27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 7, 2012
In 11 minutes, this sermon smoothly brings together a teaching linking the historical defense of Christian culture at Lepanto, as well as the struggle against the Albigensian heresy in Europe. Father then deftly relates this to our need to remain faithful to the true practices of everyday married love. Get all the details in the MP3.
Below is a summary of today’s sermon.
Today is Pro-Life Sunday, and the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This feast day goes back to the Battle of Lepanto, where some four hundred years ago Catholic ships met Turkish muslim ships and beat them. If they had not won, we would be muslims today. Don Juan, the commander pinned a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the mast of one of the ships in the battle.
Another related issue was that of St. Dominic, who preached against the Albigensians in Europe. This group believed in two gods – one of the good, spiritual world, and the evil god, of the created evil world. Thus, marriage was outlawed, and anything fostering families and children was bad. Promiscuity was OK, as well as ritual suicide. It was a sacrament to kill one’s self.
This thinking led people to hate love, because that brought life into the world, and life was evil. And we know that if there is no marriage, there will be no children, and no families.
St. Dominic’s strategy
St. Dominic went through France and preached that there was one God, and that all that he created was good. Marriage is good, and in the providence of God, human life and love were good. The rosary played an important part of this. But the Albigensians didn’t die – they only went into hiding.
Today, husbands and wives must trust God to help them bring new life into the world and provide for them. Love and life define each other. We must take up the Rosary. Our Lady helped us years ago. She may help us today.