During our Lent, I continued to offer some different talks. Today was about pets, angels and our soul. Listen to it here.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Monday, February 26, 2018
Symmetry in Abraham's Test and Jesus' Transfiguration and Sacrifice: 2nd Sunday in Lent
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
The test of Abraham
and the Transfiguration
·
Symmetry
in our salvation history
One word:
“terrified”
· During
the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, an experience of Jesus’ divinity, Peter,
“…hardly knew what to say, they were so
terrified.”
o Scared, yep. Confusion, yep.
I mean, what did they see?
·
While
this word was not in the book of Genesis as we listened to Abraham’s test,
would he be terrified?
o Yep.
Another
connection
· Who was the test about? Isaac, Abraham’s, “beloved son”
· And what did God say during Jesus’
transfiguration? “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."
A third
·
Abraham’s
Test
o Isaac carried the wood, up a mount—a
height—with his father
o Abraham’s test was a sacrifice for his
son
§
“‘Abraham, Abraham!’
‘Here I am!’ he answered.
‘Do not lay your hand on the boy,’ said the messenger.
‘Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.’”
‘Here I am!’ he answered.
‘Do not lay your hand on the boy,’ said the messenger.
‘Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.’”
o God
then gave him a ram to offer a sacrifice
o Do you know where this place is, still
today? Jerusalem—called “The Dome
of the Rock”—in the Islam mosque
·
Transfiguration
o “As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”
o Now we know:
§
Jesus
carried the cross with his Father
§
But
he was sacrificed for whole family
o Do you know where this place is today?
o The Sepulcher
·
Do
you know far it is from Abraham’s test and Jesus’ death? 700 meters
The best book ever
shows the whole story of salvation history. So does geography, the holy land and Jerusalem
·
Let
us continue to walk up to the mountain of faith, hope and love as we prepare
for Easter
Parish Bulletin Article: "First Eucharistic Adoration": 2-25-18
The first time that I experienced
Eucharistic Adoration was when I was a junior in high school. I was on the second day of a TEC
(Together Encounter Christ) retreat.
While I did not want to go to this retreat, I began to open my heart on
the second day with some great people: high school students from around our
diocese, youth ministers and Fr. John Wild.
That evening, we were praying in
the church, and at one point Jesus Christ came out of the tabernacle within a
monstrance—which I did not know what that was.
I had no clue what was going on!
At the same time, I did experience
some subtle things during that moment.
I saw many young people that were praying in a church on a Saturday
evening. I noticed quietness. As we had both private prayers and
prayers within our group, it was peaceful, though I do remember that it was
taking a long time.
As I am an analytical person, I
probably watched other people more than my prayer. My mind was clicking on experience something new, something
curious and something that would change my life in 2000 or 2001.
When I went to the St. John Vianney
Seminary, I was asked to reflect on how the TEC experience encouraged my faith,
and here is what I wrote then (2006 or 2007):
“TEC played a crucial role in my faith conversion. Growing up in the
Catholic Church always seemed like something my parents, religious education
teachers and priests did. I was
merely a passive observer, wondering why people would care so much about God or
the Church. Through my TEC
experience, this all changed. I
was inspired to seek out Christ and His Church which eventually led me to
discern entering seminary. In
looking back on my TEC experience, I can see many seeds planted in my faith
that are beginning to grow at seminary.
My first experience of Adoration took place at a TEC retreat. I also began to read my Bible seriously
for the first time because of a talk given by a man who is now a brother
seminarian. And, I heard the first
call to the priesthood while on TEC.
I can see a connection between these events and our daily prayer routine
at St. John Vianney: daily Mass, holy hour, rosary, Liturgy of the Hours and
our constant search for God’s will.
What a blessing to be a seminarian in our beautiful Church!”
As each of you can grow closer to
Jesus Christ, you can also experience another avenue for your spiritual life:
Eucharistic Adoration.
In our family, check out Adoration
as it will help you, your family, our parishes, our school and our community
will grow.
God Bless!
The End of the Journey from our Earthen Life into Transfiguration (2-20-18)
Here was the first talk I offered to a group of parishioners. During this Lent, I will be speaking about some different thoughts and conversations. I hope you enjoy these notes below, and the recorded talk here.
