Monday, September 26, 2016

Sunday Sermon, September 26 - Hell is real, almsgiving is necessary

Sunday, September 26 -- Jesus teaches very clearly that hell is real, and most people go there. We cannot think that everyone goes to heaven, the "rich man" of today's Gospel is certainly in hell as we speak. This passage (the rich man and poor Lazarus) is no parable, it is literal history -- here, we have a real man damned to hell and a real saint praying for us in heaven.

In order to be saved, we must be generous with our wealth. We give to the Church and to the poor because we need to give, if we are to be saved.

Sunday Sermon, September 18 -- The Life and Gospel of St Matthew

Sunday, September 18 -- St Matthew was a good and faithful steward who sacrificed all that the world has to offer in order to follow Christ. He wrote the first Gospel, most modern biblical "scholars" are confused on this point.

Daily Sermons, September 21-24 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Sermons from daily Masses, September 21-24.
St Matthew, St Padre Pio, Our Lady of Mercy.

Daily Sermons, September 13-17 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Sermons from daily Mass, September 13-17.
St John Chrysostom, Traditional Mass and the Cross, Mary's Sorrow, Sts Cornelius and Cyprian, St Francis' Stigmata.


Monday, September 12, 2016

Sunday Sermon, September 11 -- How to forgive those whom we hate (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Sunday Sermon, September 11 -- 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The parable of the prodigal son, especially in the Year of Mercy, reminds us of the importance of confession. We have had a good Year of Mercy in direct proportion to how much more we have learned to love confession.

The sin of the older son points us to the necessity of forgiveness. We simply must forgive, if we are to be saved. How do we forgive those who have profoundly hurt us or someone we loved? This meditation is a means of beginning to learn to forgive.

Daily Sermons, September 6-10 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Daily Sermons, September 6-10.

Baptism, St Joseph, Our Lady.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Sunday Sermon, September 4 -- Slavery: A comparison of Christianity and Islam (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Sunday Sermon, September 4.

The second reading from the Letter of St Paul to Philemon discusses the relation of slavery to the Christian religion. A simple historical fact: Wherever Christianity has spread, slavery has been eradicated - because slavery is incompatible with the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Where Islam has spread, slavery has increased. Mohammedans had taken some 1.25 million European Christians into slavery from the mid-1500's to the mid-1700's. An additional 2.5 million eastern Europeans were sold into Islamic slavery by the Tartars.
To give perspective: From the mid-1600's to the mid-1800's, about 300,000 Africans were taken as slaves for the United States -- an horrific event, but much less in terms of the sheer numbers than Christians enslaved by the Muslim world.
Additionally, studies show that perhaps over 100 million Africans were taken into slavery by the Mohammedans over a period of about 8 centuries.
Can anyone really believe that the Crusades were unjustified?

The inspiring story of St Raymond Nonnatus, who gave himself over to enslavement to "purchase" the freedom of a number of Christian slaves in Algiers.

Daily Sermons, August 23 - September 3 (Corpus Christi Parish, Father Ryan Erlenbush)

Daily Sermons for August 23-24, September 2-3.
St Rose of Lima, St Bartholomew, Friday Penance, St Pius X.


Saturday, September 3, 2016

Sunday Sermon, August 21 -- External Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary - How to speak about the Assumption with Protestants

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary -- How to speak about the dogma with Protestants

The meaning of the dogma, and a biblical argument based on Matthew 27:52-53.

The Bible makes clear that many of the Old Testament saints have been raised from the dead with glorified bodies -- no longer subject to death, they were assumed into heaven when our Lord ascended. If "all generations will call [Mary] blessed", then surely she must have received this grace which was given to so many others!

Sunday Sermon, August 28 -- Sacred Music, Singing AT Mass vs Singing THE Mass

Sunday Sermon, August 28 -- On music in the Liturgy.

From Musicam Sacram, the only Vatican document on sacred music since Vatican II: The parts of the Mass are divided into three categories related to singing. If anything of the second or third category is sung, then all of the first must be sung -- and it is more proper to sing the portions of the first and the second than to sing parts of the third.

The first category includes: The opening prayer, the prayer over the gifts, the prayer after communion, the preface and the Our Father (and others).
The second: The Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, the Creed, etc.
The third: The antiphons/hymns at opening, offertory, and communion, the readings, etc.

What this means is that, according to the law of the Church and the logic of the Mass, it is more fitting to sing the Creed than to sing an opening hymn; or again, if the "Holy, Holy, Holy" is sung, the preface must be sung.

The practice of singing hymns as the main musical theme at Mass is an example of singing AT Mass rather than singing THE Mass -- and it is an abuse that should be eliminated as soon as possible.