"And so my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, here is a question for you: Are we in the state of grace or are we in the state of sin?" This was a question I asked in the homily.
I was assigned to give the homily at the 10am & 5pm. The recording below is from the 5pm Mass.
Part 1 of 2
Part 2 of 2
Also, as I will blog at another time, I was asked to assist Bishop Myron Cotta again, this time for the 12pm Mass which is for the 50th Anniversary Parish Celebration.
I "tested" chanting the Gospel at the 10am Mass. This was my third time to chant (or intone) the Gospel. I've done it for shorter Gospels before.
I have to admit, for some reason, I was really nervous doing this at the 10am Mass. I think I was too focused on myself and the fact that it was new to most people for me to do this correctly. People are not used to hearing liturgy sung or chanted. My nervousness was too distracting. I had rehearsed this many times, but I guess I still need more practice.
It was a blessing in disguise because I interpreted this as a sign that I should not do this at the 12pm Mass with the bishop. And to do this for now, until I gain more experience with it I guess.
I actually chanted the Gospel at the 5pm, just to show that it could be done and that practice was needed. I was like this with the Kyrie Eleison during the Penitential Rite. At first, I was nervous, but now I am getting used to it with some practice and experience. I am hoping this is the case here. I try my best to sing all the parts that could be sung that are proper to the deacon for weekend Masses.
At any rate, here is how a Gospel chanted should have sounded. I used a very basic tone.
Homily on Conversion
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 28, 2014
I’d like for you all to imagine that in
front of me is the edge of a cliff. I’m
only a few steps from a fall.
If you
were standing at the edge of a cliff with me, what do you think you and I would do?
Are we going to continue walking in that same direction? Or are we going to make a big
change in the opposite direction?
Of course, you and I will want to move in
the opposite direction.
Now imagine behind me is God. Right now, I have my back to God.
When I turn around. When do a 180 degree turn (like this). When I change course radically-- This is called conversion...conversion back to God.
And this is the first point. Conversion is not just a simple change back to God, but it is a radical change back to
God.
In today’s Gospel, the first son said
that he would not go to the vineyard, but he “changed his mind and went”. He turned away from his cliff.
The First Reading from the Book of the
Prophet Ezekiel says,
“But if he turns from the
wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve
his life;
since he has turned away from all
the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, and he shall not die”.
Conversion is a radical change away from
the cliff of sin.
It addition to turning
away from sin, conversion means returning to friendship w/God. And this leads me to the second point: Friendship with God or being
in the state of grace.
Being in the state of grace is like
running towards God and away from that cliff of sin. Sin is an offense against God.
So we are either in the state of friendship or grace or
we are in the state of sin. There is NO
in-between. It's either one or the other.
Being in the state of grace begins with
Baptism. At Baptism, you and I received
sanctifying grace in our souls.
Our goal
as Christians is to always live in this baptismal innocence, the state of grace, in the state of
friendship with God, but most importantly we must die in the state of grace. One must die in the state of grace to go to
heaven.
Just like walking toward the cliff, by
choosing to be in the state of sin, we are separating ourselves from God.
It is the worst thing ever. I know many of you are experiencing physical ailments, or financial problems, or this or that. But the worst thing out of all of these, as Pope Pius XII said, is sin.
And so my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, here is a question for you: Are
we in the state of grace or are we in the state of sin?
The Bible talks about the difference
between serious or deadly sin versus lesser sins. Serious sin -- as the word deadly suggests -- kills grace and love in the
soul. (As I will talk about later, this is restored in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.) Lesser sins damage or hurts the
relationship with God but does kill grace in the soul.
All serious sins should be confessed in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. If we are in the state of sin, we need
conversion back to God’s love.
This leads me to the third and final
point: the Sacrament of Conversion.
If we lose our baptismal innocence, it
is restored through the Sacrament of Conversion also called the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, Confession, or Penance.
Going to Confession is like a good shower. You clean yourself with water. Confession is a good spiritual shower, except
instead of water you and I are washed with the Blood of Jesus in this sacrament.
And of course, like an earthly shower, you
don’t wait to wait too long to take a good spiritual shower. You want to take showers more regularly.
I remember a mom telling me about how
she went to Confession with her young adult daughter. When her daughter came out of Confession, she
said, “Mom, I want to go again. I love
this feeling! I feel so refreshed.”
Also, remember, when we sin (or separate ourselves from God), we don’t
just hurt God, we hurt each other.
That’s why we need the Church. Pope Francis himself emphasizes this: We need both Jesus and the Church. We
are not just reconciled to God, but we are reconciled to each other.
The Catechism
says that reconciliation with God is inseparable from reconciliation with
the Church.
The Bible says that Jesus
gave his apostles the authority to forgive sins. We see in John Chapter 20 how Jesus said to
his apostles, “Receive the Holy Spirit…whose sins you forgive, they are
forgiven. Whose sins you retain,
they are retained.” The apostles and
their successors through the bishops and the holy priesthood forgive and absolve sins in Christ’s name.
Also, it’s like a spouse that doesn’t
just say, “I’m sorry” and that’s it and coldly moves on. Going to a priest in Confession is like
saying “I’m sorry and how can I make up for it?
What can I do to make it better?”
Like today's Gospel, words alone are insufficient, but deeds are required here.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation restores
God’s grace and love in the soul. Reconciliation
is “usually followed by peace of mind and peace of conscience”.
It is like a hospital for our
souls. It heals and restores spiritual
health.
If you haven’t gone to confession in a
long time or are just nervous about going in general, maybe because you had a
bad experience in the past; then, perhaps consider bringing someone along, like your spouse, a
friend, or a family member. And to go on your birthday or on New Year’s Eve or Advent or Lent.
Or if you want to
make that radical change in your life; then, I’d invite you to go as early as
you possibly can. There’s no better time
like the present. Because we you die, that's it. There's no more time for repentance.
Wednesday evenings and
Saturday afternoons here at St. Catherine’s hold confessions.
So, to summarize the three points from
today’s Gospel: Conversion, the
necessity of the Sacrament of Conversion, and living in the state of grace.
And let us live and die in the state of grace.
Let us not be like the second son who
said, "Yes, sir, I will go," but did not go.
Rather, let us be like the first son who
said, “I will not go”, but he changed his mind and went.
__________________________________
Purificacion, Dennis (September 28, 2014). Homily on Conversion, the Sacrament of Conversion, & the State of Grace (Vallejo, CA: St. Catherine's) blogged on www.marysdeacon.blogspot.com on September 29, 2014.
 |
| St. Pio Hears Confession |
No comments:
Post a Comment