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Last night I went to the NET Lifeline Mass, which Fr. Mike Schmitz of the Diocese of Duluth presided at. He talked to his audience of primarily teenagers that if they want to choose a life with God, they need to let go of their old life completely, in the same way a man must let go of an old girlfriend for a new one or Tarzan must let go of his old vine to swing on a new one. You cannot choose Jesus and then hang out with the same old friends who pull you into sin. All of this of course tied into Zacchaeus and his rejection of his old life and giving away half of his property and returning all he had defrauded fourfold (Father pondered if this was mathematically possible!) Good sermon overall.
All Souls sermon was especially moving, calling us to remember those who have no one to pray for them. And to remember that none of us knows the hour of our death. All of which was underlined by Father telling us that he began the week with the funeral of one of his former students, age 21 — and ended it by giving last rights to and being present at the death of another of his former students, also age 21. To which I think I should add that we don’t always remember the enormous personal stresses on the clergy and that they should always, always, always be in our prayers, too.
Heard a super All Souls Sermon on the teaching of the Church on indulgences and purgatory. The Church has not abandoned indulgences since Vatican II. Imagine! We were encouraged to avail ourselves of the indulgences attached to All Souls.
EF today. The Church is our boat on seas that are often quite stormy. Even though that boat can seem small and entirely inadequate, it has Jesus on it. Even though Jesus seems asleep, he and that boat he is in are what saves us.
Father told of the Hapsburg burial custom of being refused burial under the lofty titles of emperor and such and only having the body of the deceased emperor be admitted for burial under the title of a mortal sinful man. This he said was an especially poignant expression of the catholic faith regarding death. In death all of the things of this world fade away and all that is left is god’s mercy, for which we do well to pray for for ourselves and for those who have died.
Well, Maria Divine Mercy came up and we were told we need to be “ready.” Well, I agree with being “ready” but not according to this loon. Yes, I’m serious and poor Father believes it too.
Oh, not in T.O.!
Father, today our priest took a page from your book and reminded us all to get ‘spiritual insurance’ against an unprovided-for death. He told us all to be sure that we die in a state of grace, even if our death is sudden, and to make sure that our priest and parish community and neighbours know us so that if something happens we can count on having the spiritual necessities in the end.
He also reminded us of how badly the souls in Purgatory need our prayers.
I went to a Byzantine mass. The reading was the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Father spoke on sins of omission and how that is often something we are guilty of but don’t necessarily realize it.
On the beauty of the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. One typically hears scoffing about the notion from those who have not been formally introduced to the teaching however many at the same time profess belief in something similar. Our communion with those who have died before us is realized in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Through ordination priests are enabled to offer sacrifice on behalf of the dead. The teaching on purgatory is rooted in both the Old and New Testaments.
Sunday the homily was about The Four Last Things. Explained in detail. It’s always good to be reminded of these things! He also explained about visiting a cemetery in the next week and praying for the souls of the departed.
Before communion we were advised that those who had not been to Mass for the holy day of obligation should not present themselves for communion until they had gone to confession.
Additional hours for confession were announced for a weekday evening once a month at a mission church.
Incidentally, the sermon on purgatory I heard today which I outlined above reminded me of a fantastic production of C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce” by the Storm Theatre I saw in NYC some years ago.
Our priest warned us that if we came to him for confession AFTER Mass so e could go pray at the cemetery our penance would be amplified substantially. It was a joke, but confession is a big deal for our parish, so it was sort an inside joke.
Father Ubel talked about why the Lord called to Zacchaeus; he had positioned himself to hear the Lord. He reminded us that we need to put ourselves in place to hear him as well.
Mass was followed by an Archdiocesan penitential service featuring the 7 penitential hymns, led by Abp. Nienstedt. I was disappointed that more people weren’t there. For me, it’s a step toward healing as our whole Archdiocese is damaged by the claims coming forward, the claims brought forward in the media (and corresponding lack of correction), and those priests who did harm to others. Because the law has been changed to eliminate the statute of limitations as to child sexual abuse, and the statute of limitations as to child sexual abuse that took place prior has been lifted for three years, I anticipate continuing accusations.
Father focused on conversion of heart, and making amends, as Zacchaeus did. Though curiosity may have initially played a part in him seeking out Jesus, a guilty conscience spurred him along. Though a prominent public figure, he decided to accept the risk of ridicule of being seen scrambling up a tree, such was his growing yearning for God.
Thanks, yatzer for your post. I really needed that.
Our sound system was at it’s worst today and could not follow what was said coherently, so I simply slipped into prayer and heard no sermon at all.
yatzer says:
3 November 2013 at 4:02 pm
EF today. The Church is our boat on seas that are often quite stormy. Even though that boat can seem small and entirely inadequate, it has Jesus on it. Even though Jesus seems asleep, he and that boat he is in are what saves us.
