Your Sunday Sermon Notes

Was there a great point from the sermon you heard for this Sunday, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross?

Let us know.

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17 Comments

  1. ckdexterhaven says:

    Our priest instructed us on the situation in the Middle East, informed us our Christian brothers and sisters are being martyred. He came out and said that the religion of peace wants to do us harm. (We even got a history lesson about Mohammed’s conquests and up to the Battle of Lepanto).He told us we have to live our Catholic faith in the public sphere. Stunningly good homily, I hope more priests take the time to educate their parishioners.

  2. mysticalrose says:

    Offer it up! After all, Jesus did.

  3. Grateful to be Catholic says:

    At the Extraordinary Form Mass at Old St. Mary’s in Washington, DC:
    Our priest recounted his experience as a 29-year-old almost newly-ordained being made pastor of a very liberal parish, “on the fringe.” It was also a university town and the campus ministry activities had nearly taken over the parish. Everything was church of nice. The tabernacle was in wooden box that looked like a keg in a glorified closet next to the rest room. Working with the archbishop he undertook to win over those who could be won. He made two great points: 1) It wasn’t their fault because for 30 years they had not been taught Catholicism; and 2) he wouldn’t come down like a ton of bricks or make any sudden changes, but he would start preaching doctrine clearly and be willing to let go those who did not want real Catholicism. It took two years, but then those who were left were begging to have the tabernacle brought back into front and center in the church. His connect to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is that the Cross is a triumph, but we must embrace It. Christ is suffering in those who have not been taught. They must be brought mercifully to the truth. Mercy, but always with the truth.

  4. The Cobbler says:

    Father connected the offering of the sacrifice of the Mass to us offering up our suffering, pointed out how bad it would be if we lost the sacrifice of the Mass whether here or in the Middle East, and tied it all in to the sacrifices spouses have to make for their marriages — which are also symbols of Christ’s love for the Church, and for which the best advice applies to all our sacrifices.

  5. Chris Garton-Zavesky says:

    Building off the Gospel reading, Father noted that light was useful to keep us from stumbling around in a dark room, but that it also enlightened the dark recesses of our lives, the spiritual and moral places where mice, spiders and such live.

  6. KAS says:

    Not so much about the homily, but finally our prayers include a specific prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters in the middle east. I was glad they were included.

    And the music was good. Not one heterodox set of lyrics in the bunch. Even the song I didn’t like was orthodox in message. It is so nice when all the music is about God.

  7. Jeff says:

    We ended up going to a neighboring parish as we are in between parishes for the time being. Father talked about the need to truly offer up our daily sufferings for others because through our acceptance we can help others through it. He also used Eucharistic Prayer 1.

  8. SPWang says:

    A brilliant sermon on the history of the feast, the correlation of those times and now. The reason why the the Priest and the congregation face the cross during Mass. and then topped with veneration of a relic of the Cross. Very blessed. (like our FB page here ;) – https://www.facebook.com/wlmswang?ref=hl )

  9. Gratias says:

    9:30 Low Mass at St. Victor’s parish in West Hollywood with Father James Fryar FSSP. The homily was short, and about how FSSP will enrich our spiritual life in Los Angeles. Archbishop José Gomez received 1400 signed petitions from Una Voce Los Angeles and acted as was his duty inviting the FSSP in. No church was available so probably one will have to be built from scratch or bought from Protestants for an expected six million. (I must say that the location of St.Victor’s would be ideal, close to Central and West LA as well as the Valley, has the altar rail still in place and would be a peach, but who am I to opine?) The greatest attraction of St. Victor’s, in my own little mind, is that is only one block away of the periferies of Satanism in Sunset Boulevard. This location on the peripheries of Western civilization should please Papa Francisco.

    Well, what was it that I did learn? After mass we has a conference about the Latin Mass. No one wanted to miss that. The most interesting thing Fr. said was that we are buried with our feet facing East waiting for the resurrection of the dead so we can face Jesus when he comes in Glory and resurrects rrtgtof our bodies for the final judgement. He mentioned that priests were buried facing West bur perhaps that was a joke.

