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 5th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo (13th Ordinary Sunday in the Novus Ordo)?
Tell us about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass.
Any local changes or (hopefully good) news?
A taste of what I offered at 1 Peter 5 this week. I wrote about the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost but related it to the great feasts nearby.
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St. Augustine, speaking from the deepest restlessness of the human condition, confessed: “quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te … for Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee” (conf I, 1, 1). The Collect’s desiderium is that restlessness baptized, purified, and directed toward the invisible goods. The Christmas Preface gives the same motion: “ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilem amorem rapiamur … so that, while we know God visibly, through Him we may be snatched up into invisible love.” Through the Incarnate Word, visible to the eyes of men, we are caught up to invisibilia. Love becomes the eye. Richard of Saint Victor, channeling an Augustinian impluse, says: “amor oculus est, et amare videre est … love is the eye, and to love is to see” (Tractatus de gradibus caritatis, PL 196, 1203). The one who loves God begins to see the neighbor as God sees him, even when the neighbor wounds, vexes, slanders, or fears us.
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N.O. Mass
Priest did not shy away from loving Christ more than father and mother, son and daughter. Explicitly said that there should not be *anything* that we would not sacrifice for Christ. ?
At FSSP Low Mass this morning. My layman’s take home message: we must speak as one voice. Don’t complain or grumble because that is not pleasing to God.
He spoke of a “schismatic” group that is planning on consecrating bishops at the end of June. They are even electing their own pope.
Fr is promoting a book about the false notion of an autonomous episcopate.
(Vetus ordo, diocesan) Preaching today was about prayers and understanding for the 1st July, for the situation of the SSPX, and for understanding all around. Then, understanding around the subtleties of echo chambers on the perpetually online world – and that it is possible to view both sides of an argument with… understanding.
The first reading was from 2 Kings 4:8ff. Father continued the story beyond what was in the lectionary. In the continuation, the boy of miraculous birth died at a young age. First Elisha sent his servant with Elisha’s own staff to the boy, but this had no effect. then Elisha himself went to see the boy and he “lay upon the child on the bed, placing his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon the eyes, and his hands upon the hands.”
Patristic commentary ensued. St. Jerome explained that Elisha’s staff was the Mosaic law. it lacks the ability to give life, but to confirm our death and sin. Another Father (sorry i have forgotten just who) explained that for Elisha to make those particular contacts a young boy, he would have had to be in a highly contracted physical position – just as in the incarnation the Lord had to make Himself small so he could make contact with us.
sadly verse 35 was not part of what Father read nor the commentary he shared. i’d love to see what the Fathers have to say about that detail!
BTW the boy was indeed raised.
The national Eucharistic pilgrimage and consecration of the Nation has been going through Massachusetts these past few days, with a Eucharistic procession in Boston on Saturday (from the Common out to Bunker Hill). Saturday’s anticipated Mass for Sunday was followup to the Procession.
After starting with remarks on Sunday’s readings, the Archbishop tied-in from the theme of love of God over love of parent or child to another passage – the Genesis account of Abraham & Isaac and the sacrifice on the mountain – pointing out some of the foreshadowing/parallels of the New Testament (The Father having the Son travel three days, the hill being the intended place of death, the carrying of the wood meant to be the means of his own death…).
Said tongue firmly planted in cheek: “The admonition to leave your gift at the altar doesn’t mean that you should disappear while the ushers take up the collection and return shortly afterwards”.
More seriously: Anger is a passion, not necessarily good or evil. Anger can even be righteous. Nevertheless, St. Francis de Sales observes that it is better to live without anger than to hope that one can always regulate how sinful it is.
Our FSSP priest was talking about the Transalpine Redemptorists, who are, apparently, formally in schism, and seeking to consecrate an antipope.
The readings were from St. Paul, re: grumbling, with commentary from Aquinas and St. Benedict, and I’m still processing.
Visiting old friends in the Lancaster PA area, for mass we went to St. Lawrence FSSP Church in Harrisburg. The sermon was about forgiveness. Sometimes we hold back because we are waiting for the other person to apologize. In the meantime this lack of forgiveness is hurting us more. It is like we want to poison the other person but end up poisoning ourselves. We have to decide to let go and forgive for our own sake.
We are so blessed in Pennsylvania to have 4 FSSP Churches (Conshohocken near Philadelphia, Allentown/Bethlehem, Scranton, and Harrisburg). Plus the Institute of Christ the King in Pittsburgh.
The sermon, gitven by our fssp pastor, was on the planned consecrations of the Sspx bishops. He made the point that the ordination of a bishop is inherently jurisdictional.
It also occurred to me that the Sspx speaks vigorously about the shortfalls of Nostra Aetate and yet they seem to be eating the very apple they condemn.
My conclusion is the consecrations are schismatic and they will incur the penalty
Our SSPX parish celebrated our previous pastor who visited and said Mass. He is currently assigned in Nigeria.
He spoke first hand of the false religion of Islam and how a good Islam is what the media describes as an extremist (sinuating others who are not fall short of fulfilling Islam’s directives). He spoke of the killings of Christians in Nigeria and the Islam threat ignored by open borders.
I would like to add that someone who holds faithful to Catholic Tradition is also identified as an extremist to today’s media – of which I agree – you should fear to be judged to be lukewarm….
I also exclaim that the difference between Islam and Christian (i.e. “Catholic” but I repeat myself) extremism is the opposite of the outward actions of apostilization. Islam spread through military conquest with the sword and death to others while Christianity spread through testament of the Word and self-sacrifice (many of whom gave their own lives)…