Afleveringen
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The man in today's Gospel (18th Sunday After Pentecost - Matt 9:1-8), he has friends by whom he is brought to Jesus. By this we are to understand the importance of surrounding ourselves with friends who will bring us to Christ, friends who have faith and who will put themselves out for our own well being. In the normal course of things, saints do not become saints in isolation. They are not saints by themselves. In fact, as we saw, it was by the faith of the friends that this man was made well in body and soul. Those good friends are to be our foundation, our support - we can go out to the world, the sinful world, and convert it because of these good friends. Not only do we see the point of having these good friends, but of being good friends to others.
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There's something that a priest learns shortly after he is ordained when he starts hearing confessions. He doesn't learn anything new about what you confess. He's spent years studying all of this. He's just hearing this now, maybe, for the first time. But the one thing he learns that he's a little surprised by is the love he finds in himself. When a priest is hearing confessions, he does not care what the problem is. He has a great love for every soul who comes into that confessional, and he wants nothing more than to make sure that everyone leaves that confessional in true peace in the friendship of God. It is a truly supernatural thing, this love.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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The goal is that we be saints. Nothing else matters, nothing else will suffice. And we are exactly the stuff of which saints are made. So get it out of your mind that saints are somehow different from you and from me. Saints are sinners that persevered - that is all. And we are all sinners. We are all made to be saints, and we can be saints.
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There's been a lot of turmoil in the church in recent days. We'll use two of these things - the Theodore Cardinal McCarrick scandal and the Pope Francis declaration on the Death Penalty - to look at some basic principles which should give us a certain amount of reassurance and peace in troubled times.
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Our Lord gave us some cautions so that we would beware. In Matthew 7:15 it states, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." There are two ways a prophet can be false: First, having a mandate to teach, he teaches his own or some other false doctrine rather than the teachings of the one who sent him. The second way a prophet might be false is if he does not have a mandate to teach. And our Lord uses a modifier to tell us which false prophets: Those "in the clothing of sheep". Our Lord does not warn us of those in shepherd's clothing, but in sheep's clothing. This would imply the second kind of false prophet, the kind without a mandate to teach, and thus susceptible to error.
Our Lord also warns about the leaven of the Pharisees. They understood that he said not that they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees fancied themselves the religious rock stars of the day, supposedly the holiest of the holy. And they made sure everyone else knew it. But the Lord called them out on their hypocrisy. -
So continuing on with a few things I'd like to emphasize before my departure ... I'm calling these the Pelonius Sermons, after Shakespeare's character in "Hamlet", who rather longwindedly advised his son who was leaving for school how to conduct himself when away from home - the father's parting advice. Today we touch on some important matters concerning Sundays and Mass Attendance. Sundays are to commemorate our relationship with God, His worthiness of our honor and homage, the fittingness of our giving Him honor, the pleasure with which He receives it, the reward that He gives those who rightly honor Him. At the center of this, of course, is the Mass, the unbloody representation of Calvary. But what does the Third Commandment then forbid and enjoin? The Third Commandment forbids servile work on the Sabbath. The Third Commandment and the first precept of the church also require that we attend Mass on Sunday, and this is binding on all who have achieved the use of reason and are not excused for some legitimate reason (sickness, travel, weather, etc.). The precept of the church implies that one is to hear Mass in its entirety from the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar until the Last Blessing.
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So to continue with some thoughts that I'd like to make sure get emphasized while I still have time to emphasize them ... I'd like to add a common error that we can fall into as Christians, and that is to be too concerned about sin. Let's remember that avoiding sin is not the end, the purpose, the goal of our faith. Rather, avoiding sin is a means to an end. The purpose of our faith is union with Jesus. Avoiding sin is of course necessary for this, but this is also only the beginning. It is literally the least we can do in this endeavor to be one with our Creator. It is only the first step. So let's put together some certitudes taught to us by our faith, and then we will see what this means for avoiding sin without fear.
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When a father sends his children out into the world, he wants to still be a father. He wants to give them things to cling on to, things that will keep them safe. And sadly, sometimes, it is the father that is the one that has to leave. But again, he wants to leave his children with things that he thinks are important - ideas and ideals that he hopes will serve them and keep them well in his absence. So this won't be comprehensive today. Certainly there is more to say as the weeks roll on. But this does come from love, and comes from the heart.
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Sermon given at 2018 parish Confirmations.
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We say we trust Jesus, but what does that mean? Dictionary.com says trust is "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence." Trust is fundamental to our lives, for our lives are about love. God is Love and God is to be the center of our lives. We are made for God, therefore we are made for love. But there can be no love without trust.
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As our biological father gives life, our biological mother bears life. So God the Father gives life, His own life, so that we may live spiritually, Mary bears His life so that we may live spiritually. She is the mediatrix of all grace - grace is the life of God. As the source of grace, Jesus Christ came into the world through Mary, and so God chooses to continue to give the grace that He gives through her.
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So he rides into Jerusalem triumphant, though he has not yet conquered death. He comes now not so much to manifest his glory and power as conquerors do, but rather to show his humility. He's riding upon a donkey - a slow, lowly beast, not a brilliant white charger. He teaches us that we can trust Him, that we can lay down our defenses and let Him in. He is simple, He is humble, He is approachable. We do not have to live in fear.
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The pouring out of animal blood in the Old Testament was a sign of contrition and a rendering of the life of the sinner who offered the sacrifice back to God. That means living for God. If your life has been given to God, your life is to be used as God sees fit. It's not a token offering - "God, I offer you my life" - and then go about your business like nothing has changed. I can't say I am giving you my car and not hand over the keys and let you use it as you see fit. The blood of animals itself had no power, of course, to wash away sin. But it was the contrition of the one offering the sacrifice which was pleasing to God. Contrition means conversion. One who does no agree to end his sinful ways is clearly not sorry for his sinful ways. Sorrow means amending our ways.
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Today we are confronted with a great mystery of our faith. The Lord reveals to his disciples that He will suffer, that He will die, and that He will rise again on the third day [Luke 18: 31-43]. And we are told they could not understand this saying. We can understand, perhaps, how his rising from the dead might be difficult for them to grasp. Such a thing had only happened a couple of times in their recorded history. But that He would suffer and the He would die - why should this be difficult for them to understand?
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The common interpretation says that this Gospel today (4th Sunday after Lent [Laetare Sunday] - John 6:1-15) is about the mercy of God, His benevolence towards man. But let's take it in context - yesterday we had the readings about the chaste Susanna (Dan 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Susanna was a holy woman falsely accused, and God, through the prophet Daniel, came to her defense. The woman caught in adultery was genuinely repentent. Yes, God is merciful ... to the just and to the repentant. But what about today? Even atheists and pagans know about the story of the loaves and the fishes. But did you ever, why five loaves? Why two fishes?
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As our biological father gives life, our biological mother bears life. So God the Father gives life, His own life, so that we may live spiritually, Mary bears His life so that we may live spiritually. She is the mediatrix of all grace - grace is the life of God. As the source of grace, Jesus Christ came into the world through Mary, and so God chooses to continue to give the grace that He gives through her.
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God created all things, and among the things which he created are angels - non-corporeal persons. When we say non-corporeal, we mean that they do not, according to their natures, have bodies such as humans and lesser animals. When we say that they are persons, we mean that they are individuals of a rational nature. That they are created is a fact that distinguishes them from God, who is also non-corporeal and personal.
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