Fr. JC Maximilian

Jesus, as the Divine Logos (“Word”), is eternal.  He always was, is, and always will be.  However, as the Prologue of St. John’s Gospel makes clear, “The Word (in the Greek, Logos) became flesh and dwelt among us.”  In other words, the Eternal Son entered into time, into history, by becoming the Incarnate Word.  Since Jesus lived in a particular period of history, and in a particular culture, He used the language, expressions, and images of that culture at that time in history.  While the words of Scripture are truly Living words which continue to have meaning and value for us today (they are eternal), the manner of their expression can be difficult to understand and fully appreciate at times because they are “dated.”  For example, what is a “denarius”?  We do not use that term today, in English (it was equal to one day’s pay).  To fully appreciate the Eternal Word being expressed in Scripture we often need to have it brought into terms that we understand today.  This is why in the seminary, more than any other single subject, the Scriptures are studied.  It is the purpose of the homily to explain the Living Word of Scripture.

The GIRM #65 states, “The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended, for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life.”  For this reason, the homily really should never be omitted on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and it is highly recommended even at daily Mass, particularly in the seasons of Advent and Lent.  The homily should be an explanation of some aspect of the Scripture readings for that Mass or some other text from the Mass (e.g., explaining the Eucharistic Prayer, talking about the Solemnity, feast, or saint of the day).  The homilist is suppose to take into account “both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (GIRM #65).  One thing this suggests is that as a priest gets to know his congregation better, his homily should start to be geared toward their own manner of expression, images, and even challenge the particular congregation in the areas of the Christian life they need to work on to a greater extent.  The homily may only be given by an ordained minister.

Sometimes you might hear someone make a distinction between a homily and a sermon.  Some people might say that a sermon is done at a setting other than Mass, or more instructional and old-fashioned, whereas a homily is done at Mass and focuses on the Scriptures.  As one author put it, “the idea that there is a subtle difference in content is moonshine….” (Randolph, Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread, p. 80).  Basically the difference is one of languages; in Greek the word homilia means sermon or “homily,” whereas in Latin the word is sermo.  For some reason, after Vatican Council II, the Greek terms became more in fashion instead of the Latin (as a side note:  Vatican Council II did not “forbid” the use of Latin and mandate the use of the vernacular.  While the Council did suggest that the use of the vernacular be expanded, it explicitly stated that the Latin language was to be maintained in the Liturgy, especially the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, to facilitate the celebration of Mass when the Faithful from different countries and/or language groups are present.  So, how’s your Latin?).

The committee of liturgists that were charged with revising the Mass in the late 1960s, originally proposed that there would be several Responsorial Psalms during the Mass, including one just prior to the proclamation of the Gospel.  However, the group of bishops responsible for overseeing this committee rejected this idea.  All that remains is the Gospel Acclamation.  For most of the year this consists of the acclamation “Alleluia!” bracketing a verse that tries to draw our attention to the importance of the Gospel reading that will be proclaimed.  Since the Gospel Acclamation is meant to be a rather triumphant greeting of the Lord who is about to speak to us in the Gospel, the preference is for this acclamation to be sung.  If the Gospel Acclamation is not sung it may be omitted (GIRM #63, only at Mass when there is only one reading before the Gospel, therefore it is never just recited at a Sunday Mass); if it is recited it should be spoken with vigor.  Because the word “Alleluia!” is a sort of joyful shout, it is considered inappropriate during the Lenten season, and is replaced by another phrase.  Of course, for the Proclamation of the Gospel all the people stand.

The Gospels are the story about what Jesus said and did.  While there is certainly a biographical character to the Gospels, they are more “portraits” of the life of Jesus rather than “pictures.”  One characteristic of the Gospels, which makes them often more easy to understand, is that can be broken into short sections which can be understood on their own.  We call these sections “pericopes.”  For any one Sunday, a complete story or section of teaching from the Gospel is read.  Often one Sunday’s Gospel reading immediately follows the previous week’s Gospel reading.

