Was there a good point in the sermon you heard for Sunday Mass?
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Sin, mortal and venial, confession, confession, confession!
And: an amusing story about the good padre’s avoidance of dentists for 20 years (helped by a viewing of the film Marathon Man) and how the priest in the confessional is most happy to receive the penitent.
And then: Go to confession!
(St. John the Beloved, McLean, VA, noon TLM, Fr. McAfee.)
“Something…something…something…” (baby behind me crying loudly) Main point was that our possessions are on loan to us, as all good things come from God. We need to strive for eternity, not spend our time obsessed over accumulating more money, more things which will not be useful to us in our next lives. Also that while it is all right to have a modest number of possessions, it is how we use them that matters, and how we share what we have with others.
If we line up everyone here, from the richest to the poorest … Most people think they would fit in the middle. If you really are in the middle, as you think you are, to whom will you pay more attention? To the poorer? Or do you look to follow the “rich and aimless”? It was a good line and made the point memorable.
I missed out because I was
doing my weekly penanceconfined to the crying room, but we had the founder of Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate and one of the brothers visiting our parish (website appears to be down at the moment). My oldest son was utterly fascinated that the priest could “talk with his hands” (it was his first time witnessing sign language). Hearing impairment is a cause near and dear to my heart, so I was really happy to learn that such a group exists. By the way, the mass was still done ad orientem.I was actually stunned and surprised at a simple, short sermon about letting go of what’s materially holding us back from loving God as He should be loved and abandonment of materiality.
Father used a story of how some trap monkeys in the wild: they clear a large circle in the jungle of trees and brush, insert a transparent enclosure which has just enough room for a monkeys arm to reach inside and fill with bananas. The monkeys grasp and take a banana, and even though there is enough time for them to get away, they see the trappers coming, they will not let go of the banana which is preventing them from escaping (as their fist won’t exit the tube with the banana).
The question was: what was holding us back, what did we need to drop/give up/change. Note: NO Mass.
Have big eyes and ears for our Lord, but have a small mouth. I think he was talking about being charitable and knowledgeable in our wonderful faith, since it’s required from baptism.
In my Ordinary Form Masses, I preached about the Four Last things – death, judgment, hell and heaven (purgatory).
In my Extraordinary Form Mass, I preached about the house of God (Introit), the building that contains the Real Presence, the Mass and active participation.
How the vanities of the world should in some cases cause us to feel shame, how shame is just the manifestation of the virtue of humility, and how humility is merely us recognizing the world to be as God made it, not as we see it.
Our Pastor made an analogy using the reality shows on hoarding. We all want to protect ourselves by surrounding ourselves with things, achievements, accolades, even large circles of friends. These are not necessary. We often use them to hide our wounded natures from ourselves and others. God sees us as we really are. God’s eyes cut through our human vanity and expose our hearts to love that may feel like a raw wound, until we accept God’s love.
…..was extremely uplifted…..importance of Sacraments….and our priest kept quoting from the Council of Trent Catechism…..how about that!!!!!!!!!!