Was there a good point made in the sermon you heard for your Sunday Mass of Obligation?
I preached (at Mass in the Ordinary Form today) about the Four Last Things as a necessary point of day reflection because, I stressed, “You are all going to die. It’s not an option. We don’t know when we will die, but some of you are going to die soon.”
I described the particular judgment we will receive and briefly explained the three results: heaven immediately, purification and then heaven, or hell. I touched on the eternal happiness of heaven and unending fascination with and joy in God along with the angels and saints, and, on the other hand, the eternal agony of separation from God in Hell, with the attendant pains it will cause body and soul.
I also talked about daily examination of conscience and how the Sacrament of Penance is the way Christ Himself desires us to come to Him for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Then I stressed that we should never receive Communion in the state of mortal sin, because that is the sin of sacrilege. I added that receiving Communion on the tongue is also a way to avoid sacrilege – mistreatment of the most sacred thing of all, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord.
Also, after the seemingly endless “prayers of the faithful” I asked for prayers for protection for those serving military and law enforcement and then for the defeat of Islamic terrorists.
Have a great Sunday!
Loading ...
Our pastor talked about needing to persevere in the chaos of the holiday season and more importantly in times of violence and disaster. He continued the theme of not losing focus on our salvation.
Fr. Celebrant opened his sermon with a definition of, wait for it…HERESY. He was saying that a heresy wasn’t an outright lie, but an exaggeration of certain truths. He discussed heresies related to justification, mentioning Pelagianism as an overemphasis on works and Lutheranism as a fixation on grace. He went on about how certain truths are presently being exaggerated such as that of mercy and of justice. He said quite a lot after that, but the fact that heresy was discussed from the pulpit stuck the most.
It was my first time to attend an EF Missa Cantata in this parish. It belongs to the Dominicans, although the celebrant may have been an OMI priest. The congregation was diverse. You had a few who were really into the EF with chapel veils, hand missals and what not. Then there were those who were likely new to it. And yet you could see their desire for Our Lord all the same.
I remember the rest of what he said. He was asking whether the laity should care about the vocation crisis and the crisis of faith. Couldn’t we just fixate on the fact that it is Christ’s church after all and that he will take care of it? Father was trying to show us that this was a heresy of its own. He then told us that grace requires cooperation and that the laity should also be concerned about Christ’s Church. It was a good sermon.
Superb sermon in the NO Mass. The priest emphasized three points, in good classical fashion.
One, that the Coming of Christ is not a threat but a promise to which we should look forward with joy and peace. Christ’s coming will be an act of love and justice on His part.
Two, that we shall, if we follow Him correctly and become holy, be resurrected to Everlasting Life with Him.
Three, that this life is one of love. Therefore, if we learn to really love now, on this earth, through Christ, Who, the priest strongly underlined, is the only way to salvation, we shall be in love at the end of our lives with God.
Ordinary Form – based on Daniel. A synopsis.
We are in “a time unsurpassed in distress.” The world has seen more violence, destruction and evil in the past 100+ years. We need to have a friendship and companionship with St. Michael. God gives us the tools we need to fight the battle.
Father stressed the last line in the Gospel – Only the Father know the day and time. We do know that the world will end but we do not know when. We should avoid anyone who says they do know. He said as Christians we should not approach these facts in fear. We know we were made for salvation not condemnation. We were made for fulfillment not annihilation.
He also said he personally believes and hopes the world will go for a long time so the wonders of God’s creation may be enjoyed by many more people to come. He did stress that the world will end for each of us, individually, within the next 100 years. The motto of the US Coast Guard is Semper Paratus which is translated as Ever Ready. The motto of the US Marines is Semper Fidelis which is translated as Ever Faithful. Together they are good motto for the Christ response to your own particular judgement day.
EF Missa Cantata at Old St. Mary’s in DC. Gospel on the mustard seed that grows into a large bush and the bit of leaven that permeates the whole loaf. A terrific sermon dealing with the attack by a false religion on the secularized remnant of the West. The ideals promoted by the French Revolution have permeated our culture: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité are centered on man and can lead only to godlessness. The adherents of a false religion cannot even hear us because they see the results of secularization. Tertullian said the the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. The call to die for God and His Church is coming again in our own era. “May I as a priest not be cursed by having it said that I died for Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Are we willing to die for something as small as a mustard seed?”
There is a tendency and has been in the last 500 years or so, to downplay the supernatural. Some argue that the miracles Jesus performed were not actual miracles but can be explained away as metaphor, etc. But those of us who know better have the trump card, which is Jesus’ Resurrection and His promise of the bodily resurrection to come at the end of the world. There is no getting around seeing that as a supernatural miracle. (and if He can defeat death, He could certainly feed thousands with a few loaves and fishes) And we will truly be reunited with our bodies, because we are not simply spiritual beings, but humans, and humans are body and soul. As humans, we experience things through our bodies, and so in Heaven our pleasure will be greater, and in Hell the horror more intense with our bodies.
