Was there a good point or two in the sermon which you heard at your Mass in fulfillment of your Sunday obligation?
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Fr. Z., I took your advice and read Prof. Pitre’s analysis of today’s Gospel, Luke 13:22ff.
His good point is the following: “So what keeps them [“many” people] out of the kingdom of God? It’s their sin. It’s that they are doers of evil.”
And, the priest at the parish I attended today made the point that one should not assume they are going to get to heaven, because Jesus is saying that that person could be surprised and end up in hell.
Additionally, I add the following: when Jesus says that “many” will try to enter heaven but will be unable, He is saying that the sin that many people commit is the sin against the Holy Spirit, the unforgivable sin.
These people think they are permitted to commit grave evils, all the while they expect to get to heaven. They think they can do evil – particularly the evil of lying and other sins against the 8th commandment – in the name of what they have wrongly identified as good. They think they can do evil in attempt to bring good out of it. Hell is paved with good intentions.
I witness this on a daily basis with certain government bureaus and/or departments that commit grave evils- even during the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They use various duplicitous tactics which are gravely evil lies.
Priests and layity alike should read the FBI’s guide to undercover and sensitive operations (Search: “Undercover and Sensitive Operations Unit, Attorney General’s Guidelines on FBI Undercover Operations, November 13, 1992”). It implies that the FBI and state and local departments permit themselves to lie, bribe, entrap, and commit felonies (“otherwise illegal activity”). This could be elaborated on; search also “The Surreptitious Reincarnation of COINTELPRO with the COPS Gang-Stalking Program” for a description of coercion tactics likely being used against innocent people.
Such people will end up in hell for their evil actions.
Surprisingly our pastor started out with a slide presentation about Hell. First he showed a picture of the head of the Jesuits. Telling us that the head of SJs said that the devil was just a symbol and not a real entity. Father went on to say that it was an Article of Faith that we believe that the devil is real. To say differently is heretical.
Then a sermon in hell and the eye of the needle to pass through to get into Heaven. We have free will to choose Heaven.
Our Lord brought happiness to the people of the Decapolis through the miracles He worked. Likewise, devotion to Our Lady has brought happiness to the beleaguered peoples of Europe and restored their confidence ever since Pope Pius VII sanctioned the Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in 1805 in the wake of the Terror and the Napoleonic depredations. That feast was moved to its present (traditional) date of August 22, the octave of the Assumption, by Pope Pius XII in 1944 during Europe’s darkest 20th-century hour.
EF Low Mass, Father’s sermon was a beautiful and catechetical exposition of lex orandi, lex credendi. It reminded me a lot of the book Nothing Superfluous.
The priest warned against taking one’s place in heaven for granted and noted that the narrow door is so narrow that one has to drop some useless baggage one carries along. He finished with advising everyone to consider whether they have some useless baggage with them, which would count in the eyes of the Lord for nothing.
Father talked a bit about Denver’s world youth day – 26 years ago now. He noted that the city has grown substantially since then, and yet there has not been a corresponding increase in the numbers of practicing Catholics. He mentioned concrete things each of us can and should do in the way of evangelization and ongoing formation with the goal of increasing our parish’s Sunday Masses from current 5 up to 8 within ten years.
We had the privilege of assisting at the TLM this morning (the 2.5 hour drive each way was worth it!) The homily was right on the mark about the importance of the Sacraments and sacramentals, on materials things used to bring us spiritual realities. Father noted the “de-sacralizing” of the modern church with three examples: removal of Communion rails, women not wearing veils, absence of sacred music, along with absence of beauty in music and art.
What I got from Father’s homily today: Pray to Holy Spirit more. The power of the Holy Spirit heals and saves souls.
Father mentioned that the scariest words in the entire Bible are within this Gospel passage and the corollary in Matthew where the Lord says “I don’t know you”, because that is what we can expect at our Last Judgement through sin unless we embrace repentance.
He Tied those passages to the other readings where we are exhorted not to resent or attempt to avoid the discipline of the Lord. He reminded us that our embrace of the Lord will be manifest in our actions. If we want to grow in catholic virtues, we must ask for the grace to do so, and then work to practice those virtues. When we fail, we must repent through confession and return to the discipline of Catholic life.
Apologies for the poor synopsis.
OF mass while traveling. Father preached on the Last Things. He very clearly stated there is a heaven to which we must aspire and that Jesus was also very clear there is a hell. I thanked Father after mass.
Those of us as baptized persons have been given graces, and to those to have been given much, much is expected. We are expected to spread the good news. God helps us grow in our faith by disciplining us, so that we will be able to enter by the narrow path. As sinners we often fail, but God has given us a recourse for that – the sacrament of Reconciliation. Go to confession!
The priest pointed out that the door to the church was welcoming and wide. But within are two narrow doors: those of the confessional and the tabernacle. We need to pass through these doors.
Father noted the “de-sacralizing” of the modern church with three examples: […] women not wearing veils,
Women veiling started out as a fashion trend in America when Jackie Kennedy returned from Spain and people saw her wearing one. In the past when head coverings were required, the tradition was wearing hats, berets, scarves, that little circular doily thing, or in a pinch, Kleenex. I don’t think the Church was desacrilzed by women not wearing Kleenex on their heads.