Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass you frequented in fulfillment of your Sunday obligation?

Let us know what it was!

For my part, for the TLM, we had the Gospel reading about the 10 lepers who begged the Lord for healing.

Given that Bp. Morlino issued a super letter for the people of the Diocese of Madison, I riffed on a point that he made about the need for “more hate”.  We need to hate sin more.

We have become numb to sin in a lot of cases.   Numbness to sin was a key to the present crisis.

One of the symptoms of the onset of Hanson’s Disease, leprosy, is numbness.

The lepers went to the Lord, who said they should go to the priests.  Hence, many preachers talk about CONFESSION on this Sunday.

I also took notice of the fact that they “stood far off” and called to the Lord.

The OT law required lepers to stay away from people.  They didn’t know that leprosy takes a while to acquire.  That said, since lepers are often taken to be, symbolically, sinners who would make other unclean, from there I went into the point of avoiding scandal, making other people into sinners by bad example.  I gave a couple concrete instances of what we might do that could lead people to sin.

I reminded them that there are various ways in which we can be guilty of the sins committed by others.  Committing scandal, that leads others to sin, is one of them.

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27 Comments

  1. I talked about the scandals. I read the apologies of Cardinal DiNardo and our Archbishop, then I talked about righteous anger, and the need for the laity to act; I urged everyone to share his or her thoughts with our Archbishop, in charity, to help him. (I think every faithful in the country ought to write to his or her bishop, urging the necessary action.) I talked about the suffering of the victims. I urged everyone to greater holiness, addressing the porn problem which so many are implicated in. The people in porn images are very frequently victims of abuse; those stories are horrific, too. And I talked about reparation, announcing what I would do, myself: a Friday morning holy hour.

    I finally mentioned the readings. Jesus really pounded the “flesh” and “blood” — he even spoke of “gnawing” on his flesh! Why? Because he is making us face something awful: the price of sin. This is all about the Cross, which he chose to embrace, and to which we nail each other. The Eucharist is about the Cross, and the Cross forces us to face the reality of evil and hell; else we would not know what salvation really is. I wanted to say more about the readings, but under the circumstances I couldn’t.

  2. straphaelguy says:

    Today our associate pastor had the sermon. He started out with the phrase “making the most of the opportunity,
    because the days are evil. ” from the second reading, and then cautioned he would not be politically correct and the sensitive young ears might need to go for a walk for about 15 minutes. After that he went on to address the current situation in the church and giving statistics that the abuse was 86.6% homosexual rather than pedophilia. He talked some about his time in the seminary in 1985, and spoke of the coming purification of the church. The crucifixion will happen before the resurrection. Many will lose faith. Our faith is in the Lord, not in individual churchmen. The blessed mother will clean house well in the end. Very edited version of an amazing sermon.

  3. Subdeacon Joseph says:

    There is no right to error in the Church because error seeks to destroy the truth of God’s divine laws and His divinely revealed soul saving doctrines. There have always been those who seek to destroy the Church’s teaching and her Christians. The history of Christianity itself teaches people this. Yet the way of persecution never works. The Roman Emperors Trajan, Nero, Diocletian, and other powerful emperors learned the truth that they couldn’t destroy the Faith that established the cosmos no matter how many Christians they murdered. All the organization of the mighty Roman Empire with its laws, army, infrastructure, transportation, and rule over the Mediterranean sea couldn’t stop what God had ordained! These mighty Roman Emperors made the grave mistake in thinking they could stop the Church, and history now remembers these Roman Emperors for being the cruel and heartless people that they were.

    Modern Western civilization is making the same mistake today. The secular humanists think they can have culture and political philosophy without God. The so-called ‘cultural elites’ are using the courts and other means to silence people of faith in their quest to create a utopian godless society free from Christianity and other religions. They want to un-root all that Christianity has done in establishing Western civilization because they haven’t learned what history has made plain which is that persecution doesn’t destroy Christianity, in fact, it only strengthens it. The proof that government enforced militant secularism and atheism fail can be seen in the fall of the USSR. Since the fall of the USSR the Russian nation has witnessed a resurgence in her Christian faith that is miraculous. Tens of millions of Russians have been baptized since the fall of the Soviet Union, over ten thousand churches have been built, and over 800 monasteries have been resurrected. The blood of the millions upon millions of Russian Christian martyrs under the evil Soviet Empire is now just beginning to bear fruit.

  4. JabbaPapa says:

    Real Presence, Death, warning against improper reception of the Sacraments, good theological instruction on the Real, not merely symbolic nor representative nor abstract, purpose of Eucharist in the Holy Communion with a reminder that cleaving to evils leads to Hell, then Communion on the tongue under both Species.

