Was there a good point from the sermon you heard for your Mass of Sunday obligation?
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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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I focused on “Woe to the shepherds.” Although we have seen scandals from priests, bishops, religious and laity, the Lord’s Church is holy. Many leave, blaming a sinful “shepherd.” Yet, the scandal has strengthened my faith. The Church has been around for over 2000 years despite our sinfulness. Another proof that the Church is divine.
Father preached on the necessity of going off “to a deserted place” to rest and pray to God, especially in today’s world, and especially if we are busy and don’t know where to find time to do everything. He recalled that when he was a busy grad student trying to finish his dissertation at the time of the Moon landings, he fell desperately ill and got sent off to rest and do nothing. So he went to a rest house run by nuns. It was very hard for him at first, but doing nothing but praying and resting gave him much more energy and purpose. He also talked about how humans are social by nature, so it’s hard to go be alone with no contact with other people, but that we ought to socialize with God if we want to know Him.
This particular priest is a retired pastor who’s been having a lot of health problems lately, so it was very good of him to come fill in. Please pray for him!
It wasn’t that there wasn’t anything good. It’s just that there wasn’t anything memorable.
{I attended the Greek Catholic liturgy today in Zagreb. It is “Loaves and Fishes” Sunday in the Eastern Rite}. The priest gave a rather animated sermon on the necessity of realizing the presence of Jesus Christ in our everyday lives. He noted that even those who had God right in front of them still needed to pay attention to their very human and worldly hunger. Thus, aside from the great symbolic value of this Biblical story – the priest continued- we should also recognize the message that we need not fret about our “daily bread” if, in fact, we are constantly aware that God is among us. He will, indeed, provide everything that is good for us. The sermon was a nice twist on the usual message of the multiplication of loaves and fishes.
Father gave us an insight into the parable of the Unfaithful Steward who, after stealing from his Master, went ahead and reduced the debt of many others, so as to win their favor. The unfaithful steward was anticipating the good his Master could have done in the community, had he not stolen from him. Another lesson is that God can and does accomplish good in the world constantly through grace, even if it has to come through those in authority be they great sinners who may even be adverse to virtue themselves.
Novus Ordo, 15th Sunday OT.
I’ll let my latest blog post do the talking about what I got for a homily:
http://ycrcm.blogspot.ca/2012/07/and-now-for-something-completely.html
Pax, YCRCM.
At Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro, NC, Father preached on the concept of Shepherd. We think of Our Lord surrounded by sheep in a soft and gentle Mass Card. And that’s wonderful, yet the reality is deeper. We are all called to be shepherds for each other. And to be a good shepherd is to sacrifice for others.
OP Rite. Gospel of 8th after Pent: the Unjust Steward. An interesting and different way of looking at it: the steward and his failures are ourselves and we should seek to carry out acts of charity particularly towards the Holy Souls, who have no means of helping themselves; in so doing (though not essentially for that reason) we lay up enough good will so that in our own time of suffering in Purgatory we will not be abandoned. Other ways of of helping the Holy Souls: Masses, prayers etc.
Our priest pointed out that Jesus used parables which the least educated, poorest people would understand— shepherds, farmers, fishermen. The disciples were returning from their travels, marveling at how they, fishermen, tax collectors for the Romans, etc , were able to accomplish much healing and teaching while bearing Jesus’ message. And then the priest tied into the second reading, the term”chalice”–which holds the precious Blood Of Christ, and joins the believing Jews and the Gentiles together into One.
The deacon preached today. It was a canned homily, but a good one, on our sinfulness and unworthiness. Furthermore after Communion we had an “announcement” by a woman representing the school supplies drive. I usually abhor these, but it was like two minutes and it was excellent. She talked about the Corporal Works of Mercy and quoted from the Catechism (something Father never does!!!) and gave a passionate plea. It was genuine and you could tell. It was not cheesy like these things usually are. And, God forbid, we got another announcement by a lay person, this time a Knight of Columbus. He gave a very stirring and passionate request for men to join the Knights. It was excellent as well.
Father spoke on how everything Christ did he did for a reason. He is obviously our example and we should strive to immolate him in all things. But specifically he focused on prayer. The different times Jesus prayed and the prayers he prayed. He then challenged each of us to strive to pray more and pray well. To deepen our faith life with scheduled prayer. First time, in a long time, that I walked away from a homily inspired with a concrete way to grow closer to Christ. I definitely will try and be more diligent in following my schedule of prayer and to really focus during my prayer.
