SEPTEMBER 14, 2017
5:30 PM EXTRAORDINARY FORM (LATIN) MASS
The phrase, “The Buck Stops Here,” was popularized by the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman. He allegedly had the sign on his desk, It was made in the Federal Reformatory in El Reno, Oklahoma … out of walnut, and on the back says, “I’m from Missouri.”
The origin of the phrase “The Buck Stops Here” is often considered to be from frontier days and keeping track of the dealer with a buckhorn knife. If someone didn’t want the deal, they could “pass the buck.”
Another thought on the etymology is from a French phrase bouc émissaire. The phrase means scapegoat, and so is a person who is blamed for the mistakes, sins, or faults of another, especially for reasons of expediency.
And indeed, as an Old Testament type, on the Cross, Our Lord has fulfilled the role of scapegoat in “mak[ing] atonement” for the people by “carry[ing] … all their iniquities” (Lev xvi).
For the Cross, indeed, is the high point of God’s plan. As no one man was able to atone for the sins of humanity. But God provided the lamb “for the … offering” (Gen xxii) in the Person of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, in the “fullness of time … God sent his Son” – in essence the buck stopping with the Most Holy Trinity … and with Jesus Christ, who became the Priest, the altar, and the lamb of sacrifice.
Today we mark the 10th Anniversary of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, which occurs on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Perhaps there was a reason for Pope Benedict’s choosing of this feast.
Too often over the past 50 years, there have been efforts to place the blame on one side or the other – to scapegoat, if you will, the Council, conservatives, progressives, traditionalists … someone, anyone, for the sorry state we find ourselves, our Church, and our world.
Yet, G. K. Chesterton in the early 1900s in answer to an inquiry from the Times to provide an answer to the question, “What is wrong with the world?” Simply replied:
Dear Sir,And, if we are willing to embrace this level of personal responsibility, then perhaps there is hope for us yet.
I am.
Yours,
G. K. Chesterton
Because, while the Cross is for us most certainly a remedy for sin, St. Thomas Aquinas presents the Cross as an exemplar of the Virtues … showing forth the greatest love, patience, humility, obedience, and self-sacrifice.
Today’s feast also commemorates the finding of the Cross by St. Helena in the 4th century, the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the return of the relic after it was taken during a Persian invasion in the 7th century.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us recognize in the Eucharist Him who is our Redeemer, our Savior, and our Exemplar. And may we, through the infinite graces of God, be drawn ever deeper into the great mysteries of our redemption and salvation.
