Sunday Sermon, March 26 -- St Joseph and Joseph the Patriarch (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi)

We consider the many ways in which Joseph the Patriarch of the Old Testament foreshadows St Joseph of the New Testament.

They share the same name, and have fathers of the same name. St Joseph is also loved by God and given many graces, especially being forgiven original sin while in the womb and preserved from every actual sin (this is foreshadowed in the cloak given Joseph in the Old Testament). The Patriarch was pure in his relations with Potiphar's wife, and St Joseph was most pure in maintaining perpetual virginity. The Patriarch was made "master of [Pharaoh's] household, and ruler of all his possessions," even as St Joseph was head of the Holy Family. The Patriarch provided grain for the world, St Joseph stored up the true Bread of Life.

Finally, the Patriarch was at first not recognized by his brothers in their need, so also it is only in these last days that the Church has come to call upon St Joseph and recognize him in her public devotions as the Universal Patron!


Listen online [here]!

Daily Sermons, March 22-25 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Sermons from Daily Masses, March 21-25.
Human Customs, Lent, Love, Annunciation.

Sunday Sermon, March 19 -- Why We Don't Follow the Old Law, and Seder Meals (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Christians no longer observe the ceremonial precepts of the Old Law -- we are permitted to eat all types of food, we do not observe ritual purity or washings, we don't even keep Saturday as our Holy Day. While the moral precepts (e.g. "honor thy father and thy mother", "thou shalt not kill", etc) remain, the ceremonies and all the external forms of Old Testament worship pass away.

Outward worship expresses interior faith. Abraham and Moses believed, "the Messiah WILL come", but we believe, "the Messiah HAS come". Thus, the rituals of the Old Law point to the Messiah who had not yet come, but the ceremonies of the New Law point to Jesus who has come and who will come again. Because the Messiah is come, it was necessary that the ceremonies of the Old pass away as they are fulfilled by the New.

Thus, it would be a form of false worship for a Catholic to participate in the ceremonies of the Old Law -- because this would imply that the Messiah has not yet come, and that Jesus is not the Messiah.

From this, it clearly follows that the Catholic cannot participate in the Jewish Seder meal at Passover time. Further, it is also inappropriate for Catholics to perform a "Christian version" of the Seder meal (the US Bishops explicitly forbade this in "God's Mercy Endures Forever" in 1988). 

It is also good to realize that the Last Supper was not a Seder meal, as the Seder didn't even exist at the time of Jesus. What was the Last Supper then? It was the Mass!

Daily Sermons, March 14-18 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Homilies from daily Masses, March 14 to 18.
The Law, Zebedee's Sons, The Rich Man, St Patrick, Total Consecration.


Tuesday, March 14 -- Jesus helps us fulfill the Law
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Wednesday, March 15 -- The Family of Zebedee's Sons
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Thursday, March 16 -- Lazarus and the Rich Man
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Friday, March 17 -- St Patrick, Exorcist
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Saturday, March 18 -- Jaboc, Esau, and the Total Consecration
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Sunday Sermon, March 12 -- The Christian must suffer to come to Easter glory (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Christ was transfigured before Peter, James, and John to strengthen them with the hope of the Resurrection so that they would not despair at the Passion. The Transfiguration is a lesson to teach the Apostles that "the Christ must suffer and so enter into his glory."

Likewise, the Church gives us this Gospel on the Second Sunday of Lent to strengthen us with the hope of Easter so that we might persevere in accomplishing our Lenten discipline. We also learn that each Christian must suffer (through voluntary penance) in order to enter into the glory of the Risen Lord.

Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus - It is striking to note that these are the only other two men in Sacred Scripture who fasted for forty days. If we want to have a joy-filled and holy Easter, it is necessary that we enter into these forty days of penance and fasting with the Lord.

Daily Sermons, March 8 to 11 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

Daily Sermons from March 8 to 11.
Moses and Elijah, St Frances of Rome, the 40 martyrs, Total Consecration.

