Was there a good point in the sermon you heard for your Mass of Sunday Obligation? Let us know.
For my part, I spoke a bit about the liturgical calendar and the Sundays that “remain after Epiphany”. I also spoke about the parable in the Gospel reading, and its obvious message about judgment at the end of the world.
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
on ROME 24/4– Day 36 (-5): Sacristy secrets, music from nuns, and Fr. Z’s Kitchen (real “all’amatriciana”): “Dinner looks exceptional. Newfoundland has great history, you should go. Will be listening to the Sisters.”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “I’ve heard it said there are as many galaxies as grains of sand. Here is interesting facts about our Milky…”
on ROME 24/4– Day 36 (-5): Sacristy secrets, music from nuns, and Fr. Z’s Kitchen (real “all’amatriciana”): “Thanks for the all’amatriciana”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Thanks Father Z, cosmology lesson as only you can impart.”
on ROME 24/4– Day 35 (-6): adventures in symmetry: “Hmmm. Those kind of tassels have always reminded me of fancy curtain tiebacks so I have avoided making them but…”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Fr.Z sez: …The Voyagers are destined—perhaps eternally—to wander the Milky Way and then become characters in Star Trek…. V’ger!! https://youtu.be/gxAaVqdz_Vk?t=96”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Being from Florida, I remember when both Voyagers launched – you could see them from our house. At that time,…”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Too bad the Curia has drifted too far from its power source…”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Voyager 2 launched on 20 August 1977, from Cape Canaveral. Voyager 1 launched from Cape Canaveral on 5 September 1977.…” on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “I guess Voyager I gives new meaning to the poem High Flight. Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of…”
on So very cool that it needs its own post! VOYAGER 1 is TALKING AGAIN!: “Now this is very interesting. Not just looking up at some small dots of light overhead!”
on ROME 24/4– Day 34 (-7): The burial place of… PLATO?!?: “The final resting place of Plato puts me in mind of a memorable excerpt I once read about Aristotle in…”
on ROME 24/4– Day 34 (-7): The burial place of… PLATO?!?: “Someone pointed out the St. George’s Day Google Doodle with its background account to me – with one of the…”
on Three items of interest: a conversion, a connection, and a con job: ““George Farmer, aka Candace Owen’s husband. He is a revert” If I’m reading the interview correctly, first a convert, then…”
on Three items of interest: a conversion, a connection, and a con job: “Not to detract from anything Imrahill said, but well, the papally-attested infallible ordinary magisterium about a catholic truth, not the…”
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A Daily Prayer for Priests
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I talked about the election, in the context of the readings about the seven sons being persecuted by King Antiochus, and the emphasis on resurrection there and in the Gospel. And I addressed the anxiety many feel about the election, particularly that what “we” must do, above all, is “win.” And I countered that, instead, what we must do is be faithful, which is what Scripture emphasizes on almost every page, as opposed to “winning” (in a worldly sense). I contrasted the power of a president with the power of any ordinary Catholic, and the power in particular of confession and the Mass. Which is more powerful depends on how you view things.
The bishop visited our parish today and spoke very strongly about voting for pro-life candidates and our duty not to cooperate in the killing of innocents.
Our Gospel reading was the raising of Jairus’ daughter back to life. He beautifully related the presence of Peter, James and John to the teaching of the Church. Peter was the Rock who made sure that the Church teaches only that which Christ taught. James, the first apostle to be martyred, shows us the cost of living in accord with the Gospel. And John, the last apostle to die, teaches us of our duty to carry on the teaching of the Church from generation to generation.
5th Sunday After Epiphany (transferred)
Back in Portland for a few days, I beelined to my favorite church which, praise the Lord, has had the EF Mass and OF ad orientem now for the past year.
Fr A spoke about the weeds growing amongst the wheat, and said this happens within ourselves as well as within the Church. He cited a story of a holy friar who died and found himself in purgatory with fine robes and gold crown, for all the holy souls his zeal had helped to gain heaven. But his tongue was tied and tortured, to purge its sins of the tongue (? cursing,? gossip, ? calumny). Fr said that reciting the Litany of Divine Praises, usually done after Eucharistic Benediction, can be a good way to make reparations for one’s sins of the tongue.
In short, Church condemnations against communism and socialism, and the importance of private property.
Not the sermon, but rather the announcements at the end of Mass. The Ordinary of this Diocese, Archbishop Luigi Negri, will start traditional Ordinations from next Sunday onwards with two tonsures, and then all the minor orders and so on!
Our priest spoke the majority of the homily about our responsibility as Catholics regarding our votes on Tuesday’s election. He spoke of nonnegotiables and that they are the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, and religious freedom. We cannot look to this life only. Like the 7 sons and their mother, we must see beyond this life to our final end, and we must not vote for anyone supporting abortion, certainly as one candidate is for the killing of human life up to birth. He finished by saying, don’t betray in the voting booth what you profess in Mass on Sunday. He had an enthusiastic round of applause at the end in support of his courage in speaking the Truth. May our Lord reward his faithful servant and priest.
