Several weeks ago, I talked to you about the scariest readings. Today, with Hallowe’en approaching, I thought I would add to the mood by giving you the scariest of homilies. This homily, will affect you.
Many years ago, I was at a meeting where there were victims of sex abuse. I was there as priest to hear the story of sex abuse done by a priest upon a young adult at the time. That priest is now a former priest in prison.
Another man, a victim of child sex abuse, not by a priest, then spoke to me about what kind of person this now former priest, serving time in a Massachusetts Correctional Facility is.
“You are a priest, right?” he said to me
We were sitting in a backyard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it was a sunny spring afternoon, approaching evening.
“Yes.”
“That means you have the power to call down God.”
“I guess,” I was wondering where this conversation was going.
“You stand at that altar calling down the Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.” his demeanor was calm, and his presence was peaceful.
“Yes,” I was even more confused as to where this conversation was going.
“So, you have the power to call down God,” he calmly reiterated.
“Yes,” I said still trying to understand where he was going.
“Fr. xyzabc,” he began to drive his point home. “Stood at the altar with that power to call down God, while rejecting Him at the same time. He stands at the gates of Hell consuming souls.”
The words stunned me and I, realizing the awesome power entrusted to us as priests, felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my life on my knees in prayer. The words were so intense.
This is the power entrusted to us, but it is also the power that you approach when you approach the altar, when you approach the Eucharist.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns his listeners to approach God in humility never in pride. Notice what he says, the humble publican was justified, the pharisee was not. That means that the publican was saved in his humility, the pharisee was not saved in his pride.
Humility is a virtue, fear of the Lord is a gift of the Holy Spirit. If you want to experience Christ, foster humility and fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom.
However, both are lost today, especially in the English speaking community. If you want to know why our Churches are closing, it is not because there are too many liberals in the nation’s chanceries or at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; it is not because of Vatican II, or the Masons. The reason our Churches are closing is because too many here in the United States have lost the virtue of humility and ignored the gift of Fear of the Lord also known as reverence.
Meanwhile, others in our culture are so legalistic, they have no concept of how to even consider these gifts.Pope Francis warns of people making an idol out of a false ideology and worshiping it.
Where is it strongest, in the abortion debate. How many times do you hear people scream out to the Bishops that they must tell politicians to refrain from receiving the Eucharist because of their stand on abortion? I am sure the bishops do not do this because they know it is a waste of time. The politicians will use the admonition as a red bad of courage, as we have already seen in Rhode Island and on television.
But I would speak to all Catholics politicians, regardless of their stand on abortion or any Catholic issue and bring them back to that conversation I heard in 2002. For that matter, why limit it to politicians: How do you approach this altar? Do you approach the altar on your terms or on God’s. Do you come to receive communion embracing God and rejecting Him at the same time or do you come to the altar humbly recognizing the awesome reality of what is happening here. That is the position the Bishops should announce to all. Let me tell you that since that day, every time I approached this altar, I have remembered those words. I never forgot them and never will.
I will warn you, never approach this altar in pride. Never come to this altar saying, “I know what the Church teaches, but I am going to do things my way. I don’t care what the Church teaches, no one is going to tell me that I cannot receive communion.” Never approach this altar with that attitude.
If you are rejecting Church teaching and are not ready to embrace it or even try, then accept that you are not ready to receive communion and start working in prayer on reconciling yourself between your beliefs and the teachings of the Church. Do not take dissent from Catholic teaching lightly when you approach this altar, but do not take Catholic teaching so seriously that you lose a sense of the mercy of God and His grace constantly in your life.
The dissenter has a hardened heart and says to God my will be done not yours. The struggling Catholic says, Lord help me to understand and do you will. The saint says Your Will be done Oh Lord. If you are part of the first group, please pray for a change of heart. If you are part of the second group, you are on your way to becoming part of the third group.
No, our churches are not closing because of liberals, they are closing because of hardened hearts and people who have lost humility and reverence for God. They lost the fruits of that humility which is true wisdom. It is a reality that is killing the English speaking community in this country and turning our country down a path of the fool. The fool says in his heart “There is no God” and the country that believes the same walks down the path of a fool into the fool’s darkness. That is scariest message you can understand on this Hallowe’en
To those who stand pridefully and walk unabashedly to the altar rejecting the teaching of the Church, these can be scary words. However, those who recognize the power of the virtue of humility and the gift of fear of the Lord in fostering wisdom and grace. You have no reason to fear, enjoy your candy for Hallowe’en.
God Bless You,
Fr. Robert J Carr
Fr. Carr is an alliance member of the New Song Community (Canção Nova). He is the pastor ofHoly Trinity Parish, Quincy, MA and is the editor of this blog. You may also find his videos in English at Glory to God. He also has a regular radio program on WebRadio Canção Nova. Which he podcasts on the Canção Nova podcast website and here on Catholicismanew.
You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook