Sunday Sermon, February 13th -- The Beatitudes in St Luke's Gospel

 The parallel to the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7 in St Matthew's Gospel is found in what is called the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6. We discuss some of the similarities and difference of these two sermons which our Lord preached, focusing especially on the shorter version of the beatitudes that are presented in St Luke.

These four beatitudes correspond to the four cardinal virtues, and were given most especially to the apostles and apply in a particular way to bishops today.

Listen online [here]!

Sunday Sermon, February 20th -- Interpreting the Six Days of Creation, Adam and Eve

 "The first man, Adam, was made a living being. The last Adam, a life-giving spirit." Inspired by these words from 1 Corinthians 15, we consider what must a Catholic believe regarding the account of the six days of creation, and especially the creation of Adam and Eve, and the fall. 

All that the Bible intends to teach, must be true and without error -- this includes even those historical and scientific truths which the human authors intended to relate through the Scriptures.  However, we might be surprised to realize that certain difficult passages have been interpreted in very unique ways by the Church Fathers and Doctors over the ages.  We consider specifically the account of the six days of Creation, which St Augustine insists is not a matter of six 24 hour periods, nor even less six million years - rather, the "six days" is a metaphor by which Moses is writing of the "six ways" that God revealed the work of Creation to the angels.

In fact, St Augustine's theory of creation maintained that the universe was created all in one moment, but in a much simpler form - and that the universe developed through the (billions of) years with various species of animals coming forth at different times etc. While this is not the theory of evolution, it is a very advanced and even "scientific" theory which completely avoids the typical modern criticisms against the Christian doctrine of creation. 

We discuss further why, even though we need not believe the world was created in six days, we must still believe that God created man, and that there were two specific first parents from whom the whole human race has come. Further, it was the fall of the first man, Adam, which placed us all under the burden of original sin.

Listen online [here]!

Sunday Sermon, February 6th -- The Gift of Fear of the Lord

In the Sunday readings, both St Peter and the Prophet Isaiah show the gift of Fear of the Lord when in the presence of Almighty God. What is the Gift of Fear and how does it help us to become saints?

We consider first what the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are, comparing them to the virtues and seeing their role in our spiritual life. Then we discuss what fear is as an emotion, and finally what fear is as a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Listen online [here]!

 

Sunday Sermon, January 30th -- On Patience, What it is and How to gain it

Jesus shows us an example of patience in this Sunday Gospel, when he is rejected by the people of his hometown of Nazareth.

Patience is the willingness to suffer hardship for the sake of a greater good -- willingness to suffer in order to grow in holiness, preserve the faith, gain heaven.  Fortitude is the willingness to suffer to the point of dying for the faith - patience is willingness to suffer even when we must go on living (perhaps for many years) with that hardship.

True patience is to accept all suffering that God permits, trusting that God has a plan for our sanctification and salvation. We give some practical ideas of how to grow in this very important virtue.

Listen online [here]!

Sunday Sermon, January 23rd -- Reading the Bible with the Church

 The Third Sunday of Ordinary is now designated as "Word of God Sunday" which fits well with the readings this year -- St Luke describes how he went about writing his Gospel, and Ezra reads from the Book of the Law in the Old Testament after the people return from the time of Exile.

We consider how Catholics must approach the Scriptures -- which are the Word of God, fully human and fully divine. Thus, we must hold that the Bible is entirely without error (meaning not only that there are no errors in faith and morals, but also without any historical or scientific errors when interpreted properly). We ought not to read the Bible as a lone individual, but within the tradition and life of the Church - especially following the interpretations of the Church Fathers and the saints. [Whenever we listen to a homily by a priest, deacon or bishop, we should listen to hear whether he is basing his sermon on the commentaries or the Fathers and Doctors of the Church - if not, the sermon isn't of great value.]

Below is a handout which gives some ideas of how to practice regular Bible reading as well as a couple options for how to read through the whole Bible. Also, some recommendations of solid Bible commentaries.

Listen online [here]!