What were the good points you heard for your Sunday sermon?
Fr. Z’s Podcasts RSS Feed
About this blog…
“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
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
YOUR RECENT COMMENTS
- on ROME DAY 25/01 -02: Chinese Food (Sichuan): “In my late wife’s birthplace of New Jersey there are many “bring your own bottle” restaurants due to arcane liquor…”
- on What is Catholic teaching about “deportation”? Maybe not what some higher-ups think.: ““The Church teaches both that people have a right to migrate both for asylum and economic reasons.” Does it? Even…”
- on ROME DAY 25/01 -02: Chinese Food (Sichuan): ““I read on X a suggestions that the Gulf should be renamed the Gulf of Our Lady of Guadalupe.” I…”
- on What is Catholic teaching about “deportation”? Maybe not what some higher-ups think.: “Good read Father. The usual suspects are beating their breasts about Orange Man Bad.”
- on What is Catholic teaching about “deportation”? Maybe not what some higher-ups think.: “Interesting name of the Dominican father, ‘Totleben’ which literally means ‘death- life’. It sounds like he should be called Father…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “I can’t seem to comment on your latest article (https://wdtprs.com/2025/01/daily-rome-shot-1227-my-view-for-awhile-north/), and so I thought I’d leave a comment here that…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “@FRLBJ: From my side of the pond, this is just one of those antics the media over here (massively biased…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “I’m not sure that it’s just trolling (although it might also be a negotiation point being created). Mexico, and some…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “Attractive topic to pursue! When was it called what? I find the New York Public Library has a considerable collection…”
- on OLDIE PODCAzT 127: The Eve of St. Agnes and a Bleak Midwinter: “Folks – if you go up to the Podcast link, scroll down to 2012, you’ll see the correct link to…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “@FRLBJ: I agree completely. According to Wikipedia, “French Jesuits called the gulf the Gulf of Mexico (Golphe du Mexique) as…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “Black’s Knight prevents Black’s Bishop from applying check. So move it: 1. . . . Ng4 2. g2g3 (If White…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “I will not use the new name for the Gulf of Mexico. The name has historical roots and we need…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “1. . . . . . . N×f3+ If 2. B×f3 . . B-d4+ 3. K-f1 . . R-h1# If…”
- on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
ABORTION PILL RESCUE NETWORK
Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
Federated Computer… your safe and private alternative to big biz corporations that hate us while taking our money and mining our data. Have an online presence large or small? Catholic DIOCESE? Cottage industry? See what Federated has to offer. Save money and gain peace of mind.
I am an affiliate. Click and join or at least explore! If you join, I’ll get credit.
Polls
Loading ...Donate using VENMO
GREAT BEER from Traditional Benedictine Monks in Italy
CLICK and say your daily offerings!
A Daily Prayer for Priests
NEW OPPORTUNITY – 10% off with code: FATHERZ10
Fr. Z’s VOICEMAIL
Nota bene: I do not answer these numbers or this Skype address. You won't get me "live". I check for messages regularly.
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265
Good coffee and tea. Help monks.
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
Help support Fr. Z’s Gospel of Life work at no cost to you. Do you need a Real Estate Agent? Calling these people is the FIRST thing you should do!
They find you a pro-life agent in your area who commits to giving a portion of the fee to a pro-life group!
This blog has to earn its keep!
PLEASE subscribe via PayPal if it is useful. Zelle and Wise are better, but PayPal is convenient.
A monthly subscription donation means I have steady income I can plan on. I put you my list of benefactors for whom I pray and for whom I often say Holy Mass.
In view of the rapidly changing challenges I now face, I would like to add more $10/month subscribers. Will you please help?
For a one time donation...
To donate monthly I prefer Zelle because it doesn't extract fees. Use
frz AT wdtprs DOT comPLEASE RESPOND. Pretty pleeeease?
Loading ...WDTPRS POLL
Loading ...Great WINE USE COUPON CODE: fatherz10
Use my code for a discount
Loading ...
It was the 2nd Su after Pentecost in the Byzantine Church, and Father’s sermon focused upon responding to the call of Jesus immediately like the apostles’. The Gospel was the call of Andrew, Peter, James and John….He hammered the point home that they dropped everything to follow Jesus, and we should be prepared to do the same.
