Lesson XI. The Last Words of Moses. (Deuteronomy 31:22-30)
1. Moses before his death makes a last appeal to the Old Israel to be faithful to the Law of God. He has led them through the wilderness forty years and they have come to the waters of Jordan, and he knows their weakness and their instability. He is about to leave them, and he warns them that if they fall away, they will bring the divine judgement upon them.
2. The Church makes this warning its own in addressing the catechumens now that the three years' catechumenate and the forty days of immediate preparation are over, and they have come to the waters of Baptism. And she addresses the warning with equal appropriateness to all the baptised as well.
3. In every age all Christians have always needed reminding that not every one that saith unto Christ: Lord, Lord, (whether in the baptismal confession, or in the ordinary services of the Church) shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but only he that doeth the the will of Christ's father which is in Heaven. It is not those who make a good beginning in Baptism, or who make an annual effort in the Holy Week Retreat, that will be saved, but only those who endure unto the end.
Dear Father. It is a common error amongst even soi disant trads that Moses was not permitted to enter the promised land because he struck the rock twice rather than once when it is the case he was told to speak to the rock not strike it. (Num 20)
ReplyDeleteGreat words, Fr. Hunwicke. I happened to attend a funeral Mass yesterday for a distant relative. It was a Novus Ordo Mass, which I have not attended in some time. Most of the family is Catholic, or would identify so. I was frankly surprised at the lackluster participation. Hymns were sung only by the priest, responses were almost nil. The priest had to tell the people when to sit, kneel and stand. Almost everybody went up for Holy Communion though. Father did a great reminder that Catholics reconciled to God were welcome to receive, and those who were not or non-Catholics, could receive a blessing.
ReplyDeleteI won't guess what people think, but it appears that everybody believes they are on the track to heaven, no matter what.
The Peritia article is here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/pdf/10.1484/J.Peri.3.165
Dear Evangeline, I don't think we should assume that a failure to vocally participate in a Pauline Mass is somehow a failure. It reflects a folk memory of a proper lay approach to the Mass, which is to be present at its celebration, and to adore and pray the while. In particular places and times participation may be manifest in more demonstrable ways, as proper to the culture (I am not long home from an Ordinariate Rite mass); but that does not make it more or less Catholic.
ReplyDeletePaul fell off his horse? Acts 9:3-4
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