Here's a few things you probably did not know about the Mother of God, especially in her relationship to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. It's a talk I gave to some families in Louisiana today, on the feast of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (when she appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.)
How can the Catholic Church be so dirty and yet “the Bride of Christ without blemish” at the same time? This is a sermon on Ecclesiology, which is defined as the study of the Church. The most difficult topic to explain in Ecclesiology is how the Church can be both human and divine at the same time.
What do we do with dryness and anxiety in prayer? We follow the example of St. Therese.
Adoration, America and Healing: How America can be healed on the 44th remembrance of Roe vs. Wade.
The Catholic Church has taught from the days of St. Paul that it is the duty of state to use the death penalty. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. [...]
On the Second Sunday after Epiphany, 2017.
This homily is mostly about St. Joseph. Song bookending homily is Te Ioseph Celebrent (courtesy of the Benedictine Nuns of Ephesus.)
The Mother of God appeared to a young Spanish prioress in the 16th century in Quito, Ecuador, asking her to suffer for the Catholic Church's tribulations of the the 20th century. This is a Vatican-approved apparition of the Blessed Mother where Mother Mary actually told Ven. Mariana exactly what would happen to every sacrament. But Epiphany is all about the light that shines when the darkness is actually darkest. Where Christ has gone, so also will His Church follow. Bumper song credit: O Lux et Decus Hispaniae. (Oh light and glory of the Spanish peoples.)
Filmed in Louisiana on Christmas 2016 https://youtu.be/7B869n4X37M
Spoiler alert on Rogue One for the second half of this blog post. Today is the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Catholic Church. His martyrdom is found in Acts chapter 7 and it contains the jarring testimony of a young deacon who chooses God’s religion over man’s intertwined religious games. Although engaging the high-powered Jewish religious leaders of Christ’s own time, St. Stephen is fearless in proclaiming how Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all the Hebrew Scriptures. Before being stoned to death, Stephen recounts to the Pharisees all of Salvation history. Then he accuses them: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. [...]
