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OF focused on the gospel reading where our Lord was ill-received in his hometown because those people judged Him as being unworthy of their respect. We err when we so judge our neighbors. Each of us, though sinners, are fellow children of God. Each of us, even those despised by the world, are capable of doing great things for God. Woe to those who prevent someone from doing good.
Then three sad announcements: (1) the air conditioner is broken and must be replaced (already quite obvious on this hot day); (2) our parochial vicar is leaving for unspecified reasons; (3) the teenage son of one of our parish school’s teachers died in an accident – in your charity please pray for Jim and his family.
.. He could do no mighty works there.. Other than heal a few who were sick by the laying on of hands… What mighty deed was missed? What mighty deed is missed today? Is it because Jesus has become too familiar to us… When being Catholic is something we do, rather than who we are, there’s a danger that our Lord marvels at our unbelief… Let us pray: I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief!
The Gospel had to do with our Lord being dissed by his hometown. My homily was entitled, “Ho-humming Jesus.” I asked if people would be eager to have a private moment with Jesus, in which he would do for you what he was offering those folks in Capernaum. Then I asked, what do you think confession is? I went on to talk about the three miracles in the Mass.
Our parish is preparing for Confirmation season, so Father talked about what it meant to be led by the Spirit (which also tied in with the First Reading, although the Trinity was unknown at the time of its writing). That what we sometimes think of as merely coincidences are actually the Holy Spirit leading us if we are listening. Father also talked about the meaning of Paul’s epistle, that he is weakest when he is strong, meaning that when things are going well for us, we tend to forget about God. But when we’re in trouble, we rely on God, which makes us strong.
I’ll be the first to say I don’t always get the full implications of scripture, but am not thinking the homily today hit the mark when we were told in light of today’s gospel about ravenous wolves WE need to make sure we are generous toward others.
It’s not enough to be Catholic: you have to walk like a Catholic, look like a Catholic, and quack like a Catholic.
As we are anointed with the Sacred Chrism at the time of our Baptism we are reminded that we share in the munus triplex including living out the vocation of prophet, which more than foretelling the future is the practice of interpreting the signs of the times as they either are either harmonic or dissonant with God’s plan of goodness, justice, fairness; that the prophet unveils elements of the prevailing culture in order to determine the extent to which their either are, or are not, of God.
I couldn’t understand all of what my pastor said (there’s a sweet spot in the choir loft, but it’s not large enough for anyone to stay for long periods) but he preached on the fallacy that we have a reasonable hope that all men might be saved. This came in the context (EF) of the Gospel about bad shepherds.
Visiting priest, never seen him before. Father referred to a book he’s reading titled In Sinu Jesu, by an anonymous Benedictine monk. The book purports to be a diary of communications he’s received from Jesus and Mary about the Eucharist and adoration. He strongly recommended getting and reading the book. Anyone know whether the book is legit?
[HERE]
[Removed…. the entry is for GOOD points.]
Fr. Martin, that’s very good about confession; I plan to steal it. Er, borrow it, if you don’t mind.
Mine was a thread through the second reading and the Gospel; that we must draw on God’s strength in our weakness when those close to us don’t respect us for following Jesus (and who isn’t in that situation these days), so that we can follow the example of St. Monica and those who lowered the paralytic through the roof with them.
Father used the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” as a way in to understand Jesus’s own townspeople rejecting him. As it was ‘Bible Awareness Sunday’ here, Father drew attention to our attitude towards the Scriptures. As Catholics, we can also become hardened and dismissive of what the Word of God is saying simply because we’ve literally heard it all before.
He quoted GK Chesterton’s sentence in ‘Orthodoxy’: “Our perennial spiritual and psychological task is to look at things familiar until they become unfamiliar again.” And such should our attitude be in order to discover the Scriptures anew again.
Father inserted quite a bit of Latin in the prayers during Mass — very nice.
Homily bullet points:
1. Tempus fugit
2. Mors certa, hora incerta [you could die today after Mass]
3. Hell exists!
4. Therefore, go to confession and be prepared
A very good homily
-Guy
Just an amazing unexpected homily! It was on Humanae Vitea! Wow, no punches pulled. Straight up clear and concise talk by a new Priest with the Contempletives of Saint Joseph in So. San Francisco. They offer beautiful EF Masses everyday at noon and Sunday’s at 5PM. The best part (one of many) was when he threw a “Harry Potter” book to the floor……and when he lamented about his brother priests letting down the souls of their flock……and how the road to hell is paved with clergy, etc etc.
Sawyer, the book is legit and important. Buy the book and give it to every priest you encounter! (In Sinu Jesu, by A Benedictine Monk)
Father had just returned from a week’s retreat and gave a great homily about being prophets in our own hometown and speaking the truth, even when it isn’t welcomed by those listening, and gave examples of some of those inconvenient or uncomfortable truths not welcomed in the postmodern world. Not that he’s normally a bad preacher (he’s fine!), but this homily was really great. He also didn’t look as tired; I think the retreat refreshed him! It was a good reminder to pray for him more often.