Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Threat of Punishment and the Promise of Grace – The Law threatens punishment for sin; the Gospel promises forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake. Faith justifies because faith lays hold of the promise of forgiveness in Christ. Such faith is a miracle of the Holy Spirit through the promise of the Gospel. This week’s meditation focuses upon the Close of the Commandments. The Law always threatens punishment because we are sinners. The threat of punishment is necessary in order that we might see our sin, be brought to repentance, and flee to Christ for forgiveness. The narratives this week, God’s Law Threatens and Accuses, the Worship of the Golden Calf, and God’s Wrath Is Poured Out upon Idol Worshippers at Mount Sinai illustrate both the corruption of sin that the Law reveals and the punishment that we rightly deserve. The week’s final reading on the Close of the Commandments teaches us that Jesus Takes the Place of the Guilty, suffering all that the Law demands of the sinner, for us and for our salvation. The promise of “every grace and blessing” through obedience to the Law is fulfilled in Jesus who was made to be sin for us and who, by His suffering and death, suffered the wrath of God by being punished in our place. The promise of the Gospel declares to us that all is fulfilled in Christ, who has redeemed us from sin and the Law’s threats with “His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”CP220925

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Covetousness Is to Desire and Insist upon Having Something God Has Not Provided—How fitting it is that this week’s meditation upon the 9^th and 10^th Commandments should be the week of the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Prior to Matthew’s conversion and call to apostleship, he was a covetous tax collector for the Roman government, but in repentant faith he was turned from the worship of earthly wealth and ill-gotten gain to the Lord in whom there is true peace and contentment. Ahab Covets Naboth’s Vineyard is a classic narrative where we see the “scheming to get a neighbor’s inheritance or house in a way that only appears right,” but which was absolutely evil. Covetousness was injected into Paradise by the Serpent who enticed Adam and Eve to follow their appetites and desires in the Fall of Man into Sin. In contrast to a covetous heart and will which is governed by its passions rather than the Word and our faith in Christ, Jesus calls us to Confess Christ, Take Up Our Cross and Follow Him. He alone gives peace and contentment to our restless hearts as the old, covetous, sinful flesh is put to death through daily contrition and repentance and the new man of faith is raised up. In the Rich Young Ruler we see that a man who lacks Jesus, the only One who is truly good, is unwilling because of his covetous heart to let go of everything and follow Christ. The rich young ruler went away sad, because he had many possessions that had become his idol. We pray that the Lord would lead us to true repentance for our covetous desires and give us a heart that is content with our Lord and the gifts that He provides.CP220918

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Faith in Christ Is Active in Word and Deed—On Wednesday of this week, we celebrate Holy Cross Day, one of the oldest minor festivals in the Church Year. It is only through the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming work upon the cross that we come to know and believe in God rightly. Our faith in Christ as the Savior who has died for us upon the cross is what animates what we say and do in our lives as Christians. Our faith in Jesus’ undeserved love is active in words and deeds. Abram Gives Lot the Choice of the Land because he believes that the Lord promised him the land and the gift of salvation that he might share his possessions with others (7^th Commandment). Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’s House and calls him to repentance and faith. As a result, Zacchaeus restores what he had stolen from others as a Tax Collector (7^th Commandment). When Jesus calls us to Bless Those Who Curse us, He is inviting us to live by faith in the Gospel so that we freely forgive our enemies and “explain everything in the kindest way” (8^th Commandment). Living by faith in the grace of God toward our enemies is ultimately seen in our Lord as Jesus Prays for His Enemies. It is the ultimate fulfillment of the 8^th Commandment. This week’s verse, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” reinforces that our faith in Christ is to be expressed in honest words before God and one another.CP220911

Catechesis Notes for the Week — God Protects Life and Marriage—Under the Fifth and Sixth Commandments, God protects the gift and sanctity of life and marriage. In Labor Day’s reading, “Do Not Worry about Your Life,” faith in Christ and the contentment which comes through seeking His righteousness above all is the key to the work that God has given us to do. When Cain Murders His Brother Abel, we see the contrast between what faith in self produces – a man who hates his brother and kills him in jealous rage, and what faith in the Lord produces – a man who joyfully offers his work to the Lord in thanksgiving for God’s undeserved grace. The command to love one’s neighbor as oneself is demonstrated in the Parable of the Good Samaritan who, like our Lord Jesus, befriends and helps a fallen man who would have considered him an enemy. Joseph Flees from Adultery to protect the marriage of Potiphar rather than indulging the appetites of his flesh for another man’s wife. In Jesus Is Tempted by the Devil we see our Savior who fulfilled the Law for us by facing life’s temptations in our place with unwavering trust in God’s Word and the work that His Father had called Him to do. Jesus fulfilled the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount from Monday’s reading to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”CP220904