The priest hit on a few good points this week. As I suppose many priests did, he talked about the importance of the full, true meaning of the real presence in the Eucharist. He also talked about the significance of the procession for communion, how we should not view it the same way as the countless other lines we wait in, and how we should receive communion reverently (he didn’t indicate a preference between receiving in the hand or on the tongue, but talked about how to do each in a reverent fashion), and he also talked about the importance of passing on our faith… he especially talked about the responsibility of parents to guide their children in the faith, but also mentioned other roles in which people pass it on.
On a few peripheral doctrinal points, and on a few liturgical matters, I don’t exactly see eye to eye with this particular priest… but every couple of months (I don’t attend his masses every week, but I frequently do) he delivers a homily that gets right to important matters, and they can be very very good. This was one of those times.
Went to the Saturday Vigil of Corpus Christi celebrated by our new ordinary, Archbishop Sample. His homily of course focused on the centrality of the Eucharist and the Mass as both worship and the means by which we are given Life. Some of his points:
– that the Eucharistic Liturgy is the most important thing we do all week
– that it’s not just a checkoff on the weekend but the power source for the week’s beginning
– importance of the sacred liturgy / divine liturgy’s being reverent, awe-inspiring, beautiful, … Our pastor could hardly contain his excitement and I think Fr. Z would have felt much the same. :)
– he said if we get this (i.e. worship / liturgy) wrong then we can’t do a good job with all the other things we do e.g. charity, education, even catechesis
– the privilege of being a priest, and inviting all the young men present to consider whether God might be calling them to this vocation
It was really much better than this, though. Very thankful for our new Archbishop!
We had two permanent deacon ordinations in our parish on Saturday . One of the deacons was giving his first sermon on vocations and why we should drop everything we are doing when we hear Christ call us to our vocation. What I liked is that he emphasized the call and looked around the congregation and told everyone that in the congregants he was looking at, he said several of them had been specifically called into a Priestly, Religious, or consecrated vocation and they had not yet answered that call or perhaps they just ignored God’s voice. He then asked that such souls be given courage to follow Christ.
Unfortunately I didn’t pay much attention other than that. I was quite worried, an elderly gentleman directly in front of me was swaying in his pew and I thought it was going to pass out. His wife who must have been in her mid 80’s was crying because she was so worried and scared for him, but like many of the men of his generation, he took the strong side of things and refused to listen to reason. I was so absorbed and worried for him during mass, I lost precious moments waiting for a fall that never came. Oh the temptations one is presented with during mass!!
Our priest said that we are all aware when we attend Exposition or receive Communion that Jesus is present to us; but that must also mean that we are present to Jesus – and that means that we are experiencing a foretaste of Heaven.
I liked that!
Golly gosh, he mentioned receiving communion only if we are in a state of Grace. And a reminder of just who it was that was really there with us. And that his actions were worth watching as well as listening to his words. And that all the parts of the Mass link together and speak to each other and to us.
Lets’s just say I live in a diocese where most homilies revolve around love and any sermon with too much Catholic content is considered divisive. This Sunday I attended a NO Mass at a church close to home which I normally do not attend for various reasons. The homily was given by the permanent deacon, a sixty something retired UN development worker. I wasn’t really expecting much, just the God is love and warm fuzzy feelings all around we are all usually fed every Sunday. Well imagine my pleasant surprise when the deacon begins to preach on the REAL presence, something I have seldom heard in my decade as a Catholic in this diocese. As I sat there in my pew thanking God for what I was hearing, I couldn’t believe what I heard next. The deacon had the audacity to publicly state that our faith, the Catholic faith, was the one true faith! Oh how wonderfully divisive indeed.
Great sermon. I suppose Father has been reading Hardon lately because he’s been quoting from him often lately.
Today the sermon was about the real presence and how the Church has never wavered in its literal interpretation of our Lord’s words “this is my body”, “this is the chalice of my blood”. Those who have sought to use scripture to disprove the dogma of the real presence have done so only by misreading the texts and willfully misunderstanding the plain meaning of The Lord’s words at the last supper, looking for subtext that isn’t there.