Sunday Sermon, March 5 -- The Three Ages of the Interior Life and Mortification (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

[pre-sermon note on almsgiving during Lent: Remember that the poor live a much harder Lent than we do, and they live it all year long. Our Lent should provide some savings which is given to the poor. When you are really craving whatever you sacrificed this Lent, consider making a small donation for alms as a way of connecting fasting and almsgiving]


There are three ages of the spiritual life: The beginners, the proficients, and the perfect; or the purgative way, the illuminative way, and the unitive way.

The beginners are attached to sin and to the world, and though they have truly begun to follow God and do desire to be holy, they still have a worldly outlook and worldly goals.
The proficients have broken their attachment to the world and strive to avoid sin. Their focus is on God and his glory, and they seek heaven; but they approach the spiritual life from an human perspective and with human judgments (looking for human success in the spiritual life). They have entered into the life of infused contemplation in prayer.
The perfect have broken all attachment to the world and to sin. They live in constant union with God and have a totally supernatural world-view. These are the great saints. They still commit some venial sins, but they are very humble and follow God unreservedly.

One of the main reasons why people remain as beginners their whole life is a failure to practice bodily mortification. It is true that interior penance is more important than physical or bodily mortification (like fasting), but if we can't practice external penance we will never be able to practice interior penance. If I can't give up meat, I'll never be able to give up pride!

Lenten penance and bodily mortification (especially fasting and abstinence) is a great means of attaining spiritual growth!

Funeral Homily for Father Raymond Nyquist (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi)

Sermon from the Funeral Mass for Father Raymond Nyquist.

Father Nyquist had three loves: The Eucharist, the poor, and the family.

Sunday Sermon, February 26 -- Judging Actions, Avoiding Scandal (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi)

[pre-sermon note on fasting and abstinence during Lent. The Church only requires that those from 18 to 60 years old fast (one regular meal and two small snacks) on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and those from 14 years and older abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, the Fridays of Lent, and every Friday throughout the year (excepting Solemnities). The US Bishops received permission so that another penance can substitute for abstaining from meat on Fridays outside of Lent. Father Ryan recommends that we do more than this, considering possibly abstaining from meat on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and even abstaining from eggs and dairy in addition if that is possible.]


"Therefore, do not make any judgments before the appointed time, until the Lord comes." (1 Cor 4:5)

Many today say, "Who am I to judge?", but what St Paul is really saying is that we should respond to people caring only how Jesus will judge us and not worrying about whether people will love us or hate us. In this very Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul excommunicates a man for public adultery! And the Church follows this by refusing to admit to Holy Communion all those who publicly and obstinately persist in manifest grave sin (example, pro-abort politicians or those Catholics married outside the Church).

But the Church isn't judging a person when we don't give communion to those living in public grave sin. The Church is only judging the objective situation, and protecting us all from being scandalized. For this same reason, we should not attend invalid marriages, for example.

Sunday Sermon, February 19 -- Loving those who attack the faith (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

[pre-homily note on attending daily Mass during Lent. Please note: I mistakenly said that only Lent has proper Masses for each of the weekdays, that is no longer the case as there are now proper Masses for the weekdays of Advent as well. Traditionally (prior to Vatican II), Lent was unique in this respect. Even still, the weekdays of Lent are of an higher rank than the Advent weekdays and "trump" most saints' feast days -- thus, the essential point remains the same, namely, that the daily Masses of Lent have a unique character and importance in the Liturgical Year.]


"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

It is truly divine to be able to love our enemies -- Jesus proves his divinity by his love for his enemies.

To love means to sacrifice. If we love our enemies, then we will be sacrificing for them -- prayer and fasting.

Daily Sermons from February 21 to March 4 (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi)

Daily Sermons from February 21 to March 4.

These are a few weeks of daily Mass sermons all posted together.