    Not absent ad orientem worship by the priest nor Latin, though less Latin than our PP, off on holiday I expect and hope.

    Oh, we also had the rite of Blessing of Holy Water as a matter of urgency, as the fonts had run dry in the heat.

  5. Maximilian75 says:

    The Pennsylvania scandal was addressed, thank God. A fantastic homily.

  6. Adaquano says:

    Our pastor again addressed the scandals, stressing how the era of lazy, cultural, cafeteria Catholicism must end and that we all called to live radical lives. He stressed that by dying on the cross and giving us His flesh and blood, Jesus is inviting to live a life where we don’t need to settle for anything less than His love.

    He also announced our parish would be performing acts of fasting, penance and reparation on September’s First Friday.

  7. Prayerful says:

    Fr talked of how the Gospel for the thirteenth Sunday has an utterly obviously literal meaning in respect of gratitude yet it can be read spiritually, that the leprosy can be seen as representing false teaching infecting the Church. Leprosy can start as little blemish becoming a numbness that kills, likewise with false teaching.

  8. Mike says:

    Father distinguished four purposes of a Gospel passage such as that of the ten lepers: literal, allegorical, moral, and eschatological. I don’t recall everything he said about each, but the distinction sticks with me.

  9. Michael Haz says:

    We are traveling this week and attended a NO Mass in a small town in the northern reaches of our state, in a parish we have visited previously. The pastor is a guy in his early-to-middle thirties.

    He began a strong homily about John, then paused and said “This isn’t what I want to talk about today, and I don’t think it’s what you want to hear, either.”

    He gave an emotional, mostly extemporaneous, deeply heartfelt speech about McCarrick, Weurl, the PA grand jury report, and priests who have broken their vows. He read a letter from the Bishop, sort of an abbreviated version of Bp Morlino’s letter. He continued and was at times angry and tearful. It was very moving. He received a round of applause at the end of it.

    At the end of Mass he addressed the flock again, saying three things:

    First, don’t misunderstand anything I said – I love being a priest, and I have no intention of ever not being a priest, no matter how difficult things may be. I’m a priest for the rest of my life.

    Second, today is the annual Bishop’s Appeal. I was supposed to show you a video of all the wonderful things we do with your donations. Given the circumstances, I didn’t feel like I wanted to do it, and I know you wouldn’t feel like watching it. So please be generous, and mail your check to the parish so we can send it to the Diocesan offices.

    Third, I have more to say about the current situation, and I know you do too, so we’ll reconvene here in thirty minutes and stay and talk as long as you want to stay and talk.

    There was a long line of people who wanted to shake his hand and pat his back after Mass.

  10. teomatteo says:

    EF mass. Detroit. Hell.

  11. nine man morris says:

    Ours was the TLM with the 10 men. The priest went through St. Thomas Aquinas’ parts of the virtue of gratitude. He emphasized how we should be greatful in human, social interactions, in the “small things”, if we hope to be grateful to God for all he has given us. He made subtle allusions to Catholics who are ungrateful of the great graces we’ve been given in the Church and Tradition. He also emphasized how Jesus could have healed the men directly, but used His priests to administer His grace.

  12. oakdiocesegirl2 says:

    At St Joseph the Worker Berkeley, CA, we said farewell to Father Raphael, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He had been completing his doctorate these past 5 years. Is it my imagination, or do these scandals involve only old white or hispanic guys–no Black priests? Father did not talk about the scandal in his sermon.

  13. daughteroflight says:

    My priest preached about the homosexual network and the infiltration of the Church by communists and homosexuals starting in the 1920’s. It wasn’t new information to me, but I think it certainly shocked most everyone else.

  14. Gail says:

    The priest talked about the convent of nuns killed right before the end of the French Revolution. Nothing about the scandal per se, but it was all about what our faith is really about, and how it’s worth dying for. He said he was giving the same homily all weekend.

  15. Rob83 says:

    One of the priests from the seminary stopped by for a guest sermon. The good news is the number of seminarians are up from a few years ago and other dioceses are sending men here.

    It was also a bit of an unintended lesson on watching a somewhat younger priest who was clearly at a TLM for the first time in his life and seemed lost. I pray he takes away some desire to learn more about the TLM, that would be useful to have as a seminary instructor.

  16. Patrick L. says:

    Gratitude is a virtue. Ingratitude is a sin. This is one reason Jesus celebrated the response of the Samaritan to His actions. In both this and last week’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus commends the actions of a Samaritan. That a Samaritan has done the will of God is the point which determines his judgment, which is unaffected by the enmity that the Jews have for him.

  17. Southern Catholic says:

    The priest started by saying he is a sinner. Then I heard that the bishops have failed the laity, that the PA is just the tip of the iceberg. He urged everyone to write the bishops of the church and demand change. If they won’t change, then stop giving money to the bishops so that change will occur.

