roman Catholics.

A lot of priests seem to like to talk about how things were in the time of Christ. That’s fine as long as it provides some context to what He said and did, but that is often not the case. What we are treated to are activities, and customs and principles involving people (Jews) with whom we really have no connection either spiritually or physically. Also, what the priests do is that they ignore so many lives who were modeled after Christ in the centuries after His birth. The Saints and Martyrs provide us inspiration and ways to put Christ’s many teachings into practice in our lives. The lives of these holy men and women are concrete examples on how we can live our lives. These lives give understandable meaning to Christ’s teachings and actions. This is really important and badly needed.

Theological discussions of this or that doctrine of the Faith are not appropriate for homilies. John and Jane in the pew are not theologians and the discussion of one doctrine or another are simply not something of practical use to people. Perhaps these things are good for scholars, but not for men and women who want to preserve their immortal souls while trying to raise families and navigating through the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of this society.

Here are some ideas for homilies.

We need to hear of the Saints and the Martyrs. We need to know how they, and those of us who follow them, are special. We need to hear how this society is filled with evil – the kind of evil that results in lost souls.

We need to be taught about love. We need to be taught about the kind of love that was shown by countless holy men and women through the ages. We need to know that the greatest love for all of mankind is to spread the Faith among all the nations, among all the people.

JMJ

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Lessons from Homilies posted December 22, 2008 Ah, you know, I am not sure why I go to Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The 10 a.m. Mass is always packed, the music, sights, sounds, and pageantry are all truly wonderful. But almost inevitably there arises disappointment and anger when the homily is recited. So today, the Fourth Sunday of Advent I just could not bring myself to go. In all fairness, I should mention that one priest, a Fr. Chamberlain, who is also a member of the infamous CSC order, gave one of the best homilies I ever heard. It was All Souls’ Day, November 2, of this year. He spoke of death, judgment, heaven, and hell. You could have heard a pin drop during his homily because he had the attention of everyone. People listened because they heard something they seldom hear at Notre Dame – the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. On the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King, November 23, the Rector of the Basilica said Mass and of course gave a homily. The Gospel passage was from Matthew 25:31-46 which is Christ’s description of the Judgment of the Nations. As you may recall, this is the portion of the Gospel in which Our Lord separates the sheep from the goats – the holy from the unholy. To the sheep, who are placed on His right and who are brought into heaven, He says "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." In response to the question by the righteous as to when it was they did these things for Him, Christ responds: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Christ gives the same response to the goats who are sent into the eternal fire: "Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me." Fr. Rocca’s explanation of this beautiful, and important passage, was that simple acts of kindness are the best way to go to heaven, and that we have to reach out to people in need. The Rector of the Basilica went so far as to say that is all we have to do so as to get to heaven, and so he indicated not too obliquely that even a lack of sexual restraint is not enough to block one from getting to heaven. The priest ignores the warnings of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima and the countless denunciations of fornicators, homosexuals, adulterers contained in the New Testament by the likes of St. Paul. And if that is not enough, here comes the really insidious part – the rector never explains just who is "one of these least brothers of mine". Well, scholars may discuss the extent of who the least brothers are but it is certainly a matter of wide agreement, and fair interpretation and understanding of this passage based on the plain meaning of the words written, that "one of these least brothers of mine" refers to the Christians who spread the word of God about the world. This is also the interpretation given in the The New American Bible version of the Holy Bible – this is the interpretation, in other words, of the Catholic Bible. Why would the homilist not explain this? Why would he ignore it? What effect does his silence have? Well, one effect of this silence is to convince this writer that Fr. Rocca either does not know the Faith or that he does not love the Faith for he seems to have another agenda. You see, when you don’t teach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you really cease to be a teacher and become an advocate for one world view or another. Now these world views that are only partially correct are necessarily at the service of man for the benefit of some men. Hence arises the City of Man. It benefits the wealthy and powerful in society to have Roman Catholics believe that they have to help everyone regardless of their faith and beliefs just because they are human beings. Preaching a Gospel that says we are to help those who are Jesus’ brothers (remember, He also said that those who do His will are his brothers, and mother) would tend to make people who are hearing the Gospel, and who have a hearkening to being Roman Catholic, to look out for their own and to take a justifiable view of the need of a community that supports and protects Roman Catholicism, the Faith, and the Church. When the specialness of being Christ’s brother, or sister, or mother is diluted or downplayed or ignored, the result is that we all just remain what most of us are in America – Americans. And Americans are Masons by another name, really. The spirit here is one of the glory of the family of man and the importance of serving man first and foremost. When the specialness of being Christ’s brother is ignored, then the missionary zeal of the Roman Catholics is dissipated and we all just become another socially conscious, charity giving, helping the poor group of church-goers whose only difference is that on Sunday we take a wafer after standing, sitting, kneeling, singing, and speaking out loud. In other words, to deny the specialness of being the spiritual brother of Christ is to deny Christ. So at place like Notre Dame where a Protestant or pagan can get one step closer to becoming a Roman Catholic (but not quite a Roman Catholic), error is perpetuated. But we learn from this error. We learn that the enemies of Christ are crafty and subtle. One of their most favorite techniques in pulling souls away from Him is to use the technique practiced on November 23, 2008 by Fr. Rocca – the Rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame. That technique is to focus on, or emphasize, only part of the Truth. They direct your attention to part of the equation, so to speak, and not to the whole thing. You are asked to look at a corner of the picture instead of the entire panorama. Oh, there are other techniques of subverting the Faith. Probably too many to list but a couple that pop up at many homilies are the ones which involve talking about Bible history or talking about doctrines of the Faith which have little real meaning to Roman Catholics. A lot of priests seem to like to talk about how things were in the time of Christ. That’s fine as long as it provides some context to what He said and did, but that is often not the case. What we are treated to are activities, and customs and principles involving people (Jews) with whom we really have no connection either spiritually or physically. Also, what the priests do is that they ignore so many lives who were modeled after Christ in the centuries after His birth. The Saints and Martyrs provide us inspiration and ways to put Christ’s many teachings into practice in our lives. The lives of these holy men and women are concrete examples on how we can live our lives. These lives give understandable meaning to Christ’s teachings and actions. This is really important and badly needed. Theological discussions of this or that doctrine of the Faith are not appropriate for homilies. John and Jane in the pew are not theologians and the discussion of one doctrine or another are simply not something of practical use to people. Perhaps these things are good for scholars, but not for men and women who want to preserve their immortal souls while trying to raise families and navigating through the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of this society. Here are some ideas for homilies. We need to hear of the Saints and the Martyrs. We need to know how they, and those of us who follow them, are special. We need to hear how this society is filled with evil – the kind of evil that results in lost souls. We need to be taught about love. We need to be taught about the kind of love that was shown by countless holy men and women through the ages. We need to know that the greatest love for all of mankind is to spread the Faith among all the nations, among all the people.