Was there a good point made during the sermon you heard for your Mass of Pentecost Sunday obligation?
Let us know what it was!
UPDATE:
Some of you took my request for “a good point made during the sermon” to vent about something awful at the Mass you went to.
No.
I’ll remove some comments.
Let’s have a good point made during the sermon!
There are people out there (perhaps even those who want to vent) who don’t get good points. Well, you can at least get some here, vicariously, and the Sunday won’t have been quite as irritating.
Okay?
Loading ...
A bit of the history of the practice of Confession, then on to some about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, that Pentecost should be celebrated with the same enthusiasm as Christmas. We (rightly) celebrate the coming of the second person of the Holy Trinity at Christmas and should also celebrate the coming of the third person, the Holy Ghost, with equal zeal. My parish had a 2 hour Tridentine High Mass for the vigil of Pentecost yesterday. The ancient traditions are so rich and beautiful.
The Church is going through difficult times, as it has gone through good times and bad times from the beginning. The Body of Christ is being beaten up as the Good Lord was in His Passion, but like Christ the Church will be raised up again. The Lord gave his disciples the Holy Spirit so they would never be alone. The Holy Spirit is with us here on earth. We must remember that we are never alone, we have to persevere through the darkness and not give into despair. From the 11 disciples visited by the Holy Spirit there are now over a billion Christians. We, like Christ, must take up our cross until the very end.
The Archbishop (emeritus) addressed parents and reminded them that their work was not complete until their child stood, with them, before the throne of God as saints in Heaven.
I guess that it’s important to know that we also had Confirmation conferred at our parish. Although, this is good advice all the time.
Abp. talked about Holy Spirit and jow all things are possible with God, giving the example of the Apostles speaking to All in their own language on Pentecost.
I emphasized renewing the face of the earth — at least, the portion of it where our parish is. I offered two examples: how we reach out with truth and love regarding the “transgender” issue, and the Men’s Prayer Walk, coming up later this month.
Had a good first Mass today for a priest (late vocation – 50 years old at ordination) who was ordained yesterday. It was nice to see the pastor of this parish along with the parochial vicar, an additional retired priest who takes one Sunday Mass at this parish, a good permanent deacon, and a recently ordained transitional deacon who was a seminary classmate of the new priest. The new priest used Eucharistic Prayer I (I could tell he was nervous) and at the reception of Holy Communion, no EMHC’s were used, because priests and deacons served the entire Mass. This parish was built circa 1950, and is one of the few in our diocese that still utilizes an altar rail, where Catholics kneel for communion. Over the past 12 years, I began only receiving on the tongue, and still do to this day.
Anyway, during the homily, the new priest also explained to the congregation why they were wearing red vestments – it was that at the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we are set on fire for the Catholic faith. The new priest also explained that vestments are not just fabric, and the colors have meaning (Sidebar – I was an altar boy in the late 70s through the mid 1980s and I NEVER learned the colors for the liturgical seasons until about 10 years ago). The new priest also explained that the Church began in a locked room, 2000 years ago, and the message of the Catholic Church grew from there. The new priest challenged the congregation to ask themselves “what are we doing to spread the Word of Jesus” since we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is also a reminder of what happens at confirmation, where we “receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Mass was well attended, and the majority of the congregation showed interest and was prepared for Mass. This new priest also mentioned that he was glad that 13 men were ordained yesterday for Dioceses across Texas.
Hwriggles, 13 for the whole state? St. Paul had 10 last week but there are much smaller numbers in the pipeline the next few years.
Father said God breathed on man only twice in the Scriptures. First in Genesis after He formed man, he breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, the soul. The second occurrence is after the resurrection, Christ breathes the Soul of the church, the Holy Spirit, upon his apostles.
The sermon was about how Jesus unlocked doors and broke down the barriers that divides people. It was quite good.
Father talked about how the Holy Spirit removed the Apostles’ fear and reminded us we have the same gift of fortitude and to not be afraid in living a good Christian life.
Nan:
That was 13 for four dioceses. Mine ordained three, and God willing four will be ordained in 2018.
San Antonio and a few other dioceses had ordinations on different weekends – so those weren’t on the 3rd of June. Actually, the Fort Worth diocese ordained two priests the weekend before Memorial Day.
I talked about how the saints make Pentecost alive for us today, and how we need to have a devotion to the Person of the Holy Spirit, to allow Him to transform us and send us forth to lead all to the Godhead and the Holy Church.
We are called to go out into the world in charity, not to lock ourselves in our upper room of selfishness. The action of the Holy Spirit in us activates Christ in us, as we are his body, doing the work of the Father. Nice set-up for Trinity Sunday, from our freshly-minted priest, ordained 2 weeks ago, and assigned to our about-to-be merged parish. Four “worship sites,” two priests make our new parish come June 29. God bless our young, 27-year-old Fr. Eduar, who’s come from Colombia to help save our souls.
If the Church was a merely human institution it would not have lasted 2000 years. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the Church in spite of the sinfulness of the world outside and the corruption inside. The singing of the sequence Veni Sancte Spiritu was very beautiful.
As an aside, on Saturday we had our usual EF First Saturday Mass which was celebrated as the Vigil of Pentecost instead of the usual Marian votive Mass – the first time I had ever assisted at that particular Mass, one that you don’t see done very often unfortunately.
A great – but short – discourse on the Holy Spirit followed by this sequence for a couple sanctifying themselves: 1) conditional baptism for a Catholic man whose infant baptism was never recorded anywhere, 2) reception by his Protestant baptized wife into the Catholic Church, 3) confirmation for the husband and wife, 3) Holy Matrimony to convalidate their civil marriage, and finally 4) First Eucharist.
The smiles from each were sweet and holy.
It was a “tell-and-show” Sunday.
I visited a Byzantine Catholic monastery. The priest gave a truly wonderful sermon. He spoke about about how there’s a danger and a temptation among many today (he specifically mentioned “Charismatic Catholics”) to confuse the movement of the Holy Spirit with energy (in the sense of excitement and emotionalism). He went on to emphasize how the Spirit moves in a much deeper manner. Then he moved into how the Spirit will always be a bringer of unity. He said that if a person believes the Spirit is leading them to dissent against the teachings of the Church (he mentioned specifically Scripture, the Councils, and all the Dogmatic teaching of the Church) then they can be assured it is not of the Spirit, as, again, the Spirit brings unity and He will not contradict Himself. This priest then came right out and said that a person who rejects the teaching of the Church is rejecting the Spirit, and the word for that is heresy.
I should also note, that this priest (around 60 years of age) is one of the most kind, joyful, and all around pleasant people I’ve ever known. This was not a “fire and brimstone” Southern-Baptist style sermon, rather, it was sincere, full of faith and love. It honestly might have been the “best” sermon (content and delivery) that I’ve experienced. It was a good day.
I also went to a long-awaited first Mass in our neighbor diocese. A bishop from out of state preached the homily. The two points I found most memorable: 1) the importance of Eucharistic adoration, especially for priests, 2) the fact that we are in “mission territory,” which, for pastors of souls, will require heroic zeal.
The Pentecost sequence and other chants were among the most beautiful church music I’ve ever heard. The new priest’s vestments looked like Padre Pio’s. There was a palpable sense of firm and confident expectation among the faithful present. This priest is an answer to many prayers. Deo gratias.