Video on All Saints Parish

Does Jesus Contradict Himself?

 

What does Jesus mean by “Whoever is not against us is for us”?

 

Jesus says in Mark 9: 39-40: “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.  For whoever is not against us is for us." 

But we have to weigh this quote from Jesus with this other quotation of His that we find in Luke’s Gospel (11:23) “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

 

Saint Augustine actually demonstrates how both of these statements of Jesus are in harmony. 

“A person who worked miracles in the name of Christ, and yet did not join himself to the body of his disciples, [the Catholic Church], in so far as this person worked miracles in the name of Christ, that person is with them.  But the Disciples should have tried to persuade this person of the unity of the Church”

“The Catholic Church does disprove the sacraments that heretics share in common with the Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church blames them for their division and opinions of theirs, for in this they are against us.”

 

So what St. Augustine was teaching 1700 years ago is STILL what the Catholic Church teaches.  How?  We consider the Orthodox, who are not in full Communion with us, the Catholic Church says the Orthodox still have a valid priesthood and thus also a valid Eucharist.  We recognize their baptisms and confirmations as well.

 

The non-Catholic Christians (“protestants”), if they baptize “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”, the Catholic Church recognizes their baptisms as valid.  We consider their weddings to be a Sacramental marriage.  They have most of the Bible…

 

But again, as St. Augustine says, we have to do EVERYTHING we can to help non-Catholics become Catholic.

What is "Christian Forgivenss"???

 

Forgive and you will be forgiven

Dietrich von Hildebrand was a German theologian who was a great friend of Pope Benedict.  I read a book by Dietrich von Hildebrand several years ago, and what he wrote about forgiveness brought me great clarity about what forgiveness is, and also clarity about what forgiveness is not.

 

He wrote that we must forgive everyone interiorly, and so he first points out obstacles to us forgiving a person interiorly.  Those 2 things are 1) Hatred for the offender (which most Americans recognize as not being forgiveness).  But the 2^nd obstacle to interior forgiveness is something that most Americans do NOT recognize, and about this obstacle Von Hildebrand writes: “Another attitude opposed to a Christian spirit of forgiveness is ignoring the wrong inflicted upon us as though nothing has happened.”  Von Hildebrand says “Not saying something harms the offender” and “Pointing it out to the offender is necessary for their own good.”

 

He makes a further distinction that is necessary when a person is a CLOSE friend, a family member; part of our “inner circle”.  He says for those who are close to us “it is essential that the person recognize and repent of the wrong not just for their own good but the sake of the relationship between us.”

And Von Hildebrand also gives suggestions for how best to let the person close to us know that they have committed a serious breach of our friendship…he writes: “we must detach ourselves from the situation of the moment and answer all gestures of irritation and all moral blows with kindness and charity only.”  But he continues: “Yet here we can on no account content ourselves with an act of INWARD forgiveness.  At the proper moment we must in love draw our friend’s attention to their wrong and maintain our desire for the friend to redress the wrong.  We also cannot do this unless we have first inwardly forgiven our friend.”

Why do we first need to INWARDLY forgive our friend?  If we do not INWARDLY forgive our friend, it haunts us…resentment just continues to build and we become bitter….we must INWARDLY forgive any person who harms us in any way so that WE can have PEACE! 

 

Von Hildebrand continues: “It remains true that the full harmony implied by the relationship is not reestablished before our friend has understood and admitted their wrong against us, and asked our pardon for it”

 

Some examples where Jesus clearly points this out:

Luke 17:3 and 4 If your brother [here “brother” means someone in our “inner circle”] sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”

Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.  If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you and if he still does not listen bring it to the Church.”

 

Jesus, who is desires to forgive us with all of His heart, and who, if we let Him, is our BEST and closest friend, still requires that we say we are sorry before He can forgive us.  When any person goes to the Sacrament of Confession, after saying one’s sins, it is necessary, before the priest prays the words of absolution over you, that you say an Act of Contrition, and contrition means SORROW…a priest cannot pray the words of Absolution over you unless you first tell Jesus “I am sorry!”

 

If you have a friend who has wronged you, a spouse that has wronged you, etc. don’t do the American thing and bury it…let this person know that the relationship can’t be fully restored until the person asks you to forgive him or her. 

