Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a good point (or more) from the Sunday sermon you heard this week?

Let us all know what it was.

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25 Comments

  1. Jack007 says:

    Our FSSP priest took advantage of it being Good Shepherd Sunday and told the story of Franz Liszt and the conversion of his pupil the Jewish Hermann Cohen.
    A fascinating tale. For those who have not read it, its certainly worth a read. You can Google Fr. Hermann Cohen aka Augustin-Marie.
    Sadly, most accounts of Franz Liszt make little or no mention of this, or his return to the Faith and even his ordination to minor orders.

    Pray for good shepherds!

    Jack in KC

  2. Quaerens me sedisti lassus says:

    I shamefully overslept today, and thus missed both the EF Mass that is local to me, and the OF Mass at a very solid Augustinian parish nearby. As a result, I went to the late Mass at the chapel on campus.

    The priest, in his homily, called the Bishop of Peoria ‘an abomination’ for his criticism of the HHS mandate, among other things. I was shaken, then angry, to the point that I wanted to take my shoe off and throw it at him; certainly I was not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion.

    I am unsure what to do. I am told that previous complaints about various abuses at this parish have been ignored by the local bishop. I would appreciate prayers as I get in contact with my spiritual director about what to do.

  3. asperges says:

    Good Shepherd Sunday in the Dominican rite. How there is one shepherd and one flock. Comparison with Noah’s Ark: only one, not several, commanded to be built, just as Christ was one: a type of the one Church to come. Comparison with the ark’s three decks or levels, like the three estates of the Church suffering, militant and triumphant. Salvation comes only through the Church although others ‘loosely attached’ living a good life without the fullness of Faith may benefit from it. They are, as it were, in the porch of the Church, neither entirely in nor out. Those whom we can persuade to come into the ark, we should do at every opportunity.

  4. NoTambourines says:

    With reference to the Gospel, our pastor reminded us at this week’s Mass that we’re bodily creatures and we believe in the resurrection of the body, as stated in the creed, noting that Jesus made a point of showing that He wasn’t just there as some kind of apparition by eating a piece of fish.

    Therefore, since we’re bodily creatures, we can’t pretend we’re pure spirits unaffected by how we treat our bodies. He heavily emphasized the evils of abusing drugs and alcohol as one such example.

  5. NoTambourines says:

    And I misspoke above about “as stated in the creed,” but you know what I mean.

    I can’t get a sentence out straight, it seems.

  6. JonPatrick says:

    We had an interesting take on the Good Shepherd, looking at the hireling and the wolf that scatters the sheep. One way Catholics as sheep are scattered i.e. are led away from the faith is by scandal. He gave 2 examples of scandal that we may be guilty of, allowing our children to watch certain movies or TV shows – he gave the example of the movie “the 3 Stooges” currently showing; and attending events that may give scandal through our tacit approval such as invalid weddings.

    I was thinking about this when I read Fr. Z’s “Magisterium of Nuns” post, about how many have been lead astray by these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

  7. Gregg the Obscure says:

    We are called to participate in the new evangelization, which means we first have to transform our own lives. The sacrament of reconciliation is central to that task.

  8. discerningguy says:

    Father got into the discussion of how all beauty is a direct gift from God, which was actually pretty good. He commented on the architecture of our modest Gothic church, and talked about plans for the new church and how many of the elements from the current one, including all the stained glass and the high altar (which sadly now only functions as a reredos and tabernacle) will be taken and installed when the new church is built.

    Then he said for the umpteenth time in the umpteenth consecutive homily that everybody goes to heaven.

    Oh my.

  9. FaithfulCatechist says:

    Kick-@$$ sermon on martyrdom from our transitional deacon. Unfortunately, he is may go to the military chaplaincy after his priestly ordination this summer. The priest followed up with the story of a lady who works with homeless women under the auspices of the diocesean charity. It made up for having to sing Haas’ lame reworking of o filii et feliae…

  10. benedictgal says:

    Our parochial vicar preached a rather impressive homily yesterday. He tied St. Luke’s account of the post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus to the surviving 11 to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He told us that we often miss the fact that Jesus still wants to eat with the remaining 11, the same ones who had abandoned Him (with the exception of St. John). He added that the Holy Sacrifice is both sacrifice and meal, explaining to us that the cultic sacrifices Ancient Israel offered in the Temple included a meal aspect, wherein a portion of the sacrifice was consumed by God (through fire), a portion was consumed by the priest who offered the sacrifice and then the final portion was consumed by those for whom the sacrifice was being offered.

