Thursday, Wk 21 OT August 14, 2026
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
One thousand four hundred thirty-six years ago, a fifty-year-old monk named Gregory was elected as the 64th bishop of Rome – pope – by popular acclamation. Over the next 14 years, Pope Gregory wrote important letters and books, restored the influence of Catholicism in France and Spain, challenged and held powerful people accountable, sent missionaries to convert England, protected the Church’s teaching on the sacraments, defended the human rights of non-Christians, organized the largest charity network the world had ever seen to feed, and made important contributions to the Liturgy – the way we celebrate Mass. To this day, we call the Church’s music “Gregorian Chant.”
He did all of this while maintaining a significant prayer life, practicing immense personal discipline, and demonstrating incredible love for his people. In 2000 years, only four popes have been called “the Great:” Leo, Nicholas, John Paul II, and Gregory. And what’s interesting is that Gregory the Great almost constantly described himself as unworthy to be pope and in need of God’s mercy to make up for his failures. He wasn’t pretending or being modest, either. Every saint in history, as they get holier, becomes more aware of just how infinitely holy God is. Because they are closer to the light of God, they see more clearly the darkness in themselves. So, when we casually think to ourselves that we’re already good people… even great people, we do well to remember that truly great people don’t bother to describe themselves as great but instead focus on the goodness of God and the work entrusted to them, counting on his grace to make up for their own limitations. Simon Peter, the first pope, in our Gospel makes a great catch of fish and what is his reaction? Not “see, I’m good at this” or “wow, I feel so uplifted,” but “depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Seeing God’s glory humbles us.
Now, God does not want us to be gloomy or depressed, so he often says “be not afraid” and then gives us all kinds of reasons to be joyful and hopeful. But there is a biiig difference between being “content” because we think we’re great and being joyful because we see how God’s goodness makes up for our weakness. You can’t just jump from sinner-who-doesn’t-care-about-God to great-saint-who-is-never-afraid. God says, “be not afraid,” but it is necessary for us to experience the fear of God first. We must be humbled and convicted before we can become great and holy.
That’s one reason we as a school take discipline and punishment seriously – not because we hate you, but because true joy comes from learning to take moral decisions seriously, from learning to “fear” God in order to then learn humble trust. “Fear of the Lord is the first stage of wisdom,” scripture tells us. You are still very young and young people often need consequences before they can learn. Everyone needs accountability. This is one reason I do not regret what I did last week here at Church. God loves you and I love you. My love is imperfect, but God’s love is perfect. That means he hates sin. Every sin, even the tiniest one, offends him. He is infinitely good, so he is infinitely unsatisfied with evil. He does not hate you, but he does hate how your sins prevent you from receiving the fullness of his love.
Sometimes, we do not realize how bad a sin is or how much our actions hurt and offend someone until we see their pain or their anger. We tell you all the time that participation in Mass is important, but when you don’t participate… what happens? A little nagging? Some “positive” encouragement? Shrug, no big deal. But, what happens when you don’t participate in class? It could cost you a grade… it could make you fail the class. And if you fail a class, what is the consequence? Kicked off a team, barred from extracurriculars, maybe summer school or even going to a different school. Most of you never go far enough to experience the full consequences of not participating in class, but you know those consequences are there. So, consider this: is participation in Mass more or less important than participation in class? If refusing to participate in class has consequences but refusing to participate in Mass does not… what does that say about what we really think about Mass?
So, what will happen if you refuse to participate in Mass again? I’m not gonna constantly fuss about it – that will just make everyone miserable. When your behavior keeps getting worse in class, we don’t just keep fussing, we apply consequences. That’s what’ll happen if you continue to not participate in Mass. I’ll cancel fun events or assign detentions or something like that. It will be fair. I do not want to do that, but I will if I have to to make my point. Please don’t get to that point.
