Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard for your Mass of Sunday Obligation?

Let us know.

For my part,… I haven’t had my Sunday Mass yet, so I haven’t said anything yet!

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49 Comments

  1. stjoe says:

    Relatively new pastor at our parish….today, I heard about fasting from the pulpit…something I have not heard in quite a few years. I even heard about praying the Rosary and Our Lady of Fatima mentioned…never heard from our pulpit maybe in decades.

    Always pray for your priests and seminarians!

    stjoe

  2. Matt8006 says:

    At the conclusion of his homily, Father encouraged young parents to not generically pray for vocations but to specifically pray that a priestly or religious vocation will come directly from their own children. He also encouraged the children not to be afraid when Our Lord soecfucally calls them to be priests or religious.

  3. Bthompson says:

    Our Auxiliary Bishop came down for a vocations event last night, and so I’ve been continuing the vocations theme throughout the weekend, especially how to encourage them more in our young people, including such points as: Frame questions about the future in terms of God’s will rather than personal desire (” what does God want you to do with your life?” rather than ” what do you want to be when you grow up?”); adults should live their own vocations well lest Orders/vows/Matrimony not seem noble enough to the young to be worth the necessary sacrifices; And no particular vocation is possible if it is not built upon a firm foundation of the fundamental baptismal identity of priest prophet and king, and the best way to lay and strengthen that foundation is good liturgy that is oriented (spiritually at least, but physically wouldn’t be bad either) towards God rather than us.

  4. This weekend the Archdiocese kicks of it’s annual appeal for Catholic ministries, so an audio file was provided, so we could play that at Mass. I’m not keen on that, because I think it’s a little awkward, and sometimes hard to hear. So, what I’ve done in recent years is to incorporate the Archbishop’s message into my own homily.

    His theme was “be the light and give the light” — and in addition to his points about how the ministries of the Archdiocese, supported by the faithful’s donations, being a way we share light, I added two more:

    – Bearing witness to the dignity of human life, on this anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I encouraged people to support efforts to help women in difficult situations, and to encourage women who have had an abortion to be confident of God’s mercy and healing. I mentioned Project Rachel.

    – Bearing witness to the values of human dignity for all people, particularly with a new President, and important decisions to be made this year. We aren’t spectators; we can participate!

  5. lmgilbert says:

    Last evening Fr. Gerald mounted the pulpit with a smile playing upon his lips and a twinkle in his eye to say he was not going to give a sermon. No, he was going to go over the protocol for Confession, a review that he thought was very badly needed.

    In a google review for our Dominican parish a young woman commented on the marvelous preaching at our parish and after commenting on several of the younger priests came to Fr. Gerald and said, “And of course, Fr. Gerald is a hoot.” What wisdom and merriment bubbles up out of his 83 years and lanky, underfed frame! May the “biological solution” spare him to us many more years.

    He hit the usual, necessary points, but in his inimitable way. He stressed that temptations are not sins, even very strong temptations, a fact that very many people seem not to understand. He asked that we examine our own consciences and not come into the confessional expecting the priest to do it for us. He asked that we not take half an hour in the confessional when there is a line of people waiting to confess. He asked that we not take a seat near the confessionals, for that makes both priest and penitent uneasy, for sometimes the priest has to raise his voice to make himself heard. Here he mentioned that some people are hard of hearing and sometimes to communicate their penance, he hits the confessional hard three times. The startled penitent perks up and asks, “What’s that?” “For your penance, say three Our Fathers!”

    He asked us please not to go into detail about our sins. Here he did an hilarious imitation of a lady launching into a long, drawn out story about how such and such happened. Our mortal sins should simply be confessed in kind and number. With venial sins, however, they can be remitted in other ways, such as prayer, devout reception of Holy Communion, and so forth, but it is good to confess our venial sins also at least every four to six weeks. Here it is sufficient to mention tendencies, habits. In other words the same specificity is not required as with mortal sins.

    He mentioned also that we should confess our own sins and not those of someone else. Here he did an imitation of a wife expatiating on the sins of her husband. Facetiously, he said, “In that case I give him absolution and her a penance.”

