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 6th Sunday after Pentecost in the Vetus Ordo (14th Ordinary Sunday in the Novus Ordo)?
Tell us about attendance especially for the Traditional Latin Mass. I know there has been upheaval.
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, preaching on this Gospel in Sermon 95, compares expounding Scripture to breaking bread. In one English rendering: “What you eat, I eat; what you live on, I live on. We share a common larder in heaven.” The preacher does not own the bread. He breaks what he has received. Augustine’s startling verb eructare gives the image a jolt. Latin eructo means to belch or bring up. Scripture is to be received hungrily and then brought up again in praise. Just as cows chew their cud by throwing it back up again (rumination), when it comes to Scripture and the mysteries of faith, we, too, must ruminate. The heart chews the divine word, draws nourishment from it, and returns it to God. The Marian Introit gives the same image: “Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea regi …My heart has brought forth a good word: I speak my works to the king” (Ps 44:2 Vulgate). The Blessed Virgin heard the angelic word, pondered (ruminated) it, carried it, and then burst forth in the Magnificat. She is the perfect ruminant of revelation. She receives the Word, guards the Word, bears the Word, and gives the Word. As we approach the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – anniversary of Traditionis custodes and the suppression of God’s people who desire traditional worship – we ask her mantle over those who are wounded by shepherds, over parishes deprived of their inheritance, over priests tempted to timidity, and over the faithful who must keep clean hearts in dirty times.
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SSPX priory in Sanford was filled, as usual, for 9:30am High Mass. Father noted how amazing the Encone ceremony and its attendance was. He said instead of compassion – which is what the Church does – those in Rome have sown confusion. The decree was defective and void for vagueness. But what is clear, now, is that they want to kill the traditional Mass.
NO Mass. Father’s homily focused on yesterday’s 250th anniversary of Independence Day. He said that gaining freedom from the king of England should not mean making sinfulness and the Devil our new king. He reminded us that Christ is King and should remain that way always. He said being good Americans means being holy Catholics. As such, he encouraged us to avail ourselves of the sacraments, especially confession, to pray, and to practice the virtues. He quoted Pope St. John Paul II from his 1979 visit to Philly (our archdiocese) and St. Josemaria Escriva on the meaning of freedom.
I was at a different FSSP church, not my usual parish (St. Lucy church in St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Scranton PA) with a new young priest taking over as pastor there. The mass celebrated the external solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. The theme of the sermon was about a bishop in China who in 1955 refused to join the schismatic Chinese Patriotic Association and instead stayed loyal to the Pope. As a result he was jailed for many years and only released in the 1990’s. While the SSPX and the recent consecrations were not mentioned I wondered if this emphasis on staying loyal to the pontiff was in some way a commentary on this event.
The mass was well attended even though this was the 8 AM low mass and held in the church basement due to renovations ongoing in the church upstairs.
Father, read your column at 1Peter5 today- excellent. Thank you.
“the weariness and fatigue we experience are not a design flaw.”
Father then referred to, but did not quote, a poem by George Herbert in which man experiences all manner of blessings other than rest. rest is withheld for if we had rest in this life, we would be even less inclined to rely on God.
Father explained what a yoke was used for and noted that, the Lord having worked as a carpenter for some time, He would have been familiar with them. A well-made yoke makes it easy for a beast of burden to pull heavy loads, but a poorly made one will injure the beast.
even being shorthanded, choir excelled. the recent addition of falsobordone for offertory and communion chants has been, after some false starts, a brilliant success.