Sunday Sermon, October 4 -- The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

 [Intro sermon on Philippians 4, "Do not be anxious about anything." We briefly discuss this passage, and give encouragement to pray the Rosary daily as a means to have confidence in God and overcome anxiety. We also refer to a homily we gave last year on this verse for Gaudete Sunday [here]!)

We preach on the parable of the wicked tenants from Matthew 21 - setting it in the immediate context of the day in which our Lord preached it, and in the deeper context of how this parable relates to the prophet Isaiah and the whole of the scriptures.

We see that God is a great servant who prepared all things not only for the nation of Israel, but for all of creation. How necessary it is that the vineyard of our souls produce good fruit.

Listen online [here]!

Adult Faith Formation, September 29 -- Wisdom Literature, Session 7 -- Deuterocanonical Books, and Sirach part 1

 In this seventh class, we give an overview of the debate regarding the Deuterocanonical Books of the Old Testament, which are in the Catholic Bible but missing from modern Protestant Bibles. 

We then give the introduction to the book of Sirach, and a brief outline.

Handout below!

Sunday Sermon, September 27 -- Our Lord's Preaching on Tuesday of Holy Week

 This Sunday we begin to read from the final day of public preaching in our Lord's life - which is Tuesday of Holy week. This spans from early in Matthew 21 to the end of Matthew 25. 

We consider the circumstances of this preaching, and especially the Jewish rulers to whom our Lord addressed the first portion of this day's sermons. We also consider the parable of the two sons.

Listen online [here]!

Adult Faith Formation, September 22 -- Wisdom Literature, Session 6 -- The Book of Wisdom, facing persecution

 In our 6th class on Wisdom Literature, we look to the book of Wisdom which is also called the Wisdom of Solomon.  This book is part of the Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament, contained in the Catholic Bible but removed from the modern Protestant Bible. 

Handout is below.

Sunday Sermon, September 20 - The Last Shall Be First and the First Last, in context

 We consider the parable of the workers who were hired at various hours but all paid the usual daily wage, and the concluding reversal, "the last shall be first, and the first last."

This parable is given in the context of our Lord's instruction to the Apostles in the final portion of our Lord's preaching in St Matthew's Gospel prior to Holy Week. This parable falls in the context of Matthew 19 and 20.

We then consider the details of this parable and what it means for the Christian. Finally, we encourage reading "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor.

Listen online [here]!

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The short story of Flannery O'Connor is online [here]! Or [here]! And the audiobook format (with some commentary) is [here]!