Homily Sacrifice - September 25, 2022

Luke 16:19-31         9-25-2022           (As built, Amite #513)  

  1. Sacrifice… 
  2. If you were to ask the friend of Allan to describe him… ten words or less… they would describe him as not good… a thief… a robber… impetuous… kind of a fraud… insolent… troublesome… those are his friends… if you were to ask the people of great Britain what they thought of Allan they would tell you man he’s a rouge… man he’s a rebel… if you were to ask the people of great Britain what position would you like Allan to hold… they would say let’s start six feet under… now you know where he sits… the problem is he’s a one man riot… that’s the problem… Great Britain is undergoing these massive riots… when I’m telling you no holds barred… there are houses being burned… businesses being burned… people are getting hurt… carnage in the street… they are looking for Allan… he tried to unionize the world… and as a result man everybody is looking for him… man they are checking every farmhouse to house to outhouse… they’re going from riverbeds to haystacks… man there is a manhunt for Allan… he goes to his girlfriends house and says… look you were right… it’s time for us to go to America… she said well why now… well it’s just a good time… she says it’s a good time because everybody and their brother is looking for you… she said you know Allan if you don’t learn to sacrifice to do the right thing the right way… then all we’re going to be doing is running into the same problem over there it's just going to be delayed… he gave his word… right thing right way… they flee to Chicago and while he’s there the one thing Allan does do well… he makes beer barrels exceptionally well... you can imagine back in the day… man he makes so many barrels that pretty soon it becomes a fulltime job… he’s actually got a warehouse in Chicago… they’re working 24/7 he’s finally got a life he likes… he’s got a good reputation… people know he’s honest… go figure this is Allan… next thing you know when you work 24/7 let’s be honest you see things… you know things… pretty soon he starting noticing this behavior and that behavior… next thing you know somethings not right… the sheriffs department comes to him and man there's kind of a ring going around… kind of like a counterfeit ring… he starts helping the sheriff… they deputize him… next thing you know he becomes so popular in the sheriff circles he becomes a sheriff… then next thing you know they make him the head of the Chicago police department… man what sacrifices he must have made to go from where he was to where he is… man he get’s so good he decides he wants to start his own private detective agency… and he came up with the slogan… we never sleep… he had a big eyeball outside of his business… he had a big eyeball outside of his business… this is where we get the term private eye just so you know… okay as a result of it man people start coming to him… man he is solving crimes… things are going well… he is so good because he’s willing to sacrifice what it is to do the right thing the right way thanks to his wife… as a result of such… who of all reaches out to him… of all people the president soon to be of the United States of America… he contacts Allan and tells him… look I’ve got to go from the southern states on this train all the way through Baltimore into D.C. there is no way I’m going to make it through the southern states… the war is about to embark… yeah you must have guessed it by now it was none other then soon to be president Abraham Lincoln… and as a result of it Allan becomes his go-to guy… Allan is the one that get’s him to D.C. albeit on the slide… Allan is the one that he counted on… Allan is the one that was willing to make the sacrifice for whatever it took… and you do know him… you know him as Allan Pinkerton… in the Pinkertons… but here’s what you don’t know about him… at the end of the day that proverbial night… in Ford’s Theater… where the president was shot by John Wilkes Booth… during the play our American cousin… right as John Wilkes Booth yells out death to tyrants as he kills Mr. Lincoln… you ever ask yourself… why wasn’t Allan on guard that night… you know they interviewed him and he said you know I would have been willing to make any sacrifice that was necessary to be there for the president… that man had the biggest heart… the greatest mind… and was totally dedicated and sacrificial to rebinding our country back together... he said well man that’s a great statement but if you don’t mind me asking you where were you… he said I was handling a fraud case in Louisiana… imagine that… 
