Not Praying for You! (Bede)

Homily - Not Praying for You! (Bede)

And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.

Dear Friends:

Every parent knows what a proper child‘s behavior is:

• He is the son who when his Mum says, “Come!”, He comes!
• She the daughter when her dad says, “Go!”, She goes!
• And when her mum says, this right, she says, “Yes, Mum!”
• And when his dad says, “This is evil!”, he says, “Yes, dad!”
• And when his mum or dad calls that son or daughter to do what is right, to obey joyfully from the heart, that child bends the knee of his heart and says, “Yea, and Amen!”

O that we would be Children again!

It is for this reason that our Lord Jesus Christ...

Hearing the discussion among the Apostles about who was the greatest among them...

Set a child in their midst and embracing that child commends childlike faith to them!

DEAREST FRIENDS,

You would have to be DEAF or BLIND not to see that within the Church of Jesus Christ today,

CHILDLIKE FAITH is RARE among the clergy.

WE MEN IN HOLY ORDERS, who are called:

• To say YES to Christ When he said, “This is good.”

• And YES to Christ When he said, “This is Evil.”

• And YES to Christ When he commanded us to GO!

• And YES to Christ. When he commanded us to COME!

Sadly, many of us are among the last to be numbered with those who say yes to Christ!

Rather, not a few of us have exhausted ourselves...

• with jealousy and selfish ambition.

THIS IS THE PERSONAL cause of the confusion.

OUR PERSONAL DISORDER lies at the heart...

• of the rampant evil and 
• “every vile practice” 

within the Church. 

MANY AMONG US have resisted “the wisdom from above” which “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle.”

THAT WISDOM WHICH IS “open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.”

WE HAVE NOT REAPED “the harvest of righteousness” 

• Because we are not “those who made peace” in the Church our end.

OUR IMPIETY has been the “cause of wars, and 

AND OUR RELENTLESS ambition has “caused fightings” with the Church,

FOR WE WERE CONTENT to allow our “passions to be at war in our bodies”!

Not only this…

WE HAVE LAID IN WAIT for the holy men among us, 

BECAUSE THEY WERE inconvenient to us, and opposed our actions; 

WE COULD NOT BEAR their “reproaches of our sins against the law;”

AND SO WE DID NOT tolerate their righteousness;

WHICH “ACCUSED US” night and day “for the sins that we committed against our training!”

We even taunted the Living God, saying:

“LET US CONDEMN HIS HOLY priests to a shameful death, 

LET US SEE if their God will protect them!”

SO ON THIS DAY, I come before you seeking a undeserved favor!

THAT YOU WOULD ASK the Lord, that he would renew the spirit of childlike faith in the souls of we men in Holy Orders;

THAT YOU WOULD PRAY the Lord of the Church...

THAT HE WOULD GRANT this favor to 

• Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, 
• To his cardinal advisors and the college of cardinals, 
• To the archbishops and bishops of the Church;

And to us men entrusted with the priesthood of Jesus Christ — called to assist the bishops in their apostolic mission. 

AND AS YOU PETITION the Lord for a return to this child like faith for us...

• I earnestly ask you;
• I plead with you;
• And, I beg of you;

THAT YOU DO THE SAME for yourselves. 

AND I PRAY BEFORE the Lord your God in mine, that 

• YOU WOULD NOT FOLLOW the evil example of the men in holy orders...

BUT THAT YOU WOULD BECOME exemplars and to Christ. 

• THAT YOU WOULD BECOME the saints of God that He has called you to be in this dark hour. 

FRIENDS:

There was a 200 year period in the history of France, during which not a single cleric was elevated to the altar of God. 

• Not One Saint Bishop THIS! 
• Not One Saint Priest THAT!
• Not a single cleric was raised to the Altar!

BUT IN THOSE TWO CENTURIES, 

• GUESS WHO arose to be set before the people of God as exemplars of this childlike faith?
• GUESS WHO became known to possess a passion for the pursuit of holiness of life. 

It was YOU. 

It was YOU. 

It was YOU. 

Dearest Brethren in Christ:

Do not expect any more clerics of recent vintage to ascend to the Altar of God so that you could sing their name. 

But, I pray that one day when your great grandchildren and mine come to Holy Mass...

And the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary is offered in an unbloody fashion before the living God,

AS A PROPITIATION for all the sins of the sons of men....

THAT YOUR NAME will be called and 

WE WILL HYMN your praise for your valiant holiness during this night of the Church!

AND MAY THE LORD GOD himself, Be Generous in answering your prayers and mine...

And, as you pray for the Pope, the Cardinals, the Archbishops, bishops, and priests, and for yourselves. 

That you would whisper a prayer to the Lord on my behalf:

• THAT he would maintain me in holiness, 
• THAT he would call me away from anything that he named as evil, 
• THAT he would give me a voice that says YES to his every command. 

Yes. When he says come!

Yes, when he says go!

Yes. When he says this is evil, and 

Yes! when he says, this is good. 

FOR MY DEAR FRIENDS:

IF YOU DO NOT PRAY for us, what hope do we have? 

BECAUSE SO VERY MANY OF US are not praying for you!

• In the name of the Father,
• And of the son 
• and of the Holy Spirit.
• Amen!