Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard during the Holy Mass in fulfillment your of Sunday Obligation? Let us know.
Also, please take a look at this! It has a helpful tip. HERE
Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard during the Holy Mass in fulfillment your of Sunday Obligation? Let us know.
Also, please take a look at this! It has a helpful tip. HERE
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Coat of Arms by D Burkart
St. John Eudes
- Prosper of Aquitaine (+c.455), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra Collatorem 22.61
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“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
- Fulton Sheen
Therefore, ACTIVATE YOUR CONFIRMATION and get to work!
- C.S. Lewis
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"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
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Visits tracked by Statcounter since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
We need to take care of our souls like gardens, cultivate a holy life, take ownership and responsibility for our spiritual development. Sadly nothing about confession being a key tool for that.
We need to take care of our souls like gardens, cultivate a holy life, take ownership and responsibility for our spiritual development. Sadly nothing about confession being a key tool for that, but all in all rather good for my OF parish.
Well, looks like we need to take care of mother earth…. Be good stewards.
Not climate change hysteria actually.
Earth is not to be worshiped.
No mention of hell or confession either.
Frenchy – sorry that don’t have a strong message from Mass. My parish has confession during and after the Mass. The message was clearly one of making your person the fertile earth for the Lord and his word and not of planet conservatorship.
A mission priest from Africa preached today. Father urged us to consider what sort of seed bed we will be when we receive God’s word. He assured us that any deficiency we might come across when dealing with God’s word comes from us; the word itself is perfect.
Also, Father encouraged us to be grateful for our ability to attend Mass daily. In his post in the Congo, each of the 54 villages has Mass only once a month.
Father bet everyone $1000 dollars that they couldn’t give a translation of “Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur” (he prohibited me from the contest, alas).
He then explained St.Thomas’ insights about reception occurring according to the mode of the receiver and how it applies to Jesus’ parables in general and, more poignantly, to the parable of the sower.
He pointed out our responsibility to ’till the soil’ of our hearts–hearts that are sometimes, even on a daily basis, ‘rocky’ or ‘tangled with thorns’–so that we can receive the word generously and bear fruit for Christ.
A good point? Hmmm…..
We are traveling and attended a local Novus Ordo Mass. Enthusiastic but tired-sounding youngish priest. The sermon was delivered by a well-intentioned Deacon who seemed to be reading a term paper. “Parables were one of the tools in Christ’s toolkit to help us understand……..” and so on. I tried, I really tried, but I zoned out after a while.
A nice baptism in the middle of it. Large family, cute infant.
The ritual sanitizing of the hands before the Eucharist ministers handed out communion. The pre-Mass announcements included the offer of low-gluten hosts for those who need same. I silently wondered how vegans would be accommodated for that whole Lamb of God thing.
Being in a vacation part of the state, the visiting worshipers pretty much took communion and bolted for the doors, non-stop. High attrition rate.
After Mass ended the couple in front of us stopped to chat. “Is it always like this?” was their opening question. We said, yes, and that it’s quite a departure from the TLM we usually attend in our home parish. Their eyes widened and they asked “Where?” Turns out we live in the same diocese. We’ll see them next Sunday at High Mass, 10 AM sharp, rosary and confession beforehand.
Perhaps the good point is was to be reminded how wonderful the Extraordinary Rite is, and how blessed we are to have a home parish that offers it daily.
I attended a TLM at St. Kevin’s Church in Dublin, Ireland. The church was packed! Good point in the sermon today: by binding ourselves to God’s laws, we become free (released from the grip of our vices). It is a paradox. A person who says, “I am not religious, I am spiritual ” usually means he does not want to be bound by religious dogma. He thinks he will find freedom away from rules. But that is not the case.
We have this priest maybe once a month at our NO Mass. I appreciate the continuity he brings to his homilies for he always goes back to the gospel of several Sundays ago to bring us to today’s gospel. (If we had him every week I’m sure he would not feel that he must do this.) I always get the context of the current Sunday with those past from him (and I told him so after Mass). He explained the Mission Discourse and in my mind I could see Christ speaking to his apostles.
Today he advised that we must be both the sowers of the seed (our faith) and also the seed that falls on fertile ground and grows.
It sounded better when he said it.
Of Announcements:
I struggle to keep my composure when the deacon says, “Just a couple of announcements”. It is seldom a “couple”, which is “two”, but eight or nine. Always about things that are already in the bulletin, a letter from the bishop, or some ministry, with a report from those who are doing this great work.
