Liturgy: Yesterday, Today and Forever

First Friday – Feast Of St. Agatha 2021
With the beginning of the Easter Cycle through the season of Septuagesima it is a good time to review what the Sacred Liturgy is and how it leads our spiritual lives through the purgative, illuminative and unitive states.  The Holy Mass is the highest form of prayer in the worship of the Mystical Body of Christ and this vocal prayer is also the springboard for mental prayer which culminates in contemplation.  An analysis of the liturgy, the essential element in the lives of all saints and the foundation of all of schools of spirituality, is a profound and deep one that should make us appreciate ever more the treasure we have been given.  The praying of the Rosary is our daily link to all these divine benefits.
#20210205

Listen Now

Deliver Us, O Lord

Passion Sunday 2020
The last two weeks of Lent are the most sacred and have a special name, Passiontide.  In today’s Gospel, Our Lord proclaimed His Divinity with the result that He had to hide from those who wanted to stone Him.  The Church incorporates this into Passiontide by hiding Christ and all the reminders of Him by veiling the Crucifix and statues.  This year it is more dramatic because many are unable to even come to the chapel.  Given these circumstances we should unite more than ever with the texts of this Mass and cry out for deliverance.  We should practice prayer, especially the Rosary, and all the exercises of the spiritual life with renewed purpose so as to strengthen ourselves, with God’s grace, during this present crisis and for the future.
#20200329M

Listen Now

Bride, Spouse and Victim

Laetare Sunday 2020 – Carmelite Clothing Day
This is a joyful day and a preparation for the total gift of self that is to come at the religious profession.  All has been left behind and that includes any reliance on self because now it is time to rely on God alone.  Religious life is the proximate call to holiness and the ceremony of the clothing in the Carmelite habit is meant to impress this on us.  The habit, especially the Brown Scapular, is the constant sacramental reminder of the call to contemplative prayer and divine union.  As a chosen bride and spouse of Our Lord, the religious is joined to Him on the Cross as a victim for the Church, priests and the salvation of souls.  Do not look back but press on to the goal of union with Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
#20200322

Listen Now

Spiritual Communion

3rd Sunday of Lent 2020
St. Paul teaches us the importance of imitating God during Lent.  These are trying times which offer us the opportunity to face them as Our Lord would.  In the Gospel we see how the insincere twist even the holy works of Christ to their own destruction.  This account ends with Jesus praising His Blessed Mother for hearing the words of God and keeping them.  The feast of St. Joseph is later this week and he is the patron of our community.  Finally, we should practice the consoling devotion of making a spiritual communion, especially if we are unable to receive Holy Communion.
#20200315K

Listen Now

Learn As A Catechumen In Lent

2nd Sunday of Lent 2020
Lent is a long retreat for catechumens to prepare for Baptism and for penitents to prepare for Communion. We follow in their footsteps as we learn from each of the Lenten Masses as seen, for example, in this week’s story of Esau and Jacob.  Today’s Epistle stresses God’s holy will that we become saints while the Transfiguration Gospel reaffirms Our Lord’s divinity, especially in preparation for His suffering ahead which will test our faith as it did the apostles.
#20200308M

Listen Now

In Heaven We Will Meet Again

Funeral Mass March 7, 2020
Our first duty in the face of death is to pray for the soul of the faithful departed so that she may be released from Purgatory as soon as possible.  We have confidence because all the consolations of the Faith through the sacraments were given to the deceased but we still must pray always for her.  God rewards those who suffer for Him, especially out of loyalty which He values highly.  Catholics look forward to the day when they can meet their beloved dead and see them again in heaven.
#20200307M

Listen Now

What Is Keeping Me From God?

First Sunday of Lent 2020
This sermon begins with a review of the Lenten regulations and a recalling of the life and the struggle for his vocation of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose feast is this week.  Then we learn about the sacramental of ashes which is a powerful aid during this season which offers us more graces than at any other time during the year.  With this help we perform supernatural works which overcome everything that separates us from God.  After His forty days of fasting in the desert, Our Lord showed us how to defeat the devil and his temptations.  We are meant to follow Christ’s example.
#20200301K

Listen Now

The Grace Of Ashes

Ash Wednesday 2020
The origins of this day date back to the beginning when God told Adam after his fall that he was dust and unto dust he would return.  To counter the sin of pride by eating the forbidden fruit we are called to practice humility by fast and abstinence.  All peoples have felt the need for penance and Catholics can accomplish it effectively and with merit.  Not to be forgotten is the need for love which must motivate our actions and make us imitate Christ who suffered and died out of love.  The Mass is the greatest work any of us can do and so it is critical during Lent.  The sacramental of the ashes will strengthen us today and throughout these forty days.
#20200226S

Listen Now

Live In A Spirit Of Prayer

Passion Sunday 2019
Passion Sunday begins an intensification of our Lenten penances with the veiling of the crucifix and statues which are spiritually encouraging to us. The key to this season is to strive to have the thoughts of Christ, especially those of His Passion. With this, prayer and hope we can rely on God and His promises.
#20190407K

Listen Now

Sacrament Of Life

Laetare Sunday 2019
After learning about the wonderful saints of this week, Francis of Paola, Isidore of Seville and Vincent Ferrer, the Epistle of St. Paul about the son of the slave girl and the heir of the free woman is explained.  Then the Gospel, which is the beginning of St. John’s famous sixth chapter about the Bread of Life, describes the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes by Our Lord and how His apostles shared in this miraculous power.  All this prefigures the Holy Eucharist and the power of transubstantiation which Christ would give to His priests.  Coming in the middle of Lent, this Sunday encourages us to persevere in our penances and to draw strength to do so from Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
#20190331

Listen Now

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