WEBVTT 00:00:24.520 --> 00:00:25.560 Good morning. 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.800 Just a couple of announcements before I give the homily on the Word of God today. 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:43.640 Yesterday, as you heard, the past uh several weeks, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of our diocese at the event at the Honda Center, There's More. 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:45.960 And it was an amazing event. 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:49.960 I want to share with you a few of the pictures that we have from the event. 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:51.240 The first one is from St. 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:52.359 Joseph. 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.039 That sea of blue that you see there. 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:58.439 That's us, St. 00:00:58.600 --> 00:00:59.399 Joseph Church. 00:00:59.480 --> 00:01:03.160 We had 500 people who registered to come to this event. 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:11.480 And so we took up that whole section of uh, I was gonna say pews, but those aren't pews, those are uh seats at the uh Honda Center. 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:16.039 And then there was somebody that you may know that wanted to say hi to you guys. 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:20.439 Do you guys remember him? 00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:27.239 Father Carlos was there, he wanted to say hello to uh his peeps at uh St. 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:28.519 Joseph Church. 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:31.079 There's another person who wanted to say hi to you, too. 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:34.519 You know that guy? 00:01:35.960 --> 00:01:46.120 Anyway, it was such a beautiful event uh celebrating the past 50 years of our Diocese of Orange and really looking forward to what God is going to do uh in the years ahead. 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.960 And so uh for those who went to that celebration yesterday, thank you for coming. 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.840 And we look forward to all that God is gonna continue to do in our diocese and also in our parish. 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:58.680 Now, speaking of our parish, it leads me to my second announcement. 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:05.000 The Holy Spirit is working in very powerful ways in our community, and in one of those ways is Alpha. 00:02:05.320 --> 00:02:17.319 Um, now for those of you who are new here and don't know what Alpha is, uh Alpha is a relaxed and welcoming space to explore the big questions about life and faith and meaning. 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:26.759 And we're about to launch our Alpha this Wednesday, September 2nd, and running for 11 weeks, every Wednesday uh for 11 weeks until November 11th. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:34.360 Um, how many people, I'm just out of curiosity, in this mass here, how many people have have experienced alpha at this mass already? 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:35.000 Okay. 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:37.719 All right, okay, good. 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:45.960 Um now for those of you who haven't experienced alpha, every week begins with a beautiful dinner, like a banquet. 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:49.560 And this season we are having like international food. 00:02:49.640 --> 00:02:56.520 Like one week will be American food, another week will be Mexican food, another week will be Filipino food, another week will be Vietnamese food. 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.280 And uh, now that Father Arun's here, we will also have Indian food. 00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:04.280 He's he's gathering some Indian families together to do that for us. 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:12.199 And yes, we also have wine at Alpha as well for those who are above uh 21 years old or over. 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.879 And this is just a beautiful space to explore big questions of life. 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:17.879 You know, is there more to life than this? 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:19.000 Who's Jesus? 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:19.800 What's the Bible? 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:20.840 How can I have faith? 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:22.439 What do I do in the midst of suffering? 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.599 How do I forgive somebody who's hurt me? 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:27.560 Big questions of life and faith and meaning. 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:32.919 And so if you haven't had a chance to experience Alpha, I would love to encourage you to try it out. 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:36.759 Like I mentioned, there was 500 who registered for the Honda Center event. 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:43.319 Between the two courses that we've had of Alpha since January, we've had nearly 500 people who've gone through our Alpha course here at St. 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:44.280 Joseph's Church. 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:45.479 It's a lot of people, right? 00:03:45.640 --> 00:03:50.120 If you haven't had that chance to experience it, I'd love to invite you to experience it as well. 00:03:50.520 --> 00:04:00.039 Now, if you have gone through the experience of Alpha, I would love to invite you to come back to either serve, invite somebody to come with you, uh, and to come along with them. 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:04.520 Uh, two new things we're doing for Alpha this season, uh, the third season of Alpha. 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:07.960 Our confirmation teens will be going through Alpha as well. 