But for those who follow Christ, there should be no fear, for the Father recognizes us. In our Baptism, Confirmation, participation at Mass, we are being consecrated to Him, by Him…He is our inheritance, and as we inherit genes and such from our parents, so we inherit that which is the likeness of Him. We are family, and when He looks at us, the Father recognizes our likeness to His Son, which we strengthen when we participate in the Sacraments, especially at Confession, when we sort of polish our mirror, so that He sees Himself better in us. When He comes to us, He sees us as His beloved ones and wants to have us share in His glory, so we should never fear it.
Wonderful homily about the fires of purgatory, the revelations of purgatory given to different saints, and how the soul with minor stains would happily throw itself into the fires of purgatory to prepare itself to meet its Bridegroom. One question lingered in my mind afterward: if the fires of purgatory are indistinguishable in intensity from the fires of hell, how does the soul in purgatory know it’s in purgatory and not hell?
Our priest also talked about the “last things” in a much vaguer way; he even mentioned confession but of course never said anything about the sin of receiving Holy Communion while in a state of mortal sin. In 25 years living in this diocese (Richmond) I have never heard a priest warn against receiving communion in a state of mortal sin. That and contraception seem to be taboo topics.
Our priest began with the list of the four last things — and I heard about one more paragraph before falling asleep (having a bad night and a cold will do that), but woke up to his last sentence, which was that we ourselves will make the decision as to where we will spend eternity.
(Mr. Graves, I think the difference comes with the judgement one has just received — thus, the soul in purgatory will know joy, and the soul in hell . . . . will most definitely not.)
Fr gave the sermon on how judgement is so basic, so intrinsic to life, that ‘who am I to judge’ is such a ‘silly phrase.’
Went to my first EF ever and the sermon was quite good, about the need to “small ourselves down” (like the mustard seed) and that sin is in essence about trying to make ourselves bigger.
Sermon on Islam and the origins and what is believed in terms of their Allah, and that the differences are fundamentally counter to the Catholic God. An allusion to the Regensburg talk in that in Islam Allah does not need to be rational, rather just submitted to. Incentives also wrong, (e.g., 70 virgins in heaven for the ‘martyrs’). Discussion of the vacuum created by the lack of the Kingdom of Christ, and how this lack is bringing on many of the problems we are seeing. So, first live a good Catholic life and work for Christ the King on earth, saving your soul for eternity.
Father gave a really great homily today for the readings from the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. He went into a great exegesis of the Gospel reading of St. Mark. He told us how we must always remain on guard, but we must not be afraid like the “doomsday preppers”. The more I listen to this pastor speak, the more I like him
Today is the beginning of the advent season in the Byzantine Catholic Churches. It is also the beginning if the 40 day Nativity Fast, also called Phillip’s Fast because the feast of that apostle was yesterday. Today’s sermon was somber, reminding the faithful that recent events and disintegration of the family, even of churches, is consistent with the last times — even though we do not know the time or season of the Lord’s coming. Our priest read several passages from Cardinal Sarah’s book.
Our priest is very orthodox. It was not a milquetoast homily. There was much food for thought.
Extraordinary Form
Father is giving homilies on the Four Last Things this month. Today’s was on Hell: it is real, how we send ourselves there, the difference between mortal and venial sin, temptation, graces, many Scriptural references, the attacks in Paris remind us that we know not when our lives on Earth will end and so we should always be careful in our thoughts and actions, and then a reminder that there is hope and he will preach on Heaven next Sunday.
I am usually at a different location for Sunday Mass, and I travel between several parishes during the week. Today’s was the finest homily I have heard in some time. I was not surprised because Father is a faithful and excellent priest.
The mustard seed that grows into a tree is the Church and the birds it attracts are the faithful.
Have you ever felt that with your parish you are fighting a losing battle when it comes to getting the liturgy done the way it was written. Just goes to show you what we know. I have been having this fight for about 2 years. Things like do we need 10% of the parish on the altar (come on it’s a glass table) during mass. I actually did the math, no Easter candle EVER, All the usual stuff semi-heretics don’t like which demonstrate basic Catholic thought in action is missing.
God had a special treat in store for me this week. I overheard the major sacrist (a lay person doing their best even though they have nothing to work with) at the nameless parish speak to a visiting priest about what the GIRM was and how to use it, and one better why it was not enough. A while back they did a liturgy survey where I mentioned this document and where to get a copy for free in writing. This woman, on her own initiative, because the liturgy community threw out my suggestions without reading them, went and obtained the document read it and had difficulty using it. The first time she bumped into a priest wearing a collar who actually knows the liturgy better than the ignorant fool that is me she asked him for advice.
