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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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Truly inspired sermon by Fr. P. He related the miracles (yes there are multiple miracles in the gospel today) to being a reflection of the Creation and also the Tower of Babel event. In short – the miracle of healing the deaf mute IS the story of man. Our Lord’s spit mixed with dirt was used to make the man whole (similar to dirt and God’s lifegiving breath in Creation) and to add another miracle, the man spoke plainly and clearly immediately (contrasted to the tower of Babel and man’s inability to understand each other as a consequence of man attempting to elevate to a god-like status). To top it off, all this was done separate from the maddening crowd in a contemplative one-on-one setting (Adoration anyone?). It was a gem .
Gospel of the widow of Naim. Reflections on the resurrection of the body and how it was original sin which resulted in an immortal soul but a mortal body, and how in the light of that the resurrection of the body at the last judgement begins to make sense. Figuratively the sacrament of confession is clearly implied by Christ’s action which was motivated primarily by compassion.
The entire homily was good, but the best point that really stood out was his plea for everyone to spend at least fifteen or twenty minutes in prayer each day.
I don’t remember a thing from the sermon! Does that happen to you too ??? I thougt: Ah I must remember X and Y, interesting point… maybe something to write here when FR.Z asks… All gone with the wind. (My only excuse is that I was searching for sheet music that someone else had misplaced. Organists on duty tend to have selective hearing.) Sorry for hijacking this thread :-)
Cleaning out our own ears the better to hear the word of God. That the placing of his spit in the man’s mouth was a visual image connected to when we receive the substance who is Jesus in our mouth during communion. None for me today though. Very frustrated by my children’s behavior. The defiance seems magnified in that room. The fact that the only places to sit are visible to everyone doesnot help.
@PA mom: You have my symphathy regarding the children.
Father Scalia emphasized caution in what we do listen to – better just the good stuff and not the gossip etc. m
PA Mom – you must have really loud kids cause I think I heard them in my church too…
Fr. focused mostly on the Epistle for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (from Galatians), and then mostly on the theme of vainglory:
(1) Vainglory often exists at the heart of our other sins, even in contradictory fashion, and leads us to all manner of vices and sins–sanctimoniousness, self-righteousness, false piety aimed at being seen by others/inspiring others, projection of our own shortcomings onto others, controlling behaviors, self-deceit, etc.
(2) Root it out by prayer, frequent self-examination/confession and the practice of humility; and, as St. Paul says in the same letter, we must examine ourselves carefully prior to undertaking to correct anyone.
Tough stuff for this guy to hear. Ora pro nobis.
This was also a major theme in Father’s homily at my parish. We need to separate ourselves from the noisy and busy world to concentrate on hearing the Lord. Father used this as part of his ongoing project to encourage silence in the chapel before and after Mass.
He also had a good point that if we cannot “hear” Christ through the gospel, we then have a “speech impediment” that keeps us from spreading that good news to others.
Had a break from preaching this weekend and went to a place on vacation where a missionary gave the annual appeal. He did not have any kind of foreign accent and was easily understood. He did an excellent job tying the appeal to the gospel for the day. I enjoyed the break.
I actually did attend a Catholic Mass with a relative who is still Catholic and in answer to your question, no, there was not. I am deeply unimpressed by sermons which begin “As I was reading the newspaper this morning.” It was, though, very brief and that is probably a fine thing given the lack of preparation. How long does a Sunday Mass usually last these days? I thought 35 minutes was rather speedy?
Fr. had a homily concerning “God is love.” The really remarkable thing was that it was a good homily and didn’t make me want to throw up from the gooey nature that homilies usually take on when pertaining to this particular phrase. Fr. used this to show God’s mercy and his emotion. He used this to defeat the ideas of the Stoics as well! This priest always has good sermons, but this wasn’t his hardest or meatiest one, but a very solid one nonetheless.
Father tied the concept of opening our eyes and ears to the ongoing campaigns that might wish they could be closed up again! Then he asked the most important question:
What would Jesus’s platform be?!
Excellent presentation to ponder.
It was in Polish and I understood just enough to know that it was good… but not enough to be able to repeat any of it! I wish I *had* understood properly, though. What I ‘got’ was that Father linked the readings with the Year of Faith and with the forthcoming mission in the parish (which someone has already told him about), and the fact that Faith is a gift received through God’s mercy, that it takes the action of the Holy Spirit for us to be able to hear and understand.
I am pleased with having understood that much, given that my Polish is limited to words I remember from the fixed parts of the Liturgy.
I think I heard the priest say “it is astonishing for the creature to try to dictate to the Creator how this world ought to be ordered.”
Another bad sermon. Fr used it as a platform to get people to volunteer to be ushers and greeters.
*shakes head*
I really need to find a new parish.
Bishop Herman at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis: The Church is suffering from internal and external persecution. Those Catholics who support abortion have disqualified themselves from being Catholic. Like the man in the Gospel, they are spiritually deaf. They are “flying toward the open mouth of Hell”. They are not our enemies however. Our enemy is the Evil One at work in them. Like the people in the Gospel that brought the deaf man to Jesus, we ought to offer our prayers that they may be converted like St. Stephen’s prayer brought about the conversion of St. Paul. We ought to pray the family Rosary every night and consecrate ourselves to the Blessed Virgin for our families and the conversion of our country. A family (looke like tourists) got up and left after the homily, just like the crowd left Jesus. God bless Bishop Herman for the courage to speak the Truth.
