Liturgical New Year Party

This Sunday begins a new liturgical year, and while you may have never done this in the past, I want to encourage each of you to celebrate this special time in one way or another.

For the past few years my wife and I have hosted a liturgical new year party on the liturgical new years eve, which is on Saturday.  

I am going to tell you how we celebrated just to give you an outline but I do hope you do something.

We kind of invited everyone and asked them to bring a dish so while my wife did a ton of cooking the night before and the day of we still needed more food for all the people and they were happy to bring it. 

At every hour, on the hour we sang a verse from "O come, O come, Emanuel." While the singing would interrupt the party for a moment my hope is that it would kind of jolt peoples conversations out of the routine and make them focus for a minute on the liturgical season to come - Advent.

Advent is such an important and paradoxical time of year. While the world is punching each other out for a pair of shoes or pepper spraying their fellow shoppers over a sale on phones, we are preparing for the second coming of Jesus. Yes advent is first in preparation for the second coming of Jesus and then secondly about the about the first coming of Jesus. You can hear it clearly in the readings at Mass. Just think, we have an entire liturgical season dedicated to the end of the world, and that is how we start our liturgical year. Only when we are finished preparing for Christ second coming do we recall the promise and fulfillment of Jesus' first coming in his birth.

Advent is not primarily about getting ready for Christmas, it is about getting ready for the second coming of Christ when he will raise all of the dead, some to eternal life and some to eternal death. The elect will be gathered together from the 4 corners of the earth and enter into eternal life forever. Now how do we know that this will happen in the future, it is because we have God's promises that it will. Just as we have his promises that he would come the first time and die for our sins so that we would be saved, which happened and began on March 25 the Incarnation and 9 months later we are celebrating his birth on December 25th. Christmas has its own season which is celebrated until Epiphany when the wise men come.

So again I am recommending that in anticipation for a new liturgical year we gather, party, eat, sing, and talk about holy things.

Listen to St. Paul he says - Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

He says think about these things - I recommend talking about these things. We can focus on the bad all day. Let's begin a new liturgical year, this year of faith, talking about and celebrating our faith with our friends and family with a party. 

How many of you celebrate or celebrated New Years eve? For what? Is that helping you get to heaven? No it is probably making you late for Mass on January first which celebrates Mary as Mother of God, a holy day of obligation. I am just recommending transferring that party to this Saturday and celebrating our faith.

If you do celebrate this event. Let me know how you did it, I would be interested.

Why I am Catholic Pamphlet

If you are interested in obtaining a PDF of this Bible tidbit, please Email me and I will send to you a copy for free.

Catholic4areason@gmail.com

If you are interested in inviting me to speak at your church or group please contact me at the same email. I am able to speak about these topics:

Answering Jehovah's Witnesses
Answering Mormons
Answering Protestants
Bible study on the Gospel of Mark
Bible Study on Jesus as a New Adam

A Parable of Excuses

Some insights into a parable of Jesus

 Luke 14:15 One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, "Blessed is the one who will dine in the kingdom of God." He replied to him, "A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, 'Come, everything is now ready.' But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.' And another said, 'I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.' The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.' The servant reported, 'Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.' The master then ordered the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'"

The context and its literal meaning

The context is that Jesus has been invited to eat at the house of a Pharisee and everyone was watching him carefully. Now they are probably watching him to catch him in something, but Jesus is so awesome and just makes so much sense when he talks I imagine that they don’t know what to do with themselves.

Luke 14:2-6   In front of him there was a man suffering from dropsy.  Jesus spoke to the scholars of the law and Pharisees in reply, asking, "Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not?"   But they kept silent; so he took the man and, after he had healed him, dismissed him.  Then he said to them, "Who among you, if your son or ox  falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?"   But they were unable to answer his question.

After healing a man he gives two lessons before he gives the one we just mentioned.  First he talks about choosing places of honor when you are at a wedding, he says that you should choose the least place lest the place you have chosen has been reserved for someone else and you embarrass yourself. He ends with this:

Luke 14:11   For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Then he goes on to say to the host of the dinner – don’t have a dinner and feed those that can repay you, rather feed those that certainly can’t repay you.

So Jesus was already on a banquet / dinner theme before he gave the parable about the people with excuses.

Jesus’ parable is in the context of healing a crippled man, humbling yourself, and helping those who can’t help you in return. Then he gives this parable  which says this – look, God has given you the promise of this great feast if you but come to Jesus and believe in him, yet you are filled with excuses, therefore this feast will not be given to those who were particularly waiting for it, but to those who most desperately need it.

