Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 2nd Sunday of Epiphany (NO – 2nd Ordinary)

Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at the Mass for your Sunday (obligation or none), either live or on the internet? Let us know what it was. Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.

Also, are your churches opening up? What was attendance like?

For my part, here’s a link to the video of today’s Mass tagged where the readings and sermon start: HERE

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10 Comments

  1. SWP says:

    The homilist pointed out that one of the two followers of John the Baptist is identified as St. Andrew, but the other person is not. Some have identified the second person as the Beloved disciple, meaning St. John the Evangelist, but the homilist proposed a variant tradition, that the anonymity of the second follower allows us to insert ourselves into the reading. I’d never considered any of this before, since our focus growing up was that this reading celebrates my brother’s namesake, St. Andrew.

  2. SWP says:

    Also we had a Sanctity of Life blessing of the Memorial Garden for Unborn Children after one of the masses today. It was livestreamed and attended in person.

  3. Kathleen10 says:

    We had an amazing Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Heaven must be something like the Mass we had today. Our pastor highlighted that the peace the world gives is temporary. The peace that God gives us is different from that, and lasting. The world is not able to give us that type of peace, only God can.
    He said that we need to remember that no matter what happens, God is on His throne. When people ask why bad things happen if that is so, the answer is that God gives us free will, to make choices that lead to Him, or not.
    We had a decent turnout. Not so many it felt crowded, not so few one felt sad.

  4. NancyP says:

    Our homilist commented on how, although it looked like Jesus was walking casually past John’s followers, everything in Jesus’ life transpired according to God’s plan. The followers knew they had found what they had been looking for all their lives (Christ), and they actively chose to follow him. We are to do that, too, every day, even during hard times…choosing to follow Jesus is a daily commitment not only to follow Him but also to live so as to be worthy to follow him (as best we can), as St. Paul reminds us. I watched a live stream of the Mass in my hometown parish, particularly because my mother passed away this week and her name was read during this Mass. Listening to a good homily was a special gift from God today.

  5. Fulco One Eye says:

    Our priest gave an excellent overview of our blessed Mother’s role as a mediator for us taking off from the beginning of today’s gospel in which Jesus performed the miracle at Cana at her prompting.

  6. JonPatrick says:

    Travelling so we watched the EF low mass at St. Mary Providence RI. At first it seems strange that our Lord’s first miracle would be something so seemingly mundane as guests running out of wine at a wedding feast. But there is the significance of wine later becoming the blood of Christ and marriage being a symbol of Christ and the Church. When Jesus says “my hour has not yet come” he is reminding his mother and us that by performing this miracle he is starting down the path that will lead to “his hour” which is the Cross. And his mother will be sharing in this suffering. He also refers to her as “Woman” which harkens back to Eve in the garden of Eden as well as the address to her and John from the Cross when he says “Woman behold your son”. So much in this Gospel passage.

  7. First of all, about attendance. It was standing room only at the EF Mass I attended. Granted, half of the pews were closed. But I think the crowds have grown since I started attending there on Septuagesima 2019. Meanwhile the crowds at my OF parish have contracted since Christmas.

    In the homily, Father drew our attention to the connection between the water made wine at Cana, and the water and wine which flowed from the side of Christ on Calvary. This was a connection I never made. He showed how Cana foreshadowed the Eucharist and Baptism.

    I my own mind I went on to connect Matrimony to Baptism and the Eucharist.

    Just prior to the start of Mass, the new pastor addressed us, begging our prayers for the Church, and asking us to pray for our own loved ones who have fallen away. He has not learned the EF Mass, but…..he went straight back into the confessional and stayed there until the line of penitents was finished. This is a blessing, as in the past it has been difficult for the priest to hear all the confessions before he offers Mass. I am filled with hope and joy.

  8. Lindy says:

    Our priest (visiting) actually spoke of sin! Wowza! He said sin is so minimized today… called so many other things ie ‘terminating a pregnancy’ in stead of murdering the innocent. He added that without sin and our need for forgiveness, why would we need a Savior in Jesus? There was also a reference to God’s command to offer sacrifice twice a day of spotless lambs on the altar.. no matter what.. even in times of plague and starvation. Our Bishop had closed all of our churches until Feb 5th, but when we found out the Cathedral was open, we asked why. Seems like one had to ask the Bishop for permission, which was not made clear at all. And Voila! Church opened to sign up Mass.. Fri-Mon, 100 people each Mass. We are slowly starving to death.

  9. Gregg the Obscure says:

    many good points. our pastor is an excellent homilist. i would like him to be more frequently at the Mass i attend, but i suppose that wouldn’t be fair to those who attend the other four Sunday Masses.

    the one that stuck with me the most was his recommendation to pray with the question asked by the disciples in the Gospel reading “where are You staying?”.

    he also recommended attendance at the upcoming pro-life Masses to be held this Saturday at many locations in the archdiocese and mentioned that prayer for the pro-life cause is having an impact as the number of abortions is decreasing.

    he also addressed the second reading unflinchingly, talking about, inter alia, addiction to pornography and the importance of frequent confession in dealing with habitual sins.

    oh, and in passing he repeated counsel that a different priest had given me in confession each of the past two weeks. not something i remember having heard from any priest prior to the past few weeks either. i will be taking that to prayer too.

    all 89 reservations for the Mass were taken (i looked at the website after Mass so i could sign up for the pro-life Mass). i arrived early and was assigned the frontmost pew right in front of the pulpit so i really didn’t get a feel as to whether everyone with a reservation showed up. i think i may make that a habit. great resonance in that spot for sung responses.

  10. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Our pastor talked about how the whole first chapter of John has many interlinking stories of Jesus inviting disciples and apostles, and them responding not only by accepting for themselves, but also by going to tell their friends and family to come see Jesus. This is part of God’s plan for us as members of the Church.

    He also remembered how one of his friends met a guy at a wedding who was going to Calcutta for a short stint to help out the Missionaries of Charity, and this guy was wondering whether he should go too. So he happened to be visiting Father and mentioned this, and Father and he decided that they both should go, and they ended up doing it pretty quickly (before bigger obligations could ensue).

    His conclusion was that a lot of people are more willing to do things if invited by a friend, and he encouraged the university students to invite their non-Catholic or lapsed Catholic friends to the chapel for events or for Mass, for them to meet Jesus and the Church. (Basically, this is the theme for the rest of the year for the club side of the chapel – evangelism by giving an invitation.)

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