Share the good stuff.
It’s the 6th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo and the 14th Sunday of the Novus Ordo.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Sunday Mass of obligation?
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I hear that it is growing. Of COURSE.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
I have some thoughts about the Sunday Epistle reading posted at One Peter Five.
A taste:
It must be possible to have no attachment to sin, even venial, otherwise the Church would not require it of us to gain the plenary indulgence. It must be possible and not just for an “elite.” Whenever you hear some smarmy churchman say something along the lines of or implying that living a virtuous life is a nearly impossible “ideal,” let your alarm bells ring and be on your guard. When they say that we shouldn’t set up difficult “ideals” for people to live up to, that their circumstances are too difficult, you are probably dealing with a modernist who might not have a well-grounded belief in God. They certainly, in their faux-mercy, don’t have a regard for the eternal salvation of souls.
Among other things, Father talked about the importance of having a well formed conscience, and that being too strict leads to scruples, and too lax leads to thinking mortal sin doesn’t matter, and neither are good. So what we need is balance, with a realistic appreciation for our sinfulness but also reliance on God and trust in His mercy. This was the first time I’ve heard a homily mention conscience in a long time. It was great.
Visiting family near Providence RI so we all attended the 8:30 low mass at St Mary FSSP church in Providence. The associate Fr. Truong gave the homily which was on the sacraments. A sacrament is a sign which does what it signifies. A highway stop sign indicates a car should stop but does not cause the car to stop that is up to the driver. Sacraments are different. For example baptism signifies the washing away of our sins but also actually does wash away sins including Original Sin.
The pastor Fr. Romanowski was the celebrant with Fr. Truong besides the homily assisted with communion, afterwards exchanging his green stole for a purple one and heading for the confessional. The Church was almost full for this one of 3 masses that day.
It was the Feast of St. Thomas More at our parish and the priest talked at length about resisting the State which tries to replace God. Just as St. Thomas More resisted Henry VIII, so too we must resist all attempts by the State and the dominant culture to make themselves God and replace divine law with (perverted) human constructs.
Each week I continue to marvel at the increasing attendance at our 8:00 am Sunday Low Mass. Yesterday we were just about at capacity, and I hear the 10:00 am High Mass is similar. As per usual, almost entirely young families with lots of children. This is an FSSP ‘parish’ which has been here now for about 18 years. My wife, children and I were there when this apostolate started (with Masses offered in a local hospital chapel until a church building could be obtained). Now, as empty nesters essentially, we are the odd ones out, but seeing these large families is nothing short of glorious.
Sunday sermon on modesty and appropriateness of dress – both inside Church and in daily life. ‘I know people don’t always like to hear this, but hear it you will’. We have an outstanding priest – in fact we have been blessed with a series of outstanding priests throughout.
I am mostly ashamed of my generation (alas, Boomers), and will not be overly grieved when we pass from this vale of tears. All it takes is one NO (funeral, vacation with no VO in the vicinity), watching the blue hairs hold hands during the Our Father, or singing some simp ‘hymn’. UGH. Enough to make angels weep. We have been truly blessed, and our bishop remains supportive. I am sure it will do wonders for his clerical ‘career’ (not).
-Mis
We were at the Eucharistic Revival for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. I estimate over 4000 people there at the Mountain America Center in Sandy, Utah. Adoration, confession, available throughout the day, with a mass at 2pm, and a Eucharistic procession after mass. Bishop Solis did a great job in his homily about the Eucharist.
@JonPatrick:
Welcome to our parish. I hope you join us again next time you’re in town.
St. Mary’s is a wonderful parish. I’ve never gone to the 7 AM Mass, but the 8:30 and the 10:30 are usually mostly full with a line for confession before and during Mass. We had a parish picnic that afternoon, and it was well-attended while I was there. Good times.
The diocese of Providence is fairly trad-friendly (at least until +Tobin officially retires. He submitted his letter in April), so there are a lot of options for those who wish to worship using the TLM. The other dioceses in New England are much less friendly, so a lot of our parishioners come from southern/south-central Massachusetts and eastern Connecticut.
Father spoke about Baptism being a sacrament for the dead.
That the Eucharist is a sacrament for the living.
Go to Confession !
And thanks to Bishop Sample, an additional priest has been added to the parish this week. Thus 5 more daily TLM added to the weekly calendar.
@jpmanning thank you. Our son and daughter in law moved from Central MA to the Providence area so they could be closer to St. Mary. We will be down to see them as often as we can especially now they have a 6 months old son who was baptized at St. Mary. I pray that the diocese remains trad friendly when Bp. Henning takes over.