Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Introit (Daniel 39: 31, 25) I am the salvation of the people, says the Lord: in whatever tribulation they shall cry to Me, I will hear them; and I will be their Lord for ever. Psalm. Attend, O My people, to My law; incline your ears to the words of My mouth. ℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. – Thou art just …
Collect Almighty, merciful and forgiving God, remove everything that might hinder us: and thus freed in body and soul, may we with full liberty seek Thy will. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son …
Epistle (Ephesians 4:23-28) Brethren: Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth. Wherefore putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour, for we are members one of another. Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Give not place to the devil. He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffers need.
Gradual (Psalm 140:2, 1) Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight, O Lord. The lifting up of my hands as evening sacrifice. Alleluia, alleluia. Give glory to the Lord, and call upon His Name: declare His deeds among the Gentiles. Alleluia
Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14) At that time, Jesus spoke to the chief priests and the Pharisees in parables, saying: The Kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son; and he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage, and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited: Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fattlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. But they neglected: and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise; and the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king had heard of it, he was angry; and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready, but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good; and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests; and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment: and he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.
Offertory (Psalm 137:7) If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, Thou wilt quicken me, O Lord; and Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies; and Thy right hand shall save me.
Secret Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that these gifts, which we offer in the sight of Thy Majesty, may be for our salvation. Through our Lord …
Communion (Psalm 118:4-5) Thou hast commanded Thy commandments to be kept most diligently: O that my ways may be directed to keep Thy justifications.
Postcommunion May Thy healing grace, O Lord, mercifully free us from our perverse inclinations and always make us cleave to Thy commandments. Through our Lord …
Fundamentals of the Faith (Part XIV)
“Objectively the Redemption is the work of the Redeemer,” says Fr Ott in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p. 177, “subjectively the Redemption is the realisation of the Redemption in individual men, or the application of the fruits of the Redemption to individual men (Justification.” I do not like to use the word “justification” as Our Lord never used it, speaking only sometimes of “righteousness,” which is not at all an identical concept. Also, to speak of “justification” allows Protestants to debate on their own ground, although they fundamentally misunderstand what is involved in the faith and in the work of God. Fr Ott continues: “Christ’s work of Redemption effected the salvation of humanity from the burden of sin. … sin by its very nature is a turning away from God and a turning towards the creature. Accordingly the work of the Redemption must consist in the turning away from the creature, and the turning towards God.” He cites Colossians 1:13. In context, it reads:
… (I) do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)
This, I suggest, gives us a much better picture of the work of the Redeemer. First, by His grace and through the sacramental system we are filled with knowledge of His will. That is what it means to be “wise” and with spiritual understanding. If you look at the definitions of “wisdom” in dictionaries, they are fine as far as they go: “knowledge of what is true and right coupled with just judgment as to action …” But to take wisdom as knowledge of the Will of God considerably advances us. If we were to look for “what is true and right,” where would we go? To the media? To commentators? But to know that we are seeking the Will of God takes us to the faith, and to the teachings of the Church.
The next aspect St Paul draws our attention to in Colossians is “walking in manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him.” We so often forget that we are or should be striving to become pleasing to God, and that holiness makes us so. The third aspect is “being fruitful in every good work,” again, a blow to Protestants; then, increasing in knowledge of God; and being strengthened so that we may be patient and enduring. Patience is one of the most important gifts of God. At the same time, it is a road to God. All these, then, are works of the Redemption of the Lord. The sacramental life is growing and sharing in them.
