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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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- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “Yes. Let all the poisons come out! After seeing it on TV many years ago and reading the two volumes,…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “Perhaps world events are making some nervous international travelers. Personally, I would have loved to go to Poland on a…”
- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “The bit about Claudius thinking that a return to the republic was likely or even possible may take its inspiration…”
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- on ROME 24/4– Day 28: bad news and good news: “The BBC “radio play” of I,Claudius is also rather good. https://share.libbyapp.com/title/505092”
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- on 15 April 2019 – Notre-Dame de Paris: “Looking at the pictures, one can be grateful that the artist at least didn’t use this as an opportunity to…”
- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “@MB “When a man feels like he has something no one else can give, something essential, and no one to…”
- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “There was a time when if you wanted to know the miracles of the Church, the great teachings, the stories…”
- on Faith practice declining far and wide…. except…: “Out of my wife and my siblings & spouses, half are not RC anymore but are probably still on the…”
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That if anyone thought of becoming a priest for the power and prestige…well, no. Not as such. LOL.
Also, that in every vocation and state of life there are times when we’re called to act selflessly in imitation of Jesus.
Plenty of great points in the sermon by Fr. Parker.
Additionally, he had some great points on Planned Parenthood in his column in the parish bulletin using quotes from you: http://content.seekandfind.com/bulletins/01/0929/20121021B.pdf
There was a big funeral in the parish recently and the Gospel in the Byzantine Rite today was the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, so we heard a homily about the reality of death and the two inevitable consequences of death: Heaven and Hell. We were told that we need to make ready for our deaths for we don’t know when we will die-any of us could die tomorrow-and the only things we take with us are the merits of the good things we’ve done and the culpability of the evils we have done. I remember the icon of Sts. Vladimir & Olga that I happened to be looking at when he said that very vividly in my mind and even the priest himself got choked up a bit talking about the culpabilities that go with us.
The sermon today was about the life of St. Kateri Tekakwitha and about the miracle which led to her canonization. I confess I was ignorant of her story but now find her example to be one particularly suited to our times, because she was ridiculed even by her own family for holding firm to the faith.
There was also a relic of the saint on hand for veneration after mass. I had never venerated a relic before. Way cool!
Great sermon today about the missions. How we should be missionaries in our own country.
I turned on Immaculate Heart Radio on the drive home and caught the Homily given there. It was really good too. It was based on the readings from today. Fr talked about a good parent is one who remembers what it was like to be a child, a good teacher is one who remembers what it’s like to be a student, and a good priest is one who remembers what it’s like to be sitting out in the pews with Fr yammering on for far too long. That we should walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. So, if most of us can walk at about a four mile an hour pace that would be fifteen minutes of our time listening to others. That that was what Jesus did with his disciples. He listened to them and didn’t knock them down over their desire of wanting to be at Christ’s right and left hand. He also spoke of the sequoias here in California where the trees hold each other up with their massive root system and if we can listen to each other and understand one another we may be able to bond together and live like the sequoias for two to three thousand years. Because when a storm comes a lone tree can get knocked down but together they stand strong.
21st Sunday after Pentecost, EF:
1) If you go to Hell, I[ says the good Canon] will partly bear the responsibility for that; if you go to Heaven or Purgatory, I will share in your gratitude, I hope.
2) Do we realize what we pray when we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, AS WE FORGIVE …..”?
3) Today is World Mission Sunday, and so it is important to try to support vocations materially if possible.
Thank you, Father, for giving us the opportunity to reflect positively on the preaching we hear. (The Good Lord knows how much grousing there must be on other fora.)
Implicit in today’s Gospel of the duplicitous servant is Purgatory. This was the passage where the Lord spoke of the lord of the manor forgiving a servant his debt when he asked pardon, but then the servant goes out and harangues a fellow servant for a much smaller debt. The other servants tell the lord of the manor of the man’s duplicity, and he is called back in, condemned, and thrown in prison until the past of the enormous debt he owed is paid. The master here does not put the duplicitous servant to death, but instead casts him into prison until the last pence is paid. In that respect, the Lord does not cast us to the snares of Lucifer in Hell for our sins, should we be penitent, but instead casts us into the prison of purgatory until we pay the last farthing of penance for the stains that remain of our sins. Father gave numerous analogies of sin and its forgiveness not being the same as punishment due for sin and how we will, and must, make full restitution to our God for our sins.
