Vol 13 Issue 17 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
April 25, 2020 ~ Saint Mark, opn!
1. What is the Holy Eucharist
2. Good Shepherd Sunday
3. Saints Cletus and Marcellinus
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
One of the aspects of the Conciliar Church was the rejection of private masses (that is, Masses without a congregation) and that of insisting on concelebration in that of communal masses—all in rejection of the Priest possessing the fullness of priesthood (that is, the ability to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass alone). There is no mention of this as Conciliar Bishops and priests now privately perform their services without people present—and, even if they believe it is in the presence of those viewing them via internet or televised, it all becomes subjective as opposed to objective. Despite this, it returns to the true Catholic concept that it is the priest offering Holy Mass independent of the people and it confirms that the Mass is offered in the name of the Church. May we be reminded of the words of Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical, Mediator Dei:
For there are today, Venerable Brethren, those who, approximating to errors long since condemned[82] teach that in the New Testament by the word “priesthood” is meant only that priesthood which applies to all who have been baptized; and hold that the command by which Christ gave power to His apostles at the Last Supper to do what He Himself had done, applies directly to the entire Christian Church, and that thence, and thence only, arises the hierarchical priesthood. Hence they assert that the people are possessed of a true priestly power, while the priest only acts in virtue of an office committed to him by the community. Wherefore, they look on the eucharistic sacrifice as a “concelebration,” in the literal meaning of that term, and consider it more fitting that priests should “concelebrate” with the people present than that they should offer the sacrifice privately when the people are absent.
It is superfluous to explain how captious errors of this sort completely contradict the truths which we have just stated above, when treating of the place of the priest in the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. But we deem it necessary to recall that the priest acts for the people only because he represents Jesus Christ, who is Head of all His members and offers Himself in their stead. Hence, he goes to the altar as the minister of Christ, inferior to Christ but superior to the people. The people, on the other hand, since they in no sense represent the divine Redeemer and are not mediator between themselves and God, can in no way possess the sacerdotal power. (Par. 83-84)
As one reads in the Ottaviani Intervention: Finally, there is the mania for concelebration, which will ultimately destroy the priest’s Eucharistic piety by overshadowing the central figure of Christ, sole priest
and Victim, and by dissolving Him into the collective presence of concelebrants.
Since the Conciliar Church has no basis for their services except a community celebration the basis of their online services are no more than retaining their support base with the hope that there will be a return after they re-open their Churches—but, now that they presented the concept that watching online is the same as being present (at least a substitution) it may be the beginning of recognizing they may need a Vatican III to change even further to accommodate this new paradigm shift in society that lives virtual lives on social media.
Finally, and just a side note, it seems that it will now be required to submit to a vaccination for anyone travelling internationally (and probably interstate). In order to provide the Sacraments and work among the various Catholic Communities I foresee having to receive the vaccination or be denied the ability to travel and tend to the salvation of souls. I am open to suggestions if there are caveats that would allow myself not to be exposed to any potential risks. Thank you.
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit.—The Editor
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WHAT IS THE HOLY EUCHARIST
By Rev. Courtney Edward Krier
PART II
Institution
The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
One sees that John, who is set aside for priestly ministry understands that his priesthood must be set aside for that priesthood of Jesus Christ: Neither doth any man take the honour to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest: but he that said unto him: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. (Heb. 5:4-5)
This should be considered in the preparation for the institution in the New Testament; but, though Saint Luke points to the priesthood and sacrifice, Christ does not directly prepare His disciples until the events shown in the sixth chapter of Saint John and the other Evangelists’ recording of the multiplication of the loaves of bread and the invitation to the banquet.
