A reading of the holy gospel according to Saint Luke. Now, this reading, of course, follows yesterday's where Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple. So, that is the scene. They have presented Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem and have offered the proper gifts. Now there was a certain prophetess, Anna by name, daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher.
Anna had seen many days, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was 84. Anna was constantly in the temple, worshiping day and night in fasting and prayer. Now coming on the scene at this moment, that is with Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus, she gave thanks to God and talked about the child to all who look forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem. When Mary and Joseph had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew in size and strength, filled with wisdom, and the grace of god was upon him.
And this is the gospel of the lord. In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, amen. If this came through to you with a considerable amount of mysteriousness, that's the way it comes through to me. I'd like to bring up a few facts. Good solid ground.
We had December 25 Christmas. It began on twenty fourth. And as far as the the world, which of course celebrates Christmas, if you want to try to date the precise day on which the world begins celebrating Christmas, I guess you have to go back to about August. I was up in Maine one year in August and they were having Christmas sales in a little shop up there. Now, anyway, willy nilly, we arrive at December 25, and those who have survived the shopping sprees may turn and give a thought to the meaning of Christmas.
Well, look at the church. We had masses, we had children's masses, everything was celebration and joy and happiness and light, and everybody singing peace to the world. It's it's wonderful. And there is a great deal of good in all of this. I'm not downgrading it.
I'm just saying these are the facts. Now what happens on December 26? You come out here and you have red vestments on, first martyr, Saint Stephen. You come out the next day, you have white vestments, but you're celebrating the feast of the holy innocence when all the male children of two years and under were slaughtered. Then I came out yesterday in these vestments, but the feast day was the feast of Saint Thomas Becket, martyr.
Do you get that picture? Twenty sixth, twenty seventh, twenty eighth or roughly that, you have the you had three martyrs. And the very day after Christmas, you have the martyrdom of Saint Stephen. It didn't have to be there. You could put it put it any place you want.
In gods, it doesn't happen until after Christ's resurrection. And yet the church puts the the martyrdom of Saint Stephen on the December 26. Why? Poor Quavo, Varun. Why?
Why put a martyrdom this saint right after all this hullabaloo about Christmas? Well, the church is trying to tell us something. Remember, the the feast of Christmas isn't celebrated all over the all over Christendom as it is in The United States. The first time I went to Puerto Rico was a good twelve, fifteen years ago now, Christmas wasn't big at all. The the big feast was epiphany.
And certainly when I went to France the first time, epiphany was the big feast. Not that Christmas wasn't celebrated, but epiphany was bigger. Now I again, I'm not downgrading Christmas. I'm really laying the facts before you that the church on the right, the second the first day after Christmas brings in Stephen Martyr. Here's a man, one of the earliest followers of Jesus is stoned to death, and his clothes were held by a man named Saul, and he became Paul of Tarsus.
What's the message here? You know, in many ways, in the last fifteen years, twenty years, we have diluted religion. That is the Catholic faith has been diluted. We have gotten on the the velvet kick. Even the best kind of whiskey is advertised because it's velvety.
Well, if you wanna drink velvet, why don't you just bug one and buy velvet? Why talk about velvet whiskey? Everything must be bland. It must be smooth. Religion must be comforting.
Make a retreat and you'll feel better for it. Go to mass on Sunday and you'll feel better for it. This is the stuff we've had. We go we go to church because it'll do me good. It may do me good.
I hope it'll do me some good. But is that why? Is that the basic reason? Is that the essential obligation to go to church to worship God for my sake? In a sense, absolutely right.
In another sense, absolutely wrong. Because I have an obligation to worship God. No matter how I feel about it at all, may be not in the least fulfilled. Matter of fact, I may be very completely unfulfilled. Now what is the church trying to tell us by this?
Giving us all these martyrs right after especially Saint Stephen and the Holy Inn, right after Christmas, and above all Saint Stephen on the day after Christmas. You see, anybody who's tried I don't mean in a great big sense, but anybody who tries to do anything well, whether it's crocheting or running a mile or playing a decent ball game or writing a decent essay or playing a piece on the piano or putting a piece of electronic equipment together, if anybody who tries to do anything well, it's not gonna be all fun and games. You see, in the last fifteen years, the whole story about education, that that going to school must be fun, learning must be fun. Now we have all these electronic gadgets which are supposed to make learning fun. Well, you see, anyone who sat down and tried to study some geometry or some algebra knows very well that it's not fun.
It can be hellish. I was looking into my old Greek dictionary, and I have a phrase in there out of heart out of Virgil. Here's Virgil, the Aeneid. Aeneid Aeneas is coming from Troy trying to get over to Rome, to found Rome. That's the story.
And he goes through all kinds of of adventures. Well, whole book, that's the whole story of Aeneas. One frightful critical crisis after another. And when things are at their worst, one of the gods or goddesses comes along and look says, look here Aeneas, one of these days in the future, you will look back upon these dimes and enjoy them, that you will be pleased to remember these adventures. I had that written in my Greek dictionary because believe me it was no fun using that dictionary.
It's all I've put force on at oak at Well, I took it on faith. When I still look back, a lot of it was miserable. What I'm saying is this, if if you want to be a good ice skater, if you want to be a good dancer, if you want to you you know what goes into these things. Hours and hours and hours of practice. Practice.
It's painful. It's not always painful, but it is it is by and large hard. Now what makes us think that worshiping God and trying to live a good life is going to be fun and games? All light and joy and celebration. Who who told us that?
You see, we use the word now celebration for the mass. Notice how they've eliminated the word sacrifice. There are I looked in some new catechisms and the word sacrifice doesn't even occur. It's not even mentioned. What do you think of that?
Good catechisms being used for our children. Good. Did I say good? Fit to be burned. When the church right down the centuries had told us the mass is a sacrifice.
Trent said it, Vatican two said it, the Catholic church still says it. It's a sacrifice. It's the rep it's it's the repetition of of Calvary. Was that fun and games for Jesus Christ? Look at the cross.
It's what it was. That's what the mass is. So we don't go to mass anymore. We go to the celebration, you see, just as you go to the celebration of an anniversary or birthday or a baptismal. You see what's happened?
We've we're we're trying we're trying to play games, but the church it's it's like if you've ever had a horse and had the reins of a horse, how you have to yank him many times, You just have to do it. You have to give him action, and you straighten up real stiff. That's what the church does. The twenty fifth, she says, fine. Go and have your fun.
But on the twenty sixth, remember Stephen, martyr. In the name of the father and of the son and holy spirit. Amen.