The Epistle today is taken from S. Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth, from the opening section of that epistle. It may be helpful to recall the conventional form of a letter in the Hellenistic world. Such letters normally began by identifying the sender and the recipient, followed by a greeting. The body of the letter then contained the argument or purpose of the writing, and concluded with final greetings and other personal details. The actual scribe, when one was employed, might also identify himself—as Tertius does in the Epistle to the Romans—and the letter would ordinarily be carried to its recipients and read aloud before the assembled community.
S. Paul adopts this familiar form but transforms it for Christian purposes. Instead of the conventional Greek greeting, he characteristically speaks of “grace” and “peace,” words now filled with the meaning of the Gospel. Thus, in Sunday’s reading he writes: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.
This is more than a polite greeting. S. Paul is reminding the Corinthians of what God has already done for them. They have received grace from God through Jesus Christ and have been incorporated into Christ and His Body. This grace is not something they have earned or achieved through their own abilities. It is gift—freely bestowed by God.
There is, however, a certain irony in what follows. S. Paul continues: that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge.
The Corinthians placed considerable importance upon eloquence, knowledge, and rhetorical ability. As the epistle unfolds, we discover that these very gifts had become occasions of pride and division. Some boasted in particular teachers; others prided themselves upon their knowledge; still others regarded certain spiritual gifts as signs of superiority.
S. Paul does not deny that the Corinthians possess gifts. Quite the contrary: he insists that they do. But he redirects their attention to the source of those gifts. They are “enriched by him.” Whatever knowledge they possess, whatever eloquence they display, whatever spiritual gifts they exercise, all have their origin in God.
The problem, therefore, is not the possession of gifts, but forgetting the Giver. S. Paul wants the Corinthian Christians to move beyond confidence in their own abilities toward the wisdom and knowledge that come from God. Indeed, this will become one of the great themes of the opening chapters of the epistle: the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
And there is an urgency to this, because S. Paul immediately directs their attention toward the coming judgment: that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The expression “the day of the LORD” occurs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, particularly in the Prophets. It is the day upon which God comes in judgment against evil, vindicates His people, and sets things right. In the New Testament this expectation becomes focused upon the return of Christ—the final Day when, as we confess in the Creed, he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead.
Thus S. Paul begins his epistle by placing the entire Christian life between two divine acts: the grace already given and the Day of the Lord still to come. We have received something from God, and we are being prepared for something by God.
This is why gratitude is so fundamental to the Christian life. Gratitude continually turns our attention away from ourselves and toward God as the source of every good gift. Instead of asking, “What have I accomplished?” gratitude teaches us to ask, “What has God given me, and what am I doing with what He has given?”
S. Paul expresses the same confidence elsewhere when he writes that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6).
But this does not mean that we are passive. The grace of God calls for our cooperation. Thus the same Apostle commands us to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), immediately adding the reason: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
There is no opposition here between God’s grace and our effort. Our effort itself becomes possible because God is already at work within us. Grace does not abolish human freedom; it heals, strengthens, and directs it toward its proper end.
And so S. Paul gives the Corinthians—and us—remarkable grounds for hope. The One whom we shall meet as Judge is the same Lord who even now gives us the grace by which we are being prepared for that judgment.
We therefore neither presume upon God’s grace nor despair of our weakness. Rather, receiving His gifts with gratitude, we cooperate with the grace already given to us, trusting that God is faithful and will strengthen us unto the end, so that we may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Stop the Nonsense! Reinstate Reverent Silence in Our Churches Now! Our Lord Deserves Nothing Less!
BY: Michael Seagriff.
It should trouble the hearts of all Catholics to see how we have lost the sense of the Sacred within our Church buildings, where for the most part we act as if our Lord is not really, substantially and physically present among us in our tabernacles and on our tongues. In far too many parishes, our Church’s have become nothing more than another social gathering space with the focus on those present rather than on the God to Whom our prayerful silence, reverence and worship is owed.
