It's kind of obvious what Our Blessed Lord is talking about. You wonder how a priest manages to wriggle out of this one. The parish priest at the evening Mass at the other Church I attended somehow managed to get through the homily without mentioning the 'H' words but then again even the Holy Father managed it today.
'He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them, "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the householder has risen up and shut the door, you will begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, `Lord, open to us.' He will answer you, `I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, `We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, `I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!' There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And men will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."'
The Lord granted to St John Bosco a vision of what it means to die in a state of mortal sin and it ain't pretty. God, be merciful to me a sinner and save me in your love! Save our souls from everlasting death! We Catholics need to hear about Heaven and Hell. These are our two possible final destinations for eternity and in order for us to be saved, we need to be told what we need to be saved from. If we persist in our sins to the end we will be damned. If we persevere in a State of Grace we can hope for salvation. Pray that the clergy will not fear telling their flock about Heaven and Hell, sin and salvation. May they and our Bishops be brave in proclaiming the truths of the Gospel.
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We got a "diversity" sermon although I can't remember how the priest managed it. I think he started with the Collect and then just ignored the Gospel. It was par for the course anyway because the priest is well known for his liberal views and occasionally has stuff published in the Tablet.
Thanks for the Don Bosco link. I'm a Salesian so it felt as if Don Bosco was looking out for me. I'd heard of his dreams but I'd never heard of this one before. Just the famous one where the barque of the Church is being guided between the two pillars at the end of time.
Agreed but the Gospel (Mt. 6:24-33) we got at Mass today was nothing to do with any of the H words. Weren't we lucky!
"At that time Jesus said to His disciples: No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith? Be not solicitous therefore, saying, “What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?” For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."
And of course John 1:1-18 at the end. ;)
Oh, stop it, Physiocrat!
No mention of the H-word, but no surprise. The homily started with Father leading a round of applause for a foreign priest whose English has improved during his visit. A fleeting reference (rare) of the S(in)-word, although not what S is, how to avoid it and the everlasting effects on the soul without repentance or, perish the thought, the C-word. Only that Jesus' forgiveness is all-inclusive without anything much expected from us, apparently. A nice, fuzzy, watered-down version of the Pope's address; guaranteed not to shake people out of their comfort zone.
@Genty, sorry if I was not explicit, this was the gospel for the EF, and the sermon was right to the point.
Physiocrat, did your priest manage to make anything of it? Ours was a little *too* spiritual and kind of lost the more mammon aspect of the sermon, I'm afraid it didn't do us much good - good sermon, but a little missing the target audience...
Priest made it all about caring about one's own salvation - and not anyone else's. However, didn't even mention the critical matter of what one needs to do in order to be saved, and that there is a public dimension to saving as many souls as possible through the Church. Trite, and easily ignored.
Physiocrat,
As I attend the EF Mass in Hong Kong I also heard the same Gospel although in Cantonese as well as Latin.
I was a little shocked a week or so back though that the deacon (belonging to the FSSP) suggested we went to confession every two months.
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