Your Sunday Sermon Notes

10 Comments

1. benedetta says:

   27 December 2015 at 11:44 AM

   A challenging one in the D of Orlando, novus ordo, by a visiting priest. I have to get this in quickly, before 1 pm, as a great American football match up awaits…It was ironical, as I was expecting, being away from tlm, that it could be devoid of doctrine, and a bummer, however, I left Mass greatly uplifted nonetheless.

   Anyway: how many had a truly Christ centered Christmas, what with the cooking and eating, and presents? If we really consider it, we are bitter towards our spouses, partners, and children. But Christ loves every one of us unconditionally. Priests are guilty of this too, not just congregation. In 2016, we have to do as St. Paul admonishes. We need to put Christ at the center of all of our communications. Hard to do. Not easy. Again, priests have to do this as well. It’s an inclusive thing. And, the doctrinal part was: Mass actually starts when we leave the church, after the final blessing.

   I must admit that I am guilty oftentimes of considering, in a relativistic way I guess, that some ought to be acquitted of burdens hard to bear, or be shown mercy, perhaps less so in these USA, but here too, and moreover in other places, when for whatever reason normal “communication” has been impaired or cut off completely due to illness, war, persecution, enslavement, migration, threats and trials. I suppose some would jump all over me and go and find a stick to beat me with of their choosing for that slip?

   I think all told the good point was that putting Christ at the center of things, relationships with partners, spouses and children, is not so simple as some would have us believe. And I’m fine with that.
2. andia says:

   27 December 2015 at 12:33 PM

   Both the priests spoke about the Holy Family and tried to make us understand that the Holy Family had its challenges, as we do. And that while we are not called to be perfect we are called to be Holy. and that we need to show the love of the Holy family to our own families.
3. baileymxd says:

   27 December 2015 at 1:26 PM

   Our deacon made some enemies by preaching directly about the attempts Satan has been making on destroying the family. He also said to stop making our kids disengaged with technology and talk to them.
4. ChadS says:

   27 December 2015 at 1:34 PM

   The priest made the point that while families all have their problems and will not be perfect like the Holy Family, all Christian families are called to be holy and to strive towards that goal.
5. The Cobbler says:

   27 December 2015 at 5:04 PM

   Something along the lines of, “The number one job description of a spouse is ‘to get your loved one into Heaven’. Children accelerate this by forcing us to die to self more completely.”

   I’m getting the sense that the priests around here must have been talking to a lot of parents lately. ;^)
6. KAS says:

   27 December 2015 at 7:21 PM

   I wish I knew. I went to confession last night, then decided to head home as my night vision is not what it used to be and I do not feel so safe driving in the dark. Only then the storm hit, with tornado watches and warnings and wind warnings about not driving tall panel trucks…well, my van is a retired ambulance, very square, and between the fog, the wind, the slashing rain, I kept thinking that it would let up and I would go to Mass then. sigh. No luck. I try to be responsible and then I miss Mass, so right now I am frustrated.
7. jameeka says:

   27 December 2015 at 7:42 PM

   1) Father O started off talking about how there are 7 sacraments. The Eucharist is unique and foremost of all the sacraments. But, the Feast of the Holy Family is primarily about the sacrament of Marriage, which is the symbol/analogy used most of the time in scripture to best describe God’s relationship to His people (Israel->Church).

   2) Then, he talked about the Gospel and what a unique marriage St Joseph and Blessed Virgin Mary had. Mary bore a Son who had Himself created the special personalities of Mary and Joseph.

   3) In families, we often unintentionally hurt the people we love. (This is not to mention deliberate hurts). Although Jesus has a human and divine nature growing up, it is not until the twelfth year of the family’s annual visits to Jerusalem that Jesus is totally immersed in the desire to be with his heavenly Father in this temple. He is not thinking of Mary and Joseph. When Mary expresses the profound hurt He had caused her and Joseph, he become completely obedient to these parents, whom He has created. Something to think about.
8. Veritatis Splendor says:

   29 December 2015 at 11:59 AM

   I went to Mass twice. At one, the priest discussed a lot. He talked about how those from broken families can find a family in the Church, and how the family of the Church must work to support each other, those on Earth, in Purgatory, and in Heaven. He also discussed how the stories of Samuel and The finding are very relatable to those who have pain from their families. Throughout ran how we are children of God, and thus a member of His family.
   At the other, the best point was the sound of the flowers falling, or being pushed, from Mary’s pedestal right after the homily implicitly denied the moral perfection of the Holy Family.
9. AdTrinitatemPerMariam says:

   29 December 2015 at 4:23 PM

   A visiting Dominican friar offered Mass and preached, and as usual, his homily was excellent.
   When we look at our personal lives and the world around us, we seem to be surrounded in problems and difficulties (finances, health, loved ones leaving the faith, the political situation, etc.) But we must remember the goodness of God. He has given us so much, and if we look back on our lives we can see how He has always provided for us in time of need.
   Not only is God all-good, He is also all-powerful. With Him all things are possible. No matter how big our problems are, God is always bigger. God’s power is INFINITE, and we must remember that all the problems we face are nothing compared to what God can do. Sometimes, though, we can “hold God’s omnipotence against Him” and wonder why He doesn’t change this or that. God applies His power to our world little by little, because if He applied His infinite power all at once, it would be the end of the world.
   God is all-merciful. He wants to heal our world, to heal us of all our problems and difficulties and bring us to new life in Himself. But if He did it all at once (the way we would like), everything would be wiped out. He applies His power and mercy to the world like an IV, drop by drop.
   God has promised to transform this world, and in the Incarnation God has come to earth to fulfill His promises. Christ inaugurates the new creation. We should be filled with hope, because God is faithful to His promises and He has come to change the world, little by little.
   Yet sometimes when we look around at the problems we face, it may seem like God is absent, like God is not working. This is what Mary and Joseph experienced in the Gospel reading. The Lord had been placed into their hands, and now He had vanished from their sight. Yet even in circumstances such as these, we must maintain our faith. God is in our world and He is always at work, doing something good. It doesn’t matter how severe or numerous our problems are: “I know that my Redeemer lives!” and that God is all-powerful and faithful to His promises. Let us place all our hope in Him.
10. Jethrah says:

    30 December 2015 at 9:36 AM

    “Of course, we know our Lord did not sin…”

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