Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Sunday Sermon, August 16th -- The Woman of Revelation 12, Mary Assumed into Heaven (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

  "And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the are of his testament was seen in the temple ... And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

St John the Evangelist sees the Ark of the New Covenant in Heaven, who is the Woman - the Virgin Mary. This passage of Revelation speaks of numerous individual people: The Dragon is Satan, the Child is Jesus, Michael is St Michael the Archangel. And so we recognize that the Woman is also a real individual: The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Sunday Sermon, August 9th -- Saints of the Holocaust: Edith Stein, Maximilian Kolbe, Titus Brandsma (Father Ryan Erlenbush, Corpus Christi Parish)

 "They are Israelites, theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship and the promises; theirs the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

These words from St Paul's Letter to the Romans show the love the Apostle to Gentiles had for his own people, the Jews. We think of another Jewish convert to Christianity, and her continued love for the Jewish people -- St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Edith Stein.  Today is the feast of St Edith Stein, and we consider two other saints of the Holocaust, St Maximilian Kolbe and Blessed Titus Brandsma.

Blessed Titus died by lethal injection for refusing to promote pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic propaganda. He gave his Rosary to the nurse who killed him, and won her conversion.

St Maximilian Kolbe is very famous and well known. As a boy, he told our Lady that he desired perfect purity and the gift of martyrdom. He gave his life in Auschwitz in the place of a man with a wife and children.

St Edith Stein was raised in a devout Jewish home, but became an atheist when she was thirteen. She was extremely intelligent and went on to become one of the greatest philosophers of her time. She was converted to Catholicism by reading the autobiography of St Teresa of Avila, and later joined the Carmelite order, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She gave her life to be united with her people, dying in Auschwitz.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Adult Ed, July 30th -- Catholic Commentary on the Apocalypse, Session 9, The Final Battle, The Thousand Years, The New Heavens and New Earth, Chapters 18-22 (Part 9 of 9)

Outline of Session 9:  Commentary on Revelation chapters 18-22. The Final Battle and the victory of Christ. The Thousand Year Reign as occurring now during the life of the Church.  The First Resurrections as the conversion of the soul and forgiveness of sins through baptism. The Second Resurrection as the resurrection on the Last Day. The First Death as physical death, the Second as spiritual death. The New Heavens and the New Earth as the transformation and glorification of this world.