First Sunday In Lent 2016
After hearing the importance of Psalm 90 for Lent and the sacramental of ashes, Father gives suggestions for penances and practices for this holy season. From the Gospel Our Lord teaches us how to combat the devil and temptations. St. Valentine’s day is explained in light of the saint whose feast is honored on Feb. 14.
Ash Wednesday 2016
We hear the words of Genesis today that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. The Church tells us these words to help us remain humble. Following the example of Job, even in the midst of troubles and sufferings we must remain docile to God’s will. Practicing penance will avert the punishments of God, but we must have sincere sorrow from the depths of our heart for having offended Him. Fasting, almsgiving, prayer, and spiritual reading, are powerful means of sanctification. However, we should never allow these good works to become a show or hypocritical. God gave us a free will so that we may choose to love Him. This is not a time of sorrow, but one of inner peace and happiness.
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Quinquagesima Sunday 2016
This Epistle is beloved among all Christians because of its beautiful explanation of charity. We can see from St. Paul’s words how far-removed true charity is from the false notions held today. In our days, great emphasis is placed on giving aid to the poor, which is a truly important work of mercy, but we are seldom reminded that if these works are not done with love of God for His own sake, and love of neighbor for God’s sake, they will profit us nothing. As we approach the season of Lent, we must ask ourselves if we have improved in our spiritual life over the last year. If we have not, then we have great work ahead of us. However, we are not alone. Our Lord and His Mother stand by our side to lift us up.
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Feast of the Purification 2016
After childbirth, the Hebrew women were considered ritually unclean because of the shedding of their blood. The Blessed Mother was exempt from all the requirements of the law, because she had not shed blood in her virginal birth and because she had no need for a sin offering. The newborn children were required to be presented to the temple to show that they belonged to God first and were only loaned to their natural parents for a time. This presentation of Our Lord was a portent of that day on which the Virgin Mary would offer her Divine Son on Calvary to God the Father. This feast was celebrated in the most ancient days of the Church in the Holy Land, and was used as a means of combating a pagan celebration of the time. The use of the powerful sacramental of the candle is a testament to our glorious and bloodstained past, when the Mass was offered by candlelight in the catacombs.
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Sexagesima Sunday 2016
St. Paul wrote this Epistle in answer to those who criticized him and to show his zeal for the salvation of souls. To hear all that St. Paul endured makes us feel ashamed when considering how little we have suffered for the love of Christ. Many today have a very confused idea of what Heaven is. We can only have a true notion of Heaven through infused faith and prayer, and those lacking the true Faith cannot have a correct appreciation of eternal happiness. Our union with Our Lord in the reception of the Holy Eucharist gives us a foretaste of eternal beatitude. God desires that we have an ardent love for Him and that our love for Him reflects, in some small way, the love He has for us.
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Sexagesima Sunday 2016
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Septuagesima Sunday 2016
This Sunday marks the beginning of a new season in the liturgical year. The liturgy is the official prayer of Christ through the Church, and our union with Christ in his prayer makes our prayers efficacious. This is the season for us to prepare for Lent by reminding us why we must do penance. In the beginning God created something good, but Adam fell and introduced sin into the world. We live with the consequences of original sin every day. We spend a lifetime trying to eliminate the selfishness with which we are all born. We become keenly aware of our sins now, so we may fight them better during Lent. We must continue to learn about our Faith as the catechumens and find out what attachments are holding us back from God. Let us all embark on this retreat together.
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Septuagesima Sunday 2016
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2nd Sunday after Epiphany 2016
St. Vincent was ordained a deacon and was arrested with his bishop under Roman persecution. While imprisoned St. Vincent began preaching to those around him, and even the tortures he endured did nothing to silence him. St. Vincent resisted the slightest compromise. It was only by his continuous prayers that he remained faithful to Our Lord. May we all be as faithful as this great saint.
The theme of the feast of the Epiphany is continued in the text for today’s Mass. St. Paul instructs the converted pagans in Rome to be patient with their neighbors. At the wedding feast of Cana, Our Lord made it clear to His holy Mother that the will of His Father came before every other consideration. The first miracle He performed sanctified marriage in a special way and increased the faith of the Apostles.
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Feast of the Holy Family 2016
In this Gospel, the Holy Family went to Jerusalem for the Bar Mitzvah of Jesus Christ because He had reached the age required to become a “Son of the Law.” This was the moment when a Jewish boy would take on the responsibility of an adult. For Our Lord it meant that He officially and juridically became the public and formal representative of God, His Heavenly Father. The reason Christ stayed in the Temple was because from that moment the Temple was His true home. Our Lord’s “Father’s business” was liturgical worship. The actions of Christ are a clear lesson to us that our obligations to Almighty God exceed all other obligations, even those towards our family. When the Gospel says that “He advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God,” it means that as His humanity developed, He manifested more perfectly His wisdom and perfections.
This feast was instituted as a defense against the attacks on the family, and to combat the errors taught about the family’s purpose in society. It teaches us the sublimity of the passive virtues of family life: silence, humility, and fidelity to duty. These virtues, so often scorned by the world, are the very foundation of a holy human existence.
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Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus 2016
St. Telesphorus led the Church as pope soon after it was founded. He is one of the many saints who corroborates the fact that our Church is certainly apostolic. This pope gave us the midnight Mass on Christmas, along with the Gloria chanted at the Mass, and many other practices we have to this day. The star which led the magi was not a natural phenomenon, but clearly a miraculous guide to lead these men to Our Lord. Uttering the Holy Name of Jesus obtains an immediate response from Our Lord. God the Father loves to hear us invoke the Name of His Son. Christ was given this Name at the moment of the circumcision, when He began our redemption by shedding the first drops of His Precious Blood. There is no more lofty prayer than the Name of Jesus.
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Octave of Christmas 2016
We must remember that Christmas is just the beginning of the work of redemption. It assures us of glorious day of Our Lord’s second coming. We can see in nearly every aspect of the Christmas mystery future events typified. Today we have a second celebration of Christmas, because one day is not enough for this great feast. So many in our day attack the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. This should enrage the pious hearts of true Catholics. On the eighth day after the birth of Our Lord, He was circumcised. This ritual was of divine institution, and through it a baby boy become part of the Hebrew race. It was a type of the sacrament of Baptism which makes us members of the Mystical Body. Although Christ did not need to submit to this ritual, He did so in order to be better associated with the sinners He was about to redeem. On this day the Virgin Mary held Our Lord on her lap and shared for the first time in His sufferings as He shed His first drops of Precious Blood.
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