Jul 06 2008
Some notes on this Sunday’s “Latin Mass” (8th Sunday after Pentecost)
I’m posting this today, but will re-post it on Sunday
By Latin Mass I mean, of course, the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
The Introit is from Psalm 47 (Ps 48 in some versions ). It consists of verses 10-11, with verse 2 added to serve as a sort of acclamation of praise at the end.
We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Through the ministry exercised in God’s temple, the Church, we have become partakers in God’s mercy, and should, therefore, respond accordingly. This means praising the great and merciful God in the Church, the city of God, the mountain of his presence. It also means acting in accord with his saving justice, the bounty he has bestowed on us from the fullness of his right hand. For this reason, at the prayer preceding the Epistle, we pray that the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ will “grant us the spirit of always thinking and doing what is right, so that we who cannot exist without (God) maybe able to live according to (His) will.”
A s the Epistle teaches (Romans 8:12-17), we are not in debt to the flesh, so we should not live according to the flesh, for those who so live will die. Rather, we have received the Spirit of God. This is not a spirit of bondage to the flesh and the fear it bring, but a Spirit of sonship. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a pledge of our future inheritance as children of God and makes us children of God, so that we can call upon him as His Son did: “Abba! Father!” for we are heirs with Christ.
In the Gradual, which comes from Psalm 30 (31), we pray in hope that God will show himself a loving Father by being our protector and refuge.
The Gospel is from Luke 16:1-9. It tells a parable of a wicked steward who makes use of deceitful, worldly wisdom to make friends and secure a temporal future for himself. He is a son of darkness and, like his brothers and sister of darkness, he shows himself more prudent in securing his future in an evil fashion, than the sons of light, the children of God show in securing an eternal future in righteous fashion. Money and possessions exert a constant temptation upon both the sons of darkness and the sons of light. The sons of light ought to use their wealth is service to others rather than themselves, for in the end, it will in fact be of great service to them. You can’t take your wealth with you when you die, but in using it rightly you secure friends of influence in “eternal habitations” (RSV), who will secure for you an eternal reward. When we act like the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-22 which immediately precedes this Sunday’s Gospel reading) and waste the wealth the Father has given us on wine, women, and song, we must secure a future for ourselves by returning to the source of are real inheritance.
God will not save those who are “prudent” in evil fashion, but those who are humble, thus we pray in the offertory (see Ps 17): Thou wilt save the humble people, O Lord, and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud; for who is God but Thee, O Lord?”
we must be humble enough to recognize that our wealth is not our own, and thus we pray at the secret: “Receive, we beseech Thee, O Lord, these gifts, which, out of Thine own generosity, we bring unto Thee, that these holy Mysteries, by the working power of Thy grace, may sanctify our conduct in this life and bring us to the joys without end.”
For further reading:
Homily on Rom 8:12-13 by St John Chrysostom
On Works and Alms (Treatise 8) by St Cyprian of Carthage.
Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? by St Clement of Alexandria (This is a protestant site)
The Danger of Riches John Henry Newman
Lectures on Romans by St Thomas Aquinas (at the bottom of the page you’ll find a box with the page numbers. It will read 1 of 609. Erase this and type in 295 then press your ENTER key. This will take you to the beginning of his lecture on Chapter 8
The Roman Catechism Issued by Council of Trent. Go to Pages 267-269. I cannot link directly to the page. Follow instruction found in the previous link. Read what is found under the heading “Positive part of this Commandment.”
Summa of Theology 2a. 2ae. 62 (Hereafter ST.)on making restitution
ST. 2a. 2ae. 32 On almsgiving
ST 2a. 2ae. 117 On liberality
ST 2a. 2ae 119 On prodigality
I’ve been away for a while (forgive me!). What’s with your Latin mass posts? Just a curiosity, or do you attend an EF every once in a while?
If I missed a post on this, just post the link.
My hope is that some of the people who make up my not so vast readership may find them useful on occasion.