The gospels all have their own way of denoting that Jesus was speaking in a parable and those words do not appear in the words of institution given at the last supper. Our Lord did not say, “this is like unto my body”, he said “this IS my body”
Father preached of course about the True Presence and the necessity of being in a state of grace to receive Communion, but he intertwined those verities with some commentary on a(nother) current scandal in RI, an upcoming “paranormal” fair to be held in the former St Ann’s Church in Woonsocket. This was perhaps the most beautiful church in the entire diocese but was closed and relegated to profane use a few years ago; it is currently an “Arts and Cultural Center”. Father spoke eloquently about how a Catholic Church is more than a building or “worship space” and is hallowed by the Consecration it received, the Presence it contained, and the masses and prayers offered therein; and stated that it would be far better for even such a beautiful and irreplaceable church to be razed to the ground than to host such sacrileges as these. Apparently this “event” will feature wiccans and “demonologists” among others!
(It would seem that the proceeds from the thing are going to a charity for “unwanted, languishing and abused” parrots! Shades of Monty Python, truly we are in the post-satirical age! Apparently they couldn’t find an group that cared for black cats which were “languishing”, etc! I can only think what “fun” Father would have had working that into his sermon had he known it!)
Corpus Christi here too.
part of the sermon :Christ’s Body and Blood the same for all, but not all receive with the same heart , a few descriptions: ouch!
Our deacon reminded us that as wonderful as it was to have received bread from the hands of Jesus in the desert that day, our priest is giving us Jesus under the appearance of bread today.
PS :
Teen daughters at different mass had sermon on taking it seriously, including mention of a (recent?past ¿ only Spanish?local?) past spirituality for Corpus Christi : town dwellers rushing from church to church to take in as many consecrations as possible, even if that meant not going to communion on Corpus Christi .
I have never ever heard of this custom before, and don’t quite know what to make of it.
I was visiting a parish where the pastor reminded the people that the Eucharist was really the Body and Blood of Christ and that Sunday Mass attendance was obligatory.
In addition, he noted that many people use blasphemous phrases to mock the Eucharist, such as in the song and dance of the Hokey Pokey, which he rightly pointed out makes fun of not only the words of the Consecration in Latin, but the hand movements of the priest.
I knew this, one of about three out of three-hundred who did, as he asked for a raising of hands on this point. His point is here back up in a selection from wiki;
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that the phrase “hokey cokey” comes from “hocus pocus”, the traditional magician’s incantation, which itself originated to ridicule the priest’s conferring of transubstantiation at a Roman Catholic Mass with Jesus’s words at the Last Supper: “hoc est enim corpus meum.”[3]
Sadly, many people talk before and after Mass and let their children run around the church during Mass, so I think some of the sermon could have been stronger. But, a good start.
” I was so absorbed and worried for him during mass, I lost precious moments waiting for a fall that never came. Oh the temptations one is presented with during mass!!”
That wasn’t a temptation. You made a judgment call, and you decided to be on alert to help your brother. Don’t beat up on yourself for doing what’s right, any more than a father would beat himself up for keeping an eye on his kids during Mass.
The effects of baptism are eternal and demand a change of behavior. We are bound by the Sacrament to act as Christ in all things. If we are ‘christened’ then we are ‘christs’ and must be Christlike.
Not an observance of Corpus Christi for the Melkite Liturgy yesterday. Father expounded on the word ‘christened’ with humor and seriousness. As a room is ‘lightened’ with lights, or laundry is ‘whitened’ with bleach, when we are baptized, ‘christened’, we become ‘Christs’ and must live and present examples as ‘Christs’. Father said [paraphrased], ‘oh I am naturally impatient, if I retort sharply and then jovially excuse myself with “oh that’s just the way I am” that is not Christ-like. That is like saying Christ is impatient and selfish. No, we are to change our actions to be Christlike.’
Re: hokey pokey — WRONG! That’s not what it’s all about!
It’s a typical play party dance/song, and the motions begin with those of someone reaching into a bag of sugar (hokey poke or hokey pokey) and go on from there. The earlier version of the song, found in both Scotland and US Shaker areas, was “X in and Y out/Hinkum booby round about/Folderol la, folderol la/Hinkum booby round about” to a different old tune.
Let’s not get weird and paranoid. There are enough real things out to get us!
“Hokey Pokey” is one thing — “Hocus Pocus” is quite another. Supposedly the latter derives from the words of the Mass, a theory which originated in the 17th century, but the OED attributes the origin to a different phrase which was traditional conjurers’ patter – which really makes more sense.
Our parochial vicar preached a very heartfelt sermon on the Real Presence, lots of citations to Scripture and an account of the Eucharistic Miracle at Bolsena.
