We have come to that time of year in which Holy Church has to “mind the gap”, as it were. Because of the vagaries of the moon in relation to Spring, and therefore when Easter falls, there are often not quite enough formularies for Sundays after Pentecost to get through to the final green Sunday…
The Collect prayers for the Feast of Christ the King in the Vetus Ordo and in the Novus Ordo differ dramatically.
NB: I tried to post this on Friday: On 17 October, as I write, it is the anniversary of John Paul II’s election as Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff. As a young priest and bishop then-Bishop Karol Wojtyła participated in the Second Vatican II and, indeed, as part of the group which…
This Sunday, the 21st after Pentecost in the traditional Roman calendar, Holy Church gives us the Lord’s Parable about the Wicked or Ungrateful Servant from Matthew 18:21-35. Christ uses this parable to instruct His future Vicar, Peter, and therefor all future Vicars, the need for being forgiving. In how many ways does the Lord underscore…
We are at war. No one can be neutral without imperiling his soul. All around us combat is waged upon us by the Enemy of the soul, the Devil and the fallen angels. When at the end of a human life, that person winds up on the wrong side of God’s saving friendship, an unheard…
As our planet whirls along we are walking together from summer into autumn in the still dominating Northern Hemisphere, where Holy Church arose and formed our liturgical rites and calendar. With our shift into the harvest and dying season, the Church now presents end of the world themes and glimpses of the Second Coming. For…
In the northern hemisphere, the solar rhythm of which dominates the development of the Roman Church’s calendar, we are moving inexorably toward autumn. With that autumnal mindset it is not a surprise that we begin, as the 20th century commentator Pius Parsch reflects, to receive more hints at the Church’s harvest time, the Second Coming.…
On this 16th Sunday after Pentecost according to the calendar of the Vetus Ordo we go with the Lord into what is obviously a trap. In Luke 14 Christ goes to the house of a leader of the Pharisees for a Sabbath meal. Many were present including other Pharisees and nomikoi, experts in the Law,…
The readings we are given by Holy Mother Church, repeated year in, year out, have contexts. When you begin, perhaps on Thursday or Friday, to prepare your participation at Sunday Mass, preview the readings and orations so that you can actively receive them as they are pronounced or sung. Look at the surrounding contexts of…
17 So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. 18 A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:17-20 RSV) Thusly I…