 

And what do we do in the mean time?  Jesus tells us at the beginning of this morning’s Gospel – “pray for those who mistreat you”.  We can pray that the person who has wronged us in a serious way asks us to forgive him or her.  And the Mass is the greatest prayer.

 

And so I invite each of us here this morning to ask a question: “who is it that is close to me and still has not asked me to forgive them of something serious?”  Let us pray for them during this Mass and pray for them often. May they one day ask us to forgive them, and until that day, may we never tire of praying for them. 

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Abortion and Voting

 

"The preeminent issue is abortion..."

 A homily for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2024

Our opening prayer at Mass this morning just a few minutes ago was “Lord, make us love what you command”

Why do we pray that?  Because all of God's commands to us are for our own good right now, right here...but we are always being tempted by Satan, so we need to ALWAYS be praying that we grow deeper in love with God asks of us.

On February 3, 1994 now SAINT Mother Teresa of Calcutta was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast with President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary in attendance.

She said, in her remarks “The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?  the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion…We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but let us never tell people to practice contraception and abortion.”

Already in the Old Testament God tells the Israelites wandering in the desert that God is going to allow the Israelite people to conquer the current inhabitants because the current inhabitants were sacrifice their new-born children to a demon God by throwing their children into a fire and watching them burn to death. 

In the Old Testament, God also says “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you!”

 

Some here at this Mass may have had an abortion or helped someone obtain an abortion…God wants to forgive you if you have not already confessed it…God loves you!!!

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Catholic Church in the United States is the number one advocate in the country helping women who have had an abortion heal from it, offering the Sacrament of Confession and retreats for women who have had an abortion.

The Catholic Church and the crisis pregnancy centers around the country are also the number one organization in the country helping mothers of unplanned pregnancies take care of their children, offering classes, diapers, formula, cribs, clothing, financial assistance…whatever moms need we help them…and guess what would happen if you went to an abortion facility and tried to get any of that assistance?

Some in the Catholic Church have put forward “The seamless garment of life theory” that all issues of life are the same, but the Catholic Church has NEVER taught that all issues of life are the same weight.

The US Bishops at their annual meeting in Baltimore have overwhelmingly voted every year, including the document they put out for Catholic voting this year, that the threat of abortion should be every Catholic’s number one priority in the voting booth.

As St. Teresa of Calcutta reminded the United States 30 years ago, the GREATEST destroyer of peace is abortion. 

On the issue of abortion, God commands us to love every human life.  As we prayed at the beginning of Mass “Lord, make us love what you command!”  

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Are we saved by Faith Alone?

 

Saved by Faith Alone?

 

Most of the 30,000 different sects of protestantism in the US teach "Salvation comes to each person by Faith alone", which is just flat wrong.

 

 

Saint Paul says in Romans 3:28 "For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law" so Martin Luther took that, and then in his own translation added "ALONE" so that it reads "For we consider that a person is justified by faith ALONE apart from works of the law" in Martin Luther's "Bible"

 

And St. Paul also writes to the Galatians in Galatians 2:16 "a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

 

So Martin Luther took these two lines from St. Paul, and accuse Catholics of believing that we believe that we are justified by our works.

 

 

But St. Paul is not saying that our works do not matter, St. Paul is saying "works OF THE LAW" as in, "The Jewish Law" 

 

When St. Paul talks about "works of the law" there are 3 different types of laws in the Old Testament:

 

1) Laws that established cultural customs for the Jewish people (circumcision, what foods to eat and not eat, etc.)

 

2) Laws governing Jewish Temple worship

 

3) and there are lots of Moral Laws in the Old Testament, which do not change over time.

 

St. Paul, in Romans and Galatians is referring to the Jewish cultural laws, which no longer apply to Christians when he says "apart from works of the law"

 

 

Anyone who doubts the importance of our works can look to several places:

 

1) James 2: 15-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?  So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead"

 

2) And, as Catholics, we could also point to Matthew 25 where the things Jesus requires for entrance into Heaven are all WORKS: "I was naked and you clothed me, in prison and you visited me, hunger and you gave me food…"

 

3) There also at least 7 other places in the same Letter to the Romans where St. Paul says our salvation IS based on works that we perform:

 

2:6  “God will repay everyone according to his works"

2:7 “eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works” 

2:10 “There will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good”

2:13 “For it is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; rather, those who observe the law will be justified”

2:16 “God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus.” 

10:9 “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

10:10 “one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.”

 

These are all "works".