There are several actions that the priest or deacon does in the act of Proclaiming the Gospel.  If a deacon is assisting at the Mass, he should be given the preference in proclaiming the Gospel.  During the Gospel Acclamation, the deacon stands before the presiding priest and says, “Father, give me your blessing,” to which the priest responds, “The Lord be in your heart and on your lips that you may worthily proclaim his gospel.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.”  If there is no deacon assisting at the Mass, the priest bows before the Altar and inaudibly says, “Almighty God, cleanse my heart and lips that I may worthily proclaim your gospel.”  After greeting the People with “The Lord be with your,” and receiving their “And also with you,” the deacon or priest proclaims, “A reading from the holy gospel according to (N).”  He then makes the sign of the cross on the book, and then on his forehead, lips and breast.  Strictly speaking, the congregation is not asked to mimic this action, although it seems to have become customary in most places.  After proclaiming the Gospel, as the congregation responds, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,” the deacon or priest kisses the book and says inaudibly, “May the words of the gospel wipe away our sins.”  If the Bishop is presiding at the Mass, the deacon or priest does not kiss the book, but rather brings the Book of the Gospel to the Bishop, as the Apostle and Guardian of the Gospel for the diocese, to kiss; all should remain standing until the Bishop kisses the Book of the Gospel, before sitting for the homily.

[Jan Bruegel the Younger and Peter Paul Rubens. “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.” 1628]

“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” Have you ever stopped to wonder why Martha asked Jesus this question? What was her attitude, what was she feeling, when she asked Jesus this? Sorry for herself? Annoyed? Put upon? Resentful?
        
I think that all of us can empathize with Martha’s feelings. Most of us can think of a time when we are working very hard on something, and we see other people not pulling their fair share, and we get angry and resentful. Why aren’t they helping too? It makes me think of Thanksgiving; my three sisters would be in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother working on the dinner which we would all enjoy, and us men would be in the living room watching TV. I would offer to help in the kitchen, only to be kicked out because it was too crowded, but would hear later about how us men did nothing while they did all the work. Sound familiar?
        
In the culture of the Middle East, especially at the time of Jesus, hospitality was an extremely important virtue. We even see it in today’s first reading, that when Abraham spied the three men standing near his tent, he immediately “ran” out to greet them, and asked them to allow him to show them his hospitality; bathing their feet and serving them something to eat and drink. Continuing the hospitality of Abraham, Martha knew that custom demanded that certain things be done to welcome guests into her home. And like Sarah in today’s first reading, it was customary for the women of the household to attend to those details, while the man entertained the guest. So just in terms of the culture, Martha had some justification in being upset with her sister Mary. So what was the matter with her complaint?
        
From other places in the Gospels, we know that Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus were very close friends of Jesus. They were already disciples, believing that Jesus was sent by God (though perhaps not yet realizing that He was the Son of God). Note that Martha calls Jesus “Lord”. While calling Jesus her friend, Martha still had a divided heart. She loves Jesus, but she is still relying on her strength, or good works, to earn His love in return. She has not learned that what she can DO FOR Jesus does not matter as much as what He WANTS TO DO FOR US.
        
Jesus tells Martha that “there is need of only one thing.” It is kind of like Jack Palance’s character, Curly, in the movie City Slickers. When Billy Crystal’s character asks what is the secret to life, Curly holds up one finger, and says “Just one thing,” and Crystal’s character spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out what the “just one thing” is.
        
We don’t need to figure it out. Jesus tells us that he is the ONE Way, Truth and Life; that He is the one needed thing. The secret to life is to let Jesus rule completely over our hearts, and with undivided hearts sit at His feet and listen to His words. This is what it means to be a real friend of Jesus.
        
Cultural customs might be very different today, but all of us feel the press of everyday obligations. When you feel this press each day, who do you tend to imitate? Do you tend to become more like Martha, and busy yourself with your own plans for doing things? Or do you tend to become more like Mary, and place yourself at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him so that you can know His will for your lives?
        
