Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mass with Fr. Mike Schmitz

i invite you to stand within your will o lord all things are established and there is none that can resist your will for you have made all things the heaven and the earth and all that is held within the circle of heaven you are the lord of all esther 4 17 in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen the lord be with you and with your spirit as we begin to celebrate the mass this morning um one of the gifts that we are given is is from the book of esther if you know anything about the book of esther is that um at one point king artaxerxes was going to kill all of the jews basically because another guy had his name was heyman in case you're wondering um but he had something against um esther's uncle named mordecai and so to take out his vengeance he sought to kill all the jews and esther herself prayed to the lord um she knew that if she were to come before the king she'd be taking her own life into her hands and yet in that moment she still had this courage she should not she still had this this bravery not because there was nothing to be afraid of but because even in the midst of danger she knew that the lord was with her and so this is us this morning right this us as we approach the lord we know that we're approaching a place we're approaching the holy of holies we're approaching um what what is called in the scripture like that the mountain of fire um we're pushing the throne of god's mercy and his love and we know that without his grace without his uh his goodness for us his will his good will for us as esther describes we would be lost and so in everything we do including this mass we approach the lord and we go out into the world knowing that as we move the lord is with us as we speak the lord is with us and right now as we pray the lord is with us and so we call to mind our sins lord jesus you came to call sinners lord have mercy lord have mercy you came to seek and to save the lost christ have mercy christ have mercy you live to intercede for us at the right hand of the father lord have mercy lord have mercy may almighty god have mercy on us forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen glory to god in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will we praise you we bless you we adore you we glorify you we give you thanks for your great glory lord god heavenly king o god almighty father lord jesus christ only begotten son lord god lamb of god son of the father you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us you take away the sins of the world receive our prayer you are seated at the right hand of the father have mercy on us for you alone are the holy one you alone are the lord you alone are the most high jesus christ with the holy spirit in the glory of god the father amen let us pray almighty ever living god who in the abundance of your kindness surpassed the merits and the desires of those who entreat you pour out your mercy upon us and to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen i invite you to be seated as we hear from god's word a reading from the book of genesis the lord god said it is not good for a man to be alone i will make him a suitable partner for him so the lord god formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air and he brought them to the man to see what he could call them whatever the man called each of them would be its name the man gave names to all the cattle all the birds of the air and all wild animals but none proved to be a suitable partner for the man so the lord god cast a deep sleep on the man and while he was asleep he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh the lord god then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man when he brought her to the man the man said this one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh this one shall be called woman for out of her me for out of her man this one has been taken that is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and the two of them become one flesh the word of the lord thanks be to god the response our psalm may the lord bless us all the days of our lives may the lord bless us all the days of our lives blessed are you who fear the lord who walk in his ways for you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork blessed shall you be and favored may the lord bless us all the days of our lives your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home your children like olive plants around your table may the lord bless us all the days of our lives behold thus the man is blessed who fears the lord the lord bless you from zion may you see the prosperity of jerusalem all the days of your life may the lord bless us all the days of our lives may you see your children's children peace be upon israel may the lord bless us all the days of our lives a reading from the letter of the hebrews reading from the letters to the hebrews brothers and sisters he for a little while was made lower than the angels that by the grace of god he might taste death for everyone for it was fitting that he for whom and through him all things exist in bringing many children to glory should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering he who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin therefore he is not ashamed to call them brothers the word of the lord thanks be to god hallelujah [Music] the lord be with you and with your spirit a reading from the holy gospel according to mark glory to you chapter 12 verses 2 through 16 the pharisees approached jesus and asked is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife they were testing him he said to them in reply what did moses command you they replied moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her but jesus told them because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment but from the beginning of creation god made them male and female for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh therefore what god has joined together no human being must separate in the house the disciples again questioned jesus about this he said to them whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her and if she divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery and people were bringing children to him that