Such a good homily. I really love our priests here!! They are so good.
Christ seeks us out and, in Psalm 118 we ask that He do so, not because He has lost sight of us, but because we have lost sight of Him.
Our wonderful new young priest gave another excellent homily. He spoke of the ‘deserted place’ of Calvary and the two thieves–one choosing bitterness and hatred and one chosing to seek forgiveness. And he compared two young men–one a cold blooded killer in Aurora, CO who shot up a movie theatre of innocent people and another young man who was walking with the Crossroads pro-life group and was discerning his vocation to the priesthood but was struck by a car and killed moments after exchanging places with a young woman so she would be safer from the traffic. Two young people, two choices.
Father held up a monstance and reminded folks that they can come to a quiet ‘deserted place’ in adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
We are very blessed with our young priests and lovely parish.
Our young Polish friar is getting ready to return to his homeland for a three week vacation. He preached that the good vacation includes true rest alone in prayer with God. He went through the steps of purification, enlightenment, and unification and stressed that without prayer in our lives we cannot really rid ourselves of enmity, especially in this current time of national tragedy and worldwide horrors. Without prayer, he said, we cannot help but be judgmental. With prayer we practice the presence of God and learn to accept His holy will.
Very solid homily by a new priest in our Archdiocese. God will judge the shepherds, but that’s not letting the laity off the hook. Very good, very articulate and earnest.
Instead of starting the Creed, the young Father started the Confiteor. Fortunately, we in the pews didn’t follow, and he corrected himself. I could see the deacon next to him lean over and whisper something, smiling. And then, with barely a hiccup, the Mass continued.
Thank God for this young priest–may Our Lady keep him holy and safe and faithful.
We are responsible for the shepherds we get, at least to a certain extent.
My pastor applied the Gospel reading to the horrible events in Colorado, with the question, “Who is your shepherd?” I.e., is it Jesus Christ or the latest Batman movie or the other dregs of a culture gone straight to hell? He focused on what could make a person act like the shooter in Colorado and emphasized that for many, the popular culture is their shepherd, and it leads to nihilism and despair and senseless violence (just like the Batman movies).
Very relevant, very topical, and very true.
A priest came from Warsaw Poland today in our parish in Canada.
Mentioned the importance of daily Mass!
I’m on vacation with the fam on the sunny coast, and we went to a parish very close to the beach. The priest said that while this locale didn’t have deserts or the sort of ‘deserted places’ that Jesus mentioned, it did have fantastic beaches. He talked about how a walk on the beach was a great place to pray the rosary and to pray. He talked about how this reading was one of his favorites because it resonated with him so personally: we need to find peace and quiet in our physical environment if we hope to have a quality prayer life, and how our modern world makes it difficult to find the needed silence, where God resides. He also had some great things to say about having a personal relationship with Jesus in our devotions, which was really interesting without being evangelically-hoaky. Good stuff.
At the Dominican Chapel today they celebrated the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. Father made a great point in the sermon: God’s grace is what brings us to convert, and even, in his Providence, He has a hand in our act of conversion. Like MMagdelene our part is following Him to Calvary. That is how we prove our love beyond the grace that He has freely given us to convert… interesting.
Good shepherd NOT limited to clergy, we’s all shepherds to some degree for somene, maybe our kids, workmates and neighbours all notice more than we think especially our sins of omission.
Too telegraphic: the crowds on the shore just plain rudderles and lost, aint that our modern society in front of our ours, hence the above. Sorry, I need to join incohents anonymous.
In the Byzantine Catholic church, the Epistle was from St. Paul talking about those who are claiming to be of the person that baptized them instead of Christ and the Gospel came from the Gospel of Matthew in the miracle of loaves and fishes.
Our priest spoke about the tragedy in Colorado and how we as Christians know why this happens…Sin. He proceeded to talk about the need for being one in the Church and the need for repentance and turning away from sin. It was timely and relevant.
Homily – 8th Sunday of Pentecost – 7/22/12
E.F. 8th Sunday after Pentecost:
Father continued with a previous homily on public/private revelation, their source and aims.