  3. My brothers and sisters in Christ it’s all about the sacrifice… that is that Gospel… it is more important to re recognize that the rich man was not willing to sacrifice… therein lies the problem… now stop you are a first century Jew… you and I now know some two thousand years later… that we must study Christ as a Jew… his mother is Jewish… his step-father if you will is Jewish… their parents are Jewish… he’s circumcised as a Jew… he is crucified as king of the Jews… we even find him in a synagogue at the age of twelve… he is coming through the Jewish Rite… so therefore you and I must understand it in the text that it is written… first and foremost… we do not believe this to be a parable… why…because a proper name was used… Lazarus... you need to understand that… whenever you see a proper name chances are it’s not parabolic… Noah… Jonah… my brothers in Christ if they say the rich man and the poor man… the man on the side of the road…then I would tell you that in essence is a parable… this is not… hence the name… if I were to ask you what is the name of the couple in the garden of Eden… most of you would probably shout out Adam and Eve… but the problem is Adam means ground… Eve does not get her name until after they are kicked out of the Garden… Adam resumes his name… in the garden they are Man and woman… hence why names are important… hence why this cannot be so much parabolic… you need to understand too that if you wore purple clothing in their day it’s because you had the means… it took so many times to get the dye just right on the garment… and then get it right where you wanted it on the garment and to make sure it was evenly spread… you had to have way means… for you to dine sumptuously each day meant even more money… if you lived in a gated community… and he did he’s at the gate… then you really had means… my brothers and sisters in Christ you need to remember this in the story… that he didn’t kill anybody either… he just didn’t love of neighbor… he got gluttonous… which is one of the seven deadly sins… he got prideful… he had adverse love of money… so when I ask you do you know the commandments… I hope and pray some day that you are able to recite them… because your not going to make heaven until you know them… you’re not going to learn it after you get there… John said it in his gospel… if you say you love Jesus Christ… if you say you love Jesus Christ… you will know his commandments… one to ten in the order they are written… if you do not know Jesus Christ or you say you know him but you do not know the commandments… Johns words not mine… you are a liar… my brothers and sisters in Christ I’m telling you this so that you realize that when you go to confession you tell me well I haven’t killed anybody… good start… but it’s one out of ten… you’re not even a good baseball player… my brothers in Christ if you realize why they mention the dogs in the scripture… to the Jewish people dogs carry a lot of significance… unfortunately in not a good way… you see the dogs have to eat too… and they begin by licking the wounds of the dead person so as soon as you do pass they have something to eat… he’s well on his way… if you notice my brothers in Christ Peters brother Andrew who died on a crucifix in the shape of an X… hence why I wear this garment in his name… the shape of the X… do you know the reason they build the X… because it’s closer to the ground… so when they crucify you they don’t have to worry about taking you off because well there’s dogs there… my brothers and sisters in Christ therein lies the point… you need to understand my brothers and sisters in Christ that as a Jew… you knew without question… that before the gates of heaven were opened… you knew there was Abraham’s bosom… oh man I know you’re going to love this… Purgatory… stop looking for an English word in a book written in Greek… Philippians two… every knee must bend in heaven… on earth… and under the earth… you bend a knee in heaven because you’re before the throne of God… you bend a knee on earth because you want to be before the throne of God… you won’t bend a knee in hell because if you had been you wouldn’t be there to begin with…where are you bending that knee below the earth… according to Padre Pio… that’s where purgatory is… Padre Pio says hell is in the center of the earth… why do I tell you that… because this man has already received his judgment… and there’s a Chasm that he will never cross… he’s in hell… you ever ask yourself how does he recognize Abraham… that’s a thousand years before he ever got there… how does he know Abraham… you know what’s a shame… the rich man will never be able to say I didn’t see that guy standing by the gate… I didn’t see him when I stepped over him… much less than when the dogs licked his wounds… well then how did you know his name… why would you tell Father Abraham to tell Lazarus… treating him as a slave… to dip his finger and come… and look who he’s talking to… Father Abraham… this is the greatest negotiator on the side of mankind ever… he’s father Abraham… he’s the one that negotiated terms with Sodom and Gomorrah… Lord if I find fifty… forty… thirty… twenty… ten… Lord if I find one… he’s telling this man… no… well if you send somebody… no… well if you send somebody to my brothers and my family… no… well you know if somebody rises from the dead… no… it’s over for him… the day is done… my brothers and sisters in Christ because he wasn’t willing to sacrifice… you know who’s the greatest player in our game… say what you will… but there is no doubt that Peter… Cephas… the massive boulder… best player we got… bar none… why… because Christ picked him we didn’t pick him… say what you want about him and I do too… it doesn’t change the fact from the very beginning the good Lord knew Cephas was going to be upon this rock I will build my church… my brothers and