What is even worst is how hurt our Lord is by our neglect and irreverence. But how many of us ever think of how He feels? Listen and feel His anguish and pain:
“I remain unknown. I am left alone. Even those who claim to profess the mystery of my Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar forsake Me. I am treated with a terrible indifference, with coldness, and with a lack of respect that causes the angels to weep because they cannot offer Me reparation for the coldness and indifference of human hearts. Only men can make reparation for men. What is lacking is the loving response of a human heart to My Eucharistic Heart, pierced, alive and beating in the Sacrament of the Altar. Only a human heart can make reparation for a human heart. For this reason, the angels are sorrowful.”
(The Soul of the Apostolate – Jean-Baptiste Chautard, O.C.S.O.)
Nothing in the documents of Vatican II directed parishes to move the tabernacles from the center of our Church sanctuaries. Nor did any of those documents direct the abandonment of reverent silence before, during and after Mass, Latin, Gregorian chant, kneelers, communion rails, reception of Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue, or Mass celebrated with the priest and congregation facing our Lord in the tabernacle.
We have lost the sense of reverence, sacredness and silence. Our every action while in Church should reflect to all those present that we actually believe that Jesus Christ is really, substantially and physically present in the tabernacles of our Churches and in the Sacred Host which we consume.
Nothing that is inconsistent with this fundamental Truth can be tolerated or permitted.
This lack of reverent silence and belief in our ever-present Eucharistic Lord is the greatest crisis facing our Church. It must end in every parish where it exists!
We must speak up! Our priests and bishops must return to basics and instruct us as to the appropriate manner in which we are to act when in the Presence of God and in His House. Thank God for those who have done so. More must.
With his permission, I would like to share an excerpt from Father Darr Schoenhofen’s January 1, 2019 homily as he addressed this pressing issue with his flock:
“… when we are in the presence of this unique kind of Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament, either on the altar or reserved in the tabernacle, we should maintain a proper silence. Talking in church should be limited to brief greetings, spoken in a hushed voice. Although there are obvious exceptions to this rule, exceptions pertaining to the conduct of practical matters in the service of church life — for example, the need to talk during choir and wedding rehearsals, liturgical training sessions, when cleaning in the church with other workers, and so on — in general carrying on conversations in church as one would in other places is very disrespectful and irreverent, and such behavior saddens the Lord and his Mother greatly (my emphasis). The real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in a Catholic church is itself a call from heaven to behave there as the angels behave in the presence of the holiest of holies — and, to be sure, angels are invisibly present, adoring the Blessed Sacrament unceasingly, in every Catholic church. Mary, for this reason, wants us to practice reverent silence at all times when we are in church, after Mass as well as before, and to come there, the sacred house of God, to adore and worship her Son truly present, body and blood, soul and divinity, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Let all mortal flesh keep a reverent silence before the Blessed Sacrament as do the angels! By this reverent silence we dispose ourselves to receive the graces the Lord wishes to bestow upon us during our time in church, his house of prayer.”
I believe, as did St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P., that we cannot be timid when addressing problems in our Church and the lukewarm manner in which many of us live out our faith. St. Vincent was direct and confronted people with the Truth since it is only the Truth that will set hearts and souls free.
There should be absolutely no unnecessary talking in Church. Ever! What talking that does occurs must be in whispered soft voices and for the briefest of time. This is not subject to debate. This is the Truth which we have been too often unwilling or fearful to teach to those many Catholics who don’t know it, have been misled or who have lost their Faith.
This irreverence and lack of sacred silence is not of God. As James Monti noted in his recent column entitled Reverence as A Way of Life In Church and Beyond: “Satan is the father of irreverence. He hates the sacred, and so he seeks to hurl against the sacred all that can desecrate it. Art that makes the human face and form hideous, music that make life and love ugly, immodest clothing that blaspheme against the Temple of the Holy Spirit, architecture that makes man crawl on his belly rather than raise his eyes to Heaven all suit Satan’s purposes quite well.” (The Wanderer, March 21, 2019).
To violate the sacred silence and reverence owed our Lord is a big deal. As uncomfortable as this may make many of us feel, it is a sin. It is an offense to God and neighbor. Listen to Dan Burke here as He explains why.
Thank God for Father Darr, Dan, and the army of unsung and unknown pastors whose Churches are filled with sacred reverent silence. They have done what so many others have been unwilling or fearful to do – speak and share the Truth – not for their own benefit (I suspect many have been or will be criticized for doing so) but for the Glory of God and in reparation for the profane manner so many of us have treated Him.
