Your good news and your Sunday sermon

Do you have good news for anyone?

Also, is there some good point from the Sunday sermon you heard to pass along?

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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36 Comments

  1. Geometricus says:

    Fr. Dufner at Holy Family in MN quickly dismissed the idea that letting go of anger (1st reading) and showing mercy to those who have sinned against you (Gospel) have anything to do with our attitude toward the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack. He sagely pointed out that Jesus in the Gospel was talking about personal forgiveness, that you can’t show mercy on behalf of someone else for offenses you did not personally suffer. He used the example of some evil person slapping your wife in the face as you walk down the street with her: is the first impulse of justice about forgiving the evil man, and does that impulse excuse a man from providing protection for his wife?

    Those comments were just the first minute of his homily which then focused attention on personal forgiveness by revealing some of the Greek words which were further obscured by a not-very-literal translation we heard at mass. For example, the “huge amount” the servant owed his king is “ten-thousand talents” in the Greek, an almost inconceivable sum representing something like 108,000 years of daily wages. And yet Jesus more than implies that this is comparable to the debt we owe to Almighty God due to our sins against him. Yet the “much smaller amount” owed to the servant in the Greek is revealed to be about a small fraction of one day’s wage, I forget if the actual fraction was 1/8 or 1/80.

    It was very convicting considering I was mad at some family members for some reasons. I really needed to hear it and it still troubles my conscience when I think about it!

  2. asperges says:

    Rare still, but very striking, High Mass in the (old) Dominican Rite on Saturday to celebrate their patronal feast of Holy Cross, followed by procession and veneration of a relic of the true Cross (said to have belonged once to Mary Queen of Scots).

    Missa O Quam Gloriosum by Victoria and motets by Byrd and others and Dominican plainsong for the feast. Wonderful.

  3. LouiseA says:

    Sunday Sermon: In the old law, there were intermediaries (the old priesthood – “Go show yourself to the priest.”) just as there are priests as intermediaries under the new law. God created our nature as social beings. God uses mankind not only to act out the law, but to convey His Grace and to practice Charity. It is part of our human nature to have intermediaries. The Protestant notion that “I am an individual, I go straight to God, I interpret the scripture myself” is unnatural. They realize that at some level, because in their 1000 different protestant churches they set up ministers.

  4. Archbishop Vigneron led the September prayer vigil for the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. Photostory here:

    http://te-deum.blogspot.com/2011/09/archbishop-vigneron-leads-pro-life.html

  5. Supertradmum says:

    Fantastic sermon by Marist, Father Michael of the home parish of Walsingham, who managed to weave together skillfully 9/11, forgiveness, racial hatred, religious prejudice, C. S. Lewis and the readings. That is my good news, as well, as a fine sermon, worthy of reflection, is good news.

  6. Tom A. says:

    An elderly lady had trouble breathing during Mass. I had to call 911 on 9/11.

  7. NoraLee9 says:

    My husband is a teacher. Long story short: in a year when Art teachers are being laid off, hubby got hired in his specialty, animation, at the well-known HS for Art and Design in NYC. Several miracles led up to this, and he was hired the Friday before the start of school. If he hadn’t been hired, he would have had to “sub” this year until some school picked him up. Sister Lucia said it: “There is no problem so great that it can’t be solved by the Rosary.”

  8. Cath says:

    Good News

    A dear friend and I get to hear a talk by Fr. Z when he comes in October!

  9. Maeana says:

    I just found out that we have a third diocesean priest in our diocese (Ogdensburg, NY) willing and able to say Mass in the Extraordinary form. Not only that, the priest I just found out about is actually our parish priest! We also have a thriving SSPX 20 minutes from our home, so if a miracle happens on the 14th…
    My heart is very joyful.

  10. benedetta says:

    Minor household resident having a taste of cafe au lait this morning and beverage served in a mystic monk double handled mug.

  11. marlab says:

    Received an unprecedented unexpected bonus from my employer, thus allowing me to pay off my diocesan appeal pledge in full, plus make another small contribution to another charity. To think I was a bit concerned about this! Our God provides.