    He also mentioned that priests are not trained in either psychology or psychiatry and people should not look to them for that kind of help, for as amateurs they may do more harm than good

    He mentioned a penitent who came to confession and announced that he had done nothing wrong. Father remonstrated with him and said that even Pope John Paul realizes that he is a sinner and goes to Confession once a day. To which this innocent replied, “He may be, but I am not!” Here father said we are all sinners, even priests, and we all need to go to confession. .

    All of this was, as I say, inimitable and delightful both in its substance and delivery. My supposition is that priests could save themselves and their flocks a lot of time and grief by going over these basics from time to time as did Fr. Gerald.

  6. jfk03 says:

    The priest, whose name is Andrew, recounted how he heard the Lord’s call eight years ago when he heard the same Gospel in this same church.

  7. I was mentally distracted during the homily. But at the end of mass, our priest reminded us that this is the week to pray for Christian unity, and he also reminded us that the anniversary of Roe v. Wade is this week. He asked us to pray for the sanctity of life.

  8. GrumpyYoungMan says:

    Not only is “Domine non sum dignus” an act of humility, it is more importantly a statement of fact.

  9. Discerning Altar Boy says:

    Father mentioned that as part of our Most Reverend Bishop’s Diocesan Year with Mary, January was designater prolife month. To that end, he shared a story from his past in which he Baptized an infant born prematurely. He told us how he consoled the child’s crying grandfather who asked, “How can we beg God to save him when we kill thousands like him each week?” Father assured him of God’s mercy. Snapping to the present day, Father made it known to us that that baby is alive and well, and is now excelling in college. To close off, Father implored that we look with hope to Adminstration of the New President and take confidence in the fact that this generation is the most prolific one since Roe v. Wade.

  10. servus humilis says:

    Last week our pastor spoke about the conversion of a Jew, Rosalind Moss, to Christianity, and how her mind exploded pondering St. John’s declaration that Jesus was “the lamb of God.” As a Jew, she understood profoundly what that meant.

    After Mass I mentioned to Father that Rosalind Moss is now professed, and her name as a religious is Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God. I met her years ago at an EWTN family event. Father seemed very pleased at her religious name.

    Father’s sermon got me curious to find out what Mother is up to now. I went online and read her quarterly bulletin, and it has sad news, that her community by necessity is looking for a new location outside of the diocese of Tulsa.

    Maybe we can all offer prayers for the success of her community? From trials, victories spring.

  11. iPadre says:

    Based my sermon on “Dómine, non sum dignus…” Talked about the Maltese Fiasco. We can’t base anything on our “feelings,” feelings can be wrong. Isis feels God wants them to cut people’s heads off. Feelings mean nothing. Proper preparation for reception of Holy Communion for us all, through a good Confession based on Truth.

  12. Facta Non Verba says:

    We heard about supporting life from womb to tomb. We were reminded about the church’s teaching on abortion, and how it goes back to the first century of the church. Father reminded everyone that God’s mercy endures forever, and if anyone has been marred by abortion, the sacrament of confession was available for mercy and forgiveness. In the prayers of petition, we prayed for our new President, as well as an end to abortion.

  13. Prayerful says:

    On this Third Sunday after Epiphany the priests obviously spoke on faith. His words were bracketed around discussing whether the cynic, survivor and diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord had the faith. Fr spoke on how the gift of faith was described in the catechism Fr learned as child, and discussed the many ways fauth can be manifested or understood. The highlight, close to the end, was when the bracket was closed by little anecdote. An enthusiast on the French Revolution’s new religion asked how it could be spread. Talleyrand suggested the questioner should have himself crucified and rise from the dead on the third day. The question is never explicitly answered, but Fr probably meant yes.

  14. MikeToo says:

    Father spoke about vocations. He mentioned that we are all called to be holy. We all have a vocation not just priests and nuns. He highlighted that God calls those who are not worthy. In the gospel, Jesus called not scholars or people in political power but fishermen. In the old testament prophets were called to do one thing, speak. The greatest prophet, Moses, has a speech impediment.