    He then said that Christ gave us the template for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. While Protestant ecclesial communities may claim to do things based on the Bible, their form of worship is not biblical. Christ gave us a specific commament at the Last Supper and at Emmaus and elsewhere after the Resurrection, He kept reinforcing it. The idea of having a “mega-worship” style with a band and a preacher is not really biblical worship.

    Our parochial vicar then went on to read St. Justin Martyr’s account of the Mass. He explained to us that the format of the Mass has not changed much since that time. He added that, unfortunately, we have taken it upon ourselves to do things during the Mass that should not be done (irreverence, abuse, substandard music, etc). He said that the Church gives us rituals that we must follow because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is most sacred and most important. It is God’s encounter with us.

    He also explained that St. Thomas Aquinas had placed worship under the list of Justice that we owe God, not charity.

    He concluded by stating that God wants to have an encounter with us within the Mass. He wants to embrace us. However, we have to want to be touched by God. Our souls need to be in the proper state to receive Him. He is just as real as He was when He appeared to the surviving Apostolic band.

  11. trad catholic mom says:

    Father’s topic was the sacrament of penance and his own poor formation as a boy growing up in the 60’s who only had access to penance services. How he had to learn to make a proper examination of conscience and how later he found joy in coming to understand what a sinner he is and the joy of forgiveness. More stuff on how we all must come to understand our sinful nature and the gift of Christ’s forgiveness.

    I always appreciate his sermons.

  12. Jbuntin says:

    Our FSSP priest Fr. Wolfe spoke on gospel of the day; how our shepard will know his sheep because we will be “different” than the other sheep. He used this oppotunity to instruct us on modesty and purity, in dress and in actions, and how when we are modest in dress and in action we do not scandalize the flock. He went into great detail on what the Church’s definition of scandal and the worlds definition.
    I loved how he continued to make the point that modesty has as much to do with our inward self as it does our outward apearnce.
    In my 7 years as Catholic, I have never seen a priest as on fire for God as he is. He is an inspiration to me, also, he is so devoted to our Blessed Mother. A real Momma’s Boy!

  13. SouthTxMom says:

    Father spoke about the importance of the Sacrament of Penance. He said that when we do not take advantage of the sacraments, especially confession, we are similar to defenseless sheep, who do not put up a fight when attacked. He reminded us that many people stay away for long periods of time out of fear that their sins are too big. He encouraged people to return to confession—that our sins indeed will be forgiven (insert good confession story here—I would do a poor job paraphrasing it).

    Further, he instructed the flock that it would be a worthy goal in our lives to spread the word about the power of the Sacrament of Confession.

    Ahhh, homilies with actual Church teaching are such a blessing to the sheep! May God bless our faithful shepherds!

  14. benedetta says:

    Pastoral care, or the care of souls, is of utmost importance. In the new translation and in the EF, we say “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” We speak up, because, we believe and have been formed through the worth reception of the sacraments.

  15. jbpolhamus says:

    I had a very interesting experience on Sunday. At both masses, first somewhat timidly, then more boldly the second time, my parish priest announced, at the end of mass that – and this is verbatim – “You will see from the announcement in the bulletin that we have reached 81% of our assessment for the Catholic Appeal. So if you haven’t yet made your pledge, DO SO, so that we won’t still be talking about this at Pentecost…or until Hell freezes over.” Really, Father? Really? From the altar of the church? Where you sit under a resurrexifix…”until Hell freezes over”? This man is also a judge on the Diocesan tribunal, a canon lawyer. Admittedly he is a relic of the 1960’s vision, but his tastelessness and poor judgement seems to know no bounds, and never ceases to amaze me. He seems to have a condition which I have seen in many immature and poorly formed priests, called “diahrrea of the will,” which I define as the urge to say, and the inability to contain, whatever thoughts – however nebulous or heterodox – happen to come to them at any given moment of liturgical celebration. Father, is there an innoculation for this disease, or a therepy for this lamentable condition? I’d hate to have to have him put down.

