Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a good point in the sermon you heard during the Mass for your Sunday obligation?

Let us know.

 

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17 Comments

  1. VARoman says:

    EF Mass, 120+ including lots of families with kids.
    Father made an excellent point about the dangers of self-sufficiency, and the dangerous liturgical abuses that have been spawned since Vatican II. Instead of focusing on the eternal, too many in the Church have become focused on their place in history. He made several excellent points about the real danger of “cafeteria catholics”.

    Of course, all tied beautifully into the disciplines of Lent. Very well done.

  2. Mike says:

    TLM: Mortal sin cuts us off not merely from the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, but from Her Head, Christ Himself. It is in being cut off from that Head that we risk the eternal loss of our soul.

  3. timfout says:

    EF Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent – Father emphasized that the devil is very much at work in the world today and that we must resist him.

  4. Sean Stark says:

    EF – Temptation and how to avoid it. Best point for me was a quote from St. Francis De Sales…I may be para-phrasing…”The enemy does not make war on a fortress he controls.”…so, we know we are still in battle when we are tempted and aware of that temptation. I read St. Francis De Sales for the rest of the day!

  5. ClavesCoelorum says:

    EF (FSSP) Mass. Father preached about the relationship of the old and the new paganism to Christianity and Christian culture, based on the reading in which Our Lord is accused of casting out demons by the power of the devil.

    Identifying the devil as the “strong man” and Christ as the “stronger one”, and referring to the “spoils” of verse 22 from Luke 11, Father illustrated how, once we have known the Truth and fall away from it, we are actually worse off than before (cf. vv. 24-26). An example he gave was the “baptism” of pagan Greek reason and logic. The “spoils” that Christ conquered when they were “baptised” weren’t destroyed, but “distributed”, that is, put to use for the Good Cause of the Kingdom of God: They were rightly ordered, like our passions should be, through which the devil seeks to get us.

    Father said that once the Christian culture had employed the “baptised” reason and logic of paganism for what is good (thus being rightly ordered), turning back from it and casting away Christianity resulted in a state worse than that of the pagans, because they didn’t know Christ, while we do. The French Revolution and its idolisation of reason to the degree of a goddess which brought about great persecutions of Christianity itself was the historical illustration Father used.

    Very refreshing homily compared to that which I get to hear at my usual OF parish. :)

  6. Dr. Edward Peters says:

    “I’m a sinner who happens to be a priest.”

  7. ad Deum says:

    EF: To see Christ through all the worldly concerns and cares; that He is always there and we need to look for Him.

  8. Liam says:

    Do not waiver in the Catholic Faith. Do not be lukewarm in the spiritual life.

  9. Netmilsmom says:

    Because of a family member in from CA, we attended a parish known to be modern.
    The sermon was “Love your neighbor” with Jesus ‘the’ Christ, BUT what was praiseworthy was that this church was PACKED! Normal Sunday at 11 is 1/2 full. This was nearly standing room only.
    No Baptism, not special event, just people. It was Great!

    Praise be to Jesus Christ, now and forever.

  10. Sonshine135 says:

    OF: Father spoke about how Christ flipped the conversation back on the woman at the well. He begins by asking her for a drink from the well, but by the end of the conversation, she is begging Jesus for the living water. He uses her physical need for water to show God’s mercy and love. The most beautiful part of the reading is that the woman leaves her container at the well to tell all the others about Jesus, but that day, she drank more abundantly than she ever had. The imagery is absolutely beautiful.

    So many great lessons exist in this gospel reading. God knows us better than we know ourselves. Amen!

  11. TopSully says:

    I was in San Antonio for work and attended Saturday evening’s anticipated Mass at a beautiful church right downtown. The good point of the sermon was Father tying the woman at the well to all of us, the Church at large longing for that water. He did a great job and kept his sermon fairly short.

    This was an OF Mass, which is normal for me, BUT this Mass was extraordinary (small e) in a way. There was a choir singing what I’m guessing was polyphony, and they were awesome singers. They sung the Kyrie and the hymns were all “real” hymns. They sung the Agnus Dei, in Latin, if I have to say so. During the offertory hymn Father waited until they were finished before he started the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It really FELT like there was a Mass being said. I’m sure that a couple of things would have made the list of things not to do in a perfect OF Mass, but overall this was FAR better than any Mass I’ve attended since I was a child.

    This weekend San Antonio hosted one fourth of the basketball tournament games so the church was packed, and many were obviously visitors. At the end of Mass many people applauded. Yes, I know, I know. And honestly I don’t know if they were applauding the choir (they were awesome) or applauding the entire Mass. And yes, I know that either way it ruins the solemn nature of the Mass, but I think it may show that what Father Z has been saying for a long time is true, people are HUNGERING for this kind of Mass.

    I’ve been to several EF Masses, but it isn’t my normal thing for a lot of reasons. I’m tied to my local parish by the Knights of Columbus, the Youth Ministry and as a confirmation catechist. This particular OF mass shows that it doesn’t have to be bad. It doesn’t have to be mediocre. It is possible to have a Holy, reverent and solemn OF Mass. Maybe Father also says the EF somewhere in the diocese and it has helped him or maybe he is just a really good priest. Either way I wish we had Mass that way at my parish.

  12. Paulo says:

    2 noteworthy points:
    (1) our young priest recalled the “field hospital” image used by the Holy Father. In a field hospital, he said, folks are not concerned with your high cholesterol levels; rather, medics are working on the deep, gushing wound on your side (I am starting to wonder whether Father N reads Father Z). As an ongoing theme of his homilies, he urged the faithful to be aware of such deep wounds (sinful behaviours, vices, and the like) and seek the remedies that the Holy Church offers.

    (2) based on the OF Gospel reading, he suggested a simple prayer: “My Lord Jesus Christ, I thirst for you”.

  13. MikeM221 says:

    EF: Father noted that when we are in the state of grace, the devil cannot reside within us, but when we choose to commit mortal sin, we commit spiritual suicide, and it is at that time that the devil resides within us. The devil hates the sacrament of Confession, because he knows that once we confess our sins and receive absolution, his time within us will end.

  14. frjim4321 says:

    I’ve been riffing on themes of sin and grace recently when led to do so by the scriptures. I had an idea on seeing the “life giving water” as grace, or God’s life in us.

    Believe me, I am *very* careful using sources that may be not specifically Catholic but I found this reflection very, very helpful: http://www.deeper-devotion.net/samaritan-well.html

    I only used the first three “graces” because I think people hear, understand a remember better in threes; and this was perfect because our Communal Penance is this evening and this lent itself to a perfect ferverino for the service.

  15. LeslieL says:

    I was saddened that we did not have the privilege of hearing a homily yesterday – the Presider is a young priest who always manages to provoke and encourage our faith life, and it is not often we are blessed with his presence. Yesterday we had an appeal from the Propagation of the Faith, which was not a bad idea, of course, in this season of Lent – but I’m sad to say the speaker was not engaging at all; and it would have been better to hear Fr. Rob.

  16. frjim4321 says:

    Never seem to get much traction with constructive comments of a positive nature.

  17. AvantiBev says:

    Fr. Jim,
    I attended the EF Mass as is my usual custom so I did not hear the Novus Ordo gospel but it is one of my favorites. It is the Gospel message every woman who has surrendered to the Sex Revolt should hear and take to heart – according to Huff Po that would be the 97% who are sexually active and the well over 56% who have had more than one partner; but alas it is usually preached in a generic way. I think St. Photina is a woman for our times and for yet another generation of young girls being filled with Gardasil vaccines and daily pills in service to the Revolution.

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