he might touch them but the disciples rebuked them when jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them let the children come to me and do not prevent them for the kingdom of god belongs to such as these amen i say to you whoever does not accept the kingdom of god like a child will not enter it then he embraced them and blessed them placing his hands on them the gospel of the lord praise you lord jesus christ [Music] so not too long ago i guess a couple years ago i came across this this saying and it was not a t-shirt and i it was so compelling it was um t-shirt one of the our youths we led on on a on a trip to like a stumble conference and on her shirt it just simply said the words because i said i would and there's something so captivating about these words it's just because i said i would and that i had to find out the story so um you know go to google and i found out that these words this shirt comes from a man named alex sheen alex sheen um a normal young man worked at a normal company doing a normal job and at one point in his life his father who was his hero his father got cancer and died and alex got a chance to stand up at his father's funeral and say a few words and he described how his father was his hero he said basically my father was my hero because it wasn't my hero because he was the most handsome man in the world wasn't my hero because he was the fittest man in the world wasn't my hero because he was most successful at business or the smartest or the bravest or the most you know he did the most incredible things he said my father was my hero for one reason he kept his promises and that just that just struck me my father was my hero for one reason because he kept his promises so i've been reflecting on that ever since i came across alex sheen and i think this is true i think that the difference between a person who has character and a person who lacks character is this one thing the ability to keep a promise i think the difference between the difference between any person with character person who lacks character is the ability to keep a promise and in so many ways i think it really it sounds simple but in so many ways i think it is just that simple can i the question do i have character do i lack character answer this question can i make and keep a promise because we realized that out of all the things a human being could do that would be heroic the making and keeping of a promise is what that's what makes a hero that's what makes a life heroic is the ability to make and keep a promise in fact one of my heroes um actually all my heroes are like this but one here i was thinking about recently his name is st thomas moore um ever since i came across st thomas more's story years ago i just something has captivated me about him and so he was the lord chancellor of england during the reign of king henry viii and if you know anything about king henry viii at one point he left his wife and he married or attempted to marry someone else and um basically he got every cleric every bishop except for one to go along with them in that and he got every politician except for one to go along with him in that the bishop was named saint john fisher and the politician was saint thomas more lord chancellor and he's one of the situation one of those situations where thomas more he didn't want to detract from the king he didn't want to say anything negative publicly about the king but the king needed thomas more to say that not only was this new marriage valid he also needed thomas more to say that he was the head of the church in england us more just so i'm not gonna say anything you know in my silence will be my safety but there's something interesting when you're a person of character right when you're a person a virtue when you're a man who or woman who's known to be the person who can make a promise and keep a promise then to stay silent isn't good enough for the people around you and it was not good enough for king henry viii he threw thomas more in the tower of london just because he wouldn't say he wouldn't say something that he knew wasn't true king henry viii got desperate at one point and he he sends he sent thomas more's favorite daughter meg to try to convince her father to just take the oath to make this promise to say this vow and at one point it's in the man for a man for all seasons this incredible play that's then being a movie um and she says to her father she says dad you've told me so many times that um it's what's on the inside that counts it's in your heart that counts so in your heart hold one thing but with your words say something else if you if you say this you'll live if you don't say this you're going to die and in the play in the in the movie thomas more says this he says meg when a man takes an oath he's holding his own self in his hands like water and if he opens his fingers well then he needn't hope to find himself again when you make an oath make a promise you're holding yourself in your hands like water and if he opens his fingers he needn't hope to find himself again he said some men aren't capable of this but we loathe the thing you think your father is one of them robert bolt who wrote the screenplay he said it like this this was this was the kind of almost like the reason why he wanted to make this play to capture this man's story he says he says a man takes an oath or a person takes an oath only when he wants to commit himself quite exceptionally to the statement so a person makes a promise only when you want to commit yourself exceptionally to the statement when he wants to make an identity between the truth of it in his own virtue he offers himself as the guarantee let's highlight this for a second when we make a promise what are we doing we're offering ourselves as the guarantee i say this and the only thing i have to guarantee my word is myself he says and it works robert bolt says then it works he says there's a special kind of shrug for a perjurer right someone who takes the stand and takes the oath makes a promise to tell the whole truth nothing but the truth we feel that the man has no self to commit that that kind of person has no guarantee to offer they have no they've already let go they've already let go you know last week we started this we started a new series called holding on and last week we