16th after Pentecost at my old-style mass today. It led Father G. to talk about being humble unto death by crucifixion, as Jesus was: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
G. delivers without humor or self-deprecation or self-building or irony or handly allusions to the day’s headlines or accepted practices. It’s straight homiletics, unadorned and not too long and fitting for the solemnity of the occasion.
He goes into tradition, even to questionable stuff such as St. Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine, finding the true cross in the 4th century. So what if questionable? It’s not a history lesson but a homily. You repeat myths for their inspirational value.
In any case, it beats the pedestrian nonsense you hear in most mainstream RC pulpits, delivered too often in cutespeak by holy salesmen. That’s my church-related thought for the day.