Saint Luke, as the Ox—signifying the sacerdotal aspect of Christ—, ought to be read, therefore, in the context of the priesthood. As John the Baptist is no longer associated with the Levitical priesthood, which biblically seems to conclude with Zachary, and as John the Baptist ministers to God not in the Temple, but by the Jordan (cf. Apoc. 22:1) by pointing out the Lamb of God (cf. John 1:29, 36); so the replacement of the Levitical priesthood is expressed by John being at the service of Christ—Christ, who, as firstborn is to be redeemed by a price (5 silver shekels) unless set aside for the priesthood—Luke only mentions the doves (symbol of the Holy Ghost, from Whom He is anointed—cf. Luke 3:22—Luke has the angel address Mary as full of grace (1:28) and Jesus is full of wisdom; and the grace of God was in him (2:40; cf. John 1:14). It should also be pointed out that Mary, now ritually purified, holds the true Lamb of God to be sacrificed later as expressed in the actions and words of Simeon, who blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed. (Luke 2:34-35) Mary was of the tribe of Juda through her father, Joachim, and her offering was two turtle doves for her purification—not offering the 5 shekles for the redemption of her Son. As her cousin, Elizabeth was of the Tribe of Levi, Zachary being of the priestly cast, Meagher (105) claims Anna was of the tribe of Levi, bringing kingship and priesthood back together in Jesus [through Joachim]. Again, uniting King and Priest as Melchisedech was king and priest (cf. Croegaert, 10.) The Levite males, who were separated for the service of God, were to be purified. That setting aside can be found in the Book of Numbers:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them, According to this rite: Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification (cf. Num. 19), and let them shave all the hairs of their flesh. And when they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed, They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof fine flour tempered with oil: and thou shalt take another ox of the herd for a sin offering: And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel: And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel shall put their hands upon them:
And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry. The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the oxen, of which thou shalt sacrifice one for sin, and the other for a holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them. And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his sons, and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord, And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of Israel, to be mine. And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the covenant, to serve me. And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them for an oblation of the Lord: for as a gift they were given me by the children of Israel.
I have taken them instead of the firstborn that open every womb in Israel, For all the firstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and of beasts, are mine. From the day that I slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, have I sanctified them to myself: And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel: And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of the covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary. [20] And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses:
And they were purified, and washed their garments. And Aaron lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them, That being purified they might go into the tabernacle of the covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons. As the Lord had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: This is the law of the Levites: From twenty-five years old and upwards, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they shall have accomplished the fiftieth year of their age, they shall cease to serve: And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the tabernacle of the covenant, to keep the things that are committed to their care, but not to do the works. Thus shalt thou order the Levites touching their charge. (Num. 8:5-26)
The shadow of the priesthood of Christ is pointed out by Luke, then, in having Jesus perform the ritual ceremonies of the Levitical Law: And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. (Luke 2:39) In this sense, so there is no disjunction, Luke omits the visit of the Wisemen (cf. Matt. 2:1ff) and the flight into Egypt (Matt. 2:13ff). Rather, Luke then turns to the second ritual, the Passover sacrifice: And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch (Luke 2:41)
The second ritual was the celebration of the Passover, meaning, the re-enactment the first Passover:
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year. Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses. But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb. And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year: according to which rite also you shall take a kid. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire: you shall eat the head with the feet and entrails thereof. Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If there be any thing left, you shall burn it with fire. And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat in haste: for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord. (Exod. 12:1-11)
And this day shall be for a memorial to you: and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord in your generations with an everlasting observance. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread: in the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses: whosoever shall eat any thing leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish out of Israel. The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be kept with the like solemnity: you shall do no work in them, except those things that belong to eating. And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread: for in this same day I will bring forth your army out of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day in your generations by a perpetual observance. The first month, the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the same month in the evening. Seven days there shall not be found any leaven in your houses: he that shall eat leavened bread, his soul shall perish out of the assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. You shall not eat any thing leavened: in all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread. (Exod. 12:14-20)
And when you have entered into the land which the Lord will give you as he hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies. And when your children shall say to you: What is the meaning of this service? You shall say to them: It is the victim of the passage of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and saving our houses. (Exod. 12:25-27)
And Moses said to the people: Remember this day in which you came forth out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place: that you eat no leavened bread. This day you go forth in the month of new corn. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this manner of sacred rites in this month. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be the solemnity of the Lord. Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days: there shall not be seen any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: This is what the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before thy eyes: and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to days. (Exod. 13:3-10)
The Passover, then, consisted of
10 Nisan The choice of a lamb to be the sacrificial victim.
13 Nisan The search for leavened bread. No unleavened bread is permitted from the 14 Nisan until the 22 Nisan.
14 Nisan Preparation of Passover Meal, slaughter of lamb.
15 Nisan As the 15th Nisan begins at sunset the evening before, the Passover Meal would, by present day understanding, be held the evening before. The day would commemorate the Passover and deliverance from Egyptian servitude that was to last seven days.
21 Nisan Last day of Passover.
This has been discussed in connection with the lamb and bread as typical of the Holy Eucharist, but here the Passover in relation to the Last Supper and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist will be covered more in depth.
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The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
M. F. Toal
THE GOSPEL OF THE SUNDAY
JOHN X. 11-I6
At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf corning and leaveth the sheep, and flieth: and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
EXPOSITION FROM THE CATENA AUREA
V. 13. And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling . . .
The sole reason therefore why the hireling takes flight is because he is a hireling. It is as though He said: To stand fast amid the dangers that threaten the sheep is not to be looked for from one who while he pastures the sheep yet does not love them, but thinks only of worldly gain. And so he is fearful of withstanding dangers lest he lose what he loves.
