 |
| One of God's little gifts, just a week old :). |
 |
| With her grandparents. |
 |
| Some of the children who were at the Baptism (some from out of town). |
 |
| Blessing a family about to move to Africa. |
 |
| New baptized! |
 |
| The proud godparents. |
Dear Friends and Family,
I had the wonderful joy of baptizing a little baby this Thursday. I thought tonight I'd share with you my sermon notes (for those who have a hard time sleeping...), since the plan of Catechism sermons called for me to preach today, and last Sunday, on the Sacraments. Keep in mind these are just my notes. The actual sermon often varies a bit or develops what's there, and you will certainly find grammatical errors.
Before posting that, I also wanted to say
thank you! to you all for your prayers for the intense studies for the civil law exam in California this June--the California "mini-bar" which I had to pass in order to continue for the duration of the J.D. I had to earn a 560 to pass. I am very pleased to report that, on the Feast of the Assumption, I received notice that I scored a 639, and so will be able to continue studies.
Deo Gratias! This should be by far the most difficult exam during my studies, with the exception of the final California Bar, if I choose to take that. Thank you very much for your prayers.
Below are today's sermon notes.
May Jesus and Mary watch over you, and grant you special graces of protection and guidance.
In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari
1 Cor. 15:1-10
Brethren: I recall to your minds the Gospel that
I preached to you, which also you received, wherein also you stand, through
which also you are being saved, if you hold it fast, as I preached it to you -
unless you have believed to no purpose. For I delivered to you first of all,
what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day,
according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, and after that to
the Eleven. Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at one time,
many of whom are with us still, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was
seen by James, then by the Apostles. And last of all, as by one born out of due
time, He was seen also by me. For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not
worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by
the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me has not been fruitless.
Mark 7:31-37
At that time, Jesus departing from the district
of Tyre came by way of Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the
district of Decapolis. And they brought to Him one deaf and dumb, and entreated
Him to lay His hand upon him. And taking him aside from the crowd, He put His
fingers into the man’s ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue and said to
him, Ephpheta, that is, Be opened. And his ears were at once opened, and the
bond of his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak correctly. And He charged
them to tell no one. But the more He charged them, so much the more did they
continue to publish it. And so much the more did they wonder, saying, He has
done all things well. He has made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.
What
incredible joy this deaf and dumb man must have felt, when, through the touch
of Christ’s fingers, his ears heard for the very first time the voices of his
family and friends, perhaps his own mother’s voice, the sounds of birds
singing, of the wind blowing through the trees, or of a stream running. What
incredible joy he must have felt to be able to speak for the very first time—to
tell others what he was thinking and feeling, to be able to tell Christ his gratitude
and love, to simply be able to talk with others. There will be a particular joy
in Heaven in contemplating such moments in our Lord’s earthly life, the
miraculous healings that He poured out on bodies and souls as He walked the
earth.
We
could be tempted to envy those who were able to receive His touch while He
walked the earth: “If only I too could receive the healing power of His divine,
saving, touch!” But in fact, we can. Our Savior is so good that He comes to us
in each and every Holy Mass in order to touch our bodies and souls with His
divine, saving power. How do each of the 7 Sacraments facilitate this direct
contact with God? How do they fit into God’s overall plan for your life? We
will be looking at each of the Sacraments individually—at their institution by
Christ, at the indications given in Scripture, at how God acts through that
particular Sacrament, and so forth, in sermons spread out periodically during
this next year. Today though, the Church wants to give a glimpse of how all 7 Sacraments
work together to foster the divine life in your soul.
Christ
only offers the Sacraments to a small portion of His Church—the Church militant.
Christ’s Church has three parts: 1) the Church triumphant—the members of the
Church who’ve made it to Heaven and who are rejoicing in the life there, more
wonderful than anything we can imagine, and who also intercede for us here on
earth, 2) the Church suffering—those who have died in a state of grace, but who
are being purified in the fires of purgatory, to be ready to enter Heaven, and
3) the Church militant—which is us, the Church on earth. The Sacraments
are only for the Church militant.
