Sunday Sermon, May 2nd -- The Role of the Conscience, and Bad Catholics the Media Loves

 St John tells us in the third chapter of his first letter, "If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God."  

Many bad Catholics often justify their dissent from Church teaching by claiming they are following their conscience. However, the conscience does not decide for or against absolute moral truths (the conscience cannot decide whether or not murder or lying or adultery etc is wrong), but only determines how those moral precepts apply in particular situations (i.e. the conscience determines that this or that particular act is or is not murder, etc). 

If a ship captain were to decide that a different star were the north star and navigated accordingly, he would lead the ship off course. Similarly, if a man invokes is "conscience" to reject objective moral truths, he will not attain salvation.

St John also reminds us, "let us love not in word or speech, but in deed and truth." Bad Catholics (that is, Catholics who actively reject Church teachings and obstinately persist in manifest grave sin) often insist "I am a good Catholic!" But we aren't good Catholics just because we say we are, or especially because the secular media says we are -- we must make sacrifices to live our faith and to conform our lives to God's law.  Even if he says he is a good Catholic and even if the Associated Press calls him a devout Catholic, President Joe Biden is a terribly bad Catholic.

Listen online [here]!

High School Youth Group, May 2 -- The Dogma of the Trinity, Session 17 - Dante and the Trinity, Last Class

 We conclude our year of High School Youth Group, discussing the final canto of the Divine Comedy in which Dante describes a vision of the Trinity.

Listen online [here]!

Sunday Sermon, April 25th -- The Good Shepherd, First Communion and Confirmation

 On Good Shepherd Sunday, we often think of the shepherds of the Church - the Pope, the bishops and the priests. On the occasion of confirmation and first communion for the children of our parish, we consider how Christ shepherds souls through these two sacraments.  In Holy Communion he feeds his sheep, in Confirmation he defends the flock from the wolves.

Listen online [here]!

High School Youth Group, April 18th -- The Dogma of the Trinity, Session 16 - The Trinity and the Mass, and the Incarnation

 We discuss the how we pray to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit in the Mass. Further, the relation of the Humanity of our Savior to the Trinity, and the threefold relationship of Mary to the Trinity.

Listen online [here]!

Sunday Sermon, April 18th -- Meditating on the Resurrection

During Lent we were focused on penance, mortification, and self denial. Throughout the Easter Season, we should strive to grow in mental prayer.  What is mental prayer? Rather than simply reciting memorized vocal prayers (as good and important as that is), in mental prayer we picture the scenes of our Lord's life or consider some other mystery of our faith. Mental prayer focuses on the love God has revealed in these mysteries, and our response of love in return.

We discuss the historical details of the five Resurrection appearances of Jesus on Easter Sunday, as found in the Gospels - and offer points for meditation.

Listen online [here]!