We face this choice everyday. One of the amazing things about Christianity is that God totally respects our freedom, so much so, that in a manner of speaking He leaves our destiny in our own hands. It is up to us to set our priorities in life. We can make our own achievements the highest priorities in our lives, or we can make knowing, loving and imitating Christ our highest priority.
        
Thankfully this is not a one time choice. We are offered it each and every day. In today’s Gospel account, on this occasion, Martha choose to busy herself with her own plans instead of making Jesus her top priority, but later, after her brother Lazarus dies, we see her leaving all her “duties” at the funeral to go to Jesus and listen to His words of comfort and promise. Likewise, just because Mary chose this time to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen, He will not force her to do so again the next time.
        
Today we have chosen to come and listen to the Lord. What about tomorrow? Tuesday? Jesus is hoping that we will continue to choose the “better part.” Will we?

The Second reading at Sunday Mass is typically from one of the Epistles; and since St. Paul wrote most of the Epistles, it is usually from him.  “The reading of an ‘Epistle’ as well as a ‘Gospel’ is an ancient feature,” in the Mass (Randolph, Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread, p. 75).  Traditionally these two readings were done from different locations in the church; the Gospel on the north side (this would be to the left, from the congregation’s view) and the Epistle on the south side of the sanctuary.  I am not sure why there was this distinction, but it was likely to highlight the higher regard given to the Gospel.

The letters of the Apostles, as the earliest commentaries on the Gospel story, have always been greatly valued in the Church.  St. Justin Martyr, writing in the middle of the 2nd century, in describing what Christians did at their Sunday liturgies noted that in addition to reading from the writing of the Prophets (Old Testament) they also read from the letters of the Apostles.  It is because of the Apostles’ close association with Jesus that their writings were, and still are treasured, even if, as St. Peter noted (2 Peter 3:16), St. Paul can be a bit difficult to follow at times.

Generally speaking, the Epistle readings are not selected with any reference to the other readings of the Liturgy of the Word.  The basic idea is to read through all of the Epistles consecutively; pick up where one left off the previous week.  This can lead to some challenges.   The Gospel readings can be organized in what is called a “pericope,” that is a single teaching, parable or account of an action of Jesus.  In the Epistles, however, it might take a few weeks to cover a single thought of the writer.  In order to understand the Epistles, you need to read the selection for Mass in the context of the whole section of the Epistle from which it comes.  This requires more preparation by all of us; not only on the part of the priest who might choose to preach on the Epistle, but on all the Faithful as they prepare for Mass.

[An Icon of Jesus as the Good Samaritan, available from Monastery Icons]

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the best known and most loved of all of Jesus’ parables. Probably only the parable of the Prodigal Son is better known and loved. We all know the parable of the Good Samaritan so well, in fact we might know it too well that we kind of tune it out when we hear it being proclaimed again at Mass. We say to ourselves, “Oh, I know this one.”
        
Because it is so well known, it also poses a challenge to the priest or deacon who has to preach on it. Everyone knows that it is Jesus’ answer to the scholar of the law’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” We have heard it said so often that the Jews and Samaritans hated each other, and had nothing to do with each other, and that is why it is so remarkable that it was the Samaritan, and not the priest or Levite, who helped the man beaten by robbers. We all know that through the parable, Jesus is teaching us that we should view everyone as our neighbor, and so love them as ourselves. Is there anything new to say about this parable? How do you grasp people’s attention to such a well-known and often preached parable?
        
Well, I can’t say that I am going to tell you something new because I am getting a lot of what I am going to say from St. Augustine, but it may be somethings that you have not heard before. Besides, we had Dr. Scott Hahn speak here this weekend, and he got me all psyched up about what we call exegesis or “breaking open the text.”
        