The homily began with a comparison to the political conventions of this week, and Father talked about those conventions and how so many on one or the other side tend to ignore or bash everything the other party says or wants to accomplish. This unwelcoming atmosphere, Father said, is similar to a parish (perhaps the parish where I attended Mass today), which is so focused on its own goals and programs that it (we) fail to welcome anyone we don’t recognize. This needs to change right away; in our Church, all are welcome.
Even so, Father said, we face not only a parish-level problem but a nation-wire fode problem; freedom of religion is under attack, and that means that respect for life is being devalued. Unborn children, prisoners, immigrants, elderly people – all are at risk under this threat to human dignity.
We Catholics can work to turn this tide and bring human dignity to the forefront of any conversation about service, care for the poor, elder care, care for the unborn, etc. We are called to do this, even when it’s hard, because to welcome everyone, we have to give everyone that human dignity that Christ recognized in the deaf man, and work to overcome any impediments to understanding and working with others toward a common goal
Father was required to shill for the Archbishops Annual Appeal today, so he decided to have some fun with it. He came to the ambo and said we had a special guest. The organist played a few notes from the theme to Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…and and acolyte brought and empty chair up and set it beside the ambo. Father proceeded to conduct a Clint Eastwood-esque empty chair interview of Archbishop Gregory. His Grace told Father to tell us all about the good and important work funded by the Annual Appeal…from funding the office of vocations, to priests’ retirement, to communication and outreach programs. It was funny, poignant, and left an impression on all in attendance. Considering the subject matter I think Father did what he could to make it less mundane and hopefully it will help our contributions out some.
Maybe during Bingo night in the hall is it appropriate, but playing the theme to the spaghetti western The Good the Bad and the Ugly is hardly a suitable piece halfway through our sacred adoration of the Almighty. However well intended, it’s still bad taste.
Our Pastor, using the First Reading and the Gospel as a basis, talked about how we must be open to Christ talking to us. Someone deaf & dumb in biblical times was shunned. So the man, after being cured, was more able to join society. Similarly, we must not defer from evangelizing our faith as we become more knowledgeable about it.
Fr was taught by a priest who said for every minute of speech given in a homily, there should be 30 min of preparation.
The importance of use of ears to listen to God… eg. in Baptism, first is the anointing of the ears,
then the mouth.
(I remember a priest, Fr Faust, now deceased, that said one way in which God speaks to us is
through the circumstances of our lives.)
Our homily was on being properly disposed before receiving communion. Historically churchgoers had received infrequently sometimes only once a year. That started to change in the 20th Century as more frequent communion was encouraged, but now things have gone too far and people believe they are entitled to receive every time they attend mass, whether properly disposed or not. The most important aspect of being properly prepared is having confessed mortal sins in the sacrament of confession. This was the first of 2 parts, unfortunately I will miss part 2 next week.
This Sunday’s sermon was a stunning and humbling account of the Seven Dolors of Mary, in order to punctuate this Sunday falling in the midst Our Lady’s Nativity, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary coming up on Wednesday, and the Seven Dolors of Mary next Saturday.
Apparently Mass was lightly attended on Saturday for the Nativity (which I and my family contributed to but had an excuse in needing to pick up a family member at the airport) and Father, with genuine sadness and genuine righteous indignation, called it a disgrace. He did not linger on it nor berate, but spoke about the sadness that Catholics here did not attend and give thanks to God for her birth, and the graces bestowed to Creation by Mary’s complete and unreserved giving of herself to Her Son.
Father then went point by point on the Seven Dolors, mentioning the insights and reflections from St. Bridget and other Saints on each sorrow.
The prophecy of Simeon
The flight into Egypt
The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple
The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross
The Crucifixion
The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross
The burial of Jesus
He then encouraged and humbled the congregation into their responsibility to come to Church on the feasts of Our Lady and unite ourselves with her at the foot of the Cross, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
I wept.
I should hasten to add that Father encouraged all Catholics, as an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to offer daily one Our Father, then one Hail Mary for each Sorrow, concluding with a Glory be.
He had two points that stuck with me. The first was a quote from the movie, A Man for All Seasons, in which St. Thomas More replies to his friend Norfolk, who is trying to persuade him to sign the Act of Succession:
Norfolk: “…Thomas, look at those names…. You know those men! Can’t you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?”
More: “And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?” In the context, he was saying that your conscience can push you to do more than those around you without you taking it as permission to accuse anyone else of failure.
The other was his point that the crowd said of the Lord, “He has done all things well.” He said that those who would imitate the Lord cannot stop with the bare minimum. They have to push themselves to do what is possible for them, not just what is required. They have to do what the situation requires…and then some. And he went on to give several examples of what might be our duties, and each time appended….”and then some”.
It was a homily that was truly challenging without being unduly accusatory. He wasn’t telling anyone to fear not doing enough, but rather telling all to desire to do enough….and then some.
Fr’s homily was short, and unfortunately I was sick, so don’t recall much of it.
But I do want to thank you for the regular Sunday homily review because I gain so much from it, even when my priests preach a good one.