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| Pope Francis leaves the Sistine Chapel after his election to the Chair of Peter. |
This is the clearest of the recordings:
Audio of Homily #20 (12pm Mass)
Video (1 of 2) of Homily #20 (5pm Mass)
4th Sunday
in Ordinary Time
There’s a cute little story about 4 people
that die and meet St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says to them, “Why should I let you
in to heaven?” The first person steps
forward and says, “Well, I was a nurse, and I helped sick people.” St. Peter said, “Ah, come on in.” The second person steps forward and says, “I worked
in sales and helped people buy food and things they needed to survive.” St. Peter said, “Cool, come on in.” The third person said, “I served the
hardships of the military, and I helped people stay free from tyranny.” St. Peter said, “Well done, soldier,
enter.” Finally, the fourth person said,
“Well, I didn’t do much in life. But um,
do you see these three, the nurse, the salesman and the soldier? Well, I was their teacher.” And of course St. Peter let this person in.
The point of this story is that we know
that teachers exercise some authority and influence. But let’s take this and see how in today’s Gospel,
Jesus speaks and exercises great authority, and Jesus teaches with an authority
that no teacher in the world exercises.
The people say, “What is this? A new
teaching (pause) with authority.”
One who teaches and speaks for God is called a prophet. In the First Reading, it is written in the
Book of Deuteronomy, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among
their kin, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I
command him.” Jesus fulfills this passage
from the Old Testament. Whoever will not
listen to Jesus, to use the words of Deuteronomy, “I myself will make him
answer for it.”
And this doesn’t just happen to Jesus
2,000 years ago. Today, just as Jesus spoke
with authority, so too today, His Catholic Church that Jesus established, teaches
with His authority. Jesus said,
“Whoever hears you, hears me.” The
highest authority in His Church is found in what is called the Magisterium
(repeat: the Magisterium). The word
magisterium comes from the Latin word “magister” which means teacher.
So the Magisterium is defined as the Pope
and the bishops in communion with the Pope.
(repeat: the Pope and the bishops in communion with the Pope). The Pope
is the successor of Peter, and a bishop is a successor to the apostles. When Peter and the Apostles teach, they
exercise that authority in the name of Christ.
Their successors, those who replaced Peter and the Apostles, are the
Pope and the bishops. There have been
266 popes from Peter to Pope Francis. Today,
there are a total of 5,000 Catholic bishops that can be traced in a continuous
line back to the Twelve Apostles through the laying on of hands. No other Christian body can make this
claim. Like Jesus in the Gospels, the
Catholic Church teaches “as one having authority.”
The next point here is that when the
Magisterium officially – officially – teaches in matters of faith and morals,
the Magisterium is protected from error.
It doesn’t mean that the Pope and bishops can’t sin. As human beings, they are sinners and can and
do make mistakes, but when it
comes to officially – officially – teaching as successors to the apostles, they
teach with the authority of Christ and are preserved from error. We’re not talking about a random comment that
a pope makes or the bishops make…, but
when they act as successors of the apostles, they are preserved from
error. On matters of faith, the Church
cannot err, for example, on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity or the Real Presence of
Jesus in the Eucharist. On matters of morality,
the Church cannot err, for example, on contraception, traditional marriage, or
premarital cohabitation. We must always
find out the official teaching of the Church which comes from Christ and are not
mere human opinion. Her teachings are His own and they are meant to bring us
life, life to the fullest. Like a good
mother, who gives her children rules to guide and protect them from harm, so,
too Holy Mother Church has given us the teachings of Christ in order to guide
and protect us from harm to our souls.
So, when Jesus through His Church teaches
on matters of faith and morals, let our hearts joyfully receive the
teaching. “If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts,” as we sung in the Responsorial Psalm. Open dissent, public rebellion, and having a
closed heart against Catholic teaching of the Magisterium is incompatible with
being a follower of Christ. Let us,
however, acclaim the rock of our salvation!