    It is great comfort to him that those who are not worthy are called to their vocation. He said he was not worthy to be a priest and he knows that at the end of his ministry, any good that was accomplished can only be credited to God. This goes for other vocations as well including wife/mother or husband/father.

    In the second reading, we see St. Paul highlight the Cross of Christ. Father turned and pointed to the Crucifix. This, he said, is tied in with our vocations. We are called to live the love of Christ as shown on the cross. If we turn from looking at ourselves to looking at Christ, our vocations will be a success.

  15. Mathieu says:

    Father Thomas (an amazing priest from Vietnam) told everyone that they need to bring their children to church even if they do not understand. He said he had to wake up at 4 in the morning every day to go to church and it took him a long time to understand, but that is fine! He said it is like school, at the beginning you don’t understand much, but the more you learn, the more you understand. He also talked about how we should have a culture of life instead of death, and that we should preserve life. It’s a big issue here in Canada… especially since it’s been a year since the bill for euthanasia passed. He also mentioned how the light of Christ is supposed to bring unity, and that we should pray for Christian unity.

  16. Sawyer says:

    EF High Mass at the FSSP parish in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. Father began by reading excerpts from our bishop’s excellent column in the diocesan newspaper in which he affirms and restates the Church’s doctrine and discipline regarding divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. Father mentioned the contrary guidance given by the bishops of Malta, and he added that the current state of affairs in the Church is reminiscent of the Arian crises, in which bishops were at odds with other bishops. He asked us to pray for bishops and to thank our own bishop for being so courageous and charitable by forthrightly and clearly stating the truth in these difficult times.

    Link to Bishop Sheridan’s column here:

    http://www.diocs.org/CCHerald/Article/ArticleID/141/THE-BISHOPS-VOICE-Clarifying-Church-teaching-on-divorce-and-remarriage

    Then Father talked about the importance of chastity and purity, using the Gospel story about the healing of the leper as a springboard because the Church has traditionally seen the cleansing of the physical impurity of leprosy to be a spiritual reference to sexual impurity. Father mentioned the assaults on purity in the world today and gave advice on maintaining purity, distinguishing among temptations, consent to sinful desires and willful acts. Father also encouraged us to confess frequently.

  17. avatquevale says:

    An Institute of Christ the King priest substituted for our novas ordo priest.

    Though our regular priest is one of the good N.O.s, who celebrates new Mass in a dignified and reverent manner, the TLM felt like, for once, I was at a truly Catholic Mass. The absence of “participation”–lectors and EMCs traipsing about–made it much easier to concentrate and pray. And no sign of peace to interrupt like a commercial break.

    Because most attendees know only the post Vat2 Mass, Father explained that this was to be the Mass of the ages and that it would be in Latin. A sheet of paper with side-by-side Latin and translation were handed out by the altar servers.

    Father requested that we all try to receive on the tongue and kneeling. Somehow the altar servers (young men) found two kneelers that we’d never seen before and carried them to the altar.

    Father’s homily was outstanding: He told us about saints Bellarmine and Aquinas.

    Part of his theme was this: it is not up to us which bits and pieces of the Catholic faith we choose believe and adhere to. Conscience does not trump the Commandments or Scripture.

    (I inferred this was indirect reference to the confusion resulting from Amoris Laetitia, the Maltese mess and subtle support for the Dubia))

  18. bibi1003 says:

    Mass is still an hour away, so I’ll update this afterwards. I’m attending mass at a different parish tonight.

    Lately when priests talk about Christian unity and ecumenism, I cringe. That’s because I’ve heard more homilies about ecumenism than about Catholicism. It’s so rare to hear anything truly Catholic in a homily or from the hymnal.

    Did I mention that our priest plays the tambourine during the Alleluia?

  19. stephen c says:

    Father explained, very clearly and carefully, what the leper meant when he said “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean” and what the Roman of great faith meant when he said ” Lord I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word and I shall be healed.” The leper and the Roman of great faith understood what God could do, and did not ask for his physical presence, but only for Him to do what He wills to do, which is always for our good. He also explained the relevance of Romans 12:16-21, and why what Saint Paul said in that passage should remind us of the faith of the healed leper and the faith of the Roman of great faith.

