Homily of the Day: Responsorial Psalm ps 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14 R. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights; Praise him, all you his angels; praise him, all you his hosts. R. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, the princes and all the judges of the earth, Young men too, and maidens, old men and boys, R. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. Praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven. R. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. And he has lifted up the horn of his people. Be this his praise from all his faithful ones, from the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia. R. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory. or: R. Alleluia. Homily: Good afternoon my brothers and sisters. Today we are going to talk a little about the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. This Catholic doctrine, which has been adopted by a few old-line Christian denominations, hones in on the fact that the both Christians in Heaven and the Christians on earth are united to Jesus Christ... and because of the fact that we are united to Christ, the One true Mediator between God and man we have to communicate with them and to ask for their prayers. Now while to some of our reformed brethren this idea of asking Saints who have gone before us to pray with and for us, seems to be an abomination. But hopefully through the means of actual fact and through the means of persuasion, I would like to convince you otherwise. I would like to begin by telling you a couple little stories that seem to affirm this fact. Lets begin Colton Burpos story. As many of you are familiar Colton Burpo was a 4 year old boy from Nebraska who went to Heaven during the midst of an appendectomy. His appendix exploded, they rushed into surgery to clean his insides out, and while he was on the operating table, He went to Heaven for roughly three and a half minutes... unbeknownst to the doctors. While He was there, He met Jesus and the blessed mother. He saw John the Baptist and his grandfather that had died 30 years before he was even born, and he actually had the sublime privilege of kneeling down in the throne room of almighty God. While he was there, he could, through what Christ had divulged to Him, see His father on earth vehemently lashing out at God and begging Him not to take his son, and also, he could see his mother in the other room, talking on the phone asking for prayer for Colton. So Colton, knelt down, lifted up his prayers for his father and mother, and through his prayers, the Holy Spirit streamlined grace back into his their lives so that he could focus and be at peace once again. Colton was a little saint in that moment, and his prayers brought his father back to Jesus. The next story I would like to share is one of my own that happened the past few weeks ago. On July 7, 2014, my grandma went home to be with the Lord. She was a devout Protestant Christian who loved the Lord with all of her heart, and also had a penchant for spending time with her grandkids. While she was coherent, I asked her to do me a favor when she got to Heaven. I said when you get to Heaven, please pray for me from the moment that you get there, until the moment that I come to join with you again. She consented. After she passed away, I was not in pain over her loss, but rather was in total peace by the prayers that she offered up on my behalf. Every time I would say pray for me, the Holy Spirit would overshadow me, and would increase her love within my life and he would also increase His love within my life. Within the first couple of weeks after her death I would ask my grandma [before sunset] to paint something pretty in the sky, and the sunsets at night would be phenomenal. Every time I went to Holy Communion and to Mass, she would commune with me, just like she communed with me on earth. In fact, just two Saturdays ago, while I was in Mass, a lady who had been praying for my grandma while she was still on earth came to me. Bear in mind that this lady had never met her before. She said, today during Communion, I could feel your grandmas presence. I could sense that she was here. She was right next to you because I know how close you were to her, and I experienced it firsthand today. It was indeed a glorious day for me, because it affirmed what I had known to be true about this doctrine. It proved that my grandmother was well within my reach because the Kingdom of Heaven according to Jesus is at hand. It is at hand because of Gods omnipresence and because He is omnipresent the people who are fully glorified in His presence must also be within arms reach as well. It is the result of Christ being with us. My brothers and sisters, what does this doctrine have to do with this particular Psalm of Praise? It has everything to do with the fact that we are One united family of God, and each one of us, through Christ are heirs to His perfect grace. And through grace that is accompanied with faith, faith that He provides and promises to every citizen who desires it, we will never stop extoling and lauding His incomprehensible majesty. So today let us sing with the angels and saints and our Heavenly Family. Let us sing with all the hosts of the powers of Heaven by lifting up this unending hymn of exaltant praise by to God by singing: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the Highest. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in highest. https://youtube/watch?v=4Vdj-Us1NNE And let us ask Christ to allow our family members who have gone before us, to come into our midst by asking them to accompany us in prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 20:59:53 +0000