AUGUSTINE, Tr. 46 in John: But if the Apostles were not hirelings, but shepherds, why did they fly when they suffered persecution? And the Lord saying: And when they shall persecute you in this city: flee into another (Mt. x. 23)? May the Lord fittingly answer this question? Let us knock; there is one Who openeth the door. AUGUSTINE ad Honoratus, Ep. 108: Let the servants of Christ, the ministers of His Word, and of His sacraments, flee from city to city whenever one of them is especially sought for by persecutors; but so that the Church is not abandoned by those who are not thus pursued. But when the danger is common to all, that is, to bishops and clergy and to the laity, let those who need the help of others be not abandoned by those whose help they need. Therefore, either let all pass over to a place of safety, or else let those who must of necessity remain be not abandoned by those through whom their need for the rites of the Church are to be fulfilled.
The ministers of the Church, therefore, must then fly, under pressure of persecution, from those places in which we dwell when there is either no people of Christ there to whom we must minister, or when the needed ministry can be fulfilled by others who have not the same reason for flight. But when the people remain, and the ministers take to flight, and their ministry is withdrawn, what then have we but that condemnable flight of hirelings who have no care for the sheep.
AUGUSTINE, Tr. 46: Among the good are numbered the door, the doorkeeper, the shepherd, and the sheep. Among the wicked, thieves and robbers, hirelings, and the wolf. AUGUSTINE, Serm. 137, 5: The shepherd must be loved, we must beware of the robber, and suffer the hireling. As long as he sees not the wolf, the thief, or the robber, so long is the hireling of use. But should he see them he flies.
AUGUSTINE, Tr. 47: Nor is he called a hireling unless he receives payment from the one who hires him. Sons patiently wait for the eternal inheritance of the Father. The hireling is impatient for the temporal wage of his hirer. Yet the divine glory of Christ is made known to men through the tongues of both the one and the other. He therefore docs injury, not when he tells good tidings, but when He does what is evil. Gather the grape cluster; beware of the thorn. For the clusters, growing up from the root of the vine, sometimes hang amid thorns. For many within the Church preach Christ, while pursuing earthly gain; and yet through them the voice of Christ is heard, and the sheep follow: not indeed the voice of the hireling, but the voice of the shepherd spoken through the hireling.
V. 14. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me.
CHRYSOSTOM, Hom. in John 60: Having pointed out the marks of the true shepherd the Lord indicates two kinds of plunderers: the one a thief, who kills and robs, the other who does not prevent such things. By the one He refers to certain seditious persons; by the other he reproves the teachers of the Jews, who care nothing for the flocks entrusted to them. But from both Christ has distinguished Himself: from those who come to plunder by saying: I am come that they may have life (verse 10); from those who make nothing of the robbery of the wolves, by this that He laid down His life for His sheep. And so summing up, as it were, He continues: I am the good shepherd.
But because just before He had said that the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, and follow him, so that no one may say: What then of those who do not believe in You? He goes on to add: And I know mine, and mine know me. This Paul also makes evident, saying: God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew (Rom. xi. 2).
GREGORY: As if He openly declared: I love my sheep, and they loving Me follow Me. For he who loves not the truth is yet far from knowing it. THEOPHYLACTUS: From this you may seek out the difference between the shepherd and the hireling. For the hireling does not know the sheep: for he rarely visits them. But the shepherd knows his sheep, being ever concerned for them.
V. 15. As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father . . .
CHRYSOSTOM, as above: Then so that you may not consider the measure of the knowledge between Christ and His sheep to be equal He adds: As the Father knoweth . . . As though saying: I indeed know Him as He knows Me. Here there is equality of knowing. There there is not; for He continues: and I lay down tny life for my sheep.
GREGORY: As though openly saying: It is agreed that I know the Father, and am known by the Father, because I lay down my life for my sheep; that is, I show how much I love the Father by the love through which I die for my sheep. CHRYSOSTOM: He also says this to show that He is not an impostor. For the Apostle likewise, when he wished to show that he was a true teacher, brought forward, as proof against the false apostles, his stripes and his deaths (II Cor. xi. 23).
THEOPHYLACTUS: For the corrupters of the faith do not expose their lives for their flocks, but like the hirelings they abandon those who followed them. But the Lord, that these latter might not be taken, said: Let these go their way (Jn. xviii. 8).
V. 16. And other sheep I have, that are not . . .
GREGORY: Because He had come to redeem not alone the Jews but also the people of the Gentiles, He adds: And other sheep I have etc.
