Monday, November 19, 2012

Daily Mass Homily: Monday, November 19th, 2012


            The responsorial Psalm we prayed this morning is the first of the 150 Psalms in the psalter.  It is a prologue or introit to the whole book.  In it, the just man is contrasted with the wicked.  Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.  He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade…Not so the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away.”
            The righteous man is the one who follows God’s commands.  Like a tree planted next to water his roots run deep.  He is unmoved in times of drought and intense heat as he is planted in something greater than himself.
            The wicked man—the one who does not follow God’s commands—is like chaff that the wind easily blows away.  Throughout our 2000-year history we can note many different winds—heresies—that blow the chaff this way and that.  Yet the Church remains firmly rooted in God.
            We must remember that God’s law and the Church’s teachings are one.  We must never think, “The Church teaches x, but I believe God would say differently.”  This is simply not possible as the Church is the Body of Christ given to us by God to plant us firmly in His law of love and truth.
            May we live out our faith in accordance with the teachings of the Church.  We will then be rooted deeply in God’s love, grace and truth.  We will not be blown around by the winds of modernism, materialism and relativism.  We will then produce great fruit no matter what climate our society brings.

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