  20. steve51b31 says:

    We are called to True Discipleship in our lives with Christ and a profound call to living pro-life in all ways… Preached Totally in love! . Wow ! Great !

  21. teachermom24 says:

    Our priest gave a WONDERFUL homily today on the meaning of one’s vocation. He started by talking about “trivializing reality” which is what we do when we don’t examine why we do what we do. He spoke (as a negative example) of the wife who “doesn’t know why her husband drinks too much” and then the father (as a positive example) who finds out why his daughter’s sick puppy is sick rather than just telling her to forget it and find another “toy”.

    From today’s Gospel, he said Peter, James, John and Andrew went to the “seminary” of St. John the Baptist which prepared them well to answer Jesus’ call to follow HIm. They did not “trivialize reality” but faced it full on.

    He said to find one’s vocation, we must ask God not, “”What should I do?” but, “Who should I become?””

    He said when you realize your true vocation you can no longer “trivialize reality”. When you become a mother or father, you can’t pretend you’re something your’e not. I thought it very interesting that he said “mother or father” and not “husband or wife” because, as adults, husband and wife, perhaps it is too easy for us to pretend we’re something we’re not, but, with children, we can’t pretend. You either are a good mother or father or your are not, and the children can tell the difference.

    After the homily, he apologized for taking 13 minutes, apparently “too long” for most people’s interest. After Mass, I thanked him for every minute of the homily. It truly was the Word of God.

  22. I preached about Christ working to being about unity by a call for repentance. Pointed out repentance isn’t saying ‘I can do better’, but coming to Christ in the confessional saying ‘I am doing the best I can and I need your help to better, be merciful and give me your grace’. I complemented the parish for supporting a 24 Hour Adoration Chapel and the devotion to Christ in the Eucharist;, and that while I never sit in the confessional without someone coming to confession, now we have to spread a devotion to Christ in the Sacrament of Confession with at least monthly confessions regardless of our age.

  23. excalibur says:

    Our 85 year old administrator, the parish closings will be finalized this July here in Port Chester (sad times, sad times), so Msgr. is doing Cardinal Dolan a favor and took the position for the year, told a simple but fruitful story.

    For a year now he has been visiting an elderly woman out on Long Island, the care giver always lets him in, never smiles, disappears until he leaves, then lets him out without a smile. He surmised that perhaps she was an ex-Catholic who became born-again, so he said he has learned not to say anything to someone when they act this way.

    Earlier this year when he arrived at the elderly woman’s house the care giver smiled at him, served them tea, and smiled when she let him out.

    A day or two later the elderly woman called Msgr., told him that her care giver wanted to speak with him, that the care giver was to go to the hospital for exploratory surgery. He said she should call the local parish, they would be happy to speak with her, that he had to drive 2 1/2 hours to get out there. An hour later she called again, the care giver would only speak to Msgr., could he please come. Grumbling, I need to be here in Port Chester early tomorrow, he said okay.

    When he arrived, the care giver told him that she had stopped going to Mass years ago because a priest had yelled at her, a simple misunderstanding it seems. Long story short, he heard her confession, gave her absolution, then communion, and drove back.

    Another call from the elderly woman, they discovered that her care giver had inoperable cancer, and was to be admitted to a hospice. Msgr. will preside at her funeral Mass.

  24. joekstl says:

    Our pastor focused on two points in the Gospel: repent – and the call of the first apostles.
    As he does regularly, he reminded us that repent doesn’t mean “I’m sorry”; rather is means to change direction in one’s life. Then he said that Jesus would show what such a change of direction means.

    He calls the two sets of brothers – and they promptly change the direction of their lives by dropping their nets and leaving their father. And our pastor noted that this call was not one-on-one – but rather in pairs. He also noted that toward the end of Matthew’s Gospel – at the scene of the last judgment – it is the “nations” that are judged. So we, as a community, have responsibility to minister to the least of our brothers and sisters.