AUGUSTINE, serm, 138; 5: For He had been speaking to the first fold of the family of the fleshly Israel. But there were others of the family of the faith of this Israel, and they were without; they were among the Gentiles, predestined, not yet gathered in. They are not therefore of this fold; because they are not of the family of the fleshly Israel. But they shall be of this fold, for there follows: Them also I must bring.
CHRYSOSTOM: He shows that both were scattered, and without shepherds. There follows: And they shall hear my voice. As if to say: Why wonder if these shall follow Me, and hear My voice, when you shall see those others follow Me, and listening to My voice? Then He foretells their future union: And there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
GREGORY: As though from the two flocks He has made one sheepfold; for He has joined the Jewish and the Gentile peoples together in faith in Him. THEOPHYLACTUS: For the seal of baptism is the same on all: One Shepherd, the Word of God. Let the Manicheans therefore pay heed: since One is the Fold, and One the Shepherd, of both the Old and the New Testament.
AUGUSTINE, Tr. 47: What means then: I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel (Mt. xv. 24), if not that only to the Jewish people does He reveal His bodily presence? To the Gentiles however He does not Himself go; but He sends.
CHRYSOSTOM: The word must here does not mean necessity; but is indicative of that which shall truly come to pass.
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April 26
SS. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes and Martyrs
ST. CLETUS was the third bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman mass, (which Bossuet and all others agree to be of primitive antiquity,) Bede, and other Martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, on the Vatican, and his relics still remain in that church.
St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Caius in the bishopric of Rome, in 296, about the time that Dioclesian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honours. Theodoret says, that in those stormy times of persecution, Marcellinus acquired great glory. He sat in St. Peter’s chair eight years, three months, and twenty-five days, dying in 304, a year after the cruel persecution broke out, in which he gained much honour. He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not shed in the cause of religion, as appears from the Liberian Calendar, which places him among those popes that were not put to death for the faith.
It is a fundamental maxim of the Christian morality, and a truth which Christ has established in the clearest terms, and in innumerable passages of the gospel, that the cross, or sufferings and mortification, are the road to eternal bliss. They, therefore, who lead not here a crucified and mortified life, are unworthy ever to possess the unspeakable joys of his kingdom. Our Lord himself, our model and our head, walked in this path, and his great apostle puts us in mind that he entered into bliss only by his blood and by the cross. Nevertheless, this is a truth which the world can never understand, how clearly soever it be preached by Christ, and recommended by his powerful example, and that of his martyrs and of all the saints. Christians still pretend, by the joys and pleasures of this world, to attain to the bliss of heaven, and shudder at the very mention of mortification, penance, or sufferings. So prevalent is this fatal error, which self-love and the example and false maxims of the world strongly fortify in the minds of many, that those who have given themselves to God with the greatest fervour, are bound always to stand upon their guard against it, and daily to renew their fervour in the love and practice of penance, and to arm themselves with patience against sufferings, lest the weight of the corruption of our nature, the pleasures of sense, and flattering blandishments of the world, draw them aside, and make them leave the path of mortification, or lose courage under its labours, and under the afflictions with which God is pleased to purify them, and afford them means of sanctifying themselves.
(Butler’s Lives of the Saints)
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Good Morning,
Boys and Girls!
REV. THOMAS J. HOSTY, M.A., S.T.B.
(1952)
CATERPILLARS
GOOD MORNING, BOYS AND GIRLS!
How many of you have ever seen a caterpillar? Aren’t they queer looking? They look something like a worm, or a tiny little snake. I remember one day in the park, when I was lying under a tree, one dropped down on my face. When I saw what it was, did I brush it off in a hurry! Can you blame me? No one likes caterpillars, especially those long green ones, because they’re so ugly. But I’ll tell you a strange thing about them.
When wintertime comes, they curl themselves up into a tiny ball, and go sound asleep. While they’re sleeping, God wraps them up in a little bag, just as your Mother tucks you under the covers in bed, after you’re asleep. That little bag that the caterpillar sleeps in is a cocoon. It looks something like a nut, only it’s got a dry, soft cover. All during the winter the caterpillar sleeps. Then when springtime comes, he wakes up, yawns, and gets out of the cocoon.
But a wonderful thing has happened! He is no longer a worm that has to crawl along the ground and be always watching out for fear someone might step on him. Who can tell me what he is now? That’s right! He is now a beautiful butterfly, with brightly colored wings that help him fly wherever he wants to go. People don’t hate him anymore. Everyone thinks that butterflies are wonderful. That’s why we chase after butterflies, to try and catch them.