  12. Fleeb says:

    Superb sermon by Fr Murphy of St Peter’s. His exegesis on today’s Gospel (forgiveness x 77) against the backdrop of Christianity’s fight against evil (and those who have been influenced by the devil…to include Moslems), and what we should do about it. He commented on the irony of the World Trade Center commemoration exclusion of Christianity with the design of the memorial…water cascading over the names of the deceased and emptying into a black void of a drainhole seemed to reflect the utter lack of hope in how we have jettisoned God from the public square. He reminded us that we have been fighting evil since the beginning of time and wrapped all of this up with the exortation to use the most powerful weapon we have…prayer. Specifically, he urged us to pray the Rosary, just as Pope Pius V had asked Christians to do before the Battle of Lepanto and our victory over the Moslems, and our Blessed Mother had asked during WWI.

    I did mention to him after Mass the irony of Christ’s admoniton to forgive our enemies 77 times…flight 77 was the one that struck the Pentagon (the design is also used by satanists).

    How’s that for a message?

  13. Charivari Rob says:

    Excellent preaching (and a lot of it) on forgiveness and other points from our celebrant, who was also leader of our day-long choir year kickoff retreat.

    …and when I had had my fill of 9/11 remembrance programming, I stumbled across a Sunday broadcast of a Friday concert at Trinity Church in NYC. Program led off with Durafle Ubi Caritas, followed by Faure Requiem.

  14. Kerry says:

    Yesterday I saw a miracle, a Prius with a “Pray the Rosary” bumper sticker and a “Pray for Unborn Life” bumper sticker. Prius by Prius.

  15. AnAmericanMother says:

    Holy Spirit, Atlanta had a special Commemorative Mass. There’s a big military and law enforcement presence in our parish, and everyone attended in uniform (at least those of us who could still fit into them). Police color guard, piper, Emerald Society(fire and police) in strong attendance. Surprising number of Naval officers (including a retired flag rank that I didn’t even know was here). We have a number of parishioners who lost brothers and sons who were NYPD or NYFD. Good homily from our pastor on personal forgiveness, along the same lines as geometricus’ homily, with a reminder not to forget our fallen brothers.
    Music was Fauré Requiem. And pipes. Nice conversation with the piper (I used to play in the old Atlanta Pipe Band) and had fun admiring the color guard’s No 4 SMLE rifles, unfortunately converted to .308 somewhere along the line and not working well. Gunsmithing conversation ensued. Reception in parish hall.

  16. ejcmartin says:

    I took part in a local 5km penitential pilgrimage on Saturday. I decided to add another 20-25km through hilly terrain. A little over a year ago I had open heart surgery to put in a mechanical valve to fix a congenital heart defect. Prior to surgery I could barely make it up a small incline without my lungs burning. I am blessed and I am grateful.

  17. KAS says:

    The homily where I attended Mass this sunday was on forgiveness. It was very good and I found myself making an act of will to forgive someone who had forgiven me and was struck with the importance, for me at least, of praying for God to help me FEEL the forgiveness I am choosing to give and asking him to make the forgiveness happen since sometimes it seems like the best I can do is to choose to forgive and to want to forgive but going that next step where you feel it, where you let go of the residue of hurt, that is harder, and thanks to the way the homily hit me, I was inspired to ask for help with that.

    Healthy pregnancy continues. We will find out if we are having a girl or boy in another month or so.

    Oh, and I also met Fr. Z at CatholiCon and enjoyed hearing him speak. He is a really good speaker. :)

  18. transparent2one says:

    My parish had a votive mass for the forgivness of sin. The visiting priest, from England but a priest in France gave the homily. He has been with us for two months and he is great. I learned the difference between vengeance and justice. It is a diabolical sin to wish for the eternal damnation of anyone, even the 9/11 terrorist. We must pray for their salvation as well but also remember that justice will be served even after death (purgatory). Our prayers for them and others today can be applied to the past. He told of Padre Pio prayed daily for his grandfather and one guy asked “Father, you told me your grandfather was in heaven so why do you still pray for him?” And Padre Pio replied that the reason his grandfather is in heaven is because of the prayers he offers today.

