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.
What was attendance like?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I’m getting reports that it was waaaay up.
Was the Motu Proprio mentioned? What was said?
Coat of Arms by D Burkart
on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “Black’s Knight prevents Black’s Bishop from applying check. So move it: 1. . . . Ng4 2. g2g3 (If White…”
on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “I will not use the new name for the Gulf of Mexico. The name has historical roots and we need…”
on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “1. . . . . . . N×f3+ If 2. B×f3 . . B-d4+ 3. K-f1 . . R-h1# If…”
on Daily Rome Shot 1226 – “Baaaaaah!”: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
on 21 January – “O glorious St. Agnes, intercede with Christ the High Priest for a return of orthodoxy, sanity and sanctity to the Roman Church!”: “With her death St. Agnes brought to an end the Roman persecution of our Holy Mother the Church. Let pray…”
on Daily Rome Shot 1225: “Can you repost your youthful image of St. Joseph please? I can’t see it. It show an exclamation point in…”
on Your Sunday Sermon Notes – 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (N.O. 2nd Ordinary) 2025: “Attendance was sparser than usual at our 10:30 AM High Mass due to a pending snow storm. Normally almost every…”
on OLDIE PODCAzT 127: The Eve of St. Agnes and a Bleak Midwinter: “? « Not Found Apologies, but the page you requested could not be found. Perhaps searching will help. »”
on OLDIE PODCAzT 127: The Eve of St. Agnes and a Bleak Midwinter: “Link leads to a dead page, not an audio file.” on Daily Rome Shot 1225: “Note that White’s King is locked down, and has no legal move. We want to keep things that way: 1.…” on Daily Rome Shot 1225: “Black to move and mate in 4. [NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t…”
on Motus in finem velocior – Daily Rome Shot 1224: “The Spada’s chapel in San Gerolamo della Carità. Terrific opus of the “Swiss” architect Borromini.”
on Daily Rome Shot 1224: “In the second game, if Black takes the Queen, Qa4, Pxa4 Bxc4+, Kf8 (or Kg7) Bh6# But if Black doesn’t…”
on WDTPRS: 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (N.O.: 2nd Ordinary): a “liturgical unicorn”: ““Ordinary meaning ordered not unexceptional.” Alas the memo never reached Indonesia, where the church bulletins etc translate the adjective as…” on Daily Rome Shot 1223 – “Sluggish schizophrenia”: “Enough straw men from Bergoglio to stock all the corn fields in Oz.”
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A Daily Prayer for Priests
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since Sat., 25 Nov. 2006:
My theme was: God knows how much bad shepherds have hurt you. He cares; He has a response.
Also, by way of example, I explained (hopefully they weren’t too scandalized) how capricious, arbitrary, and cruel the formators of our seminarians and religious aspirants can be, and that they need our prayers on that account in particular, that bad shepherds do not deprive us of good ones.
As I already wrote elsewhere, there was no mention at all about Traditionis Custodes at my Sunday’s TLM. There were a lot of people in attendance with the pews being mostly full, but it’s difficult to say if it had anything to do with TC as attendance tends to fluctuate +/- 15 people from Sunday to Sunday. And the readings were exclusively in Latin only, so in effect, the Motu Propio was practically ignored.
At the diocesan TLM I attended, Father devoted his entire sermon to TC. He characterized it as unfortunate and destructive. He did not criticize the Pope, but rather blamed influences of certain European bishops’ conferences. He asked for prayers for the Pope, and for all those who are and will suffer the loss of the TLM. He said that our local ordinary has yet to comment (which is true as of this morning as well). He expressed his hope that our Bishop will be pastoral and merciful as others in the USA have been.
Absolutely nothing in the Mass was changed. Attendance was at least as strong as usual. Our local Una Voce chapter (already long established) was collecting names and emails for a mailing list, “in case something changes, and this is the only way we can reach you.”
The homily was informing us of how unjust the recent motu proprio was and that he and his fellow priests are doing everything possible to ensure the TLM will continue.
Society of Jesus Christ, the Priest. Excellent order.
Fr Sick SSPX discussed general differences between Novus Ordo Mass and the traditional Roman Rite—NO is man focused (on self and community), where as traditional rites are focused on giving due worship to God. He said this alteration in prayer at Mass often changes personal prayer as well. While we should ask God for our daily needs, if our prayer becomes all or almost all supplications, this is not appropriate or proportionate. He recommended this prayer in order to conform our will to God’s will: Lord, please remove from me anything that would inhibit me from carrying whatever cross that You want to give me.
Fr. Casell preached unity and obedience at St. John Cantius. Attendance seemed slightly up; lots of faces I didn’t recognize.
Attendance at my 1:00pm Missa Cantata was up by 15-20 people (St Francis Xavier, Hyannis, MA). A friend tells me there were likely 300+ at the noon TLM at the cathedral in Portland, ME – easily twice the usual number.
Our priest told us right up front that a conversation was had with the bishop and we [TLM] would be continuing. Praise God.
