…from Thoughts Blog;

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

…for the Month of January 2010 are completed. This being the liturgical Year C of the Roman calendar.

You’ll find them at THOUGHTS.

Did you know that the Big Bang theory of the beginnings of the universe originated from a Belgian priest?

Here’s Father Barron’s sermon from Sunday Jan. 3/2010 called;
Religion, Science and the Journey of the Magi: Feast of the Epiphany

Some other not well known facts in this sermon;

Pascal, Descartes, Newton, Copernicus all devoutly religious men. Gregor Mendel, father of modern genetics, a priest.
Georges LeMaitre, Belgian Catholic priest, big bang theory.

His list goes on, the point being that science is only possible with a Christian foundation and that the myth that the two are opposed in principle is just that, a myth.

Here is one part of the Scripture reading for this morning’s mass (the fourth verse was omitted);

Ephesians Chapter 3;
[2] assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
[3] how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
[4] When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,
[5] which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
[6] that is, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

It struck me, when reading this passage this morning that if we meditate on it a bit, there are many implications beyond the obvious here.

In fact, it seems to me that there are a number of factions and tangents within Christianity that might do well to pause here and meditate as well. (more…)

This is a funeral homily for another priest.

There is one area of difference between the Protestant Evangelical way of seeing the world and the Catholic way that I find runs very deep. In fact, within my own understanding of the faith I come across it in myself at various levels. (more…)

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
26 What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.
28 Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

So what does he mean by this? (more…)

Here is a part of today’s gospel reading (July 13/09);

Matthew 10: 40 - 42
40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41 He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

Here is another famous passage in the same Gospel;

Matthew 25: 31 - 46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

(more…)

Scripture from the Mass of June 18, 2009

First Reading;

2 Corinthians Chapter 11

1 If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me.

2 For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere (and pure) commitment to Christ.

4 For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough.

5 For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these “superapostles.”

6 Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

7 Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?

8 I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to minister to you.

9 And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

10 By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Achaia.

11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

Psalm 111;

1 Hallelujah. I will praise the LORD with all my heart in the assembled congregation of the upright.

2 Great are the works of the LORD, to be treasured for all their delights.

3 Majestic and glorious is your work, your wise design endures forever.

4 You won renown for your wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the LORD.

7 The works of your hands are right and true, reliable all your decrees,

8 Established forever and ever, to be observed with loyalty and care.

Matthew 6;

7 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread;

12 and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;

13 and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.

14 If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

Here is  transcript of Father Mitch Pacwa’s sermon from EWTN, (I’ve highlighted a particularly poignant passage from it.)  (more…)