talked about the reality and the truth that you and i are not yet the people that were created to be and so last week we asked that question that um in order to become the kind of person that god has made you to be and made me to be what do i need to stop holding on to but this week we have to ask the next question which is in order to become the kind of person god made you to be what do you need to keep holding on to because there's both things right there's things that are i'm holding on to it that are holding me back but there are some things that the only way i can move forward is if i keep holding on to them the only i can only become the person god made me to be if i keep holding on and this is the problem this is the power of a promise you know the the promises are powerful and there are some promises that are so powerful they can actually change reality we heard all about it in genesis chapter one of genesis chapter two the first reading today and the gospel there are some promises that are so powerful they actually change reality here's adam he's in the garden he's alone god says it's not good for the man to be alone makes a suitable help made for him and what happens adam wakes up and he sees eve this the man and the woman and he says at last this one is bone of my bones flesh of my flesh this is the reason why a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his bride and they become one flesh it changes reality what was what was two becomes one that's why jesus amps it up even more and makes it he makes he lets it be known that it's impossible once joined together to be cleaved apart once cleaved together you can't cleave apart once that promise is made that promise actually has power and that promise has the power to change reality it's one of the reasons why uh we recognize in the catholic church that that promise in marriage establishes a covenant some promises have power right and that well all promises do but some promises are so powerful they establish a covenant now it's really important i think for us to understand that a covenant is very very different than the contract you might have heard this before but i think it's worth going over again a covenant is really different than a contract a contract is good thing a contract is an exchange of goods or services based off a condition say that again a contract is an exchange an agreement for an exchange of goods or services based off of a condition so um i will do this for you if you do that for me it's great it's awesome it's really great when you hire a roofer like um i will pay you this much money if you re-roof my house perfect contract two thumbs up really good thing but it's not a really good thing when we take that contract mentality and bring it to the promise of marriage and i even a lot of christians do this and we we we might be on the shallow end and say things like well um uh if you stay cute i'll stay attentive that's that's that's the shallow one so if you stay cute i'll say that or um um if you stay fun i'll spend time with you or if um you stay employed then i'll stay here but there's also we can kind of even if we take our faith seriously and take the promise seriously we can still take a contract mentality into the promise and we can say things like well if you stay patient then i'll stay patient if you stay kind to me then i'll i'll be kind to you if you're faithful to me then i'll be faithful to you but but if you're not then i won't if you do then then i'll do it that's a contract but a covenant is very different a covenant basically it's an exchange of persons with no condition a covenant is an exchange of persons with no condition basically it says i'm yours regardless of what you do i am yours regardless of what you do in fact what the most i would say this when it comes to marriage the most basic thing that a couple is saying to each other is this is i'm not leaving ever i know they say more to more than that obviously but the most the most basic the most solid most rigid most um impossible to break down borders in a marriage is what they're saying the most foundational is i'm not leaving ever and actually if you realize we realize if we if we leaned into this that's actually really freeing in fact i was talking to someone recently who said um they were reflected they live in duluth they said um i don't think i could ever live in duluth forever like i don't think i would like living in duluth forever and i as i said this i thought huh i've never i've never once even thought do i like living in duluth i've been living here for about 17 years and i've nev not one moment have ever thought do i like living in duluth or would i rather live somewhere else and i realized why why have i not asked that question why have i not asked the question do you like living until the father mike um i realized the reason is because i made a promise in 2003 i made a promise 2002 my gosh 2002 i made a promise where i just knelt before the bishop and i put my hands in his and he says do you promise obedience to me and my successors and i said i do because of that if he tells me to go to duluth i go i don't care it doesn't matter whether i like it or not if he tells me to move somewhere else i do so i never i never have to ask the question do i like this or not and there's some something so powerful about this something so powerful about this um when you make a promise there are some questions you never have to ask again when you make a promise there are some questions you never have to ask again remember last week we talked about decision like to decide the etymology of decide is to cut off and so when a couple makes the promise they decide for each other they cut off every other person as a possible source of romance when a couple says i'm yours and the other one says and and i'm yours they're their decision they've decided they've cut off every other person as a possible source of romance in fact maybe you'd even say this as a kind of general rule for for marriage is um a general rule for marriage at its most foundational is not only i'm not leaving ever but your spouse is the only legitimate source of romance in your life until you die because you made the promise and that promise is i'm not leaving ever so someone asked the question well father do not not just about duluth but how