MOST HOLY TRINITY PARISH
10,000 PHEASANT RD.
EL PASO, TEXAS 79924
FR. TOM O’MAHONY, PASTOR
FR. PAUL D. O’TOOLE, ASSOCIATE
PARISH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECTORY
AND CHURCH – 751-2566 751-6416
CCD OFFICE AND PARISH HALL
757-1693
PARISH OFFICE HOURS: PARISH SECRETARY:
MON-FRI 8:30-5:00 P.M. MRS. VIRGINIA REYNOLDS
FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD JANUARY 9, 1983
SATURDAY EVENING MASSES 5:30 p.m. (fulfills Sun. obligation)
SUNDAY MASSES 7:30 9:00 10:30 12:00 and 6:00 p.m.
WEEKDAY MASSES (MON-FRI) 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.; Sat. 8:00 a.m.
HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION 8:00 and 10:00 a.m.; 6:00 p.m.
SACRAMENT OF PENANCE Sat. 2:00-4:00 & 6:30-8:30 p.m.
FIRST FRIDAY: 9:30-9:55 a.m.; 5:30-5:55 p.m.
SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Twice monthly. Arrangements must be
made in advance at rectory.
PERPETUAL NOVENA IN HONOR OF OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. followed by Benediction.
Rosary is publicly recited each Sun. before the 10:30 a.m. mass.
“Moral corruption and self-indulgence in pleasure” are bringing some groups of people under the dominion of Satan.” — Pope Paul VI (1972)
“Religious instruction should lead students to see MARY as singularly blessed and relevant to their own lives and needs. Following venerable Christian tradition, as continued in the Second Vatican Council, the teacher should explain the special place of the VIRGIN MARY in the history of salvation and in the Church.
“The EVER-VIRGIN MOTHER OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND GOD, she is in the Church in a place highest after Christ, and also is very close to us as OUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER…. The special veneration due to MARY — THE MOTHER OF CHRIST, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH, OUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER — should be taught by word and example.
— BASIC TEACHINGS FOR CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION N. 24 (U.S. Bishops – January 11, 1973).
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THE SACRED READINGS (C)- Isaiah 42, 1-4 and 6-7:
(a) Isaiah was born in or near Jerusalem about 765 B.C. and received his prophetic mission from God about 740 B.C. According to scholars, his writing ranks among the world’s great literary masterpieces. He is praised as a highly gifted poet and master of a majestic prose style, capable of sustained brilliancy of style, highlighted by a gift of magnificent imagery. He was also a theologian of no mean attainments and a very holy man.
According to the traditional view, he is the author of the entire book. However, since the end of the 18th Century and especially since the turn of the 19th Century, some scholars maintain that Chapters 40-55 are the work of the “remnant” of the Israelites from the captivity of Babylon; while Chapters 56-66, they say, were written by another unknown Jew after the Jews had returned to Palestine in 538 B.C.
This dispute does not affect the inspiration of the work as it is the infallible Bible, which made this judgment.
(b) Chapters 40-55 are very famous as they contain the four well-known oracles called “The Servant Songs” because they speak of a “Servant of Yahweh”, who was humble, obedient and a suffering servant. From the N.T. we know that this “Servant” was Christ Himself. Hence they are Messianic prophecies.
Chapters 40-55 are also known as the “Book of Consolation” since Chapter 40 begins with these touching words: “Console My People, console them.”
(c) Today’s reading is from the first of the four Songs. The others are to be found in Chapters 49, 1-7; 50, 4-11; 52, 13-53, 12.
This first Son presents God’s servant (Christ), defines His mission, and describes how, unlike oriental despots, He will work patiently, quietly, meekly and constantly to do God’s will.
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(d) “A bruised reed He shall not break and a smoldering wick He shall not quench” — a reed of this kind is of no use, while such a wick is obnoxious. The reference here is to God’s mercy and kindness as shown by Christ. See Matthew 12, 15-21 where this passage of Isaiah is referred to Christ, who had such pity on the sick, especially those spiritually ill, who are represented by the reed and wick above.
“He shall bring forth justice to the nations” — “Justice” in biblical language had the meanings “contained in the concepts of judgment and righteousness” (McKenzie, DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE). The righteousness as conferred by Christ is deliverance from sin and life in the Spirit (see Romans 5, 16 and 6, 18f), and so is not just the moral rectitude acquired by observance of the Mosaic Law.
“Nations” — the Gentiles. Of course, the Jews are also included.
“Covenant to the people” — Christ would establish a new covenant, a new pact between God and mankind.
