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Our priest reviewed last Sunday’s Gospel wherein Jesus asked Peter, Who do you say I am? and Peter replied You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus called Peter the Rock upon whom I will build My church. The priest said that today’s Gospel in which Peter insists that Jesus will not have to suffer, die, and rise because He is, after all, the Messiah shows that Peter was still unclear about the role of the Messiah. The priest said that our suffering and dying with Christ is not our cancer or broken relationship but rather our daily striving to discern and follow the will of the Father. We die to self and live in Christ by living His will and that should be our moment by moment focus. To live Christ is to live the will of the Father.
Interesting sermon on the Good Samaritan. The early Fathers of the Church considered the victim of the robbing and beating to have been Adam, who had been journeying away from Jerusalem, which is Eden. His own priests and people, representing the old law, pass him by without stopping to intervene. The Good Samaritan who comes along on the path who binds up his wounds with oil as sacrament is our Lord Jesus Christ, who then brings the wounded to the inn to be cared for, which is the Church.
What delighted me the most was that this week we had the same cantor, whose voice is amazing, make that AMAZING, and for some reason the music chosen was so much better! Two songs from the 1990’s, were actually good tunes with theologically sound lyrics– I was thrilled. Then there was a song I never heard before either, from the 1980’s, and it too was theologically sound and quite singable. The remaining two songs were older, one being from the 1700’s I think, and the last one listed from the 1800’s but at the last moment we did not sing that one but the number right before it, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which I love but did wonder if it were really the best song for the end of Mass. Still, it was such a relief to find that not all the music from the 1980’s and 1990’s is as horrible as what has been sung over and over and over again for the last few decades.
Father’s homily was good, about suffering, and God’s mercy and forgiveness, and the importance of what Jesus did in obedience. But it was overshadowed for me by the joy of having music in the liturgy that wasn’t either verging on heresy or outright heretical in its message. Happy Happy me!
To clarify why my joy in the music– this week we sang about how awesome is God, how amazing is God, how much we want to be near God, and it was totally focused on GOD. Unlike last week when one hymn started off “I, myself, am the bread of life” (it was the hymn at the Eucharist) which horrified me so completely by the ego, the narcissism, that it took to equate oneself with the Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Christ that I could hardly stay in my pew, let alone sing. I chose instead to offer up prayers of apology for such a song!
I was thrilled thus that this week the music was pleasant and theologically sound. I could see children learning what we sang this week and it not harming their ability to understand Church teaching on sin and forgiveness and how we should relate to our loving God.
Father compared this weeks gospel to last weeks. Peter was just named the rock but his enthusiasm brought him into conflict with God’s plan. When interpreting scripture its a good idea to let Jesus guide us and not impose our own ideas on how his message should be interpreted or what should happen. All disciples should get behind Jesus and let him lead. His path is the cross and getting behind him is usually not easy and frequently difficult. That is the cross we are told to take up.
As a matter of fact, yes. We have a “visiting”, “retired” priest [actually he was assigned to my parish in the 1960s, but that was 40 years ago] say Mass & sermon. He did a great job of tying together the reading from Jeremiah & the Gospel, by highlighting how both Jeremiah & Jesus preached very unpopular messages, which caused both to suffer & die, and that we should not be afraid to do the same. He went further pointing out that neither the Republican nor Democratic party platform was a Catholic Christian one, that we should stand for our Catholic principles rather than blindly following some political party. Catholics should not be trying to “go along to get along”, but make waves when necessary. This was Very Refreshing to hear from the pulpit for a change!
Similarly to the experience of OP Benedetta above, the celebrant at the Mass I attended made the point about the journey from Jerusalem to Jericho being the exile from Eden because of original sin, the wounded man being a type of the sinner attacked by demons, and the Samaritan being Christ Who, heedless of scorn, came directly to the aid of those in pain. The Church that Christ founded continues to do so to this day, most notably through the Sacraments that He instituted.
Our priest observed that in today’s gospel reading, Jesus gives a blueprint or threefold recipe for the Christian life: 1. Deny yourself; 2. Take up your cross; 3. Follow Me. Our priest also noted that we are often intimidated when we think of those things, but Jesus makes them possible.
Wife and I also had similar sermons to benedetta and Mike. It was pretty interesting.
It was also our first experience with an EF low mass. At first I was pretty disappointed we weren’t getting chant (once I realized it was a low/quiet mass. Hey, the candles mean something) and my wife was “bored”. As we went along we both realized the quiet was actually nice. On discussion on the way home we talked about how rare real quiet is these days along and the reason we were so antsy was simply that it wasn’t something we didn’t do normally. So we resolved to incorporate more quiet in our lives.
Chant is still the best though.
“we were so antsy was simply that it wasn’t something we didn’t do normally”
Make that “wasn’t something we did normally”. My wife’s an editor and posts on here sometimes so I hope she skips this thread. :-/
Our priest finished a series on the lives of the saints and today’s final subject was St. Augustine. Was inspiring and gripping. Made me realize that even the greatest pillars of our Catholic faith had their own crosses and imperfections to bear. Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine these mighty legends as human.
