Great Catholic Homilies

"Faith comes by hearing, and what is heard is the Word of Christ."

Posts Tagged ‘media’

Born a pagan, St. Ambrose embraced Christianity and its joys

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Photo of Fr. Brankin. Go to Fr. Brankin's bioWed., Dec. 7, 2011
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Matt. 28: 11-13 “Take my yoke upon you”

Homily summary (Mass for grammar school children): Today is the feast of St. Ambrose. St. Ambrose was born into a pagan family. Imagine not being brought up in a Catholic home, but a pagan one. The Roman, Greek and Aztec gods were not nice gods. People lived in fear of them. They would pray, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Picture of St. Jane de Chantal. Click and go to Visitation website.Candor and true purity were virtues that St. Jane de Chantal spoke to her sisters about concerning making preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. Learn more about this on the website Visitation Spirit by reading “Advent with St. Jane—Day 12 .”

But Ambrose became a Christian. We, like him, pray that Jesus blesses us and helps our families. If we don’t believe in the true God, we will believe in false gods. We will believe all kinds of things, such as in newspapers. Don’t believe them — they don’t know more than we do.

People still talk about St. Ambrose seventeen hundred years later. You must treasure your faith. It is fragile. Go to church. Otherwise you will lose your faith, and lose your soul. Then the world will collapse. You must believe in God; lead a good life. Then you will go to heaven.

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Guard our thoughts and follow Christ to holiness — Video homily

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Read bio Fr. Joseph Eddy

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Joseph Eddy, O. de M.

Free MP3 Audio

Gospel: Matt. 21:33-43 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

(Read the complete homily text in new window.)

Homily Summary: Our morality and the state of our soul is determined by the choices that we make. What we take in with our senses (touch, sight, and hearing) will go a long ways to determining the choices that we make.

If we listen to, look at, and experience virtuous behavior, we will be more likely to become virtuous. But, if what we listen to, look at, and experience each day is sinful it will wear away at our resolve and eventually turn us into a person in bondage to sin.

A prudent discernment of the culture can preserve our purity of thoughts and prevent sin from enslaving us.

Blessed Virgin Mary of MercyFr. Joseph Eddy is the vocation director of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, founded to redeem Christians whose faith is in danger. The Order’s student house in the U.S. is in Philadelphia.

Is God calling you to become a Mercedarian friar? Visit Fr. Joseph’s Facebook page, or the website of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

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Why we need our Guardian Angels

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Go to Fr. Brankin's bio27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Matt. 21:33-43 The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone

Full homily text: We are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels and I think that the theme of Guardian Angels might help us understand our catechism family Mass.

Go to the Dominican Sisters' websiteAre you attracted to a life of prayer and contemplation? The words Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere – “to contemplate and to share with other the fruits of the contemplation” – is the motto of the Dominican Order. Take the 7 Quick Questions survey of the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception and find out whether you might have a calling as a Dominican Sister.

Okay—so what are Guardian Angels? Well, what we believe as Catholics—and none of the so-called “Christians” believe in this—but what we believe is that at the very beginning of our lives God gives each of us our own Guardian Angel. Continue Reading…

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We must rise above the media, which doesn’t like motherhood

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Go to Fr. Brankin's bioMother’s Day 2011
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35 They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.

Full homily text: On behalf of all the priests in the rectory—and with the sisters in the convent, I wish to extend to all our mothers—the joys of this Mother’s Day.

It is so beautiful to see this confluence of events—just yesterday our children received their Blessed Lord in Holy Communion for the First time—and today—Mother’s Day—they crown Jesus’ mother, Mary.

St. Jane de ChantalWalk on the spiritual path along with St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal into the Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Are you a lay person interested in plunging more fully into a way of daily devotion? Or considering a vocation to the monastic Visitandine tradition? Go to Visitation Spirit website.

In Latin, Italian and Spanish, you could say that yesterday our children received Il Santissimo–Holy Communion—and today they give thanks to His Mother La Santissima. Continue Reading…

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Parents — guard your children against the devil in the media

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Go to Fr. Brankin's bioFourth Sunday of Easter, May 15, 2011
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Gospel: John 10:1-10 “I am the door of the sheep”
Free MP3 Audio

Homily summary: This is Good Shepherd Sunday. Sheep dogs are smart. A border collie will count the number of fingers that the shepherd holds out, and know how many sheep are missing.

Go to Sister Anna's Facebook page.The twin apostolates of prayer and the education of young women are pursued by the Visitation Sisters of Georgetown. Are you searching for God’s calling? Consider a life with the Sisters of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, Washington, DC.

The first shepherds of children are parents, and the next are grandparents, and also brothers and sisters. In a family that acts as a good shepherd, there are no “mistakes” or “surprises.” Among parents who are good shepherds, they are happy to have their little flock. Continue Reading…

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