“The coastlands will wait for His teaching” — These were the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Matthew 12, 17-21 cites this prophecy as fulfilled in his day.
“Servant” — is an honorary title like “chosen”.
“Uphold” — implies support and attachment.
- Acts 10, 34-38:
(a) The Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke, a Gentile convert and companion of St. Paul. It covers the first thirty-three years of the Church’s life immediately following the Ascension.
Today’s Second Reading is an introduction to the first speech of St. Peter, addressed to Cornelius and his friends. The message of the epiphany, namely, that Christ came to save all men without exception. The fact that Peter entered the house of a Gentile is significant in itself, since the Old Law forbade this (see Verse 28 of this chapter).
“God ANOINTED Him with the Holy Spirit and Power” — to anoint had a special meaning in the Bible. In the O.T. only Kings and later priests were anointed by having oil poured over their heads. This ritual signified that they had received from God an office or special mission toward others. This is why Our Divine Lord is called Jesus Christ, because “Christ” means “anointed”. Jesus’ mission was our salvation. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove at Christ’s baptism indicated that He was anointed or specially commissioned by God. That is why Peter says that He was “anointed… with the Holy Spirit”. “Power” in the above text refers to Christ’s power to work miracles.
(c) What is meant by saying that Christ’s message to us is “the good news of peace”? Peace in sacred scripture always means reconciliation with God, and, as a consequence, reconciliation with our fellowmen. Note that Pope Paul VI made reconciliation of this kind the theme of the Holy Year.
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Its result will be peace on earth. There is no other road to peace, unless one is willing to call the police-state or concentration camp a haven of peace.
3. Luke 3, 15-16 and 21-22:
(a) Today marks the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of the “Sundays of the Year” or “Sundays in Ordinary Time”.
(b)This is an important event because it marks the beginning of the public life of Christ. Why did Christ delay it for thirty years? Because Jewish custom demanded that a teacher of religion (a rabbi) had to reach full manhood before he assumed such an office.
St. Peter (Acts 1, 21) refers to the baptism in the Jordan River as marking the beginning of Christ’s public life: “We must choose someone who has been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was traveling around with us, someone who was with us right from the time of the baptism by John.” (JERUSALEM BIBLE).
(c) It is obvious that John recognized Jesus when he saw Him on the banks of the River Jordan, since they were related through their mothers. Did the Baptist know that Jesus was the Messiah? Obviously, since he didn’t want to baptize Christ, declaring that their roles should be reversed. Please note that this baptism of John was NOT a sacrament, but a ritualistic expression of repentance. By being submerged in the river the sinner symbolically expressed his death to sin by interior repentance.
Our Divine Master told John that it was the will of God (“righteousness”) that He undergo this rite. In this way He expressed His solidarity with our sinful race, whom He had come to save.
(d) When did the Dove appear? Was it seen by others and the voice heard? We find that biblical scholars are divided in their answers to this question. Some say that since it is quite obvious from the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) that it was AFTER He had come out of the river that the dove appeared, Christ was alone at this time.
It is difficult, however, to see how such a view can be reconciled with the account given in the gospel of John 1, 29-34, where it is related that the Baptist says he saw the dove. St. Mark 1, 10 identifies this dove with the Holy Spirit: ” and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove”.
The symbolism here is that just as the Spirit hovered over the waters at the Creation of the world (see Genesis 1, 2), so now He hovers over Him who is to bring about a new creation, making us Children of God.
Remember that in the Second Reading Peter said that Jesus was. “anointed with the Holy Spirit”, meaning that He was given a special commission by God to mankind.
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(e) “You are My Beloved Son. On you My favor rests”: By these words the Father proclaims Jesus to be the “servant” prophesied by Isaiah.
Why the change from “servant” to “son”? At the time the gospels were written Christ’s Divinity was clearly established, and it was easy to change “servant” into “son” since the Greek word “pais” has both meanings. Mark’s gospel, by the way, was written in Greek.
(f) On February 21, 1972 the Vatican Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith, under the prefects hip of Cardinal Seper, issued a Declaration which was ratified,confirmed, and ordered published by Paul VI. In this which was ratified, confirmed, and ordered published by Paul VI. In this document the Holy See pointed out that the great error of our times is over-emphasis on Christ’s humanity at the expense of His divinity. This conditions the mind to accept the ultimate heresy that Christ was a mere man, a great social reformer, who possessed only a presence of God within On the other hand, Catholic doctrine, solemnly defined, teaches To attribute to Him doubt, that Christ is a divine person with two natures. Uncertainty about His mission, lack of knowledge of who He was, is implicitly to admit heresy. The gospels are quite clear in this. They show Him as always master of the situation and always conscious of His identity.