    Then, he talked about how he discerned his vocation to priesthood. He was in the last part of his pre-med program and outside university classes he was working at a shelter for abused children and was a Eucharistic Minister at a nursing home. During this time many suggested that he should consider a vocation to priesthood. Our pastor felt that this call was not a one-on-one with Jesus, but a call from the community. So, he dropped his doctor ambitions and entered a study program for priesthood.

    He closed but challenging us to look inside ourselves and see what are we clinging to that we need to drop to serve Jesus in his brothers and sisters in our day and age, city and town.

    Powerful!

    By the way – I noted that another poster said that her homilist apologized for going 13 minutes. Our pastor routinely goes at least 20 minutes – and is so good that no one complains – ever.

  25. timfout says:

    Our pastor told the story of the time when he and another priest went with a young married couple to the ultrasound of their child. Of course he said it was amazing to see the child in the womb and he ably related that to our current need to stand up for the right to life of all human beings. He also said the looks of the other women in the waiting room were “interesting.”

  26. Mike says:

    Our purpose and direction in Jesus Christ our Lord is to overcome evil by good. Even in our weakness, we must remain under His protection in faith, hope, and charity if we want to reach safe harbor.

  27. bibi1003 says:

    The homily tonight was about needing to say “I’m sorry.”

    The guest priest quoted the famous line from the movie Love Story– “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” and then stated that this doesnt apply to Christians. He emphasized our duty to forgive others and to ask for forgiveness. That’s where he left it. Except for a questionable joke that I’ll mention later.

    I think he missed a good opportunity to go deeper. It would have been a great time to give us instruction on what repentance means, how to make a good examination of conscience and a good confession.

    Now, about the joke during the homily.

    The priest started a sentence with “Oh my God.” I don’t even remember the sentence now. I realized that he had said it to set up a joke when he followed by saying, “By the way, when God says it, it’s “Oh myself.””

    Homily or standup routine?

    Maybe I’m too critical.

  28. rtattersall says:

    Today’s sermon was on divisions in the Church, recalling today’s letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians. Speaking of divisions, I am interested in your thoughts on this editorial from Vatican Insider Documents http://www.lastampa.it/2017/01/22/vaticaninsider/eng/documents/amoris-laetitia-where-truth-and-mercy-embrace-j7Wra0gHXbMppRm8A7CsRL/pagina.html

    I am not learned enough to evaluate the arguments and sources that the author uses to build his argument, but am concerned that there are at least 2 wobbly legs on his chair:

    1. He relies on a priest being permitted (or expected?) to not explain exactly how sinful the penitent’s conduct is, all the while accompanying and discerning, so that what has been merely venially sinful is not thereby mortally sinful the next time the penitent does what they have no intention of not doing; and

    2. He conflates the criticism of A.L. and Pope Francis with the Fatima prophecy, and follows it up with an argument that people should just accept that Francis knows what he is doing and stop questioning him.

    Your thoughts?

  29. bookworm says:

    The pastor of the parish I attended today is on a 6-month mission to a sister parish in Kenya, and today the substitute priest read a letter from him. He is staying in an area that has had a severe drought for months and in which there are constant dust storms. Even when the temperature is 100 degrees or more, people have to close their windows to avoid choking on the dust. Thousands of cattle have died, leaving many farmers and herders with no means of making a livelihood or even feeding their own families. He has traveled to refugee camps housing up to 200,000 people and visited “safe haven” homes set up to protect orphaned and abandoned children from being kidnapped and enslaved. But as difficult as their situation is, Father really loves these people and thanked his parishioners for supporting them. All it all, it helped put into perspective many of the hardships and “oppressions” we Americans think we have.

  30. Br. Augustine of Nubia says:

    Our wonderful Priest, who is a Thomist discussed how abortion is objectively evil and demolished a number of pro-abortion “arguments” using logic.

    We are lucky to have him. He also re-learned the EF mass after many years of just NO.

  31. KAS says:

    My child had me distracted so I did not really connect with the homily but our pastor filled us in on the church roof. Weather damage has led to it needing replaced but the insurance company that has taken a huge payment every year for insurance on the building is refusing to pay out. I am praying that the people involved with the crooked situation come to repentance and do the right thing.