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:11.080 At the same time, we're gonna have about a hundred teens that'll be going through it. 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:21.560 They'll be upstairs and the adults will be downstairs, and we're also offering child care for parents who have little ones but aren't able to uh have a place to have them cared for, we're gonna offer child care as well. 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:31.240 So I invite you to please pray and consider you know, is the Lord inviting me to experience Alpha, to come back and serve, or to bring someone along with me? 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:33.639 Okay, those are the two announcements for today. 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:37.159 And now I'm gonna share with you a brief homily on the Word of God. 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:43.240 Theme of my homily today is Did Jesus establish a church? 00:04:43.559 --> 00:04:47.320 Or did he just come to teach us about God and salvation and love? 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:48.440 What do you guys think? 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:50.279 Did Jesus come to establish a church? 00:04:51.320 --> 00:04:51.879 All right. 00:04:52.679 --> 00:04:54.919 Catholic Church makes a very bold claim. 00:04:55.480 --> 00:05:05.000 And the claim is this Jesus came to establish a church, that church lasts even until this day. 00:05:06.039 --> 00:05:10.120 And all of you um very handsome and beautiful looking people here. 00:05:11.159 --> 00:05:12.200 Yes, you're welcome. 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:12.919 Yeah. 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:17.720 Belong to that church, the Catholic Church. 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:20.360 That's the that's the claim of the Catholic Church. 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:21.879 Now, where does that claim come from? 00:05:22.039 --> 00:05:23.960 Where how can we substantiate that? 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:28.200 We're gonna dive into the Word of God to see uh how we can substantiate that today. 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:31.879 From our gospel of Matthew and what that means for us, practically speaking. 00:05:32.039 --> 00:05:32.200 Okay. 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.559 Could I invite us to read this together from Matthew chapter 16? 00:05:35.960 --> 00:05:40.039 Jesus said to them, But who do you say that I am? 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:45.240 Simon Peter said in reply, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:48.279 Begins with a question, and now let's go to our next verse. 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:49.399 Together? 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:59.320 Jesus said to him in reply, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly father. 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:00.360 Notice his name there. 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:02.279 What's his name there in this passage? 00:06:02.919 --> 00:06:03.240 Simon. 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:04.279 Simon. 00:06:05.080 --> 00:06:09.240 But in the next verse, Jesus changes his name. 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:10.679 Okay, together? 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:20.759 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it. 00:06:20.840 --> 00:06:23.480 So he changes his name from Simon to Peter. 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.360 Anybody here know what the word or the name Peter means? 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.480 It means rock. 00:06:29.960 --> 00:06:31.480 Peter means rock. 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:38.279 In the Greek of the New Testament, it's Petros, and in the Aramaic, which is the language that Jesus would have spoken, it would have been Kephah. 00:06:38.440 --> 00:06:45.879 So Jesus would have said to Peter, you are Kepha, and upon this Kepha, I will build my church. 00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:48.759 But when you translate it to English, you lose the word play, right? 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.480 You are Peter, and upon this rock, and he's saying, You are a rock. 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.240 Or maybe you can translate, you are rocky, not the rock. 00:06:56.039 --> 00:06:59.799 And upon this rock, I will build my church. 00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:07.879 Jesus came and he established a church, and he established it on the rock, the foundation of Peter. 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:10.440 Jesus came and he established a church. 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:16.679 And then check out this next verse and how it connects with our first reading from Isaiah together. 00:07:16.919 --> 00:07:19.960 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 00:07:20.200 --> 00:07:26.360 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:29.240 Do you remember our first reading from Isaiah chapter 22? 00:07:29.559 --> 00:07:34.440 The Lord says, Eliakim, I will give you the keys to the kingdom of David. 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.320 David is still the king, but you receive the keys. 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:38.519 You're like the prime minister. 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.159 You're gonna serve him, you still have a position of authority. 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:43.080 And Jesus does the same thing here. 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:45.320 Jesus is saying to Peter, I'm the king. 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.720 Jesus is the king, but I give to you the keys. 00:07:50.039 --> 00:07:55.720 You're gonna be my prime minister, you're gonna be the head of this church that I'm going to found, Peter. 00:07:55.960 --> 00:07:56.279 Okay. 00:07:56.759 --> 00:07:59.320 So we've just established from Matthew chapter 16. 