Unfortunately some Catholic biblical scholars and theologians have fallen into this error by embracing the false tenets of Modernism. In their view Christ only became aware that He was the Messiah at His Baptism in the Jordan when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and the Father pro- claimed who He (Christ) was.
No Catholic may hold or teach this heretical view, even though it appears in some of the so-called Catholic catechisms published in this country since Vatican II.
REFLECTIONS:
1. Jesus, the Son of God, came on earth to save us. In His human nature, His human acts and words, He is a revelation to us of God. In Him, therefore, we see the compassion God has for us, that He is our best friend. Being God He alone knows the road to perfection and has given us a road- Lest we make mistakes, He founded a Church, infallible in her Magisterium, so that we can at all times know for certain what we map to follow must do to be saved. Isn’t it obvious, therefore, that it is only an exercise of plain common-sense that we follow this Divine Teacher, who has promised to help us on our journey?
In the light of these truths a life of sin (selfishness) is seen as the height of folly, as we are really pitting our weak and finite intellects against infinite wisdom.
2. The baptism of Christ was a symbol of that other baptism to which He referred in Luke 12, 50: “I have a baptism to be baptized with”, meaning His death on Calvary. In submerging Himself in the Jordan waters Jesus symbolized this saving death and by rising from the waters He symbolized His Resurrection.
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Our sacrament of baptism is a combination of the symbol and the thing symbolized. We die to sin in the waters of baptism and rise again as sharers in the Resurrection. Our sins are removed and a new life, divine life (sanctifying grace) is given us.
Romans 6, 3-5: “Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Through baptism into His death we were buried with Him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might have new life. If we have been united with Him through likeness to His death, so shall we be through a like resurrection.
Finally, when the time comes for us to leave this world, we will again die with Christ and, if faithful, will rise with Him to the glory of the Blessed in Heaven.
3. Because by baptism we share in the Divine life and are incorporated as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we too are Servants of Yahweh (God), and like Christ, our Head, our duty is to “bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah) by improving the world we live in.
This we accomplish by rectifying our own lives, bringing them into conformity with God’s; by a holy life of prayer and penance, which will drawn down on sinful men the graces of repentance; by good example, and by taking a prudent interest in politics so that through legislative means God’s law will be enshrined in the laws of the county.
4. The Responsorial Psalm gives us a clue to the theme of the Sacred Readings. Today we have Psalm 29, which is a magnificent hymn of praise of the majesty and omnipotence of God. In spite of the sins and opposition of men, He is the Lord of History.
How comforting it is to know that we are always in the hands of so powerful a God and united to Him in so intimate a fashion through sanctifying grace!
Let us praise Him always by frequent recitation of the “Glory Be” and show our belief in these attributes by a great confidence in Him amidst the trials of life.
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FOR YOUR INFOMATION:
THE HOLY MASS (CONTINUED)
VIII
CALVARY, THE LAST SUPPER AND THE MASS:
It is a known fact that many Catholics do not have a proper understanding of the Consecration of the Mass and, as a result, fail to appreciate the stupendous action which is performed by Christ through the human priest. Moreover, since many modern catechetical texts call the Mass a sacred “meal”, the Communion service has taken the place of honor, so to speak, in the minds of young people. As a consequence, the Consecration is looked upon as merely the means by which the Body and Blood of Christ are supplied for this Communion Service. Now, this is a false notion of the mass, and so it must be stressed over and over again that the Mass is primarily a sacrifice, which takes place at the Consecration – a re-offering by Christ of the sacrifice He made on Calvary. The communion service belongs to the integrity of the Mass, not its essence. Unless this is clearly understood people will never appreciate the tremendous gift Christ gave us.
On Calvary Christ offered a true and proper sacrifice, in which He was both priest and victim. Because He was a divine person, who assumed a human nature, His sacrifice freely accepted (“I lay down My life of Myself and no man taketh it from Me”) gave God infinite homage, adoration, praise and thanksgiving, infinite gratitude for favors received, made infinite satisfaction for sin, and was also infinite in its impetratory value. Since Christ was a member of our race and offered this sacrifice for all mankind, we now share in its fruits.
