Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Christ the King (NO: 30th Ordinary) 2020 – POLL: Francis same-sex unions topic during homily?

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday, either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was. Also, are you churches opening up? What was attendance like?

For my part…

I was asked by a reader about a poll.   Good idea.

Anyone can vote, but only registered and approved readers can post comments.   I would very much appreciate your accounts of what your Sunday preacher said about Francis’ approbation of civil union for homosexuals.

Choose your best answer.

At Sunday Mass (25 Oct 2020 - in PERSON or via "tech") the priest/deacon, about Francis' comments on same-sex civil unions...

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30 Comments

  1. aam says:

    No mention of Francis’ homosexual union comment at Mass this morning. Our local newspaper does have a story today, however, on how happy the local “LBGTQIA” (what’s that?) community is. As a former RCIA catechist during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, I wonder with trepidation how the composition of the RCIA candidate pool has been affected by Francis’ pontificate?

  2. Francisco12 says:

    Father gave a fantastic homily today. in the Ruthenian Catholic Church for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel reading was the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Father explained the parable intelligently and brought up some very good points I made note of. He said that Abraham was telling the rich man that he would not intervene in the lives of the rich man’s friends because they already had “the Church”. Father elaborated and said that the law and the prophets constituted the “Church” for the Jews at that time. The authority of the Law and the Prophets (and tying that in to our Lord’s Transfiguration) was what people were expected to follow in order to find happiness in Heaven, not other opinions.

    He then transitioned to the news of this week, saying that no one “really knows” what Pope Francis said because the translations are a mess, as are the connotations tied to the word that has been translated as “civil union”. He was very careful with his language and did not disparage the pope, but made it clear that Church teaching cannot change, especially on this issue, and as Father is an expert on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, he explained the difference between persons, conditions, and behavior, driving home the point that it is our behavior that must cooperate with God’s Law as given to us by the Church in our current day. I encourage all to listen to Father’s homily as this Divine Liturgy was live streamed. Fast forward to time index 34:55 for the homily:

    https://www.facebook.com/annunciationbyzantinecatholicparish/videos/626349584709616/

  3. seashoreknits says:

    No mention of Francis at the TLM this morning but strong and clear words regarding the upcoming election (mainly the primacy of the issue of right to life and the obligations of Catholics with regard to social justice).

  4. acardnal says:

    I attended the TLM/EF Mass.

    The priest spoke out against what Francis said. He said it was the Pope’s personal opinion and that it was opposed to recent and ancient Catholic teaching and holy scripture. We should not agree with the Pope’s position on civil unions for homosexuals.

    I love the priests from the Society of Jesus Christ, the Priest! They are solid and they celebrate both the TLM/EF and the NO/OF.

  5. Gregg the Obscure says:

    due to inclement weather, i thought it best to not attend in person today, though i have been for some time (one Mass a week since May and Sunday Mass since mid-July. the obligation has not yet been reinstated. Cathedral is limited to 150 attendance)

    outstanding homily (OF) by a young priest who has a degree in scripture, teaches at the local seminary, and is a member of the “Catholic Stuff You Should Know” podcast team.

    the OT quote given by the Lord is almost certainly the first prayer taught to him by His earthly parents. It and all of the structures of the OT religion were designed to build right relationship with God, but people could not live up to them, so God gave us the great gift of the Catholic religion! people who try to distinguish between a relationship with God and religious observance have it all wrong because the Catholic religion given to us by God shows us how to have a right relationship with him and with each other. several examples from both lives of the saints and ordinary everyday activities in the parish.

    in announcements he reminded us of the ballot initiative to ban late-term abortions here in Colorado. no mention of the documentary debacle.

  6. JillMary says:

    Our pastor emailed on Friday regarding Pope Francis and civil unions. He emphasized the heavy editing and linked to the article in the Register. In addition he referenced Tim Gray video in Formed.

    Homily was about our loving God and likening it to the love and excitement we feel for our spouse and children. I have neither, so I just prayed a rosary.

  7. teachermom24 says:

    “No mention of Francis at the TLM this morning but strong and clear words regarding the upcoming election (mainly the primacy of the issue of right to life . . . ).”

    Same here.

  8. bwfackler says:

    Option 10, all churches are closed to the public and people aren’t allowed outside between 5am and 1am except to go to the nearest grocery store, post office or pharmacy, so we prayed an obidnitsa service at home instead.

