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Archive for the ‘Texts of talks’ Category

Strive not for the passing things, but for those which endure

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.
Gospel: John 15:9-17 That you should bear fruit and your fruit should abide….

(Full text of sermon) As a child I would spend my time always looking forward to the next “big event,” the next holiday, or the next trip. In January, I began looking forward to baseball season. In March, I looked forward to summer. During the late summer, I thought about football season or Halloween. And, yes, after Halloween my focus turned to Christmas. Yet, as the years passed I began to notice that my day-dreams were always better than the reality.

St. Peter Nolasco. Click to read more.

He was “cut to the heart” in discovering Christian captives

St. Peter Nolasco was shocked and moved in finding Christians held captive and in danger of losing their faith. Read more about his heroic life and what he did about it on the website of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

This is an experience of many of us. When we are teenagers we want to be adults. When we are young adults we want to be married. Then, we look forward to moving up in society or getting that dream job or position. After years of hard work we long for the day when we can retire. Yet, the fact is that we are never truly satisfied with things in this life. This “restlessness” points to an eternal desire within us all for a fulfillment that cannot be experienced in this life of limitations. We are truly “restless” creatures, but God allows us to be “restless.” He places within us the desires that can only be fulfilled in the Divine life. These desires spur us on or they leave us in an endless futile search for fulfillment in created things. Continue Reading…

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The Risen Christ will lead you and others to conversion

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Fr. Joseph Eddy. Go to Fr. Joseph's bio.Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2012
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O.de M.
Gospel: John 14:7-14 “I am in the Father and the Father in me”

(Full text of sermon) We see in the first reading a true conversion. St. Paul, who was one of the worst persecutors of the early Church, is changed 180 degrees. It was a true miracle. So much so that the other disciples of Christ could not believe that he had truly changed. St. Paul was a man of firm convictions whose life and beliefs turned totally around.

St. Peter Nolasco. Click to read more.

He was “cut to the heart” in discovering Christian captives

St. Peter Nolasco was shocked and moved in finding Christians held captive and in danger of losing their faith. Read more about his heroic life and what he did about it on the website of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

Visit the Mercedarians’ Facebook page.

Only an experience of the Risen Lord can do this to a person! St. Paul was knocked to the ground by the appearance of the Risen Lord. He tells us in the first reading that he “had seen the Lord” and “spoken to Him.” This was a real tangible powerful experience of God. This does happen in our times. People have deep conversions all the time. Continue Reading…

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Through Jesus’ passionate love, we gain life

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Photo of Fr. Brankin. Go to Fr. Brankin's bio.Passion Sunday, Mar. 25, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin

(Full text of sermon) Often pundits talk about the dumbing-down of our twentieth and twenty-first century society.

Think of it: our parents and grandparents—who probably had very little formal education were more understanding and aware of things and ideas and processes and even vocabulary than any of their children or grandchildren This dumbing down certainly has taken place in America of course—look at our speech and vocabulary.

A child of only fifty years ago was not only aware of Latin—he used Latin type words in his everyday speech. Certainly he was familiar with Latin because of the Mass, but that child was also aware that so much of our language came from Latin—and that fact helped that child immeasurably in understanding the words he or she might use and therefore why we use them. Continue Reading…

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The Church needs no government permission to carry on its mission

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Photo of Fr. Brankin. Go to Fr. Brankin's bio.Second Sunday of Easter, Apr. 15, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin

(Full text of sermon) What an unspeakably beautiful gospel. How often I have pictured that scene—how often artists have painted it—where the once-dead Jesus—appears to doubting Thomas and asks Thomas to inspect the wounds in Jesus’ hands and in His side—to see if it is really Jesus. And Thomas falls to his knees and says the words that have echoed through the centuries for the next two thousand years: “My Lord and my God.” Now Jesus appeared for forty days to the Apostles and the Disciples. Hundreds of people actually saw Him. And that story was told to us a hundred years later—a thousand years later and two thousand years later as proof that Jesus did truly rise from the dead—and for no less a reason than that we might come to believe that He is the Son of God and that through Him we might have life. Continue Reading…

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Jesus suffered and died to become more than an earthly king

Friday, April 27th, 2012

Photo of Fr. Brankin. Go to Fr. Brankin's bio.Palm Sunday, Apr. 1, 2012
Fr. Anthony Brankin

(Full text of sermon) Did you notice in the Gospel on Palm Sunday that Pontius Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus died in only three hours?

Well, the reason he was surprised was because usually the victim of a crucifixion endured on the cross for eighteen to twenty-four hours. Yes, it was a very slow, tortuous means of execution.

You see, the person who was crucified had his arms placed on the cross at just the correct angle. This was so that when he was raised up, his body would slump forward making it very difficult for him to breathe properly. Continue Reading…

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