sisters in Christ he gives us a great example of what it means to be sacrificial… you remember the story the good Lord is resurrected… he is now waiting on the sea of Galilee and he's by a charcoal fire… Peter sees him fifty yards away…excuse me a hundred yards away… a football field away… Peter begins to swim to him… nobody else get’s out of the boat… just like he did when he tried to walk on water… nobody got out of the boat… nobody tried to help him… on a side note can you imagine being there… Lord if it is you tell me to come… come… would you have gotten out of the boat… he meant it for everybody why did Peter have to be the only one… knowing my nature I probably would have connived Judas this was his time to shine… but that’s just my nature… my brothers and sisters in Christ he swims a hundred yards to be next to a charcoal fire… nowhere in scripture is the word charcoal used other than here and when he denied our savior three times…and as a result of it… he goes to him… Peter do you love me… well yes Lord you know that I do… Peter do you love me… well yeah Lord… Peter do you love… Me… well you know everything… you know that I love you… well someday Peter they are going to take you where you do not wish to go… and they will clothe you in a certain manner… and albeit for three hours you will proclaim my Gospel… now you will know what it means to love me… God the father said it best… I so loved the world I sent my son for the sacrifice of many… when you say you love someone… you’re telling them that you’re willing to sacrifice for them… if you’re not willing to sacrifice for them then please do not tell them that you love them… my brothers and sisters in Christ that’s what it means… to love… all in… are you in Peter or are you not…
  4. My brothers and sister in Christ here you and I sit two thousand years later… how sacrificial are you and I… well let’s see… I tell you what we’ll start with the little things… when you’re visiting with somebody and that phone rings and a text message comes across… you don’t even bother moving it… you just sit there and continue your conversation… far be it for you to be rude and inconsiderate and answer the text while you’re talking… or worse… pick up the phone while you’re talking to them… are you loving and sacrificial enough not to respond… because the person in front of you is the most important person in the world as it would be if the shoe is on the other foot… my brothers and sisters in Christ are you willing when you get home to make sure that you put the TV to the side and you put your cell phone to the side… so that you can spend time with your family… to be sacrificial for you love them… my brothers and sisters in Christ are you willing when that alarm goes off in the morning… could you set it just ten minutes earlier… and therefore get up a little bit earlier to start your day by giving love to Christ… saying Christ I love you so much… that I’m willing to give up my first ten or fifteen minutes in the day… my brothers in Christ are you so quick to hit the snooze button… which I got to tell you I’m convinced that the snooze button was invented by the devil himself… I say that with a kind heart… my brothers and sisters in Christ are you willing to come home an hour early so that you can spend time with your family… and that you will turn off the television and nobody is to respond to no texts… no phones at the table… we’re going to sit and visit… and if it means we will sit and stare at one another… then so be it… are we going to start our meal with the sign of the cross… will you do it in public clearly and distinctly… so that everybody knows that you’re giving thanks to God and you are not blessing yourself you are asking God to bless you and the food… my brothers and sisters in Christ let’s ramp it up a little bit… are you willing… to own up to the mistakes that you made… that you cannot have that one more drink… because it’s killing you and it’s destroying your family… that you can’t get on the computer because the pornography is so great you can’t kill it if you had to… oh Father I can deal with it… well if you had been we’d already solved the problem… it’s obviously that we can’t… so are you willing to put down Facebook for an hour a day… can you walk away from it… my brothers and sisters in Christ how sacrificial are you… how much do you love… do you love God so much that you’re willing to go to confession once a month… once a month… and brothers and sisters in Christ when you go to confession and you’re waiting in line… can I ask you… why do you get so mad… you didn’t have to hear the confession… I see your faces… man that guy’s been up there for twenty minutes… oh my God what’s he doing up there… it must be therapy… well I tell you what come sit in my shoes and then you’ll see what I’m talking about… here you are committing a sin… to come to confess your sins… that’s the height of irony… my brothers and sisters in Christ do you know why sometimes I sit with my back to you… because I don’t want you to drop a bomb in my lap… and therefor I’m facing you and everybody sees this… or worse… my brothers and sisters in Christ I’m telling you to go to confession… find the priest that you can speak to and