Was there a good point made in the sermon during the Mass you heard for your Sunday obligation? Let us know.
For my part, I spoke about the Portiuncula Plenary Indulgence on 2 August, about indulgences in general and about how lavishly generous God is to us. The Lord went about healing people during His earthly life. But no matter how dramatic and physics-defying His earthly healings were (and are today through miracles), they are of less consequence than spiritual healings and the spiritual gifts He offers us. We little humans tend to make lavish gifts rarely. In a reversal of our human ways, God offers the greater, spiritual gifts in far greater abundance than the rare dramatic, physical healings He works. One of the ways Christ showers us with gifts is through the authority He gave Holy Church to bind and loose, both sins and also the temporal punishment due to sin.
So, everyone…
GO TO CONFESSION!
And…
GET THOSE INDULGENCES!
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Amen! I was able to visit the original Portiuncula in Assisi during Holy Week this year. And happily, we have a beautiful Portiuncula shrine right in San Francisco which I will visit on Aug. 2nd. Such a blessing of love from Our Lord Jesus.
Thanks for reminding us about the indulgence. Maybe you could remind us of what we have to do to obtain it. Why do you have to put Sunday Mass in terms of ‘obligation,’ We all know it is, at least those who read this blog. [Because that’s what it is: an OBLIGATION. There’s lots of chatter today about everyone’s rights, along with mercy, fluffy bunnies and hugs. We still have obligations. We must still concern ourselves with justice and truth, as well.] As a canon lawyer I always advise people not to be ‘legalistic’ there are always better ways to express reality. [Please dispense me. For my part, I don’t think there is a “better way” to remind people that they have OBLIGATIONS than to say it straight out: Unless prohibited for a good reason, you, including you dear Father, are obliged to hear Mass on certain days of the year, which includes ALL SUNDAYS. According to the legalistic Code of Canon Law we fulfill that OBLIGATION on the day itself or on its vigil.]
Our young associate pastor told us about choices. Choosing the immediate comforts and pleasures of this life over the joys of heaven is sinful. Missing Sunday Mass to sleep in or attend a game or other event is a mortal sin. Coming the following week and receiving Communion adds the sin of sacrilege as you are putting the most sacred into something unclean. Going to confession is like going to the doctor. Our souls are sick. Those who will survive will be those who, like going to the doctor, do something about it. It was interesting to note an above average number of people staying in their pews at Communion.
At TLM: ‘I want you to stop what you’re doing and attend to the things of God’. Father preached on St Ignatius of Loyola and recommended that we examine our spiritual lives and see what Our Lord is calling us to do and then to take some concrete action in response to that call. He mentions priestly vocations specifically, then broaden it out to all.
A newly ordained Australian priest saying his first Mass spoke on the difficulties faced by the Church. He drew upon the propers and the Gospel to sketch a hopeful picture. I would also note that although his Latin was a bit fast at the start (morning Low Mass fast) but later on his Latin had a beautiful pronounciation (or perhaps really enunciation).
TLM. Father used the analogy of an Olympic relay race to describe how the gospel that Paul received is passed on. The Cross, grave and resurrection are central to our faith. In the Epistle he gives details of who this Gospel was passed on to, the eyewitnesses to the resurrection.
This is particularly important as we hear about the shocking martyrdom of the priest in France. Father told a story about how a long time ago he used to pastor to a congregation in PA that was predominantly one of the Middle Eastern countries (I forget which) and how the men would congregate at the back of the church in case they needed to defend against Muslim attacks. He told them this is the US we don’t have to worry about that here. He never thought he’d live to see the day that we might have to defend our churches even here. However we can take comfort that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, but we need to pray for conversion of the world, particularly the Muslim world, and make sure we “pass the baton” that is hand on the faith to our children.
A visitng priest from Nigeria gave a very powerful homily that referenced, and was centered on the Catechism and the purpose of life–to know, love and serve God in eternal happiness. What a beautifully simple answer to such a complex question! This was a breath of fresh air today, as it has been ages since I have heard this in a homily. He also instructed us on the importance and purpose of the Sign of the Cross, and tied it neatly into his missionary work and the concept of stewardship. It served as an embarrassed reminder that I have not contributed to this blog in ages, despite greatly benefitting from Fr Z’s ministry, so I will set up a monthly donation.
Through His grace, Our Lord opens our ears to hear His Truth and our lips to praise Him, most particularly at Holy Mass.