His topic today was the July 13 apparition at Fatima, which contains the heart of the message. It was at this time that the three little seers were shown the vision of Hell. Fr. explored more on Hell: 1) it exists 2) what the sufferings of the damned consist of (physical and spiritual) and 3) its eternity.
He said that one of the most common statements he hears from those under 40 or so is that no one ever taught them the Church’s doctrine on Hell.
We were urged to follow Our Lady’s requests at Fatima: prayer, sacrifice and reparation for sinners.
We all know that Christian ministers have a bad reputation for hell-fire and brimstone preaching. I wish those of that opinion could have heard this- it pulled no punches, but was dispassionate and ended with a hopeful suggestion for action.
That Jesus took care of the Apostles’ needs before taking care of His own needs, and that later on He took care of all the crowds’ needs before His own human need to rest, eat, sleep. That this kind of service is how God cares for us and something we should imitate for others.
Father preached about detachment from material goods (mammon of iniquity). The things of this world are of value to us only to the extent that they help us to gain a place in heaven, which as we learn in the Baltimore Catechism is the purpose of our very creation.
Sunday’s rest isn’t for the Lord, he doesn’t need it. WE DO. Keep Holy the Sabbath, etc.
The importance of going away to a deserted place to rest with the Lord. We need to take time for silence and quiet prayer so we can hear God. Father also mentioned the need for silence during Mass, especially after Communion, so we can better hear what God is saying to us.
Our new Parochial Vicar preached on the prophetic wisdom of Humanae Vitae, on NFP, and on respect for the teachings of Christ’s Church. He took and met the issues head-on. I congratulated him afterwards for his courage and forthrightness–probably only the second time I’ve heard such a homily from the pulpit in the last 44 years.
“Are you a gatherer or a scatterer?” Words that occurred more than once in the readings. How often do we have our day planned and then something, perhaps a phone call or a visitor changes everything for us. Jesus and his disciples had to forgo their restful retreat to attend to the needs of the crowds.
Then, during the Third Eucharistic Prayer Father drew our attention to the words ‘gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.’
Our visiting priest explained about the praise the master gave of his unjust steward.
It can be often confusing to people that the praise is for being wily and shrewd, but
it (the praise) was actually to admonish the disciples, that the man of the world was more zealous and inventive in looking after himself in this world, when the disciples (and we) should be even MORE zealous about looking after ourselves for the future of the coming world, for man is more zealous for the things of this world than for the eternal world that is to come.
Hello Everyone.
I just wanted to thank all of you casual viewers and active participants of WDTPRS who viewed my entry on my little blog. Because of you I had over 100+ hits. I’ve never gotten this many, so thank you once again.
Pax, YCRCM.
Attended an EF and heard a great sermon on Psalm 42, the Judica Me, before being inducted into the Archconfraternity of St Stephen. Made me think that there should be a Psalm 42 mug…
Uh-oh. Read ahead to next Sunday, OF.
You know what this means, don’t you? That next week someone, somewhere will be preaching about “The Miracle of Sharing.”
Tridentine Mass in an un-air conditioned church and it was hot!
Father talked about Mary Magdelene and her relatioship to the Lord.
Garry Viele
First low Mass (EF) I’ve attended on a Sunday in.. forever?…
If we lose sight of reality, we fall into the traps of euthanasia (if we think we’ll save food and suffering), and support for a Health Care act which performs positive evil.
At Mass Sunday we had a guest Msgr. The sermon had nothing to do with the reading. We were asked to be “Accepting”, “Welcoming” and “Open” to all peoples wanting to come into our little (C)church. We were told that we must leave our conservative politics at the door. That we need to understand that there are people different than we are who Jesus loves, and we are called to accept them and love them as Jesus would.
I am confused Fr. Z:
Does Jesus love conservatives who are desperately tryining to follow Church teaching?
Does Jesus love me even though I do not accept sin and homosexuality as good and healthy?
Am I taking my family and I to the right Church?
I am very confused. There no longer seems to be right or wrong in the Catholic Church.
The good news is that Fr. Gahan will be back Sunday after next!
Jim Dorchak
Boy did that sound alarm bells to me.
At least he’s a “visiting priest”
“accepting”, “welcoming” and “open”? I hope he meant of repentant sinners and not their “life-styles”
I would think that to “love them as Jesus would” means you tell them (as Jesus told the woman being stoned) “Sin no more”