The Church’s Daily Reminder

August 5, 2012By

Sermon From The
10th Sunday after Pentecost 2012
✟Father Violette
The Sacrament of Holy Orders provides an increase of Sanctifying Grace as well as a special sacramental grace which aids the priest to live according to the dignity of his vocation.

The words of the liturgy chosen by the Church always perfectly reflect the intention we should possess for each day of the year.  As viatores, or wayfarers on the road to Heaven, Our Lord gives us constant assistance to bring us to our destination.  After a child receives baptism, he has all the infused virtues with the grace given to his soul.  However, if we do not put the virtues and gifts we have received into practice, they will remain forever dormant within us.  The Gospel instructs us in the importance of examining our conscience.  Our Lord desires us to practice the external good works of the pharisee while maintaining the humility of the publican.
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The Example of the Saints

July 29, 2012By

Sermon From
9th Sunday After Pentecost 2012
Catholics should be familiar with the story of St. Martha and what it teaches us about the importance of prioritizing the spiritual life over the good works of an active life. There are many who so spend themselves in “good works” that they have no time left for Our Lord. We should practice ardent, frequent, and brief prayers throughout the day.

Saints Abdon and Sennen are two saints from Persia. They were known for their great charity to the poor and needy, and in particular for their dedication to burying the dead – that corporal work of mercy which led to their arrest and martyrdom. The early devotion towards these two saints demonstrates the universality of the Church.

After being badly wounded in war, St. Ignatius of Loyola spent much of his convalescence reading the lives of the saints. It was this practice of spiritual reading that led to the conversion of his worldly life, and subsequently the founding of the Society of Jesus, with its countless missionary journeys throughout the world.

St. Alphonsus Ligori followed a vocation despite the great opposition from his father. He is considered one of the chief moral theologians of the Church.

Through divine inspiration Saint Peter Julian Eymard knew that he must dedicate his life, along with the religious orders he founded, to the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

St. Dominic met with great difficulty in converting the Albigensians to the Faith, until he, at the request of Our Lady, begin to use the Holy Rosary in combination with his preaching. With the help of this powerful prayer, he experienced astounding success in his mission.
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The Slavery of Impurity

July 22, 2012By

8th Sunday after Pentecost 2012
When devout Catholics hear about a tragedy on the news, they should feel the obligation to pray for the bodily and spiritual well-being of those affected.  It is not for us to question the will of God.  What we are to suffer and when we are to die is all according to His providence.

St. Paul instructs us to avoid being debtors and slaves to the flesh.  The Gospel does not commend the evil acts of the unjust steward, but his forethought and clever prudence in achieving his goals.  This was the secret of the saints, who were solicitous in achieving their ultimate goal in Heaven.  There are countless stories of those who have given themselves over to the slavery of sin, especially sins of impurity, which should serve as a dire warning to us all.
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Blessed are the Obedient

July 15, 2012By

7th Sunday After Pentecost 2012

There is no dignity or honor in this life greater than that of the priest – a dignity which surpasses even the angels in Heaven.  Our Lord Himself speaks through the priest at Mass and in the confessional.  Christ called His priests the “light of the world,” the same title He gave to Himself.

We have an obligation to know our catechism.  It is very difficult to distinguish the wolves from the sheep if we are not well informed about our faith.  If we had the same degree of enthusiasm for our spiritual life as we did for our past sins, we would surely save our souls.  Those who are obedient and seek opportunities to sacrifice their will for the sake of others will be blessed in this life and the next.  We can find few examples of heroic self-sacrifice greater than that of the North American Martyrs.
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Miracles for Each of Us

July 8, 2012By

6th Sunday after Pentecost 2012

Apparent death takes place when we can no longer observe the signs of life, but real death takes place when the soul leaves the body – a moment that cannot be observed.  This is why a priest should still be called after apparent death, so that he can conditionally anoint and absolve the deceased.