I also think that if we ask what does this parable have to do with the message of the Bible in Jesus’ day something is revealed. The three people that make excuses; the one who bought land, the one who bought oxen, and the one who got married; I think that these represent three phases of the Old Testament people.

The land represents the covenant with Abraham and how he was to receive the land of Canaan, the 5 oxen represent the covenant with Moses and the sacrifices God initiated with Israel in the desert, and finally the marriage represents the covenant that David had between himself and the people of Israel.

Now all of these great promises of God were signs of New Covenant. The land represented the promised land of heaven, the sacrifices represented the sacrifice of Christ and the marriage represented the marriage that Jesus would have with his bride – the church. These Old Testament things were only signs though and some people were clinging to the signs unable to let go when the reality came.

It would be like if you were traveling to a great state let’s say for example Kentucky but you weren’t in it yet and while you on your journey you saw a sign that said 20 miles to Kentucky, and there were people hugging the road sign and decorating it. Out of curiosity you stop and ask what is going on. They say that they have been taking care of this sign for several generations because they are excited about Kentucky. You then say that you are traveling that way and offer them a ride. Unfortunately they then turn on you and call you Satan because you are leaving the precious Kentucky sign. So you pick up some hitch hikers instead and take them to Kentucky. That is what Jesus is talking about.

Finally on a moral level I think the three people represent the three lusts that plague us all; as St. John says in 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

The man who buys the field is too proud to come because now he has power and he would rather plot out his fame with his new land than attend a silly dinner, even if it is put on by God.

The man who buys the oxen suffers from the lust of the eyes. He would rather look upon his new possessions than busy himself with a dinner part, even if he is invited by God.

The man who just got married is suffering from the lust of the flesh. He would rather please himself with his new wife than bother with a banquet put on by God.

The Wedding at Cana

The wedding at Cana is the location of the first of Jesus’ miracles.  Let us dig a little deeper into this luminous mystery and begin uncover the riches of this story.

This story is found in John Chapter 2 and opens up with the words “on the third day”…well on the third day from what is the question to ask.  What is a beautiful and somewhat shocking to discover is that in the Gospel of John he opens with a kind of new creation week.

John 1:1 begins the same way as Genesis 1:1 with these words – In the beginning… St. John is presenting  Jesus as both the one through whom God created the world and also the one through whom God will begin this new creation. Not only does St. John begin with this creation theme but he continues in this theme throughout John Chapter 1. St. John keeps saying  - one then next day – Jesus did this – on the next day Jesus did that – on the next day, one the next day. If you read carefully and count the days by the end of Chapter one you are on the 4^th day, but then John says in Chapter 2 On the third day, meaning the third day from that final 4^th day at the end of Chapter 1 which bring us to the 7^th day. It is not as confusing if you just read it for yourself.

Yet we see these days still significant another time.

Yes,  and what makes these days significant are the stone jars that are present at the wedding.

John 2:6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

What Jewish rite of purification are they talking about here?  It could be something as simple as washing before and after meals. But it could also have to do with the book of Numbers 19:11-22, where it talks about getting washed with water on the third day and on the seventh day. Now John has just told us in verse 1 that it was the third day, but I also showed you that it is the completion of John new creation week and is the seventh day. So this wedding is on the 3^rd day and the 7^th day.

In the book of Numbers you would wash yourself on the 3^rd day and the 7^th day if you came in contact with a dead person. You would be ceremonially unclean for 7 days and then could after washing you could rejoin worship at the temple. So these stone jars with water were possibly for people who were unclean, it gave them a chance to purify themselves before coming to the party. But when Jesus changes the water into wine, he makes it so that these jars can no longer be used for the ceremonial washing, because they are no longer filled with water for cleansing, but wine for partying.  Jesus therefore kind of forces the people to be not able to practice the Law of Moses and become a sign of the heavenly banquet at the end of the world where the best wine will be served at the marriage feast of the lamb.

At the same time though Jesus is introducing himself here as a kind of new Moses.

St. John in Chapter  had also ready introduced Jesus as the New Passover lamb when he said – behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now when St. John ends this story about the wedding at Cana he uses these words in John 2:11 – This was the first of Jesus’ signs. Now why is this miracle not called a miracle but a sign? It is because St. John is trying to show Jesus as a new Moses with a new kind of Passover. If you recall that Moses did ‘signs’ for Pharaoh that he was sent from God, and the first of his signs was that he took the water and made it into blood.

Exodus 7:19  And the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, `Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"

Hey – vessles of stone – like stone jars? So Moses comes with plagues to set his people free in the first Exodus, Jesus comes with blessings that set his people free in the new Exodus.