St Augustine’s interpretation of the good Samaritan parable:
-Man is the wounded man at the side of the road
-The robbers who beat up the man are Lucifer and his minions
-The Good Samaritan is Christ
-The Inn is the Church
Lovely stuff
We assisted at our territorial parish for the vigil Mass last night. The weekend celebrant, who evidently served the parish years ago, was a very chatty, casual celebrant (“Good afternoon, everyone!”), so I admit to holding my breath when he mounted the lectern. But as it turned out, his homily was rather good. He spoke of offering up daily challenges and obstacles as a form of prayer — an old-fashioned concept we would do well to hear more about. So bully for him.
Father spoke all over the place, and I missed the end because my small daughter is slightly ill and was screaming quite a lot. My lovely wife filled me in on the end.
1) vocations are important and as parents we need to speak with our children about religious and clerical vocations; 2) we all do have vocations too, especially of service (this is a visiting priest, from the next province over; but doing missionary work in Tanzania); 3) poverty is subjective, which I took to be a little piece about humility and thankfulness–making due with less and being thankful for what we do have.
With the New Covenant, our calling is not merely to obey the law, but to do so out of (or with) charity. (When this priest uses the term charity, he speaks of the theological virtue, not the NGO.)
I spoke about how we are to follow Jesus. Peter is rebuked because he is an obstacle to Jesus and the Father’s will. If we take our cross and get in front of Jesus we will only see the world and hear the world, but if we follow Jesus he will show us how to carry our cross to new and everlasting life. In this way he is our way, truth and life. I said that when we sin we find ourselves as obstacles to the proclamation of the good news in our time.
I’m visiting in Maryland and was pleased to attend a diocesan TLM in which the priest is the vocations director for the diocese! The most memorable point he made was regarding the poor practice of discarding the weekday with the phrase, “Thank God it’s Friday.” Rather, we should thank God for every day, and if our work is burdensome, offer it up to the Lord, doing everything to His glory.
Oh, and his Latin elocution was marvelous. Not rushed, and almost conversational.
Perhaps some would even say that the sermon I heard was intended to establish that “Outside the Church, No Salvation” However it did not sound quite like that. It was much more “Outside of Christ, No Salvation”. My reading of Pope Benedict is consistent with the version I heard from the early Church Fathers.
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Further to the early Church fathers, and, the viewing the parable as allegory for points of doctrine in our times:
In another place St John Chrysostom taught that ministering to the spiritually ill in the hospital of the Church is for us all:
“Let us not overlook such a tragedy as that. Let us not hurry past so pitiable a sight without taking pity. Even if others do so, you must not. Do not say to yourself: ‘I am no priest or monk; I have a wife and children. This is a work for the priests; this is work for the monks.’ The Samaritan did not say: ‘Where are the priests now? Where are the Pharisees now? Where are the teachers of the Jews?’ But the Samaritan is like a man who found some great store of booty and got the profit.
“Therefore, when you see someone in need of treatment for some ailment of the body or soul, do not say to yourself: ‘Why did so-and-so or so-and-so not take care of him?’ You free him from his sickness; do not demand an accounting from others for their negligence. Tell me this. If you find a gold coin lying on the ground, do you say to yourself: ‘Why didn’t so-and-so pick it up?’ Do you not rush to snatch it up before somebody else does?
“Think the same way about your fallen brothers; consider that tending his wounds is like finding a treasure. If you pour the word of instruction on his wounds like oil, if you bind them up with your mildness, and cure them with your patience, your wounded brother has made you a richer man that any treasure could. Jeremiah said: ‘He who has brought forth the precious from the vile will be as my mouth.’ What could we compare to that? No fasting, no sleeping on the ground, no watching and praying all night, nor anything else can do as much for you as saving your brother can accomplish.”
St John Chrysostom, Eighth Homily against the Judaizers 4: 1-3
The priest gave an excellent homily on not separating Christ from his Cross. He emphasized how the crucifixion must be lived in each one of us and in the Church. The point was that our suffering has a purpose because it is how we follow Jesus. He also spoke about the Church as a sign of contradiction, that sacrifice would be inevitable when one really lives the Christian life. It was one of the best homilies I’ve ever heard.
Mine was a simple homily this week.
I talked about being jeered at and denying self — citing the example of German Baptist folks who live around here whose lifestyle is similar to that of the Amish and many Mennonites. They teach us a lesson about dying to worldly things, even if we don’t go as far as they do. I offered the challenge of fasting from technology, to be freer about it, as we do periodically with food.
And I talked about the conundrum that tripped up Peter: that God would embrace the Cross! The path to the Cross is where the Lord goes; if we want to be with him, that’s the only path.
Good retelling of St. Fr. Damian of Moloka’i (cf Good Sam from Gospel). Challenge to be neighbours… just like him.
KAS agree with your Battle Hymn misgivings — especially since I always only sing the Burning of the School lyrics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burning_of_the_School).