Feb 01 – Homily – Fr Angelo: A Prophet is not Without Honor
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Homily #120201 (
09min) Play - Fr. Angelo preaches on the Gospel for today where Our Lord goes to His home town of Nazareth where He is not given the same honor he received elsewhere. Father exhorts us to charitably, humbly speak up and give good example when it is needed even if we do not expect a warm welcome.Ave Maria!
Mass: Wednesday 4th Week of Ordinary Time - Wkdy - Form: OF
Readings:
1st: 2sa 24:2, 9-17
Resp: psa 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
Gsp: mar 6:1-6
Audio (MP3)+++
Sometimes silence is the very remedy that Christ uses as the penance to bring about conversions. Good case in point: Cloistured nuns who remain hidden and silent to the world, but keep communion with Christ.
Can one underestimate the graces obtained by such silence. And what about Our Lady’s silence at the Foot of the Cross, was that without merit. I should think not.
Much has been said over the last 40 plus years with Vatican II and little has had much effect. Rather much has fallen on deaf ears, thus…. maybe it is time for the prophets to let God do what He must and for His followers to keep watch with Him in the Garden of Gethsemene as we see the coming Crucifixion of His Church.
I will do as Our Lady asked at Fatima….”Pray the Rosary” and leave the rest to God and His Immaculate Mother. We would all do well to follow such an example for the time has come to head the words, “What is needed now is prayer and penance.”
2 Kings 17:14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God.” It is now time to simply trust in the Lord.
Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
Pray the Rosary, pray the rosary – obedience to Our Lady’s request is the answer.
I really enjoyed listening to this homily. Thank you, Father Angelo!
Dear Rachel,
You make some excellent points. The early Christians were known for their silence but can we say that about Christians today? How many people realize that in our day the internet has become the noisiest place of all? Whether you’re noisy in person or noisy on the computer that still leaves you little time for prayer and recollection.
Fr. Ignatius, in one of his wonderful talks on heroic virtue (on Air Maria), warns us that we shouldn’t be always concerned about speaking the truth and correcting others. Rather we should try to get a sense first of whether someone is disposed to hearing what we’d like to say, otherwise that truth could do more harm than good.
May we all learn to cultivate the virtue of silence in imitation of Our Lord and Our Lady.
Ave Maria!
The Church teaches the great benefit of that life of prayer and silence as the power that drives the car, so to speak.
But She also very sensibly teaches that we have a car to get around in!
The point made in the summary given above of Father’s homily is that it is a call to charitably and humbly speak up and give good example when it is needed. The Church also knows and understands the need and great benefit of this action and gift to further promote the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.
In 1st Corinthians, Chapter 12, St. Paul writes about all the parts of the Body of Christ. The question may be then, how do we best discern and appreciate the gifts of the Body, and how do we best put them to use.
But in a truly Catholic fashion, we know that the work of defending and proclaiming the Gospel of Christ is not an either/or situation, but rather, a both/and situation! Of course, there are a lot of different ways of serving, different gifts that each member of the Body has, so often there may be several approaches and ways to support and strengthen the might of the Church Militant.
That chapter in the letter to the Corinthians is a favorite for me. All those parts of the Body, all being so very valuable and important. Everybody should do their part, use their gift, or gifts as the case may be, to do whatever they can, charitably and humbly, to serve the one true Church.
It seems to me that right now, as always I would suppose, every weapon we have at our disposal needs to be deployed and ready for action. As Father said today, we really and truly are at war, and to refer back to St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, we need to “put on the full armor of God”, because we are fighting”not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.”
So we need prayer and penance, and silent sacrifice, and speech and action, and lives of good example, and martyrs both white and red, and any other of our troops to serve. I believe that has always been the case for the Church Militant. Doing it all charitably and humbly, for the Love of Christ and His Church, can prove to be a bit of a struggle for most of us, no matter in which area we serve, as we have this state of original sin, poor banished children of Eve that we are.
Another reason to look to the Queen of Heaven, for as St. Irenaeus wrote, “…the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith.” Against Heresies, 3.22.4, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.
It does seem as though the forces of darkness are more prevalent and dominant than perhaps ever before, given the cesspool-like state of our modern world, and often the deception filters deep into the Church as well as being the driving force behind this world of sin.
How blessed we are, then, to be called into His Church Militant, to serve and to do battle in whatever way we are able. We can pray for the grace to be faithful and true, strong and merciful, meek and mild, and to truly live in the love of Christ Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Without God’s grace none of it is possible.
Our Lady of Grace, pray for us.