NEXT LATIN MASS IN MACON IS QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23RD AT 2:00 PM
The next scheduled Latin Mass will be Quinquagesima Sunday at 2:00 pm. Please help support this endeavor and make sure you thank the pastor: Father J. Scott Winchel at Saint Josephs Catholic Church in downtown Macon.
Proper's for the Mass:
The Introit of this day's
Mass is the sigh of an afflicted soul confiding in God:
INTROIT Be thou unto me a God, a
protector, and a place of refuge, to save me: for thou art my
strength and my refuge: and for thy name's sake thou wilt be my
leader, and wilt nourish me. (Fs. XXX. 3. 4.) In thee , O Lord, I
have hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice,
and set me free. (Ps. XXX. 2.)
COLLECT O Lord, we beseech Thee,
graciously hear our prayers, and unloosing the bonds of our sins,
guard us from all adversity. Through our Lord, etc.
EPISTLE (I. Cor. XIII. 1-13.) Brethren,
if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if
I should have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all
my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is
patient, is kind: charity envieth not; dealeth not perversely; is
not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeketh not her own; is not
provoked to anger; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away:
whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or
knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy
in part: but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in
part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a
man, I put away the things of a child. We see now through a glass in
a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I
shall know even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope,
charity, these three: but the greatest of these is
charity.
EXPLANATION In this epistle St. Paul
speaks of the necessity, the excellence and the nature of true
charity. He says that all natural and supernatural gifts, all good
works, even martyrdom, cannot save us if we have not charity;
because love alone can render our works pleasing to God. Without
charity, therefore, though ever so many prayers be recited, fasts
observed , and good deeds performed, nothing will be acceptable to
God, or merit eternal life. Strive then, O Christian soul, to lead a
pious life in love, and to remain always in the state of
grace.
Can faith alone, as the so-called Reformers assert, render
man just and save him?
Faith alone, however strong,
though it could move mountains, without love, that is, without good
works performed for love of God and our neighbor, can never justify
or save us. For, when St. Paul says, that man is justified by faith
without works, (Rom. III. 28.; XI: 6.; Eph. II. 8. 9.) he means to
refer to those works which were performed by command of the law of
Moses, and which, as they were external and without true charity,
were of no avail; he did not refer to those works which are
performed in a state of grace with a lively, love-inspired faith.
Therefore the same Apostle writes to the Galatians: (Gal. V. 6.)
Faith only availeth which worketh by charity; to Titus: (Tit. III.
8.) It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee
affirm constantly: that they who believe in God, may be careful to
excel in good works. These things are good and profitable unto men;
and he exhorts the Colossians (Colos. I. 10.) to be fruitful in
every good work. St. James confirms the same by saying: (James II.
17-24.) So faith if it have not works, is dead in itself; by works
man is justified and not by faith only. That this is the true
doctrine of Christ is evident from His own words, when He says:
"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down
and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. VII. 19.) At the day of
judgment Christ will demand good works from all men, (Matt. XXV.
35.) and will not judge them only according to their faith, but by
their good works, which true faith must always produce. (Apoc. XX.
12.) Would Christ and His apostles demand good works, if faith alone
be sufficient? "The devil's also believe and tremble," (James II.
19.) they believe, but they are not saved, and their faith but
increases their torments. Therefore, the assertion that faith
without good works is sufficient for justification and salvation, is
plainly against the doctrine of Christ and His Church, and must of
necessity lead man to vice and misery, as shown by the history of
the unhappy separation of the sixteenth century
Are good works available which are performed in the state
of mortal sin ?
Good works performed while in
a state of mortal sin avail nothing in regard to eternal life,
writes St. Lawrence Justinian, but aid in moderating the punishment
imposed for disobedience and the transgression of God's
commandments. They bring temporal goods, such as honor, long life,
health, earthly happiness, etc.; they prevent us from falling deeper
into sin, and prepare the heart for the reception of grace; so the
pious Person writes: "Do as much good as you can, even though in the
state of mortal sin, that God may give light to your
heart."
ASPIRATION O God of love, pour the
spirit of true charity into my heart that, according to the spirit
of St. Paul, I may endeavor to be always in a state of grace; that
all my works may be pleasing to Thee, and meritorious for
me.
GOSPEL (Luke XVIII. 31-43.) At that
time, Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were
written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he shall be
delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and
spit upon; and after they have scourged him, they will put him to
death; and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood
none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they
understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass, when
he drew nigh to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the
way-side, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he
asked what this meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was
passing by. And he cried out, saying: Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me. And they that went before rebuked him, that he should
hold his peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy
on me. And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And
when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I
do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to
him: Receive thy sight; thy faith hath made thee whole. And
immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the
people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Why did Christ so often foretell His passion to His
disciples?
Because He wanted to show how
great was His desire to suffer for us, for we speak often of that
which we crave; and because He wished His disciples when they should
see Him treated as a criminal and martyred, not to think evil of
Him, or imagine themselves deceived, but remember that He had
foretold all minutely that all happened of His own will.