This wedding also points us to the cross.

Jesus himself links this event to the cross when he says to his mother in 2:4 My hour has not yet come. Well what hour is he talking about? If you continue to study the Gospel of John, Jesus uses that “hour several times – for example:

John 4:21   Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

John 12:23  And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. John 12:27  "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.

So he is definitely talking about the hour of his suffering and death.

It is here that Steve Ray said something really cool. Steve said – doesn’t it bother you that there are 6 stone jars there at the wedding – isn’t the New Testament about  the number 7 – the number of the covenant. 7 sacraments, 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit… He said – I think that the Gospel does mention a 7^th jar and that is Christ himself on the cross, when his side is pierced what comes out – water and blood, that is brought to us sacramentally through the accidents of wine at Mass.

The Seven Sacraments and the Book of Revelation

We have seen prefigurements in the Old Testament concerning the 7 Sacraments, like the manna in the desert – that miraculous bread from heaven. That it prefigures the Eucharist given to us by Jesus. Let us now though turn to the end of the story and look in the book of Revelation and see how it alludes to the 7 sacraments.

Where is Baptism in the Book of Revelation.

Baptism is seen at the very beginning of the Book of Revelation in the letter to Sardis in Revelation 3:4-5    Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.   He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

This garment that they have received is Christ himself as it says in Galatians 3:27   For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Revelation 7:9-14 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.... Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?"   I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Ironically we don’t normally think of washing clothes in blood coming out white, yet this is what happens to our souls when the blood of Christ is poured over us in our baptism.

Finally in Revelation 22:1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

This water was first seen at the crucifixion of our lord when the water came out of the temple of his body that he would later raise and take into heaven.

Where do we see confirmation in the Revelation

During the rite of confirmation the bishop says – be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit

Revelation 7:2 Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads." And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel,

We also see that the seal that is received is the very name of God.

Revelation 22:3-4    There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him;   they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

All of this points us to the effects of confirmation.

Where do we see the Eucharist?

We see in the book of revelation Old Testament types that now find their fulfillment in the Eucharist.

Revelation 2:7   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Revelation 2:17    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna.

Revelation 22:2    through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Is confession in Revelation.

Not explicitly, but a call to repentance is..

Revelation 2:4-7    But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.   Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.   Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Hopefully this call to repentance would lead the hearers to confession.

How about Marriage

In the book of Revelation, marriage finds its fulfillment in the bride – meaning those who follow Christ, and in the bridegroom – Christ.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;

Revelation 21:9  Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."

Revelation 19:8 it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" -- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Priesthood

Elder in Greek is presbuteros, where we get the word priest in English.

Just as in the garden of Eden Marriage is so obvious, the same is true in the book of Revelation and the priesthood. The entire book is Liturgical. Revelation 4:4    Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.

Finally the anointing of the sick.

Revelation 2:10-11    Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.   He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.'

The Providence of God in the Midst of Suffering

Today we are going to talk about suffering and the providence of God. What does the Bible say about God’s providence?

So many people worry, especially in economically hard times, that their financial life is falling apart and some unfortunately despair and take drastic measures to relieve themselves of these burdens.

Yet our Heavenly Father knows exactly what we are going through and has foreseen it from the beginning of time. Not only does God know that bad times will come to us, but he allows them to come. This has made some people question if God is truly all good. Let me assure you that God is the greatest good and that all goodness comes from God.

Let us shed some light God’s goodness by looking at the worst sin ever committed – The crucifixion of Jesus our Savior. Jesus, who is without sin before God and man, lead a life of good works and innocence, oh yes and is the very creator and sustainer of the universe – was tortured and put to death on our behalf so that we – who crucified him with our sins – might go to heaven. We call that terrible, tortuous day – Good Friday. Why? Because out of the worst sin in the world came our salvation.

Now if God can take the worst thing ever and transform it into something amazing, don’t you think he can do the same for you on your worst day?

Listen to what St. Paul says:

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

He says – for those who love God, that is us – God makes all things work for good.

Like Joseph in the Old Testament

Now Joseph in the Old Testament was hated by his brothers, threatened to be killed by them, was sold into slavery, and then falsely accused of attacking the wife of his boss, and put in prison. Now is anyone is having a rough time, it is Joseph.

Yet all of this suffering leads ultimately to his exaltation to the right hand of Pharaoh, and not only to the salvation of his family, but all of Egypt and beyond.

Now we can imagine the range of emotions that he would have had throughout this ordeal, but had he known where this would lead – meaning his exaltation, wouldn’t it be possible to find even joy in all of his sufferings.