The second major point of reflection from
the Gospel is how Jesus silenced the demon that was proclaiming Him as the Holy
One of God. Have you ever wondered why
Jesus silenced the demon that was simply speaking the truth about Jesus? Wouldn’t it be a victory for Jesus if the
unclean spirit professed Jesus? If we
want to understand why Jesus silenced the unclean demonic spirit, we have to
understand the strategy of the devil.
And, yes, the devil is real and exists.
The word “diabolos” in Greek means “divider”
or “devil” in English. The devil divides
the Church…or attempts to divide the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
Church. He divides dioceses and sows
confusion. The devil divides parishes
and gets parishioners to work against each other. He divides the family which is the domestic
church. He tries to deceive the Elect – we,
the baptized – if that were possible.
So when the demonic unclean spirit cried
out the truthful statement that Jesus was the Holy One of God, the strategy of
the unclean demon in today’s Gospel was to try to set up a false redeemer…a
mere human messiah…a this-world king…a type of anti-redeemer or anti-Jesus
image. Knowing Jesus to be the Christ, the
demon uses this very information against Christ. So Jesus tells the demon, “Quiet!” The demon presents a “false Jesus” as the socio-political
redeemer not for the kingdom of heaven, which is our ultimate home, but a
redeemer of this world only, as if Jesus came primarily to save us from social
ills. But social action and charity separated
from Christ is a type of humanism, or even socialism, which we in the Church
must be on guard against, as several modern-day Popes have taught. The truth is that Jesus came primarily to
save us and liberate us from sin. Yes,
He taught truth, but He wasn’t just a mere human teacher like some wise guru,
equal to all the sages and other teachers of the world. Jesus is not one of the truths, he is truth
itself. He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
Like the unclean spirit with Jesus, the mainstream
secular media sets up a false Pope Francis image. The media presents Pope Francis as if he’s
out to change Catholic teaching. They
cite the Holy Father not because they love the message but because they love to
misquote the Pope’s words. But Pope
Francis as the Successor of Peter will always uphold Catholic teaching. Don’t get your news about Pope Francis or
Catholic teaching from the secular media.
Go to a reliable and solid Catholic media source like Immaculate Heart
Radio on 1260 AM, EWTN, the National
Catholic Register, the Catechism of
the Catholic Church, or directly
from the Vatican Information Service. Like
Jesus in the Gospels, we must tell the secular media that distorts the Pope and
official Catholic teaching to, in a certain sense, be “quiet” and not twist Pope
Francis into someone he’s not or present falsely the teachings of the Catholic
Church. (We will see more of this happen
especially up until the Synod on the Family this October.)
Finally, we the baptized and confirmed with
the Spirit exercise this authority of Christ when we, too, uphold the teachings
of the Church in public and spread the Gospel.
The role of the laity is to be a leaven in society. Laity go to places that clergy cannot, such
as the market place, the office, schools, factories, playgrounds, etc. Even if you don’t have a theology degree, you
are still baptized and confirmed and sent by Christ to teach all that Christ
has commanded us. Your sacraments are
your credentials. Jesus says to us to
not be afraid! In the Second Reading,
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I should like you to be free of anxieties”. We must say to the unclean spirit of fear troubling
our hearts and souls when we talk about God, “Quiet! Come out!” We must boldly speak about God and
the joy and freedom we experience when we hold fast to the teachings that were
handed on to us from the time of Christ and His apostles.
As you know, I am a married permanent
deacon with kids. You and I who are
parents are the first educators of our children in the spiritual ways of our
Faith. But whether married or single, we
cannot be distracted by worrying about our jobs, how to pay the bills, being
bullied to silence, or what people think about us when we talk about God. We who are married and anxious about the
things of the world should act like those who are unmarried and focus on
pleasing the Lord instead. St. Paul wrote, “I am telling you this for
your own benefit not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake…of
adherence to the Lord without distraction”.
The Eucharist at Sunday Mass and the holy rosary will help strengthen
you and me, who are one with Christ the one Teacher.
Having heard the Word of God proclaimed,
dear brothers and sisters, let us move forward at this Mass and be strengthened
by the Holy Eucharist. Amen.
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