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, I spoke about how the three temptations which 1 John 2 describes (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life), are contained in the threefold temptation about the tree in the garden by the serpent to our First Parents (the fruit was good to eat, the tree was beautiful, and godlike knowledge). The first Adam fell in the garden. The new Adam was victorious in the anti-garden, wilderness. The three-fold temptation of the garden was repeated by the Devil and Christ overcame them in His human nature as well as His divine (for which there was no temptation possible).
| lust of the flesh | fruit was good to eat | change these stones to bread |
| lust of the eyes | the tree looked good | I will give to you all you see for you to possess without suffering |
| pride of life | godlike knowledge | throw yourself off and all will be amazed by you |
Lent is our time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving, which work against those three primordial temptations.
| lust of the flesh | fasting |
| lust of the eyes | almsgiving |
| pride of life | prayer |
And we take on mortifications to deepen these and also to offer reparation.
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great homily at the OF, where Mark’s version of the temptation was read.
first he mentioned that the more familiar version includes details of the three temptations while this gives broader images.
he contrasted the desert with the garden in which our first parents began. our Lord left His perfect happiness to come to share in the sufferings of fallen man.
he then discussed the “wild beasts” (not included in the other versions of the story) at some length. the beasts could be human passions – Plato had so described the passions – and he gave examples regarding anger, lust, and pride. the beasts could be the devil himself, seeking to minimize our human dignity. or, since Mark was associated with Peter, perhaps the beasts are the powers of this world – at that time Christians were being fed to beasts in the arenas.
he finished by mentioning the angels that ministered to our Lord. they can also minister to us should we heed our Lord’s words and repent. he closed with a call to go to confession.
this priest is a scripture prof at the local seminary, which is a great gift of hope. he’s got a remarkable simple joy about him too.
starting this past Tuesday, the city now allows 175 people as opposed to the prior 89 in a room that normally accommodates 800 (i don’t know where they come up with these wacky odd numbers). my guess is we had about 120 present – not too bad given the snow and ice on the roads.
Father James Jackson FSSP, pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Littleton, CO spoke about the capital sin of gluttony and the many areas of our lives – not only the consumption of food – in which it may manifest itself.
Chatting with him for a few minutes after Mass we spoke of the new parish hall and the impending arrival of a large crucifix which will adorn the wall at the head of the large room. He also mentioned that while delivering a recent homily he looked up and thought to himself, “Where did all of these people come from?” He has mentioned the possibility of having to expand the Church. A nice dilemma to have in these days of continuing draconian lock downs from clerics only too eager and willing to capitulate to secular authorities bent on destroying our God given rights to worship as we see fit and stopping at nothing to accomplish same.
Men gonna have to do a lot of fasting and almsgiving to overcome the temptations of seeing women wearing leggings as pants, and just about everywhere now. A trip to the grocery store is now a near occasion of sin…
TLM:
-Do not prolong confession
-Do not get into the temptation of just streaming Mass if you have the opportunity to attend Mass, even with the continued dispensation in the diocese.
-Sometimes it is easy to give up certain things, but harder to forgive our enemies (those within and without our home)
The sermon was attempting to emphasize the point in the secret about refraining from harmful pleasures, but the examples used seemed more to be things that should be refrained from all during the year, not just Lent.
There was a connection made between the 3 temptations. The first temptation is a physical one, based on hunger. The second is intellectual, a twisting of Scripture. The third is spiritual, based on false worship.
Our attendance is somewhat down, usually it is lower in the winter after the summer people go home, but I also know of people staying away because of the China virus.
The governor recently came out with a new edict based on square footage that allows a slight increase in numbers, before we were limited to 50 max no matter how big the church. To his credit, our bishop came out with a strong statement contesting the treatment of churches here differently than other institutions and from neighboring states that allow attendance based on a percent of capacity. Some of us in the CM Resistance are gathering names to send to the bishop in support of his position as well as writing our legislators. Not sure how effective the latter is since our legislature has refused to convene and is allowing the governor to run the state like a dictator. Anyway enough of the politics.
Like Jesus in the desert we have to use this Lent to prepare ourselves, to examine our sins and GO TO CONFESSION.
We had a visiting priest since our normal priest is sick, (and probably wanted to make sure to set the example to the faithful to STAY HOME if you are sick…) and he made a lot of good points badly, but the overarching point, which is exactly what our normal priest is often hammering home, is that we are wimps compared to generations past. Father went through the whole history of how Lent was observed by Christians, from the Apostolic era to the present day.
Novus Ordo offered ad orientem (brick by brick!). Our pastor preached on the importance of not giving in this Lent, and how so often, our sins come about because we simply give in. He also stressed the importance of not getting discouraged if we do fall, but also highlighted how important it is to get ourselves to confession immediately. Simple truths spoken clearly.
Attendance is still limited by having to sit every other pew. That said, it was fairly well attended for an 8 a.m. Mass! Covid masking protocols in force, but because father comes to us in the pews to distribute Communion, a great many of us are able to receive kneeling and on the tongue and no one bats an eye. There is some additional hand sanitizing that occurs after distributing on the tongue, however.
Our Parochial Vicar had many good points but he sent me down a rabbit hole. The question that came from that journey is about the idea of changing the rock into bread. I wonder if the temptation was made not just for the idea of food but for a further twisting of history. Moses brought water from the rock. Jesus is asked to turn the rock into a food, not liquid… I am curious if there are others who might help me here to see if there is fruit to this hypothesis. – Ryan
Wonderful homily on St. Peter Damian and Lent and repentance, the turning of the tide after 1049, and how if it wasn’t for St. Peter Damian, there would have been no fertile ground for Scholastic Movement. Repentance is foundational but must be followed by action to continue cultivating the soil of the soul. As we enter what appears to be another Gomorrah-moment, and we make reparations and repent during Lent, we must not only seek the intercession of St. Peter Damian to help us turn the tide, we must prepare our souls and parishes for repentance and holiness to come–so when there is a change, there is fertile ground for the change to take root.
Yes, Mass is obligatory in the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Thanks be to God!
Interesting. I had not seen this post till today (2/23)n but the parallels between the sins of Adam, the temptations, and three forms of penance was the theme of my sermon. If interested, see the Mass here: https://livestream.com/opwest/events/9531652/videos/217843983
Bigtex – Considering that a lot tighter styles of hose for men were in style for 300-400 years, along with codpieces and other accessories; and considering that plenty of women managed their eyes all the same — I’m not sure I’m sympathetic here.
Suburbanbanshee – I’m not at all surprised you feel that way. I’d imagine women must use similar rationalizations, before deciding it’s okay to walk out in public wearing what is essentially nothing more than underwear.