    He also stated that perhaps all the states should investigate the dioceses so that the bishops finally act. He said Wuerl should be forced out, and that everybody should go an read what Cardinal Burke has said.

  18. jerome623 says:

    The pastor at my parish spoke for at least 25 minutes on the situation in the Church today. All of the essential words related to this mess were used, and used properly: sin, evil, homosexuality, failure, filth, sin, publicly repent, penance, reparation, pray. He said we don’t need any more commissions, but rather we need to call this out for what it is: sin.

    Amen.

  19. hwriggles4 says:

    My dad passed away last night, so after staying up late with my family, I went to the 11 am Mass at a nearby parish. I had never been to this particular parish, and the priest spoke of the scandals. I could tell by the look on his face this sermon was definitely hard for him – it took courage. At the end of Mass a guy that was next to me agreed that the priest did step out of his comfort zone. This guy next to me also said he had a hard time at work on Friday with people asking him questions. I am sure many of us (including myself) have been bombarded with questions about these scandals.

    Father also discussed temptations in his homily. As a single man, I shared with the priest briefly after Mass that there have been times during dating where I knew I had to make sure to avoid certain situations, like staying overnight at a girlfriend’s house.

    In the courtyard outside after Mass, I thanked the priest for being courageous. He read part of Daniel Cardinal DiNardos letter, and advised the congregation to read it in its entirety. Personally, I need to make the effort to read Bishops Olson, Morlino, and Scharfenberger.

  20. maternalView says:

    The priest continued on from his homily last weekend, wherein he talked about worthy reception of the Eucharist and the need for confession, and punctuated his thoughts with examples of Eucharistic miracles. It was wonderful. It certainly was quiet as he described them. I pray it had effect on others. It did me and I’m already familiar with Eucharistic miracles. He’s a religious not connected to the diocese and thus I wasn’t surprised he didn’t address the scandal. I do wonder what the parishes around me did though.

  21. Chris Garton-Zavesky says:

    Bishop Barber, St. Margaret Mary, Oakland.
    Confirmation sermon, since he didn’t preach during the Mass:

    Since we were celebrating the external solemnity of the Assumption, he began with this observation, forcefully delivered: SHE CRUSHED THE SERPENT’S HEAD.

    Then he continued.

    There’s a spiritual war going on right now, but that’s nothing new. In a war there are casualties. Some people get injured. Some people sometimes betray their own side. [then, addressing the confirmandi, directly] You’re being made a soldier in God’s army.

  22. JonPatrick says:

    Byzantine Divine Liturgy 13th Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel concerned the owner who built a vineyard and leased it to tenants who wanted it for themselves so they mistreated or killed those sent to collect the produce, including the owner’s son. The vineyard represents Israel and God the owner. The tenants are the Pharisees and Scribes who imposed their version of the faith on the people taking it over for themselves as it were. The Owner has now turned the vineyard over to new tenants which are us, the Church. What kind of a job are we doing in managing the vineyard? Not a very good one if you pay attention to the news. We need to remember that we are just tenants and it is not our vineyard to do with as we please.

  23. Ellen says:

    Our associate pastor preached. He began with a profound apology and a statement that no one deserves to be abused by anyone ever. He said it was so much worse when a priest who is there in persona christi does such a thing and he said it was a sin and a sacrilege. He looked shaken and so sorrowful, I am surprised he didn’t break down. He mentioned the need for prayer and penance and acts of reparation.

  24. aliceinstpaul says:

    Hrwriggles,

    Prayers for the repose of the soul of your father and for your family. I’m so sorry for your lost.

  25. MaryofSharon says:

    Exceptional homily by a young priest just two years after his ordination. He spoke of his sorrow and anger and how he felt led, in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament last week, to focus his homily on what the priesthood is really supposed to look like, how a priest is to conform himself to Christ on the Cross and in the Eucharist, in self-sacrificial offering of himself for his bride, the Church. Listen and weep! https://vimeo.com/285733317

  26. MaryofSharon says:

    My parents told me about the homily of their young priest who has only been ordained one year. He spoke of the impact of the earlier scandals on him as he first began to discern his vocation, through his seminary days, and now as a priest. He spoke of both his anger and of his deepened love for his bride, the Church, in the face of the scandal. Then he talks about how he and his brother priests are banding together for 90 days of prayer and fasting and invites the faithful to join them. The parish gave him a standing ovation.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B8PXGJHiOo0

  27. firerosemom says:

    My pastor gave us this message at the end of last weekend’s Mass:
    I was so grateful for it, because as a parishioner I wanted someone to say something at our local parish level. All these things are a sword in the heart against which I cannot defend myself.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQG1drgvdDE

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