  16. Francois de Cal. says:

    Our FSSP priest Fr. Blust spoke about the priesthood, and how its essential nature is that of sacrifice in two ways:

    1. Ritual Sacrifice
    2. Interior sacrifice for the sake of souls

    He went on to discount the Anglicans for claiming to be priests when really–due to their lack of intention and form in their Ordinations–they lack the indelible Spirit of a priest, and thus their consecrations are still just bread and wine.

    He spoke about how the Holy Sacrifice is the most important part of the Mass, and said that people shouldn’t be concerned about going to Mass because of a good homily, or a good choir with amazing songs; such things are infinitesimally trivial compared to the offering of God the Son to God the Father. Without the Holy Sacrifice, we no longer remain as Catholics and simply become like the Protestants who do not do the worship of God to God, but simply man to God.

    He continued that the interior sacrifice of a priest is essential for keeping his flock in holiness, and that St. Therese said that love is nothing else but to sacrifice (or something like that). He brought up the old saying that:
    “If the priest is a saint, his people will be holy.
    If the priest is holy, his people will be good.
    If the priest is good, his people will be fair.
    If the priest is fair, his people will be mediocre.
    If the priest is mediocre, his people will be bad.”
    and quoted St. John Bosco saying that, “sacrifice is the payment for the vocation of the priesthood, just like how people must offer certain things in return for certain occupations,” and that, “the priesthood is a barter with God; I ask God for souls, and in return I give up everything else,” (or something along those lines).
    The more a priest sacrifices for his flock, the more his flock will be sanctified.

    :) Fr. Blust is a VERY penitential priest–I’m pretty sure he has some of the highest conversion rates in the diocese of Calgary*

    *disclaimer: this is personal opinion, not backed by statistics, haha ;D

  17. aarmstrong says:

    “In order to know our dear Lord Jesus Christ intimately and fully, you must not only read the Holy Scripture, but go and meet Him in His churches in the Blessed Sacrament. Just as if you were to read a biography on a person; yes, you would know ABOUT the person, but to truly KNOW this person you must go and meet Him. Good people, let us strive to recognize the role of the Blessed Sacrament in our lives, and its sanctifying grace.”

  18. RosaMystica says:

    Several excellent points:

    Christ is the good Shepherd. Pray for all the priests and bishops (the little shepherds).

    We are now in the Easter season, but every Friday should remain a “little Lent.” Recommended the continued practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays.

    Lent should be a time of spiritual growth, and Easter should build on that growth, not be a time for relapse.

  19. PostCatholic says:

    I regret to say, no.

  20. NickD says:

    Pastor made a good point that we may have to stand up to authorities who command us to go against God’s Law, kind of like how Peter did in The Acts of the Apostles

  21. AdTrinitatemPerMariam says:

    Don’t make your own image of who God is. Doing so inevitably leads to disappointment. God cannot be put in a box.

  22. pm125 says:

    Luke 24: 35 – 48
    Again Our Lord Jesus appeared to, spoke with, taught that everything written about Him in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms was fulfilled and now witnessed, and then ate with disciples. Their seeing His scars from the crucifixion gives hope to new life beyond this one. The sin and condition of this life may remain, but there is the hope of new life with repentance and the forgiveness He earned. He said ‘Peace be with you’ and transformed their fear with hope of new life.

  23. Francois! We attend the same Mass!
    You sure are right about him and confession. He’s done do much good for my spiritual life.

  24. Denita says:

    I sat in the pew in front of Jbuntin, so We both agree on the sermon. Modesty inside and out. We all need to hear this.
    BTW Jbuntin, thanks for the lift home! :)

  25. ivan_the_mad says:

    The entire homily was excellent! You can listen to it and link to all the documents cited here:

    Sin, Conscience, and the State – Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2012

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