Homily #131115b ( 13min) Play – Fr. Elias on the life of St. Albert the Great starting with the first reading from the Book of Wisdom and pointing out that today’s saint is wise both in spiritual and scientific things since he is a Doctor of the Church and also the father of modern science and saw the compatibility between science and faith.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Albert the Great – Opt Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Friday 32nd Week of Ordinary Time
1st: wis 13:1-9
Resp: psa 19:2-3, 4-5
Gsp: luk 17:26-37

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 15 – Homily – Fr Elias: St. Albert the Great Doctor and Scientist first appeared on AirMaria.com.

St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, is credited with laying the foundation for the great Scholastic synthesis of all truth, both natural and divinely revealed, which was the crowning achievement of Christian philosophy and theology in the 13th Century.

It is arguable that in the history of thought and intellectual activity, the accomplishments of Albertus Magnus, his disciple St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Scholastics constitute a zenith yet to be equaled or surpassed. In fact, the abandonment of their method of metaphysical thought has given rise to the deadly heresies of our culture of death, in particular, to the falsehood of relativism. That is why recent popes have directed the faithful to conserve and perpetuate the study of scholastic theology, in particular that of St. Thomas of Aquinas. In the same tradition of the Scholastics, Pope St. John Paul II reasserted the harmony and complimentary truth of the natural and sacred sciences in the 1998 encyclical on Faith and Reason (Fides et Ratio).

Correction: Fr. Alan erroneously states that it was Pope Pius XII who declared St. Albert a doctor of the Church; rather, it was Pope Pius XI, who simultaneously canonized St. Albert and declared him Doctor in 1931. Pius XII named Albert patron saint of natural scientists in 1941.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Albert the Great – Opt Mem
Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 15 – Homily – Fr Alan: St. Albert the Great, Champion of Truth first appeared on AirMaria.com.

(Jesus commanded) “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Two things should be noted here. The first is the command that we should use this Sacrament (of the Eucharist), which is indicated when Jesus says, “Do this.” The second is that this Sacrament commemorates the Lord going to death for our sake. This sacrament is profitable because it grants remission of sins; it is most useful because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life.

The  Father of Spirits instructs us in what is useful for our sanctification. And this sanctification is in Christ’s sacrifice, that is, when He offers Himself in this Sacrament to the Father for our redemption to us for our use. Christ could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this Sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life. Anyone who receives this Sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death.

It is a tree of life for those who grasp It, and blessed is he who holds it fast. “The man who feeds on Me shall live on account of me.” Nor could He have commanded anything more lovable, for this Sacrament produces love and union. It is characteristic of the greatest love to give itself as food… There is no more intimate or more natural means for them to be united to Jesus, He to them. Nor could He have commanded anything which is more like eternal life. Eternal life flows from this Sacrament because God with all sweetness pours Himself out upon the blessed.

from a commentary by Saint Albert the Great on the Gospel of Luke

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