  9. eamonob says:

    We watched Mass live streamed from our local Dominican parish this morning. Father did talk specifically about the pope’s comments and explained the difference of fallible and infallible statements. This was at the Dominican Rite Mass, but I assume they mentioned it at their NO as well.

  10. oldCatholigirl says:

    The sermon was on actively witnessing to the truth of our Faith with joy at our TLM. ( We have both in our parish.) Besides that, at all four weekend Masses, the celebrant read a letter from our bishop which affirmed the Church’s official teachings on homosexuality (disordered), the treatment of homosexual people (as having the same dignity and right to our charity as anyone else), and the unacceptability of official recognition of any such disordered unions.

  11. oldCatholigirl says:

    I should add that we had Benediction and the Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart after the noon TLM, in honor of the feast day. Also, this week we have a new addition to the Leonine prayers which we have been saying after all our Masses for many months. It is a Litany for the Pope which, besides the customary beginning and ending, invokes SS Peter and Paul repeatedly, with various appellations, sainted Popes, St. Therese, and, of course, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph. I’d never heard it before. Our pastor says he got it from a Benedictine monastery. (He is a third order Benedictine.) We’re praying very hard in the Kalamazoo diocese. Personally, I don’t have much optimism about the immediate future, but am hoping to die well in whatever cataclysms ensue. Or in my bed without shaming my religion, in case society holds out longer than I do. (It’s possible, since I’m 80 years old.)

  12. Padre Pio Devotee says:

    I attended a TLM this afternoon.
    Homily was given but no mention of Francis’ statement. I do believe our priest does use a prepared homily from a book of homilies for the year. For the priests who offer our TLM never go off the cuff in their remarks. And we are just fortunate to even have a TLM offered here. There are so many Masses offered here and only 1 TLM so I think they take the TLM homily out of a prepared homilies for the TLM calendar. We are extremely grateful to our parish and priests who offer the TLM here. And we make sure our gratitude is shown .
    Regardless, the beginning of the homily mentioned the history of the feast and the reasoning behind its institution. I’m always amazed at the institution and reasoning behind this feast. I think this feast is so important now than ever, and how appropriate this Feast always falls so close these USA presidential elections and elections in general.

  13. mwa says:

    At our Sunday EF we were informed that our Bishop has asked the priests to reserve judgment about the Pope’s recently publicized comments regarding homosexual civil unions until there is clarification, and that his remarks in no way altered Church teaching on these unions. No further explication was made, and homily focused on the feast day and Quas Primas. There was a Eucharistic procession with Benediction following Mass. Our allowed numbers in the church have been increased in the past couple of weeks, and the building was full.

  14. KateD says:

    N.O. Mass. Holy, reverent, awesome, fun priest. He spoke about the reading on the greatest commandment: Love. He said Jesus was the greatest example. But we’ve had a lot of other great examples:. Saint Francis, Mother Theresa, Saint Maxmillian Kolbe, Saint Damien. Love is sacrifice. We may not be called to sacrifice as they did, but we cannot say we are Christians who love God, but then hate all humanity.

    No mention of “the gay”.

  15. dholwell says:

    Our university chaplain mentioned it in the closing remarks at the student Mass. He recommended that the students read a column in Crux Now by John Allen on the significance of not issuing a clarification by the Pope. I heard that as indirectly unfavorable. I recognize our chaplain is in a tight spot, but I would have preferred a reiteration of the doctrines of the Church written in the Catechism and that there are official ways to promulgate doctrinal nuances. Heavily edited commercial films are not included in official teaching channels.

    And I pray for our Holy Father daily, and for our Church.

  16. WVC says:

    No mention in the homily, but an entire reprint of the Cardinal Ratzinger’s statement on it from the CDF was included in the bulletin.

  17. iamlucky13 says:

    Novus Ordo.

    I would describe Father’s comment as mentioned neutrally.

    Paraphrasing: “You may have heard about some controversial remarks from Pope Francis this week. The media has jumped on it to spin it the way they want the remarks understood. My sermon for Thursday was about his comments, and you can view that sermon in our archived streamed Masses. Please look that sermon up if you are interested, but the main thing I want people to know is that Pope Francis did not change Church teaching. Teachings are not changed in interviews.”

    Today’s sermon was about not abusing foreigners, widows, and orphans. Father talked about this in the general sense that we are all foreigners, since our true home is heaven.

    However, I also took it as a time to reflect on what positive elements of Pope Francis’s comments could be used to draw conversations about it in an orthodox direction. Primarily, I was thinking about, “Everybody has a right to a family. No one should be cast out.”

