November 20 2017 - Association Of Catholic Priests

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Weekday Homily Resources

20 Nov 2017. Monday, Week 33

20 Nov 2017. Monday, Week 33

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2 comments
Brendan Hoban: National Synodal Assembly, Gormanston, Co Meath
October 30 2026
Sean O'Conaill
"There is nothing higher than this baptismal dignity, equally bestowed upon each person, through which we are invited to clothe ourselves with Christ and be grafted onto Him like branches of the one vine." (Final Report of Synod XVI on Synodality 2024 - §21) Brendan captures in his account of the Irish Assembly of October 17th what synodality represents - this exactly equal dignity of all of the baptised - for too long verbally affirmed but never structurally verified or visible. Is it essentially this equal baptismal dignity that the opponents of synodality are contesting? If so, on what grounds?
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01 November 2026 – Feast of All Saints
November 1 2026
Thara Benedicta
Key Message: The saints lived as God’s representative on earth. Can we also answer to this call? Homily: A child asked a priest, “Father, how do people become saints?” The priest replied, “By loving God and loving people.” The child thought for a moment and said, “Then both my mom and dad are also saints. Because whatever I do, they love me.” The saints were God’s representatives on earth. They did not all look alike or serve in the same way, but through their lives people caught a glimpse of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus gives us the Beatitudes as a portrait of the life he wants to form in us. The saints lived these teachings in different ways: they were merciful, worked for peace, hungered for what was right and trusted God through suffering. A halo may look lovely in a painting, but our families usually see whether we are practising holiness when we are tired, interrupted or asked to do one more thing! “Blessed are the merciful”: Saint Francis once encountered a man with leprosy. Francis had been afraid of people with this disease, but he overcame his fear, approached the man and embraced him. In his Testament, Francis later recalled that what had seemed bitter to him became “sweetness of soul and body.” Francis showed us that mercy sometimes means moving toward someone we would rather avoid. We practise this Beatitude when we listen to a person others ignore, welcome someone who feels like an outsider or offer help without waiting to be asked. “Blessed are the peacemakers”: At Auschwitz, a prisoner named Franciszek Gajowniczek was selected to die. He cried out in despair for his wife and children. Saint Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and offered to take his place. His reported words were: “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.” Kolbe died in the starvation bunker; Gajowniczek survived the war. Kolbe’s act was a radical gift of love. Most of us will not be asked to make such a sacrifice, but we can make smaller ones each day: let go of the need to win an argument, apologize first, or give our time to someone who needs us. Saint Philip Neri was known for his joyful spirit and gentle humour. His cheerful manner helped people feel welcome and turn their hearts toward God. His example reminds us that holiness does not have to make us gloomy. A kind smile, an encouraging word and a little good humour can bring light into someone’s day. Saints are not distant heroes whom we only admire. Their lives show us what God can do through an ordinary person who says yes to grace. In our Baptism, we became God’s children, as the second reading reminds us. We are called to grow more like Jesus and to help others encounter him. We represent our Lord Jesus: • At home, when we answer with patience and forgive. • At work or school, when we act honestly and treat everyone with respect. • In our neighbourhood, when we welcome someone who feels like a stranger. • In difficult moments, when we choose mercy instead of revenge. • In daily conversation, when our words bring encouragement rather than hurt. We will not do this perfectly every day. The saints also depended on God’s mercy. When we fail, we can ask forgiveness, begin again and let the Holy Spirit guide us. Let Someone See Jesus Through You: Today, ask yourself: Who might experience God’s kindness through me this week? It could be a person in your own family, a friend in need or someone you usually pass without noticing. The saints helped the world see Jesus. With God’s grace, we can do the same. EASY MEDITATION: Can we bring to our minds, that happy moments when we are in Heaven standing before the throne of Christ our King!! You will happily realize, “This is the One I have been speaking to every morning.” “This is the One I trusted during my struggles.” “This is the One I received in the Eucharist.” “This is my Jesus.” You will feel like finally seeing face-to-face the most familiar Friend, you have been walking with all your lives. Our earthly life is the ONLY time where we can earn our riches in Heaven!!
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Brendan Hoban: National Synodal Assembly, Gormanston, Co Meath
October 30 2026
David Murnaghan
Since Veritas closed 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper has taken up a more important role as a communications medium on Catholic affairs. Nobody can be expected to agree with every article written in an independent newspaper. The Editorial and the priest written article which Fr. Hoban found unhelpful were balanced by several articles written by priests and one by a staff writer positively supporting the progress made in the Synodality process todate. 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper has given a voice to those with queries about the progress of Synodality and to those who are content with the progress being made. It is important that 'The Irish Catholic' will continue to give balanced reporting of Catholic news.
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18 comments
Vatican News: Venite ad Me: An encounter that attracts and captivates
October 23 2026
Joe O'Leary
When SSPX says it rejects Vatican II, this is the text they have chiefly in mind: NOSTRA AETATE 4. As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock. Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ-Abraham's sons according to faith are included in the same Patriarch's call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles. Indeed, the Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace, reconciled Jews and Gentiles. making both one in Himself. The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen: "theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people. As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation, nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading. Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle. In company with the Prophets and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and "serve him shoulder to shoulder" (Soph. 3:9).(12) Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues. True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone. Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows. *This text was the first step in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue that has flourished since, producing many more documents. SSPX says that NA 4 contradicts older texts from popes and councils, and indeed it does, stepping back to St Paul instead. The alternative is to embrace those texts which declared Jews to be under a curse and rightly condemned to perpetual servitude, and which confined them to ghettos (up to 1882 in the case of the Roman ghetto) [Cum nimis absurdum, issued by Paul IV in 1555 and ratified by later popes]. Moreover, Jews who did not become Catholics were declared incapable of sharing in eternal life and doomed to hellfire (Council of Florence in 1474). A human note is struck by Urban VIII and Benedict XIV in sternly forbidding the practice of baptizing Jewish babies against their parents' will. This did not prevent the scandal of Pius IX abducting a Jewish child who had been de facto baptized.
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