QUESTION: Since announcements are NOT part of Mass, could we leave after the Blessing? Would it be a venial sin?
(The priest now blesses us properly, thanks in part to Fr. Z’s advice, but the Dismissal always happens AFTER the blather of announcements.) It is a deliberate trick to keep us glued to the seats.
We have already requested that the announcements come after the Dismissal and before the Recessional, or before Mass. No good.
15th Sunday of ordinary time
First Fr C spoke about St Matthew’s 13th chapter—which consists of 7 parables. Often parables start off “the Kingdom of God is like…” but St Matthew wanted to avoid writing the sacred name of God for his audience, so his Gospel would say “the kingdom of heaven is like”…”
A preacher’s task is to make the invisible visible, to reveal the hidden messages of the parables.
Jesus’ parables would often take ordinary happenings that people could relate to, but something extraordinary would happen during them.
In today’s Gospel about the Sower and the Seed, sowing seed was a normal thing a farmer would do, but this Sower was very extravagant—he sowed everywhere! on footpaths, rocky, shallow and thorny soil, as well as fertile ground. Also unusual was the fruitfulness of some of the seed—up to a hundredfold!
And Fr C said that sometimes our soul can consist of any one or several of the types of soil: the rocky, the shallow, the thorny, and the fertile—depending on how receptive our souls are in certain areas.
We are all meant to be saints, this is what God intends for us.
Newly ordained priest:
Reminded everyone to prepare the soil of our souls with as frequent confessions as necessary and then instructed everyone on how to begin and perform Lectio Divina . Further to find a place where we can keep the scriptures open, present, and in use and keep ourselves away from distraction and open to hear God speak to our hearts!
Very good !!
Our new parochial vicar preached…he spoke on the earth groaning, and cut straight to the heart of it: why suffering? original sin.
He laid it out all neatly and showed how after the Fall the whole planet went bonkers and suffering entered the world (which was not God’s design, he gave man a paradise and man was disobedient).
As to why some people seem to suffer more than others…no one is exempt from suffering because no one is free from sin. We all disobey God’s commands and the Cure…Himself & His Church.
He wrapped it up neatly with G.K. Chesterton responding to the question ‘What’s wrong with the world?’…”I am.”
Last week at Novus Ordo, where the pastor decided to turn around and offer mass ad orientem several months ago. (Permanent basis, not a whim. Asked(?, required?, expected?) his parochial vicar to do the same). Good homily, on Christ’s meekness. Fr. D claimed that the Greek word used in the Gospel is actually the word for “domesticated”. Christ was not a braggart and did not swagger. Reminded me (be contrast) of the alt-right idea of the “alpha male”, and the contrast, so I wrote a blog post on it. Christ is the true alpha – and the omega; the post-modern version is a fake.
Today, at a NO parish that had extraordinary form Mass by permission since the 1980’s, and going strong ever since. Solid attendance. Young-ish priest, solid homily, Fr. compared the two different multiplication of the loaves events in Mark’s Gospel. When Christ fed the 5,000, there were 12 baskets left over. Today feeding 4,000 there were 7. Stands for the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 7 Gentile peoples of Palestine before it was Israel’s: Christ came for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike.
The seed of the Word flourishes in fertile soil. Rocks, sand, thorns, a blazing sun – all destroy the seed before it can take root. The seed of the Word cannot take root in a heart divided btw the Gospel and the World, in a heart that beats for Self Alone. The seed of the Word cannot flourish in a heart choked with anger, vengeance, malice, or pride. It cannot grow surrounded by self-righteousness, gossip, obscenity, or vicious habit.
https://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2017/07/looking-is-not-seeing.html
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
Unfortunately i was very distressed by the homily at the Mass I attended and have been lamenting it ever since. A good point in the homily however was that at various times we might think about ourself as the ground in which the seed is planted, or as the sower, evangelizing.
The lovely priest, who spent 10 years eith the Jesuits but apparently didn’t want to address the age old question, “are you a good Jesuit or a bad Jesuit?” so ended up a diocesan priest, explained that the sower tried to plant seeds everywhere and that the seed that fell on the path and was trampled was the Pharisees. The seed that had the greatest yield was the apostles.