Did not the disciples understand anything of what He
predicted in regard to His future sufferings?
They may, certainly, have
well understood He was to suffer, for which reason Peter tried to
dissuade Him from it; (Matt. XVI. 22.) but they did not comprehend
why or for what He would suffer, or how He would rise again. All
this the Holy Ghost gave them to understand, after it had come to
pass. (John XIV. 26.) The light of the Holy Ghost is of so much
value, that without it even the clearest doctrines of faith are not
understood.
Why does Christ so often call Himself the Son of
Man?
He wished to show, in the
Jewish way of speaking, He was also man, a descendant of Adam, and
that we should be humble, and not seek or desire high
titles.
Why did the blind man call Christ the Son of
David?
Because, like all the Jews,
he believed that the Messiah, according to humanity, would be of the
house of David, as was promised. (Ps. CXXXI. 11.)
Why did Christ ask the blind man: What wilt thou that I do
to thee?
This He asked, not because He
was unaware of the blind man's wish, but to enable him the better to
prove his faith and hope that through Christ he would receive his
sight; and to teach us how willing He is to help us, and how it
pleases Him if we confidingly place our wants before Him. We should
learn from this blind man, who would not be restrained by the
passing crowd in his ardent and reiterated request, not to pay
attention, in the work we have commenced, to human respect, or human
judgment, but to persevere, and not allow ourselves to be led astray
by the world's mockery or contempt. We should also learn to be
grateful to God, and faithfully cling to Him, if He has once opened
the eyes of our mind, and healed our spiritual blindness, which is
far more deplorable than physical blindness, for nothing can be more
miserable than not to see and understand God, not to know what is
necessary for our salvation, and what is pernicious.
Why is this gospel read on this Sunday?
The Church wishes to remind
us of the painful passion and death of Jesus, and to move us by the
contemplation of those mysteries to avoid and despise the wicked,
heathenish amusements of carnival, sinful pleasures which she has
always condemned, because they come from dark paganism, and, to
avert the people from them, commands that during the three days of
carnival the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed for public
adoration, sermons given, and the faithful exhorted to have recourse
at this time to the Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Sacrament
of the Altar, with the reception of which Pope Clement XIII. (Breve,
23. June 1765) connected a plenary indulgence. A true Catholic will
conform to the desire of his holy Church, considering the words
which St. Augustine spoke, at this time, to the faithful, "The heathens (as also
the wordly people of our days) shout songs of love and merriment,
but you should delight in the preaching of the word of God; they
rush to the dramatic plays, but you should hasten to Church; they
are intoxicated, but you should fast and be sober."
PRAYER O
most benign Jesus! who didst so desire to suffer for us, grant, that
we may willingly suffer for love of Thee; that we may hate and flee
from the detestable pleasures of the world and the flesh, and
practice penance and mortification, that by so doing we may merit to
be released from our spiritual blindness to love Thee more and more
ardently, and finally possess Thee forever.
INSTRUCTION ON LENT
Who instituted Lent?
According to the fathers of
the Church, Justin and Irenaeus, the fast before Easter was
instituted and sanctified by Christ Himself; according to the saints
Leo and Jerome, the holy apostles ordained it given by
Jesus.
Why has the Church instituted this fast forty days before
Easter?
To imitate Christ who fasted
forty days; to participate in His merits and sufferings; to subject
our flesh by voluntary mortification to the spirit, and to mortify
our evil desires as did St. Paul; (Col. I. 24.) to enable us to lead
a pure life, and thus prepare for the holy festival of Easter, and
the reception of the divine Lamb, Jesus: and, finally, to render God
satisfaction for our sins, and do penance, as Pope Gregory says, for
the sins of one whole year by one short fast, lasting only the tenth
part of a year.
Was the fast of Lent observed in early times as in the
present?
Yes, but more strictly; for
the people of the early ages not only abstained from meat, but also
from all that which is connected with it, such as eggs, butter,
cheese, etc., even from wine and fish, although this was not the
general command of the Church; they fasted all day, and only ate in
the evening after vespers, in remembrance of which, vespers are now
said before dinner-time, because the Church, as a kind mother, now
permits the supper to be changed into a dinner, and also allows
something to be taken in the evening, that the body may not be too
much weakened, and become unfit for labor.
How much does this ancient
custom put to shame the Christians of to-day who think the fast in
our times too severe! "But," asks St. Ambrose, "what sort of
Christians are they? Christ, who never sinned fasted for our sins,
and we will not fast for our own great and numerous
offences?"
How should the holy season of Lent be
spent?
As according to the teaching
of St. Leo, the main thing in fasting is not that the body be
deprived of food, but that the mind at the same time be withdrawn
from wickedness, we should endeavor during Lent, not only to be
temperate in eating and drinking, but especially to lead a modest
life, sanctifying the days by persevering prayer and devoutly
attending church.