Now is the time, as Father Schoenhofen urged us, “to keep a reverent silence before the Blessed Sacrament as do the angels”.
Now is the time to adore, love and worship God as we ought and as He deserves!
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Gaza, a convenient excuse to hate Jews
‘Free Palestine’ is the new ‘Heil Hitler’
BY: Don Feder, The Washington Times (September 27, 2026).
Who would have thought that a day on which 1,200 Jews were murdered — the largest one-day Jewish death toll since the Holocaust — would lead to an upsurge of antisemitism?
It used to be medieval mobs shouting, “Death to the Jews” and the Nazis promising to make Europe “Judenrein” — free of Jews. Now, it is “Free Palestine,” the new “Heil Hitler.”
The latest Joseph Goebbels clone is a creep called Benjamin Macklemore, who was scheduled as an opening act on select tour dates for pop star Ed Sheeran until stadium owners began banning him from their venues. A few years back, Mr. Macklemore donned a prosthetic nose, black wig and bushy beard, widely criticized as invoking a Jewish stereotype.
After strutting across the stage shouting, “Free Palestine,” Mr. Macklemore exclaimed, referring to the war in the Gaza Strip, “I know enough to know this is a genocide,” to which HBO’s “Real Time” host Bill Maher replied: “Actually, you don’t know s—-. It’s not. It’s not a genocide. It’s a counterattack in a war.”
Hamas forced the war on Israel. It did everything possible to increase the civilian death total. Israel did its best to avoid civilian casualties. From the end of 2022 to mid-2024, Gaza’s population increased by 7%. What kind of genocide is that?
Fighting in Gaza sparked the greatest outpouring of antisemitism in the post-World War II era.
Mobs of terrorist sympathizers roamed college campuses, harassing and attacking Jewish students. In 2025, American Jews — who are 2% of the population — accounted for nearly two-thirds of all religion-based hate crimes. According to the Anti-Defamation League, attacks on Jews involving a deadly weapon increased 39% in 2025 over the previous year.
The Democratic Party has exploited antisemitism in the pursuit of power. The highest levels of antisemitism are in New York, New Jersey and California, all deep-blue states.
The party’s nominee for the Senate in Michigan, former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, who has said he is obligated to follow Shariah, has campaigned with commentator Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11, the United States had caused more terrorism than al Qaeda “pound for pound” and it did not matter that Israeli women were raped during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
Mr. El-Sayed has repeatedly refused to distance himself from Mr. Piker. Except for Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, every prominent Democrat has rushed to embrace Abdul Jihad.
A super PAC connected to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York has pumped $30 million into Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign. Last week, former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with him.
This madness is not confined to the left. Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, the friend Vice President J.D. Vance refuses to disavow, is also a fan of the Michigan Democrat. Mr. Carlson says Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign is “literally Trumpian.” Are you nauseated yet?
It is not just the fate of Jews that is at stake, but the fate of America too.
To call for Palestine “from the river to the sea” is to demand the end of Israel and the extinction of the Jewish people.
Israel is home to 46% of the world’s Jewish population. Absent Israel, Jews would lose their most reliable defender. President Trump will not be president in 2½ years.
It should come as no surprise that hatred of Jews and hatred of America go hand in hand. Since its inception, the Iranian regime has denounced America as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan.”
The groups that hate America the most — including antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America — are also inveterately anti-Israel. America and the Jewish people are both the subject of curious conspiracy theories.
Modern antisemitism is based on the paranoid delusion that Jews want to rule the world, which, presumably, is manifested by managing to get themselves killed so often. America’s alleged drive for domination may be seen in the U.S. spending $45 billion to keep Iran from blowing up the world.
The fate of America and the Jews is intertwined. America was founded on the Jewish Bible. The existence of modern Israel owes much to U.S. support, from President Truman to President Trump.
Antisemitism is never a one-off thing.
In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, a 16-year-old resident of an Israeli settlement was murdered in an ambush, a police officer was wounded in an attack on an Ontario synagogue, a Connecticut town was covered in swastikas and a German synagogue was firebombed — for the second time.
It is all part of the war that never ends. Everyone must choose a side. Neutrality is impossible.
GFK