Shouldn’t we who have faith in God’s goodness have this attitude?

Listen to what he says to his brothers when he finally confronts them. The scene is in Egypt and his brothers are before him and don’t recognize his, thinking he has died. Joseph finally reveals himself and his brothers cower in fear thinking he is going to exact his revenge on them, yet he says this:

Genesis 45:4 So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, I pray you." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.  And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph is close enough to God, that he sees God’s plan. Joseph says, “It was not you that sent me here, but God.”

So by his example, we see that we have cause to rejoice in our sufferings, because God who loves us and desires heaven for us, wills all things in our lives to lead us closer to Him even our sufferings.

Jesus also talks about God the Father’s providence.

In the sermon on the mount Jesus says this:

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

Jesus says – Everyone in the world worries about these things, and God knows about it. But trust God, and seek first holiness and the gospel message and God will provide for you not only for today, but for eternity.

Finally though, we must use prudence in all things. I am reminded of the joke about the man who prays to God to be saved from a flood; a boat comes by and those on board exhort the man to get in the boat. The man says – no, no, God will save me. Later he is in the second story window when another boat comes and offers to rescue him and he responds – no, no – the Lord will save me. Into the evening he is on his roof while the waves of the water lap higher and a helicopter comes by and drops a ladder and those on board yell for him t0 climb up. He yells up – no, no, God will save me – well the man drowns, goes to heaven and meets God. He says – God why didn’t you save me? God says – I sent you two boats and a helicopter.

The Rewards of Heaven and Hell

The Catholic Church gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to interpreting scripture, there are very few that have a definite interpretation. The other verses must be interpreted within the boundaries of the Catholic faith, the context of scripture and tradition.

I have been studying the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16. In case you have forgotten the parable is about two men, one rich and Lazarus who is poor and sick. Lazarus begs from the rich man every day but to no avail. Well both men die and Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side and the rich man goes to a place of fire.

We naturally think that the rich man is in hell, until you look closely. The rich man intercedes for his 5 brothers. He says:

Luke 16:27, 28 -  `Then I beg you, father [Abraham], to send [Lazarus] to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'

So it seems that the rich man being in this place of fire is interceding for his 5 brothers right? Isn’t that love? Yet we know that there is no love in hell. Therefore I thought that this place of fire very well might be Purgatory. The rich man is in Purgatory and is interceding on behalf of his five brothers so they might avoid this pain.

But then I read St. Catherine of Sienna, who in her book – The Dialogue – Where God the Father is instructing her about the spiritual life has this to say about hell and the rich man.

“If they finish their life, dying in hatred with the guilt of mortal sin, their souls, by divine justice, remain forever bound with the bonds of hatred, and forever obstinate in that evil, in which, therefore, being gnawed by themselves, their pains always increase, especially the pains of those who have been the cause of damnation to others, as that rich man, who was damned, demonstrated to you when he begged the favor that Lazarus might go to his brothers, who were in the world, to tell them of his pains. This, certainly, he did not do out of love or compassion for his brothers, for he was deprived of love and could not desire good, either for My honor or their salvation, because, as I have already told you, the damned souls cannot do any good to their neighbor, and they blaspheme Me, because their life ended in hatred of Me and of virtue. But why then did he do it? He did it because he was the eldest, and had nourished them up in the same miseries in which he had lived, so that he was the cause of their damnation, and he saw pain increased to himself, on account of their damnation when they should arrive in torment together with him, to be gnawed forever by hatred, because in hatred they finished their lives."

So God the Father, albeit through a private revelation, interprets this verse for us. The intercession of the rich man was selfish. He didn’t want his brothers to come there because he had taught them to be like him and their arrival in hell would only increase his pains.

What about the opposite of this case, what about those who lead a good example to others here on earth.

Well reasoning inside of this interpretation we can see that those who are a good example to others in their holiness and good works and words will be rewarded in heaven over and over.

I am thinking of St. Therese of Lisieux, who isn’t known in her life on earth of being a missionary like St. Francis Xavier. She didn’t have great visions like St. Catherine of Sienna. She was just an obedient nun who did little things with great love, and she wrote this down in a book.

Yet today she is celebrated by over a billion people because of her holiness and example.  Thousands have read her book and millions of heard of her message of the little way.

Now imagine how the joy of St. Therese will increase as people arrive in heaven  because they have followed her good example.

We are not all called to be cloistered monks and nuns, and we are not all called to be missionaries, but we are all called to be holy. When you die, what will people say that you cared about the most?