First we should consider who the Samaritans were, since we have already noted that they and Jews did not get along. Recall that Israel was originally made up of 12 tribes, and that after King Solomon, 10 of the tribes rebelled against his son and formed the Northern Kingdom with their own king, while only two tribes, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, remained loyal to the House of David. About 700 years before Jesus, the Northern Kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians and those tribes became known as the “Lost Tribes of Israel.” The Assyrians took all the noble and upper class families from the Northern Kingdom into exile, and brought in peoples from five other nations to occupy the land that had been the Northern Kingdom. These foreign people mixed with the Israelites of the northern 10 tribes who remained in the land; mostly the lower class. This new mix of people came to be known as the Samaritans. They started to mix some of their pagan gods and goddess with what was left of the worship of Lord there in the north. While they eventually stopped worshipping the idols of the foreign people, their worship of the Lord was corrupted. Yet, deep down, they were still part of the Chosen People.
        
The road between Jerusalem and Jericho is still a very dangerous road. In less than 20 miles, you drop over 3200 feet in altitude as you go down the mountains. Along the way there are many places where robbers can hide, and they still will attack tourists who aren’t careful.
        
St. Augustine took a very allegorical and spiritual view of this parable. He saw it as a story of Christ restoring humankind. Throughout the New Testament, Jerusalem is often used as a symbol of Heaven, where the Lord God resides and where true worship is celebrated. Jericho is a symbol of the world. Note that the man who falls prey to the robbers is going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. St. Augustine saw this man as Adam, who was created to live in communion with God, but through his disobedience he is fallen. The robbers are the forces of evil who tempted Adam, leading him to sin, thus stripping him of his immortality and the sanctifying grace of God’s friendship. He is left for dead in his sin.
        
The priest who comes upon the man represents the Law, while the Levite represents the Prophets. Neither of which are able to restore the man to new life. Then comes the Samaritan. I am sure it would have shocked the Jewish people listening to Jesus tell the parable, but St. Augustine saw the Samaritan as being Jesus, the Savior. The Son of God comes in the form of one who has distorted the true faith and worship of God, to restore fallen Adam who is left naked and in the death of sin. Oil and wine are poured into the wounds of Adam; “oil to make his face shine” as Scripture says, and wine “which gladdens the heart of Man.” Then the Samaritan places the man on his own donkey, just as Jesus bore all our sins and suffered and died on the Cross for our behalf. The Samaritan takes the man to an inn and cares for him through the night. The inn represents the Church, which continues the ministry of Christ, caring for wounded humanity, trying to lift sinners out of the death of sin into the light and life of Christ Jesus. The two coins which the Samaritan leaves at the inn are the sacraments and the whole treasury of grace that Jesus has won for us by His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Finally, as the Samaritan promises to return, so does Jesus promise to return again, in glory.
        
In looking at this parable in this way, there is a shift of focus. Instead of looking outwards toward other people as being the victim of the robbers, and we as the Good Samaritan, this perspective casts us in the role of the victim of the robbers. We are the ones stripped, beaten, and left for dead. At times we need to take this perspective because as Jesus points out in another place in the gospels, it is easy for us to see the sins of others and their need for redemption and salvation, while being quite unaware of our own sinfulness. We are all the man beaten and stripped by the robbers, left in the death of our sins. We must first recognize this need of ours to be saved and redeemed, our own need for Christ Jesus. Once we recognize our own nakedness, our own sin, our own need, only then will we recognize the Presence of the Good Samaritan — Jesus. We need to recognize that science, technology, power, fame — the priests and Levites of the modern world — cannot restore us to new life. We must allow Jesus to place our brokenness, our sin, on His own beast of burden — His own body broken for us — so that He can bring us to the Church where we can receive the sacraments — the oil and wine poured into our wounds.
        
Only when we allow Jesus, the Good Samaritan, to restore us to new life can we be real neighbors to all those around us.

After the first reading (typically from the Old Testament), there is the responsorial Psalm.  This is not the “musical interlude” of the Liturgy of the Word.  In Hebrew the Book of Psalms is entitled Tehillim, which is literally translated as “prayers of praise.”  Because many of the psalms actually have notations as to what instruments to use with them, most scholars have concluded that in essence the Book of Psalms was the “hymnal” used in both Temple and synagogue worship by the ancient Israelites.

