On Monday, August 3, the NYC Area gathered to celebrate our First Monday Mass in the Lady Chapel of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Msgr. Douglas Mathers, ChM was the celebrant of the Mass. We were honored to welcome H.E. Frà Nicola Tegoni, Member of the Sovereign Council, and Kenneth R. Craig, GCM, President of the American Association. Alessandro Creso, YOF, proclaimed the first reading, and Frà Nicola Tegoni led the Daily Prayer. This Mass was offered for the repose of the souls of the following: Pat McCarthy, GCDMOb; Phyllisita McKenzie; Sr. Maria Agnes O’Leary, O. Carm; Samuel Gary Polozola; Linda Romanowski; Barbara Anne Wood; and Joanne Hamilton Rajoppi.

In his homily, Msgr. Mathers drew on the first reading—the confrontation between the prophet Jeremiah and the court prophet Hananiah—to reflect on a distinction as old as Scripture and as immediate as our own interior life. There are, he explained, two kinds of prophets. The authentic prophet is chosen by God to speak God’s truth to his people, however difficult or unwelcome that truth may be. The court prophet, by contrast, is chosen by the king to serve the king — and so he speaks not the truth of God, but the truth the king wants to hear. In the reading, Hananiah tells the puppet king Zedekiah exactly what he longs for: that Babylon’s power will be broken within two years, that the temple treasures will be restored, that all will be well. Jeremiah knows otherwise, and knows, too, the disaster that follows when a king and a people are given permission to set aside the covenant and live as they please, because a comfortable voice has told them everything will be fine.

Msgr. Mathers then turned this ancient conflict inward. The phenomenon of the court prophet, he said, does not exist in the world in the same way today, but it exists in each of our souls. Because we are baptized, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and it is the Spirit’s work to teach us God’s truth throughout our lives. But other voices speak too: the voices of the world, with its very different moral standards; and the voices of our own desires, including pride, anger, lust, and the hunger for revenge. These voices also claim to tell us the truth. How do we discern between them?

Here Msgr. Mathers turned to St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast the Church had just celebrated. Ignatian discernment offers a practical test: Does what is being suggested draw you closer to God? Does it bring you peace? Does it help you know Jesus better? Or does it pull you away from the Lord, offering something comfortable, something easy, something that fits neatly with what you already wanted to do? The Spirit, Msgr. Mathers reminded us, will always tell us the truth. And as the Gospel makes clear, that truth often sounds like the words Jesus spoke to Peter as he sank beneath the waves: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Keep your eyes on him.

Following Mass, a large group enjoyed fellowship at a nearby tavern. Please join us on September 8 to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Philermo at The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (RSVP here).