  32. rmichaelj says:

    Had the pleasure of listening to the homily by Cardinal Burke in Dallas (Farmers Branch) today. Discussed the importance of valuing each life and the challenges which are present in this culture of death, especially after Roe vs. Wade.

    Afterwards there was a great press of people at the entrance. Cardinal Burke was standing in the narthex talking to the parishioners (and many visitors) as we filed out- just as a simple priest at a small parish would. Impressed me as very fatherly, a true shepherd of souls.

  33. excalibur says:

    OT

    Maybe you can find someplace to put this, Father Z.

    […]

    [Off topic? No, I don’t think so.]

  34. JonPatrick says:

    EF Mass. In the old covenant one is born into it, but in the new covenant one belongs through baptism and Faith. Two examples of Faith in this Gospel – the leper, considered an outcast and a symbol of sin, and a centurion, a pagan. Faith is a kind of seeing with understanding. However before Faith can take root there has to be love of God.

  35. Kerry says:

    Father said he loves the phrase, “Fisher of men”, that God had made him a fisher of men. Through “no merit of my own”. And that he looks at all of us with a “Father’s eye…a father has to tell his children the truth”.
    (bibi1003, I didn’t know Mr. Zimmerman had written any alleluias.)

  36. bibi1003 says:

    Kerry, I didn’t understand your comment about Mr. Zimmerman. I don’t know who he is. Would you explain, please?

  37. bibi1003 says:

    Never mind, Kerry! Just looked it up. I didn’t know that Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman.

    Every time Father C., aka “Mr. Tambourine Man”, starts playing that thing I have a flashback to The Partridge Family.

  38. ajf1984 says:

    Father preached on two themes, both drawn from the readings for the Third Sunday in O.T. in our N.O. parish: the first was the importance of praying for and fostering vocations within our families and our local church (taken from the Gospel, the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John). The second was the need to pray for true unity among all Christians, in light of the Second Reading taken from 1 Cor and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Father preached a real ecumenism, one in which we Catholics are not ashamed of being Catholic, nor in which we try to gloss over or ignore what makes us Catholic.

    Regarding the call for vocations to the priesthood (especially) in this homily: it was the second time in two consecutive days that I’ve heard priests speak of the incredible importance of priestly vocations, especially in my local church…perhaps Someone is calling my wife and me to focus more on this with our sons and in prayer!

  39. bibi1003 says:

    So many beautiful homilies described here. What a blessing.

    I would like to start attending the TLM. I’ve gone several times before, but got frustrated because I couldn’t follow along and take part in it.

    Can anyone recommend a book that would help me?

  40. MrsMacD says:

    @bibi1003 here is a link to a great little book for children and adults alike; http://www.ccwatershed.org/media/pdfs/14/06/26/12-34-30_0.pdf

    Here it is in hard copy $11.95 HERE

  41. donato2 says:

    EF reading (Roman centurion’s “Domine non sum dignus”) used to address who is worth to receive Communion. Father (an FSSP priest) explains that, to be worthy, one must cooperate with grace so as to bring oneself into a state of grace. In the course of doing so, Father expresses bewilderment that any bishop could issue a statement like that issued by the bishops of Malta (although he did not refer to Malta by name).

  42. Nan says:

    Rmchaelj, Cardinal Burke is a simple priest at a small parish who cares about his flock.

  43. donato2 says:

    bibi1003, keep at it and you’ll get the hang of it. I went through what you went through.

    Unfortunately to my knowledge there are no books that do a good job of explaining the traditional Latin Mass to Catholics who know only the new Mass. What caused me confusion is that the missal does not distinguish what is said aloud and what is silent. However, I learned from experience that all you really need to know is this:

    1. It is best to learn the ordinary (the parts of the Mass that do not change) in Latin — it’s not hard to do since you know it already from the new Mass. Thus, learn in Latin: the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Creed (Credo), the introduction to the Preface (Sursum corda), the Sanctus, the Our Father (Pater Noster) and the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei).