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:03.000 Jesus came, he established a church. 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:09.399 And he established it on the rock and the foundation of Peter, which means rock. 00:08:09.559 --> 00:08:09.879 Okay. 00:08:10.679 --> 00:08:17.480 Now how do we get from there to say that this church is the Catholic Church? 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:18.039 Okay. 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.240 Alright, see if you can follow with me, alright? 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:25.960 After Peter, he had his successors, the people who came after him. 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:27.080 We know their names. 00:08:27.320 --> 00:08:29.559 Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixus. 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:31.879 We know the people that came after Peter. 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:34.120 And there's a beautiful depiction of this. 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:36.279 I don't know how many people here have ever been to Rome. 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:38.600 How many people here have ever been to Rome before? 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:40.360 There's this church in Rome called St. 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:42.039 Paul outside the walls. 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:52.279 And at this church, there's this depiction of all of the successors of Peter, all the way down to the current successor of an unbroken lineage. 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:54.439 Who's the current successor of Peter today? 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:56.360 Pope Leo. 00:08:56.439 --> 00:09:00.039 I'm going to show you a few pictures to demonstrate this connection. 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.079 So here we have Pope Leo, right? 00:09:03.319 --> 00:09:04.839 Our current Pope. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:06.519 And the one before him? 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:07.559 Francis. 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:09.000 Okay, let's go to the next one. 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.639 Before Francis, we had Benedict. 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:18.199 Before Benedict, we had John Paul II, the great charismatic Pope, right? 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:22.519 And here's more popes down through the ages. 00:09:22.839 --> 00:09:26.759 And then you finally go around the church and you get to the beginning. 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:29.799 To the very beginning. 00:09:31.319 --> 00:09:33.319 Now, can you read the names? 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.720 I guess maybe if you're closer, you can probably read it. 00:09:35.959 --> 00:09:37.159 Who's the first one? 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:39.000 Peter. 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:42.199 Petrus in the Latin. 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:43.240 That's that's there. 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:45.159 Then second, Linus. 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:46.600 Cletus. 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:48.039 Clemens. 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:55.959 I don't know if you're you're you're following my line of argumentation here. 00:09:56.439 --> 00:10:00.519 Our church can trace our lineage. 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:03.240 From Pope Leo. 00:10:04.839 --> 00:10:06.439 Down through the ages. 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:09.399 All the way to Peter. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.319 And to the words that Jesus spoke to Peter. 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:25.000 You are Peter, you are the rock! And upon this rock, I will build my church. 00:10:28.439 --> 00:10:29.799 Are you aware? 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:39.079 Jesus established the Catholic Church. 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:47.159 And we can trace the lineage all the way back to Peter, our first Pope, our first Papa, our first father. 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:51.799 That blows me away. 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:53.559 I don't know if that blows you away. 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:55.559 That we can trace it all the way back. 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:56.120 No. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:59.639 None of this is to say, oh wow, look, look how great we are. 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:00.360 Look how wonderful. 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:01.959 No, it's not about that. 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:03.720 It's about this. 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:10.120 That Jesus is faithful to his church and to his promises. 00:11:10.839 --> 00:11:14.039 You know, when you were married, you say, I promise to be faithful to you. 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:22.519 In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life. 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:27.639 That's Jesus' promise of faithfulness to his church, to you and to me. 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:35.559 Every time we come to Mass, we're coming into the church that Jesus founded. 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.399 And that means Jesus has something for you. 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:49.079 Whether that's in the Word of God you hear, the homily, the Eucharist, the greeting, the music, whatever it is, Jesus has something for you and his church. 00:11:50.839 --> 00:12:03.399 So today, we want us to open our hearts to receive that grace from Jesus and to give thanks that we get to be in the church that Jesus Himself founded. 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:07.639 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.