    In Fr.James Fryar we have a keeper, one of the top guns of the FSSP, deployed to a Diocese of 4″million baptized Catholics.

  10. JonPatrick says:

    When we think about the Cross we need to receive its message in the mind and in the heart. The sign of the Cross can be thought of as a reminder of the 4 truths of Catholicism (1) When we say ” in the name of .. ” rather than “.. names of…” we are remembering that God is one God. (2) We name the 3 members of the Trinity reaffirming that God is 3 persons (3) I forget what the 3rd one was (4) by making the sign of the Cross we affirm the importance of the Cross.

    In life we have crosses which is anything which goes against our will. We can try to refuse to take them up but we will never be at peace until we do take up our cross. To enter the Kingdom of Heaven requires embracing the Cross.

    This homily and the liturgy for Holy Cross was significant to my wife and I as we had just had bad news about one of our sons who already had one significant cross to bear and now has another. It was the first time I felt at peace after hearing the news.

  11. liebemama says:

    An older Priest (emerit.) gave the homily and focused on our personal relationship with Jesus on the Cross. He used Don Camillo as an example. How many of us have such conversations with Jesus? Later in the afternoon, we watched a Don Camillo and Peppone film on youtube. What great fun!

  12. mabvet says:

    We played Jepardy. A noose, an electric chair, a cross, a gas chamber. What are the instruments used in capital punishment. No item other than the cross is made into jewelry and hung on our walls. All these items are symbols of torture and evil save the cross. Because of Jesus and his resurrection, the cross is a symbol of salvation, hope, and all that is good. Father John Kelleher is a wonderful priest!

  13. zag4christ says:

    Our new parochial vicar read a letter from our bishop announcing a diocesan initiative to “know, love and serve”. He tied it into the importance of the cross, and the importance of how each of us must take it up. The letter was good, and he managed to add in some of his own points and emphasis on the current crosses our persecuted brothers and sisters are carrying. He is also in his own homilies given at daily Mass mentioning Satan, the evil of abortion, the reality of spiritual warfare etc. He has instituted confessions immediately following the Mass of First Saturday’s which he serves. When the option of the Saturday Mass is in Memory of the Blessed Virgin, he chooses it. He unabashedly preaches the things rarely spoken of, and I suspect one of his favorite books to meditate and pray over is “The Spirit of the Liturgy”. He uses Eucharistic prayer III. God is Gracious, Good and Great! It was again one of those times where I suddenly find myself being whacked by unexpected Grace and filled with gratitude that by God’s Grace, I ended up in the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
    Peace and God bless.

  14. WiscKnight says:

    My wife and I and our two small boys attended Mass at my native place (in Wisconsin), and received an excellent homily from Fr. Jorge about St. Helena and the finding of the Cross, its loss to the Persians and its recovery, about our need for the Cross and the grace that flows from it, the Sacraments that Christ left us, and most of all, he said, we need to go to Confession!

    Father spent about 4-5 minutes of his sermon speaking about needing to receive that Sacrament. It was very nice to hear that, we may go there more often. My current parish is a little left of center, mostly due to our pastor being from outside the country and a few certain parishioners having undue influence.

  15. Mike says:

    Someone wants to kill us. Our response must be to offer up our prayers for conversion, and indeed our very lives as Christ did for His persecutors, not only those of His time on earth but successors such as one Saul of Tarsus.

  16. MAJ Tony says:

    Like WiscKnight and SPWang, I heard the history of the cross, including how, upon reaching the gates of Jerusalem with the recovered Cross, the Emperor Heraclius found the cross impossibly heavy to carry until he removed his crown and other regalia, at which point it became miraculously light.

  17. Gaz says:

    Neophytes find the cross unusual and confronting. Confession too. Both are transformative as ways of conquering sin and embracing truth.

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