    2. Most of the rest of the Mass consists of the propers, i.e., the parts that change for each Mass and that are gathered in the Missal in the part of the Missal for that Mass, and they are: 1. Introit (sung during the prayers at the foot of the altar/Confiteor during a High Mass, and said after the prayers at the foot of the altar/Confiteor during a low Mass), 2. Collect (comes after the Gloria), 3. first reading, 4. Gradual/Alleluia (between first reading and Gospel), 5. Gospel, 6. Offertory prayer (comes after Creed), 7. Secret (said silently at the end of the Offertory and just before the Preface), 8. Communion prayer, and 9. Post Communion prayer.

    The only other things to know are that the Prefaces, which are found in a different part of the Missal, vary according to the Mass (a large percentage of Sunday Masses use the Preface of the Trinity) and that there is an optional “Asperges Me” before regular Sunday high Masses (but not some types of the High Mass such as Pontifical Masses).

    Apart from the above, everything else that you see in the Missal with some minor exceptions (e.g., “Dominus vobiscums” and “nobis quoque peccatoribus”) is said silently. Thus, to follow along, expect to hear the following in a high Mass:
    1. Asperges Me
    2. Introit
    3. Kyrie
    4. Gloria
    5. Collect
    6. first reading
    7. Gradual/Alleluia
    8. second reading
    9. homily
    10. Creed
    11. Offetory prayer
    12. Silence or hymn during offertory
    13. per Omnia saecula saeculorum — sursum corda
    14. Preface
    15. Sanctus
    16. Canon/Consecration (all silent except Nobis quoque peccatoribus)
    17. Our Father
    18. Agnus Dei
    19. priest says first line of Domine non sum dignus three times (balance silently)
    20. altar servers say Confiteor (not in 1962 missal)
    21. priest says “Ecce Agnus Dei” and, 3x, Domine non sum dignus
    22. Communion/Post Communion prayers and people’s communion
    23. dismissal (ite missa est) and benediction
    24. Gospel of John (silent in High Mass)

    That’s my amateur “Guide for the Catholic Who Is New To the Traditional Latin Mass.” No doubt it has some errors and/or omissions but it by and large will help the newcomer not get lost in the Mass.

  44. rmichaelj says:

    @bibi1003

    For the mechanics,I like Lisa Bergman’s follow the mass, or treasure and tradition, the ultimate guide to the Latin mass (just wish the books were smaller). I like them because the English translation is in the same order as the Latin text. Makes it look strange in english but helps with the Latin vocabulary.
    I would also recommend a good book on mental prayer. The traditional mass is made for mental prayer (hence the silences) and once you get in the habit you won’t be so concerned if you lose your place. This is very different from the novus ordo which places a greater importance on active participation (vocal or gestures). It took me a while to understand that mental prayer is a higher order of prayer.

  45. frjim4321 says:

    Pauls methodology for healing divisions.
    The Common Good
    The Consistent Ethic of Life (Seamless Garment)

  46. bibi1003 says:

    Thanks everyone for your book suggestions and encouragement!

  47. iprimap says:

    I went to the Saturday Vigil Mass. Fr Jeff Kirby at Our Lady of Grace gave the homily. Here are my notes:

    http://prognosticis.blogspot.com/2017/01/sacramentum-confirmationis.html?m=1

  48. mo7 says:

    Hi bib1003! Can I offer a few things to help you, since I too had a long [and ongoing] learning curve with the TLM? The first is that the beginning of Mass is far longer than in the ordinary form. The second is that there is no rush! Put the missal down, listen and watch for a few weeks. The TLM doesn’t require the same participation as the ordinary form. Listen to the Latin, watch the movements of the priest. Certainly pray. It will all become familiar soon enough. And lastly, I was very anxious for it to be second nature to me, just as the ordinary form was; I was a bit self conscious about being a newbie. Although it might not seem like it, almost everyone in the church had to learn this Mass as an young adult or mature adult. Very few remember the olden days. So we’ve all been in your shoes. The one thing you find out is – ever so joyfully – about the TLM is not about you! Yay! It’s about giving reverent worship to God. I hope you get to go and to love it too.

  49. bibi1003 says:

    Mo7,thank you so much!

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