about being a priest do you like being a priest or you can ask the question of someone who's married do you like being married and i think the answer has to be and i want to say this in the most um sensitive the most compassionate the most delicate way possible when someone asks me um do you like being a priest or if someone asks you as a married person do you like being married the most compassionate sensitive delicate answer is it doesn't matter it doesn't matter whether you like it or not it doesn't matter if your life is full of joy or not doesn't matter if your life is free of suffering or not because why because that's the power of a promise the part of the promise is i'm going to keep holding on no matter what now at the same time let's back up here because i can actually be sensitive i can be delicate um that actually can be a very good question it can be really good questions that to say do you like being a priest or do you like being married but it's helpful for for self-knowledge it's helpful to know what might my next step need to be but it's always the question is always ask in the context of the promise to a couple you could ask them do you like being married to each other and they might ask that question honestly and again in the context of the promise and say i don't like what our relationship has become that's good because that's honest right now knowing that you're here for good knowing that you're holding on and i'm holding on how can we how can we make this better because that's the freedom that the promise gives yeah this isn't the best relationship i thought there would be more joy i thought there would be more laughter we started out that way how we ended up this way when that question is asked in the context of the promise you're holding on and i'm holding on the question we get to ask next is okay knowing that you're not going anywhere and i'm not going anywhere how can we make this better that same kind of thing you can ask as a priest you can say hey how is it going well the priest can say i'm not leaving i might be struggling but i'm not leaving so how can i make this better you know there's um there's a a video i came across within the last week or so um of a man commenting on a new series it's called ted lasso i'm not sure if you've ever seen the ted lasso series um i don't know anything about it so if you're like you watched that i didn't i watched the thing on the thing anyways the description was that um ted lasso was played by this actor in and he's an incredibly optimistic man he and his wife have a young child a young son um and the son just completely adores his father and at one point in the series apparently um his wife comes to him and she says that she's very unhappy in fact she doesn't like how optimistic he is she doesn't like um his personality anymore and she basically realizes that she's fallen out of love with him and in this moment according to the man commenting on the show in this moment a moment that was meant to be this incredible moment of self-sacrifice the character of ted lasso says to his wife then i'm letting you go in order to make you happy that the thing i want more than anything else is to make you happy and so because of that i'm not going to hold on i'm going to stop holding on to you and i just think that's so strange because why do you get married you don't get married because you think it'll make you happy and also you don't get married because you think it'll make you miserable that would be a really dumb idea but you get married because you realize i am not yet the person that i've been made and redeemed to be you get married because you're saying i'm gonna make the promise to love this person because i'm not yet the kind of pr i'm not yet the kind of person who can love the way i'm supposed to be able to love and so i make this promise because i need to become the person that i'm not yet and this is the thing the reality of course is the day is when i don't i don't want to i don't want to try there's nothing in me there's i have no desire to put forth any effort whatsoever into this relationship and i would say okay now the day has come that's this is kind of good news why because this is look this is why you promised this is why you made a promise in fact gosh people can say this they can say things like well yeah but father you don't understand people change you get married and they say things like i'm not married to the person they said they're not the same person i married or circumstances change and i would say 100 i completely understand that that is true two things keep in mind number one when someone says they're not the same person i married i would say yeah that's accurate they've grown we've grown apart completely i can completely understand that we can't control whether or not we are our spouse you or your spouse will grow but you can control whether or not you will grow together or grow apart that part we can make a decision about and if you've made a decision that has led you to the place where you've grown apart you can now make the decision knowing that i'm not leaving i can make the decision that we start to grow back together again the question isn't will you grow the question is will you grow together or grow apart and the second thing is um yeah circumstances change our situation has changed it's not the same as it was before but here's the deal that's why you made a promise in fact in fact you knew situations would change you knew the circumstance would change that's on your wedding day on my ordination day we all knew without a doubt the situation would change we knew without a doubt the circumstances would change um but sometimes we can tell ourselves that the situation the circumstances have sufficiently changed so that now i have permission to not do what i said i was going to do sometimes we can trick ourselves to say well the circumstances have sufficiently changed that i can now give myself permission to not do what i said i was going to do i don't have to keep holding on you know whenever i do marriage prep with couples one of the things i highlight or try to highlight with them is on your wedding day on december 16th whatever year it is um that when you stand up in front of your friends and family and god and the priest and everyone and you make a vow you