For All Souls Day, we had a Solemn Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form offered by Msgr. Wadsworth in Washington, DC at St. Thomas Apostle– the first in over 40 years. It was Juventutem DC’s debut. Msgr. Wadsworth gave a sermon outside of Mass, and it was on how praying for the dead is markedly Catholic– and how useful it is for everyone– as well as how beautiful it is that when we are gone, and perhaps forgotten by some, we will never be forgotten by the Church. The Church will always pray for the dead.
The homily for All Souls was given by Fr. Richard Semple. It was a beautiful explanation of Purgatory. Our parish has recently lost several long time members, one who was the rector for many years and another, the wife of one of our deacons. Fr. Semple’s father died about one year ago. Anyways, his explanation and his encouragement for us to always pray for those who have died was wonderful. It was one of those too rare of times that I found myself , during the quiet time following the homily, looking around the Cathedral at the beautiful stained glass renditions of the saints, Our Lady of Lourdes, my fellow pilgrims there for Mass, and the thought of all of those Catholic’s who have attended Mass at the Cathedral over the past 100 years or so who are no longer here with us, and I was suddenly filled with joy and gratitude knowing I was where I am supposed to be.
Peace and God bless.
Ordinary Form this week. Homily was about how we stand on the shoulders of those that preceded us. Good for All Souls Day, remembering the dead in our parish last year.
Wonderful post zag4christ. Thank you. Our priest talked this Sunday about Zaccheus and his climbing the tree to see Christ. He said that if any soul makes the effort to find Christ then Christ will come and live with them, and they will have a whole new life.
Sunday we had supply priest, Fr. Michael O’Houlihan (sp?), Passionist from Mater Dolorosa Retreat House. He gave a lovely little exegesis of the Wisdom reading and the Hebrew’s names for God, ending in “LORD and lover of souls.” Which led into Jesus’ validation of Zacchaeus’ repentance and the love that God has for all the souls He has created, His desire for our own conversion.
He then went on to sing the consecration, and led us in the Angus Dei XVIII.
Loved it and told him so.
Like yatser, our EF Sunday homily was on the Apostles in the boat and Jesus calming the storm. Just because we are Christians we (and our Church) are not immune from the storms of everyday life. Like the apostles in the boat we first try to deal with these things by ourselves and then only when we fail do we turn to God who might appear to be asleep, but knows all that is going on and will always help us when we call upon Him.
Zaccheus was given and opened himself to a moment of grace when “salvation came to his house.” We must strive to be open to the many moments of grace while we have the opportunity.
The “All Souls” Requiem- People die in one of two manners. Either they die in peace, knowing that rest in the afterlife awaits them, or they die frightened in fear of the wrath that awaits them. How people die is usually a reflection of how they lived. It was a sobering message and a wake up call.
Praying for the Poor Souls is a great investment strategy: when they are released from Purgatory, they will be both willing and able to help you.
Charity is wanting the good for the other.
For Sunday, an excellent homily related to Zacchaeus. Summarizing loosely, the two points were (a) if Zacchaeus did foolish, attention grabbing, dangerous things in public to see/find Jesus, why do we have trouble doing simple public things to find Jesus (such as saying grace over our meal in a restaurant, or blessing our children before sending them off to school)? and (b) when Jesus says “I’m coming to YOUR house tonight”, do we welcome him as readily as did Zecchaeus?
Didn’t make it to Mass on All Souls.
All Saints – Father had a nice homily about looking around the church, seeing all the “saints in progress” and a bit about our duties to each other in supporting that progress. Moved that emphasis into the domestic church, particular duty of a husband and wife to support each other in that cause. Finished by inviting forward a couple he had been preparing to have their marriage, ummm… is convalidated the right term? … and have their vows witnessed by the congregation.
I was on the road working this past weekend and made it to Mass in another town. Discovered a wonderfully reverent Church where the 0730 celebration was a Low Mass. Church was packed, which was good to see. A very young and fervent Polish priest was the celebrant and he spoke on corruption of government and the “publicans” (such as Zacchaeus) during the time of Jesus. And, he linked that with the state of government and politics today on this country. Maybe it was his foreign birthplace that gave him such a passionate approach and understanding. He told the congregation to not place so much trust in the corrupted government and to not let it influence our mission to follow Christ at all costs. Also, he said we must not let our government divide us as a people and we must unite as Catholics and Christians in this time of uncertainty and greed. It was eloquent and inspiring, almost a warning coming from someone who definitely knows of political strife.