Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Happy Low Sunday!

Was there a GOOD point made during the sermon you heard at your Mass of Sunday obligation?

Let us know!

Happily, the one I heard at a solemn Mass, for which I was deacon and not priest, focused on Thomas… appropriate for what has also been called “Thomas Sunday”, along with Quasimodo Sunday, Low Sunday, Dominica in albis, etc.   Yes, yes… Divine Mercy in the Novus Ordo.   However, I am not content to abandon my democratic principles.  I’ll stick with the greatest voting block there is, our deceased forebears.

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22 Comments

  1. Preaching on, “Pax vobis,” our priest spoke of how peace is not the absence of struggle or the absence of division. Peace is being ordered correctly – man restored to a correct ordering in his relation to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, man restored to a correct ordering in his relationship with his neighbor as he follows Jesus’ example of humility. Being in this right ordering may indeed bring struggle and division and strife and hatred and persecution and death. But it doesn’t destroy peace, being rightly re-ordered with God and mankind.

  2. I decided I would talk about each of the sacraments during Easter season. Last week was baptism, this week, confession, which renews the new life received in baptism. I held up a toothbrush, and said confession is like a toothbrush: it only does you good if you really use it.

  3. benedetta says:

    Thomas Sunday in the Byzantine Rite. Our priest spoke about how every Sunday is a resurrectional day, and how the words “peace be with you” convey Christ’s presence to us.

  4. THREEHEARTS says:

    I am disgustingly uptight. I have asked so many homilists over the years how many of you have read St Faustina’s diary. I have heard answers from its boring, too difficult to read etc. Yet there is a very telling comment upon the tricks played upon her in the confessional to trick her into some form of denial. Her comments on Christ’s statement upon the treatment of His sacrament early in Christ’s diary is necessary reading for all priests.

  5. Ed the Roman says:

    Deo Gratias, Father called out clapping during Mass.

    I wish this had been at my parish, but I was visiting my brother.

  6. SanSan says:

    Went to a complete Divine Mercy Sunday offering. Confession, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Mass, Benediction, Veneration of Divine Mercy picture. Feeling grateful for the remission of all sins and the stain of past sins. Walking forward in hope to stay humble, pure and holy.

  7. jameeka says:

    Father C made a brief point about memory. At a wedding banquet the previous day. the best man spoke of memory as being our link to the past. We get especially bothered when someone we love loses their memory, which connects them ( and us) to all that has gone before.

    At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are participating in a Remembrance which was done in the past, but Whose action is still happening now, today.

  8. Geoffrey says:

    Our parish also had a full celebration in honour of the Sunday of Divine Mercy: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, then the singing of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, followed by Confessions heard by four priests (took about an hour), during which the Rosary was recited. Benediction followed, then Mass. This was the first time I heard a homily that actually referenced the institution of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation found in the Gospel reading of the day.

  9. zag4christ says:

    I was traveling this week, and took the opportunity to attend Divine Mercy Mass at a parish church named St. Francis of Assisi. It is in a town in the western United States. I arrived early so as to be able to pray the rosary prior to Mass. This church was built in 1869. It could be on the National Historic Register, but a wise bishop declined the offer. When I walked in, I saw no Tabernacle. Under the Crucified Christ was a vase of flowers. The sanctuary was decorated with multiple banners. I say to myself, where is Christ?. As people come in, I am distracted by their loud conversation. I continue my rosary, but observe the music ministry scurrying about as they prepare just to the left of the sanctuary. All of them are women. People are walking in and out of the sanctuary, conversing as if they are at a potluck dinner, some give a cursory bow to the Crucifix above the flower vase. I am wishing to be at home at my parish. And then I think, it is all about Christ. I finish my most difficult rosary ever except for the additional decade my Bishop has asked us to pray for vocations, and Mass begins. I am stunned to hear a hymn by a 17th century musician . I had expected something more contemporary. The readings were done by lay people with due dignity. The priest proclaimed the Gospel, and his homily, somewhat unusual, spoke to the fact that Jesus, the Son of the Living God, came to proclaim Peace, and that only His Peace is sufficient.
    I am going to anonymously send a copy of “The Spirit of the Liturgy” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the parish priest.
    Peace and God bless,

  10. BrionyB says:

    No mention of Divine Mercy (EF Mass), the sermon was about Thomas and “Blessed is he who has not seen and yet believes”. I think the point was that we who have not seen have the privilege of being able to obtain that blessing by choosing to have faith.

    I said the Divine Mercy chaplet quietly on my own after Mass.

  11. Markus says:

    zag4christ,
    Sometimes, things are not what they seem. Rash judgement?

    If you would have looked to your right, you would have noticed a Presence (sanctuary) lamp indicated a Blessed Sacrament Chapel, an historical Franciscan Oratory of days past. It is not only used for daily Mass, but as the sign indicates, private prayer. This “church” gets hundreds (busy season thousands) of “visitors” of all (and no) faiths passing through it everyday, thus as permitted for a cathedral, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the St. Joseph Chapel.
    In the opposite adobe (original construction) transept, you may have noticed the La Conquistadora Chapel, the oldest image of Mary venerated in the US.
    Other parishes within the city emphasized Divine Mercy Sunday and the locals know which to attend if they desire.