A young, recently ordained priest preached for the NO on the priesthood, since this week is Vocations Awareness Week. He said to encourage priestly vocations, Catholics need to stop talking about our priests being so busy, because young people aren’t attracted to being a workaholic. We also need to stop being negative & overly critical of the homily/meeting/parish/Church – no one wants to join the navy to serve on a sinking ship. And 3rd, don’t sound so very desperate, as if God’s Providence suddenly disappeared.
Of course, the context is a young priest who obviously likes being a priest (with other priests at cathedral who also really like being priests), where the liturgy is reverent & by the book, it’s beautiful, and the music is splendid. We hear about the evil of abortion & the hierarchy of moral truths pretty often, so the election topic has been covered plenty already.
Our bishop, Thomas Anthony Daly, celebrated a “white Mass”, recognizing our local medical community. His homily centered on the first reading, Maccabees, the story of the mother and her seven sons being tortured to death, willingly, because they refused to give up their faith in God. Bishop Daly began his homily mentioning a priest from France who had his throat slit while saying Mass, the Missionaries of Charity who were killed in Yemen, and a young seminarian who drowned after saving a young woman’s life after a kayaking accident. He used them as examples of people of faith who were killed intentionally or by giving their life for another, who had obviously been faced with horrific dilemmas, and chose to make the “right decision”. He tied those people’s courage in the face of death to the ever increasing secular pressure being placed upon the medical community to appease the culture of death. He spoke directly to them about how they, and really all Catholics, must value life, and to be strong in it’s defense.
Peace and God bless
One of our associate pastors spoke on our responsibilities in the upcoming election. He stated that when a candidate for office publicly states that Christians need to change our beliefs to conform to the secular law, that we, like the seven brothers, may be called to resist even to the point of death. Without naming parties or candidates, he pointed out that one candidate supports abortion at any time up to the moment of birth, and has stated an aim to repeal the Hyde Amendment so that taxpayers would be forced to fund abortions through the federal government. He said that while no political party may be perfectly aligned with Catholic teaching, and that while Catholics may legitimately disagree with each other on certain issues, we have an obligation to discriminate between the candidates and their platforms, that we cannot compromise on an issue that is intrinsically evil, and that knowingly to support a candidate who supports unrestricted abortion would be to commit a grave sin.
What happened in Maccabees is happening today in many places in the Middle East where ISIS is persecuting Christians. Countries like Iraq which formerly had millions of Christians now only have a few thousand. Is our faith strong enough to withstand persecution?
WE got one of those cloudbursts with wind gusts and torrential rain that renders umbrellas and windshield wipers irrelevant and floods the intersections deep enough to put vehicles into the ditches and covers the road, turning it into a stream. This occurred right when I needed to leave for Mass and lasted until Mass was nearly over. I am so bummed out. I just feel let down. I looked forward to this Mass all week and it was the last Mass of the day. I feel like the weather came by and robbed me which I know is irrational, but I should have gotten to go and then couldn’t so I am bummed out big time. Hubby keeps saying, “You can go Monday, it isn’t like you missed because you wanted to.” And I feel like I’m being childish being so bummed. I wish the storm had held off until I was halfway there. Being stuck at church can be a good thing.
My homily was a little scattered, I’m afraid. It started in one place and ended in another. . .It happens to the best of us. . .I concluded with an election fervorino.
http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2016/11/we-possess-hope-of-resurrection.html
Last Chance Mass with Fr. Becker. His homily was about theology and he talked about a visit with one of the alleged Medjugorje visionaries, who came to his parish many years ago, asking him theological questions and not getting good answers. He tied that to the reading about the 7 brothers who each married the same woman, but Jesus saying that in heaven nobody will be married, all will be like angels.
Bringing up Medj gave me a whole new opinion of Father.
Our Parochial Vicar tied in the mother and her 7 sons to the horrible situation going on in the Middle East right now, where ISIS is threatening Christians with crucifixion if they don’t renounce Jesus.
He told of something which happened about a year ago, when a couple and their 3-year-old daughter were faced with such a choice. I would hope that I, if faced with that situation, would choose martyrdom, but I have no way of knowing what I would really do, and I have no right to judge others who decide to capitulate in order to save their own lives, perhaps for their young children.
In this case, the parents went along with their captors’ wishes, but their small daughter, whom they had taught very well, refused to deny Jesus!!! No matter what they did, she refused to go along with their wishes!
When they actually started nailing her tiny wrists (or hands) to a cross, she started giggling, saying that “it tickled!”
We should all have the Faith of this tiny child! If we decide to stay with our God and our Faith, who knows what pains He might save us from?!