“Can you drink from the chalice?” was the theme of the sermon. Father spoke at length about St. Ignatius of Antioch and his famous letter imploring the Christians of Rome not to prevent his martyrdom at the teeth of the lions. “We all say we love God but are we actually ready to die for the Faith?” He had printed out the selection from the Office of Readings for St. Ignatius and had distributed to all in our chapel. In an announcement before the sermon Father gave a theological note about the afterlife and Purgatory in order to remind everybody to fill out the All Souls Day envelopes.
Today’s gospel in the Byzantine churches is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16). The point is that health, status and longevity are not necessarily a blessing. Lazarus (the poor beggar with sores) was blessed, the rich man was not. Our priest, who was raised in upstate New York, commented on the saints canonized today in Rome, especially St. Kateri Ketakwitha of the Mohawks. She was persecuted by family, suffered ill health, and died at 24, yet was blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven. Father pointed out that many of us idolize our bodies and our health. We pray for good health, but health and the body should not become an object of worship. This, of course, is counter to today’s secularist culture.
St. Kateri’s smallpox scars disappeared at the moment of her death. She is a wonderworker whose intercession we should seek.
Our priest talked about loving God and neighbor, but the best part is that it wasn’t fluffy!
The five things necessary for a good Confession with an emphasis on “firm sense of resolution.”
On the heroic virtues of newly canonized saints from New York, St. Kateri and St. Marianne.
On Mission Sunday— we should remember that missionaries in many countries risk their lives daily to spread the Gospel, and we, here in the US, should not complain over small inconveniences we may ‘suffer’ for our faith.
1. We are subjects of Rome, subjects of Holy Mother Church, yet we are subject to US laws. When we vote we must be aware of the runaway loss of rights in this country.
2. Canonization of St. Kateri, St Marianne, et al – saints who said yes, and drank of the Chalice Christ offered. He gave a bit of history of these saints.
3. When we approach Communion, do we give ourselves completely? Consider what our “Amen” encompasses. Yes, this is truly the Body of Christ. Yes, this is truly the Blood of Christ. Can we accept the Chalice?
Father tied all of these together so beautifully; wish I did his Homily justice.
(I’ve begun travelling to Mass on Sundays. Hearing a beautiful Homily makes the few hours on the road worthwhile. :)
A little more intro on the year of faith including an exhortation for everyone to say the Apostles’ Creed each day either individually or in a small group / household . . . had take-home cards of the creed for everyone of all ages to keep in their wallet / purse, whatever.
A little background on the gospel with this being the response of the 12 to the third prediction of the passion within a week of Calvary. The weakness/imperfection/pettiness of those chosen to be the inner circle related to our weakness/imperfection/pettiness . . . with respect to the power of grace and our salvation being not so much about what we ourselves do but what God does in us.
So – so. Not as good as last week but feeling like slowly coming out of a few weeks of the doldrums.
Monsignor asked us today if we could make sacrifices of love, and drink from the same chalice that Christ did. He does not mince words. He made sure to remind us about the sin of presumption; tht our works must be done not presuming our own benefit from them, but be of sacrificial nature. He has quite the knack for making sin and Hell REALLY scary ideas. He also went on to describe how Christ died for all, but emphasized that Jesus Himself says that many, and not all, will be saved. The nice thing about all of his fire and brimstone sermons, however, is that he assures us of God’s grace and mercy that we can receive in Holy Communion, Confession, prayer, etc. But yeah, sin is no joke at our parish!
Father knocked his homily out of the park today. I wish I could do it justice. He spoke about voting as a Catholic (as part of series he has been doing); how we must avoid voting for a canidate who stands for intrinsically evil platforms (he quoted Cicero, Isaiah, Jesus); how we must vote against those referendums that go against natural law (WA); and how when we die we will be judged on what we stood for. I pray God continues to bless this holy priest.
