Impurity and Penance

1st Sunday in Lent 2024
We are particularly the objects of temptation during this season in which God is calling us to sanctity.  During the temptation of Christ in the desert, Our Lord was not drawn to the evil as we are.  St. Margaret of Cortona after discovering her lover’s body, made a complete conversion of life.  The great sin combatted during Lent is impurity.  Many vocations and many marriages are destroyed by pornography, which is now so accessible, even to little children.  Parents will be greatly punished if they are not vigilant in protecting their children from this danger to their souls.  Penance is a virtue that is infused by almighty God, which inclines a soul to hate its sins, because they offend almighty God.  It is up to us to make up for the sins we have committed.
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From Dust to Dust

Ash Wednesday 2024
The Church reminds us of the fate that awaits all men.  We are mortal and destined to return to dust.  The sacramental of blessed ashes reminds us of our mortality and also the transient nature of worldly glory.  From the triumphant Roman generals to the Byzantine emperors,  a Memento Mori has been a common practice to remind men that if their hearts are set on perishable things, their souls will perish with them.  For good Catholics this is not a season of sorrow but of liberation from the attachments of the world.  We should see every day we are given as a merciful call from God for a conversion of life.
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Die To Self

Good Friday 2022
There is one thing that we know and can be certain about and that is that God became a Man and died on this day.  From all eternity this was in the Divine Mind and the ultimate purpose for all creation.  The Sacred Liturgy, in the absence of the Holy Mass today, re-presents the events on Calvary for us to share.  We are imitating the early Christians by using the same liturgical rites as they did.  When Our Lord died on the cross He made a special effort to direct and to entrust us to His own Mother.  We honor and love her as the Co-Redemptrix and Mother of Sorrows because her Divine Son instructed us to do this.  We must appreciate what our sins have done to Son and Mother and detest them by an immolation of our selfishness with Christ on the cross.
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Traditor Not Traitor

Passion Sunday 2022
Saints this week include Sts. Isidore and Vincent Ferrer.  Friday honors our Mother of Sorrows.  We should imitate St. Joseph and the Holy Family and make every effort to attend Holy Week ceremonies, especially the Sacred Triduum.  St. Paul in the Epistle shows how the Old Testament prefigured Our Lord’s Passion and Death.  In the Gospel we see the conflict intensifying between Christ and the Pharisees because Jesus identifies Himself as God and one with the Father.  This so infuriates His enemies that they pick up building materials to stone Him but Our Lord hides from them.  We are reminded of this by the draping of the statues during these last two weeks of Lent called Passiontide.  We sinners, also,  have offended God and driven Him from our temples, our souls.
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Hear the Word and Keep It

3rd Sunday In Lent 2022
Yesterday’s feast of St. Joseph with the solemn Mass was another encouraging grace during our Lenten retreat days.  Now St. Joseph prepares us for this week’s feast of the Annunciation which celebrates the Incarnation and the beginning of our redemption.  Every day in Lent has its own Mass and stational church which are meant to give us unique graces as we prepare for Holy Week.  Recent Masses taught us the devotion we should have to the Holy Eucharist and another the punishments that follow upon on sins of lying.  Today the catechumens were again given lessons and blessings along their path to Baptism.  These same rituals are part of the baptismal ceremonies.  St. Paul’s Epistle instructs us on evils to avoid and how to do so.  These are critical especially for parents who have been given the responsibility to raise their children as God wants.  The Gospel tells about Our Lord’s exorcising the devil and His defense of the blasphemies brought against Him by the Pharisees.  The account ends with praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary which Our Lord elevated to a supernatural order.
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Ultimately Penance Is Love

Ash Wednesday 2021
Neglect of practicing penance during Lent is a cause of the problems we experience in the world today.  The virtue of penance is a power from God which makes us hate sin, be sorry for it, make reparation for it and convert because sin offends God Who loves us.  Penance spurs us on to mortify our evil tendencies and remove the obstacles during Lent so to make room for Our Lord.  The Liturgy teaches us these things and the acts of penance are traditionally known as prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Many ask for penances during Lent and several recommendations are given to help us make a good and holy Lent.
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Be Our Salvation

Feast Of The Seven Sorrows 2018
The feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Mother recalls the chief times in her life that she felt the weight of being Co-Redemptrix.  The Mass Sequence emphasizes how much closer Our Lady is to Holy Trinity because her intercessory power enables her to make our prayers be answered rather than simply passing our requests onto God as the rest of the saints do.  Her tears unite with the Sacred Heart and add merit to the Church’s treasury.
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Affixed To The Cross

First Sunday in Lent 2017

After a brief instruction about liturgical and sacred art this sermon tells about the importance of the sacramental of ashes.  Stations of the Cross is a Lenten practice beloved by the faithful because our Blessed Mother began the devotion.  Catholics must imitate the way of the Cross so they may be joined to Our Lord on it.  Finally, the temptations of Christ are explained.

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Behold Your Mother

Sermon From The Feast Of
The Seven Sorrows 2014
The Virgin Mary’s life had many sorrows, but we limit them to the seven major sorrows of her life.  We should recall each of these seven sorrows today, remembering especially the greatest of them all – when the Blessed Mother stood at the foot of the cross.  The image of the Sorrowful Mother in our chapel holds a very special significance.  This image has become a source of great grace and consolation to many who have seen it.  People know instinctively where to go when they are in trouble – they go to their loving Mother.
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