Boys and girls, I know that this is going to surprise you when I tell you that you and I are like caterpillars, in some ways. Of course, I don’t mean that we are as bad looking as they are! Just the same, very few people go out of their way to be kind to us—in fact, they seem to like to step on us. Our bodies are troubled with sickness, and they’re an awful bother to us. But some day we’re going to go to sleep, too, just like the caterpillar. I don’t mean just for a few hours, as we do when we go to bed at night. I mean for a long, long time—maybe for thousands of years. That will be the day we die. We’ll be taken to a place called a cemetery, and then we’ll be left there. Maybe some of you have someone in your family in the cemetery already. Many, many years from now (no one knows exactly when, except our Lord), this world will come to an end, and everyone in the cemetery will wake up. But what a difference there will be in us then!
Our bodies will shine like the sun—they’ll be able to go faster than the swiftest airplane—they’ll never suffer sickness or pain again—they’ll never get tired. We’ll be happy forever and ever!
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Yet, it is true. Our Lord told us so Himself. To prove that He wasn’t fooling, that He really meant it, our Lord did it first Himself, Easter Sunday is the day that our Lord proved it, by rising from the dead. Aren’t you glad He kept His word?
Of course, everyone isn’t going to wake up as a butterfly. Some people are going to wake up and still be like caterpillars. Do you know who they are? They are the people who don’t do what God wants them to do while they live on this earth. But I know that none of you children are going to wake up like caterpillars. You’re too smart. You’re always going to try to do what God wants you to do. After all, who wants to be like a caterpillar forever!
HALLOWEEN
GOOD MORNING, BOYS AND GIRLS!
Who can tell me what day next Sunday is?
That’s right—it’s Halloween!
How I used to love Halloween when I was your age I had four brothers and four sisters, and we used to dress up in each other’s clothes (that is, the younger ones in the family), and try to surprise our friends. I’ll never forget, either, the fun we had at home, ducking for apples. You put some nice, juicy, red apples into a big tub of water, and then you had to keep your hands behind your back and pick an apple out of the water with just your teeth. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. Half the time you would end up with a mouthful of water, instead of an apple. To make it more interesting, nickels and dimes were put in some of the apples. It was heartbreaking to half drown yourself, plucking one of the apples out of the tub, and then discover that you had drawn a blank.
Of course, there was a great deal more excitement on Halloween than just ducking for apples. Some of the boys (yes, and some of the girls, too) used to soap up store windows—but not me! I was lucky that I was even using soap on my neck and ears then. And it goes without saying that I never rang the doorbell of any of the neighborhood “crabs,” just so they would chase me. The people on our block claimed there was someone who looked just like me who used to do it, though.
But I think we used to have the most fun of all by wearing false faces. (Don’t believe it if anyone from my old neighborhood tells you that I was always very popular around Halloween, because everyone wanted to borrow my face!) We’d go around with our false faces, and no one would recognize us. And were they spooky looking! They had Frankenstein and Dracula wiped off the map when it came to terrible looks. People who didn’t like me claimed that I forgot to take my false face off when Halloween was over—that I was wearing a false face all year.
All joking aside, boys and girls, some children are always wearing false faces. They’re always pretending to be something that they are not. When Sister is watching them in school, they pretend to be angels—but as soon as her back is turned, or if she happens to leave the room for a few minutes, they change completely.
It’s the same way in church—if Sister or one of the priests is looking at them, they pretend to be very holy, and they would never dare to talk. But as soon as they think they are not being watched, they immediately start talking and laughing.
Some girls are very sweet to the priests and Sisters, but when they are at home, they are “sassy” to their own Mother and Dad. Some boys are very neat and clean when they come to school, or when they are serving as altar boys, but at home their room always looks as though a tornado had gone through it, and it’s like pulling teeth to get them to wash their hands and face, even before they sit down to eat their lunch or dinner.
Some boys and girls are very obedient to their Mother and Dad, when company is visiting their home, and they never, never talk back to their parents. But when the company leaves, they’re just the opposite. When their Mother asks them to do some work around the house, they pretend to be working very hard, as long as their Mother is watching them. But the minute their Mother takes her eyes off them, they start taking it easy. They make such a fuss if their folks ask them to do something that Mother and Dad end up by doing it themselves.
Some boys and girls pretend to be very nice to other boys and girls, when they are with them, but as soon as their backs are turned (or the other boys and girls are not around) they begin to talk about them. Grownups have a big word that describes people who are always wearing false faces—call them hypocrites.
Boys and girls, let’s say a prayer this morning that there won’t be a single one in our school who will be wearing any kind of a false face after Halloween is over!
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Father Krier will possibly be in Albuquerque May 1 and Los Angeles May 5. He will be in Pahrump May 14 and Eureka on May 21.
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