Why
are we called the Church militant? Who are we fighting against? Don’t we have
the option of just being at peace on this earth? Jesus tells us frankly, 34 “Do
not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to
bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man
against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s foes will be those of
his own household.[1] The Lord was very frank about the
struggles, the battles, that we would face in this life. As he said, Brother will deliver up brother to death,
and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them
put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s
sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.[2] Why is that? Did He not come preaching
forgiveness, mercy, humility? Did He not say “Blessed are the peacemakers?” He did indeed. And those who truly
follow Him, to whatever degree we follow Him—because sadly we all fall short in
many ways—discover that He brings into their lives a deep peace beyond anything
this world has to offer. This deep peace is often in the midst of tears and
suffering; but it is a real, and deep, peace and joy.
Jesus
Christ preached a challenging message of conversion—of turning away from all
that was selfish and vile, of all that was sin, of even “losing our own life”
in order to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And this was
painful and distasteful for many. As the Gospel of St. John tells us, “...the light has come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For
every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed.”[3] And so they tortured
and crucified Him…. And He promised that, if we followed Him, we would receive the
same treatment.
But
our struggle is not primarily with other men, but with spiritual beings. As St.
Paul explains, “…we are not contending
against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,
against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places.”[5]
As we saw earlier this year, every single one of us has two angels assigned
to him: a good guardian angel and a demon designed to attack and tempt you. And
there are many, many more angels and demons constantly fighting to lead souls
to heaven or to drag them to hell. You are in the midst of this battle and will
be all of your life. There is no way to leave the battlefield. You have no
choice but to fight… or to be vanquished.
If
our struggle is primarily against evil spirits, it is not only against them. It
is also against men. In explaining the parable of the field, where the farmer
sowed good grain and an enemy sewed weeds, Jesus explains, “He
who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38 the field is the
world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are
the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them
is the devil.”[6] Sadly, there are men in the world who
voluntarily choose to serve the devil. He also has his children and servants,
who hate the children of God.
But
our struggle is primarily against the fallen angels. Therefore Christ gives us,
in the 7 Sacraments, spiritual armor
and weapons for this spiritual
warfare. 1) Through Baptism a child is born into the Church militant, into a race of warriors. Through
Baptism God pours gives the baby’s soul some share in His divine life, and comes
to live in the soul. That life must then be nurtured. 2) In Confirmation, the
comes of age, he takes arms, and goes forth a fully equipped soldier to do
battle with the Evil One, equipped with the graces of the Holy Ghost. 3) In the
Holy Mass, he is fed and nourished with the spiritual food of the Blessed
Eucharist. 4) If he be wounded by sin, Penance (Confession) is at hand to
restore him to health. 5) In his last contest, Extreme Unction completes the
healing process of Penance, removes and vestiges of weakness, and gives him
strength and courage to win a soldier’s reward, which, for him, is death in the
state of grace and Heaven for eternity.
Then
Christ gives two Sacraments to sustain the army as a whole in this battle. 6) Holy
Orders—ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopacy—provides the
Church with a succession of bishops and priests to teach, govern, and sanctify
the faithful. 7) Marriage provides not only the Church with new little
soldiers, but also gives the spouses special graces to teach and form their
children, graces to make their homes little fortresses where special spiritual
protection is provided for these young ones.
In
this way, the 7 Sacraments are meant to equip each soldier in God’s army, in
the Church militant, for the daily battle against Satan and his minions. Every
night, the Church asks each priest, in obedience, to repeats St. Peter’s words
from his first letter: Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the
devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. 9 Resist
him, strong in faith.[9] We can try to pretend that we’re not in
the midst of a battle, that we are supposed to have an easy, peaceful life on
this earth. But that will not protect us from the bullets flying all around us.
Rather, we should accept that each of us was born to be a soldier, a soldier of
the Prince of Peace, a soldier in the army of Him who said, “learn of Me, for I
am meek and humble of heart.” Our hearts were made for that. Ultimately, not
only will your heart not find the path to heaven anywhere else, your heart will
never be satisfied anywhere else. Your heart was made to spend itself each day
for the King of Kings, for the One who gave His life for you on the Cross, and
to fight on behalf of so many defenseless souls in this world.
[9] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain).
(1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard
Version, Catholic edition (1 Pe 5:8–9). New York: National Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA.
