Share some good points from the sermon you heard for Sunday (in most places Corpus Christi).
Some words of wisdom…
The more vigorously the primacy was displayed, the more the question came up about the extent and and limits of [papal] authority, which of course, as such, had never been considered. After the Second Vatican Council, the impression arose that the pope really could do anything in liturgical matters, especially if he were acting on the mandate of an ecumenical council. Eventually, the idea of the givenness of the liturgy, the fact that one cannot do with it what one will, faded from the public consciousness of the West. In fact, the First Vatican Council had in no way defined the pope as an absolute monarch. On the contrary, it presented him as the guarantor of obedience to the revealed Word. The pope's authority is bound to the Tradition of faith. … The authority of the pope is not unlimited; it is at the service of Sacred Tradition.
Joseph Ratzinger
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in The Spirit of the Liturgy
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"We as Catholics have not properly combated (the culture) because we have not been taught our Catholic Faith, especially in the depth needed to address these grave evils of our time. This is a failure of catechesis both of children and young people that has been going on for fifty years. It is being addressed, but it needs much more radical attention... What has also contributed greatly to the situation is an exaltation of the virtue of tolerance which is falsely seen as the virtue which governs all other virtues. In other words, we should tolerate other people in their immoral actions to the extent that we seem also to accept the moral wrong. Tolerance is a virtue, but it is certainly not the principal virtue; the principal virtue is charity... Charity means speaking the truth. I have encountered it (not speaking the truth) many times myself as a priest and bishop. It is something we simply need to address. There is far too much silence — people do not want to talk about it because the topic is not 'politically correct.' But we cannot be silent any longer."Raymond Card. Burke
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"Where priest and people together face the same way, what we have is a cosmic orientation and also in interpretation of the Eucharist in terms of resurrection and trinitarian theology. Hence it is also an interpretation in terms of parousia, a theology of hope, in which every Mass is an approach to the return of Christ."Joseph Ratzinger - The Feast of Faith
"In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. ... If all Catholics are obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions, Catholic politicians are obliged to do so in a particular way, in keeping with their responsibility as politicians." CDF 2003
One of the most dangerous errors is that civilization is automatically bound to increase and spread. The lesson of history is the opposite; civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. The normal state of humanity is barbarism, just as the normal surface of the planet is salt water. Land looms large in our imagination and civilization in history books, only because sea and savagery are to us less interesting. — C. S. Lewis For contemplation…
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"Latin is a precise, essential language. It will be abandoned, not because it is unsuitable for the new requirements of progress, but because the new men will not be suitable for it. When the age of demagogues and charlatans begins, a language like Latin will no longer be useful, and any oaf will be able to give a speech in public and talk in such a way that he will not be kicked off the stage. The secret to this will consist in the fact that, by making use of words that are general, elusive, and sound good, he will be able to speak for an hour without saying anything. With Latin, this is impossible."- - Giovanni Guareschi
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The sermon on Sunday–yes, a sermon, not a homily–addressed very explicitly that being Catholic means believing all that the Church teaches. Father spoke, as well, to the need for all Catholics to have and use the Catechism. He then spoke at some length about CCC 2271-2273, stating clearly that a person cannot be pro-choice and a Catholic. That a Catholic cannot be pro-choice.
Very well done, though I did notice a good deal of coughing behind me….
Our pastor discussed the need for silence for receptivity to God working in our lives (he said it better than I just did). It’s a challenge, he noted, because it’s not the direct sort of instant-gratification approach we often prefer.
The most interesting elements from this last Sunday’s sermon! I found, were that Christ’s coming upon our altars is an act of profound love on God’s part for us. He draws near to us in humility, to our benefit. He shares His mind, understanding, His self knowledge (Logos) with us, as a lover shares himself with the object of his love.
*This drawing near solicits a particular response from us.
*The Eucharistic martyrs gave that response, they gave up all their liberty over to him. above all the freedom to do with their bodies and their lives as they please. (St. John 21:18)
*The surrender of our liberty to Him, in much the same way spouses surrender their liberty to each other is the only apropriet respose to the fact of the eucharist.
*Human freedom is not an end in itself it is the means by which we are drawn to divine charity.
*Those who refuse to make such a surrender of self to Christ do so in a perverse attempt to hold on to freedom. I will not serve; I will not repent; I will not believe the clear teaching of the gospel; I will not celebrate Mass according to the rubrics…etc.
Remember the old sixties Batman? (Sock-Pow-Oof!)
Yesterday was a real punch fest.
In a nutshell:
Heresies originate with priests and bishops – rarely from the laity
Even Luther believed in the Real Presence
Luther did not believe in the “sacrifice” part of the sacrifice of the Mass
This disbelief in the sacrifice is a central tenet of protestantism
Vatican 2 resulted in a damaged understanding of the Sacrifice of the Mass
This must be remedied if the Church is to hold on to its identity.
2nd after Pent (EF Dom rite): on the gospel – “Homo quidam” who invited his guests all of whom had excuses not to come to the wedding feast, so the master sent out to the highways and byways for the lame, blind etc. An explanation of the groups: one went to see his new farm – idolatry; another with the 5 yoke of oxen – the five senses, materialism; married a wife, consumerism etc. All would not apply their minds to Faith and duty. Banquet a foretaste of the the Sacrament and the eternal nuptials. Those invited representative of most of us with weaknesses and faults. God accepts us with all our faults but that is not an excuse for them. We have a duty to overcome them as far as we are able.
