Sunday, Epiphany IV: 29 January 2023

 Introit. Adorate Deum. Ps. 97

All ye Angels of God, fall down, and worship before him : Sion, heard of it and rejoiced : and the daughters of Judah were glad. Ps. ibid.  The Lord is King, the earth may be glad thereof : yea, the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof. V  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was it in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright : grant to us such strength and protection, as many support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost art ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The lesson from the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Romans (13.1-)

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God  2  Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.   3      For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;4   for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil 5    Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6     For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

+The Continuation of the Holy Gospel to Matthew (8.1-):

   When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him  2   And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3      Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed 4.      And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. 5      And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him.    6      and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7      Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8      But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  9      “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10      Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.11      “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12      but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”13      And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.

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Homily by Fr. Dcn. Maverick Victor Witlouw

The other day I was thinking about injustice, and how many of us have experienced unrighteous leadership. We know that in the Scriptures, there were bad kings and good kings. Saint Paul starts by ruffling our feathers in the first few verses of the Epistle. stating that we should submit to the authorities as they have been established by God.

This is perhaps a bitter pill to swallow, in fact, I prefer ignoring such texts, but these kinds of texts challenge our egos and our need to constantly criticize our leaders, our government, our boss, etc. Saint Augustine in his commentary on this text suggests that insofar as the government's requests are reasonable and do not contradict Scripture, they are to be obeyed. 

I suggest that these passages are best understood when we are thinking of our heart's attitude to the authorities. God requires humility of us, this seems to be Paul's immediate point. We are not to be violent rebels, since we are ambassadors of Christ and not protesters who reject order. Christians are God's kingdom and justification to mankind, we are here not to disrupt God's order but to establish it.

Christians who protest and are rebellious against the government for no reason show themselves to be nothing but traitors to Christ since they are not in fact representing God's peaceful order, and merciful nature to the world. Paul says in verse 5, "Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake." May God help us with this.

Now, with regard to the Gospel reading, we find that the Lord was approached by crowds, as it is clear to those of us familiar with the gospel accounts that Christ taught, preached, and performed many miracles. 

The leper approaches Jesus, and herein lies a truth we should always pay attention to. The Scriptures don't only portray historical stories to us. but they reveal also an allegorical and spiritual dimension. We should meditate on the gospel, and realize that we ourselves just like the leper are in fact in desperate need of the Lord's constant help. This is why we always pray "Lord have mercy."

The leper requests Christ's help, and Christ was willing to help him. We need to remember that physical sickness is not the only thing the Lord can help us with, but he can in fact help us with many ailments and afflictions.

Further in this passage the centurion also seeks help from Jesus! Remember that our reading speaks of submission to the authorities, and here we should realize that even the authorities need God's help. May we pray for our president, our government, because they require salvation too from their own ailments.

It is noteworthy that we find a passage here, which is said in the divine Mass, "  But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed."

Concerning Christ's words, Saint Augustine writes,

"“Many will come from east and west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.” What sons of what kingdom? He is speaking of the people of the covenant, who received the law. To them, the prophets were sent. To them was given the temple and the priesthood. They had celebrated the anticipations of things to come. Yet those things of which they would celebrate in figures they did not acknowledge in actual presence. This is why they shall “be thrown into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” Odd, isn’t it? That they would be sent away, while the Christians would be called from the east and the west to the heavenly banquet to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, whose bread is righteousness and whose cup is wisdom."

As children of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we have access to the same promises that God's eternal covenant. God not only offers us healing from our present ailments but a deeper union with him. We have access to God's Holy Altar and Table, to partake of the Eucharist, and we may enter his presence every day, anytime. 

As we submit to God, and are humble. As we seek Christ's face, God is faithful to show us more of Himself. 

I have said these things in the+ name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.