Our homilist, a visiting priest, came to the Cathedral by invitation of the Rector (this priest spent his diaconate at the Cathedral) and preached all 5 Mass’s today, appealing for the funding of 5 FOCUS missionaries for the secular campus where, 3 years ago, immediately following his ordination to the priesthood, he was assigned as the chaplain for the Newman Center. He described his shock at finding a dilapidated chapel, 14 people in attendance at Sunday Mass and a “everything goes”morality on the campus. He began his ministry by walking in his clerical garb around the campus for 2 hours a day, greeting, visiting and ministering. He also invited FOCUS missionaries to campus. Three came. Now, 3 years later, there are 150 at Sunday Mass, one student is entering seminary, others are entering into Holy Matrimony, and two new graduates have joined FOCUS and are going to missions at other college campuses. He says statistics show that young Catholics who entered college overwhelmingly walk away from their faith and rarely come back, and it is his belief that the only way to keep them is through and with the Sacraments.
Peace and God bless,
zag4christ, your homily account of the zealous priest physically going out and reaching people is so encouraging and the opposite of the incredibly disheartening homily I heard about the parable of the sower.
Our proiest condemned “radical tolerance” and indifferentism by name and propounded the importance of ordering our lives to Christ. It was really good.
“There has never been in the history of the Church such a thing as a conservative catholic religion or a liberal Catholic religion. Either we are believing, practising Catholics, or we are not. There isn’t a menu of options for us to choose from. Some of our doctrine is unpopular to 21st century secular appetites. That is nothing new. From the time of the first Christians we have been a sign of contradiction in a hostile world. We were the people who would not sacrifice to the cultus deorum of ancient Rome! We were the people who would not burn incense to Jupiter! We were the people who were thrown to the lions for refusing to participate in the ungodly excesses of the Roman Empire. Two thousand years ago – the mantra was ‘Oh you Christians, why do you have to cause such a fuss? It’s just a bit of incense. Throw it on the fire and we can all get on our with our lives.’ Today it is, ‘Oh you Catholics, it’s just a little abortion. Why must you be so difficult?…’
But the hostile world is outside. This morning we are sitting inside a fortress, in this beautiful church, and in this morning’s introit, we have just heard the choir sing that the Lord is the protector of His peoples and the safeguard of their salvation. In the Collect we have asked the Lord to grant us an increase of True religion – the Catholic religion, not liberal or conservative Catholicism, just Catholicism, as it always has been, preserved and passed on, through the Mass, down through the centuries.”
There certainly was no mention of confession when Fr. M said God (the Sower) distributes the Eucharist far and wide with no regard to what soil it falls on. No mention that if you have not prepared your soil, you should not receive. The way it was stated implied you should go ahead and receive the Body of Christ, it will be okay. It certainly left me wondering what should be said to this priest, who puts up a front of orthodoxy, but whose sermons have been drifting lately.
Not sure if this is good. Not this Sunday either.
Last week, diocesan parish – the sermon extolled the virtues of which saint? Lawrence of Arabia.
The week before, SSPX chapel – we can observe the motion of the stars around a central body, with a speed inversely proportional to the distance from the central body to the star. I’m a bit worried about the new geocentrist movement creeping in.
That the true freedom St. Paul talks to about the Romans isn’t being able to do anything you want (as some say), which often leads to real slavery. Rather, true freedom is as he told the “stupid” Galatians: It is not an opportunity for the flesh but to serve others in love. And as Jesus said, knowing the truth — knowing Jesus — is what makes us free.
So if we want to be truly free (and who doesn’t?), we need to be good hearers and really listen so that we are the good soil that bears fruit. To become the good soil, we should pray morning and evening thanking God for what we’ve received and offering ourselves to him in conjunction with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and that we should come to Mass (on Sundays at least, but daily if possible!) with the right disposition.
.
Just an observation from your most-recent homily-caZt, Fr. Z, but you talked fast in your homily. Or … may…be … I … just … talk … really … slowly.
First, we were fortunate to attend a reverently celebrated O.F. Mass – ad orientem with good music and some Latin prayers. In his homily, the priest pointed out that we all are subject to the obstacles to being fruitful Christians that our Lord presented in the parable: hardness of heart, lack of spiritual depth, and concern for wordly issues and the esteem of others.
We fight these through prayer, regular devotion, Confession, and Holy Communion so that we may be made into good soil and produce much fruit.
We are looking for a parish after a cross-country move. This may be the one.