  19. Frank H says:

    A fine sermon by our recently ordained associate pastor (who celebrates both the OF and EF!)

    His point that all these “moments of silence” in remembrance of the 9/11 victims should really be used as moments of prayer for the repose of their souls was one of those lightbulb-going-on moments for me. I guess my resistance to the secular culture has not been as strong as I thought.

  20. benedetta says:

    We heard a challenging homily about Our Lord’s command that we forgive which illuminated the readings with the Gospel. Our homilist spoke of task of forgiveness and reconciliation, the frequency of it and the change of heart that makes it possible with God’s grace. That the Lord forgave those who willed his death, from the cross, and forgave the Good Thief at that same time. The peace that extending forgiveness towards others brings is the peace of Christ which the world cannot give, going ahead of us in this He makes it possible for us. Knowing what it is like to be forgiven by God makes us able not just to forgive others but to forget the offense completely.

  21. Our priest mentioned that the commemoration of The Most Holy Name of Mary today (September 12) returns in the 2002 Roman Missal (and, of course, in the forthcoming English translation) as it has remained all along in the 1962 Missal. New English translations:

    Collect
    Grant, we pray, almighty God,
    that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
    she may obtain your merciful favor.

    Prayer over the Offerings
    May the intercession of Blessed Mary ever-Virgin commend our offerings, we pray, O Lord,
    and may it make us acceptable to your majesty as we revere and venerate her Name.

    Prayer after Communion
    May we obtain the grace of your blessing, O Lord, through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God,
    that from her, whose holy Name we venerate,
    we may obtain help in our every need.

  22. APX says:

    Good news?

    I survived the first week of my internship and already get to dig in and get my hands dirty interviewing and processing offenders not on probation. I also made it to Confession on Saturday, which yet again had another long line up. (It doesn’t matter if it’s before, after, the normal hour-long slot, or Father’s in the Church not saying Mass or doing anything else, there’s a huge line-up waiting for him.) Got some good counsel too.

    Sermon?

    He was talking about heresy in the Church and excommunication. Also that if we look through history, it isn’t the first time someone has tried to destroy the Church, and every time they’ve been unsuccessful. Also, the Church isn’t some political body where we can choose and vote on what we want to believe in. He also discussed how our grade 2 catechism isn’t enough to sustain us as adults, and we need to keep learning our catechism as adults. He really hit home when he mentioned about how when he was in seminary and learning things that would have been helpful learning in high school. That’s been the story of my life, and I’ve never physically heard a priest actually acknowledge that our Catholic education falls short to some regard.

  23. Legisperitus says:

    Since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, Advent starts as early as it possibly can (November 27). Surely good news for us US Catholics!

  24. Joanne says:

    I’m drinking Mystic Monk coffee right now. That’s good news for the monks, I guess. : )

    The homily yesterday…it was about forgiveness, in keeping with the Gospel reading. The finer points are a bit fuzzy at the moment. To be honest, there was a little girl in the pew behind me who was making a bit of noise and I was sort of distracted by that. Not sure I really heard 100% of the homily, actually. But, the main point was forgiveness.

  25. acardnal says:

    So many homilies centered on the gospel theme of forgiveness and related that to the coincident occurrence of the 9-11 attacks on the USA in 2001. Our pastor did speak of the necessity of forgiveness but also spoke of God’s justice which I thought was appropriate.

  26. MJ says:

    Homily: 1683, The Battle of Vienna – it was fabulous! Our priest said the reason Europe is being defeated now, when it could not be defeated in 1683, is because much of Europe has lost the faith.

    Good news: Our polyphony choir has started rehearsals for the Feast of All Souls on November 2nd – we’ll be singing Vittoria’s 6-part Requiem. Fantastic!

  27. Teddy says:

    At the Sunday morning Mass the priest preached on how Muslims are somewhat justified in calling The United States “The Great Satan” because this country supports abortion, pornography, promiscuity, fragmented families et cetera.