throw up… I’m asking you to stop couching it… Hebrews five I will choose priest among men for the forgiveness of sins… no one is to take it upon themselves… go back to St. Johns gospel around chapter twenty… the ministry of reconciliation has been given to them… go out and heal them and forgive them of their sins… St. Paul to the Corinthians… the ministry of reconciliation has been given to us… if I were to ask you… was confession in play before December 25th second one of minute one of hour one… was confession in play… before Christ or did the church just make it up… Leviticus four five and six… you had to bring your priest an animal… you had to bring him either a Goat… a turtle dove… or a bull depending on the size of the animal… the size of the sin… can you imagine walking through town with a bull… nothing to see here look the other way… better yet give it to your family… look go ahead and take it in I’ll catch up with you in a minute… and you had to announce it publicly… I want to make sure you understand this… that nowhere did Christ ever hear a confession in scripture and nor did he baptize anybody… do not talk to me about his forgiveness of Peter… what’s Peter’s confession… that he loves him… what was Mary Magdalene the lady being stoned… what was her confession… he said go in peace and sin no more… my brothers in Christ are you able to go to one more mass… just one more mass… think about it… one more mass… is greater according to St. Alphonsus Liguori… then all of the prayers of the Blessed Mother… all her petitions… all her works… all her intersessions… along with Joseph… the prophets and the apostles… uno mass.. and yet we don’t have time for it… my brothers and sisters in Christ are you willing to make that sacrifice… because I’m going to tell you now if you’re not willing to sacrifice for your own soul… if your not willing to sacrifice for the souls of your family… if you’re not willing to make that extra sacrifice to come to mass… then you will not sacrifice for your country nor your church… you’re more interested in your own personal freedom… then you are my brothers and sisters in Christ then the freedoms of Holy Mother Church in the world… you’ve become narcissistic… instead of worrying about the greater good… this is why you and I pray in a community… remember my brothers and sisters in Christ what I’m telling you… remember… in the words of the declaration of Independence… my brothers in Christ the famous last words… how many times must you and I go over this… enough for us to remember… With a firm reliance on divine providence… we solemnly pledge to one another our lives… our fortunes… and our sacred Honor… and then they signed it… you could not have singed that declaration if you were not all in… you wouldn’t have been able to sing the declaration now much less then… my brothers in Christ if you and I do not learn to sacrifice for one another… and start praying for our country and our church… we’re going to lose this battle... it is not going to be up to us anymore… we have lost that ability… when good men do nothing evil prevails… look at us now… we are falling… I’m begging you to come back to church… to go to mass and receive the sacraments… but more importantly today I’m asking you to man up or woman up and start coming to adoration… and praying for our church and our country… if you’ve never been to adoration it’s that building just outside to the left… I’m asking you to go sit for one hour a week… you’ve got three members of your family go every third week… if you have four members you might get away with once a month… if you’re telling me you don’t have time for one hour a week… you spent more time on your cellphone then you do with Jesus Christ… you are disordered and on the road to perdition… my brothers and sisters in Christ when you go to adoration… I tell you what let’s be novel… you’re Catholics… bring a bible… I tell you what bring something scriptural… bring a rosary… I don’t care if you stare at him and he stares at you… you’re there for the hour because you’re telling the good Lord I have come for my country and I’ve come for my church… take it as you will… my brothers in Christ listen to me… if you and I do not sacrifice for what we want… what we want will be the sacrifice… if you do not sacrifice for your church…the church will become the sacrifice… if you do not sacrifice for your country … your country will become the sacrifice… if you do not sacrifice for your family and our community then that is what’s going to be put on the burner… brothers and sisters in Christ it’s time to man up… and stop kowtowing everything that comes down the pipe… I don’t care what certain people say… all I care about is your soul and where you go… and if you’re not willing to bend that knee there is nothing I can do to help you… you’ve got to get to adoration… you’ve got to get to the sacraments… you’ve got to get back in church… that is all we have… 
  5. if we do not find our knees… I promise you… if we do not find our knees… and bow that head… then the devil has this game won and it’s all over with… you learn to sacrifice… and may he pull it out of your dead hands when you’re through.

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