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It was at the Last Supper that Christ instituted the mass, which was to be a true and proper sacrifice available to us till the end of time, and which would be specifically the same as Calvary, of which it would be a re-offering. Though Christ had not yet died, the Last Supper was a true sacrifice because the two essential elements of sacrifice were present: His interior act of oblation (the offering of Himself to God) and the externalization or materialization of this act of immolation. On Calvary this immolation was physical, at the Last Supper and in the mass it is sacramental and mystical. Through the consecration the bread became His Body and the wine His Blood, and these were spatially separated on the altar, thereby signifying the death of the Victim on Calvary.
The Mass, therefore, is the Last Supper as well as Calvary. It is a true and proper sacrifice, specifically the same as Calvary, in that both victim and principle priest are the same, yet numerically distinct in that each mass is a re-offering of Calvary by the will and power of Christ.
Paul VI tells us that by each mass “the sacrifice of Calvary” is rendered sacramentally present on our altars”. “Sacramentally” means that through the sacred signs of bread and wine Christ “efficaciously makes present not only the same victim and priest of Calvary, but the same salvific gesture which God worked in Christ” (L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO, January 10, 1969, p. 11, quoting Fr. Elisio Ruffim). In his encyclical on THE SACRED LITURGY issued on November 20, 1947 Pope Pius XII stated: “The sublime sacrifice on the altar is, therefore, not a mere and simple commemoration of the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, but a true and proper sacrifice by which, through an unbloody immolation, the High Priest does the same thing which once He accomplished on the Cross, offering Himself to the Eternal Father as a most acceptable victim. The victim is one and the same, and the same (Christ) is now offering by the ministry of His priests, who then offered Himself on the Cross; the difference is only in the manner of offering” (N. 86).
In substance, then, the mass is the same as the sacrifice of Calvary. The same priest, Jesus Christ, offers Himself in each mass to His Father by the ministry of a human priest. The same victim is present on the altar at the consecration under the spatially separated appearances of bread and wine, which are the sacred signs of His real and physical immolation (death) on Calvary. These sacred signs (called sacraments) are necessary precisely because Christ is no longer visible and the bloody immolation of Calvary is past. Here is the explanation of Pope Pius XII: “On the Cross He wholly offered Himself and all His sufferings to God: and the oblation (offering) of the victim was effected by a bloody death, offered by His free will (immolation).
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But, on the altar, because of the glorified state of His human nature ‘death has no more power over Him’ (Romans 6, 9) and, therefore, the shedding of His Blood is not possible. But yet, according to the plan of divine wisdom, the sacrifice of Our Redeemer is shown in a certain wonderful way by means of external signs, which are the indications of death. Because, through the transubstantiation of the bread into His Body and of the wine into His Blood; just as His Body itself is made present, so is His Blood; and the Eucharistic species (appearances), under which He is present, signify the bloody separation of His Body and Blood. Therefore, the commemorative showing-forth of His death, which itself took place on Calvary, is repeated in each and every sacrifice of the altar, because through these signs of separation Jesus Christ is signified and shown in the state of victim”
(ibid, N. 88).
In concluding this part we should mention the Protestant objection that the mass cannot be a sacrifice since in Hebrews 10, 10-18 it is declared that Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was of infinite value and no further sacrifice is needed. The Catholic Church also holds that no other sac- rifice than Calvary is necessary. The Mass, she tells us, is specifically the same sacrifice as Calvary (the same victim, the same high priest), but each Mass is numerically distinct from Calvary, because at the consecration Christ re-offers (makes a new offering) of the same sacrifice He made on Calvary.
IX
THE PRIEST: WHAT IS HE?
In several documents of Vatican II we find frequent references to the priest as acting “in persona Christi” (in the person of Christ). This is a technical formula and expresses clearly the specific way in which the priest acts in his ministerial functions. Therefore, a study of this formula is necessary in order to understand the ministerial priesthood.
It was St. Thomas Acquinas who made this formula a classical one. He uses it in connection with the following text from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians: “It was God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and He has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.” (5, 18-20). Here the apostle is telling the Corinthians that God is speaking through Paul’s mouth and thus through Paul is reconciling men to Himself.
Priests, then, are “ambassadors for Christ”, they speak in His name. But their role is not limited to speech; they act in Christ’s name, not only when they exercise the sacramental ministry, but in the whole of their ecclesial activity.
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In the Decree PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS of Vatican II, we find the following: “the special sacrament through which priests, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are marked with a special character and are so configured to Christ the Priest that they can act in persona Christi” (N. 2); ” … priests exercise the office of Christ the Head and the Shepherd” (N. 6); “Priests … are made the living instruments of Christ the eternal priest, and so are enabled to accomplish throughout all time that wonderful work of His which with supernatural efficacy restored the whole human race. Since every priest in his own way assumes the per- son of Christ he is endowed with a special grace. By this grace the priest is able the better to pursue the perfection of Christ, whose place he takes.” (N. 12); “Priests as ministers of the sacred mysteries, especially in the sacrifice of the mass, act in a special way in the person of Christ who gave Himself as a victim to sanctify men. (N. 13).
