Thus says the Lord God, if you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation, and malicious speech, if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall come for you like midday. Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a water garden, like a whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up. Repairer of the breach, they shall call you restorer of ruined homesteads.
If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable. If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice, then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth. I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Standel continuation of the Holy Gospel according to Mark. At that time when it was late, the ship was in the midst of the sea and Jesus alone on the land. And seeing his disciples straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea, and he would have passed by them. But they, seeing him walking upon the sea, thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were troubled. Then he immediately spoke to them and said to them, Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them, and the wind fell. And they were utterly beside themselves with astonishment, for they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was blinded.
And crossing over, they came to the land of Janessareth and mowed and mowed the boat. And when they had gotten out of the boat, the people at once recognized him, and they hurried through the whole country and began to bring the sick on their pallets wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into village or hamlet or town, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and intreated him to let them touch with the tassel of his cloak, and as many as touched him were saved.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Just a couple of things um spring to mind from that gospel reading and this slightly strange experience of the uh apostles in the boat that our Lord comes to them upon the water and he says that uh he made us to pass them by. Um they were struggling against the wind. They were um rowing hard, trying to make their way across the lake. And yet the Lord doesn't head to them and immediately gets into the boat. He he appears to be passing them by and they call out to him.
And that's kind of gives us an important lesson about um how our Lord sometimes works or how he uses his providence in our life, how he allows things to happen to us um which might feel like a struggle like the apostles trying to row against the wind. Um, and what our Lord might be trying to do in some of these situations is like the apostles to encourage them to actually ask for his help. Um, that he saw their need. Um, and he made it he brought himself closer to them on the lake, but he didn't actually get into the boat with him with them until they called out to him uh to help them.
And uh that kind of um can be part of our own struggle in the spiritual life that when it comes to for example battling against certain sins. Um, we can end up concentrating a lot on our own efforts each day to try and overcome uh our sinful tendencies and particularly any kind of particular fault that we might have and what might seem to be constantly coming up in our lives. And uh we end up thinking it comes down to our own um strength of will. Um and of course that is involved in the situation but above all we Our Lord wants us to learn a dependency upon him. That we cannot overcome our weaknesses nor grow in our spiritual life just of our own strength. That we must constantly return to him, call out to him in our need. Because when we acknowledge our weakness, then he can actually do something in our lives. We give him a place in our lives rather than thinking that it's all about what I can do of my own strength.
And similarly perhaps in the church as a whole that um we can sometimes um have con concerns about how things are going in the in the life of the church and can be confused or angry uh not know why the Lord permits certain things to happen. Uh but the Lord wants us not to try and come up with solutions of our own uh of our own making. Um not to be kind of overly concentrating on the different theories that people have uh getting ourselves getting caught up in all kinds of uh debates that might happen in social media and different opinions about the way forward. Um what our Lord wants principally is for us to call upon him to invite him uh to plead with him to to guide the church to do something to help us uh remain faithful to him and uh to be strong in our faith. to pray for the shepherds that they may be strong in their faith and uh and to carry out their job of shephering um the members of of the church.
In the lesson from Isaiah, the Lord mentions how uh if we keep the Sabbath holy uh then and if we keep his laws then he will bless his people. Um, and it that reminds me of um the revelations of the Holy Face to Sister Mary of St. Peter. Um, I don't know how familiar you all are with the devotion to the Holy Face. Um, but our Lord said in those revelations that uh the thing that most offended God and that would bring about chastisement was the desecration of uh the Sabbath and the holy days and blasphemy against his holy name. And he said that by making reparation for those sins and by ourselves keeping the Sabbath holy and honoring honoring him uh in the midst of our um societal life uh then he will bless us and uh will withhold uh the justice that our sins have brought about.
So um we ask the Lord in this mass to um enter into the boat with each of us with us individually and uh with the church as a whole. Uh we call upon him with confidence and trust mindful of our own weaknesses because when we are weak then we are strong. Then our Lord will can fill our hearts with his grace and use us to uh rebuild uh the church, use us to bring about his kingdom here on earth. In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
accepted time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offense to any man that our ministry be not blamed, but in all things, let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God. In much patience, in regulations, in in necessities, in in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in ѕєdιтισns, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in charity, in chastity, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armor of just by the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceived Believers and yet true. As unknown and yet known. As dying and behold, we live. As chastised and not killed, as sorrowful yet always rich rejoicing. As needy yet enriching many. As having nothing and possessing all things.