Our priest spoke of the importance of keeping things sacred. His example was of preservation of the Eucharist from being scattered through mishandling, and the importance of even the priest keeping his finger and thumb together during the Mass to prevent and the use of the paten under the chin of those receiving on the tongue to prevent the pieces from dropping.
The permanent deacon delivered one of the best homilies I’ve heard in our parish, speaking at length about the Real Presence. He mentioned a conversation he’d had with a Methodist middle-schooler who wondered what happened at the Consecration, and, perhaps snarkily, reaponded “But isn’t that cannibalism?” From whence he moved to John 6, and ended with some suggested practices to develop greater faith in the Eucharistic presence. He also put a bug in the congregation’s ear about eucharistic processions (we’ve never had one in living memory).
At that Mass one of my grade four catechism students and her kid brother made their first communion.
Great homily from a Norbertine priest celebrating the Novus Ordo. Items covered:
1) Priests and bishops have a duty to deny Communion to public figures who persist in public sin;
2) The universal norm for Communion is on the tongue [Communion is received kneeling and on the tongue at our parish] and the faithful may receive on the tongue anywhere in the world, regardless of what we might hear;
3) The fact that desecration is a much greater possibility if the faithful receive Communion in the hand;
4) Every particle of our Lord’s Body is sacred, no matter how small.
Our Pastor started by saying, “I love Guilt.” He continued to talk about guilty feelings being akin to pain, to let us know we are hurting ourselves, our relationships, and most importantly our relationship with God. Then he tied this all to the sacrifices God asks us to make, and the way He forgives us. And finally how the Eucharist is the ultimate sacrifice for us, allowing us to be temples of the Eucharist even though we are imperfect vessels. And late in the day… http://www.omaha.com/article/20120611/NEWS01/706119937#a-procession-to-bless-the-neighborhood
We love our new parish!!!
“How many of you recognize that when you come up to the altar to receive the precious Body and Blood of Christ that it is a matter of life and death?”
Our permanent deacon read a sermon: all the theology behind the Eucharist is fine, and you should read it if you feel called to do so. But we too easily forget amid all that theology that we gather around “this table” for a communal “meal” that ties us together and to Jesus, because this meal at this table should influence the way we relate to each other and live the rest of the week, etc.
Words not uttered: altar, sacrifice, mystery, real presence, body and blood.
Homily of Bishop Nickless, in Sioux City’s cathedral:
First, the Real presence and a discussion of Transubstantiation; then the need to come to Mass & receive worthily–deliberately missing Mass a SIN that needs sacramental confession before receiving Communion. He reviewed the mechanics of receiving reverently by mouth (Yay!) and by hand. And he said put on some clothes no matter how hot it is, and spit out your gum!
Ordination news in the other column :)
Cherix-
That was a knock-out punch. It is going in my ‘commonplace book’ just as you wrote it.
Bravo! (Brava?)
The priest at the parish where I make music and attempt to pray said, (I synthesize his remarks) “We are not here to kneel, we are not here to re-enact the sacrifice of Calvary, we are not here to take communion, we are not here to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, we are here to go beyond what is indicated in the symbol of the Eucharist, to be swept up into the Divine reality of the life of God.” In a general sense, I suppose there is a certain metaphorical hint at an ultimate truth buried in that verbage, but on the Feast of Corpus Christi we most certainly are at Holy Mass to kneel, to receive (worthily), and to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. This is a typical homily though, for San Diego, and especially from this priest. He started by saying that the Eucharist is much more than, say, a civil-war renactment group, seeming to credit it with a transcendent realith, but then – in a typically double-edged way – he negates all that, playing to the liberal element of his congregation, and goes meta, launching us all into the Beatific vision at a bound. Fortunately, this parish is a backwater where only about forty people at each of his three masses actually hear his lukewarm drivel. Which is a shame, because each of those forty people, if properly catechised, could be dynamos of the Holy Spirit.
Mass in the EF. Our deacon gave a stinging sermon the gospel of those invited to the banquet .
“The first said I have bought a farm, and must go out and see it.” Who buys property without seeing it? It could be a swamp or a garbage dump. And the one who bought the oxen unseen might find he paid for a mangy animal with one hoof in the grave. He wasn’t trying to be funny because he went on to offer many sad examples of the excuses people make for missing Mass, comparing the miracle of the Lord present in the Church to the petty attractions that keep them from so great a gift. This was NOT a feel-good homily.
@nichol.a.t Good priest who gave that wonderful homily.
Mixed bag. On the one hand, an excellent homily on the fact that the Eucharist is the center of our faith and that we should go frequently, but on the other hand, a criticism of the Church for denying to people for years and having too many rules. Oh well..
Our pastor just got back from a trip to NY
He must have gotten a shot in the arm there.
YAY
He spoke on :
Proper dress in Church
The Presence of Our Lord there
Silence after Mass so others can pray
Cell phones OFF (big problem in our parish as people exit to answer their phones)
We took him to breakfast and said he got many positive responses on his sermon.
YAY
He said he’s stressing this in all his Sunday Masses today and also last night’s anticipated Mass
YAY (that’s the teen-y boppers Mass)
Mass in Latin (NO), but there was no sermon – at all.
A wonderful homily that I wish I could have recorded and shared with others—it simply covered the reverence that should be shown to the blessed sacrament and how we show that reverence–genuflecting when entering and leaving church, proper attire, how to receive either standing or kneeling (he prefers kneeling), in the hand or on the tongue (he prefers on the tongue–and displayed how to receive in the hand) and the importance and silence before, during and after mass.
I have lots of people I could have shared it with.