Oh, and a 1931 article in the Journal of the English Folk Dance Society notes that the earlier spellings of Hinkum Booby/Looby were: Hankin Boby (1537), Hankin Booby (1596), Hankin Bovy (in Skelton’s “Ware the Hawke”, and Hannykin Booby (1652).
1857 Shaker version:
I put my X in, /I put my X out, /I give my X a shake, shake, shake / And I turn myself about.
1882 American kids’ version:
Put your X in, /Put your X out, /Shake yourselves a little, /And turn yourselves about.
Well, first off it was a gloriously beautiful and wonderfully crowded first mass of a new priest. It was so crowded that people were spilling to the outside.
The priest who was giving the sermon made me cry with his simple, but absolutely beautiful reminders of how blessed we are with both of the sacraments of the Eucharist and the Sacred Priesthood. One of my children later said that the lady next to him was crying and my daughter said that the lady next to her (which was me) was crying also. It was a beautiful sermon!
Then our new bishop processed with the Blessed Sacrament from our little church’s altar, two outdoor altars and ending at the altar of Blessed Sacrament church. It was sublime. Besides the bishop we had many fssp and diocesan priests, seminarians, and altar boys, as well as the choir, the recent first communicants dropping rose petals, and probably 500-600 people total processing. It was really neat to see the white-gloved police officers stopping traffic for Him (as it should be!) When our dear Lord is abused so frequently in so many ways it sure was inspiring to see this. I’m grateful to our bishop and the many who turned out to make this happen.
Oh, and Chappell’s Ballad Literature and Popular Music of Olden Times notes that Hankin Booby was a generic name for a clown, and there were apparently several popular tunes named things like “Half Hannikin,” “Hanskin,” and “Hankin Booby.” So the original imagery would seem to be a capering clown doing funny stuff, with no reference in the least to the Holy Eucharist. “Hankin” in that case would just be a diminutive of “Henry” — Han/s + -kin — like Peterkin, Perkin, etc.
We were incredibly blessed to have three of the five newly ordained F.S.S.P. priests offer their first Masses at our parish yesterday. At one of the Masses, the sermon was about the sacrificial aspects of the priesthood. The reason priests are ordained is to offer sacrifice, not to be on committees, or to be a CEO, and that unfortunately some priests today have an identity crisis. The Mass, of course, is that primary sacrifice. Priests should offer the Mass adhering to the rubrics, not in a regimented way, but doing so out of devotion to Christ and in charity to the laity. Priests must always be willing to die completely for Christ, giving up even little comforts for His sake. Of course, I can’t do justice here to this sermon, but it definitely rekindled my respect for the dignity of the priest.
Suburbanbanshee,
“Half Hannikin” is a very pretty tune that you will find in Playford’s English Dancing Master (the 1651 edition). The dance is a very simple longways for ‘as many as will’ – http://rgoldman.org/pryanksters/dances/halfhan.htm
Half Hannikin played (very nicely indeed) on the lute
Our priest spoke of the importance of being properly disposed and prepared to meet Christ in the Eucharist – Confession, paying full attention to the Mass, spoke of Lex Orandi Lex Credendi. He said we were not there to be entertained, but to meet Christ and to be strengthened for the week ahead. He used the phrase “You are what you eat”, stating the obvious outcome of a good Communion.
It was a line drive over the center field fence! (A diocesan priest, not our rector, who is on retreat)
One of the pastoral problems we have encountered is that people don’t know that they can’t receive unless they’re in the state of grace. – but they can’t.
Another pastoral problem is that most people don’t know what (or, rather, WHO) they receive.
Music, and bread and wine, otherwise common objects, are here put to a higher purpose.
Whereas most food when we consume it becomes part of us, when we consume Christ, we are the lower life, joined to the higher life.
This sacrifice at Mass is not a new sacrifice, but the re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary.
He repeatedly tied his points to the text of the Sequence.
A Retired Bishop began with the Explanation of the Passover and Ended with an Eucharistic Miracle Story in Buenos Aires.
He did Mention some Points about “Stewardship Sunday”
Here’s the Story of the Miracle:
http://www.loamagazine.org/nr/the_main_topic/eucharistic_miracle_in_buenos.html
Father talked about the Real Presence and that we are not watching a performance (like TV or theater) but participating during Mass.
Our Eucharistic Procession around the parking lot singing Panis Angelicus in Latin surprised some people who were waiting for the weekly SVdP food pantry to open after Mass.
