Presider: Fr. Justin Lopina
Parish: Sacred Heart and Saint Matthew
Choir: Heart of the Nation
Text from the Homily ~ June 9, 2024
A little tiny fragment of that gospel reading is in that category of things we hear a million times and never really think about. That whole analogy of the strong man. He's the master of his house until a stronger man comes along. Well, Jesus is describing Satan. He is the strong man and he has a house. It's called the world. Sometimes we call him the ruler of the world. The prince of this world. And to use the language of that gospel reading, we humanity are his property. We're his play things. He keeps us scared, locked in the cellar. And there ain't nothing we can do about that because Satan is the strong man. He's stronger than any of us. In fact, if we all pooled out strength together as one united humanity, uh sorry Satan is still stronger. But then along comes Jesus the stronger man that ties up the strong man of the house. Pardon me but as modern Christians I feel we stick to the milder vocabulary when we describe our faith. All right. Jesus did not come to Satan's house to renegotiate the mortgage. Ok. He came in he kicked the door open and then sucker punched the devil right there in the bread box. Ok. Satan goes down he ties him up. That is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. When he died and rose again he conquered evil and death itself. After that what happens? He goes across the kitchen and unlocks the door to the cellar. He opens the door and he says, “Be not afraid. I am here to save you.” And all of us collective humanity we're staring just confused at this strange but wonderful man and we collectively say oooh, not a very good idea. There is a strong man up those steps and he gets really mad when we try to escape. And Jesus kind of chuckles to himself a little bit and says you don't need to worry about him anymore. He can't hurt you anymore, come on. There is somewhere else you belong besides this dingy house you've rented for so long. You go up those rickety steps of the cellar and when you get to the kitchen there he is. The strong man is still there. He's there as much as he was before. But he's bound and tied up. Christ has made him powerless. And as long as you are following Jesus out of the house there is nothing Satan can do to stop you or harm you. So feel free to think of that whenever you hear Jesus referred to as our Lord and savior
Entrance: Gather Us In
Text: Marty Haugen, b.1950 Tune: GATHER US IN, Irregular; Marty Haugen, b.1950 © 1982, GIA Publications, Inc.
Psalm 130: With The Lord There is Mercy and Fullness of Redemption
Text: Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. Refrain text © 1969, 1981, 1997, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Verses text based on the New American Bible © 1970, 1997, 1998, CCD. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Music © 2004, Rick Modlin. Published by OCP. All rights reserved
Preparation: The Summons
Text: John L. Bell, b.1949, © 1987, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc., agent Tune: KELVINGROVE, 7 6 7 6 777 6; Scottish traditional; arr. by John L. Bell, b.1949
Communion: Bread For The World
© 1990, Bernadette Farrell. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Sending Forth: Christ In Me Arise
© 2008, Trevor Thomson. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved
Mass Setting: Mass of St. Mary Magdalene
Text © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Music © 2018, Sarah Hart. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
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