The Divine Office of today recalls the story of Nathan the prophet chastising King David for his sin, and David’s subsequent conversion.  This should be a reminder to all of us of the necessity of an integral confession.

We are given the leaders that we deserve.  In the face of bad leadership, we must remain faithful to the truth, and we must continually change our lives for the better.
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The Blood of the Lamb

July 1, 2012By

Feast Of The Precious Blood 2012

Pope Pius IX extended this feast to the entire Church in gratitude to Our Lord’s granting victory over His enemies.  The Gospel for today was written by St. John, the only Apostle to witness the last moments of Our Lord’s earthly life.  After the side of Christ was pierced on the Cross, copious amounts of Blood and water flowed forth.  This moment had been prefigured by the sacrificial draining of the paschal lamb’s blood and demonstrated that Christ was the perfect, spotless, victim offered to His Father.  The Blood of our Redeemer is called precious because it is the representation of the human life possessed by the Son of God.  In the total surrender of His life, to the last drop, Christ made infinite worship to God the Father and offered an inestimable gift to each of us
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The Edifice and the Rock

June 29, 2012By

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul 2012
Today the Church focuses particularly on St. Peter.  He was a simple fisherman, yet he was chosen to lead the Church.  We should desire to imitate the great love and docility that St. Peter showed throughout his life.  We observe the flaws of his nature in the Gospel.  However, we also see that, by the hand of God, a supernatural edifice was built on that natural foundation, just as the Church was built on this rock.  This great saint instructs us in the lesson he was taught by Christ – to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.  He had such trust in Our Lord that during his imprisonment and in the face of his execution, he slept soundly in his cell.  This is the feast which reminds us that we too must possess undying trust and hope in the providence of God.
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Like Our Father In Heaven

June 17, 2012By

Sermon On The
3rd Sunday after Pentecost 2012
✟Father Violette
In our day, when fatherhood is so attacked, all those who belong to this vocation must redouble their efforts to live up to their calling. A true father is unselfish, prioritizing his obligations before all else. It is a vocation which requires selfless solicitude at all times, but we are promised superabundant help from God to progress continually in this state of life.

Aware of our great need, the liturgy of the Church is constantly imploring God’s help for us. We must rely on God’s infinite mercy, while never forgetting is infinite justice. We are asked to remain confident and trustful, in an age of distrust, and we are assured that Our Lord will always provide the help we need.
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Lose Yourself in His Heart

June 15, 2012By

Feast Of The Sacred Heart 2012

It has been said that the heart of St. Paul was the Heart of Christ, because he learned to be Christlike through his sufferings.  He understood Our Lord not merely theoretically but experientially.  That is why his words are used for this Mass.

The Gospel for this Mass was chosen because it recalls the moment that the Sacred Heart was opened to pour out divine life to us all.  In the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, it was His Sacred Heart that Our Lord chose to show to the world.  We live in the days of a cold and loveless society which is more in need of this devotion than ever.  If we familiarize ourselves with the details of St. Margaret Mary’s life, we will come to appreciate why Christ chose her to propagate this devotion.  Our Lord told her that the burning love of His Sacred Heart could no longer be contained, and that this devotion will be His last gift to mankind in this latter age of the world.
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The Promise of Holy Communion

June 10, 2012By

2nd Sunday after Pentecost 2012

First Communion Sunday

The death of Our Lord was constituted by the shedding of His Precious Blood, but it was the intentionality of the Savior which made that act meritorious.  It was His conscious and deliberate consent to the surrender of His life that redeemed us.  The feast of the Sacred Heart is the assurance of Christ’s love for us.

The reason why the first communicants dress of for their important day is to reflect the preparation of their souls to receive Our Lord.  Christ has promised to all those who receive him in Holy Communion that He will bring them to Heaven and raise up their bodies on the last day.  We must renew our trust and gratitude to Our Lord for the great gift of the Blessed Sacrament, and promise to receive Him often throughout our lives.
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