    I’m trying to learn how to accomplish this with a family member who has distanced himself from the rest of the family to pursue an “alternate lifestyle,” as they say: treat him with the love a family member deserves, make him feel welcome and cared for, but still upholding that God intends more for him than to hide from how he was born. I took it as a reminder not to let him feel he has been orphaned by his family.

  18. JonPatrick says:

    Saturday evening NO Mass. The homily concerned the readings and the need to love God and our neighbor. At the end of Mass after the benediction, he spoke about Pope Francis statement. He emphasized that this was the Pope’s opinion and that not everything a Pope says is infallible, that in fact infallible statements are relatively rare. He reiterated the Church’s teaching that we have to treat all homosexual people as children of God but that homosexual acts are disordered.

  19. acardnal says:

    Addendum to my above: In addition to what the priest said in his homily, there was a handout in the bulletin. The handout mentioned CCC no. 2357, CCC no. 2358 and “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons” by the CDF.

  20. Ellen says:

    Sunday morning, NO. Mass was full! The sermon was about the gospel passage about loving God and your neighbor. After the sermon, there was a baptism of twins.

  21. arga says:

    FSSP priest blasted PF, and ended sermon by reading Galatians 1:6-9, which passages ends thus: “Let him be accursed.”

  22. Cecelia1 says:

    When I tried to vote the message came up saying I had already voted. I had not! Anyway, at the TLM I attended a statement by Card. B. was read without much additional comment. None was needed.

  23. Suburbanbanshee says:

    We had a visiting priest, so it’s not a big surprise that he didn’t tackle it. His message was that we need both loving God and loving neighbor. The things we do for our neighbor must be done for the sake of God, although that offends some secular people; and we need to do things for our neighbor as well as for God, not forgetting to do good works in some way, because that is what Jesus asked and commanded.

  24. Vanna says:

    NO in person. The sermon was about the Gospel, God is love, etc. In the newsletter there was an item regretting the comments of the Pope and his opinion – and encouraging us to read the statement by Card Burke, attached to the newsletter.
    As soon as I heard the reports last week I thought about the faithful priests who would get bashed as a result of this – almost regardless of exactly what Pope Francis said or meant. We pray for you Fathers, we will pray more! We are so thankful for you, it cannot be put into words.

  25. JPCahill says:

    Ordinariate liturgy in person. Father preached on the Gospel (Matthew 22: which is the greatest commandment) and tied it in with last week’s Gospel on rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. PF wasn’t mentioned. But if you were paying attention you would be hard-pressed to come away in favour of Civil Unions.

  26. anj says:

    Ordinariate, in person.

    Yes, the sermon mentioned the unpleasantness. A clear message was preached that no priest, bishop, or pope can change the teachings of the church.

  27. rbbadger says:

    I was required to address it. My bishop had a letter that he requested be read at all Masses. You may read it here: https://voiceofthesouthwest.org/from-the-bishop-what-does-the-catholic-church-teach-about-same-sex-civil-unions/

    In the letter, Bishop Wall quotes paragraph 2357 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

    Unfortunately, though, many have come to their own conclusions and we will be dealing with the fallout from this unfortunate period in Church history for years to come. Pope Francis has made our jobs more difficult.

  28. iamlucky13 says:

    rbbadger – Thank you for sharing that link. It is short and precise in clarifying the teaching of the Church, yet charitable towards Pope Francis. I think that could be a good model for others for how to respond to this topic when it continues to arise.

    I recommend others read that link, as well.

  29. OssaSola says:

    We attended the TLM. Father spoke to the Francis statement saying that it is impossible to change the Church’s teaching on this point. He went on to discuss the feast of Christ the King.

    Our priest finished with the amazing news that a group of five priests from our diocese have come to him for instruction in the TLM. FIVE! Ours is the only parish in the Corpus Christi, TX Diocese that offers it and we are at full capacity.

    We had a short Eucharistic procession on church grounds that ended with Benediction.

  30. adriennep says:

    Yes, our 30-year old priest Fr. Stephen Kenyon spoke saying he loved the Holy Father but that even Pope cannot change Church teaching. Then he blessed a new set of vestments for this Una Voce group and proceeded with the fervent Latin Mass with 10 male servers, an outstanding homily, and a finally a long Eucharistic procession after through local streets. Knights of Columbus with swords led the way, following by angelic choir, Our Lord, and then the Church Militant. It was magnificent! And next week we have a candlelight procession for All Saints! Thank you, Archbishop Sample. This was truly a glorious witness to our community.

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