Notes:
Notes:
Talk and Conversation
“The End of the Journey from our Earthen Life into
Transfiguration”
2-20-18
1.) Prayer
2.) Our ordinary sacraments and God’s
extraordinary ways
·
Baptism
o Anyone
could Baptize someone in an emergency situation
o Water
and the words “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit”
o Nurses,
Jewish, Muslim
o If
they do what the dying person believes
·
Confession
o Priest
o “General
Absolution”
·
Extreme situations: danger of death threatens,
not enough priests
·
Example: Airplane crashing
·
Eucharist
o Bishop
or Priest (with faculties) for
o Traditionally
only Bishop, Priest or Deacon could offer communion
·
Today Eucharistic of Ministry—laity
·
Confirmation
o Bishop
or Priest
·
Marriage
o Bishop,
Priest or Deacon
·
Ordination
o Bishop
·
Anointing of the Sick
o Bishop
or Priest
3.) Path towards the end of our earthly time
·
“Best Situation”
o Anointing
of the Sick
o Confession
o Eucharist
o We
used to call this sacrament “Extreme Unction” or “Last Rites”
·
Many people call the priest when they are almost
dying
·
But today we say, “Anointing of the Sick”
o Interesting
spectrum we learned in seminary
o One
extreme is when we do not need Anointing of the Sick if we are healthy…or if we
have a could
o On
the other extreme, we cannot offer this sacrament if someone has already die
o Some
where in the middle
• Elderly
that are sick
• Big
surgeries
·
“Dying”
o Anointing
of the Sick
o Apostolic
Pardon
o Eucharist:
Viaticum
·
Prayers
·
Tell your children, your family and your
Pastor
4.) Funerals
·
Challenges in our culture
o Wrong
order
·
I have had several parishioners that did not
receive a Funeral Mass
·
Why?
Their family had a different decision
o Cremation
Society
·
Money
·
Quick fix
o People
scared of death and when someone else dies, they go make it as fast as possible
o Funeral
Homes
o Other
buildings
o Or
nothing
·
Best situation:
o Please,
have a will.
·
Have your information for several people in your
family, with your doctor, with your “Guardianship” or other names for health,
finances, etc.
·
Prepare your funeral when you can make your
decisions
·
You, your kids, your will or your parish can
record this information
o Preparation
with the parish: Pastor, Deacon, Suitable laity
o Tradition
·
Vigil the evening before
o Visitors
o Prayer
o Rosary
o (I
just heard about Fr. William Baer’s with Adoration all night…I would like
that!)
·
Funeral with a Mass
·
Coffin, not an urn
o Holdingford
o Where
will people know where your corpse is?
o The
Church has said that a cremation is ?
·
No eulogy is in our rite
·
Burial right after the Mass
o Where
will your body be buried?
• Put
that in your will!
o (I
know that I want to be buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Duluth, in the “Circle
of Priests”)
·
Lunch after
·
Last important decisions
o Please
call the Pastor first—put that in your will, and your family
·
Talk to the Pastor about the date (several times
I have been the last person to know what the date “is”—as I might be out of town
·
In IFalls, do the best to talk with Leif
o Order
for a funeral
·
Funeral service: Bishop, Pastor, Assistant
Priest, Deacon (as they can lead a funeral service), and, if needed in an
emergency situation, a laity member
o Music
·
Worship hymns in the Church—that’s where Jesus
lives, not in a concert auditorium
·
Even there, don’t have a concert, but worshiping
hymns
5.) Questions and discussion
·
Next week?
6.) Closing Prayer
The Word: Tuesday, February 20th, 2018
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
the rain and snow come down
· Little snow, eh?
· Precipitation
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
·
It
is necessary for life: farmers
Then the next
level
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
· The Word
· The scriptures
· Jesus Christ
And
then, Jesus taught how to pray to his Father to return to Him
· Sermon on the
Mount
· “Our Father…”
The Law in the Old and the Law in the New: Monday, February 19th, 2018
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
Notes:
Bridge between the Old Law and the New Law: Leviticus 19
· You shall not: steal, lie, speak falsely, swear by God’s name, defraud, rob your neighbor, withhold over night the wages of your laborer, curse the deaf, put a stumbling block before the blind…dishonesty, partiality, slander, stand idly when some needs help, hatred, revenge, grudge
· You shall fear the Lord
· You shall love your neighbor as yourself
Matthew 25
· Fear the Lord
· Love
· Hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, ill, prison
Monday, February 19, 2018
Talk: Eucharistic Adoration from Marge Veeder
At St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Columban will be focusing to Eucharistic Adoration. That is our mission this Lent.
Listen to her great talk at the end of Mass here.
Listen to her great talk at the end of Mass here.
"Repent and believe in the Gospel": 1st Sunday in Lent
Listen to the homily here.
Notes:
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Notes:
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
·
Holy Grail: Harrison Ford and Sean Connery
o Test
§
Breath of God:
·
“The penitent man will pass”
·
Kneels
§
The name of God—follow God’s steps
·
“Jehovah”
·
Forgot that it was in Latin and almost fell
§
Leap of Faith: “You must believe, boy!” (Sean Connery)
·
Saw a huge chasm that would be impossible, in
our vision
·
He put out his foot, and put it down…and stepped
on the bridge
·
A cool cinematography
·
We, as penitent, must kneel
o Last
week across the river
o When
have you knelt?
o Mass
o By
your bed?
o By
someone in the nursing home?
o Someone
dying?
·
Believe
o Hebrews
11:1: “Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
o God has given us great natural talents: medicine, doctors,
surgeons, etc.
o But God also shows supernatural virtue of faith
§
A theological virtue
o 250
times in the New Testament
o Little
faith? Or true faith?
·
Gospel
o eujagge÷lion = Good News
o People
may be learning this good news
o Some
may be growing with this good news
o But
are you really repenting and believing?
Finally Cassie Bernall at Columbine
·
Do you believe in God?
o Yes
Right now, how can you repent, believe and know the Good
News?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)