Too many people today are without good, strong preaching, to the detriment of all. Share the good stuff.
Was there a GOOD point made in the sermon you heard at your Mass of obligation for this 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time in the Novus Ordo.
Tell about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
A couple thoughts about the sign of the cross: HERE A taste…
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But the Philippians are beset by false teachers, probably Judaizers, whose insistence on Mosaic practices for Gentile converts would bind the faithful to old chains. Paul warns “even with tears” that these men are “enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” The “belly” represents not gluttony alone but the whole regime of the flesh, the worldview that grasps at the earth and refuses to look up. Paul immediately contrasts it with the term políteuma, “our commonwealth is in heaven.” This word sometimes becomes “conversation” (conversatio) in Latin Christian tradition, meaning manner of life. Christians, therefore, must not be ruled by amorphous “lived experience” that contradicts perennial teaching. Nor may we reduce the Church’s demands to “ideals” few can attain. If that sounds a bit familiar, remember what we were told from the highest places in confusing documents like Amoris laetitia that “lived experience” suggests that, for example, sexual continence in an adulterous marriage is an “impossible ideal.” Hence, “lived experience,” trumping perennial doctrine and law, allows those living manifestly in objectively illicit relationships to receive Holy Communion because… you know… “discernment” and “accompaniment” … and reasons and… stuff.
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Father took the line from today’s Epistle “…their God is their belly…” to deliver a homily on gluttony. I have never heard anyone speak on gluttony. It was wonderful. It gave me something serious to think about.
Father spoke about the contrast between the woman and the ruler, both of whom had deep faith in our Lord and what he could do versus the crowd who regarded him with such contempt and who had no faith or even respect for Jesus.
Father gave a homily this evening on perseverance. I can relate as several of us have had some difficulty in our lives. He did emphasize prayer as well.
I also liked that his homily was delivered well and not rushed.
Novus Ordo mass. Gospel was from Luke 21:5-19 which ends “Your endurance will win you your lives.” (Jerusalem Bible translation)
In the Gospel, there are descriptions of many signs before the end, but repeatedly, Jesus seems to say, Father paraphrased: do nothing.
But endurance (or doing nothing) is harder, in the face of persecution and other hardships, and thus is a superior form of power.
Going online after that, I found that Father (a Dominican) seemed to have been drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa in its treatment on the virtue of fortitude in Secunda Secundae Partis, Question 123. Here, the St Thomas says the endurance is the “chief act” of fortitude, which is a “principal” virtue.
I thought it was interesting (and funny) how endurance is a kind of doing nothing, but is really the hardest thing to do.
November being the month dedicated to the poor souls in Purgatory, Father spoke about indulgences and how to obtain them. We can shorten the suffering of those in Purgatory and one day if and when we go to heaven we may meet all these souls who will be grateful for our prayers. He discussed the need to receive communion, be free from attachments to sin, and have gone to confession 2 weeks before or after, and the difference between plenary and partial indulgences.
We heard about death, or father the things that should surround it if possible, from the church’s perspective. Specifically, it was a plea to please call when death is looming serious medical issues are demanding attention and actually have a funeral. the money quote was “As your pastor, I have one job. To get you to Heaven, Please help me do my job.” He explained the difference between a blessing and the sacrament of Anointing. He also talked about families not having church funerals for those who were dis interested in the church during life. He is a reliably orthodox and traditional fellow (black vestments at the high altar for All Souls) so I was a bit surprised by his uncertainty about efficacy of the Apostolic Blessing. “The final decision is up to God.”
Luke 21:5-19 which ends “Your endurance will win you your lives.”
The Revised Standard, Catholic Edition, has this:
16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all because of my name. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.
It is clear that Jesus is speaking about spiritual life rather than earthly life in v. 19, because in v. 16 he just said “and they will put some of you to death.” As many martyrs have testified to the soldiers putting them to death: you are not harming me, you are sending me to Jesus and my eternal reward. So, the physical death isn’t accounted as “harm”, it is spiritual death that is the true harm.