The best part, It had NOTHING to do with me. I was not even in the conversation. That means the change might even continue when I am not present.
Pray for the pilgrim church on earth. They are waking up in some places. Some members are not quite ready yet, but it’s starting without them.
We received the Time, Talent and Treasure homily. Probably a week or two late. But they mailed us a financial statement and gave us the appropriate forms for 2016’s commitments.
Our celebrant spoke about Easter…. yes in November. This Sunday was an Easter of sorts for The Shrine of Christ the King in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago because one month ago today our church burned in a fire that was only struck through the heroic efforts of 150 Chicago firefighters. Father spoke that this day one month ago was our Good Friday and some in our Archdiocese and around the conntry expect that our church – our little piece of the Body of Christ – would not be resurrected. Perhaps some even wish we would not come back. Indeed we are only at the beginnings of a very long and hard road but today was a promising start. One week ago we got word from a the Presbyterian church next door that we would be welcomed to transform their unused gymnasium into a temporary space where we could celebrate Mass. It was all there… The altar, the statue of Christ the King, the vestments, the music, even a recording of church bells. The Presbyterian church has a membership of 20 people but how 20 people can make a difference! They opened their arms to us and the joy was evident. Also present today at Mass were about 30 of the 150 firefighters. They processed in with the Infant King and were presented with 150 rosaries for all the firefighters so they could have them to carry with them as they go about their work. You can follow our progress at http://www.institute-christ-king.org/chicago/ where many photos and video from the past month are posted. Please check back to see the photos of today’s Mass and reception. It was really inspirational.
My son was overly tired so he and I spent most of Mass in the Narthex. We were visiting a parish in another diocese and unfortunately I couldn’t hear the sermon from where I was at. I did step inside at one point and overheard the Priest speaking about Ad Orientem worship. He said he was going to spend time talking about it’s importance, why it is required in the Extraordinary Form, and how it is called for in the OF but is sadly not followed, and he told the congregation to remember two things,
1. It is a turning to.
and
2. It is a longing for.
That is all I heard before I had to step out again, but I bet it was great!
EF Mass. People cannot physically see Jesus. But hey can see us. What of Christ are people seeing when they see us? Our actions have tremendous implications. It is not easy to be like Jesus because it is not our natural inclination. Society encourages us to “be ourselves” and that we don’t need to change, but our true selves were created in His image and likeness. This is the truest part of ourselves. True success for us is in (1) serving God and (2) serving others. Jesus counts on us because he works through us.
EF Mass. Accept no substitutes.
Best phrase of homily: There is no greater tragedy than going to Hell.
Went to mass with a friend. In a parish that isn’t known for orthodoxy.
Well firstly we were told that we must state in our wills to have a requiem mass as family members may not want that.
Then gave a beautiful sermon on how to die well.
Recommended. praying the daily rosary.
Gave an explanation of the last rights
Was simply the best sermon I’ve ever heard a novus ordo priest give.
Atlas he’s an assistant priest and he’s being moved aside to a far flung parish
I’m late to the party, but here is Fr. Perrone’s homily which was on the Holy Eucharist, rooted in the dogmas of the Trinity and Incarnation (we had 40 Hours Devotion this weekend).
http://grottocast.com/2015/11/16/2015-11-15-homily-of-fr-perrone-holy-eucharist/
In our OF Mass, we had a Pastoral Letter from our Bishop (+Egan, Portsmouth, UK) about the upcoming Year of Mercy, which included the following passage:
“on the Friday and Saturday before the Fourth Week of Lent…I have decided to invite
each Pastoral Area of the Diocese to designate one church in which there will
be 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration and prayer, with a rota of priests
available at designated times to hear confessions. Indeed, I hope that one
lasting grace from the Holy Year will be a renewal of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. I will write more about this in the New Year.”
Went to a Novus Ordo Mass in a large metropolis. The priest began by saying he was eager to see the new baptismal font completed and added, seemingly to someone he knew seated in front, that he couldn’t wait to hold their head under water and he hoped they could hold their breath for a long time. Very odd. He then spoke of end times and admonished us not to dwell on them, because “even Jesus didn’t know when the end of the world was, only God the Father knows”. This doesn’t sound right to me, because I thought each of the three persons of the Trinity share the same nature –that of being all knowing. He held up what I thought was a straw man in a dentist he once knew who was a “Catholic fundamentalist” He described this man as a “big, fat guy” and his disgust with the man was evident. He said that this man used to pester him endlessly about end times, the chastisement, etc.
I have never heard a priest ad-lib the words of the Mass as pervasively as did this priest. At the consecration he used “all” instead of “many”.