Even though it was the Acquinas who, as stated above, gave the formula “in persona Christi” its strict theological meaning, the doctrine express- ed by it is very old as the writings of the Fathers of the Church establish. Here, for example, is a statement of St. Cyprian, who lived in the middle of the Third Century: “For if Jesus Christ, Our Lord and God, is Him- self the high priest of God the Father, and offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father, and ordered this to be done in memory of Himself, evidently that priest TAKES THE PLACE OF CHRIST, who imitates what Christ did, and he then offers in the church a true and perfect sacrifice to God the Father if he begins to offer it in the same way in which he sees that Christ offered it.”
The reader will admit that it is in the celebration of the Eucharist or mass that the priest’s link with Christ is the strongest because the priest uses the very words, which Christ used at the Last Supper: “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood”. Before the actual consecration the priest reads the narrative of Christ’s acts at the Last Supper, but he completes it by the actions of Christ… St. Ambrose, a doctor of the church (340-397 A.D.) writes: “All that is said before, is said by the priest….; but, when the moment approaches to produce the venerable sacrament, the priest no longer uses his own words, but he uses the words of Christ; it is the words of Christ, therefore, that produce this sacrament. In other words, “the priest, utters, Christ’s words with the same efficacy as Christ” (A.G. Martimort, L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO, March 10, 1977, p. 6). He is the voice of Christ, he is the image of Christ, “he takes the place of Christ” (St. Cyprian).
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“The priest, then, is the same Jesus Christ, in whose holy person the minister acts. This minister, from the priestly consecration that he has received, is assimilated to the great High Priest, and enjoys the power of acting with the power and in the person of Christ Himself. For which reason, in his priestly action, in a certain way ‘he lends his tongue, he supplies his hand’ to Christ.” (Pius XII, Encyl. THE SACRED LITURTY, N. 87).
St. Thomas in S. Theol III a pars, Q. 83, Art 1, ad 3 states that in the mass “the priest is … the Image of Christ”. But not just a mere image, as Vatican II pointed out: “He (Christ) is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, in the person of His Minister. “
FINIS
“Mrs. Jones”, said the doctor as he came out of the bedroom, “I must tell you that I don’t like the way your husband looks.”
“To tell you the truth, Doctor,” replied Mrs. Jones, “neither do I. But he’s always been very good to the children.”
“Did you hear that the astronauts found some bones on the moon?” “Oh dear! I guess the cow didn’t make it after all. “
The purpose of drive-in banks: to make it possible for cars to meet their real owners.
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MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 10 THRU 16:
MON: (8:00 a.m.) + Ken Prince by Eleanor and Gerard Hen
(10:00 a.m.) + Jacquelyn Gabarron by Family
TUES: (8:00 a.m.) + Dale Pieczynski by Drapes Family
(10:00 a.m.) + James W. Blette by Mrs. John Blette
WED: (8:00 a.m.) + Dale Pieczynski by Drapes Family
(10:00 a.m.) + John Blette by Mrs. John Blette
THURS: (8:00 a.m.) + Jerome Miller by Jesse Powell Family
(10:00 a.m.) In Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary by M. Pacheco
FRI: (8:00 a.m.) + Daisy E. Smart by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Kelly
(10:00 a.m.) + Laura Kreibich by Keller Family
SAT: (8:00 a.m.) + Jacob and Rudy Luechinger by Drollinger Family
(5:30 p.m.) + Barbara Buell by Husband
SUN: (7:30 a.m.) + Roman and Francisca Gonzalez by Graciela Cadena
(10:30 a.m.) FOR THE PARISHIONERS
(12:00 noon) + Rebecca Anne Whitford by Casarez Family
(6:00 p.m.) + William Patrick Casarez by Casarez Family
The regular monthly BAKE SALE sponsored by the ROSARY-ALTAR SOCIETY will be held next Sunday, January 16th after all the morning masses. Your support is always appreciated.
The monthly meeting will be held on January 13th, this coming Thursday cordially invited to attend. day, at 9:45 a.m. in the Parish Hall. All women of the parish are cordially invited to attend.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR FATHER TOM. HIS SURGERY WENT VERY WELL. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG HE WILL BE HOSPITALIZED.