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Set apart to receive the hidden Manna

Monday, 25 August 2014 12:14

Dom Benedict preached at Holy Mass yesterday, the 11th Sunday after Pentecost. Here is his sermon:

God is in his holy place: God who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house; He shall give power and strength to His people.

Today’s Introit, taken from Psalm 67, is a kind of epitome, the perfect example, of the Catholic approach to divine worship. We come to Mass, not to celebrate ourselves, not to “GET” something, but to spend ourselves entirely in ADORATION of God, who is in his Holy Place, that is, truly present among his people in his Church.

The Holy Place of God is his holy Church. The Catholic Church is fully and completely present wherever the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Christ’s abiding Presence, is celebrated.

The Church, the Temple of God, the Holy Place of his presence, is the place where God makes men of one mind to dwell together in a house, as the Introit continues. Christians come from all sorts of backgrounds, all races, all tongues, different classes, differing viewpoints: but when we are all assembled together in his House, his Holy Place, we have one mind, that is, the Mind of Christ.

We sometimes think of the Catholic Church as the hierarchy or the bureaucracy, the Pope, the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Priests, etc. But this is only a certain outward aspect of the Church. It’s the part of the Church that the world sees, only a worldwide organization, but this is not where the true inner life of the Church is found.

The true inner life of the Church is the Eucharistic Jesus, enthroned upon the holy place of the altar in every Catholic church. Each parish or monastery or religious house where the Mass is celebrated, each local eucharistic cell, is truly the Temple of the Most High God.

Just as the God of Israel was truly present to his people, the Israelites, enthroned upon the Cherubim in the Holy of Holies, so the same God is truly present, in fact even more truly present, in every church where the Liturgy is celebrated.

Each Eucharistic assembly consists of the faithful, the people of God, gathered around the Priest, who exercises a double mediation, which is the One Mediatorship of Christ the Eternal High Priest: he represents God for us, speaking to us his words and bringing us his grace; and he represents us to God, bringing each of us before the throne of God.

The Church, the Temple of God, the Eucharistic Assembly: this is the Holy Place where each of us comes to abide in his presence, to cast aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all, invisibly by legions of Angels. It is here, the secret and solitude of the Holy of Holies, separated from the confusion of the world, that we can worthily receive the Power and Strength of God, which is God himself.

In today’s Gospel, our Lord heals a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. The details of these healing accounts are always very interesting. The Gospel says that Our Lord took this man by the hand, and led him away from the multitude in the town. Why did he do this?

I would submit to you that Our Lord did this precisely in order to each us the absolutely indispensable value of separating ourselves from the world, to come into the quiet and peace and secret solitude of his Holy Place.

Our Lord opened the ears of the man by means of his fingers, and loosed his tongue by means of his own spittle. In the same way, we come to God’s Temple in order to be opened to the words and praises of God by means of mysterious and sacramental signs of his own Body and Blood.

The Church, the Temple of God, the Eucharistic assembly, is precisely that secret place where we come to be healed of our spiritual deafness. It is the place where we come to have our lips opened, that we might sing the praises of God.

Without any doubt, God is in his holy place, the place that has been set apart for his praise and our salvation. He is here for us, and we for him. The assembly of the Church is the place where, fleeing from the confusion of a dying world, we can hear the words of God clearly, and sing his praises without any impediment.

This is the place where God wants to bring the soul, apart from the noisy din of the world, so that he can speak his words directly to it. This is the Place where we are set apart to receive the hidden Manna, which is Christ himself, the secret Power and Strength of his people.

God is in his holy place: God who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house; He shall give power and strength to His people.

Regnum Christi

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

August 25, 2014. Monday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 23:13-22

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of Heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ´If one swears by the Temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the Temple, one is obligated.´ Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that made the gold sacred? And you say, ´If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.´ You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it; one who swears by the Temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it; one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come to you again in prayer. Even though I cannot see you, I know through faith that you are present in my life. I hope in your promise to be with me. I love you, and I know you love me. Accept this prayer as a token of my love.

Petition: Lord, help me to be a person of great integrity – the same inside and out.

1. No Hypocrites Need Apply: The scribes and Pharisees lacked the authenticity and rectitude of conscience needed to please God. We need to let our behavior, our word and our conscience be in harmony and open before God. Conscience is that secret sanctuary where we are alone with God and we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speak to us in the depths of our heart. To violate that conscience, that is, to go against what we know to be true, is to deny ourselves what is most important to our salvation. A good conscience is the greatest good thing we can possess in this life. It gives us peace, serenity and an assurance of our perseverance in good.

2. Misleading Others Has a Price: Christ is very harsh on those who lead others astray, especially those who have a responsibility to teach and guide others in the way of salvation. It is a great sin to give scandal and to lead others away from the path of truth. There are many examples of this: There are those entrusted to teach in the name of the Church but substitute their personal opinions, and those who give a testimony of disordered lifestyles, especially to the young and impressionable. The salvation of all of us is linked together; we need to build each other up and help each other on the way to Christ. Others have a right to our good example and to our speaking truth.

3. No Swearing Here! Jesus warns against idle words, exaggerations and swearing in the name of God or by his altar. He wants us to be sincere in all we say and do, so that the integrity of our lives may be apparent to all who see us. If we live with a clear conscience and act before God in all things, we can then simply give our word and have it mean all we have inside us. What a wonderful thing it is to deal with people who are simple and transparent, who can be taken at face value, because to be devious or calculating never occurs to them, or to be in any way false or insincere.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, give me the grace of real sincerity of heart in dealing with you and with others. Teach me to give my word and mean it with all my heart.

Resolution: I will review my examination of conscience to make sure I am going deep enough to know what God wants of me.