make a promise it's really remarkable because on that wedding day on your wedding day you don't actually need to promise to love the person that day because of course you love them that day i mean they are as beautiful as they'll ever be they're as fit as they'll ever be they're as young as they'll ever be they're as they're at their peak i mean after this we go on and on about that but you don't have to promise to love someone on your wedding day that's not why you make a promise that's not why you make a vow you make a vow because you're saying here's the deal i know the day is coming when i won't want to love you i know the day is coming when i won't want to choose you i know i don't know when this is coming but i know the circumstances will change enough that i'll have nothing in me that wants to keep doing this what i'm telling you now is when that day comes i will still love you i'm telling you on this day is when that day comes i will still choose you what i'm telling you now is that when that day comes i'm not leaving it's so interesting um not only that but that promise you make the promise i made on my ordination day that you made on your wedding day it actually takes into account the fact that you know things are going to change so what happens say you say i'm yours remember it's covenant i'm yours that's that's the vow that's the promise and then you say what what's the context what are the circumstances what are the situations in which i'm yours when you go on to say uh for better for worse for richard for poorer for sickness and health until death you actually baked into the vows the fact that you knew the circumstances and the situations and each other would change and you're saying but i won't now again this little caveat there are times when the best thing you can do in a relationship is to stop holding on and there are times when the only thing you can do in a relationship is to keep holding on and the question can come up like okay father when do you don't how can you tell the difference between when it's time in a relationship to stop holding on because there are times in relationships when it's time to stop holding on and when it's time to keep holding on and i would say this the only way to know the difference the difference all comes down to one thing to know the difference when it is time to stop holding on and to know when it is time more than anything else to keep holding on is the promise the promise is the only thing that changes it because there might be a an unhealthy relationship yeah if you haven't made a promise stop holding on there might be an unhealthy relationship but if you made a promise that means you need to keep holding on and i know this is really heavy um i know members of the virtual front pew you might be this whole homily this whole even when you hear the readings you hear heard the gospel come and you're like oh no here it comes because your experience your life has been marked by this sense of like no i stood up i made a promise i made that vow i took that oath i held myself in my hands and said i'm yours and then they walked away they left and whether it was all their fault or whether you realize yeah i was partly responsible for this too the reality is here i am standing what do i do now you know there was a woman her name was the empress helena so the mother of constantine you might have heard of her before saint helena is her name but helena uh at one point her husband left she had made a promise she's a christian woman she made a promise and her husband left and married someone else and what did helena do she she did what scripture says to do she remains single for the rest of her life why because she's married to her husband even if he left and married someone else she's like no but i made a promise i made a covenant i made a vow i'm still his even if he left that's like i about my friend nick um he and his wife jason he's told she said i've told jacelyn so many times that if she ever leaves me and she you know meet someone else and moves in with him he's like i'm moving next door i'm living in the house next door i don't know what to tell you because he says because we're always going to be married and if you don't love me i'm going to still love you in fact i heard it said that in the end of our lives no one is going to be judged on how whether spouse loved them but on how well you loved your spouse even if they walked away this is like the this is the incredibly hard teaching of jesus today but this is also the most incredible teaching of jesus today because even if your vows have shattered even if your promise has been been taken by someone and thrown into the trash even if you realize i'm the one i'm the one who broke the vow i'm the one who broke the promise i'm the one who walked away we realized today we need to hear this this is how you've already been loved this is how i've been loved why in the world how in the world can anyone keep a promise like this what's because god himself has made us this promise i mean think about jesus on the cross that is him holding on i look at my life and i think how many times have i made a promise and run away from jesus how many times i've made a bow to jesus and run away how many times have i taken my life in my hands made to oath and run away from jesus and every time i run he holds on and every time i'm unfaithful he holds on and every time i reject him he holds on and this is the thing you are not only are we called to hold on but you are being held onto regardless of your past right now in this moment you are being held onto that's the only thing that gives us the courage and the strength and the grace to be the kind of people who can hold on and i realize what i'm asking for what jesus is asking for is heroic to continue to love your spouse even after they've left or to continue to love your spouse even after like maybe they've done something horrible and you had to remove yourself from that situation because it was too dangerous for you or too dangerous for your kids you had to protect yourself to even there even then to keep loving is heroic i was thinking you know not many of us get a chance to live heroic lives but then i kept thinking i thought well maybe we do maybe every one of us has the chance to live heroic lives maybe heroic lives are like