Address, Sunday, December 13, Third Sunday of Advent

Allocution March 3, 2024

3 March, 2024 NIDAK 187 Views 0 Comments

(Song)

Today, March 3, third Sunday of Lent, we hear in all Catholic churches the gospel according to Saint John, chapter 2, verses 13 to 25.

(Gospel)

The temple for believers is a sacred place where God is worshiped, sung, prayed to and listened to.

The first great temple created by God himself is the universe in which the sun, moon, stars, nature, flowers, plants, birds, fish and animals praise God. Another great temple, where we were created in the image and likeness of God, is the maternal womb. There we were conceived by love, they treated us with love, they talked to us, they caressed us with love and in that temple our body grew until we were about 40 weeks old.

Our own body is another great temple.

We are the image of God, we are children of God through baptism and our different organs, the brain, the ear, the bones, the eyes, the circulatory, respiratory, kidney, and digestive systems, are a praise to God for his wonderful functionings that no one else can. can create.

We have the temple in our neighborhood. There we praise God, we give thanks, we ask for our material and spiritual needs, for our families and for everyone we know. There we celebrate mass for our dead. We baptize our children and grandchildren and receive the sacraments. There we hear the Word of God, we prepare to live it and announce it. There we prepare to practice the works of spiritual and corporal mercies. We give thanks to God for the sacristans, for the people who decorate our temple, for the people who clean and beautify them.

(Song)

Today’s first reading in the liturgy, taken from the book of Exodus chapter 20, verses 1-17, invites us to expel from our personal and ecclesial temple the demons that damage the beauty of our church.

The book of Exodus tells us:

Then God said all these words:

I am your God, the one who freed you from the slavery of Egypt.

You will have no other gods besides me.

You won’t get any of me.

You will not bow down before them or worship them, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, who punishes those who hate me on his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But to those who love me and keep my commandments I am merciful to a thousand generations.

You will not pronounce the name of the Lord your God in vain, because the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who does such a thing.

Remember the day of the Lord to consecrate it. For six days you will work and do all your tasks, but the seventh is a day of rest consecrated to the Lord, your God, on that day you will not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your slave, nor your slave, nor your animals, nor the immigrant who lives in your cities, because in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed his day and declared it a Holy Day.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live many years in the land that the Lord, your God, gives you.

Thou shalt not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

You shall not bear false witness to the prejudice of your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, his wife, his male or female slave, his ox or his donkey, or anything of his.

Word of God, we praise you Lord.

(Song)

In the temple is the Church, Assembly of the People of God, which can be anywhere in our town.

Saint Ambrose tells us:

It is a normal thing that, in the midst of this turbulent world, the Church of the Lord, built on the stone of the Apostles, remains stable and stands firm on this unbreakable foundation against the furious assaults of the sea. It is surrounded by the waves, but it does not sway, and although the elements of this world resound with an immense clamor, it nevertheless offers to those who weary the great security of a port of salvation.

Saint Irenaeus assures:

Christ is the light of the world and illuminates the Church with his light. And as the moon receives its light from the sun so that it can in turn illuminate the night, so the Church, receiving its light from Christ, illuminates all those who find themselves in the night of ignorance. Christ is, therefore, the true light that illuminates every man who comes into this world, and the Church, receiving his light, becomes the light of the world, illuminating those who are in darkness.

Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace.

Blessed Isaac writes:

The Church, then, can forgive nothing without Christ, and Christ wants to forgive nothing without the Church. The Church can only forgive those who repent, that is, those whom Christ has already touched with his grace. And Christ does not want to forgive any kind of sins to those who despise the Church.

Saint Thomas states:

And there was a great commotion in the sea, so that the waves covered the boat. The ship is the Church, in which Jesus Christ crosses with his people the sea of this life, calming the waters of persecutions.

The Church will falter if its foundation falters, but can Christ falter? As long as Christ does not waver, the Church will never falter until the end of time.

Saint John Chrysostom preaches:

There are many waves that endanger us, and a great storm threatens us: however, we do not fear being submerged because we remain standing on the rock. Even if the sea breaks loose, it will not break this rock; Even if the waves arise, they will be able to do nothing against the boat of Jesus.

Jesus’ ship cannot sink (…). The waves do not break the rock, but they themselves turn into foam. There is nothing stronger than the Church. So stop fighting it, so as not to destroy your strength in vain. It is useless to fight against the sky. When you fight against a man, you either win or you are defeated; but if you fight against the Church, the dilemma does not exist. God is always stronger.

Saint Irenaeus tells us:

No matter how diverse the places may be, the members of the Church profess the same and unique faith, which was transmitted by the Apostles to their disciples.

Saint John Paul II proclaims:

For the glory of the Virgin and our consolation, we proclaim Mary Most Holy Mother of the Church, that is, Mother of all the people of God, both of all the faithful and of the Pastors who call her loving Mother, and we want that from now on From now on, be honored and invoked by all Christian people with this great title: Mother of the Church..

(Singing)

Let us pray, brothers, to our Savior, who gave his life to reunite his dispersed children, and let us say to him: Remember, Lord, your Church.

-Lord Jesus, who founded your house on the rock, confirm and strengthen the faith and hope of your Church.