That what we learn as Catholic truth can only be what was passed down from the apostles. That there can not be “novelties” in Catholic teaching by anyone, and that this includes the pope. We can have development, greater insights, but never can change be introduced that departs from what Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us. How do we know Catholic teaching? By studying the teachings of the church fathers, encyclicals of popes of old, the Council of Trent, and resources such as the Baltimore Catechism.
I heard two great homilies this Sunday.
One was at a Jesuit church, and to my surprise I found out that for the Jesuits, the feast of St Ignatius is a solemnity that trumps Sunday! Anyway the homily was wonderful, in 3 Jesuit points, on what is vanity? It’s like a breath that blows away, nothing to put our stock in, etc. How did it affect Ignatius? and how it affects us.
The other homily was about greed and the priest made the great point that greed always isolates us from other people.
For your part Fr.Z you mentioned Indulgences. Did you mentioned the conditions upon which a Plenary Indulgence is received/given? Give us your view on the first fridays plenary indulgence in the Church today. Could you surmise, have an opinion on how many are valid in the view of the lack of confessions in the Church today. It is not your habit to hide from the truth so give us who read your blog an honest take on my question.
My homily — which occurred in the context of the O.F. Mass — began with the martyrdom (in my opinion, in any case, it’s not official) of Father Jacques Hamel in France. The focus of my homily was to ask everyone: “what price are you prepared to pay for the love of Jesus Christ?”
Opened my homily talking about the Introit from the OF. In the Breviary, the Church called upon God’s “assistance” and “help,” which remind us of our dependence on God. We have to have the “heart of a child” and trust in His care. Went on to talk about the martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel, how we have to be alert of our surroundings, and put our trust in God. Vengeance is God’s, not ours. We must pray for those in darkness to repent. World gives false hope “eat, drink and be merry.” Pleaded for all to go to confession, pray, remain in His presence, because we do not know when we will meet Him.
You might wonder how a good Catholic can be tempted to nihilism? Perhaps some of us here tonight have been seduced in some small way toward offering Nothing a pinch of incense. Paul names a few of the temptations: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and idolatry. Maybe, for example, some of us believe that sexual behavior outside marriage isn’t all that bad. Or that two men or two women can be truly married. . .
http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2016/07/nihilism-pick-away-at-faith.html
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
Deacon preached at our Mass.
Started with references to our credit/spend/consume culture – credit card slogans (particularly “What’s in YOUR wallet?”) and the apocryphal scenario of a pastor instructing his congregation to exchange wallets with the person in the next pew before taking up a roof repair collection – as a lead-in to reminding us that anything we have ultimately comes from God and challenging us about what we’re hoarding (or squandering).
Visited a parish in Michigan where we were vacationing with relatives. This was a stereotypical Novus Ordo parish. Newish Church architecture, that seemed intentionally devoid of any sacred tradition. It was packed full of parishioners, mostly older, some middle aged families, and a few younger ones, all very pleasant and earnest in their prayers. A full band behind the altar. Orans posture during the Our Father. Fifteen (!) Extraordinary Ministers. The works.
And then comes the pastor. Very young looking. I’m guessing it must be his first assignment. I have no idea how long he’s been there. But every gesture, every word, everything about his posture was as reverent and traditional as he could make it. His homily was simply excellent and he talked beautifully about the last things. He would chant his parts and then the band would start with theirs and the contrast was one of the most jarring things I’ve ever seen in a Mass. I’m itching to know if it really is what it looked like: a new traditionally minded priest struggling to drag his flock into a proper liturgy.
TLM. Fr. discussed the murder of the priest in France and urged everyone to understand the need for frequent confession. He discussed the last things. Wonderful homily.
My family and I heard a stirring homily at an OF Mass we attended for the baptism of a friend’s child on Saturday evening (not our usual time or parish for Mass). Father focused on the vanities in our lives and how easy it is to be caught up in a materialistic approach to reality. Especially interesting to me: Father has a strong devotion to the Immaculate Heart and wove that into his homily a number of times. Interesting to me, because many of the newly-baptized’s extended family are non-Catholic Christians. Always good to hear some true ecumenism!
The readings from Ecclesiastes and Luke underscore the shortness and uncertainty of life and the inevitability of death. But for believers, death points us to the paschal mystery and our participation in Christ’s resurrection as well as his death. Hence Paul’s exhortation in Colossians: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God… Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:1-5).