alex gene's dad just made up of not just big promises but little promises so alex sheen um started this movement called because i said i would and he created these things called promise cards and on the promise cards they start off small because so often you know we don't know what it is to make and keep a promise but we know that the difference between a person with character and personal lack of character is ability to make and keep a promise the difference between the ability to love and the inability to love is the ability to make and keep a promise and so he said start small and write down on this card just one promise you want to make and it can be something simple i will brush my teeth today says the four-year-old and her promise card um someone else saying i am done with heroin says the promise card the promise cards could say um i'm giving god 20 minutes of prayer every day this week or i promise that regardless of how my spouse loves me i'm going to love them with all my heart today why because i said i would and this isn't just an exercise in discipline or or willpower it's because you and i are not yet the people we're called to be that you and i are we're not yet people who know how to love and we'll never become the kind of people who know how to love until we promise to love and then keep that promise and that's the power of a promise i'm not yet the person that i'm called to be so when i don't feel like i'm going to keep the promise i'm not the person that i'm called to be and so when i want to escape i'm going to do it anyway and i'm not yet the person who could love the way that god needs me to be able to love and so when i want to run when i want to escape when i want to let go i'm going to keep the promise and because i said i would i'm gonna keep holding on i want you to stand as we profess our faith i believe in one god the father the almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible i believe in one lord jesus christ the only begotten son of god born of the father before all ages god from god light from light true god from true god begotten not made consubstantial with the father through him all things were made for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the holy spirit was incarnate of the virgin mary and became man for our sake he was crucified under pontius pilate he suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end i believe in the holy spirit the lord the giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son who with the father and the son is adored and glorified who has spoken through the prophets i believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church i confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and i look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come amen confident in our father's love for us we now approach him with all of our needs that the church will continue to guide and teach us in faith and be living witness be a living witness to the compassionate love of god we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer that leaders of nations may protect the rights of all in their care and lead all in ways of peace we pray to the lord r lord hear our prayer that families will be filled with the graces that flow from marriage and parenthood and become true sanctuaries of life we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer that those who suffer in body and spirit may experience the presence of our compassionate god in their moments of loneliness we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer that our beloved dead may be greeted by god's loving mercy we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer for the grace this week to make and keep our promises and become more and more the kind of people who keep holding on we pray to the lord lord hear our prayer we continue to offer our prayer for vocations in this diocese of duluth as well as your diocese where you are and dioceses throughout the world as we pray almighty father we beg you for an increase in religious vocations and holy marriages in our diocese help us to be generous in our response to your call choose from our homes those who are needed for your work and strengthen us with the courage to say yes and to follow you help us as a diocese as a parish as families to encourage and foster vocations to the priesthood permanent diaconate and consecrated life we commend our prayers to our patroness mary queen of the rosary and ask this through jesus christ our lord amen as we prepare the altar one of the things that we get the chance to do is we place ordinary bread and ordinary wine on the altar and it we as we know it becomes the body blood of christ it becomes the sacrifice that has redeemed the world but we approach the altar with somewhat so much of our own brokenness and there are so many broken promises in all of our lives broken vows in our lives and times we've taken the oath and let ourselves slip through our hands and my invitation is if you if you've ever taken that oath and let your hand your yourself slip through your hands like water to let that slip through your hands like water onto this altar what i mean by that is we just give god our broken pieces we give god our broken promises we give god our broken vows we give god our broken hearts because if we let our broken hearts and broken vows and broken promises keep us from him i mean everyone has a chance to transform them just like he transforms broken wheat and broken bread into his body crushed grapes become his blood so my brothers and sisters not a word of condemnation but a word of encouragement bring your broken promises and your broken heart to this altar bring your broken and crushed vows and self to this altar and let the lord do something incredible with it he can't do anything with it if we hold it to ourselves so let's place ourselves on this altar [Music] blessed are you lord god of all creation for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you fruit of the earth and work of human hands it will become for us the bread of life blessed are you lord god of all creation for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink blessed be god forever pray my brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to god the almighty father may the lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name