The priest made a very short statement on the situation in the Church and Diocese. Since that bishop has not made any statement whatsoever, the priest demurred from saying anything more. The Prior is mulling over a letter that he will send out. We were reminded not to contact the bishop for fear of antagonizing him or causing any unwanted attention.
Other than that we got the best explanation of the Unjust Steward – well one that finally made sense to me. Quoting an old saint’s treatise, the Unjust Steward was compared to the devil, writing off debts over which he had no authority. But in the end, those believing his lies would still owe anyway.
Fr. Youngtrad reiterated that there is only *one* “Good Shepherd,” Jesus Christ, and that there are plenty of bad shepherds in government, schools, and the Church, and that poor decisions by these bad shepherds should remind us that we can really only rely on the one, true Good Shepherd.
NO mass on Saturday vigil. Celebrant is our new associate pastor newly ordained who wears cassock when out and about, wore a biretta to say mass and bowed at the appropriate places for the holy name.
I made sure to compliment his biretta when I shook his hand after. I am praying for him especially – just starting out.
Father preached on the importance of retreat, silence and prayer- that our lives are so busy and like Jesus we need to withdraw at times and center ourselves on the Lord so we can re-engage spreading the gospel. He also added prayers for the Holy Father’s health during the general intercessions.
As usual…wonderful sermon at the SSPX mission station. Wove the life of St Alexis {previous Feast Day} and love for the poor w/ the Gospel of the Sunday. The need to rightly order our hearts toward material things and to place growth in spiritual truths higher than the things of the world while we also care for the poor.
Comfort AND conviction, as always.
Very brief mention of TC. Simply expressed charitable concern for the Pope and called us to pray for the Church and observed that TC will no doubt be examined more deeply in the future. That was it.
Father started by saying, “Obviously we are winning, because you don’t use the nuclear option on losers or those to whom you’re indifferent.” Then he asked us to reflect on how we responded on Friday when we heard the news–with fear and anger, or with trust in the Lord–and reminded us that we can have inordinate attachments even to holy things, so we must be sure to cling to Christ first. He ended by saying, “I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to let a bunch of homosexuals in Rome ruin my Sunday.” I think the whole place wanted to get on its feet and cheer, but of course it wasn’t a Novus Ordo….
It seemed like the church was a bit more filled than the past few weeks. Nothing about the Mass was different.
PS: I did put something extra in the basket.
Tina in Ashburn Whoville:
*
To me much of the modernist Church is to be found in the Parable of the Dishonest Manager. Too many people in the modern Church are more interested in fixing tickets than in fixing sinners. Writing off sins devoid of repentance is the easy and popular thing to do. No better way for modernist clergy to ingratiate themselves with the world while leaving sinners mired in their sins.
On a visit to my hometown. No mention of the Friday news at that parish.
One of the neighboring parishes in town is the one that has the regularly-scheduled TLM for the immediate area, so I expect it was more of a topic there. I checked their website – nothing in the bulletin, but that most likely had been put to bed before Friday morning.
Where I was – ‘Father Visitor’/mission appeal. Excellent ‘Good Shepherd’ homily from an O.P. from Nigeria, on a summer junket.
OF – quite similar to Adam above. Joyful young priest who is a prof at the seminary. he gave some good examples of how those who are entrusted with leadership roles fail us – even mentioned the prevalence of abortion in that context. counseled us against discouragement (as he had done for me in the confessional the day before) . referred back to the Lord’s saying “Peace I give you, not as the world gives”. He even briefly described the “peace” imposed by the Romans and the bloody end to which that came in the Holy Land and contrasted that with the peace given by our Lord.
i attended an earlier Mass than usual, so it’s hard for me to say whether attendance was high, low, or average.
The five masses at our FSSP parish were even more full than usual… Father said he saw faces he’d never seen before. Maybe wondering what all the fuss was about? Father said our Phoenix bishop had told him we had nothing to fear from him; that he considered us a blessing to his Diocese. He told us that it was time for prayer and penance and that Jesus would either get us out of this or give us the graces to walk through it, and that we shouldn’t waste time with either anger or worry.
Dear GregB: Thanks for the added insight, I see the parallel. More to consider. The Unjust Steward is making more sense, more to reflect upon! LOL think twice when dealing with the middleman? They may be in it for themselves, not their boss or you.
May we piously emulate the caginess of the worldly to work for our own salvation. Why should the bad guys win?
The good point was to see a recently ordained priest give communion into the mouths of my two children without question whilst they knelt.
Interestingly reading of the day reinforced the reality that God is with us Reading I Jer 23:1-6 and the binding of the one true holy church and faith will be protected by God.
A normal Sunday! The TLM was full as usual and the homily was fine, it was mostly about the news from Francis. He told us to not go crazy, that there will be conversations about how to implement things. He said we have a Bishop who cares deeply about what everyone thinks and will take all feedback into consideration. God will provide!
FSSP parish. Read the statement from the North American superior. Then gave pretty strong homily basically saying, no one promised things would be easy. Laity: get ready to work.
Attendance was huge.
