St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church

I'm watching 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year B) on FORMED http://watch.formed.org//3rd-sunday-of-advent-december-17-

Advent Reflection by Scott Hefelfinger Joy in Waiting Is Christmas tomorrow? my three-year-old son asked. His eyes were bright; his smile, wide. He was old enough to remember the previous Christmas and his anticipation was clearly mounting. But the next day was not Christmasin fact, we hadn’t even begun Advent. Waiting can be hard. When we have our minds and hearts set on something, we often can scarcely think of anything else. All the more so for a child, and thus, fearin...g to make his countenance fall, I answered decisively: Notquite? I needn’t have worried. After explaining that Advent was a time to get ready for Christmas, his smile only widened. Waiting, in this case, had a joyful dimension to it. Today is Gaudete Sunday, a Sunday for rejoicing. Yes, we’re waiting; yes, our longed-for Savior is still on the way; but the time of his arrival grows very near. Today’s Gospel highlights this, saying of Saint John the Baptist: He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. God’s chosen people had been waiting for generations upon generations. Now, at long last, the light of Christ is about to shine through his public ministry. John the Baptist is the final voice in a long line of heralds. The dawn is near; rightly do we rejoice as Christmas comes ever closer. Scott Hefelfinger Merciful Father, you come to us not only at Christmas, but also in the time of waiting and preparation. Help me to embrace with joy this holy time of Advent, so that I might celebrate your arrival at Christmas with a ready and glad heart. See more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-10 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." 3 So he told them this parable: 4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And...Continue reading

Saint Peter Chrysologus Saint of the Day for November 5 (c. 406 c. 450)... Audio file Saint Peter Chrysologus’ Story A man who vigorously pursues a goal may produce results far beyond his expectations and his intentions. Thus it was with Peter of the Golden Words, as he was called, who as a young man became bishop of Ravenna, the capital of the empire in the West. At the time there were abuses and vestiges of paganism evident in his diocese, and these Peter was determined to battle and overcome. His principal weapon was the short sermon, and many of them have come down to us. They do not contain great originality of thought. They are, however, full of moral applications, sound in doctrine, and historically significant in that they reveal Christian life in fifth-century Ravenna. So authentic were the contents of his sermons that some 13 centuries later, he was declared a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII. He who had earnestly sought to teach and motivate his own flock was recognized as a teacher of the universal Church. In addition to his zeal in the exercise of his office, Peter Chrysologus was distinguished by a fierce loyalty to the Church, not only in its teaching, but in its authority as well. He looked upon learning not as a mere opportunity but as an obligation for all, both as a development of God-given faculties and as a solid support for the worship of God. Some time before his death around A.D. 450, Saint Peter Chrysologus returned to his birthplace of Imola, in northern Italy. Reflection Quite likely, it was Saint Peter Chrysologus’ attitude toward learning that gave substance to his exhortations. Next to virtue, learning, in his view, was the greatest improvement to the human mind and the support of true religion. Ignorance is not a virtue, nor is anti-intellectualism. Knowledge is neither more nor less a source of pride than physical, administrative, or financial prowess. To be fully human is to expand our knowledgewhether sacred or secularaccording to our talent and opportunity.

We will not be able to broadcast the Mass today (Thursday, November 5th). The internet connection is down.We will not be able to broadcast the Mass today (Thursday, November 5th). The internet connection is down.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen! O King of glory, send us the Promise of the Father, the Spirit of Truth. May the Counselor Who proceeds from You enlighten us and infuse all truth in us, as You have promised. Amen Welcoming Sinners Thursday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, This man welcomes sinners and eats... with them. Luke 15:1-2 How do you treat the sinners you encounter? Do you shun them, talk about them, ridicule them, pity them, or ignore them? Hopefully not! How should you treat the sinner? Jesus allowed them to draw near to Him and He was attentive to them. In fact, He was so merciful and kind to the sinner that He was harshly criticized by the Pharisees and scribes. How about you? Are you willing to associate with the sinner to the point that you open yourself up to criticism? It’s quite easy to be harsh and critical toward those who deserve it. When we see someone clearly going astray, we can almost feel justified in pointing the finger and putting them down as if we were better than they or as if they were dirt. What an easy thing to do and what a mistake! If we want to be like Jesus we must have a very different attitude toward them. We must act differently toward them than how we may feel like acting. Sin is ugly and dirty. It’s easy to be critical toward one who is caught in a cycle of sin. Yet if we do so, we are no different than the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ time. And we will most likely receive the same harsh treatment right back from Jesus for our lack of mercy. It’s interesting that one of the only sins that Jesus consistently rebukes is that of judgmentalness and criticalness. It’s almost as if this sin shuts the door on God’s mercy in our lives. Reflect, today, upon how you look at and treat those whose sins are somewhat manifest. Do you treat them with mercy? Or do you react with disdain and act with a judgmental heart? Recommit yourself to mercy and a complete lack of judgment. Judgment is Christ’s to give, not yours. You are called to mercy and compassion. If you can offer just that, you will be much more like our merciful Lord. Lord, help me when I feel like being harsh and judgmental. Help me to turn an eye of compassion toward the sinner, seeing the goodness You put in their souls before seeing their sinful actions. Help me to leave judgment to You and embrace mercy instead. Jesus, I trust in You. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. See more

I'm watching There is Life in the Womb by Archbishop Fulton Sheen on FORMED http://watch.formed.org//there-is-life-in-the-womb-by-arch

Scripture: Luke 14:25-33 25 Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete i...Continue reading

The End of the World in the First Century? CHALLENGE Early Christians believed that the world would end shortly after Jesus’ ministry. It didn’t. Therefore, Christianity is false. DEFENSE This overestimates belief in an imminent end. It also confuses hope and expectation with assertion. The idea that the early Christians believed in an imminent end of the world has been exaggerated due to a misreading of key texts in the teaching of Jesus (see Days 69, 104, 154, and 167). H...aving said that, some did hope for or even expect an early end. Thus in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul refers to we who are alive at the end, suggesting he hoped to be alive at the end. But he did not assert that he would be alive then. Elsewhere, he questioned whether he would be (Phil. 1:2024, 2:17; cf. 2 Cor. 5:69), and by the end of his life he was certain he would not (2 Tim. 4:610). This illustrates the difference between a hope or an expectation on the one hand and an assertion on the other. Early Christians like Paul may have entertained the hope that Christ would soon return, they may even have expected it, but this is not the same as asserting that it would happen then. The Church holds that those things asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 11), but things they merely hoped or expected and did not assert are not assertions of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Scripture can reveal the hopes and expectations of ancient writers without claiming that these would come to pass. The book of Revelation also made it clear that a long period of time would pass before the end. Although the book stresses that most of its vision would take place soon (Rev. 1:1, 22:6), it also indicated a millennium (symbolic of a long period of time) would occur before the end (Rev. 20:16). TIP In chapter 2 of Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2, Benedict XVI has an extended discussion of how the teaching of Jesus does not entail any particular time frame and points to a period of evangelizing the world before the end. See more

Saint Charles Borromeo Nov 4, 2020 Saint of the Day for November 4...Continue reading

8 AM Mass- Wednesday, November 4, 2020- St. Charles Borromeo- bishop- Memorial. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735447-A. All rights reserved.