My homily focused on the priesthood, because of the readings emphasizing that. I talked about the essential thing a priest does: offer sacrifice, and drew a line from Melchizedek to the temple priests, to our Lord, to the priest at Mass.
I also talked about the Apostles as the priests of the new covenant, and the meaning of the miracle of the loaves to them: knowing where the power comes from. I talked a bit about what that means to me as a priest, and why the priest should not be the focus. I contrasted ad orientem and versus populum postures at Mass in this regard.
Then I talked about the baptizeds’ share in the Lord’s priesthood, and what do we “offer”–and I taught a bit about the Morning Offering prayer my father taught me growing up, which is rather familiar so I won’t quote it here. I invited folks to think about what–and who–they bring to Mass to offer, and how they might go from Mass to help the Lord consecrate the world to him.
It’s a shame it’s not Corpus Christi every week, because it looks like the majority of priests, my own included, brought their A game.
Father generally gives the same homily on Corpus Christi every year, focusing on active participation in the Mass, emphasis on the True Presence, preparation to receive the Eucharist, how to receive, and so on. In fact, it was after one of those homilies that I realized I was fooling myself by continuing to receive communion despite not having made a good confession in years and enslaved to a particular wicked sin. It took a while, but it prompted me to reform my life and go to confession in order to receive the Eucharist worthily.
Highlights yesterday included the suggestion that going to Confession once a month was “not too often.” He said that he preferred that people received the host on the tongue, since that way he (and the deacons and the EMs) know that the host is consumed. For those that receive in the hand, they must consume the host in front of the minister, and emphasized that the EMs need to be vigilant. He also reiterated that people were free to kneel for communion if they wished.
The mike at the Altar works better than the one at the lectern, so I have a hard time (we all do) hearing the sermon; however since our Mass coincided with the hour that Pope Francis requested that we do a Holy Hour world-wide, our pastor lead us in prayer before Mass in offering Our Mass for the atonements for the sacrileges and outrages done against the Blessed Sacrament and for the intentions of the Holy Father, and also had us recite the Angel of Fatima Prayer.
Our homilist expounded on the early Christians’ fervent belief in the Real Presence and spoke against the “symbolic” approach which has invaded many Catholics’ thinking and attitudes toward the Blessed Sacrament. He prefaced all this by opening with the following story. (It also speaks to our “personally opposed, but….” politicians as well):
The great leader Alexander the Great conquered all of the known world. A deserter from his army was captured and brought before him. “What is your name?” the General asked. The disgraced solder could only mumble, “Alexan…..” The general asked again in a firmer voice, “What is your name?” The solder answered, “Alexander.” Alexander asked the deserter a third time, with the firmest tone of command yet. The soldier answered in a loud voice, ALEXANDER! SIR!”
Alexander told him, “Either, CHANGE YOUR NAME OR CHANGE YOUR WAYS!”
Our Pastor talked about the Real Presence, the need to be in a state of grace to receive and therefore confession, and that more reverence would be observed if more people believed. He called the catholics “Thomas'” and said that he challenges those who doubt.
Best from my pastor so far.
Mine was not heavy on theology, but heavy on praxis: this is the Eucharist, this is the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, and as much as a wedding is anyone’s special day, the Eucharist is YOUR special day, so act like it, dress for it – in more elegant terms, but that’s the summary. I did take square aim at the idea that “it’s more important that we be here than how we dress” — A or B in this case is simly a false dichotomy for most.
Random Friar says:
Mine was not heavy on theology, but heavy on praxis: this is the Eucharist, this is the Wedding Feast of the Lamb,
I thought the Wedding Feast of the Lamb was eschatological.
I was lucky to hear an outstanding homily from an FSSP priest I have known for a while. His was the first TLM I ever experienced, almost a decade ago. He preached about abortion; the need for young priests who are being ordained now to realize that, like the Holy Cure of Ars who worked to absolve the guilt of France after the Terror, they will be absolving the sins committed during the terror of abortion for the rest of their lives. It was powerful and I suspect I will never forget it.
@Basher
I heard that sermon, too. It was powerful. I’m hoping it was recorded and will be posted on the parish website.
@Rose
Cool! We drove about 500 mi. to come, it was totally worth it.
@robtbrown: I would refer to Hahn’s “The Lamb’s Supper.” He would most certainly explain it better than I.