At the Novus Ordo Mass, all about the power of confession… and practical ways to “pray without ceasing”. Including… which got a laugh or two… in the loo, so to speak. :) The directness and levity was welcome, given Friday’s events.
FYI we also have a Latin Mass at 8am which continues, and was very well attended.
My priest had a good discussion about race. He talked about a seminary in Burundi housing hundreds of young men who were both Hutus and Tutsis. A militia came up and massacred (1997) about 40 of the kids because they would not sort themselves into tribes. I had the impression he might have been one of the kids at the seminary and it might have been the anniversary.
His point was that racial differences aren’t important. And although we have problems, we can only solve them through identifying as Christians and not seeing each other as white or black.
EF – first part was how he believed the Holy Father must be misinformed because we are a happy people and do not reject V2. We should keep being happy and not prove him right, and our bishop is supportive. Second part was on the Temple, Abraham and Isaac, and the Mass making Calvary present before us right there.
misternaser, I cheered and I wasn’t even there!
At Confession on Saturday, a wonderful confessor very staid and true, chuckled very quietly when I confessed saying many rotten things about the pope and the men who run the church. He also said there are distorted people in everything, and basically our hope is in the Lord, not these men. At our TLM on Sunday, it seemed the usual crowd, the numbers fluctuate weekly. The priest said our bishop is friendly to the TLM and has many other things on his mind, so this motu wasn’t going to be a priority and we had nothing to worry about, but that others do and we ought to pray for their intentions and carry them in our hearts. This is a man who doesn’t wade into any sketchy territory, but he did say the motu had “harsh” descriptions that don’t accurately fit the TLM.
Personally I’m struggling with the question about being a hypocrite if when the “holy father” is named in the canon and I have the urge to spit, does this mean I shouldn’t go to a diocesan Mass. I’m sorry. I’m just so done.
I should add our pastor said he didn’t think our people had a problem with VII and I just looked up at the ceiling when he said this, and got interested in the architecture.
Visiting family in MA so we ended up at St. Mary FSSP in Providence RI. Homily mentioned Quo Primum and the fact that the Traditional Mass can never be abrogated. Since I don’t go to this parish regularly I can’t say if attendance is up but there were a lot of people at communion and the celebrant had to go back to the tabernacle to get more hosts. Have not heard of any statements from Bishop Tobin but my impression is that he is generally friendly to tradition so I expect things will continue as before at least for now in RI.
Tiny OF parish in Central TX. Our attendance is up, but varies due to summer.
All the books were back in the pew racks- this is new, and we have resumed our after Mass coffee hour.
We had a visiting mission priest from Sri Lanka, whose homily was about their missions and the trials of being Catholic in an Islamic country. As it’s not applicable to us, our pastor made no mention of TC.
We have had two seminarians interning here for over a month. It was a treat, as we had Adoration for three Fridays while they were here, our permanent adult server got a break, and we didn’t have layreaders.
– We are seen as dissidents and rebels. Of course this is not so: there are other places we could easily go if we were.
– One of the most painful sorts of suffering is when those into whose care we are entrusted harm us instead.
– Nonetheless, spite towards our Holy Father will not help anything.
– Suffering is how we are united to Christ, who was wrongfully judged by the authorities of His people. This union to Christ through suffering is at the heart (perhaps I should say crux?) of the Christian life: to take up your cross and follow Him.
– Gratitude is better for our souls and better as a strategy: now is not the time to be seen criticizing the new Mass, etc., but rather showing the Church our love, proving we are not the dissidents or rebels we are made out to be.
– We should pray and sacrifice for the Holy Father for his good, tempting though it is to cease doing so, and also for the good of the Church.
– We should pray also for the archbishop and for his successor.
– The current archbishop is supportive. (There’s something to be grateful for.)
– This is the beginning, not the end. Pope Francis has plainly stated his long-term intention is the end of the Mass of ages. That has never been done in the history of the Church. It will not succeed now. But we must understand that things are going to get harder, worse, before it gets better. This changes none of the above, only makes all of it more important.
– Whatever injustice we are faced with, remember that in the end we will answer to God for our response, who alone can judge us and who alone knows what is in our hearts.
As to the dishonest steward, I am put in mind of the injunction to be crafty as serpents but innocent as doves, and of the prayer “forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors” (that, rather than trespasses/trespassing, is what debita and debitoribus literally translate to, no?)… The children of this world are wiser in the things of this world than the children of God are about heavenly things: e.g., even in worldly terms forgiveness can be wickedly brilliant realpolitick, how much quicker should we rightfully be to avail ourselves of it for virtuous ends!
Fr Z your video of the Carmelite martyrs gave me the boost I needed to get to the early EF Mass. It was crowded. In his homily Fr said the the Bishop is a canonist and is studying the MP, says he is keeping things as they are for now. Interesting: Fr said the MP re-opens a wound which is necessary if there is infection in the wound. We trust God is in control. He asked us to daily pray the Litany of the Precious Blood and the Litany of Loreto, in front of the Blessed Sacrament if possible.