God’s Chastisements and the Three Days of Darkness

Last Sunday after Pentecost 2024

This Sunday is not only a reminder of the end of time, but a reminder of the end of each individual life and our particular judgment.  Christ foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, typifying the chastisements the world will face in the last days.  We should be encouraged in seeing how God spared the Christian community of Jerusalem who heeded His warnings.  We too should watch for the signs in our own times and prepare our souls for Christ’s coming.  Whether or not we witness the Three Days of Darkness and the coming punishments of the world, we know that we are all destined to face God and must prepare to do so with the time we have left.
#20241124B

Listen Now

We Must Answer to God

26th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
In this Epistle St. Paul encourages the Thessalonians, who were enduring persecution for the Faith, instructing them to persevere in their struggle.  The parables in the Gospel similarly encourage Christ’s followers by explaining the external growth of the Church as well as our internal growth in sanctity.  God’s ways are not ours; His way is irresistible.  We should be encouraged by the words of this Gospel and never forget the favors God has sent us.  Our battle is with principalities and powers, and it is easy to be fooled by the sophistries of a pagan society – a society which constantly makes excuses for the murder of the unborn.  Each of us, even the great and powerful, will have to make an answer to God for the choices of his life.
#20241117M

Listen Now

God’s Mercy For The Merciful

21st Sunday after Pentecost 2024
The Gospel for this Mass gives us hope in God’s mercy and fear of His justice.  The debt we owe God for a single sin we have committed we could never hope to repay, so when we approach Our Lord at every Mass we beg for His mercy in the Kyrie.  God is quick to offer forgiveness, and even showers us with additional gifts.  Those who squander these gifts and fall back into their evil habits, assuming God will always show mercy, are like the man in the Gospel who warranted the wrath of his king.  Those Catholics who refuse to forgive the offenses they receive from their neighbor will be condemned as wicked servants, exemplifying the words of St. James, “Judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy.”
#20241013B

Listen Now

How We Save the World

20th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
Rosary Conference – There are many sacramentals used by the Church, but none seem to be as favored by Our Lady as the Dominican Rosary.  It is a prayer to Our Lord with the Virgin Mary, and after the Holy Mass and Divine Office, it is the most powerful prayer a Catholic can make.  There is no request that is beyond its power.  In this world of secularism, religious indifference, and apostasy, we have one thing left – the Holy Rosary.  It originated as a replacement for the psalms for certain illiterate monks in the monasteries and was later used to assist the preaching of St. Dominic.  This spiritual weapon has led to many military victories throughout Church history.  It supplies in some way for what the faithful of today are being deprived of in the liturgy.  The Rosary offers lessons in the practice of virtue, helps us forget our fears and troubles as we are plunged into the Divine Heart of Christ, and disposes us to receive the gift of passive, infused contemplation.
#20241006

Listen Now

St. Francis’ Knowledge and God’s ‘Little Ones’

1st Friday Conference, October 2024
St. Francis of Assisi is greatly misunderstood and mistakenly viewed as the saint of the ecologists.  He composed a poem, which he gave to the members of his order, and this “Song of the Sun” demonstrates St. Francis’ love of nature – not for its own sake but because of its Creator.  The gift of knowledge gives one a better appreciation of God’s attributes through the beauty of the natural world.  This makes us desire the happiness of Heaven and earnestly pray that we may possess it.

The hallmark of the life of St. Therese of Lisieux is the doctrine of spiritual childhood.  In the Gospels, Our Lord not only spoke of the necessity of spiritual childhood for salvation, but warned against giving scandal to the innocent “little ones.”  St. Therese made the appreciation of her helplessness and complete trust in God the foundation of her spiritual life.  She spent her life doing little things with great love, and if we do the same, we too will be safe.
#20241004

Listen Now

The Power of an Act of Mercy

18th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
At this time of the year, the Church, by means of her liturgy, begins to bring our attention to the last judgment and our end.  We must prepare at all times for our death.  How much time do we set aside for prayer every day?  If we are not prayerful in life, we will not be prayerful at our death.  All Catholics have the obligation to bring others to the true Church.  This great act of mercy could win someone the gift of faith.  We cannot do anything pleasing to God without His help, so let us beg Him at this Mass to bestow that help upon us.
#20240922S

Listen Now

Our Reminder To Love

Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2024
Emperor Constantine saw a vision of the Holy Cross in the sky which led to his victory.  Years later, St. Helena led an expedition to the Holy Land and miraculously found the true Cross of Our Lord.  Hundreds of years after that, Emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians and rescued the Cross which had been stolen.  This feast was prepared by Our Lord through the many miracles He has performed.  The Cross is the sign of victory over our enemies and gives us the knowledge of God’s love for us, which is, in the end, the only knowledge necessary.  When God’s love is revealed to us, we must respond by offering all our love in return.  The love we are given through the Cross raises us to such heights that we are able to love God with a share in His own sacrificial love.
#20240914S

Listen Now

No Lover But Christ

16th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
Carmelite Perpetual Profession – The perpetual vows are received by the prioress of the convent, but the veil comes from the hands of the priest or bishop.  In taking the black veil the novice shows herself to be a true bride of Christ, so it is fitting that it be given by him who is acting in Persona Christi.  In the early days the veil sheltered the face of a married woman from the gaze of the world, her beauty and innocence being reserved for her spouse alone.  So too with the perpetual vows of a nun.  She is the spouse of Christ and she will accept no other lover.  The nun is called to be generous and giving especially in the service of Christ’s representatives – the priests.  The Carmelites in particular share in a special way in the interior life of the priest.  This life is the means of sanctification and union with God.  It requires great love and confidence in the unfailing assistance of Our Lord.
#20240908

Listen Now

For Those Who Have Lost Their Way

1st Friday Conference September 2024
St. Tarcisius lived during the days of great persecution.  He was ordained an acolyte or deacon as a young man, and was commissioned to care for the Christian prisoners.  While bringing Viaticum to these captives, St. Tarcisius was accosted by a group of pagans.  He gave his life rather than expose the Holy Eucharist to desecration.

Devotion to the Holy Infant of Prague is loved and honored by Our Lord Himself.  Our Lord is not a child now, but this is the humble state in which He first appeared in the world.  The statue depicts the Holy Infant as both God and Man, as well as King of all creation.  His welcoming gentleness seems to radiate out from the Infant Jesus of Prague.  He makes Himself a guide to all those who have lost their way.

Much is said about the accomplishments of St. Pius X, but not enough about his interior life.  His prayer had reached the heights of contemplation and was directed by the Holy Ghost.  He radiated goodness and wanted to comfort everybody, yet fought unwaveringly against the enemies of his spiritual children.
#20240906

Listen Now

Can You Pass This Test?

15th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
This Mass teaches us about Everlasting Life, while the Divine Office offers us the example of Job, who praised God in both prosperity and adversity.  In the Psalms we ask that we are protected, but that we do not forget our enemy.  In the Gospel we see a representation of the Church weeping over her children, dead through mortal sin, in the widow of Naim.  All temptations are tests, and it is what we do with those tests which makes the difference.  We should test ourselves by comparing how closely we follow the commandments of God versus the dictates of the world.  This test will tell us if we are on the path towards the gates of Hell, or if we have been stopped by Our Lord on our road to death to be restored in His life.
#20240901M

Listen Now

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop
    •‎  ‎ Sunday Mass: 9 AM  ‎ • ‎  719.985.4129 ‎  •