Link to Page 49 of the latest Vermont Catholic Magazine As promised… brief follow up article on “what does the word ‘Mass” means.”
Category Archives: Bible Exegesis and Themes
Why do we call the Mass, “the Mass”?
Hello all, My article here was published in the May 2022 issue of the Vermont Catholic Magazine. I am re-posting it here and now, because I have a “part II” in the next Vermont Catholic Magazine, fall edition. Please read on. It is not very long. https://www.vermontcatholic.org/uncategorized/why-do-we-call-the-mass-the-mass/ I will share the upcoming article (same topic) …
Statement of Faith: “male and female He created them.”
We confess with full religious conviction that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born as a man, that is, he was male, with the bodily constitution for the capacity to become a biological father. It is attested by Scripture and Tradition that Jesus lived a life of sexual celibacy, which did not repudiate the …
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Lady Wisdom, the Word, and Prayers to Mary
Blessed memorial of Saint Athanasius. John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Back in the 4th century A.D., the heretic Arius used Biblical references to Sophia/Wisdom to say that the Word/Logos was an angelic creature: not God. The Logos, said Arius, was …
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Propter Nos
The Church’s tradition sees the word “man” as an appropriate word to indicate the fullness of human nature, i.e. the nature in every man and woman. The Church does oppose all theorizing – mainly coming from the ancient pagan writings much more than from Christian tradition – which claims that a woman is an imperfect …
Vatican II and the Proclamation of Scripture
Glory be to Jesus Christ. I wish to speak of a cross carried by the parish priest. We might say there is a tension between the spoken word and the gestures of the liturgy. No doubt this claim will sound very strange. I assure you it is a reality. This is a tension, and it …
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Peter and Paul: a Litany for Private Devotion
Sunday, July 4th 2021, my weekend homily was inspired heavily by reflection on the Acts of the Apostles. In Short, the grace that Saint Paul kept speaking of, from his encounter with Christ, should be the grace we experience when we encounter, taste, and receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Separately from this consideration, I …
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The Icon of the Holy Family
March 19th 2021: happy solemnity of Saint Joseph. Since December 8th 2020 we have been celebrating a year of Saint Joseph. That date marked the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of patronage for the whole church ascribed to the spouse of the blessed Virgin Mary. Today begins a year marked by Pope Francis for the …
Worship, and Religion in the Public Sphere
“My worship has found its most perfect expression, and fullness of power, when I come to hold the divine Body and Blood of God in my hands, and consume Him into my corporeal existence.”
Homily for 23rd Sunday, Year A (My homily notes, with additions for publication)
Our Gospel passage for this Sunday is from Mathew Chapter 18. It is a beautiful and rich chapter, known as the Church Order Discourse. It happens to be the only other place, in all the Gospels, where Jesus uses the Greek word “church” (ekklesia), after Matthew 16 (“You are Peter, and on this rock I …
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Ubi Petrus VT 