    The “priest” is actually the new rector of the Cathedral, whom was recently appointed, and I have known of him for years. He is one of the “best” priests in the diocese and as I had a chance to speak with him briefly after Mass (Spanish) about still using the chalice that I made, he said, “One day at a time.” He has a tough row to sow and is aware of the problems he inherited.

    I would like to send you a copy of “Death Comes to the Archbishop” so if you ever return, you can get a sense of the historical journey of the survival of this “church.”

  12. MattH says:

    Our priest noted how Saint Thomas was doubting, but still showed up. He was struggling with what the other Apostles told him, but he was still there in the room with them the next time. He had not abandoned the Church just because he was struggling with something, had doubts, etc.

  13. robert hightower says:

    The faith of Mary Magdalene, the Apostles, and particularly St. Thomas, was all imperfect, given that conditions were placed on it (faith), contrasted with Our Lady’s faith, to model after her, and how Tradition holds that Our Lord first visited Our Lady after the resurrection.

  14. Kevin says:

    Father T noted that St. Thomas’ declaration, “My Lord and my God” is all we need as he tied this to Psalm 23.

  15. DD says:

    Father talked about the word mercy, starting with the Jewish word hesed, which first appeared in Genesis 24 (?) and the story of the camels and finding a wife for Isaac. Then the Greek and the Latin. Father’s point is that forgiveness is too narrow an understanding of the word– it also means favor–as in God’s favor. He compared it to the favor that parents show their children, no matter what. When we ask God’s mercy, we ask not only forgiveness but for God’s love and loyalty even though we don’t deserve it.

  16. Aquinas Gal says:

    I heard a beautiful homily at a Mass focusing on the Divine Mercy celebration, about how the sacraments are key moments of mercy.
    I think the Divine Mercy celebration is where the mutual enrichment that Pope Benedict spoke of can take place. In her Diary Saint Faustina relates how much Jesus wants this feast of divine mercy to be celebrated. St John Paul knew what he was doing in officially establishing this feast, and I don’t think it’s wise to ignore it.

  17. veritas vincit says:

    The sermon I remember for this Sunday was one I heard, not yesterday, but 35 years ago, delivered by the priest who had just received me into the Catholic Church that Easter season.

    He stated that the doubts of the Apostle Thomas to the Resurrection, were not the doubts of a skeptic, as one might think. Rather, they were the doubts of a deeply disappointed follower of Jesus Christ, whose faith had been dashed on Good Friday when his Lord was put to death. Thomas was hurt, and not willing to risk belief without proof.

    That has always made a great deal of sense to me. When Jesus invited him to view His hands and place his finger in His side, Thomas responded with deep faith, “My Lord and My God!” and ultimately carried the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

    It also strikes me that in presenting His wounds as proof, Jesus did not reprove Thomas but rather confirmed his willingness to believe, even as He said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

  18. lgreen515 says:

    GO TO CONFESSION! That was the whole point. I felt happy because I had gone on Friday.

  19. Prayerful says:

    Fr spoke of mortal sin in his homily for Low Sunday. Fr focused on a particularly mortal sin of deliberately missing Sunday Mass. Fr evokes the Martyrs of Abitinae, one of whom, Emeritus, when asked why he had violated the ruling of Emperor Diocletian forbidding Christian worship, the Mass, replied ‘Sine Dominico non possumus.’ They won the crown of martyrdom rather than miss Mass.

  20. Discerning Altar Boy says:

    Who are the most free people in the world? Not Americans, or Westerners in general. Rather, the most free people are those who are free from sin and the enslavement thereto. The most free are those who are able to say yes to God at every turn. How are we freed from sin? Sacramenral Confession. How often should we go? At least once a month. “I go more than that, cause I need it.” This was a very refreshing homily for us college students to hear.

  21. Kenneth Wolfe says:

    A terrific sermon by a newly ordained Dominican priest focusing on the Quasimodo introit. Perfect.

    For those, like me, who have enough on the Low /Quasimodo / Octave of Easter / Dominica in albis / Thomas Sunday calendar, mark down Friday, June 28 for the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is plenty of divine mercy to be sought on that wonderful day.

  22. Kathleen10 says:

    Feeling blessed and grateful our priest talked about Thomas, and for some reason just hearing “Quasimodo” is enjoyable. I don’t want to rain on anybody’s Divine Mercy parade, it has become a bit of a dividing issue. I used to be on one side of it, now I’m on the other.

    [On a side note, the word “Quasimodo” in the antiphon is an example of some of the texts for antiphons at Mass go back to before Jerome’s Vulgate! The Vulgate has “Sicut modo geniti infantes” whereas “Quasi modo” (meaning the same thing) goes back to the Latin version in use liturgically in Rome before the Vulgate came along. “Just as… in the manner of… newborn babes”. “Quasimodo” is from the Vetus Latina that was in use in Rome and North Africa. On another side note, Augustine had a tense exchange of letters with Jerome over his Latin translation choices. Augustine said that they upset people and Jerome, effectively, told him to stick it in his ear. The problem was that people took liturgy so seriously that, if they heard a version of Scripture that was unfamiliar… they could riot.]

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