Homily #130214 ( 11min) Play –

Fr. George preaches on the faith of the Centurion and warns us how easy it is to sin against faith and lose it altogether. If you reject one teaching of the Catholic Church, you lose the grace of faith altogether  The Gospel warns that those who lose faith will be “cast into the outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”, that is, those who fall away from the Catholic Faith will go to Hell. We must pray this Lent for our perseverance and increase in faith, and for all the fallen-away Catholic who have lost their faith. After all, if we don’t, who will?

Ave Maria!
Mass: Thursday after Ash Wednesday – Ferial – Form: EF, Dum Clamarem
Readings: 
1st: isa 38:1-6
Gsp: mat 8:5-13

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #130225 ( 04min) Play –

Fr. Ignatius shows how Holy Mother Church reminds us in today’s readings to keep our eyes and hearts on heaven and not be consumed by the transient things of the world lest we hear the words of Our Lord “You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore … you shall die in your sins.”
Ave Maria!
Mass: Monday of the Second Week in Lent – Ferial – Form: EF, Redime Me
Readings: Dan. 9:15-19, John 8 : 21-29

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Homily #130603 ( 05min) Play – Fr. Dominic reflects over the sobering effect of death and exhorts us to take life more seriously, aligning our life with God’s will and not becoming distracted by this life. Also, let us make sure we pray for the dead, and others will pray for us after our own death.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Masses for the Dead – Form: EF,
Readings: 
1st: rev 14:130
Gsp: joh 6:51-55

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The only thing that really matters in life is getting to Heaven!

Among all the achievements of our life only one is really critical. It is attaining the goal–Heaven–set for us by God. We must be ready to give up everything, if necessary, to achieve this goal.  We must also be ready to set aside anything that even gets in the way of our achieving it, no matter how valuable or appealing it may seem. Everything else has to be subjected to that one supreme objective in our life: possessing God.

If anything becomes an obstacle rather than and aid to this end, then we must be prepared wither to set things straight or to put the obstacle aside completely.  Eternal salvation–our own or our neighbor’s–comes first. Our Lord tells us so in the Gospel of the Mass:  If thy hand is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off!…and if thy foot is an occasion of sin to thee,, cut it off!..and if thine eye is an occasion of sin to thee, pluck it out! (cf Mk 9:40-49)  It is better to enter the kingdom of Heaven maimed, lame, or lacking an eye than being physically sound to be cast into hellfire where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. It is better to lose something as necessary as one’s hand, foot, or eye than to lose Heaven, which is our supreme good, implying as it does the beatific vision of God for all eternity.

By employing these very graphic images, Our Lord teaches us that it is our positive duty not even to run the risk of offending Him; we have the serious duty of avoiding or setting aside proximate occasions of sin…anything that entices and draws us closer to sin must be energetically excised from our lives. We cannot toy with our own salvation or with the salvation of our neighbor.

Often the obstacles we have to set aside will not be tremendously significant ones. In the life of a Christian who is striving to please God in all things, this will usually be the case. What will have to be set aside and cut out are our in or whims and preferences. We shall take prudent steps to correct small breaches of temperance where Our Lord asks us to mortify our taste or our appetite, to control our temper or our moods, to overcome any excessive concern we may have about our health or comfort.  All of these more or less habitual failings need very much to be taken into account, even though they may not be more than venial sins. They slow our pace and can trip us up or worse: they gradually lead to or bring about more serious falls.

Fr. Francis Fernandez(In Conversation with God)

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Homily #131123n ( 06min) Play – In today’s Gospel we see our Lord reversing the trap the Sadducees tried to set, and not only refute them, but give us an important teaching about eternal life. Reflecting on this, Fr. Maximilian reminds us that “This life is only the beginning of eternity” and that we must see it as the preparation for eternity whether with God in heaven or without Him in hell, and we must start preparing now.

Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Clement I – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Saturday 33rd Week of Ordinary Time
1st: 1ma 6:1-13
Resp: psa 9:2-3, 4, 6, 16, 19
Gsp: luk 20:27-40

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Homily #131201n ( 10min) Play – Today we start Advent, the season of preparation for the coming of Christ. Fr. Maximilian reminds us that this time of preparation is not just for Christmas, but also for when Christ will come at the end of our life either as a most merciful savior or a most just judge. We must begin preparing now by reforming our lives and approaching the sacraments, especially of Penance and the Eucharist, for we know neither the “day or the hour.”

Ave Maria!
Mass: 1st Sunday of Advent – Sunday – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: isa 2:1-5
Resp: psa 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
2nd: rom 13:11-14
Gsp: mat 24:37-44

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Homily #140720a ( 15min) Play – This is a reflection given by Fr. Giles M. Atherton on the readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Ave Maria!
Mass: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: wis 12:13, 16-19
Resp: psa 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
2nd: rom 8:26-27
Gsp: mat 13:24-43

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The post Jul 20 – Homily – Fr Giles: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man” first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #140727a ( 12min) Play – This is a reflection given by Fr. Giles M. Atherton on the readings for the 17 Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Ave Maria!
Mass: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: 1ki 3:5, 7-12
Resp: psa 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
2nd: rom 8:28-30
Gsp: mat 13:44-52

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Homily #140810n ( 18min) Play – Father reminds us today of two fundamental dogmas of the Faith we must implant deep in our hearts. Firstly, outside of Christ, there is no salvation, and, secondly, the Church is the body of Christ, therefore, without the Church, there is no salvation. While making necessary distinctions about the invincibly ignorant, Father asks whether most people will go to heaven, he quotes the exegete Cornelius a Lapide who gives the examples of Sodom, the Flood, and the Entry into the Promised Land. Out of Sodom, only Lot and his two daughters survived. Out of the flood, only eight people survived. And out of the 600,000 Isrealites who left Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land. In our age awash with impurity and sin, let us strive to keep ourselves unsoiled and wake up to the need and our duty to evangelize and bring as many people as possible into the Catholic Church, which is the mystical Body of Christ.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Lawrence – Patronal Solemnity (of parish) – Form: OF
Readings: 
First Reading: Second Corinthians 9:6-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 112:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9
Gospel: John 12:24-26

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Homily #141020n ( 03min) Play – Commenting on today’s gospel, Father relates an incident when a man was glorying in the new house he just completed, and another asked if his new house had a door…
Ave Maria!
Mass: Bl. James of Strepar – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Monday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
1st: eph 2:1-10
Resp: psa 100:2, 3, 4, 5
Gsp: luk 12:13-21

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