Fr. B said this:
That’s going on my wall. Needlepoint.
—–
Context: Forgive us as we forgive others is a dangerous part of that prayer, and it’s a really good one. “Forgive and forget” is not part of scripture. God forgives, but does not forget. Forgiveness is a greater virtue when we remember the wrong. Therefore, brain damage is not a virtue.
I’ve always wondered how God “forgets.” Is there any further reading that anyone can recommend on that subject?
Or rather… Doesn’t forget, but He forgives… Are there any saints (my guess would be Aquinas) who have spoken or written on it?
@Katheryn,
I believe Aquinas wrote on this, but it’s not in the volume of his Summa Theologica I have with me.
@APX
Thanks for checking. I will be smart again one day…. For now… Stay at home motherhood! I’m grateful for the many people on Fr. Z’s blog who are willing to so graciously offer education.
I usually go to a N.O. Mass, but today I got my latin Mass fix. MMmmm..incense! The priest talked about indulgences, what they are, why and how to get them. Love our FSSP priests!
At the EF Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, Still River, Fr. Stark spent most of the homily on the Epistle which was that well known passage from Ephesians about putting on the armor of God to protect us from the rulers of the World i.e the devil and his minions. It seems that the demonic powers are even more in force than ever, we see an increase in interest in witchcraft, etc. We must turn to God as our only way to fight them.
We are not to derive false comfort from the idea that Our Lord was ‘tempted’ interiorly with e.g. inordinate anger, greed, lust etc. This is not the correct translation of temptation in the context of the Bible. He was entirely without sin, including the tendency to sin, and this is of much more true comfort as we reflect on the perfection of his humanity in the unity of all his powers, to which we aspire.
His temptations were exterior and each of them show us a model of how the Spirit can work in us if we allow him.
I also was able to assist at our monthly diocesan TLM. Fr. reminded us about the year of Faith and mission sunday, however the bulk of what he said concerned Ephesians and how the devil will assess the weaknesses in our armor and use them and our strengths against us. He also explained the magnitude of the debt of the evil servant when compared with today’s money values and showed by parallel, that Our Lord has redeemed us by His death and forgiven us so many times in our lives and that we should forgive each other as well. This sets up an attitude of humility in my soul which I need desperately. He then spoke of the new Saints of today and how they wore their armor of Faith in their missionary activities and asked for their intercession.
The life of St. Kateri Tekakwitha as an example of loving and serving in place. I remember reading about her in Treasure Chest comics in the 60s.
Pity that Msgr. consistently mispronounced her name.
Thanks be to God for the courage of this pastor (in VA!!). Although my paraphase will not do his homily justice, he spoke of how he was called to use his authority as a pastor to preach – even “to ears that may not hear”.
“How did we come to “This present evil age”??!!!
He mentioned that during Hitler’s election – “What if people said, “Well, I don’t believe in his view on Jews, and I don’t want to “impose” my views on others, but look how much he is doing for jobs and the economy and building up the country!”… You could hear a pin drop. He said that this IS A ONE ISSUE ELECTION and it is all about THE GOSPEL OF LIFE…..nothing else will matter if we don’t get that first!”
He also explained what constitutes a “well formed conscience” (and what doesn’t ie. “feelings”!) and the Church’s view on marriage between a man and a woman and why same sex marriage and same sex activities are wrong- against Church Teachings and the Natural Law that God has written on our hearts.
Also, his parish bulletin included the USCCB response to VP Biden’s (INCORRECT) remarks re: the HHS Mandate – http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm
To be fair, St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s name has so many potential pronunciations (Algonquin, Mohawk, French, English, and yesterday, Italian) that it’s not really fair to call any one of them wrong. Although it was charming to hear the Italian announcers be so smooth with the Mohawk.
Not the sermon, but in our bulletin our pastor, Father Frank Phillips, put a short recap of the Call to Holiness conference you both attended, Father Z and suggested both your website and a youtube link for watching the homily given by the bishop.