As the GIRM states the responsorial Psalm “is an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word and it holds great liturgical and pastoral importance, because it fosters meditation on the word of God” (#61).  The GIRM goes on to state that because the responsorial Psalm for the Mass has been chosen to correspond to the other readings, as a rule it should be taken from the Lectionary.  Because of the very nature of the Psalms, the responsorial Psalm is preferably sung.  At the very least the congregation’s response to each verse should be sung.  “If the Psalm cannot be sung, then it should be recited in such a way that it is particularly suited to fostering meditation on the word of God” (GIRM #61).  Since at most of our Sunday Masses we have at least a musician and cantor, when we get to the responsorial Psalm SING your prayer of praise.  It does not matter how well you sing; just praise the Lord!

You may have been to parishes at which a song or hymn is used in place of the Responsorial Psalm.  This is not proper.   To do so is akin to replacing one of other readings for Mass with a selection from some other spiritual work.  While there are many wonderful spiritual books, and truly spiritual songs and hymns, Sacred Scripture is unique because the principle author is the Holy Spirit.  The GIRM is very explicit on this point, “Songs or hymns may not be used in place of the responsorial Psalm” (#61).  There are several settings for the Psalms that have been approved for use, such as the Roman Gradual or the Simple Gradual, and the both the USCCB or the local bishop can approve other settings for the Psalms for use at Mass.  In addition, in the United States, the Psalm assigned in the Lectionary for a Mass can be replaced by a proper or seasonal antiphon (the congregation’s response) and Psalm, which would also be found in the Lectionary or taken from an approved collection of settings for the Psalms.

[“St. Michael Vanquishes Satan” by Raphael]

In today’s Gospel reading, we heard that Jesus appointed 72 disciples to collaborate in His mission of preaching the Good News to the people of Israel. This appointment of 72 disciples is an action that has deep Biblical significance.
        
As Moses was leading the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promise Land, he quickly discovered it was too much work for him to do alone. So God had him appoint 70 elders who received some of Moses’ spirit so that they could assist Moses in proclaiming the Word of God. Add Moses and the LORD and you have the 72 leaders of Israel
        
When the Israelites returned to the Promise Land after having been exiled in Babylon, they set up the Sanhedrin to be their ruling body. The Sanhedrin was composed on 70 elders, plus the High Priest and the LORD; again 72.
        
However there is perhaps a deeper significance to the number 72, connecting the Old Testament and Jesus’ appointment of 72 disciples to go out on mission. In the book of Genesis, the non-Jewish world is divided into 70 nations; add Israel and the Church and again you get 72. Jesus’ choice of 72 disciples reflects the universality of His saving mission; that His Good News is not just for Israel but for the entire world. In following this pattern, Jesus, whom Scripture makes clear is the new Moses, shows that He is bringing the Old Covenant to its fulfillment.
        
We see in both the Old and New Testament that God insisted on choosing coworkers to help build His Kingdom. This shows us something essential about our Lord: He is a team player. Jesus came not only to announce the Good News, but to set up His Church, the association of His disciples, to be His coworkers in spreading the announcement of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, until the end of time. Jesus is saving the world, but not all by Himself. He wants to do it with our help.
        
From the pope down to the most recently baptized believer, we all share the same mission: to help Christ build up his Kingdom. This should be our greatest joy.
        
One of the ways in which Jesus shows us that He is a team player is by sharing His own experience with us. The 72 disciples whom we heard about in today’s Gospel reading generously accepted Jesus’ invitation to share in His mission. As a result, they were given a share in Christ’s own victories. They came back rejoicing, because even demons were subjected to them because of Jesus’ name. All of us can share the experience of Christ’s victories. All we need to do is to have enough courage to take up His invitation, to go out as “laborers in the harvest”, spreading the Good News of the gospel.
        
However, Christ Jesus does not only share with us His victories. He also shares with us His sufferings and His Cross. Why would Jesus want to share with us His sufferings and Cross?
        