    However he also said that Muslims will be converted by devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary whom they venerate after Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. He deferred to Archbishop Sheen’s book ‘The World’s First Love” and specifically the chapter “Mary and the Moslems”

    By your Holy Name O Mary, pray for us

  28. tmjost says:

    My oldest son just entered the Brotherhood in the Order of the Arrow (Boy Scouts!) He also was able to attend a FSSP summer camp this July at St Gregory’s Academy in PA. We just received a newsletter, and he was overjoyed to see his pic inside! Not only was this a great camp for boys with many outdoor activities, sports..etc, but they were also fed with Catechism, and the Eucharist each day! http://www.fssp.com

  29. Tantum Ergo says:

    A wonderful elderly Polish priest gave a homily on thanks, and noted that in his journal only two Mass intentions over the last two years were for the intention of thanksgiving. In his broken English, he suggested that when we go to bed we say “Dear Jesus, thank You for this day. If I have offended You, I’m so sorry. Anyway, I love You.”
    After Mass, he said that Jesus didn’t need many words in prayer. He said that the first canonized saint (canonized by Jesus Himself from the cross) was the Good Thief, whose prayer was only “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” That was his confession. Jesus then answered him: “This day you will be with Me in paradise.”

  30. Centristian says:

    The celebrant at the Mass I attended this Sunday reminded us in his homily that it’s easy to fall into the temptation to think that, during wartime, it’s alright to hate our enemies. During WWI, it was OK to hate “the Huns”. During WWII it was okay to hate the “Japs” and the “Krauts”. During the Cold War it was okay to hate the “Commies”. How about Muslims in the wake of 9/11? Should a Christian ever imagine that there is a license to hate someone else under any circumstances?

    Well, certainly some people really do hate other people of other races and persuasions, and perhaps some Christians really can hate their enemies. There is a disctinction to be made, however, between righteous anger over injustice and crime and atrocities, and hateful anger. Those who experience the former shouldn’t be tempted to fall into the trap of the latter, of course, but I also think that those who experience the former shouldn’t be lumped in with those who experience the latter. A distinction might have been made.

  31. gloriainexcelsis says:

    On the website catholictradition.org, clicking on favorite sites and then The Remnant, there is an article that warms the heart. A marvelous young FSSP priest, ordained in 2008, is in Guadalajara, Mexico, working to bring Mexicans back to the Church, as St. Pio asked. The article is so inspiring I sent it on to others. Father “Romo” is a priest in the mold of early missionaries. God bless and protect him.

  32. MikeS says:

    Our celebrant pointed out that the servant who owed 10,000 talents had no comprehension of the magnitude of his debt. As demonstrated by his ridiculous promise “Be patient with me and I will pay you back in full.”

    In good news, our third child (first son) was baptized after mass.

  33. Cricket says:

    Our wonderful young pastor spoke against taking for granted God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A Lutheran once told him Catholics “simply cannot understand the darkness of those who must continually bear the weight of their sins” without absolution.

  34. trespinos says:

    Our homilist, a priest from Colombia, used an incident out of American history, hitherto unknown to me, to illustrate an aspect of forgiveness that we need to ponder. It seems a man in the time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency was convicted of robbing the mails and sentenced to death for this federal offense. Andy Jackson pardoned him. The man refused to accept the pardon. The authorities were stumped and asked the Chief Justice to give them a decision. Justice Marshall said a pardon needs to be accepted to be effective–not accepted, not effective, the sentence should be carried out, and it was. We weak men need to accept the pardon offered to us by our all-gracious God, and understand that we must imitate Him in pardoning others their offenses against us.

  35. NobisQuoQue says:

    Since it was 9/11, we had a Requiem Mass, and the priest (Fr. Clark, St. Michael’s, Annandale, VA) gave an excellent sermon, mentioning how every day has been a 9/11 for the unborn who are aborted. He also pointed out the fact that many of the first responders on 9/11 were Catholic (firemen, policemen). The culture of life and its willingness to sacrifice one’s own life is in direct contrast to the culture of death’s taking of lives.

  36. ByzCath08 says:

    We had a beautiful Divine Liturgy followed by Panachida for the victims of 9/11. Afterwards, Father put the cross out for veneration in preparation for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Wednesday.

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