Third Sunday in Lent – 3rd March 2013

Dear Readers,

My name is Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, Independent Old Catholic Church (IOCC) of Africa, operating in South Africa, and also creator of this blog.  My background was that of a liberal Catholic Priest, and a Traditional Catholic Priest in South Africa, and then an independent Priest in the Catholic tradition.  I was incardinated into the IOCC by Archbishop-Primate Emeritus Maurice McCormick founder of the IOCC of America.  

IOCC of America

Primate Archbishop George Le Mesurier,  IOCC of America
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
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IOCC of Africa

Bishop George Otieno Odhiambo, IOCC of Africa

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Saint Titus IOCC South Africa

Saint Titus IOCC Newsletter

Father. Franz Devantier, IOCC South Africa

  

In nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spititus Sancti.  Amen   (In the name of the father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen. )

Third Sunday in Lent – 3^rd March 2013 (Colour of Celebration - Violet)

Traditional Catholics:

We see Jesus today in open conflict with Satan and his works.  So also during Lent, which is a time when the struggle against the old man is more intense, should we “Live as children of the light”, performing actions good, just and true.

Liberal Catholics:

Intent for this Sunday:  Understanding.

Roman Catholics: (Eight Sunday of the year)

The Lord has been my strength; he has led me into freedom.  He saved me because he loves me.

Commemoration of the Saints

Mar 4^th: St. Casimir, (Confessor):  St. Casimir, son of Casimir III, King of Poland, led an angelic life and excelled in love for the poor and great devotion to the Blessed Virgin.  He practiced the most heroic virtues amid the dangers of his father’s court.  He died in A.D. 1483.

March 6^th:  SS. Perpetua and Felicity (Martyrs).

March 7^th:  St. Thomas Aquinas, (Confessor, Doctor of the Church).

March 8^th:  St. John of God, (Confessor).

Announcements:

·         We are still collecting names for submission as Marriage officers, under Saint Titus.  If you would like to become a marriage officer under Saint Titus, then please contact Fr. Franz  devantierf@gmail.com

• On Thursday, at 8 p.m. in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI, will become the first retired pontiff in 598 years. The leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the globe will leave his seat at the ornate Apostolic Palace and retire to a former gardener's house at the Vatican to lead a life of prayer, likely removed entirely from public life.  Unfortunately, the ongoing scandals concerned with Gay Sexual offenders in the Priesthood around the globe, continue to dominate the publicity, and the Pope ‘s status of Emeritus Pope seems to be taking a back seat.

·       We are grateful to Pope Benedict XVI for bringing back the extraordinary form of the mass, as it was performed in 1962, prior to the second Vatican council.  This mass is also known as the Tridentine Mass.   

Sacred References:

Peter, chapter 3, starting from 8^th verse.

John, chapter 8, starting at the 3^rd verse.

Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 1-9.

Luke, chapter 11, verse 14-28.

Ecclesiasticus chapter 27, verses 4-7.

Corinthians chapter 15, verses 54-58.

Luke chapter 6, verses 39-45.

Homily:

“Lectio Divina” means the prayerful reading of the scriptures.  This is how we should be reading the scriptures, so that we can play with the ideas presented in them, and make the lessons presented in them, part of ourselves.

We see the Pharisees approaching Jesus, accompanied by a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  The question they presented to Jesus the Christ was a trick question, because out of this, they would have tried to condemn him as a teacher and a leader.  They presented the Law of Moses to Jesus concerning the regulations of how a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death.

Jesus was faced with this difficult question, if he agreed that the best way to approach this problem was to follow the law, he would have implied that he had no compassion for this sister in this terrible situation.  If he stood up and protected this woman, he would have gone against the law of Moses, and so discredited himself as a teacher of the scriptures.

Imagine that you were in such a moral dilemma.  You were faced with two choices in your life situation.  If you chose “A”, you would appear to be a person without compassion for their fellow beings.  If you chose “B”, you would discredit yourself in front of your friends and colleagues, and everybody else who would ever come into contact with you.  Which would you choose?

If we look at this question in another way; In this earthly plain where we are living out our allotted time on this earth, we are faced with this question.  Take either this option or that option, there are no other options.  Each option will lead to you being discredited as a person in your personnel life and in your professional life.  There really seems to be no way out of this dilemma.  There is limited time left to answer this question, because as in the case of Jesus, the Pharisees could at any time assume that by not answering he had tacitly chosen either one of the two options.  This tacit compliance would have born the full result of having actively chosen one or the other option.  So the possibility of continuing indefinitely in indecision was not available.

Yet there is another approach to this problem which seemingly has no positive solution.  We are not dealing with purely physical things here, we have access to the Divine.  In other words we have access to things on a higher level or plane that have the power to put the whole question into another context.  Having access to this higher plane enables us to see the question for what it really is, and enable us to answer the question in such a way, that we don’t need to go down either of the two paths.

In this case Jesus was able to address the people who had approached him with this question, which meant that the question that was asked was no longer of importance, but the question of why they had asked him this question was exposed.  As the questioner was faced with the reality of having their motives exposed, they withdraw from the situation, and rendered the question a non-issue.  In fact by withdrawing, they had strengthened the validity of the work of Jesus the Christ, and put themselves in a position of further disrespect.   

Jesus simply said to the Pharisees.  “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.  One by one the Pharisees realized that they were not without sin.  So the whole process of trying to bring about the punishment of somebody who could not deny that they had sinned, became meaningless.  By throwing a stone at this woman, would have exposed the Pharisees for what they were, people such as ourselves;  People who although they had tried to live a life devoid of sin, and not managed to reach that goal.  All of their sins would have eventually been exposed had they continued with the exercise.  Eventually the woman was vindicated of the crime, because there was nobody left to accuse her.  Jesus had answered this impossible question, in such a way that had the opposite effect to what was expected.

So the lesson that we can learn here, is that things that seem to have no possible positive outcome can be turned around.  If we apply a higher perspective to it, we may recognise the answer that we had been looking for.  The lesson is to reach up to your higher self, to reach up to the Divine, to reach up to God, because that is where the solution lies.  Jesus had reached up to Divine, the woman had been brought to higher wisdom unwillingly, and the Pharisees had come to the Divine for the wrong reasons.  All of the players in this story received an answer from the divine.

Benediction:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, Christ our Lord; and the Blessing of God almighty, the Father, + the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Love,

Rev. Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, IOCC, South Africa,

devantierf@gmail.com

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