Think about your various friends. We all have close friends and not-so-close friends. What makes the difference between someone being our close friend instead of remaining a not-so-close friend? One important difference is that our close friends are willing to share their sorrows with us, and we are willing to share our sorrows with them. Friends who suffer together are stronger friends. Jesus wants to have this kind of closeness with us.
        
In today’s second reading St. Paul says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What St. Paul is saying is that what he values most is that he has shared in the rejection, the sufferings, that Christ experienced. In his many years as a missionary, St. Paul suffered much — rejection, stonings, beatings, shipwrecks — yet he saw all these sufferings as means for drawing closer to Jesus. St. Paul’s united his sufferings so closely to the suffering of Christ, that he says in today’s seconding reading, “I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.” Most scholars understand this phrase as indicating that St. Paul received the gift of the stigmata, the appearance on his own hands and feet of the wounds Jesus suffered on the cross.
        
Through our baptism we have been called to be coworkers with Christ in building up the Kingdom of God. However, some are called to dedicate themselves in a special, extraordinary way to bringing in the spiritual harvest. When Jesus admonishes us to “ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”, He is referring above all to these special vocations, to the men and women God calls to the priesthood and the consecrated life in the Church. When Jesus says, “so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest,” He is telling us to pray for vocations. Asking God to send the Church vocations to the priesthood, consecrated life, and missionary life shows that we care about what Christ cares about, that we really care about being on His team. The more sincere we make this prayer to be, the more effective it will be.
        
And if it is sincere, it means that we will not only ask God to call others, but we will be generous in responding to whatever he asks of us. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once speaking with a young man who wanted to do something for Christ. This young man was very saddened by all the problems he saw in the world, and he expressed his frustration to Mother Teresa. He said to her, “I’m only one person, and the world is in such a mess! What can I do?” She smiled at him so very gently and answered, “Pick up a broom!”
        
We all care about furthering Christ’s mission and building His Kingdom – that’s why we are here, right? So during this Mass, and throughout this week, let’s keep asking God to send more laborers into the harvest. And as soon as we finish that prayer, let’s pick up our own broom too

As has been already noted, the first reading at Sunday Mass is from the Old Testament; with the exception of during the Easter Season when we read from the Acts of the Apostles.  In Catholic Bibles there are 46 books in the Old Testament.  Most of these books were first passed down orally before being written down.  They were composed over several centuries, and contain various literary styles.  While we can look at each book as a separate work, we must also look at the entire Old Testament as a single Revelation.  God loves us, and He wants to share (communicate) His life with us.  God reveals Himself to us in His Creation, but He has also made Himself known to us through the Holy Spirit inspiring Sacred Scripture.  Of course the most complete revelation of God is Jesus Christ.  In a very real way, all of Scripture has a common author, the Holy Spirit.  The “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation” (Dei Verbum; DV) issued by the Second Vatican Council teaches that the Holy Spirit is the principle author of Sacred Scripture.  There are a few erroneous ways of considering the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human authors of the works with compose Sacred Scripture.  On the one hand, it is not a mere mechanical dictation, with the Holy Spirit telling the human author word for word what to write for DV clearly teaches that the human authors are real authors who employed their skills (given to them, of course by God).  On the other hand, the Holy Spirit did not just give the Divine “seal of approval” to works written by the human authors.  God had a definite message that He wanted revealed to us, thus DV states, “that the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures.”  It is very important to keep both the Holy Spirit (primary) and human beings as true authors.

St. Augustine noted in one of his famous sayings that the New Testament was hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New.  As we have noted, the Old Testament reading at Sunday Mass was selected because it is supposed to reflect in some way the Gospel reading for that Sunday.  Sometimes this connection is more obvious than times.  The study of typology, of how one thing foreshadows another, is often useful in seeing this connection.  For a good introduction to typology and a basic introduction to Biblical theology, I recommend Scripture Matters, by Dr. Scott Hahn.  While it is very important to be solidly grounded in what the Church calls the ‘literal sense’ of the Scripture (what is really being said based on literary style, historical context, etc), as Fr. Francis Randolph notes in his book, Know Him in the Breaking of the Bread, “We must remember that we are not saved by knowing about the history and archaeology of Palestine; we are saved by knowing Jesus Christ, and the value of the Old Testament is in what it tells us about him” (p. 71).

