"The great Father Zed, Archiblogopoios"
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HERE
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Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, a scrappy blogger popular with the Catholic right.
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RC integralist who prays like an evangelical fundamentalist.
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[T]he even more mainline Catholic Fr. Z. blog.
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Father made a couple political comments which I understand, but were probably best left for another time, although reminding people that their political actions have consequences is not a bad thing to hear.
Father mainly talked about the devil, and the devil being real and that Jesus shows us how to defeat him: prayer, fasting, Scripture, Sacraments. He also noted Jesus didn’t dialog with the devil, there was no attempt to engage in conversation.
wow, I get to share this week……our Deacon had a wonderful and clear homily on “fasting”…..he gave a long list of examples to “fast” from, which turned out to be Vice vs Virtue. Ex…fast from Anger and have patience instead; fast from sloth by reading from the Bible or the CCC; fast from blaming by being part of the solution…..you get the idea. Refreshing talk for a change.
Father’s sermon was about thw need to be open to the Spirit in preparing for confession and in sacrifice during Lent, that “going it on our own” was prideful and has the wrong focus.
As an aside, Lent is the only time of the year that Latin makes an appearance. We get the Agnus Dei and the Sanctus this time if year.
Father O delivered a good sermon, he is a seasoned priest of 50-some years. He spoke about the big three temptations, depending on one’s time of life. He started off relating how single/widowed elderly people often say they “don’t commit any major sins any more”, they live alone, they have a pleasant, fairly hassle-free life, BUT….what he has found: in youth, the big sins center around sex; in middle age, commonly revolve around money— making it, keeping and saving it; but in older age…..a complete loss of the faith. When he was a young priest, he was working in a hospital, and was asked to visit a very ill older gentleman. When Fr. came into the room, the patient was courteous and thanked him for coming. Fr O asked him if he would like him to hear his confession and bring him the Eucharist, and he declined, saying he didn’t believe in the Catholic Church/or any religion anymore. Fr O was blunt and told him he was very ill, but the patient still declined. He died later that night, after refusing the sacraments twice.
Then, Fr. emphasized the last words in today’s gospel—”then Satan departed from Him— for a time.”
EF Missa Cantata. Father noted how the devil uses food to tempt us. Eve’s temptation was the fruit, while Jesus’s first temptation after fasting in the desert was to turn stone into bread. He said that that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” is a technique the devil uses. Thus, he stressed the importance of abstinence and fasting.
Sins often start as small inconsequential things. Adam and Eve merely ate one apple from a tree, a seemingly inconsequential action, but with massive consequences, i.e. this was original sin and all other human evil came from it. The sin was that we wanted to be like God. We cannot do this ourselves. Only one man Jesus was able to face the full force of temptation and resist it.
Temptations usually are big things initially, but start out as small mundane things. An addiction to pornography might start with a lingering glance at a woman, alcohol with one drink.
Lent is the time for us to come to Jesus. He is like a life preserver thrown to us. We may be too proud and think we can swim on our own without it, but then as we start to drown, maybe we realize this and reach out for it.
Correction – Temptations usually are NOT big things initially, …
Pope Francis made an interesting point in his homily at Ecatepec. He noted that Jesus did not enter into a ‘dialogue’ with the devil. Instead, to the devil’s three temptations, Jesus responded only with the Word of God. I thought it a nice point to make.
First Sunday of Lent and Sunday of Orthodoxy in the Byzantine Rite. Persecutions began immediately following the resurrection. We consider this context when we listen to the Gospel of the calling of Philip and Nathaniel who left everything and followed Jesus. The state government persecuted the Church for hundreds of years before eventually accepting Christianity. The same has occurred in recent history and today. In many places Christians are targeted for torture and death in an organized way even now, just for their belief, just for public profession of faith in Christ. St. Paul in the epistle of this day (Heb. 11:24-26; 32-12:2) describes the torture and persecution of believers: “Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
I had a different take on resisting temptation. . .
http://www.hancaquam.blogspot.com/2016/02/dont-play-devils-games.html
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
The best part was that a visiting priest spoke for a time about going to Confession. It was the first time since the Year of Mercy began that the “C” word was used from the pulpit. :)
Father suggested that we use Lent to go into our own desert–turn off the electronics, find a quiet place. Pray when you are in the car waiting for someone, on a walk, at home in a that quiet place.
Then he spoke of the temptations and what they mean to us. Yes, sin and the devil are real.
Father tends to speak without notes and he goes on for a set time period it seems. Having a degree in psychology, he often comes at it from that angle.
Happened to be at two Masses on Sunday. Both homilies were pretty good.
At parish Mass, had one of those comfort-the-afflicted, afflict-the-comfortable moments where Father seems to be speaking to some exact situation in my life (TIMES THREE). In this case, it was him talking about not waiting for some perfect, idyllic, vague-far-off moment, when there won’t be other problems to work out career goals or renovate the kitchen or straighten out what you’re doing with your life. Can’t just wait for Easter or Heaven – gotta look where you are and start doing what you can on your end to make it a little more possible to reach that desired other end. One or two good parallels to Lent in there, I think.
Was a visiting a college campus Sunday night. The priest spoke on the wonderful gift/mercy/opportunity that is Lent. Made sure to mention the frequent availability of Confession on campus. Also, in the announcements at the end of Mass presented the campus confirmation class to the congregation – urged the congregation’s continued prayers for the candidates between now and when the Bishop will visit in a few weeks to confirm them.
Homily was very different but very good at OF Mass.
Regrets are a frequent gateway to serious sin. Most regrets come from doing things half-heartedly. In the first reading the Israelites are commanded to give the very first of the harvest to God without knowing if there would even be any more harvest left. So we should give of ourselves. Not merely finding time for prayer whenever we’ve done everything else, but making it the first priority on our daily calendar. Not giving only what’s left over after expenses for alms, but giving first and then paying the bills.
Visited our old suburban parish: visiting priest walked through Christ’s three temptations and how they apply to us: break/hunger is our desires of material things, of pleasures, etc; on the pillar is our tendancy to only pray when times are good, to only do things on our schedule not God’s. I missed the third changing a diaper.
His last point that stuck with my wife was that good things aren’t usually easy and neither should Lent disciplines be.
Although obviously focusing on the temptations, Fr. Guillermo found a nice tie-in for the reading from Deuteronomy. He recalled how, when he was studying for the priesthood, somebody tried to talk him out of it, offering the argument that he should instead enjoy his youth because he could always become a priest later in life if he really wanted to. Father responded to the temptation by characterizing the offer for what it was: a proposal to give God “the leftovers,” as opposed to the first fruits, as the Scripture commands us.
At the Mass I attended this weekend, for the first time I can think of, the priest mentioned the Devil in his homily. IIRC he said the Devil is our enemy who is always trying to lead us astray. Out parish priest is a Vincentian missionary from Nigeria. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a priest from Great Britain or Ireland talk about the Devil or Satan as our enemy in such straightforward terms. It makes a refreshing change! There are some good pastors coming out of Africa – perhaps our next Pope will be a black African?
Confession and mercy were the themes of the day, along with our temptations and tendencies to stumble morally, even if we are not notorious sinners.
My Priest is one of two in our Diocese who was commissioned by Pope Francis as a Missionary of Mercy. In so doing, Father also discussed that over the next 5 weeks he would be discussing the sacrament of reconciliation/ penance, and emphasizing different aspects of the sacrament. He is just that. After Mass, I went to see him and received the sacrament as I am traveling this week. Thank God for Priests who care for the soul as much as the body.