for our goodness of all his holy church accept oh lord we pray the sacrifices instituted by your commands and through the sacred mysteries which we celebrate with dutiful service graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us through christ our lord amen the lord be with you and with your spirit lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the lord our god it is right and just it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god for you so loved the world that in your mercy you sent us the redeemer to live like us in all things but sin so that you might love in us what you loved in your son by whose obedience we have been restored to those gifts of yours that by sinning we are lost in our disobedience and so lord with all the angels and saints we too give you thanks as in exultation we acclaim holy holy holy lord god of hosts heaven and earth are full of your glory hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord hosanna in the highest you are indeed holy o lord and all you have created rightly gives you praise for through your son our lord jesus christ by the power and working of the holy spirit you give life to all things and make them holy and you never cease to gather a people to yourself so that from the rising of the sun to its setting up your sacrifice may be offered to your name therefore oh lord we humbly implore you by the same spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration that they may become the body and blood of your son our lord jesus christ at whose command we celebrate these mysteries for on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread and giving you thanks he said the blessing broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was ended he took the chalice and once more giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith we proclaim your death o lord and profess your resurrection until you come again therefore o lord as we celebrate the memorial of the saving passion of your son his wondrous resurrection and ascension into heaven and as we look forward to his second coming we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice look we pray upon the oblation of your church and recognizing the sacrificial victim by whose death you will to reconcile us to yourself grant that we who are nourished by the body and blood of your son and filled with this holy spirit may become one body one spirit in christ may he make of us an eternal offering to you so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect especially the most blessed virgin mary the mother of god with blessed joseph her spouse with your blessed apostles and glorious martyrs and with all your saints on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unveiling help may this sacrifice of our reconciliation we pray oh lord advance the peace and salvation of all the world be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim church on earth with your servant francis our pope dennis daniel our bishop the order of bishops all the clergy and the entire people you have gained for your own listen graciously to the prayers of this family whom you have summoned before you and your compassion and merciful father gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world to our departed brothers and sisters and to all who are pleasing throughout their passing from this life give kind admittance to your kingdom there we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory through christ our lord through whom he bestow on the world all that is good through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever and ever amen at the savior's command informed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom of the power and the glory are yours now lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign forever and ever amen may the peace of the lord be with you always and with your spirit let us offer one another a sign of christ's peace lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sins of the world grant us peace behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those who are called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed an act of spiritual communion my jesus i believe that you are present in the most holy sacrament i love you above all things and i desire to receive you into my soul since i cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally come at least spiritually into my heart i embrace you as if you're already there unite myself holy to you never permit me to be separated from you amen though many we are one bread one body for we all partake of the one bread and one chalice first corinthians 10 verse 17 let us pray grant us almighty god that we may be refreshed and nourished by the sacrament which we have received so as to be transformed into what we consume through christ our lord amen once again it's good to be joined by neil and lauren the old standbys um also heather's man's the camera i'm not sure if you know that but i think it's helpful as part of the virtual front view to know who's in the room who's praying with us um on every given sunday or any given sunday um just it's a it's been an incredible gift to be able to be with you all and so just please know of our prayers constantly um we offer up mass for you uh regularly and we're just really grateful um for the chance to be connected even if only artificially i guess that's virtually not artificially um but uh we'll just keep praying for each other um especially since we know that life is dangerous and it's hard uh sometimes to be faithful and so we ask for the intercession of all the angels but especially saint michael the archangel defend us in battle be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil may god review can we humbly pray and do thou prince of the heavenly host by the power of god cast into house satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls amen the lord be with you may almighty god bless you all the father the son and the holy spirit go in peace glorifying the lord by your life thanks be to god salve regina mater misericordiae [Music] [Music] there uh you

Channel: Ascension Presents

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Id: H4XimZaEeBQ

Length: 52min 53sec (3173 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021