The gospel is the continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. At that time Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming said to him, "If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread, who answered and said, it is written, not in bread alone does man live, but in every word that proceedth from the mouth of God." Then the devil took him up into the holy city and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written that he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone." Jesus said to him, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. and said to him, "All these will I give thee, if falling down, thou wilt adore me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan, for it is written, the Lord thy God shalt thou shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
The Holy Mother Church leads us into the sacred season of Lent by setting before our eyes the gospel of our Lord's temptation in the desert. And for 40 days and 40 nights, Christ fasted, prayed, and endured the assaults of the enemy. He who is without sin allowed himself to be tempted, not because he could fall, but so that he might teach us how to stand.
The number 40 is not without meaning. For 40 days, the flood cleansed the earth. For 40 years, Israel wandered in the desert. For 40 days, Moses and Elijah fasted before encountering God. I think I learned yesterday that St. Patrick was 40 days on a mountain. Patrick, Patrick. Um, Lent, therefore, is not merely a time of abstaining from certain foods or amusements. It is a time of purification, of preparation, and of return to God.
The gospel shows us three temptations and in them we see the three great enemies of the soul, the flesh, the world, and the devil. First, the devil tempts our Lord to turn stones into bread. This is the temptation of the flesh, the desire to place bodily comfort above obedience to God. But our Lord replies, "Not in bread alone does man live, but in every word that proceedth from the mouth of God." He teaches us that man is not merely a body to be fed, but a soul to be saved. Fasting, therefore, is not an empty custom or as many Catholics believe today, simply a gesture of solidarity with those who go hungry through no choice of their own. This spiritual practice is a declaration that God is more necessary to us even than food itself.
Second, the devil offers him all the kingdoms of the world. This is the temptation of worldly power, honor, and success. How many souls are lost because they would rather be admired by men than pleasing to God? Our Lord answers, "The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." L calls us to examine our loyalties. Do we serve God first or do we bow perhaps silently to the idols of comfort, reputation or wealth? Sadly, it is also commonly the case that gaining the esteem of others can slip into our spiritual practices. We want to be seen to be a good Catholic in the way we dress, in how we behave at mass, in how many decades of the rosary we pray each day. In themselves, these things are of course important. But we must always be on our guard that concerns regarding the opinions of others do not begin to creep in and diminish our focus of doing all things for the glory of God alone.
Third, the devil tempts Christ to cast himself down from the temple, presuming a God upon God's protection. This is the temptation of pride and presumption. The sin of those who expect salvation without repentance, mercy without conversion, heaven without the cross. They are led astray by false shepherds who teach that for some who are living in states of sin, the divorced and remarried, those in ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ relationships, the Lord does not expect them to be able to give up their sins and that as long as they are pastorally accompanied, they can even receive the sacraments. Our Lord responds, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Lent reminds us that grace is not magic and salvation is not automatic. We must cooperate with God's grace through humility and through repentance.
Christ did not merely defeat the devil for himself. He did so for us. By his victory, he strengthens us to fight our own spiritual battles. But the church, like a wise mother, gives us weapons for this combat. prayer, fasting, and armsgiving. Prayer lifts the soul to God and restores what sin has weakened. Fasting disciplines the body and humbles the heart. Armsgiving loosens our attachment to earthly goods and opens us to charity. These are not optional practices for the especially devout. They are remedies prescribed by r by Christ himself.
Lent is short. Life is short. Eternity is forever. Let us not waste this holy season. Let us enter the desert with Christ so that we may rise with him at Easter. Let us ask for his grace to renounce sin, resist temptation, and return to the Lord with our whole heart. If we do so, then this Lent will not merely pass, but it will transform us. May the blessed Virgin Mary, who crushed the head of the serpent by her humility, pray for us. And may this L lead
Topic: Father Elias Sermons - beginning of Lent (Read 16 times)