Look, some of you are not Catholic and we respect that. If you are not Catholic, then no, of course you don’t have to participate in something you don’t believe in. I respect your integrity and you will face no consequences for being consistent. I just ask that you be respectful. But the majority of you are Catholic. The majority of you believe enough to receive communion. My goal is not to make you believe something you don’t believe. It is to hold you accountable to what you already believe. It is to ask you to be consistent. You wanna play football? Then we “make” you go to practice. You wanna win state rally? Then we “make” you do the paperwork and compete at district rally. You wanna receive communion and be at a Catholic school? Then we “make” you participate in Mass.
Now, if I’m going to challenge you and hold you accountable, I should also make it clear what the standard is just like we do for any assignment in school. So, what does it mean to participate in Mass? Look at your song sheets. That first column lists the priority. Notice that I’m not saying you have to sing all the hymns. The key thing is the Mass parts. Amen, and with your spirit, may the lord accept this sacrifice…
When we’re at Mass, we use a lot of words. The importance of those words depends on who wrote them. A lot of people like Lauren Daigle. I like her. She writes good music. Sometimes, I like to sing what she wrote. But, Lauren is just an individual person. Her words are pretty, but they are not necessary. If you’re at Mass and you don’t know a Lauren Daigle song and you don’t sing it… not a big deal. It’s still good to try, but those words are just human words. The words I sang at the beginning, however? The Church wrote those words. The Church is the body of Christ. Those words are more important than ones written by an individual singer or band. Those words – and the chant that I used – are supposed to be different than regular music on the radio. Mass is about stepping into a mystical reality, it’s not about creative self-expression.
That opening antiphon and the communion antiphon are good, but even those are not necessary for you to say or sing. Even more important are the words for Mass. Those were also written by the Church; most of them come directly from the bible, which means they were written by God. When we’re at Mass, the goal is not to sing the latest hit on K-Love – you won’t get in trouble if you don’t sing those. But we are here to worship God in the way he asks us to worship him. That means saying or singing “amen” when the priest says all glory belongs to God. It means saying “May the Lord accept this sacrifice” when the priest tells you to pray for the offertory of Mass.
And yes, sometimes we sing some of those words. Maybe that’s uncomfortable for you. Maybe you feel awkward or cringe or uncool singing in front of your friends. Do it anyway. It’s awkward to present in front of class, but we still make you do it. It’s awkward to learn a new play in football or a new move in dance or a new technique in art, but we still make you do it. And the more you do it, the easier it gets. Eventually, it actually starts to be enjoyable.
I’m not asking you to belt out every word with reckless abandon – that’s just not realistic or fair. I am telling you, though, that stone-faced silence is not okay. If you all respond and all sing, it stops being awkward real fast. Just watch the little ones at lower campus Mass. Sometimes they are way off pitch and sometimes they look silly… no one cares because everyone is doing it. Give me something. More importantly, give God something, especially for the parts of the Mass listed in that first column. If you absolutely refuse to sing, then at least speak it. When I’m at Mass in Spanish, I don’t know the version of the gloria that they sing. So, while they’re singing it, I just say the words quietly to God while they sing. That way, I’m doing my part and giving God the best I can. Just don’t sit there silently doing nothing.
And look, we won’t always sing everything. A few times this year, we’ll do Mass with no music so you can experience that. The important thing is the words and the effort, not the music. The Mass is not about performance or comfort or aura-farming. It’s about worshiping God. St. Gregory the Great did many things for God, but most of those things are gone now. The buildings, the laws, the networks – all gone. But do you know what still exists? The souls he evangelized and the worship he gave to God – we still use some of the prayers he wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (he was pope after all). The reason he was able to do so much in 14 short years was that he always put God first. Setting aside his own fears and inadequacies, he did what God asked him to do even when he felt awkward or weak doing it.
God loves you. He asks you to love him back. There are two ways to love God. One is by loving our neighbor, especially the needy and the poor – that’s what we do for most hours of most days. The other way to love God is by worshiping Him in daily prayer and the 1 or 2 hours a week you’re at Mass. God even wrote the words for you to say, wrote the song for you to sing, and gave you a billion brothers and sisters to say and sing those words with you.
So, “do not be afraid… Put out into [the] deep water” of pushing through a little awkwardness to love God with your lips, your heart, and your mind. You might be surprised what you catch when you do.