As was noted in our last “Liturgical Footnote,” one of the changes in the “New Mass” which was given to the Church in the late 1960s, was an increased number of Scripture readings; both within Mass, and over all given the new three-year cycle of Sunday readings.  Keeping in mind St. Jerome’s maxim that “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ,” this increase selection of Scripture proclaimed in Mass is a positive thing.  However, for many people (including not a few number of priests and deacons) all this Scripture at one Mass can feel a bit overwhelming – how do we focus on what God is saying to us in the Scriptures?

First we must remember to read the Bible in the Church.  I do not mean to only read the Bible literally in a church building, but according to how the Church reads the Bible.  If we leave the Bible to individual interpretation we get an unbelievable number of denominations that have different interpretations of the same Scripture, each claiming to be based on the Bible.  The Catholic Church does not claim to be “based on the Bible,” rather the Church teaches that it was established by Christ, through the teaching of the Apostles, who handed on, both orally and in writing (see 2 Thess. 2:15 for a Scriptural confirmation of this), all that Jesus taught for our salvation.  Thus for Catholics, the Bible comes to us on the authority of the Catholic Church.  Remember, the Church, through the charism of the Holy Spirit given to Her, discerned which writings were truly inspired by God and belonged in the Bible.

More practically, we need to prepare for Mass beforehand! I have already mentioned this idea when talking about the Collect/Opening Prayer, in terms of forming an intention for Mass.  Get a copy of the readings beforehand, and a couple of days beforehand (or even the night before) prayerfully read the Gospel.  When you have some idea what is being said to us in that, look at the first reading to see how it echoes what the Gospel is saying to us.  Then, while reflecting on God’s message in the Gospel, make the Psalm your prayer.  Only after doing this, look at the reading from St. Paul.  It might even be helpful to look that passage up in your Bible to see what was being said before and after the selection.  Not only will this make us more mindful of God through our week, but also it will help you get more out of the Liturgy of the Word on Sunday.  Finally, you may have noticed that the Readers are pausing more after each reading.  This “sacred silence” is for the promotion of meditation on the readings during Mass (cf. GIRM #56).

Always remember, God’s Word is alive!  Scripture is not merely words written down a long time ago, rather God is still speaking to us in the Scriptures today.  For those who are particularly interested in learning more about the Bible, several free (just need to register) courses are offered online at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, www.salvationhistory.com.

I am going to be out of town for the next two weeks, so I don’t know if I will have any blog posts during that time.  First I am going to the Priest, Deacon & Seminarian Conference that Dr. Scott Hahn has been giving for the past 6 or 7 years at St. Vincent’s Seminary in Latrobe, PA.  Then I am taking a week of vacation with my mother and two of my sisters and their families.  Mom has a time-share in Massennutten, VA (I probably have that spelled wrong).

I will catch up on the liturgical footnote for next weekend when I get back.  My next homily will not be until July, because the weekend I get back is “Deacons’ Preach Weekend”.

Lastly, I forgot to blog that the Diocese of Trenton (which is my diocese) has a new bishop, well bishop-elect until July 30.  Fr. David O’Connell, CM, the retiring president of the Catholic University of America, has been appointed the coadjutor bishop of Trenton.  Our current bishop, Bishop John M. Smith, will turn 75 on June 23, and will have to submit his letter of resignation according to Canon Law.  Of course Bishop Smith will remain the Bishop of Trenton until the Holy Father accepts his resignation, which might not be for several months or more, which will allow Bishop-elect O’Connell to settle into his new ministry.  I welcome Bishop-elect O’Connell, and look forward to meeting him, probably when he is ordained a bishop on July 30.  Ad Multos Annos to both Bishop Smith and Bishop-elect O’Connell.